14.71 Personal Calendar (PC) for DOS Version 14.71 Page Topic USER'S MANUAL 18 Nov 1994 ---- --------------------------------- ---- ----------------------------------- 2 General Information 34 Copying and Printing Appointments 2 Sample Clock Screen 35 Options 3 Appointment File 40 Operation, Resource Requirements 4 Privacy, Event List and Window 42 Installation, Re-Installation 5 Note List, Note Window 44 List of Program and Data Files 5 Clock Screen Footer 46 Enhancements Being Considered 6 History & Exclusions 47 Recent Enhancements 8 Changing Events 47 Recent Corrections 10 Warnings & Alarms 48 Known Limitations 11 Repeating Events 50 Enhancements, How to Contact Us 11 Repeat Intervals 51 Ownership, Copyright, Distribution 17 Types of Repeats & Scheduling 51 How to Register Personal Calendar 19 User Interface 52 Getting Started 22 Single & Function Keys ╔═════════════════════════════════════╗ 24 Pop Up/Pop Down (TSR) Operation ║ "Personal Calendar" is a trademark ║ 33 Installation in the TSR Mode ║ of FunStuff Software(tm) ║ 33 DESQview (DV) Operation ╚═════════════════════════════════════╝GENERAL INFORMATION. Welcome to Personal Calendar (PC), a program which displays a three-month calendar, a running digital and analog clock, and your appointments and Notes. PC has a Clock Screen display similar to this: ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ Paul's ║ │ 12 │ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │ 4 │ 5 │ 6 │ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │ 10 │ 11 │ ║ Calendar ║▓▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░∙░░▓▓║ ║▓ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ▓║ 47 ║▓ │ 23.20.37 Friday, 18 November 1994 11.20.37 PM │ ▓║ Events ║▓ └────────────────────── (94 322) ─────────────────────────┘ ▓║ Scheduled ║▓▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓∙░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░∙░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓▓║ ║ 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 ║ Sound ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ All November 1994 December January Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 27 28 29 30 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31 If you like, the calendars may start with the prior rather than the current month. You can show calendars for any specific date, or you can scroll the calendars forward or backward a month at a time with the east (right) arrow or west (left) arrows. Chimes sound on the hour and quarter hours (unless you silence them). APPOINTMENT FILE. You can create, save, and update a useful Appointment File which has your time-oriented Events and Notes to yourself. Historical records are kept automatically, which you can change as you like. You give the Appointment File a one- to eight-character name, after which it is known to DOS by the name and the file extension of "CLD". Here are some example Notes and Events -- 1 Send Letter to IBM Office in Arlington to add Postscript Option to contract 2 Get Craft Show Information 12-27-94 Tue 2:00p Call Dr. Zelman (Paul)--Vision Analysis Appt Change B4 12-28-94 Wed 7:00a Pay Day 12-31-94 Sat 1:00p Conference Room A -- Meeting on Year-End Finances Appointment File Privacy. Should you wish to keep others from accessing your Appointment File, you can protect it with a password (however, make sure you remember it, as it isn't shown when you enter it). 1. EVENT LIST. This list has your "current Events", which are things you schedule yourself to do by a specific date and time, such as: 12-31-94 Sat 1:00p Conference Room A -- Meeting on Year-End Finances A 3-screen menu lets you change your Events, with a capacity of 60 items. You can contract or expand the capacity from 20 to 300 in multiples of 20. Much more about Events appears on later pages. Event Window. A small, highlighted, scrollable window appears on the Clock Screen from which to view your Events. You can scroll the window with "PgUp" and "PgDn", or change the Events on that screen (with "F3" or "Shift-F3") or on a full-screen (with "E" or "I"). If you scroll the calendars, or if you request a specific date for the calendars, the Event Window will adjust to the first Event which is scheduled on or after that date. 2. NOTE LIST. We all find lots of things to jot down which have no relationship to time, so a Note List is also provided. Some examples of Notes: Call doctor to make appointment for physical exam Write letter to newspaper about missed issues A similar menu is available to change your Notes (also starting at a 3-screen capacity of 60, and variable from 20 to 300). When entering your Notes, just press Enter, Esc, Up, or Down to accept the information. Note Window. Just above the Event Window, another small, highlighted, scrollable window appears from which to view your Notes. Use the up- and down-arrows to move around in this window, do editing on the Clock Screen with "F4", or do full-screen editing with "N". Clock Screen Footer. The Note and Event Windows are called the Clock Screen Footer, which must show at least one Event. The size of the Clock Screen Footer may be varied from three to nine lines, depending on whether you wish to keep instructions on the Clock Screen. The remaining two to eight lines may be shared between Events and Notes, in a mix of your choosing. 3. HISTORY. When the current time passes by an Event, when an Event is changed or deleted, or when a Note is changed or deleted, it is automatically moved to a "History" List. Once the History List has entries, in a manner similar to Events and Notes, you can display it with the "H" key, and likewise change it (you can make your own "tailored" version of History)! History, being a combination of Events and Notes, usually looks like this: Report -- Go See Cheryl For Chapter 3 Input 12-19-94 Mon 12:00p Xmas Party/Food Auction/Silent Auction 12-28-94 Wed 2:00p Distribute Weekly Meeting Minutes Check on Josi's Library Book at NOVA to Register For Next Quarter 12-29-94 Thu 2:00p Pick up Car at Repair Shop Notes and History items can be moved around in the lists as desired. Event Data Protection and Continuity. Should a data error occur which causes an Event to have inappropriate characters in the date or time fields, the Event is also moved (as-is) to History. In the rare case that your computer's disk storage has a defect, this feature keeps your schedule in operation with an absolute minimum of inconvenience. History (2) -- Appointment File Size Limit. Each History