TABLE OF CONTENTS

About Executive Desk

   Dayview	    Address Book

   Time Planner	    To-Do

  Letter Writer	    FollowUp

   Phone List	    World Time

   Archival List	    PopRun

    Customize	   Reorganization


About Executive Desk

Work Smarter Not Harder

We all need more time, but there is never enough of it. Working longer hours does not mean more work accomplished. Executive Desk is a software for Smart Working -- a technique to organize you for better results.

Effectiveness v/s Efficiency

Executive Desk is a complete system of Contacts, Schedules, Reminders, To-Do Lists, Notes, Phone Calls, Follow-Ups, Routine Correspondence, Phone Dialer, World Time and more. A typical productivity system focuses on efficiency: doing things right. Executive Desk emphasizes effectiveness: doing the right things at the right time and doing them right.

Better Results

Executive Desk is based on Time Management Principle -- it provides you a system that supports: Delegation, Planning, Tracking at the same time automating routine tasks such as correspondence, filing, etc. The underlying principle is to help you make the best use of your time.

Working with Windows

Working with Executive Desk

Keyboard Shortcuts

You can customize Executive Desk to suit your style of working.

See help on Set-Up in the Table of Contents.


Working with Windows

Executive Desk operates in the Windows environment, therefore you should first familiarize with Microsoft® Windows™. Refer to the chapter on Windows Fundamentals in the Microsoft Windows Users Guide and understand the following:

   • Using Menus, Scroll Bars, Dialog Boxes.

   • Selecting Command Buttons and Option Buttons.

   • Working with Text Boxes, List Boxes, Check Boxes.

The mouse pointer in the Executive Desk takes the following

shapes depending on the context of the function, as below:

 	Shows mouse position.

Shows edit cursor in dialog boxes.

Wait-for-processing signal.

Shows mouse position for touch-selection 	in Calculator & Phone Dialer.


Working with Executive Desk

When you load Executive Desk the iconic representations of various sections are displayed on the right. To use a section, click on the appropriate icon. Alternatively, you can access the menu by typing ALT +O, which pulls down the option menu from which you can select the section you wish to use.

When you select a section, the main-screen of the section is displayed with command buttons at the bottom. To enter into command mode, click on the appropriate button. Alternately, you can use Keyboard Shortcuts to activate a command by pressing ALT +Underlined letter in the required command button.

Once you request a command, the corresponding dialog boxes will prompt you for the necessary inputs. TAB key allows you to move in the dialog boxes by jumping over the prompts.

Note: Commands that are inactive or not applicable automatically turn gray depending on the context and will not be available for selection. Similarly, confirmation buttons like OK and CANCEL in dialog boxes will become active or inactive depending on the context.


Keyboard Shortcuts

While it is more convenient to use Executive Desk with a mouse,

it also provides keyboards shortcuts for all the functions and commands.

General Keys

ALT +O	Option Menu.

ALT +V	Day-At-A-Glance.

ALT +H  or  F1	Help.

ALT +SPACE	System Box.

ALT +F4	Close & Exit.

ALT +Underlined Letter	Option Selection in Individual Sections.

TAB	Move in the dialog box

(Refer to help on individual sections for Keyboard shortcuts specific to that section)

Clipboard Cut & Paste

SHIFT +Left/Right Arrow	Mark Text in Notes and Edit Box.

Left/Right Arrow	Unmark Text.

CTRL +C	Copy to Clipboard.

CTRL +X	Cut to Clipboard.

CTRL +V	Paste from Clipboard.

Editing Keys

INSERT	Toggle for insert/overwrite mode.

DEL	Delete character right.

BACKSPACE	Delete character left.

UP/DOWN Arrow	Line Up/Down.

ALT +Down Arrow in date	Pop-up Calendar.

LEFT/RIGHT Arrow	Right/Left one character.

CTRL+ LEFT/RIGHT Arrow	Right/Left one word.

HOME/END	Beginning/End of line.

PGUP/PGDN	Up/Down one screen.

CTRL+ HOME/END	Beginning/End of text block.

SHIFT+TAB	Backward one field.


A Day At A Glance
DayView

DayView is the Control Center of Executive Desk. It provides at-a-glance view of your complete schedule for a given date and is the first module loaded when you start Executive Desk. Apart from Date Caption, which shows day/date and holiday/event description, if any, DayView screen displays the following items:

•  Daily Schedule List: shows the schedule for the day.

•  Calendar: to select date for viewing and for rescheduling.

•  Buttons: Calculator, Dialer, ScratchPad, WeekView and Print.

•  Notes: You can view the Notes by clicking on the item in the list. The note pad displays:

Status and Due Date for To-Do Tasks.

Phone# and Due Date for Phone List.

Due Date and Task Links for Follow-Up Items.

Besides, You can

•  Add Items to the schedule list

•  Reschedule Items

•  Convert To-Do into Follow-up and vice versa

•  Archive Items in DayView.


About Address Book
Address Book

Address Book Stores names, addresses, phone/fax numbers, birth dates and anniversary dates of your contacts. It is the same information you find on a business card. You may classify this information into any number of address books Files. Besides, you may maintain Notes on your contacts to hold information like Habits, Professional Interests, etc. Address Book has two parts -- the index and the contact page. The Index displays contacts in alphabetical order and is used for quick location of contact information. The name of the Address Book appears at the top of the index and the number of contacts are displayed at the bottom. You can Collapse the index to display all the contacts as a single list. Address Book allows you to Search for contacts in the database, or to Selectively pick contacts from the index, which can be separated or grouped for further Processing. The information in Address Book can be Printed in various Formats. You can even activate autodial to Phone a person in the Address Book. You may Export contact information from the Address Book for use in another application or to mail-merge with Form Letters, alternatively, you can trasnfer data via Clipboard .


