ATimeLog is a time and project / customer / invoice management system.
You can enter time related entries and assign them to categories and activities.
You may browse within the database entries and produce
instant
reports.
There are predefined instant filtering mechanisms which can be used to make quick summaries for days, weeks or months.
You can password-protect the access to your database.
oATimeLog consists of four main views:
Details
Categories
Activities
Invoices
You may switch between the views by using the
button.
Every view has the title bar on the top of the screen, naming the content of the respective column.
On the bottom of the screen is the ->Status line located.
The main part of the view however is the grid showing the database entries.
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BEvery operation which changes the structure of the database itself like specifying sort criteria
s, changing the views, etc. as well as changing the databases content like updating or deleting records etc. are expanding the database. So from time to time you should compress it using the
Compress
command of the
menu to gain back space.
If you prefer to use the auto compress mechanism of TimeLog the application will check itself if compression should be done. Select autocompress in the preferences dialog to do so.
Tip: Exiting TimeLog will automatically make a compress, so if you had it run for a longer time it may take some time to close it.
CAfter you have done some work (or while you are doing it) you may enter a detail record. You are the asked for:
time and date of the activity
duration of the activity
end time of the activity
category (or customer, project, task, ...)
activity
value (price)
a short memo
Tip: End time, duration and begin time are recalculated depending on which field you are tapping or jumping into. So if you are coming from the duration and jumping to the from field, the until time will be adjusted corresponding.
Tip: You may selecting any existing category by pressing Tab or specify any new category by simply entering a description.
Important: Value and activity are connected to each other, see ->Value.
Important: It is not possible to have two entries with the same date and from time in the database.
?AIf the currently selected entry has the actual date, you may append an entry. This simply means to take the end time of the selected record and use it as the begin time for the new one.
Usually you may use this if you are continuing to work (in terms of time) but the category and / or the activity has to be changed.
ABy selecting
Stamp
from the
menu or pressing the
button from the ->Status line you may set the end time from the currently selected entry to the actual time.
Important: The stamp button can only be used on entries having the current date.
Tip: Usually you will stamp a record if you are working longer (i.e. up to the current time) on a project as you may have specified in the first place.
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-ATo enable billing or simply categorising your work, you may specify a number of different categories, defined by:
description
a short memo
Tip: You my rename the label
category
throughout TimeLog.
Important: It is not possible to have two entries with the same name or description in the database.
ATo be able to assign a ->Value to your done work, you have to specify activities, defined by:
description
type of charge (per hour or as a flat rate)
price
a short memo
Important: It is not possible to have two entries with the same name or description in the database.
]AYou may delete any record, as long as it is not referenced by any other record; e.g. if you want to remove an activity entry, there must not be any detail record referring to that activity.
Important: If you are deleting an invoice, you will remove all the corresponding detail entries as well. You may use this mechanism to tidy up the database.
AIf any selected entry is connected to an activity based on hourly rates, you may not specify any other value. If you will do so, the activity field will be erased to demonstrate a new (unnamed) activity. In this case the value is calculated from the number of hours (or fractions) multiplied by the hourly price.
The other possibility is to specify an activity as
flat rated
, which means that you have to enter a value for that record without caring for the time it took.
dAThe status line on the bottom of the screen shows some summary information fields (depending on the view) and the filter buttons.
You may make quick selections by choosing from the date, category or activity filter buttons.
On the very right side there is a number showing the count of the currently shown (selected) records depending on the actual view.
hAFor making reports or simply to reduce the number of shown records due to some specified criteria
s you may use the
Filter
dialog.
The filter has it
s effect on the following mechanisms:
Status line summaries
Printing
Exporting
Saving the database under another name (optional)
To remove any filter simply use the
Select all
command from the
menu.
AIf the currently made filter specifies a period (day, week, month) you may simply select the next / previous period by using the
Previous
commands from the
Select
item in the
menu or simply by pressing the
and
keys in the Status line.
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8AIf you have written an invoice you may keep the involved detail entries from being included in the time and value summaries. Therefore you have to insert an invoice entry consisting of:
description
category
date range
a short memo
The fields Printed, Sent and Payed are intended to keep track of your invoices.
AAfter entering (and confirming) a password, the actual database can only be opened by specifying the same password.
To remove the current password, confirm the empty dialog.
Important: The password is just asked from the user on opening the database.
Tip: Only for registered users!
AWithin the export option dialog you may:
Select the columns, which are to be included in the export by deleting unwanted ones and inserting new ones.
