5Time

Time & Task Manager

© 1998 Palmscape & Simon Berridge

Internet: http://www.palmscape.com

E-mail: simon@palmscape.com

Welcome to 5Time, the Time and Task Manager created to help organise your time and keep track of the tasks that you undertake on a day to day basis.

5Time incorporates the following features:

• To Do List

• Task Manager

• Timesheet preparation

• Client Billing

Remember: 5Time screens are highly sensitive to pen taps. Tap anywhere and 5Time will attempt to interpret the pen tap as a command and offer some response. So - tap away, you should be able to use 5Time to its full very shortly with minimal menu access or short-key accesses.

Disclaimer & Licence agreement

5Time - including all related program files - may not be altered in any way. Reverse Translation is expressly forbidden without written permission of the author.

Registered users may install the software on an unlimited number of machines so long as they are for thier own use exclusively.

Although 5Time is shareware, and you are encouraged to pass the distribution .ZIP file to your friends and colleagues, registered copies may not be lent sold or rented without the express written permission of the author.

Palmscape & the author cannot & does not accept any liability for loss caused by error, defect or failure of the software including any loss of any kind.

No guarantee is either offered or implied by Palmscape or the author. Use of this software is entirely at your own risk.

Free Upgrades!

Registered users of 5Time are entitled to receive free upgrades via the internet or on floppy disk, as they become available.

For details on how to get latest version see the Palmscape customer support option. If you do not have access to the internet send a stamped addressed envelope with a PC formatted floppy disk to the address shown.

Please note that the free upgrades offer excludes postage fees & hardware costs

Palmscape Support

This help file gives an outline of some of 5Time's main features. If you require further help or information on any Palmscape product you can contact support via any of the following:

Internet:

The Palmscape Homepage on the worldwide web is located at http://www.palmscape.com. The latest versions of all Palmscape products are available from here, as well as general information relating to EPOC palmtop computers.

You can also send requests or questions directly to the author via email: simon@palmscape.com

Postal support:

The Palmscape address is:

182 Bromham Road

Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40 4BP

United Kingdom

5Time is Copyright © 1998 Palmscape & Simon Berridge

All rights reserved.

Backups

It is strongly suggested that you take a backup of the data files on a regular basis.

As well as keeping regular backups of the data it is also suggested that you keep a history of backed up data so that the database can be restored to a specific position at any time.

All the data files are held within the application directory. This will be either

C:\SYSTEM\APPS\5TIME

or

D:\SYSTEM\APPS\5TIME

First Time Use

5Time checks whether a database exists and, if not, creates one.

In addition, 5Time asks for some basic setup data regarding your Agenda file, its name and location and the type of alarm tone you require. In addition, 5Time will ask that you enter your name and address. This information is used for the production of Client Bills.

Getting Started

Once you have installed the software and are running the application for the first time there are two default windows that will be displayed. The first requests details of your main Agenda file. Select the Agenda file where you wish 5Time to place the Agenda entries.

The second window is the 'Personal Details' window. In here you should enter your name and address.

There are a couple of other things that you should undertake to customise 5Time to your way of working.

5Time will default the time display in the Task Manager views as a 24 hour clock. Also, 5Time has the ability to sound an alarm at the beginning of the day to remind you if you have not started a task and sound an alarm at the end of the day if you still have a task running. This option is switched off by default.

To modify the options select the Set Preferences option from the File menu. This will display a dialog box that allows you to change these preferences and set up the start and end day alarm times.

In addition you can reset the Agenda file entry from here.

The default screen that will be displayed each time that you start 5Time is the 'To Do List' screen.

The items within the To Do database will be displayed in their default order, which is by priority and date.

Overview

General Overview

5Time has been designed to help maintain a comprehensive To Do List and track tasks that are undertaken for a client or an employer.

5Time features a fully functional To Do List manager that allows for many lists and sorting on many priorities.

5Time features a fully integrated Task Manager that allows you to create clients and billing rates, trap tasks as they are undertaken, print a timesheet for a client or all clients and create bills for clients.