About Time Planner
Time Planner

The Time Planner is like a calendar and provides a monthly view of Events, Holidays and Key Diary Items. The planner displays current month with today´s date highlighted. You can select a date in the Planner by clicking on it (or using arrow keys). You can Leaf through the planner pages by month or year. You can Search in diary from the planner and zoom into the searched appointment.

While the planner provides a monthly view, the Diary displays all the time-slots for the entire work day. In the diary pages you can schedule Appointments and Non-diary items. Once you schedule items in the diary, it automatically sets-up a reminder Alarm. You can launch a program at a scheduled time. Once scheduled, the program will be automatically activated at the specified time. Appointments can be Rescheduled to another date and time. You Flip through the diary pages and scroll within the page to view your schedule. The Print facility in the diary offers two formats: Month Planner and Appointment List. You can also Customize the diary page to suit your workday.


About To-Do List
To-Do List

To-Do List is the cornerstone of priority-powered time management. To this list, you can Add tasks you have to do and assign them Priorities and due dates based on their relative importance. The Status indicator is used to track the progress. You can drag-n-drop done items into the Archival List on the right hand tool bar. You can Amend or Rearrange the task list to reassign priorities and due dates to reflect your changing emphasis. For an elaborate description of the task, you can maintain Notes.

To enable you to focus on current tasks, you may bifurcate them into To-Do NOW and To-Do LATER lists. Typically, the NOW list will comprise of tasks to be accomplished in the next 7 days. The LATER list may contain tasks that are not due immediately, it could even be a wish-list you may attend to when you have the time. You view the specific list by Flipping from one list to another.

You can Swap tasks from one list to another. When you swap a task from NOW list to the LATER list, the due date is reassigned so that it is atleast 15 days from the current date. There is an automatic swapping of LATER tasks to NOW list, when they become due within a week from the current date.

To point out tasks that are due, they are highlighted in the list. You can also focus on target tasks by Selectively viewing the list based on a combination of priority, due date and status. The Sort option can rearrange the list by Priority, Due Date or Status.

The active To-Do list can be Printed in full or selectively along with the notes.

Note: You can schedule tasks from the To-Do list into your workday by selecting them in the Time Planner.


About Letter Writer
Letter Writer

Letter Writing or Correspondence is perhaps an activity that occupies most of the time in any executive office and this is best handled using a professional word processing software. The Letter Writer allows you to invoke the word processor of your choice without leaving the Executive Desk.

You can set-up the word processor of your choice to be invoked as a Letter Writer by choosing the Parameters Option in Setup. The standard default is WRITE, which comes with Microsoft Windows.

To Mail Merge form letters in your word processor with the Address Book data, you can use the export feature in Address Book. This will enable you to make identical copies of the letter with only the names, addresses and greeting names changing in each copy. Most Word Processors support the Standard Data Format for mail-merging.


About Follow-Up
Follow-Up

The need for follow-up on tasks planned and delegated cannot be over emphasized. Executive Desk allows you to follow-up on People in the organization, Projects on hand, Parties such as Suppliers and Customers, Personal for your own personal follow up and Other items. The Tabs on the right show the Category of follow up. Follow-up categories for People and Project hold list of tasks (like the ToDo List) while other categories hold descriptive notes. The categories of People and Projects have a unique relation, they can be linked.The list appears alphabetically, if your items span multiple pages in a category, you can Flip the pages.

Follow-up items are driven by due-date and items that are due are highlighted in the list. Follow-ups are Stored as Notes for action and review, which you can view at the time of follow-up or Print as a list or in a memo format. You have the option of Selecting follow-up items to print.

After, or during, the follow-up you can Amend the notes for next follow-up and set a new due-date using the Pop up Calendar. You can Search on Task Description for People/Projects and on notes for the other follow-up categories.


About Phone List
Phone List

Telephone is the single most major interruption in an executive workday. The phone activity runs parallel to your schedule. While you have no control over the incoming calls, most certainly, you will be able to streamline your outgoing calls using the Phone List.

It is a simple date wise list of phone calls to make. When you Add an entry to this list you can specify details such as Person to call (WHO), Reason for calling (WHY), Date of call (WHEN) and Notes (WHAT) on key items to discuss. You may Look-up for a person in the Address Book, to automatically include phone numbers. You can always Amend the entries in the list later.

Your Phone List can be Printed, with or without the notes. While your list may contain calls due on various dates, you can selectively view or print Today´s Calls. When you are ready to call, you can display the Phone numbers for the entry highlighted in the list. After the call is through, you can Clear the entry or drag-n-drop calls done into the Archival List on the right hand tool bar. If you assign the time of call, it will flash a Reminder at the designated time, and even Dial the number for you.


About World Time
World Time

It displays local time (from the system clock) and corresponding time at four international locations of your choice. You can view time at over 160 locations covering major cities and time zones across the globe. The world clock automatically adjusts time for daylight savings.

If you change the local city, that appears in the middle of the screen, the time display at the four locations automatically changes with reference to the local city and time.

To view time at other locations, for a specific local time, you can temporarily Set local clock for the new time. Reset will revert to the system time.

Note: Daylight savings are adjusted on 3rd Sunday of April and 3rd Sunday of September.


