CrmGUARD / CrmGUARD

CrmGUARD is a desktop application that centralises the sales operations of the GUARD suite: clients, opportunities, subscriptions and invoices. It runs offline, with no server, on a local database.

Who it is for

CrmGUARD is the sales cockpit for the GUARD suite. It suits a publisher distributing its software, a partner reselling it under their own brand, or a sales team running its own activity.

How to read this guide

The left menu follows the chapter order: getting started and installation, then each feature step by step, then the technical part (architecture and database) and finally deployment. Use the search box to filter chapters, and the FR / EN switch at the top to change language.

On the very first run, the app sets itself up: it creates the database, lets you pick the language.

The screen has two parts: the sidebar (navigation) and the content area.

The sidebar

• Top: the app name and tagline (customisable), then the FR / EN selector.
• Middle: the menu. Some entries are collapsible groups (Clients, Invoices, Settings) — click the label to expand.
• Very bottom: the red Close button (full width) that quits the app.
• The ‹ button at the top collapses the sidebar to enlarge the workspace; a ☰ button brings it back.

The menu, in order

Keyboard shortcuts

Depending on the open screen:

• Ctrl + F — focus the search box.
• Ctrl + N — create a new item (client, invoice…).
• Esc — go back (close a sheet).

Two ways to install CrmGUARD on a machine: the Windows installer (recommended) or running the published executable directly.

Machine requirements

• Windows 64-bit (Windows 10 or 11).
• .NET Desktop Runtime 10 (x64) — required for the lightweight edition. The installer checks for it and offers to download it if missing: dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/10.0/runtime (“Run desktop apps” section).

Method 1 — the installer (recommended)

Method 2 — standalone edition (no runtime)

A “standalone” edition bundles .NET: larger, but it runs without installing the runtime. It is produced with the dedicated build option (see the Build & deploy chapter).

The dashboard is the home page: it summarises sales activity at a glance.

What you see

• Key figures: open pipeline, revenue, upcoming renewals, overdue tasks.
• Revenue by product: revenue split as a donut.
• Won revenue trend: a bar chart of the last 12 months (months with no sale show as zero).
• Opportunities: a shortcut to the pipeline.

The Clients module manages your directory and, for each client, a detailed tabbed sheet.

The client list

• Search at the top, filters (status, priority) and pagination (25 / 50 / 100 / 200 per page) for large volumes.
• Sort by clicking a column header (an arrow shows the direction).
• CSV import and CSV export: export produces the whole directory; import reads that same format (“;” separator).

Statuses & priorities

Client status: Prospect, Active, Inactive. Priority: Low, Normal, High. These colour-coded values are translated on display according to the language.

Create a client

The client sheet (8 tabs)

The pipeline shows your sales opportunities in columns, by stage.

The stages

Lead → Prospect → Qualification → Proposal → Negotiation → Won / Lost. Each column groups the opportunities at that stage.

Create and track an opportunity

Subscriptions represent recurring contracts: start date, renewal date, amount, renewal.

Subscription fields

• The client and product involved.
• Start and renewal date; days left are computed automatically (a cancelled subscription shows “—”).
• Amount and auto-renewal.
• Status: Active / Cancelled.

Search, filter, pagination

The list can be searched (client, product), filtered by status and paginated like the other lists.

The Invoices module covers issuing, payment tracking, printing and PDF export. Settings (numbering, VAT, template) live in Settings › Billing.

Invoice life cycle

Statuses: Draft → Issued → Paid, or Cancelled. An issued invoice past its due date is flagged Overdue.

Create an invoice

Remind, print, export

• ✉ Remind: prepares a pre-filled reminder email (number, amount, due date, days overdue) to the client's address.
• Preview: opens the invoice in the browser, ready to print.
• ⤓ Export PDF: opens the invoice with the print dialog, choose “Save as PDF”.