Include / Suppress the columns labels as header (first) line.
Specify the text qualifier character (which encloses every single field element): double quotes, single quotes or none.
Specify the field delimiter, which is placed between each field: comma, space or tab.
AThe field values of the currently selected entries (regarding to the currently displayed view) will be saved to a file to be able to read them back into a PC or Mac application (e.g. spreadsheet) for further processing.
Selecting Timeslips
format exports the database in a format for this application.
Press the
Options
button for specifying the export parameters.
Tip: Only for registered users!
fATab switches between the different views.
Enter / Shift Enter inserts a new record / edits the current record corresponding to the actual selection in the Preferences / Misc Dialog.
Ctrl Enter pops a context sensitive menu up.
Pressing Esc will go back to the Details view.
Tip: The Left and Right keys are scrolling the display horizontally (if possible).
CChange a number of display / keyboard characteristics, as there are:
Display: show / hide fine grid lines on the main window; show / hide the day name abbreviation on the very left side of the details view; show / hide the year number in the date column of the details view; show / hide a horizontal scroll bar on the bottom of the main window (above the status line).
The number of minutes can be displayed either in minutes or as a fraction of an hour.
Local: specify labels for the currently open database for the columns (fields) category, activity and value.
Global: specify labels for the columns category, activity and value for databases which do not have locally defined ones.
Enter does: define whether pressing of enter does an insert or an update of a record.
Auto compress will check the file size of the database regularly and perform a compression if the size ration will be greater then specified.
6AAfter using TimeLog for a period of two weeks you will see nag screens every time you start it.
Unless you do not register TimeLog there are some further restrictions:
You may not password-protect your databases.
You may not print.
You may not export or import the database content to a comma-delimited file.
BYou may register TimeLog as following (depending on additional charges) by:
sending $30 USD in cash to the authors address
using the SWREG service of CompuServe ($38)
using RegNet
s shareware registration site on the internet ($42)
sending a cheque for $45 (including bank charges) to the authors address
If you want to receive the latest version of the software on a floppy disk plus a printed manual, please add another $8.
Please state your name as it is entered into the owners data from within the system screen and enclose an e-mail address (if possible).
You will receive a code for removing the restrictions and nag screens via e-mail or snail mail in return.
>AFor reasons of registration fee payment or technical support you may contact the author of TimeLog as following by:
Thomas Nemec
Gladbeckstrasse 1/12a/10
Schwechat, AUSTRIA
Tel.: +43-1-7077807 (European daytime!)
Fax: +43-1-7077807
e-mail: tnemec@compuserve.com
Internet:
http://www.user.xpoint.at/tnemec/
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Filter: how to make selectionsR
TimeLog!
range report statistics subsets
%Filter: select next / previous periodR
TimeLog!
range report statistics subsets
Entering invoice dataR
TimeLog!
update
Password protecting a databaseR
TimeLog!
code security
Export optionsR
TimeLog!
CDF CSV
Exporting a databaseR
TimeLog!
CDF CSV
Importing a databaseR
sYou may import the details of a previously exported database using this function.
Tip: Only for registered users!
TimeLog!
CDF CSV
How to use TimeLog by keyboardR
TimeLog!
keyboard shortcuts
PreferencesR
TimeLog!
configuration customisation
0Restrictions on the unregistered copy of TimeLogR
TimeLog!
registration shareware
How to register TimeLogR
TimeLog!
registration shareware
Contacting the authorR
TimeLog!
registration shareware?P
Quick startR
TimeLog!
basics introduction terms
TimeLog is Shareware!R
You may try it for a period of two weeks, after which you have to pay a registration fee to the author.
Unless you do not register TimeLog there are some restrictions.
You may distribute the package UNMODIFIED.
Please support the shareware concept!
TimeLog!
registration
Main viewR
TimeLog!
display screen
CompressingR
TimeLog!
maintenance performance
SelectionR
All the operations (printing, summaries, exporting,...) are based on the currently made selection of records, so if you want to include all the databases records be sure to do a
Select all
command from the
menu.
TimeLog!
range subsets filter
Entering detail dataR
TimeLog!
insert update
Append a detail entryR
TimeLog!
detail
Copy a detail entryR
If you want to make a new entry based on the category / activity and or memo of the currently selected one, you may use the
menu item.
TimeLog!
detail
Split a detail entryR
If you have to break any existing entry of the database into two different categories and / or two different activities, you may split it into two parts.
You may specify the duration of the fraction and it
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