About Setup
Customize

You can customize Executive Desk with the following options:

•  Time Planner

Begin and End Time for the Diary.

Resolution/Time-Slots for the Diary.

Weekly Offs for the Planner.

•  Holidays/Events

Declare all annual holidays and events in a single list.

•  Password

Define access password for the Executive Desk.

•  Parameters

Address Book Format.

Alternate Phone as E-Mail, Mobile Phone or Telex.

Word Processor to be invoked as a Letter Writer.

Birthday/Anniversary display on start-up.

Alarm Sound.

Screen Resolution.

•  Dialer

Modem Parameters	: Dialing (Tone/Pulse), COMM Port and Modem Type.

Call Time Out	: Time Interval to wait for successful dial.

Modem Type	: Hayes Compatible or Multi-Tech.

Modem Init String	: Initialization String.

PBX Prefix	: Prefix to add while dialing through a PBX.

Local Exchange Code	: Area Code of the local exchange.

Long Distance Code	: Prefix to the Phone Number to make

 a long distance Non International Call.

International Dial Code	: Prefix to the Phone Number to make

 a long distance International Call.


About Reorganization
Reorganization

This function reorganizes the database. It purges unwanted data and packs the indexes to improve the efficiency of access. It also reconstructs indexes corrupted due to accidental failure (crash) of the hardware.

At the start of day the reorganization process begins by default. Similarly, when you load the Executive Desk, after a previous abnormal exit, the system forces re-organization. The progress of reorganization is shown on the odometer.

In an ideal situation, you may never have to use this option. However, if you discover a peculiar case of data corruption, reorganization will help you salvage your data in most cases.


About Program Launcher
PopRun - Program Launcher

PopRun is a program launcher which allows you to integrate 12 external application programs and run them without leaving the Executive Desk. The applications are displayed alongwith their icons.

You can launch an application by clicking it in the list. Applications thus invoked run concurrently with the Executive Desk as independent program tasks. Closing or exiting from the Executive Desk will not close the launched applications.

To maintain the list of applications, click on POP-RUN.


About Archival
Archival - The Schedule History

You can archive completed schedules for future reference. Archiving completed schedules is as easy as dragging and dropping them into the Archival List Icon on the right hand tool bar.

Once archived, the history of your past schedules is available for viewing, searching, printing and more. Archival maintains them in a common format to facilitate a single point search. Notes attached to the archived items may be changed at any time to attach/revise specific comments.

You can archive all types of schedules and tasks from DayView. In addition, you can archive directly from the Diary, ToDoLists and Phone List. Archival of Follow-up items is possible only in DayView. Archived schedules are stored for the past one year (+90 Days). You can view archived items by category (ToDo, Phone, Follow-Up, Appointment) and for a date range by making a selection in the caption (header) of the list. Besides you can delete individual items in the list or a group of selected and searched items.

Note : Schedules like Appointments and Phone Call, which appear as pop-up reminders, are automatically archived when they are cleared.

There are two ways to archive a completed schedule. Drag-n-Drop : This files the item into the Archival system and flags the item as Done or Cleared in the primary section. CTRL+Drag-n-Drop :This in addition, deletes the item from the primary section from where it is archived.


Daily Schedule List

This integrates all the schedules for the day into a single list. It includes all the uncompleted schedules of the earlier days for ToDo, F/Up and Phone Calls, except for appointments since they are for fixed date and time. When you click on the item in the list the attached note is displayed in the NotePad, along with other details like date, links, phone number as applicable.

Straight Dialing to a Phone List Item

The Phone Call items for the day will pop-up a reminder to dial at the scheduled time unless the time has lapsed. The same is true for carry forward Phone Calls from the previous day.

To straight dial, double click on the Phone Call item. It will display the Phone Number and also allow you to dial. If the Phone Call party is selected from the address-book, it will also display the Title and Company Name for your reference.


Displaying DayView for a given date

To view the schedule for another day, simply click on the date in the calendar. You can use the navigation keys (arrow buttons) at the bottom of the calendar to display the required month/year and then click on the day to view the schedule for that day. If you click on the

 button at the bottom of the calendar, it will switch to Today´s date.

Note:  Event Highlighters are also shown in the calendar.


Managing Contacts in the Address Book

You can Insert a new contact in the address book, regardless of the index page on which you are located. This will accept the address details in the contact page and the name will appear in the index. You may also attach descriptive Notes on the contacts.

To Amend contact information in the Address Book, first select the corresponding entry in the index. The changes can now be carried out in the contact page.

To Remove a contact from the Address Book, first click on the name in the index, confirm the contents in the contact page and then confirm deletion.

To Duplicate addresses for multiple contacts in the same organization, change the name of a contact and the program will prompt to check whether it is a change of name or a duplicate is to be created.


Quick Location of a Contact

You may click on an alphabet in the index to move to a given page in an Address Book. Click on the arrows on the top to flip pages within the index for a selected alphabet. The arrows will appear only when there are multiple pages.

Keyboard:

Ctrl+PgDn/Up - Move to next/previous alphabet in the index.

PgDn/Up - Flip pages within an alphabet in the index.

Up/Dn Arrow Keys - Scroll within a page.

The highlighted entry in the index is displayed in the contact page.


Clipboard Feature in Address Book

Keyboard - Alt+B

You can use the clipboard feature to cut the address of the current

contact in the index to the clipboard and then paste this

information into other applications like word processing.


Processing Searched/Selected Contacts

Once you have selected/searched contact, you can process them:

Copy to duplicate these contacts into another Address Book.

