WELCOME TO FindIT
Overview:
FindIT is a program that was initially designed to keep track of what items or names are in which Database. Through my years of owning a Psion (especially) with the Series 5 I have found it so frustrating when looking for a name of a person or an item I always have a tendency to go to the wrong Database first.
FindIT keeps a record of names or items and allows you to attach the name of a database to that record, therefore next time you want to find that person/item you just go to FindIT then type there name into the keyboard ( or "Find" in the usual manor Psion F or you can use the Space Bar) and then press enter, FindIT will then look for that item.
First Use:
The first time you open FindIT you will be presented with the main screen display with just my name entered as the first entry. This is only as an example and can be safely deleted.
There are two ways in which to add items into the FindIT file.
Firstly and admittedly the most unlikeliest method you will use is to manually enter the details using "New Entry". Once this option is chosen a dialog will pop up and enable you to write the name of a person or an item and then just show FindIT which file this piece of text is located in. (For ease of understanding this word file, I will now assume that every entry is a name of a person and not an item.)
The second method of adding information into FindIT is the "Import" function.
Once chosen this will pop up a dialog asking you to select a database to import from and the field position that you want to import the details from. Therefore if you want to import all the names in your database you show FindIT the name of the database using the file selector, then choose which field your names are located in.
If you are unsure as to which field your names are in, in the Database that you are going to import from, you must switch to the Database application and choose "Change Labels" (Ctrl L), this will pop up a list of the fields in your database, this is the order that FindIT is working from, so if the first field listed is "Name" then clear this dialog and go back to FindIT and choose the first field as the field to import.
Should you require any further help on this function then please do not hesitate to email me at the following address: tsteven@cix.co.uk
Once you have successfully chosen the field to import & confirmed the import, FindIT will then, close the Database file if necessary and, copy all of the information from that one Database field into it's own file. It will also automatically record which file it is copying from for each record.
Therefore the name of the database will automatically be added to the names that you are importing. Once FindIT has finished importing, if it had closed your Database, it will now re-open it.
You are now almost ready to use FindIT! The next thing to do is to note which Global Hotkey FindIT uses. As an Unregistered user this keypress is fixed at Control Function F. Providing you have not exited FindIT and have instead moved the program to the back ground, this is the keypress that will bring FindIT to the foreground of the Psion.
Once you Register FindIT, you are then able to change this keypress to a more desirable one.
The First Try:
So now, having successfully imported your Database, you can give FindIT a trial and see if it works.
Leaving FindIT open move to the system screen or to another file, this file you are reading is fine. As you press Control-Function F, FindIT will come to the foreground so be prepared as to what happens. Here is the sequence of events:
Ok that's it! That's how you use it! Of course there's much more to it so read on!
Now for the bells and whistles!
Finding:
First of all there is Finding names in the file.
There are several ways, the first and by far the easiest is to just write the name directly to the keyboard, as you may have just done if you followed the sequence above. Please note this method, of writing directly from the keyboard, does not accept CAPITAL letters. The second method of finding is to press the "Spacebar", thirdly as with most Psion Application you can use "Ctrl F". These latter two methods will pop up a dialog and allow you to write the name that you want to search for. It will also allow you to choose which of the two fields you want to search. Initially you will see that the selectable fields are "name", "number" or "both". You should immediately notice that these fields (i.e Name or Number) are written in the black bar above each column in the main FindIT screen. These are changeable and I will come back to this point later.
As soon as you have written the name that you want to find, from any of the methods, just press Enter. FindIT will then look for that name.
Once it has found the name it will be displayed at the top of the FindIT file, this name is now the current name. If this is NOT the name you were looking for then just press Ctrl J in the usual manor. To go to the database that holds this name either press enter or tap the name with the pointer.
Mutliple Search & Display:
I will now digress a little from the topic header and show you one of the FindIT preferences. If you go to FindIT and press Ctrl P you will bring up the preferences dialog. The first preference is "Findby:" This is the preference that controls the Finding that we have already done. You should see that this is fixed at "Single Entries", if you move the left or right arrow key you will see this option change to "Multiple Entries". As soon as you have done this press Enter. I will come back to the others later.
Now when we do the find, as we did above, and search for a name, that we know is in the FindIT file, all of the entries that match that search text will be displayed on the screen. At this point, please note, obviously we have found every entry in the file, so Ctrl J will not work in this mode.
To go to one of those name you can now either "Double Tap" the name or move down the list of displayed names using the arrow keys and then press enter. Please note it may not be necessary to double tap the entry as it may be the only one or the top one, if it is not however you should double tap it. A single tap will only make the entry the current one. (This is not always necessary, there is another preference that permits single taps.)
Preferences:
So now I will run through the preferences.