item increases the size of the Appointment File by 80 bytes. The maximum size of the Appointment File is limited to 32,766 total items (Events, Notes, and History combined). At that limit, the file would occupy about 2,630,000 bytes of disk space. Management of History. Because new History items keep growing the size of the Appointment File, you can keep it manageable by shrinking it once in a while, by deleting items from History. A practical approach to this is to first turn on the option to include History in copies of the Appointment File, then make a permanent record of the History by copying the Appointment File to a text file, and finally use the History menu to delete the oldest items. When making the copy, it's useful to choose a file name indicating the data's age. Exclusion From History. You may specify up to two Events to be excluded from being automatically recorded in History. For example, if you remind yourself to have lunch every day, you might consider this too trivial to record. The exclusion is accomplished by supplying the description of the Events (as they appear in the Event List). MUCH MORE ABOUT EVENTS. Since time is so special to most of us, a wealth of capabilities are available to manipulate time-oriented Events. Entering and Changing Events. When entering an Event, give its date and time, a description, and optional specifications for a repeating Event (daily, weekly, biweekly, multiweekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly). When you're finished, hit Esc or Up or Down. A large portion of the remaining explanation of Events deals with these optional specifications for Event scheduling. Here is a typical Event -- ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ 12-W7 01-28-95 Sat 11:00a Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle ║ ╚═╧══╧═══╧════════╧═══╧══════╧════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ └─ Description ── you enter this │ │ │ │ └─ Time of Day ───────── you enter this (12 or 24 hour) │ │ │ └─ Day of the Week ───────── this is always computed for you │ │ └─ Date ───────────────────────────── you enter this │ └─ Repeating Event Weekly on Saturday ─── you enter this, optionally └─ Schedule This Event 12 Times ──────────── you enter this, optionally More On Events (2) --- When entering a date and time, if you leave out either the date or the time, PC will fill in the next possible date and/or the current time. The day of the week is automatically filled in for you. Date/Time Order Is Maintained. The Event List is kept sorted by date and time. To see what this sorted order will be while changing Events, you can resort list as needed by pressing the "F2" key. International Date and 12- or 24-hour Clock Formats. While on the menu to change Events, you can toggle among three popular date formats (F3) (mm-dd-yy, dd-mm-yy, and yy-mm-dd), between the 12- and 24-hour clock formats (F4), or set your choice of characters for the date/time separators (Shift-F3). Clock and Calendar Screen. When you're finished entering Events, and press the "Esc" key, the Events are automatically sorted again by date and time, and your display then changes to the clock and calendar screen with your earliest Events displayed at the bottom of the screen. Days on which you have Events scheduled are visually emphasized on the calendar display. More On Events (3) --- Events, Warnings and Alarms. Warnings. A warning sounds when the next Event is within a pre-set time period of occurring (5 minutes is the default; you may vary the period from 1 to 99 minutes or disable the warning entirely). When the warning sounds, the Event is highlighted in the Event Window until the alarm sounds. Alarms. When the next Event's times comes, an alarm sounds (you may also silence the alarm). The Event then appears highlighted in the window, until you change anything in the Event List, or until you erase the highlighted Event (with the "Del" key). (If more Events pass at the same time than the Event Window is set to hold, a separate screen will appear, listing them all). Rescheduling and Resequencing Events. At the alarm, the Event is removed from the active Event List, and is written to the History List. If it is a repeating Event, a new date is computed for the next occurrence and the Event is rescheduled. Remaining Events are again automatically kept sorted by date and time. More On Events (4) --- Repeating Events. Intervals. Events occurring more than once may be set to repeat themselves. Seven intervals may be specified--daily, weekly, biweekly, multiweekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. A repeat may be set indefinitely until you delete the Event, or to a certain number (called "limited repeating Events", discussed later). - For an Event which only occurs one time, enter nothing in the repeat interval field. Note: if you make no entry in the repeat field, the limited repeat count field also stays empty. __ ___ 01-28-95 Sat 1:00p Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle │ └─ Repeat field is empty for a one-time Event └─ Limited Repeat count is also empty More On Events (5) --- Repeating Events. Intervals. - For a daily repeating Event, enter "D" in the field. Note: By default, the daily option by default won't schedule on Saturday and Sunday, causing a Friday Event to reschedule to Monday. Through the Options menu, you can change this setting to reschedule through the weekend. D 01-27-95 Fri 1:00p Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle └─ Repeat Field For Daily More On Events (6) --- Repeating Events. Intervals. - For a weekly, biweekly, or multiweekly repeating Event, enter "Wn" or "Bn" or "jn" in the field, where "n" is a number for the day of the week (for example, "W1" is Sunday, "W2" is Monday, and so on), and "j" is the number (up to 9) of weeks for multiweek repeats (for example, "32" is every third Monday). If your date for the Event is incorrect for your chosen day of the week, PC will automatically replace it with the next correct one. B7 01-28-95 Sat 1:00p Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle └─ Repeat Field For Biweekly On Saturday 47 01-28-95 Sat 1:00p Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle └─ Repeat Field For Every Fourth Saturday More On Events (7) --- Repeating Events. Intervals. - For a monthly, quarterly, or yearly repeating Event on a certain day of the month, enter "Mnn" in the field, where "nn" is a number indicating the day of the month. For example, "M10" is the tenth day of each