Extract to remove these contacts and transfer them into another Address Book.

Delete to simply remove these contacts from the Address Book.

Export to copy into another format for use in another application or to mail-merge with Form Letters in the word processor of your choice.

Print to print a selective list of searched/selected contacts.

Note: Copying or Extracting contacts to an existing Address Book will have the effect of merging the selected contacts with the target Address Book.


Print Formats of Address Book

You can print an Address Book in four formats

- Phone Index (Alt +P) - Lists Name, Title, Company and Phone/Fax#s.

- Address Directory (Alt +D) - Lists Phone Index with Address.

- Complete Contact Information (Alt +I) - List Address Directory with Notes.

- Birthday List(Alt +B)

- Anniversary List (Alt +A)

- Mailing Labels (Alt +M). Prints Labels in two different styles.

The Address Label prints Name, Title, Company Name and the Address,

whereas the Contact Label, in addition, prints the Phone and Fax numbers.

Contact Labels provide the user a convenient way to print a compact address book

with as many as 44 addresses per page (4-across and 11-down) on a Letter or A4

size paper. If these are printed back-to-back, a single sheet can hold 88 contacts.

There is a selection of pre-defined lables:

> 5xxx series, the US standard Avery format

> L7xxx series, the Eurpoean standard Avery format

> DMP 4603 and DMP 16LBL for the Dot Matrix

In addition, there is a provision for user defined labels. The layout of these labels

can be set to match specific label stationery. The dialog box displays a diagram that shows

various label parameters to facilitate user defined label setting.


Exporting Contact Information from Address Book

You can export data from the Address Book for use in another application or to a file that your word processor can use in a Mail-merge. You can mail-merge a letter template with the data exported from the address book, to print identical copies of the letter with only the names, addresses and greeting names changing in each copy. You may export all or selected/searched contact addresses.

When you specify the filename to hold the exported addresses, do not use file-extensions, standard defaults are used depending on the format selected.

Address Book supports two formats for data export:

xBASE format .dbf files -- for use in applications like dBASE, Clipper and FoxPro.

Standard Data Format .sdf files -- most other applications would support this format.

Note: SDF is an ASCII text format where fields start and end with double quotation marks, separated by commas. The records (group of fields in contact data) are separated by CR_LF (carriage return and line feed). SDF data includes field names as the first record. The list of fields and the sequence in which they are written to the target file is as below:

- Mr/Ms + Name.

- Title (Designation).

- Company Name.

- Address Lines (1 through 4).

- Greeting Name (in a letter to address the person, typically starting with Dear).

- Fax Number.

Mail-merge with Word for Windows (Version 6.0)

Mail-merge with WordPerfect for Windows

PS: If you are using AmiPro, specify the file type as Comma delimited.


Mail-merge with Word for Windows
Using SDF file for Mail-merge with Word for Windows (Version 6.0)

1. Create your letter template using MS-WORD for Windows.

2. Select Mail-merge from Tools menu.

3. In step 1. From Main Document choose Create/Form Letters.

4. In step 2. From Data Source choose Get Data/Open Data Source.

5. Enter/Select the filename containing your exported addresses.

6. Locate the cursor in form letter where you want to insert a mail-merge field.

7. Choose Insert Merge Field from the ruler.

8. Select mail-merge field name in the dialog box.

9. Repeat this for the fields you want to merge into your letter.

10.Select Mail-merge from Tools menu again and select Merge.


Mail-merge with WordPerfect
Using SDF file for Mail-merge with WordPerfect for Windows

1. Choose File/New.

2. Choose Tools/Merge to display the Merge dialog box.

3. Select/Enter filename containing the letter as Primary File.

4. Select/Enter filename containing exported addresses as Secondary File.

5. Select ASCII Delimited Text (DOS) option and specify the following:

Field Delimiters Begin as double quote character (").

Field Delimiters End as double quote character and comma (",).

Record Delimiters End select the LF after CR from the pop-up list.

6. Choose OK to create a new document containing the merged letters.


Files in Address Book

You can have multiple Address Books, to classify your contacts into categories like Customers, Prospects, Business Contacts and Friends. The number of Address Books is limited only by the disk space.

Your Address Book should be labeled with a six letter name to cryptically describe its contents. For example, BUSIN for Business Contacts or PERSNL for Personal Friends.

Keyboard - Alt +F

Files displays the list of Address Books.Here you can add a new Address Book by double clicking on <<New File>> (Keyboard spacebar). To load an existing Address Book or to delete (remove), first select it in the list. Deleting an address book will remove all the addresses contained in it.


Insert

Insert adds new entries:

contacts in an Address Book

appointment in a Diary

task in a To-Do List

items for Follow-Up

entries in Phone List.

Keyboard - Alt +I.


Amend

To enter the Amend mode,

double click on the item.

Keyboard  - Enter Key

You can Delete

contacts from Address Book

appointments from Diary

tasks from To-Do List

items from Follow-Up

entries in Phone List.

Keyboard - Alt +D


Rearrange the Task List

To rearrange the task list, you can drag an item

from its current place and drop it into its new

position in the list.

Keyboard - Alt-C to cut

     Alt-A to paste


Notes
You can attach or view Notes on

Appointments

To-Do tasks

Follow-ups

Phone Calls

Archived Items.

      Keyboard - Alt +N

You can click on the system box for

 clipboard cut, copy and paste.


Delete

You can Delete

contacts from Address Book

appointment from Diary

tasks from To-DO List

items from Follow-Up

entries in Phone List

items from Archival List.