The first one we have already discovered and adjusted is "Findby", this lets you switch the FInd mode from Single entry finds to Multiple Finds and back again.
The second, which you may not have realised but you may have already adjusted, is "Fields to Search". When you press either the Spacebar or Control F you will bring up the Find procedure, underneath the text that you enter to search for is an option to change the field that you are searching in. These options are the Name, Number or both fields. Everytime you change which field to search by you inadvertently update (or change) this preference.
The third preference is font type. This should be quite self-explanatory. It changes the font type for displaying names from Arial to Courier or vice versa.
The fourth preference is Pointer Action.
Now as I have already mentioned, when displaying names in multiple display "Find Mode" you can tap one of names that are displayed and make it the current name or double tap a name to make FindIT automatically go to the Database that that entry is located in. By altering this fourth preference from "Makes Current" to "Goes to" you will by pass the need to give the first tap. In other words setting this preference to "Goes to" will make a single tap of a name automatically go to the database that the name is in.
The fifth preference is "Display Notes". This will place a graphical "Word" icon at the end of each line when a name entry has a Note file attached to it. I will come back to the Notes display further on.
The sixth and final preference is "Toolbar Jumps".
You may have noticed that on the Toolbar there are two buttons in the middle that have Up & Down written on them. This last preference allows you to set how many places you would like each one of these buttons to jump. i.e If you set it to 8 then each time you press and Up or Down button, FindIT will move 8 places in either of the directions chosen.
Updating:
So now I have covered most of the main aspects of using the programming we can move on to the more involved features.
One of the main things to worry about is adding entries to your Database. You certainly would not want to have to add entries into your Database then have to add them into the FindIT file.
This is why have added an "Update" procedure.
Using this, FindIT will read a Database and add, to the FindIT file, any names that have been added that are not already in the FindIT file. In other words you can automatically add the changes from the Database to the FindIT file.
Notes:
If you wish to add a note to a certain name you can do so using "Add" under the "Notes" menu option (Also accessed by pressing the right arrow key).
When you create a Note it will automatically be date stamped. So you do not have to worry about adding the date to the Note.
If you want to view the Notes, you simply use "View" and this will bring up a display showing all the Notes that have been written. Once you have started a Note file for a name, as we have already discussed, under preferences there is an option to display a "Word" icon at the end of the line where that persons name is.
Double tapping on the Word icon will open the Note file for viewing as if you had used the "View" notes menu option.
Delete Notes should be quite self explanatory, obviously it deletes the Note file that you have created.
Groups:
There is also an option to save multiple searches as groups. Once the Find procedure has completed the found names will all be displayed on the screen, these names can then be saved as a group. Groups can be accessed via the "Tab" key and are therefore displayed much quicker.
Other menu options:
Re-Number:
This option has the ability to change all of the first column of information to a numbered order. To do this you just use the "Re-Number" option.
Edit Headers:
Using the Edit headers menu option you can change the wording above the two columns. The first heading is limited to the amount of characters that can be added.
You will notice that, when using either of the two find modes that pop up a dialog asking you to add the text, the lower line which holds the Findby field choice, will also be edited depending on what you have edited the headers to.
Groups:
Displays multiples finds that have been saved as groups. Just chose the option and this will pop up a dialog, then just press "Tab" and it will list the names of groups that have been saved so far.
Show Location:
This option, also accessed by pressing the right arrow key, will display the Database file that the current name is located in. It will also show if the name has a Note file attached to it.
Remove Group:
This option, again self explanatory will show the groups available and allow you to delete one of them.
Pressing Escape:
Pressing Escape will move FindIT to the background and bring back the last application you were using prior to FindIT.
Registering:
FindIT is shareware, if you use it please register it. Registration gets you piece of mind plus the ability to change the letter key for the Hotkey function.
It's only £10! It will me make me feel a whole lot better and give you a clear conscience. Plus you will have the added bonus of being entitled to free upgrades(*) of this software.
Please send cheques made payable to Tony Crocker to:
10 Doyle Close
Drummond Park
Erith
Kent
DA8 3QT
England
Alternatively use the WWW by going to: http://www.swregnet.com/1784p.htm
Registration also available via Compuserve SWReg. The unique ID for FindIT is 16842 alternatively you can find "FindIT" by program name or author's name (Tony Crocker).
Both of these latter methods will cost $18.00.
* I do NOT guarantee to upgrade this software at all, however crossing my palm with silver will help.
This program comes with no guarantees. I accept no responsibility for any loss of Data caused by my program, whether registered or not.
Feel free to mail me with any ideas for improvements or enhancements. I can be contacted by sending email to: tsteven@cix.co.uk.
Don't forget to check out the latest from my web site:
"http//ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/tsteven_c/"