month. "M31" will work for 31-day months, but when a 30, 29, or 28 day month occurs, the date will be set to the last legal day. Likewise, "M30" will schedule correctly, except in February. If you truly want the last day of the month, use "ML". M28 01-28-95 Sat 1:00p Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle └─ Repeat Field For Monthly on the 28th of the Month More On Events (8) --- Repeating Events. Intervals. - For quarterly and yearly Events (such as birthdays), use "Q10" or "Y10" for the tenth day of the month, and likewise "QL and YL". Quarterly and yearly Events will reschedule every three or twelve months from the month in which they occur. Q27 01-27-95 Fri 1:00p Quarterly Report is Due └─ Repeat Field For Quarterly from January 27 (reschedules to April 27) Y28 01-28-95 Sat 1:00p Julie's Birthday └─ Repeat Field For Yearly on January 28 More On Events (9) --- Repeating Events. Intervals. - For a monthly repeating Event on a certain day of the week (for example, the 2nd Wednesday of each month), enter "Nnm", where "n" is the day of the week (like with the weekly and biweekly Events), and "m" is which week of the month. For example, the 2nd Wednesday would be entered as "N42". Since not all months have a 5th week for each day, if you enter a 5th week for a month that doesn't have one for the chosen day, the Event will automatically schedule for the 4th week instead. N74 01-28-95 Sat 1:00p Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle └─ Repeat Field For Monthly On the 4th Saturday More On Events (10) --- Types of Repeating Events (Indefinite and Limited Repeats). Two types of repeating Events are available, those which reschedule themselves indefinitely until you remove them from the Event List, and those which schedule themselves the exact number of times you specify (the "limited repeating Event"). When giving the interval to say an Event is repeating, you will be prompted for the optional count, if you want to limit the number of repeats. 12-W7 01-28-95 Sat 1:00p Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle └─ Limited Repeat Count of 12 times, each weekly on Saturday at 1:00p Scheduling of Repeat Events. When scheduling a repeating Event (whether limited or indefinite), only the FIRST occurrence is placed in the list. Each time the Event is due, it is removed from the list and is written to History. At that point, it is rescheduled, and the NEXT occurrence is placed in the list. For limited repeats, the count is decreased by one, and when exhausted, the Event is removed from the list. More On Events (11) --- Limited Repeat Example. - For example, say you are going to three planning meetings, every other Friday in the afternoon at 1:00 pm, starting on January 6, 1995. You specify "B6" in the repeat interval field for "biweekly on Friday", "3" in the limited repeat field for the number of meetings, the starting date 01-06-95, the time 1:00p (use either a 12 or a 24-hour clock, as you wish), and a description of your activity. 3-B3 01-06-95 Fri 1:00p Planning Meeting All Afternoon <- 1st Meeting At 1:00p on January 6, 1995, when the first Event occurs, it is replaced by a second Event with a count of "2". On January 20, the second is replaced by a third with a count of "1". The last Event is then deleted from the list when it occurs on February 3. The last two Events would each look like this -- 2-B3 01-20-95 Fri 1:00p Planning Meeting All Afternoon <- 2nd Meeting 1-B3 02-03-95 Fri 1:00p Planning Meeting All Afternoon <- 3rd Meeting USER INTERFACE. Menus and Instructions. Operating choices are made in easy-to-use standard bar-menu fashion, or are explained on the screen. Menu items are chosen by pressing the space bar or down-arrow to go down the list, the backspace key or up-arrow to go up the list, or by pressing the first letter to jump to a desired entry. The "Enter" key then proceeds with the choice. Pressing F1 recalls this Users Manual in a context-sensitive manner. Clock Screen Instructions. If the size of the Clock Screen Footer is 6 lines or more, this is the "experienced user" mode, and Clock Screen help instructions are suppressed. In this mode, you may recall the Clock Screen instructions at any time for 10 seconds by pressing F5. Printing/Viewing the Manual. You can print this manual by pressing the "Print" key (so marked on the older IBM-PC and PC-XT series; marked "*" on some of the IBM-AT series machines). (If you are printing this before you have chosen a type of printer for your Appointment File, no change in your printer's setup will be made.) If you prefer to view the entire manual in DOS, press F9 to generate a formatted manual (it will be named CAL.DOC). User Interface (2) -- Pop Down/Pop Up (Memory-Resident). You may make PC become memory-resident (Terminate-and-Stay-Resident or TSR) by pressing F10 to pop the program down, and have it be waiting in the background. You may use TSR Mode if you operate DOS 3.0 or later (but not if in Microsoft Windows). You may pop PC back up by pressing the "hot key", which defaults to LeftShift-Ctl-F10, and which may be changed. If your appointments are active and you have at least one Event pending, PC will pop up automatically at the time of the earliest Event warning or alarm. Many options for the use of PC in the TSR mode are discussed later. When in TSR mode, the symbol "TSR" appears on the screen. Quitting PC. You may quit PC by pressing "Ctl-Esc" (or "Ctl-Brk" if in Windows) just about any time, except when any serious writing to your Appointment File is going on (in this case the writing is finished to preserve your changes before exiting and a "Wait" prompt appears; pop down is also delayed while this is happening). ("Ctl-Esc" results from holding down the "Ctl" key with one finger and then pressing the "Esc" key with another.) If PC is running in the TSR mode, quitting will attempt to remove it from memory; there are restrictions on being able to do this, discussed later. User Interface (3) -- Program Control of Certain Keys. When entering information, you can toggle the "Insert" and "Overstrike" modes with the press of the "Insert" key. The "Numlock" key is automatically turned on and off as necessary, depending upon whether the information is all numeric. "Cap", "Num", and "Ins" appear on screen as necessary. At exit (either by popping down in the TSR mode or when quitting), CapsLock, NumLock, Insert, and ScrollLock are restored to whatever you had them set when last outside PC. (PC does not use ScrollLock for any purpose, but