ECE4894 Design Project Description

The check register designed for this project was coded in Visual C++ 6.0 with the Windows CE add-on. The purpose of this program is to keep track of checks and deposits. There are three fields at the bottom of the screen labeled "Check Number", "Transaction", and "Check Amount." When the user fills these fields in and presses the "enter" button (on either the keyboard or the on-screen button) the program will write the data to a file. This transaction is also updated in the check history above the data entry windows. The last seven transactions are displayed here. The balance is also updated every time a new transaction is entered.

 Features of this program include a command bar, where the user can create, open, or close a file, and also quit the program. Accelerators are included which enable features such as standard keyboard shortcuts. This program also has its own icon.

Most of the functionality for the program exists in the message handlers for WM_PAINT and WM_CREATE, as well as in the button handler. In the WM_CREATE handler, the text windows and the button is created through calls to CreateWindowEx(). The WM_PAINT handler is responsible for creating the grid of rectangles where the check history is displayed. This handler is also responsible for reading the data from the file and displaying it in the appropriate grid locations. All of the data manipulation is handled in the button handler. Whenever the button is pushed (or the enter key pressed) the data contained in the text fields is written to the file opened by the user. The current balance is also calculated here.

 In order to use the program, the user must create a new file or open a previous one. Data can then be entered, with check amounts indicated as positive numbers and deposits as negative numbers. This is counter-intuitive, but since there will likely be many more checks than deposits this was decided to be the easiest way.