Archived invoices

The Invoices › Archived entry keeps invoices out of the current flow, viewable at any time.

The Quotes module produces a quote that serves as a purchase order once signed: the printable document carries an “Agreed and accepted” signature block. It shares the numbering, VAT and four layout templates of invoices, set in Settings › Billing.

Commercial profile

Each quote is tied to a profile that adapts the catalogue shown and the document heading: End client, Partner or Standalone. The profile is chosen at the top of the quote; it determines the items shown in the catalogue (see below).

Quote life cycle

Statuses: Draft → Sent → Accepted, or Refused. A sent quote past its validity date is flagged Expired. An accepted quote can be converted into an invoice.

Create a quote

The catalogue by profile

The items offered come from the Products module, filtered by the profile's channel:

Agreed and accepted

The quote serves as a purchase order: the printable document includes an Agreed and accepted signature block (date, name and title, signature) with the handwritten wording to copy. The client orders by returning the document dated and signed.

Preview, PDF, conversion

• Preview: opens the quote in the browser, ready to print.
• ⤓ Export PDF: opens the quote with the print dialog, choose “Save as PDF”.
• Convert to invoice: from an accepted quote, creates a draft invoice mirroring the client, lines and VAT. Both documents stay linked; the invoice is reviewed before issuing.

Archived quotes

The Quotes › Archived entry keeps quotes out of the current flow, viewable at any time. A CSV export of the list is available.

Tasks

A simple sales to-do, with priority and due date.

• Search (title, client), filter by priority (Low / Normal / High), “Show completed” checkbox.
• Sort by due date or state; pagination for long lists.
• Tick a task to mark it done.

Products

The catalogue of offers you sell.

• Each product has a code, a name, a description and a type: One-off audit, Licence, Subscription.
• Search (code, name) and filter by type.
• Products feed opportunities, subscriptions and invoice lines.

History

The log of every action recorded in the app.

• Full-text search (detail, action, object), filter by object type.
• Useful to find when a client, invoice or opportunity was changed.

My details (company)

Your company details, reused on invoices.

• Legal name, legal form, capital, address, identifiers (VAT, trade register…), contact details, bank details, logo, legal footer.
• The legal name is required to save.

Billing

Your invoice configuration, on a dedicated page that fills the space.

• Automatic billing and its trigger: when an opportunity is won, when a subscription is due, or both.
• Invoice template: banner, classic, compact or clean (list with preview).
• Numbering: prefix, next number, preview of the full next number.
• VAT, currency, payment terms, late fees, early-payment discount.
• Preview: generates a sample invoice with your settings.

This page manages the health, backup and location of your local database.

Database status

A coloured banner shows the state: the whole card is green when the database is connected at launch, red on error.

Automatic backup

• On by default: a timestamped copy of the database is made at every startup, before any write.
• Configurable rotation: number of copies to keep (3 / 5 / 10 / 20 / 30 / 50).
• List of existing backups (date + size), Open folder and Restore selection buttons.

Location

The Change location button moves the database to another folder (for example a synced folder).

You can replace the name and tagline shown by the app, from About.

CrmGUARD is a single-seat WPF (.NET 10) application backed by SQLite. No network layer, no server.

Overview

UI (WPF / XAML)               Views/*.xaml (+ .xaml.cs)
        │                     MainWindow (navigation, overlays)
        ▼
Services / business logic     Services/*.cs
        │                     Repo (partial), Loc, InvoiceRenderer…
        ▼
Data (local SQLite)           salesguard.db  ·  Services/Db.cs

Tech stack

• .NET 10, net10.0-windows, WPF (UseWPF).
• SQLite via Microsoft.Data.Sqlite (10.0.0).
• WinExe executable, assembly name CrmGUARD, root namespace CrmGUARD.
• Metadata: Company=M365Expertise, Product=CrmGUARD, icon salesguard.ico.