The windows within 5Time are designed to be intuitive to pen taps, tap on an entry, a header bar, a part of an entry etc. and 5Time will respond with an intuitive dialog allowing you to add or modify the information at will.

To Do Overview

The To Do List within 5Time allows you to add a To Do item and then flag it when it has been completed.

Each to do item must be linked to a specific list, controlled by the list button on the top right hand side of the To Do List screen.

Pressing this button allows you to select the list that you wish to work with, add a new list type or delete an existing list type. Note that if you delete a list type all the associated to do items in that list will be deleted, regardless of whether they have been completed or not. 5Time will ask for confirmation prior to deleting the list that it should proceed.

There is no limit to the number of lists with which you can operate.

You can filter out items by tapping on the list button to select a specific list, tapping on the Date header to specify date filters, tapping on the Priority header to filter out specific priorities and tapping on the Done header (?) to filter out done or not done items.

Printing a list will print the current view with all filters in operation.

Tasks Overview

5Time will keep a real-time track of up to three separate tasks that you undertake. This is done by utilising the inbuilt Series 5 clock.

To start a task press Ctrl-s. It does not matter which view you have on screen to start a task. Alternatively, you can start a task by switching to the Task Manager and then either accessing the menu and selecting Tasks, Start a Task or by tapping in the details header bar at the top of the window.

Stopping a task is handled in exactly the same way, pressing the Ctrl-s keys or tapping on the Details header in the Task Manager view or accessing the Tasks menu in the Task Manager view.

To Do List Manager

Working with To Dos

The To Do List screen is intuitive to pen taps.

Basically, the whole window operates in different manners according to the filters and orders that can be operated.

Tapping in the centre grey part of the window will display a drop-down list of program options, like Opening the Help file or closing 5Time.

Tapping on any of the inverse header items will open a filter linked to the header tapped or, if you tapped on the Detail header, will open the Add a To Do Item dialog box.

The tabs on the top of the window will allow you to switch between the To Do list and the Task Manager. Tapping on the list button in the top right hand corner of the screen opens the list management dialog box that will allow you to switch between lists, add or delete a list.

Tapping on any part of a viewed to do item will, generally, open a dialog box that allows you to modify that part of the to do record. For example, tapping on a specific date opens the date change dialog box that allows you to change the date of the selected to do item.

Scrolling through the to do items is performed by tapping on the scroll bar or by pressing the up or down arrow keys, or you can move a whole page up or down by pressing the PgUp and PgDn arrow keys.

There are a couple of additional functions available which are accessed by pressing the menu key.

To Do Screen

The To Do screen has a number of features that should be detailed here.

The Screen Display

The screen shows the Due Date, the Priority, the Action item and whether it is flagged as 'Done'.

Tapping within any of the grey header tabs of the screen will generate different actions. These are described below.

Scrolling the screen when there are more than nine items is performed by tapping in the scroll ba or by pressing the up or down arrows to scroll one line at a time or the PgUp or PgDn keys to scroll a screen at a time.

Actions available

Date

A pop up menu will be displayed that allows you to sort the To Do items by different date methods. It also allows a filter on the dates.

Priority

This will display a pop up menu that allows you to filter the To Do items by different priorities.

To Do Action

This will open the 'Add a To Do Item' dialog box.

?

This will display a pop up menu that allows you to filter out the done or outstanding items or remove the filter altogether.

Menu Actions

Pressing the Menu key will display the menu associated with the To Do list options. However, everything that you need to do on this screen can be accessed with the pen.

Adding a To Do Item

This can be done by pressing Ctrl-t, accessing the menu, then To Do, then Add To Do, or by just tapping on the black area with the legend 'To Do Action'.

Changing a To Do Item

This is done by tapping within the To Do Action text area for the item that you wish to change.

Memos

A memo can be added to a To Do item by pressing the Memo button in the Add or Modify dialog box. A To Do item with a memo attached will show the ¶ character immediately before the text.

Adding/Changing Memo

A memo is added or changed by pressing the Memo button within the Add or Modify To Do item dialog boxes. To delete a memo just access the memo and delete all the text.

