Clicking the search button in a log window will call up a search setup dialog which looks like the following:
 
The Search Setup dialog is very simple use. You may set up five different searches using the pop-up menus. At the top of the search setup dialog are two radio buttons that allow you to tell Personal Log which type of search to perform. Every entry found can match either all of the listed searches or any of the listed searches. There are four basic types of searches you may use: date, subject, keyword, and entry text. Each type of search can be modified further in order to locate any and all entries you may need to find.
To set up a search, first select the type with the pop-up menu on the left. Once you have selected the type of search, the area immediately to the right of this pop-up menu will be filled with more items that will allow you to narrow down your search even further.
In order to remove a search that you have set up from the search list, set its search type pop-up menu to None and the search will be removed from the dialog.
Once you have set up the search you wish to have performed, click the “Search” button to commence the search.
Log File Manager:
The Log File Manager is a sort of “preferences” for a particular log file. It enables you to select many of the log’s characteristics, from often-used keywords to the date format for entries. The various aspects of the Log File Manager are controlled in one dialog. To access this dialog, bring a log file to the front, then select Log File Manager… in the Settings menu. The following dialog will appear:
 
The Log File Manager is set up into a Tab dialog. It contains five tabs: Keyword, Subject, Password, Date, and Setup. Each has options that govern specific characteristics of the log file and its entries. To select a particular tab, click the mouse in the area of that tab’s title.
Keyword Manager:
The first tab in the Log File Manager dialog is the keyword manager. The keyword manager allows you to define often-used keywords for a particular file. You may access these keywords from pop-up menus in the entry information and search setup dialogs.
To define a list of keywords, enter them into the text box which appears in the keyword manager dialog. Each keyword must be separated by a comma.
Subject Manager:
The next tab is the subject manager. It allows you to define often-used subjects for a particular log file. Once defined, these subjects may be accessed quickly via pop-up menus located where a subject or subject-related string is entered. The subject manager looks like the following:
 
To enter a new often-used subject for a log file, type it into the small text box at the bottom of the dialog. Then click the “Add Subject” button next to the text box. The subject will appear in the list of subjects found in the middle of the dialog. If you would like to remove a subject from the often-used subject list, click on that subject to select it, then click on the “Remove Selected Subject” button.
Password Manager:
The third tab in the Log File Manager dialog is the password manager. Passwords may be used in Personal Log to maintain the limited security of your files. The password manager allows you to password-protect a chosen log file, preventing it from being opened without the correct password. Please note: The password manager does not “protect” your data. A knowledgeable hacker could access your entry data fairly easily. If you need data protection, I suggest you use CryptDisk by Will Price (wprice@primenet.com). It creates a file on your hard drive which, with a password, can be mounted as a virtual disk. This virtual disk then may be used as you would use any other disk, e.g., finder windows, save dialogs, etc., but any data saved to it will be fully encrypted.
With the password manager, you can change the current password-protection status of the chosen log file, as well as change the file’s current password. The tab looks like the following:
 
To change the password status of a log file, either check or uncheck the “Require password to open log file” checkbox.
To change the password of a chosen log file, click on the “Change Password” button. A change password dialog will appear and looks like the following:
 
Please note that the OK button in the change password dialog is disabled when the dialog window is opened. To enable the button, you must enter correctly the old password in the “Old Password” text box and enter a new password in the “New Password” text box. When you click on the OK button, the password of the log file will be change, and you will return to the password manager dialog. Please note that if the change password dialog is called up when the current log file has no password, the “Old Password” text box will be missing. The OK button will be enabled when a new password is entered.
Date Manager:
The fourth tab in the Log File Manager dialog is the date manager, which looks like the following:
 