Keyboard - Alt +D


Collapse Index
Click on [image]   Keyboard - F3	to collapse the index.

This is a toggle switch which allows you to expand [image] the index.

You can also expand by clicking on the index while in collapsed mode.

Particularly when you are in the select/search cards, you won´t have to

browse through every index letter.


Search

You can Search for

contacts in an Address Book

appointments in Diary

notes or task description in Follow-up

items in Archival List. .

Search is not Case Sensitive.

When searched, only the matching items

are redisplayed for further processing.

Undo or Cancel will reset to original list.

Keyboard - Alt +E


Select

You can Select

contacts from the Address Books

tasks from To-Do List

and Follow-up items.

Selection in To-Do list is based on criteria.

In Address Book and Follow-Up

you may select items by clicking on them.

Keyboard - Spacebar to select

The selection click is like a toggle,

re-click (or spacebar) on a selected item

to unselect it.

Undo or Cancel will reset to original list.

Keyboard - Alt +S


Print

You can Print: Lists and Reports.

All the printouts are designed such

that they can be printed either in

Potrait or Landscape mode.

Note : Labels can be printed in the Potrait

mode and Weekview in Landscape mode only.

Some printers have preset left margins, you can

void this by setting the check box of the left margin

to blank.

Keyboard - Alt +R.


Using Phone

Displays phone numbers for the person selected in the list.

You can autodial, .with a modem connected to your system.The modem should

be configured using the Dialer Setup.

Dial is the request for autodialing. When the phone rings pick-up the handset and

press Clear or Cancel to talk.

You may Edit phone #s before you dial. In the case of phone list when you dial the

new number is stored for re-dial.

Alphabetic dial codes 800-CALL-ABC are automatically converted to numbers.

The dialer setup has the option to set the Long Distance and International Dial prefix.

The international dial prefix is used with numbers containing + sign.

In PBX systems to access services such as call transfer use the hook flash dial modifier

feature. To call a party where the PBX supports direct extension dialing, you may

construct the phone # as: <Phone #>!<Extn#>. The hook (!) will hangup the modem for

1/2 second and dial the extension after the dial tone is received.

Keyboard - Alt +P

Note : You can Schedule a Call directly from the Address Book. Click on Phone and then

on schedule - this will create an entry in the Phone List.


Using Dialer

Dialer provides quick memory dialing.

You can store frequently dialed numbers

and long distance codes in memory and

select from an alphabetically arranged list.

Dialer Operation

MEM	(ALT+M) Memory list of Phone #s.

LG DIST	(ALT+G) Long Distance Dial Codes.

DIAL	(ALT+D) Dial the phone.

CLEAR	(ALT+L) Clear the current Phone #.

CANCEL	(ALT+C) Exit Dialer.

Keyboard - Alt-+A


Cut & Paste

You can rearrange the task lists periodically,

 to reflect the changing priorities.

To shift/move a task entry, select the task entry

by positioning the selection bar on the required

task and click on the cut button.

Keyboard - Alt +C.

Now position the selection bar on the line

where you want to insert the particular task

in the list and click on the paste button.

Keyboard Alt +A

The selected task entry is shifted to the line

where the selection bar is placed by

reshuffling all the other task list

A simpler way to rearrange tasks.is

by dragging an item from its current

place and dropping the item into its

new position in the list. You can also

rearrange tasks by using the SORT option

 to reaarange them by Priority, Due Date

or Status.


Swapping Tasks

You can swap tasks in To-Do

from Now to Later or vice versa by

dragging the item and dropping it in

the right bottom flap of the list. The

title on the flap indicates the list to

which the task will be swapped.

Tasks in To-Do Later are automatically

swapped to To-Do Now when they are

due within a week.

When you swap tasks from Now to Later

the due date is automatically increased.

by a fortnight.

Keyboard - Alt +W


Sorting Tasks

You can re-arrange tasks in

To-Do List by resequencing

them in the order of priority,

status or in the order of

due date.

Keyboard - Alt +T


Time Planner Events

Events are important dates like:Birthdays,

Travel Dates, Board Meetings etc.

Event description for a given day can be defined

or amended by selecting it in the planner and

clicking on the event button.

Events can also be defined for a range of dates.

For example, you can flag an event Foreign Tour

and set it from Oct 1, 95 to Oct 7, 95.

In addition, you can set a Highlighter for this event in

the planner to enhance visibility of such time-periods.

There are four shades of highlighting, White, Blue

Green and Yellow. You can assign shades for various

categories of events. For example, Blue for Tour,

Green for Seminars/Training Sessions and Yellow for

Vacations.

Keyboard - Alt +N.

Recurring events, which repeat every year,

are prefixed with an asterisk (*) in the description.


Time Planner Holidays

Holidays are defined or amended by

selecting the day in the planner and

clicking on the holiday button.

Keyboard - Alt +A.

Recurring holidays, which repeat every year,

are prefixed with an asterisk (*) in the description.

Regular weekly-offs, like Sunday, should

be defined in the Time Planner Setup.


Diary in Time Planner

Keyboard - Alt +D

Diary shows your appointments for the day.

The toggle switch at the bottom

of the Diary List allows you to collapse the Diary

Slots to show only those which are occupied.

 Once collapsed you can click

on it to expand and show all the diary slots.

You can zoom into the diary by double clicking

on the Planner or using the diary button.


Moving in the Planner

Click on the Month and Year buttons to move in the planner.