Adding a To Do Item

This can be done by pressing Ctrl-t, accessing the menu, then To Do, then Add To Do, or by just tapping on the black area with the legend 'To Do Action'.

Memos

A memo can be added to a To Do item by pressing the Memo button in the Add or Modify dialog box. A To Do item with a memo attached will show a memo bitmap immediately before the text.

Adding/Changing Memo

A memo is added or changed by pressing the Memo button within the Add or Modify To Do item dialog boxes. To delete a memo just access the memo and delete all the text.

Changing a To Do Item

This is done by tapping within the To Do Action text area for the item that you wish to change.

Changing To Do Date

This can be done by simply modifying the whole To Do Item by tapping on it.

However, 5Time offers a simple way of only changing the date of an item and that is to tap on the date that you wish to change.

A dialog box will open which will allow you to change the date of the associated To Do Item.

Changing To Do Priority

This can be done by simply modifying the whole To Do Item by tapping on it.

However, 5Time offers a simple way of only changing the priority of an item and that is to tap on the priority that you wish to change.

A dialog box will open which will allow you to change the priority of the associated To Do Item.

Setting a To Do Item as Done

A To Do item can be set as Done (completed) by tapping in the small box on the right hand side of the to do item.

A tick will appear that flags the item as done.

Delete Done Items

Done (completed) To Do items can be removed from 5Time in one of two ways.

Hiding Done Items

Hide the Done items by tapping on the '?' icon. This will display a popup menu, select the 'Not Done' option. This will display only those To Do items that have not been completed.

Deleting Done Items

This action removes the Done items from the database, they cannot be recovered. The action is performed by pressing the Menu key, accessing the To Do Option and then selecting the Remove Done Items option.

Printing a To Do List

A To Do list can be printed at any time by pressing the Menu key, then accessing the To Do option and selecting the Print To Do List option.

NOTE: The printed To Do list will be the same as the current view that you have displayed on screen. So whichever list you require means setting up the screen display first.

Task Manager

Task Manager Screen

The Task Manager Screen operates in a similar manner to the To Do List screen in that it is intuitive to pen taps.

The default window will display all the tasks that you have worked on that have not been transferred to a summary record.

Working with Tasks

The default screen displayed when you switch to the Task Manager screen displays a list of Outstanding Tasks. These are tasks that have not been 'transferred' to a summary record.

The default view shows the date of the task, the typed details and the start time and end date and time. Tapping on the 'End' header will switch the view to show the duration of the task in hours and minutes.

Tapping on the 'Date' header will open the same drop down menu as is displayed in the To Do List where you can select tasks sorted by certain date criteria.

Tapping in the 'Details' header will either start or stop a task, depending on whether a current task is running or not.

If a task is running then the centre of the screen will show the number of tasks currently running, up to three can be running at any one time. In this case the drop-down list associated with this part of the screen does not display when the area is tapped with the pen. Tapping in this area whilst Task Running is displayed will display the message 'Time Spent:' and the value of the time that the current task has been running.

Clients

5Time operates a client system by producing client bills which are derived from the tasks undertaken within a given period of time.

For each client that you work with it will be necessary to create a client record. This is a very basic record that captures the client's name and the contact person and their address. In addition, 5Time needs to know the billing information, like the rate charged for what time period and the number of hours in a client day.

You will not be able to start a new task until at least one client has been created.

For those users who do not have multiple clients (employees, for example) just create your employer as a 'client'' and that will finalise your setup for clients as every business task that you undertake will be for the same 'client', your employer. You can use 5Time, though, to produce a weekly or monthly timesheet.

Client Billing

The concept of client billing in 5Time is that a bill is produced periodically based upon the tasks undertaken on behalf of a client and utilising the billing data held when you create a client.

Client bills are not produced from the raw tasks that have been undertaken. These tasks have to be summarised into their task types prior to a bill being produced.

The summarisation of the tasks is called 'Transfer Tasks' within 5Time.