does preserve its state.) DOS Session or Stored DOS Command. You may also leave PC temporarily and run a DOS session from the Main Menu, or by pressing "F6" from the Clock Screen. If you change the drive/directory while in DOS, PC will automatically change them back when you return. You may execute a stored DOS command also from the Main Menu, or by pressing "F7" from the Clock Screen. You may specify or change what the stored command contains from the menu only. If PC is running in the TSR mode, the DOS session or stored DOS command are only available if PC is loaded last in low memory. User Interface (4) -- Function Keys: Esc, Up or Down Accept Event information while in editing menu. F1 Context-sensitive recall of this manual at any time. F2 Resort Events or move Notes/History while in editing menus. F3 or Shift-F3 Event editing while on Clock Screen (Shift-F3 adds new Event). F3 or Shift-F3 Toggle date formats or change date/time separators in editing. F4 Note editing while on Clock Screen. F4 Toggle 12- or 24-hour clock format while in editing menu. F5 Clock screen instruction recall for experienced user. F6 Run DOS from the Clock Screen and return at the "EXIT" command. F7 Run stored DOS command from the Clock Screen and return. F8 Print a copy of the Order form from ORDER.FRM. F9 Generate a Formatted Copy of the manual in file CAL.DOC. Available under DOS 3.0 or later for TSR Mode: F10 Pop down to previous program (Terminate and Stay Resident). Shift-F10 Pop down with automatic pop up disabled (for one time only). LeftShift-Ctl-F10 Default Hot Key (can be redefined). Pops up to PC. User Interface (5) -- Use of the Clock Screen Single-Keystroke Commands. Here is a list of the single-keystroke commands, for use on the Clock Screen -- E or I Event editing in full screen fashion (I adds new Event) N Note editing in full screen fashion. H History editing in full screen fashion (the only way). D Show three calendars for a date from year 0000 to 9999. T Return the three calendars the current months. S Change the sound setting (cycles through the settings). Esc Return to PC's Main Menu; also accepts Event data. Ctl-Brk Quit (also remove from memory if in TSR mode). Ctl-Esc Same as Ctl-Brk except Microsoft Windows (task switch). Print Send Events, Notes, and History (option) to the printer. End Eject a printer page. Del Remove overdue Events from the clock display. PgUp/PgDn Scroll the Event Window through the Event List. North and South Arrows Scroll the Note Window through the Note List. East and West Arrows Scroll the three calendars backward or forward a month. POP UP/POP DOWN MEMORY-RESIDENT OPERATION (TERMINATE-AND-STAY-RESIDENT/TSR). 1. POP DOWN. PC can be "popped down" to the background at any time, causing it to "Terminate and Stay Resident" (TSR). Other programs may be run when PC is popped down. This feature is available if you are using DOS version 3.0 or later, and if you are not running under Microsoft Windows (in Windows, PC may be run as a task, instead of as a TSR). How to pop down. You can pop down manually by pressing either F10 or Shift-F10. You can set PC to pop down automatically, the first time after automatic startup gets you to the Clock Screen (if no Events are overdue), and if you enable this from the Memory-Resident Options menu. The automatic pop down feature can be useful if PC is started from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, as it gives a completely hands-off initialization process. Memory/disk usage when popped down. When PC pops down, it's use of DOS conventional memory (the lowest 640K) can be minimized by having the program "swap" (write itself out of low memory to some other location) when it is popped down. Swapping is useful, at it frees low memory for other uses. Unless you disable swapping, PC will choose the best method to free low memory. Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (2) -- Pop Down Memory/Disk Use Methods. Three choices exist: a. Pop down and swap to Expanded Memory (memory which meets the Lotus/Intel/Microsoft (LIM) EMS 4.0 specification). This is the first method which is tried. After swapping, a tiny program remains in low memory (about 6,600 bytes). A slight pause (a small fraction of a second) occurs during the swap. Actual EMS hardware or emulated EMS memory (through a memory manager) may be used. You can disable EMS swapping through the menu. About 278K of EMS memory is required to hold the program, and up to 512K of EMS memory to hold the largest possible graphics screen over which you can pop up. b. Pop down and swap to disk. This is the second method which is used, if EMS memory is not available. Either a physical or virtual disk (VDISK or RAMDISK) can be used, depending on the drive you choose. Virtual disk swapping is nearly as fast as EMS swapping. Real disk swapping takes a bit longer--about 5 seconds. During disk activity, the top left character on the screen will flash in green inverse video. The same tiny 6,600 byte program remains in memory until pop up occurs. You can also disable disk swapping. Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (3) -- Pop Down Memory/Disk Use Methods. c. Pop down without swapping (stay in low memory). This method is used only if the EMS and/or disk swap methods are disabled, or if they are selected but can't be used (because there's no EMS memory or not enough disk space or an incorrect disk path). The entire program remains in low memory. Disk Swap File Path. You may optionally specify the drive and directory (the default is PC's drive and directory) for two disk swap files which are written, named CALSWAP.000 and CALSWAP.001. The swap files are about 254K bytes each. While popped down, it is important that you do not delete or alter these files in any way (if you do, your system will hang on the next pop up)! When PC starts or ends, if these files exist, they will be deleted. Temporarily Disabling Automatic Pop Up. You can avoid unwanted pop-ups over any process which must not be interrupted (such as communications through your modem)! You can use Shift-F10 instead of F10 to pop down and disable automatic pop up on an "each-time" basis. Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (4) -- 2. POP UP. The PC program can be popped up while another program is running in three different ways: a. Pop up on "hot key" press. PC can be popped up while another program is running by pressing the "hot key". If you don't change the choice of hot key through the Memory-Resident Options menu selection, it defaults to LeftShift-Ctl-F10. Your hot key combination must be UNIQUE (one which is different from ALL keys used by ALL other software that might be active while PC is popped down). In the menu, you choose a Function Key (F1 to F10); a combination of the Ctl, Shift, and Alt keys; or a mixture of these, giving you 170 different possible hot keys, which is more than enough to avoid conflicts. b. Automatic pop up on the earliest Event alarm or warning. Unless PC is popped down while you are changing the Event List, or unless popped down with Shift-F10 as mentioned earlier, PC will automatically pop up when the time passes for the earliest Event's alarm or warning. Automatic pop up can be disabled through the Memory-Resident Options menu. Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (5) -- Pop Up. c. Pop up by DOS command. PC will pop up if you run CALPOPUP at the DOS prompt or from a menu. While in TSR mode, and when using the F7 feature to run a batch file, CALPOPUP must be the LAST command in the file (CALPOPUP puts two ASCII-254 characters into the keyboard buffer, which causes the pop up). d. If DOS is busy. If you pop up while DOS is "busy" (usually while writing to your disk), PC will keep trying for one second. If not successful, the speaker will give a low-pitched buzz (during disk swapping) or a short chirp (during other DOS activity) and pop up will not occur; give the system a chance to finish what it is doing and try the hot key. 3. SCREEN SAVE ON POP UP. If PC is popped up over a screen in Text Mode, Hercules, CGA, EGA, or VGA (video BIOS modes 0 to 19 decimal), it will try to save the underlying screen to restore on the next pop down. If insufficient resources exist or if the video mode is non-standard, a message appears; you can optionally set PC to chirp instead of popping up under those circumstances. Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (6) -- Screen Save on Pop Up. PC uses a totally automatic method to determine screen video modes, and to create and delete resources to save the underlying screen. In Text Mode (0, 1, 2, 3, or 7), no additional memory is required to save a screen. In any of the graphics modes, if PC is swapped to EMS memory and if enough additional EMS memory exists (varying up to 256K), the screen will be saved to EMS. If not enough exists, a temporary screen save file CALSCRN.DAT is written to the same directory as the disk swap files. This file is deleted at the start or end of the program. The file must NOT be modified when PC is active. 4. DOS SESSION/COMMAND IN THE TSR MODE. In TSR mode, The DOS command/session feature (F6/F7) has different operating characteristics: a. If PC is operating in the TSR mode, the DOS command/session feature is available if no other program has been into low memory after PC (this means PC must be loaded last in low memory to use this feature). Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (7) -- DOS Session/Command In the TSR Mode. b. If PC is loaded last in low memory, selection of the F6 DOS session feature will simply cause a pop down. The three methods of pop up discussed above are then available to return to PC. c. If PC is loaded last in low memory, selection of the F7 DOS command feature will cause a pop down, and will then pass the command to the keyboard handler the program to which PC pops down. If the program PC pops down to is the DOS command processor (COMMAND, 4DOS, or NDOS), the command will then be executed. If the program is not the command processor, the command will be processed, keystroke by keystroke, by the receiving program as if the keystrokes were entered one at a time manually; use caution here, as this may not get you what you want if the program you pop down to isn't the one you thought it was! Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (8) -- 5. QUITTING PC IN THE TSR MODE. When you ask to "quit" the PC program once it has popped down and back up, the following occurs: If PC is not loaded last in low memory, the quit won't happen. You are returned to the main menu, at which point you can pop down and terminate whatever is loaded after it, pop up, and try to quit again. If PC is loaded last in low memory, quitting will remove (unload) it from memory. Just before the unload, you are warned that the program will be removed (unloaded) from memory and thus deactivated (you can then either complete the quit or resume execution). If the program loaded below it is any other secondary shell (menu or other copy of the command processor), the system may hang and have to be rebooted, or sometimes the program loaded below it will be terminated also. (The system hang can be avoided by starting PC from the permanent copy of the command processor, and having it in memory below PC when it quits; this is a limitation in the design of the TSR function of DOS.) Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (9) -- Program Termination in the TSR Mode. Another method for removing PC from memory is available, but must also be used with caution. Pop PC down, go into DOS, and type: "CALREMOV CAL" This should be used carefully, as removing PC from memory in this manner can create a block of unallocated memory between two programs, and can also cause a system hang. The same results may occur when using CALREMOV as when using the Ctl-Esc key. TSR unloads are supported by 4DOS 3.01a-5.5b & NDOS 6.00-8.00. ONE THING about the TSR Mode. It is a lot easier to use than it is to write about! The best combination is the TSR Mode with EMS memory or Virtual Disk for swapping and automatic Pop Up on the earliest Event! If you use lots of other software as well, and you don't use a multitasking executive (such as Microsoft Windows or Quarterdeck DESQview), you'll find this a very friendly way of life ... try it! Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (10) -- 6. INSTALLATION IN THE TSR MODE (AUTOEXEC.BAT) File. To install PC as a TSR, just put the CAL command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. When CAL runs, enough low memory must be available to load and pop down the first time (TSR memory requirements are shown on a later page). To avoid conflicts if you run other TSRs, you may have to experiment with the loading order among them and CAL. In any case, CAL must be placed AFTER disk caches, mouse drivers, and workstation services for LAN software; and BEFORE a permanent menu system or shell. Last, configure PC's Memory-Resident Options so Automatic Pop Down is enabled, and set Automatic Startup with the name of your appointment file (the latter is done for you for the last appointment file you created). Then, to pop up PC from a menu or shell, configure the menu or shell to run the tiny program CALPOPUP.COM (rather than CAL). DESQVIEW (DV) OPERATION. Although PC will run under DV as a TSR, it doesn't really make sense to do so, thus it's recommended to run normally. File PC-PIF.DVP can be used as a Program Information File (PIF); see README.DOC. In the background, alarms and warnings "sound through" to the foreground window, slowed by multitasking. No automatic window switching takes place. MANIPULATING YOUR APPOINTMENT FILE EXTERNALLY. PRINTING YOUR APPOINTMENT FILE. You may also use the menu to print appointments, or with the "Print" (or "*") key from the Clock Screen. For convenience, when you are on the Clock Screen, you can also eject a page of paper (a form feed) from your printer by pressing the "End" key. When you print your appointments, you always get printed Events, and a display of the three-months calendars. From the "Options" menu, you can suppress printing Notes, or enable printing of History. Another option exists to suppress the dividing line (break) between each week of Events. (These options also affect copying to a text file, described below.) You may have to change the type of printer you are using (or other control options) from the "Options" menu to get the best result -- see the next pages. EXPORTING APPOINTMENT FILE INFORMATION. From the menu, you may copy Events (and Notes and History if you choose) to a standard sequential DOS text file, on which you may then use any program or utility. Options chosen for printing appointments have the same effect on copying to the file. OPTIONS. PC's Main Menu, the "Options for Appointment File" menu, and the "Memory-Resident Options" menu (both selected from the Main Menu) let you change the following characteristics PC's operation -- 1. To start Personal Calendar in the automatic mode, going directly to the clock and calendar display, with or without an Appointment File. To do this, choose "Automatic Startup" from PC's Main Menu. Automatic Startup is set for you when you create a new Appointment File. 2. To change the selection of Event, Note, clock, calendar, menu, instruction, and emphasis foreground and background colors if you have a color monitor. Each of the 7 color pairs, foreground and background, are set together. Select "Color Choices" from the Main Menu. 3. To change the date and time in the DOS CPU clock. The change is effective for the current boot of your Personal Computer. If you have a battery-operated (permanent) clock calendar, the change will be made to it only if you have an associated "resident" program which monitors changes to the CPU clock. Select "Change DOS Date and Time" from the Main Menu. Options -- (2) 4. To ask you to enter the date and time when PC starts, useful if your computer has no permanent clock. Select "Automatic Startup". 5. To run a DOS session or a stored DOS command from either the Main Menu (by selecting "DOS Session or Command"), or from the Clock Screen (function key "F6" and "F7", respectively). 6. To customize PC in the TSR (pop down/up) mode, including: definition of the hot key, use of EMS or disk (and path) for program swapping and screen save, CGA snow checking, use of automatic pop up on the earliest Event, use of automatic pop down after automatic startup, protect popping up over screens which weren't saved, and to suppress the "popping down" screen. "Memory-Resident Options". 7. To show additional Event or Note information on the Clock Screen, by setting the size of the footer to 6 or more; to balance how much is used for Notes or Events. Use "Options" from the Main Menu to do this, or for any of the remaining options described below. Options -- (3) 8. To change the music which is played on an alarm, warning or chime. This is done by supplying musical notes like the ones used by Basic's PLAY statement. Consult a Basic manual, or the QBASIC "PLAY" help function. 9. To vary the Event warning period from 1 to 99 minutes or disable the warning feature (by setting the warning to 0). Defaults to 5 minutes. 10. To start PC with any of four levels of sound -- . Silent . Errors Only . Errors, Warnings, and Alarms . Errors, Warning, Alarms, and Chimes (Everything) 11. To establish, change, or eliminate the Appointment File password. 12. To start the three-month calendar with last month, rather than with this month. Options -- (4) 13. To determine whether Notes and/or History are printed or copied to a standard DOS text file along with the Event List. The default settings are to include Events and Notes, but not History. 14. To suppress the dividing line (break) between weeks of Events upon printing appointments or copying them to a text file. The default is to show the break between each week of Events. 15. To exclude one or two Events from being moved to History, useful to suppress recording trivial recurring Events. This is accomplished by specifying the Event description text to be excluded. The default is not to exclude any Events from being moved to History. 16. To determine whether daily Events can be scheduled on Saturday/Sunday if you regularly use PC on weekends. The default setting is not to work on weekends! 17. For registered users, to suppress PC's startup screen. Options -- (5) 18. To choose one of these printers: IBM Color (4-band), Epson, HP IIP or later LaserJet, IBM/Lexmark LaserPrinters, or a PostScript printer. The default is no change to printer setup; if you have a printer which doesn't work with one of the choices; choose no change, but realize this requires you to set up your printer before running PC. You may also set an option to limit the number of lines printed on each page (a form feed is sent when this is reached). If you choose this limit, you may optionally force the printer to pause between pages, useful if you wish to feed the paper to the printer one sheet at a time. 19. To change the capacity of the Appointment File to hold Events and Notes in increments of 20 and ranging from 20 minimum to 300 maximum. The default capacities are 60 Events and 60 Notes, unless you create a new Appointment File during the same PC session as one whose capacities are different from 60 and 60. If you decrease the Event or Note capacity, any non-blank Events or Notes which are at the excess end of the larger list are written to History during the compaction process. SOFTWARE OPERATION, RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS, AND INSTALLATION. Operation. Personal Calendar operates under DOS versions 2.01 to 6.22, and CPUs 8088 to Pentium/80586. TSR mode only works on DOS 3.00 or later. 