To move by dates	Keyboard	Arrow Keys

To move by month	Keyboard	PgUp/Dn

To move by year	Keyboard	CTRL+PgUp/Dn


 Key Appointments

This is the single most important appointment for the day, displayed in the Planner along with Events and Holidays. You can flag any appointment as key item while recording or amending an appointment in the diary.

Note: If you define multiple key appointments for the day, only the last appointment flag is stored.


 Scheduling Non-Diary Items

To-Do tasks and Follow-Ups are driven by due-dates and not specific time slots, hence they are called non-diary items. However, before attending to such tasks, you may want to schedule them into your work day by assigning a time slot to them.

To schedule such tasks select an empty time slot in the diary page and click on the appropriate button and select the item from the pop-up task list and select Schedule.

Keyboard - Alt +S

To display TO-DO list for scheduling

Keyboard - Alt +T.

To display FOLLOW-UP list for scheduling

 	Keyboard - Alt +F.

Note: The TO-DO list provides the option to select tasks from NOW and LATER lists. You also have the option to view/select from Overdue or All items. The FOLLOW-UP list provides the option to select items from PEOPLE, PROJECTS, PARTIES, PERSONAL and OTHERS.


Rescheduling Appointments

To reschedule an appointment to another date and time, select the appointment and click on the reschedule button. To reschedule an appointment for another time slot for the current day keep the mouse clicked on the appointment and simply drag it to another time slot.

Keyboard - Alt +S

If the target time-slot is occupied, the system will flash a warning and abort the process.

Note: You cannot reschedule an appointment to dates before the current date.


 Appointment Reminder

Appointment Reminder tracks your schedule and pops up on the screen to alert you five minutes before the schedule. You can take the reminder off the screen by selecting CLEAR to accept it or SNOOZE to remind you again after two minutes. If you SNOOZE repeatedly, the reminder will eventually time-out and will be set for the next item in the diary.

Reminders sound an alarm when they PopUp, the sound can be disabled by selecting the Alarm Disable option in the Customize section.

Note: The Appointment Reminder is active even when you are in another application, provided the Executive Desk is running in the background or is minimized.


 Program Launch

There is a new appointment category called PROGRAM,

which allows you to launch a program from EDESK at a

scheduled time by including the program path + program

name as description. For example, to activate your fax

program at 4:00PM, define an appointment at this time

with Description as C:\WINDOWS\FAXDIR\FAXPRG.EXE

and Category as PROGRAM (\WINDOWS\FAXDIR is the

Program Directory, and FAXPRG.EXE is the program name).


Flipping the Diary Pages

 You can browse through the diary pages by clicking on the arrow buttons. Keyboard - F2 Next F3 Previous.


Recording Appointments

The diary page displays your appointments along with empty time-slots in your work day, where you can Record or Amend appointments in the required time-slot. You can block a range of Time Slot for a given appointment. The appointment entry dialog shows Time Upto which the appointment should be blocked. You can highlight the starting time and enter Time Upto as higher than the starting time or you can highlight the ending time and enter Time Upto as lower than the ending time. You can classify the appointment into predefined categories such as: Meeting, Visit, Letter, Personal, Seminar, Travel, Transit, Party, Lunch and Dinner. You can flag your appointment type as Key so that it appears in the planner for a quick view.

The appointments you record are, by default, for a single day, to enter a recurring appointment, set the frequency to repeat the appointment at pre-defined time intervals. Such appointments are flagged with an alphabet indicating the frequency as: Daily, Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly. You can set end-date for such recurring appointments after which they will stop repeating in the diary/planner. You cannot block a range of Time Slot for such recurring appointments. You can override a recurring appointment for a specific day, by making another entry for the same time-slot. When you delete a recurring appointment, all recurrence are deleted.

You can make Notes on appointments to describe the purpose of a given schedule, such notes are indicated by a fold mark in the diary page against the time-slot. Notes on To-Do and Follow-Up items are automatically copied into the diary when you schedule such items from the respective lists.

Note : You can drag-n-drop completed appointments into the archival list, this will show a strike-out on the appointment indicating that it is done.


Setting Priorities for Tasks
Priority levels indicate the importance of a task,

they can be set as High, Medium or Low.


Setting status on Tasks

Status indicators can be defined by the user while adding a task. Here you can add new status indicator by double clicking on <<New>> (Keyboard spacebar)

Typical status values are:

WAITING	To be started.

ACTIVE	Scheduled/Being attended to.

HOLD	Keep it pending.

DELAYED	Behind Schedule.

DONE	Completed.

Status indicator DONE will strike off the task in the list, there will be no delete confirmation for such tasks, when you delete them. Such tasks will not appear in Time Planner or DayView.

Note: Optionally, you may use status values to indicate departments or persons responsible for accomplishing the task.


Archiving To-Do Items

You can drag-n-drop done To-Do Items and Phone Calls

into the archival list on the right hand tool bar.

In To-Do, this will show a strike-out on the task description

indicating that it is done and change the status to Done and

the due date will be changed to the system date to indicate

when the task was completed.

To remove the completed tasks from the To-Do list and send

to the Archival List use CTRL+Drag-n-Drop. Hold the CTRL key down

and then drag-n-drop the task into the Archival List, this will remove

the completed task from the list.

In Phone List , this will strike-out on the description and reflect the

date when the call was done.


Flipping between NOW & LATER List
To switch between NOW and LATER lists

click on the list-flip area.

Keyboard - F3


Adding Item to schedule list in DayView
Adding items to schedule list in DayView

You can add items to the schedule list on display without going

to the respective sections. In the schedule list, the four categories of

schedules like Appointments, To-Do, Phone Calls and Follow-up --

are indicated by green category title bars to separate different

schedule types. To add an item to a given category, double-click

on the respective title bar.