Code layout

The MainWindow pattern

• Centralised navigation: Navigate(page) instantiates the view and marks the active menu entry. Views are recreated on each navigation.
• In-house dialogs (no system popups): Confirm/Ask and Notify/Toast overlays (Info / Success / Error).
• Auto-invoicing: an hourly timer sweeps due subscriptions (idempotent).

All data lives in a single SQLite file, salesguard.db, managed by Services/Db.cs.

Principles

• Auto-created schema on first launch (CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS).
• Tolerant migrations: AddColumnIfMissing adds missing columns to an already-deployed database, without data loss (no DROP COLUMN).
• Integrity: foreign keys enabled, WAL journaling.
• Location stored in a preferences file; movable from the UI.

Main tables

Access layer

The Repo is a partial class split by domain (RepoClients, RepoInvoices, RepoCompany…), with shared helpers in Repo.cs. The public API stays Repo.Xxx.

The app is fully bilingual FR/EN with hot switching, no restart and no satellite files.

Mechanism: an in-house dictionary

• Services/Loc.cs: the Loc class (singleton Loc.I, INotifyPropertyChanged).
• A bindable indexer this[key] returns the FR or EN string for the current language (or the key itself if missing, to spot gaps).
• SetLang raises PropertyChanged("Item[]") → all bound labels re-evaluate instantly.
• The setting is stored in a preferences file (English by default).

Usage in code

<!-- XAML -->
<TextBlock Text="{Binding [Nav.Dashboard], Source={x:Static svc:Loc.I}}"/>

// Code-behind
string title = Loc.T("CB.Saved");

With the namespace xmlns:svc="clr-namespace:CrmGUARD.Services" in the view header.

Reference data translated without breakage

Reference values (statuses, priorities, stages…) stay stored and compared in French; only display is translated, via Loc.Ref(value) and a RefConverter applied to columns and lists. Code comparisons (== "Payée") therefore remain unchanged.

The installer is produced from the project root, with the .NET 10 SDK and Inno Setup.

Build requirements

• .NET 10 SDK — dotnet --version must return 10.x.
• Inno Setup 6+ — ISCC.exe is found automatically at its usual location.

Build the installer

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File installer\build.ps1

The script chains: dotnet publish to win-x64 (framework-dependent) → installer\publish\, then compiles CrmGUARD.iss → installer\dist\CrmGUARD-Setup-<version>.exe.

Standalone edition (bundles .NET)

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File installer\build.ps1 -SelfContained

What the installer does

• Installs into C:\Program Files\CrmGUARD (admin rights), Start-menu shortcut + optional desktop shortcut.
• Clean uninstall entry in “Apps & features”.
• Checks the .NET Desktop Runtime 10 in the registry; if missing, opens the Microsoft page and stops.
• Shows the licence agreement before installing.

Version number

The version comes from <Version> in CrmGUARD.csproj; the installer reads it from the published DLL (single source). The installer's AppId (GUID) must never change: it is the key for updates and uninstalls.

Tests

cd Tests
dotnet run

Standalone console project (no external dependency) covering pure logic (invoice maths, subscriptions, company, reference data). It runs anywhere and returns an error code if a test fails; it is excluded from the app build.

Frequently asked questions

Where is my data?

In the salesguard.db file (application data), with timestamped backups in a subfolder. The location can be changed from Settings › Database.

The “Database status” banner is red

The database could not open at startup. Check the location (accessible folder, not read-only) and disk space. Restore a backup if needed.

“Save” rejects my client / company sheet

The legal name is required. Fill it in and try again.

Can I switch language at any time?

Yes, the FR/EN selector switches the whole UI instantly, with no restart.

How do I back up before a risky change?

A backup is made at every startup. You can also open the backups folder from Settings › Database and copy the desired file.

On first build of the source code

If compilation fails with a “type not found” error on a single type, the archive was probably extracted partially: purge obj/ and bin/ and rebuild. The root build.ps1 automates this cleanup.