4DOS versions 3.01a-5.5b and NDOS 6.00-8.00 are supported. PC also runs as a WinApp, in DOS Merge under UNIX, in a DESQview window, in an OS/2 DOS window, and on a Mac under SoftPC. In the TSR mode in the same window, only one copy of PC may be in execution at one time (unless the OS2 option is used, which bypasses this check). Color or monochrome displays are supported; laptops with color interfaces may run as simulated monochrome; computers with monochrome interfaces may run with "color" choices to make adjustments. [d:][\path\]CAL [MONO] [COLOR] [OS2] where: CAL MONO (simulated monochrome works better on some laptops) CAL COLOR (for "color" choices on a monochrome device) CAL OS2 (execution in an OS/2 DOS window) d:\path\CAL (DOS 3 or later; PC's drive and directory) Software Operation and Installation (2) -- Resource requirements (all numbers in bytes): ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MEMORY in 327,000 low TEMPORARY memory, just for the moment of first pop TSR Mode down (46,000 more w/4DOS or NDOS) ----------------- which *immediately* reduces to -------------------- if swapped 6,600 low memory is left after swapping to EMS or disk, and / 278,600 EMS (Expanded) memory is used for program memory, and OR up to 262,200 EMS memory is used for graphics screen saves \ if not swapped 260,500 low memory is used if disk & EMS swapping are disabled. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MEMORY in Non-TSR Mode: 252,200 low memory is used at all times while executing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISK SPACE: 241,000 for program and data storage (permanent) + 80 for each Event, Note, and History entry (permanent) + 507,500 for TSR mode if using disk swapping (temporary) + up to 262,200 for TSR mode if graphics saved on disk (temporary) Software Operation and Installation (3) -- INSTALLATION. PC is shipped in an authenticated compressed archive file, either a self-extracting archive or a normal archive file, created by PKWARE's ZIP compression software, version 2.04g. The file is named: PCAL1471.EXE - Self-extracting archive [diskette version] or PCAL1471.ZIP - Normal archive [BBS version] corresponding to version 14.71 (on CompuServe/ZiffNet, the name is PERCAL.ZIP). For the .ZIP, use PKUNZIP; for the .EXE file, just type the file's name. When you extract from the archive, the required files will be created. If you have an older version in the directory to which you are writing, you will update PC, and preserve all of your appointments and options. Personal Calendar updates are always automatically "upward-compatible"! You may then delete the PCALnnnn.EXE or PCALnnnn.ZIP file if you wish, however, if you give PC to someone or upload it to a BBS, you must give the original .EXE or .ZIP file only. Do not copy your CALSER.DAT file for anyone else. Software Operation and Installation (4) -- Here's a simple example of installation from the archive to a directory on your disk drive, and works for either a shareware or registered copy of Personal Calendar, and is the same whether for a new copy of the program or an update. In the floppy disk example, A: is the floppy drive, D: is the target drive, and \CALENDAR is the subdirectory in which Personal Calendar is to be installed. Vary these values as necessary. Insert the distribution diskette in your floppy drive and enter the following commands from the DOS prompt: DOS Command What it does ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ D: Change to the target drive MD \CALENDAR If needed, make Personal Calendar's directory CD \CALENDAR Change to Personal Calendar's directory COPY A:*.* Copy the installation files PCAL1471 -O Install the program (from PCAL1471.EXE) (-O is the letter "o" to overwrite existing files of the same name) Software Operation and Installation (5) -- When PC is installed fresh, 21 files are extracted. To reinstall it, either extract the archive or COPY them to the desired directory. 1. CAL EXE Program Personal Calendar program file 2. CALERROR DAT Data Error messages text file 3. CALHELP DAT Data Users Manual (this information; F9 writes as CAL.DOC) 4. CALINIT DAT Data Critical data for program startup 5. CALNAMES DAT Data Context-sensitive help and procedure name file 6. CALPOPUP COM Data Program to pop up PC from DOS, menu, or batch file 7. CALREMOV COM Data Program to remove PC from memory 8. CAL ICO WIN Icon File 9. CAL PIF WIN PIF File 10. PC-PIF DVP DESQview PIF File 16. SHARWARE DOC Shareware/ASP info 11. ORDER FRM Order Form 17. SYSOP DOC BBS SysOp info 12. DESCRIBE DOC Product description 18. VENDOR DOC Disk vendor info 13. HISTORY DOC What has changed 19. FILE_ID DIZ BBS directory entry 14. LICENSE DOC Licenses & warranty 20. PACKING LST Valid product list 15. REGISTER DOC Purchase/discount info 21. README DOC Introductory info Software Operation and Installation (6) -- To put PC to another system after using it, and to preserve your Appointment File information and options customization, also COPY the following DOS files 22-29 which are created by PC (or more if you have multiple Appointment (.CLD) Files). Do NOT copy files 30-33, as they are temporary -- 22. CALAUTO.DAT Data Automatic Startup Option Chosen 23. CALDOS.DAT Data Stored DOS Command 24. CALEXCL.DAT Data Events To Be Excluded From History Recording 25. CALFIG.DAT Data Color Choices (Not Used on Monochrome System) 26. CALMUSIC.DAT Data Music Choices For Chimes, Warnings, & Alarms 27. CALRES.DAT Data Choice for operation of PC in the TSR mode 28. CALSER.DAT Data Registered user serial number data file 29. <name(s)>.CLD Data Appointment File(s) (Events, Notes, History) (one DOS .CLD file is created for each named Appointment File) 30. <name(s)>.CLV, .CLN, and .CLS Temporary work files (do NOT copy!) 31. CALSCRN.DAT Data Temporary graphics screen save file(do NOT copy!) 32. CALSWAP.000 Data Temporary TSR disk swap file 1 (do NOT copy!) 33. CALSWAP.001 Data Temporary TSR disk swap file 2 (do NOT copy!) ENHANCEMENTS UNDER CONSIDERATION. Some future plans for this product, most of them asked for by folks like you! Keyword search of the Event, Note, and History Lists Printing by date/time ranges History: recovery of Events from History exclusion by keyword Scheduling: the first or last workday of the month a weekly repeat for more than 9 