Week at a Glance

Keyboard - ALT-W

You can view your weekly schedule by clicking on the

WeekView button. WeekView combines all the schedule

items (the To-Do, Follow-up and Phone List Items) and

displays them on a single screen. It automatically

carryforwards uncompleted schedules to the current date.

 You can change the view to display

Weekly View for the next or previous week by clicking on

the arrow buttons. Keyboard - F2 Next   F3 Previous

You can also print out the weekly schedule in a single page

format by clicking on the Print button.


Printing in DayView.

Keyboard - Alt +R.

You can Print: Lists and Reports.

All the printouts are designed such

that they can be printed either in

Potrait or Landscape mode.

Note : Labels can be printed in the Potrait

mode and Weekview in Landscape mode only.

Some printers have preset left margins, you can

void this by setting the check box of the left margin

to blank.


Using the Scratchpad

Keyboard - ALT-N

This is a scratch pad provided to make notes without

having to switch sections or programs. To jot down

simply click on the ScratchPad button and it opens up the

familiar Windows NotePad.

The text in the ScratchPad may later be blocked, cut and

pasted, where required, using the standard windows

clipboard operations like CTRL+C (Copy), CTRL+X (Cut)

and CTRL+V (Paste) keys.


Dialing from DayView

Keyboard - Alt D

Dialer provides quick memory dialing.

You can store frequently dialed numbers

and long distance codes in memory and

select from an alphabetically arranged list.

Dialer Operation

MEM	(ALT+M) Memory list of Phone #s.

LG DIST	(ALT+G) Long Distance Dial Codes.

DIAL	(ALT+D) Dial the phone.

CLEAR	(ALT+L) Clear the current Phone #.

CANCEL	(ALT+C) Exit Dialer.


Rescheduling items in DayView

You can reschedule any item from the DayView to another date

by dragging the item from the list and dropping it into the given

date on the calendar. Normally, the calendar is displayed for the

current month, but you can use the navigation keys (arrow buttons)

to move forward/backward in the calendar. Rescheduling means

moving the schedule from the current date to another date.

You can copy the schedule to another date and flag the current

item as done. This is done by using CTRL+drag-n-drop. This will

copy the item to another date, flag the current item as done and

also archive it.

Note: You cannot schedule items to past dates Drag-n-drop of an

appointment to the current date will allow you to assign a fresh

time-slot to it.


Converting To-Do into Follow-up and Vice Versa

You can convert To-Do task into a Follow-up by dragging the To-Do task

and dropping it on the category Title Bar in the schedule list for follow-up.

This will flag the To-Do task as done and allow you to add this to the required

Follow-up category. If you do not want the done To-Do task to be displayed,

simply use CTRL+drag-n-drop. Similarly, you can convert a Follow-up into a

To-Do task by dragging the Follow-up and dropping it on the To-Do Title Bar.


Archiving items in DayView

You can drag-n-drop items into the archival list on the

right-hand tool bar, this will show a strike-out on the

item description indicating that it is done.

You can delete the completed tasks from the schedule

list after they are archived by using CTRL+Drag-n-Drop.

Hold the CTRL key down and then drag-n-drop the

schedule item into the Archival List, this will remove the

completed item from the list.


Follow-Up categories
To select the category of follow-up click on the appropriate Tab.

Keyboard 	CTRL + PgUp/PgDn


Task List in People and Projects
Follow-up tasks for Projects can be assigned to people

and follow-up tasks for People can be linked to Projects.

Thus a single task linked for People/Project will appear in

both categories.

Each task here carries a Follow-up Date and Status. The

next follow up for the group item is the date of the earliest

follow-up task. The status field takes values of status defined

in the ToDo list because the tracking is in no way different

from that of the ToDo list.

You can attach notes to the tasks, the note is saved as it is

entered, clicking on the OK button returns you to the main

follow-up list.


Linking People and Projects

The categories of People and Projects have a unique relation,

they can be linked. For example, a project may be broken down

into tasks which are assigned to multiple people. Similarly, a person

could be working on multiple projects simultaneously. When you

follow-up on a person you are following up tasks handled by that

person for various projects.

To avoid duplication of tasks in People and Projects, you may

link a task from Project to People and vice versa. Thus a single

task will appear in both the categories as linked.

Rescheduling or deleting a linked task affects both the categories.

Some tasks may not require linking, in such cases the link may

be specified as <none>.


Browse
To leaf through the pages of

Address Book Index and Follow-Up List

click on the page flip marks.

Keyboard PgUp/PgDn


Pop-Up Calendar

While entering or amending dates

you can click on the combo-box or use

Alt + Down arrow key to pop up a calendar.

Events are shown in blue and holidays in red.

Use the VCR panel to browse through the calendar.

To move by dates	Keyboard	Arrow Keys	To move by month	Keyboard	PgUp/Dn	To move by year	Keyboard	CTRL+PgUp/Dn


Setting Local Time

You can change the local time by using the set button.

Keyboard None

Time thus selected is temporary and does not affect the system clock.You can reset the time by using the reset button.

Keyboard None.

This will set back the local time to the current time (from the system clock).


Using the Calculator

Keyboard - Alt+C

DayView provides you a simple calculator which has a built-in

Currency Converter which is activated by clicking on

Keyboard - @

Keyboard Operations

ALT+	Memory+ (M+).

ALT-	Memory- (M-)

ALT M	Memory Recall (MR).

ALT C	Clear (C).

ALT A	All Clear (AC).


Using Currency Converter

The currency converter provides conversions for most

international currencies. It stores the date on which the

currency factor (rate) was inserted/amended.

To change the factors for latest conversion rates click

on Insert. Now select the two currencies and enter the new rate.

If the program finds an earlier conversion, it replaces this with

the new rate and the system date.

You can delete the conversions which do not interest you, to

have an active list of frequently used conversions.


Customizing Time Planner
Time Planner

You can customize the Time Planner using the following options:

Resolution is the time interval between two appointments- it can be set at intervals of 15, 30 or 60 minutes.

Begin Day and End Day define the start and end time for a work day on the diary pages.

Weekly Offs are regular weekly holidays, like Sundays and Saturdays. You can set two weekly-offs or leave them blank.


Setup Holidays/Events
Holidays/Events

You can declare all annual holidays and events in a single list by specifying the date and the description. Recurring holidays and events, which repeat every year, should be prefixed with an asterisk (*) in the description. The holidays and events thus setup will automatically appear in the Calendar.

Regular weekly-offs, like Sunday, should be defined in the Time Planner Setup.


Setting Password
Password

You can restrict access to your Executive Desk by defining a six letter password. You must confirm the password by retyping it. When you load the Executive Desk next time, you will be asked for this password, before granting you the right to access the software. To void the password, simply set it up as spaces. The old password is verified before accepting a new password or any change in the password.


Miscellaneous Parameters
Parameters

This option is to set up parameters specific to your country and to set up Letter Writer.

Address Book Format: You can set the Address Book format either to International or American.

International Format supports four Address lines whereas American Format supports

two Address lines and city, state, zip and country.

Alternate Phone: Address Book stores two phones : Business and Home. In addition there is an Alternate Phone field which can be set to store Telex, E-Mail or Mobile Phone.

Letter Writer: You can specify the Word Processor of your choice to be used as the Letter Writer, the standard default is WRITE which comes with Microsoft Windows.

Birthday/Anniversary check on start-up: You can Enable/Disable the display on start-up.

Alarm: You can Enable/Disable the alarm sound On/Off.

Screen Resolution: - You can set the screen resolution to either Default or Full screen.

Default Setup will not cover the Task Bar of Win 95.


Setting up Dialer
Dialer Setup

This option defines your modem configuration and other communication parameters for use in phone dialing.

Dial Mode: Tone or Pulse.

Comm Port: Serial Port on which the modem is connected COM1 to COM4.

Modem Type: Hayes Compatible or Multi-Tech.

Modem Init String: The string used to initialize the modem. In case no string is specified,

standard Hayes Compatible Modem is assumed.

Call Time Out: Time Interval to wait for successful dial response.

PBX Prefix: Prefix to add while dialing through a PBX. Enter blank, if your modem is connected to a direct phone line.

Local Area Code: Area code of the local exchange to identify whether the call is local or long distance.

Long Distance Code: This is the prefix to the phone number to make a long distance non International call.

International Dial Code:- This is the prefix to the phone number to make a long distance International call.


Clearing Phone Calls
Clear strikes off an entry in the phone list. There will be no delete confirmation for such entries when you delete them. Cleared entries will not appear in DayView.

Keyboard - Alt +L

When you autodial, CLEAR should be used to hang-up the modem and connect the phone line to your hand-set for talk.


Reason for Calling

Reason for calling can be defined by the user while inserting entries in the Phone List. Here you can add new reasons by double clicking on <<New>>. (Keyboard spacebar)

Typical Reasons for calling are:

Casual Call.

Birthday Greetings.

Payment Reminder.

Schedule a Meeting.

Return the Call.

Confirm Appointment.


Today´s Calls
Today´s displays calls scheduled for the current date.

Keyboard - Alt +T

Calls will revert to full list.

Keyboard - Alt +C


Lookup Phone Number from Address Book

Looks-Up contact information in the Address Book

select the Address Book File.

select the Person To Call.

specify Where To Call (Office, Home or Other).

This information is transferred into the Phone List entry, all you have to do is assign the reason and set the date of call.

Keyboard - Alt +L


Phone Reminder

The Phone Reminder flashes on the screen at scheduled time of call. It can sound an alarm when the reminder Pops Up, the sound can be disabled by selecting the Alarm Disable option in the Customize section.You can request autodialing by selecting DIAL followed by CLEAR when you hear the phone ring.

Keyboard - Alt +H

If the reminder is an interruption on your current activity you can put it on HOLD, this will defer the call until the next scheduled time (default 5 minutes later). This facility is also useful when you want to reschedule the call if you cannot get through the number or to the person.

NOTES allow you to view key items to discuss and note down points discussed during the call, which you can paste  into a To-Do or a Follow-Up list later.

Note: The Phone Reminder is active even when you are in another application, provided the Executive Desk is running in the background or is minimized.


Program Launcher List

The dialog box for Program Launcher list maintenance is similar to the file menu of Windows.

To ADD applications to the list:

select the type of file (EXE, COM, PIF or BAT)

select the path (drive and directory) for the program

select the program file from the directory list

The selected application appears as PopRun Description, you can change the program description to assign another name (maximum 10 characters) to the application. You can also specify the program parameter to be used while invoking the program. The parameters could be program switches, file names etc. Click on Add (Keyboard - ALT+A) to add this program to the application list in alphabetical order.

To DELETE an application from the list, select it in the list and click on Delete (Keyboard - Alt+D).