The date manager allows you to configure the date format and type for both the log and entry windows for a particular log file. In log windows, you may choose which date format and type of date, i.e., created date, assigned date, or last edited date (see Creating a New Entry in the Basic Use chapter of this manual) you would like displayed in the log list. In all entry windows associated with a particular log file, you may select which type of date you would like displayed in the entry information area.
Log Window Dates: To choose the format of the entry dates that you want to appear on the right side of the log list, select the appropriate radio button at the top of the Log File Manager dialog. The dates can be written in either a long format (e.g., Fri, Dec 12, 1969) or a numeric format (e.g., 12/12/69). The format you select will govern the width of the “Subject” and “Date” columns in the log list. If the long format is selected, the “Date” column will start halfway across the log window. If the numeric format is selected, the list will start three-quarters of the way across the log window.
To choose the type of date you prefer to have displayed in the log list, use the pop-up menu marked “Entry List Date.”
Entry Window Dates: To select the type of entry date you want displayed in the entry window, use the two pop-up menus at the bottom of the Log File Manager dialog. The entry information area of an entry window has three lines in which information about that entry can be displayed. The first line will always contain the entry’s subject. The second line, which is the first date line, will display the type of date you choose, via the pop-up menu marked “First Date Line,” to have associated with that entry. The third line, which is the second date line, can contain any of the three types of entry dates, set via the pop-up menu marked “Second Date Line,” or it can contain the list of keywords assigned to that entry.
Once you have chosen your preferred date manager setup, click the “Save as Default” button to save the settings in the Personal Log preference file. This will ensure that the initial setting for all new log files created will be your preferred setting.
Log Setup Manager:
The last tab in the Log File Manager dialog is the log setup manager, which lets you set miscellaneous control settings for the log file. It looks like the following:
 
The radio buttons at the top of the dialog allow you to choose how a recorded entry in the log will be opened from the log list. If the “Editable” radio is selected, entries will be opened always in a fully editable mode. If the “Read Only” radio is selected, entries will be opened in a read-only format. To edit read-only entries, you must open them specifically for editing (see Editing Recorded Entries below). This is a good option if you want to prevent any accidental altering of an entry.
The checkbox “Automatically sign new entries” governs whether or not a new entry will be “electronically signed” automatically when it is closed. If this checkbox is checked, whenever a new entry window is closed, Personal Log automically will start the procedure for electronically signing an entry. If this option is not selected, you must sign each entry manually (see Signing Entries below). Please note: If Apple’s PowerTalk is not installed on your Macintosh, this checkbox will be disabled.
The last checkbox in the dialog, “Use Entry Record Button,” determines whether or not record entry buttons are used. If this checkbox is checked, a record entry button will appear in all entry windows. If this checkbox is not checked, no record entry button will appear.
Editing Recorded Entries:
If your log file is set up to open entries as editable (see Log Setup Manager above), they may be edited simply by opening them from the log window.
If your log file is set up to open entries as read-only (see Log Setup Manager above), you still can edit entries, however, they must be open specifically editing. There are two ways to do this. The first way is to hold down the <option> key while opening the entry from the log window, i.e., <option>-double-click on the entry you wish to edit in the entry list area of the log window. The second way is to select the entry you wish to edit in the log window’s entry list, then select Edit Entry in the Commands menu.
To save any changes once you have finished editing the entry, either select Save in the File menu and close the entry window or click on the record entry button, if available, and the entry will be re-recorded and the entry window closed.
Deleting Entries:
Entries are not intended to be removed from log files, however, this feature has been added in case you mistakenly add an unwanted entry.
To delete an entry from a log file, select that entry in the entry list area of the log window, then press <option>-<delete>. Deleting large log files may take longer to complete.
Signing Entries:
If you have Apple’s PowerTalk system (available with System 7 Pro and System 7.5) installed into your system software, you will be able to “electronically sign” entries. Signed entries are useful when notarized notes must be kept, e.g., an engineer’s log or a doctor’s notebook.
To sign an entry, first open it for editing, then select Sign Entry… in the Commands menu. The standard PowerTalk signing dialog will appear:
 
Enter your signer password in the box marked “DigiSign Identification Code,” then click the OK button. Personal Log will sign the entry, preventing it from being edited. A signer button will appear in the upper left hand corner, as illustrated below:
 