weeks a yearly Event on a weekday of a month reschedule at the warning time individually-settable warnings automatic holidays improvements for display of repeating Events A "snooze" alarm Color selection improvements Built-in screen blanker option A Windows version as a separate product (if things go well) Other calendar and clock formats RECENT CHANGES IN PC. Enhancements which we have made to PC or problems which we have corrected in recent versions are now listed in the HISTORY.DOC file (called WHATSNEW.CAL in prior releases). From DOS just enter the following command (if you see F10 at the bottom of this screen and you're popped up over the DOS prompt, you can pop down and type this): TYPE HISTORY.DOC to go to your screen (no pause) or TYPE HISTORY.DOC|MORE to go to your screen (pause between pages) or EDIT HISTORY.DOC (if you have MS-DOS 5 or later) or LIST HISTORY.DOC to go to your screen (if you have either Vern Buerg's or 4DOS/NDOS's LIST program) or PRINT HISTORY.DOC to go to your printer KNOWN LIMITATIONS WITH PC. PC is stable, but occasional problems appear in sophisticated environments. If you find ANY problem, PLEASE tell us all about it, recording conditions and/or messages which occur. We know about: . Other TSRs. If you run PC with other TSRs, follow the requirements imposed on you by them (such as order of loading programs into memory). If removal from memory is important, CAL must be loaded last. . Mouse drivers. If you load a mouse driver, it must be loaded before loading CAL. . LAN (network) software. In TSR mode, load your network software prior to loading CAL. If you run LANTASTIC 5.0, get the SERVTSR fix from Artisoft. . Restores of CGA screens upon pop up are sometimes restored with incorrect colors (this is a limitation of DOS). . If a limited repeating Event is scheduled, the limited repeat counter is not decreased for the days on which PC wasn't used at all. . If the F7 command is used in a 4DOS or NDOS environment, once the DOS command is completed the program won't pop up automatically (the hot key works).Put the CALPOPUP command at the end of a batch file to work around this. . PC should not be loaded as a TSR before starting DESQview, as the system will hang if PC is popped up over DV. PC can be run as a TSR under DV. Known Problems/Limitations (2) -- . PC will run under Microsoft Windows 3 as a task, but not as a TSR (WIN PIF and ICO files are provided for your convenience). Under Windows, PC will not automatically task switch on an alarm. In enhanced mode, the PIF file assigns Shift-Ctl-F10 as a default short-cut key to activate PC from a background state (similar to the TSR mode's default hot key). PC may also be loaded before Windows 3 in TSR mode, but it will not pop up over Windows. . If PC is in the TSR mode and loaded last in low memory, and above another active program which is not DOS (COMMAND, 4DOS, or NDOS), a request to run a DOS command will pass the command to the other program as keyboard input, giving the same result as manually inputting to the other program. . In the TSR mode, PC can only be removed from memory successfully if: (1) It is loaded last into low memory, and (2) The permanent COMMAND, 4DOS, or NDOS is below it in memory. This last condition can't be detected from inside the PC program; if a secondary command processor is also loaded, a request to remove PC from memory may cause a system hang, a reboot, or may terminate the program below it as well. . Popping down to SVGA video modes greater than 19 won't restore the screen. SOFTWARE ENHANCEMENTS AND HOW TO CONTACT ME. User-friendly software means different things to everyone. Writing PC made our lives easier, so if we can enhance it to improve yours, we are willing to listen. Contact us on these *excellent* support BBSs, which all have the latest version posted: The Break East BBS The Consultant BBS ZiffNet (703) 680-9269 (718) 837-3236 TIPS, PBSAPPS The Break West BBS The Elusive Diamond (916) 727-3007 (703) 323-6423 & -1782 CompuServe The VOR & Motherboard BBSs IBMSYS, MSDOS, ZENITH (707) 778-8944 & -8841 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Paul Muñoz-Colman │ TECHNICAL SUPPORT: │ CREDIT CARD ORDERS: FunStuff Software │ Voice 703-435-1110 │ Voice 800-242-4775 11645 Charter Oak Court │ 703-693-5227 │ FAX 713-524-6398 Suite 201 │ FAX 703-435-3130 │ CompuServe 71355,470 Reston, VA 22090-4526 USA │ CompuServe 71141,1224 │ or !GO SWREG OWNERSHIP, COPYRIGHT, DISTRIBUTION, REGISTRATION, AND FEES. Personal Calendar is copyrighted, and its name is a trademark. You may distribute the Shareware version by diskette or BBS, except for CALSER.DAT, and as stated in LICENSE.DOC. BENEFITS. When you register, you get a printed manual, information on special offers, a diskette with the latest version, file CALSER.DAT with your personal registration data, other selected utilities, and lower cost on upgrades. HOW TO REGISTER PERSONAL CALENDAR. Your trial use license to use Personal Calendar for free expires after 30 days. Afterwards, please purchase it by paying the license fee. The single-user fee is US$39 (US/Canada) or US$43 (other countries). Upgrades for registered users are US$19 (outside US/Canada is US$23). Print the order form in file ORDER.FRM by pressing F8. See file REGISTER.DOC for detailed addresses, payment terms, and site license (quantity) discounts for two or more copies. Source code is not available. For credit cards, call 800-242-4775 (Australian call (02) 519-4233), on CompuServe GO SWREG (item #280), or order on the MB/VOR BBSs. By mail, send the form and payment. Sales tax is 4.5% for residents of VA. Shipping is included. Specify 3½" or 5¼" disk, and spell your name for your license. IN CLOSING. To get started, press "Esc" to return to the previous menu, and select the item appropriate for what you wish to do. If you're a beginner, start by creating your Appointment File, follow the instructions on the screens to put in some Events and Notes, go to the Clock Screen, and see what happens! Enjoy! ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ┌─────────┐ ║ Personal Calendar (PC) for DOS ║ ┌─────┴───┐ │ (R) ║ ASP Shareware $39. ║──│ │o │────────────────── ║ ║ │ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of ║ Copyright 1985-1994 Paul Muñoz-Colman ║ │ │ │─┘ Shareware ║ All rights reserved. ║ └───│ o │ Professionals ║ ║──────│ ║ │──────────────────── ║ "Personal Calendar" is a trademark ║ └────╨────┘ MEMBER ║ of FunStuff Software (tm) ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝
