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- UTILITIES
- MICHAEL MEFFORD
- Vol. 9, No. 6
-
-
- SCHEDULE
-
- Purpose: An appointment scheduler that provides both a monthly overview and a
- detailed daily screen with notepad and optional reminder chime;
- includes editing, printing, and archiving facilities and can be used
- as either a standalone or a memory-resident utility (15KB RAM
- required).
-
- Format: SCHEDULE [/I] [/U] [/Hn] [/Pn...n] [/G] [/A] [/C]
- [/M] [/B]
-
- Remarks: When installed as memory-resident by using the optional /I switch,
- SCHEDULE automatically reminds you of appointments by chiming and
- popping up its appointment screen. The default hotkey is Alt-C.
- This can be changed with the /H switch to any alphanumeric Ctrl- or
- Alt-key combination (n), either at or after installation. To make
- Ctrl-S the hotkey, enter SCHEDULE /H Ctrl S. The /P parameter allows
- sending up to 10 decimal printer set-up codes (n...n). Include the
- /G switch for printers that support the IBM line-drawing characters.
-
- The reminder chime can be disabled by including the /C switch, and
- automatic screen pop-up can be avoided by using the /A option. The
- /M parameter prevents the default midnight pop-up so overnight
- programs can be run. If screen contrast is a problem (e.g. with
- laptops), use the /B (black-and-white) option or change the default
- colors, as explained in the article. SCHEDULE can be uninstalled with
- the /U option, subject to usual limitations.
-
- SCHEDULE.COM and the two files it creates (SCHEDULE.DAT and
- SCHEDULE.ASC) must be stored in the current directory when the
- program is run as a standalone or installed as a memory resident.
- Batch files, described in the published article, will simplify this
- requirement. As a text-based program, SCHEDULE will not come up
- over a graphics screen (e.g. Microsoft Windows); it must be installed
- before SideKick (if used).
-
- SCHEDULE.DAT contains all appointment records saved by pressing F2
- (see command summary overside). It can be purged or archived in whole
- or part by pressing F4. A suitable date up to which to purge can be
- selected by F3 (today) or with the PgUp/PgDn keys (moves by days) or
- with Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn (moves by months). F8 selects an individual day
- for purging. Menu prompts are provided for determining whether the
- selected records are deleted or automatically appended to SCHEDULE.ASC
- to provide a permanent record usable by any ASCII editor.
-
- The monthly ("calendar") and daily ("appointment") displays cover the
- period from 6:30 A.M. to 9:30 P.M. in hour and half-hour increments,
- respectively. Within each screen the following commands can be
- executed:
-
- Keystroke Calendar Screen Appointment Screen
- PgUp/PgDn Next month Next Day
- Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn Next year Next Month
- Arrow keys Select day Navigate screen
- Home(1) Beg. of column Beg. section column
- Home(2) Beg. of calendar Top of section
- End(1) End of column End section column
- End(2) End of calendar End of section
- Ctrl-Home Beg. of calendar Beg. of section
- Ctrl-End End of calendar End of section
- Ctrl <- Beg. of column Beg. section column
- Ctrl -> End of Column End section column
- Enter Select app't. Enter
- Esc Exit Schedule Return to Calendar
- F2 Save app'ts. Save app'ts.
- F3 Today Today
- F4 Purge app'ts. Purge app'ts.
- F5 Print calendar Print app'ts.
- F6 Go to Notepad
- Shift-F6 undefined Clear section
- Ctrl-F6 undefined Clear all 3 sections
- Tab undefined Go to next section
- Shift-Tab undefined Go to prev. section
- Del undefined Del. char. at cursor
-
-
- CUSTOMIZING SCHEDULE
-
- The following instructions will enable you to customize the colors used by
- SCHEDULE and to change the tone of its chime. Start by making a backup copy
- of SCHEDULE.COM and then enter: INSERT A(5)--1 line
-
- DEBUG SCHEDULE.COM
-
- You are now ready to modify SCHEDULE.COM. If at any time you make a mistake,
- you can abort the editing process by entering Q. After entering any desired
- modifications last two commands you enter are:
- INSERT B(5)--2 lines
- INSERT B(5)--2 lines
- W
- Q
- for Write to disk and Quit DEBUG.
-
- COLOR SCHEME
- Enter the following DEBUG (E)nter instructions, replacing the xx with a new
- hexadecimal color value. The default color values and descriptions that
- SCHEDULE uses are shown as comments, to the right of the semi-colons.
- INSERT C(5)--6 lines
- INSERT C(5)--6 lines
- INSERT C(5)--6 lines
- INSERT C(5)--6 lines
- INSERT C(5)--6 lines
- E 578 xx ; 17 Lt. gray on blue.
- E 579 xx ; 71 Blue on lt. gray.
- E 57A xx ; 1E Yellow on blue.
- E 57B xx ; 3B Bright cyan on cyan.
- E 57C xx ; 1B Bright cyan on blue.
- E 57D xx ; 7E Yellow on lt. gray.
-
- Alternative colors may be selected from those listed below. The background
- color number is entered for the first x and the foreground color for the
- second x. Do not use a light color for the foreground, or the display will
- blink.
- INSERT D(5)--9 lines
- INSERT D(5)--9 lines
- INSERT D(5)--9 lines
- INSERT D(5)--9 lines
- INSERT D(5)--9 lines
- INSERT D(5)--9 lines
- INSERT D(5)--9 lines
- INSERT D(5)--9 lines
- INSERT D(5)--9 lines
- Dark colors Light colors
- 0 Black 8 Dark gray
- 1 Blue 9 Lt. blue
- 2 Green A Lt. green
- 3 Cyan B Lt. cyan
- 4 Red C Orange
- 5 Magenta D Violet
- 6 Brown E Yellow
- 7 Lt. gray F White
-
- For example, to change the yellow on blue (1E) to red on blue (14) you would
- enter
- INSERT E(5)--1 line
- E 57A 14
-
- CHIME TONE
- The value used to calculate the tone of the chime is a hexadecimal number that
- can range from a low of 0025 to a high of 1150. The default value is 0416.
- You'll find numbers close to the default more pleasing. To change the tone,
- enter
- INSERT F(5)--1 line
- E 584 yy xx
-
- where xxyy is the new tone divisor. For example, to change the tone from the
- 416 Hz C note to an A (a divisor of 370), you would enter
- INSERT G(5)--1 line
- E 584 70 03
-
- Note that the numbers must be entered exactly as shown above. The 70 03
- (yy xx) represent 0370 (xxyy).
-
- Inserts
-
- INSERT A(5)--1 line
-
- DEBUG SCHEDULE.COM
-
- INSERT B(5)--2 lines
-
- W
- Q
-
- INSERT C(5)--6 lines
-
- E 578 xx ; 17 Lt. gray on blue.
- E 579 xx ; 71 Blue on lt. gray.
- E 57A xx ; 1E Yellow on blue.
- E 57B xx ; 3B Bright cyan on cyan.
- E 57C xx ; 1B Bright cyan on blue.
- E 57D xx ; 7E Yellow on lt. gray.
-
- INSERT D(5)--9 lines
-
- Dark colors Light colors
- 0 Black 8 Dark gray
- 1 Blue 9 Lt. blue
- 2 Green A Lt. green
- 3 Cyan B Lt. cyan
- 4 Red C Orange
- 5 Magenta D Violet
- 6 Brown E Yellow
- 7 Lt. gray F White
-
- INSERT E(5)--1 line
- E 57A 14
-
- INSERT F(5)--1 line
- E 584 yy xx
-
- INSERT G(5)--1 line
- E 584 70 03
-