You may use the signer button to verify or remove an entry’s signature. To verify an entry’s signature, click the signer button for that entry, then click on the “Verify” button in the dialog that follows. PowerTalk will compare the entry’s data to the signature. If the entry’s data has been modified in any way, the signature verification will fail. If the entry’s data has not been changed since the entry was signed, the signature verification will succeed and the standard PowerTalk signature information dialog will appear:
 
To remove a signature from an entry, click the entry’s signer button, then click on the “Remove” button in the dialog that follows.
“Speaking” Entries:
If you have Apple’s speech manager installed into your system software, you will be able to “speak” your entries. With speech manager, a hierachal menu is added to the bottom of the Commands menu. This sub-menu contains three items: Speak Text, Stop Speaking, and Voices. The Speak Text item is enabled if an entry window has been selected. It will cause an entire entry to be spoken aloud, unless a part of the text has been selected. Then only the selected text will be spoken aloud. The Stop Speaking item is available only when Speak Text has been selected and a passage is being read aloud. When Stop Speaking is selected, the current speaking is turned off. The Voices menu item is a sub-menu containing all of the voices currently installed in your system. The voice you select will govern what voice is heard throughout the program.
Personal Log Preferences:
To change the general preference settings of Personal Log, select Preferences... in the Managers menu. The following Personal Log Preferences dialog will appear:
 
The Preferences dialog has a tab setup similar to that of the Log File Manager, except it contains only two tabs: general preferences and text editing.
General Preferences:
The general preferences tab in the Preferences dialog is shown above. It controls three options:
Background Operations: Personal Log has the capacity to perform some operations, such as log file loading and searching, in a “background mode.” When an operation is being conducted in the background mode, you are free to use every aspect of Personal Log (except for items directly related to the log file on which the operations are being conducted) and of the rest of your computer. Although these operations may take longer to complete in the background mode, this feature allows you the convenience of being able to use your computer while you are waiting for Personal Log to complete its task. To utilize this feature, check the “Background Operations” checkbox. If this box is not checked, you must wait for all operations in Personal Log to finish before you can move on to anything else.
Filename at top of printouts: Personal Log has the ability to print the filename of the current file at the top of each page that is being printed. To utilize this feature, check the “Filename at top of printouts” checkbox.
Show About Box at startup: Information about Personal Log can be displayed for a few seconds each time the program is launched. To do this, check the “Show About Box at startup” checkbox.
Text Editing Preferences:
The text editing tab in the Preferences dialog sets Personal Log’s text editing options and looks like the following:
 
The text editing dialog allows you to set the default font and font size of new log entries and text windows. To set them, use the two pop-up menus at the top of the dialog. The text editing dialog also allows you to choose any of the three following options:
Warn when closing edited entries: This checkbox toggles whether or not a warning will be displayed when you close a new entry window without recording its contents. If the checkbox is checked, an alert will be displayed each time you close a new entry window. If you do not wish to use this feature, do not check this checkbox.
Use Curly Quotes: This checkbox governs whether or not quotation marks and apostrophes will be mapped automatically into their curly equivalents (“” ‘’). The checkbox underneath marked “American Style” governs the behavior of the opening quotation mark. If the checkbox is checked, the opening quotation mark will be down (“) and the closing quotation mark will be up (”). If the checkbox is not checked, both the opening and closing quotation marks will be up.
Insert dragged text file’s contents: This checkbox governs how a dragged text file from the Finder to a Personal Log entry or text window will be inserted. If this checkbox is checked, the text file’s contents will be inserted into the text or entry window. If the checkbox is not checked, Personal Log will create only a file alias of the text file in the text or entry window.
Creating, Opening, and Editing Text Files
Personal Log allows you to create, open, and edit text files without having to switch to another application. To create a new text file, select New Text Filein the File menu. An empty text window will appear which you can edit and save, just as you would in any other text editor. To open a text file, select Open… in the File menu and find the text file you wish to open in the Open Dialog.
