LIFO-PRO, Inc has released LIFO-PRO software Version 5.0:
LIFO-PRO, Inc. released LIFO-PRO software Version 5 on 9/16/2010. This is a major version change that will require a full installation setup (and not just a version upgrade) in order to use this new version.
A change to the new LIFO-PRO Version 5 is mandatory for any software users that use the IPIC LIFO method for which PPI indexes are used. This is because the format of the PPI index files the software uses that we create and place on our web server (that the program automatically downloads) has changed beginning with the August 2010 indexes because the Bureau of Labor Statistics began publishing in June 2009 some PPI commodity codes greater than 8 characters in length (after using commodity codes no longer than 8 characters for many decades). Because of this change, the version change is mandatory and the location of the PPI files on our web server which are accessed by the software for automatic downloads has changed. This means that the old versions of the software (before Version 5) cannot be used to make 2010 LIFO projections or calculations using PPI index months later than June 2010. Users will need to install the new software version before they can make LIFO calculations for which PPI indexes for August 2010 or later are used. The August 2010 PPI indexes will be available on 9/16/2010, so this is the first date on which these indexes could be used.
Versions of the LIFO-PRO software before Version 5 could not read Excel 2007 or Excel 2010 .xlsx files; only the .xls files could be read. LIFO-PRO Version 5 can read both .xls and .xlsx Excel files. Although the Version 5 can read.xlsx or .xlsm files, large Excel input files will load much faster when saved as .xls Files when using Excel 2007 or newer.
The full installation setup required will not delete or otherwise change the LIFO-PRO data files (LIFO layer histories, etc.) applicable to your company and no data file conversion is required for the software version change as is often the case for software version changes.
Full Installation Setup Steps:
If you already have the LIFO-PRO software installed on your PC and are upgrading to Version 5, it would be best to install the program in the same folder it was installed to for the existing version. You can determine the existing program file folder because this is displayed when you click on the About top menu bar option on the Main Menu.
If you do not already have the LIFO-PRO software installed on your PC, you need to first decide where to place the folder that will contain the LIFO-PRO data files. This can be on your hard drive or network location. Most of our clients install the LIFO-PRO data files on a network drive. This is better place for these files than your C: drive especially if you have more than one person using the software because you do not have to worry about making software version and CPI or PPI file updates in more than one place. If you put the data files on a network, this also provides for automatic backups. You need not install the LIFO-PRO program in the same folder as the data files even though this may be more convenient.
To start the LIFO-PRO software installation, click on the password protected LIFO-PRO setup.exe file download link LIFO-PRO-Setup.exe and click on the Run command button when prompted. Enter the password provided by LIFO-PRO, Inc. when prompted for the password.
It is necessary to run the full installation setup on each PC for which the LIFO-PRO software is to be used. All Windows programs install .dll and .ocx files on each PCs C: drive even if you specify a network server path as the installation path. A full installation setup will be necessary when you start using a new or different PC which does not have LIFO-PRO Version 5 installed on it. The installation path or program file folder is simply where the program's executable (lp32bit.exe) file, Online Help file and several other files are installed.
The default installation path is c:\lifopro. If you want the installation path to be a network server path as recommended above, specify the desired path instead when prompted to enter an installation path different than c:\lifopro. The default data files path (where LIFO-PRO starts looking for files) is wherever the program is installed (y:\lifopro e.g.) but this can be changed to any path on any drive. This is done by clicking on Specify Top Level Data Path top menu bar option on the Company Selection screen (1st screen that appears when LIFO-PRO is started).
When the installation setup is completed, LIFO-PRO Version 5 will be listed in the Programs menu and windows start menu when you click the Start button. A shortcut icon will be visible on the desktop. The program version will be displayed briefly on the first screen displayed when LIFO-PRO is started and a version number text box is displayed on the lower right corner of the Main Menu beneath the LIFO-PRO logo.
Upgrade Only - to LIFO-PRO Version 5.0.X:
A software upgrade can only be accomplished after the initial full install has been done on the users PC/workstation.
Upgrade to the latest version by downloading the following file:
lp32bit.exe
Save the lp32bit.exe file to disk in the program file folder containing the existing lp32bit.exe file, overwriting the existing file with this name (make sure the program is closed before doing this). The program file folder can be determined by clicking on the About top menu bar option. The program folder is also shown at the bottom of the IPIC Menu.