As each task is undertaken for any client within the 5Time database it is held and shown on screen in the Task Manager view. When you are ready to create a bill select the 'Transfer Tasks' option from the Task Manger view and compete the dialog box that is displayed. The result of this will be to remove the tasks from the view and create summary records sorted by Task Type.

Now that you have some summary records you can produce a client bill. This is a two stage process where you create a bill record and then print a bill.

The bill record is created by accessing the 'Client Bills' option from the Clients menu in the Task Manager view. The dialog box will ask for which client to create a bill and what the bill date should be.

Once the bill record has been created you can then print the client bill. This is done from the 'Printing' menu within the 'File' menu in the Task Manager view.

A client bill is different from a timesheet. A timesheet details the actual tasks undertaken over a period whereas the bill summarises those tasks and calculates the bill value.

How Billing Works

A Client Bill is produced from summary task records.

An example would be:

A single task was started at 9:00am and finished at 10:40am. This would be registered within the database as 1 hour 40 minutes.

Transferring the tasks would create a single summary record for the ask type that this task was linked to for a total of 1 hour 40 minutes.

We will assume you created the client record and added a rate of $50 per hour. If this is the only summary record for the client for the period then the Client Bill creation will create a bill record of $100 as 5Time makes the following assumption:

A rate is for a period or part thereof.

It follows, therefore, that if the summary task was for 1 hour 1 minute then the bill would still be $100, whereas a task summary of 59 minutes would generate a bill of $50.

Tasks - Task Types

For Task Manager to work it is necessary to classify your tasks into 'types'.

Each task that you undertake will be linked to a Client and to a task type. You will have the opportunity when starting a new task to complete a description of the task being undertaken as well as linking it to a specific type.

Each type is summarised when transferring the tasks. (See Transferring Tasks).

It is necessary, therefore, to create some task types before starting your first task. This is done from the Task Manager menu. Switch to the Task Manager window and press the menu key. Access the Tasks menu, then Types and then Add Task Type. A simple dialog box will ask for a description. This may be up to 30 characters in length.

Starting a New Task

Tasks are started and stopped by pressing Ctrl-s or accessing the Tasks menu within the Task Manager view.

Tasks are held within 5Time with a link to a Client record and a task type (task classification). In addition, the record has a start and end date and a start and end time. It also holds the total minutes that a task has run for and from this information a timesheet can be produced.

Stopping a running task

A running task can be stopped at any time by pressing Ctrl-s or by accessing the Tasks menu from within the Task Manager view, or by tapping on the task itself within the 'Outstanding Tasks' view or by tapping on the Task Header field.

Once a task has been stopped 5Time registers the task within its database. The information held is a link to a Client record and a link to a task type. It holds a start and end date and a start and end time. In addition, it holds the total number of minutes that a task has been running.

If the total number of minutes is less than one then the task is not registered within the database.

From this information a timesheet can be produced.

Pausing a running task

When a task is currently running it can be paused. This means that the charging timer can be stopped for a period of time.

This action is undertaken by tapping on the currently running task within the main Task Manager view. A popup menu will appear that gives the option of Pausing the task or stopping the task.

In addition, tasks may be paused by tapping on the 'Currently Running' display or restarted by tapping on the 'Currently Paused' display.

Paused tasks may be restarted or stopped by using the same method.

Cloning (copying) an existing Task

A task can be copied by tapping on the task to be copied. This will display a popup menu that gives the option of Changing, Cloning or Continuing a Task.

Selecting the 'Clone' option will create a second, identical, task within the list.

This may then be changed by tapping on the field to change.

Continuing a Task

Continuing a task means starting a new task that has the same details as a previous task.

A task can be continued by tapping on the task to be copied. This will display a popup menu that gives the option of Changing, Cloning or Continuing a Task.

Selecting the 'Continue' option will create a second task within the list with the same details as the selected task ut the start date and time is set to now. In addition it is set as the current running task and the task timer is implemented.

Memos

A memo can be added to a Task item by pressing the Memo button in the Add or Modify dialog box. A Task item with a memo attached will show a memo bitmap immediately before the text.

Adding/Changing Memo

A memo is added or changed by pressing the Memo button within the Add or Modify Task item dialog boxes. To delete a memo just access the memo and delete all the text.

Transferring Tasks to Summary

Tasks are consolidated from time to time by transferring them to a task summary record.

Each task type, for a period, has a summary record within the database. From this information a Client bill can be produced.

When tasks are added to 5Time they are flagged as not transferred. When you are ready to transfer the task in preparation for a client bill then you can select Transfer Tasks from the Tasks menu within the Task manager view.

Timesheets are produced from the individual tasks registered within 5Time. However, a client bill will just show line items for each task type in which you were involved since the last client bill. The Transfer Tasks operation creates these summarised Task Types in order that 5Time can create the consolidated bill.

Printing a Time Sheet

A time sheet can be printed at any time by selecting the Print Timesheet option from the Task Manager menu.

A dialog box will be displayed that will ask for the from and to dates to be selected from the database. Note that these dates are inclusive. Two more filters are displayed, being Client and Task Type. These will default to 'All' but can be selected to narrow the timesheet printed.

It does not matter whether the tasks have been transferred or not, any task that you have undertaken within the specified period will appear on the timesheet.

Delete Transferred Tasks

Once tasks have been transferred to a summary record and the client bill has been produced you can remove the individual tasks from the database.

This is only advisable if you do not wish to reproduce a timesheet as any timesheet uses the tasks for its production.

It follows, therefore, that you should keep some history of the tasks within the database before removing transferred tasks. Your own business practice should be established in this respect, but it would seem logical to keep something like two billing periods in the database so that 'old' timesheets can be reproduced.

Summary Tasks

The Summary Tasks window is accessed from within the Task Manager view by tapping on the button in the top right hand side of the screen and selecting the 'Summary Tasks' option.

Tapping in the 'Client' header will open a filter that will allow you to select all clients or a specific client to view.

Tapping in the 'Task Type' header will open a filter that will allow you to select all task types or a specific task type to view.

Client Bills Screen

The Client Bills window is accessed whilst in the Task Manager view by tapping on the top right hand button and selecting 'Client Bills'.

This window will show all the bills associated with all your clients and whether they have been paid or not.

Tapping on the 'Pd' header will open a filter to allow you to display all bills, only paid bills or only unpaid bills.

Tapping on the 'Client' header will open a filter to allow you to see all clients or a specific client.

Tapping within the 'Pd' field will flag the bill as either paid or unpaid, depending upon its start value.

Print Client Bill

Printing a Client Bill is undertaken by accessing the 'Client Bills' option from the 'Printing' option within the 'File' Menu under the Task Manager View.

A Client Bill is printed after the creation of a Client Bill record. This record is created following the production of Task Summary records, which, in turn, are the summary of the individual tasks undertaken during a billing period.

Delete Paid Bills

Bills that have been marked as 'Paid' can be removed by accessing the 'Remove Paid Bills' option from the 'Data' menu within the Task Manager View.

This action will delete the bill records and their associated Task Summary records from the database and the action is irrecoverable.

It is suggested that a backup of the database is kept off-line prior to this function in order that a history can be kept for future reference.

General Information

Exporting Data

5Time will export all the data held within its database to CSV files.

Depending upon the view that you have will determine the export files available to you.

All export files are accessed via the File menu in the current view.

To Do Export

This will export into a CSV file all the to do items. This gives you the ability to load them into a spreadsheet or external database file and perform your own additional database analysis.

Task Export

There are a number of export files available within the Task Manager view.

You are able to export all tasks registered within the database, export all the summary tasks registered within the database and all the Client Bills registered.

Database Size

The size of the database will grow quite rapidly as you are adding To Do items and Tasks.

5Time compresses the database to a more reasonable size upon exit, not whilst it is running.

It is a good idea, therefore, to close 5Time periodically so that this database maintenance can be performed.

Preferences

Preferences are set by accessing the Set Preferences option from the File menu.

A discussion on the available preferences can be seen in Getting Started.