for adding a new Cliptext. If this is the first one, a new File
Clips.dat
will be created in the Assistant-Folder. Edit the Caption for it, like
for your address and edit the Text for it.
The Text can be up to 255 Characters.
6APasting Cliptexts: (c or c...)
To paste a Cliptext, do it in the same way as with programs or macros. Type
to choice from the list of all Cliptexts or type
, to paste your address. If more than one is found, you can select again from a list of all found Clips, beginning with the entered letter(s).
Table1
ColA11
ColB11
Skizze
&Paint.app
Arial
Arial
Arial
#ADisplay a "Quick time" (Space " ")
For the cases, you want to know the time or date, but dont want to show the "big" Night-clock, type "
" (Space). You will see the date and time plus the week as a Message. After a few seconds it will disappear. To make it go away earlier, press any key.
APaste Path: (pp)
This has been written especially for the Hyperlink function. Type 'pp' to open a file selector, select the file, select, whether to include "Hypermark signs" or not. The full path of the file is pasted to the document, and if selected, the "+" signs are also pasted.
{ASending Keystrokes: (k or k...)
To send a Keystroke, type as usual:
"k" for the list of existing, "kbat", to send for example the Keyystroke for Battery info in System Screen. If more than one is found on the entered letter(s), a list comes up.
If you stored also to foreground a file, before the Keystrokes are sent, the App or file will be foregrounded or, if necessary, run.
BFolder aliases:
You can make aliases for any Folder on you System. The folders you add, will be saved and from now on, choice the folder, and you will be presented with a list of all files in it. Folders are shown with < > This is a very fast way, to access any file of your Psion, without using the (on Compact Flashs) slowly working Explorer. This function has a "repeat" what means, that if you don't run any file of the Folder, but press Esc in the choice list, you will be returned to the "Choice Folder" Dialog. So you have the possibility, to quickly cycle through the folders, e.g. for searching a file, that you dont exactly remember the place.
Table1
Usage
Arial
ARunning Shortcuts: (s or s...)
To start a Doc,Macro, App by the Shortcut, do it in the usual way, type
for a list of all existing, or
for direct viewing of your photo. If there existing more than one Shortcuts, beginning with the entered letter(s), a list of all found is presented. If the file does not exist anymore, you have the option, to update or delete the Shortcut
ARunning Files in Folder Aliases: (f)
To select a File from an Alias, type "f". Select from the list of Aliases and press Enter. You will be presented with a list of all Files in it.
Subfolders are shown with < >. Press Enter, to start from here any "Assistant-valid File". If you select a Subfolder, you will be presented with the Files in that Folder.
If a Folder, for which you created an Alias, does not exist anymore, you have the option, to delete it.
@CCreating Shortcuts: (ns)
To create a new Shortcut (Link) to a file , type "ns". Enter the Caption for it, like "Agenda" for Agenda or "Addresses" for your
Addressbook
for the photo of your cat, and select the File. The first time, you do this, a new file Documents.dat will be created in the Assistant Folder.
File Shortcuts can be created to any Assistant-valid file.
!!! If you want to create a Shortcut to a (Escript)-Macro, that is not in the Macro-Folder, you MUST insert somewhere in the Caption for it an Asterix ( * ). This is essentially, because Assistant recognices by this way, that the file is a Macro, and not a normal OPO Modul. !!! By this way, though, I can continue the "Auto recognizing of files" in Assistant, so that you don't have to select for each Shortcut the File type (App,Macro,MBM,Txt.....)
CDoing calculations: (*)
As I for my own, don't like those
wait for starting a Macro, wait for autoselect, wait for copying to clipboard..... I have thought of another method of doing simple calculations or pasting results of calculations to a document:
Type
, to bring up a dialog, type in your calculation, and press Enter to view the result only, or Space, to paste it to the document. In addition, if you type
behind of the calculation, the whole expression will be pasted, e.g.:
12+3=
. Space, would paste: 12+3=15
"12+3",Space would paste 15
"12+3",Enter would paste nothing, it would display the result only, because we dont want to paste everything, but want sometimes only to do a quick calculation.
You can use either "
" or "*,/" signs, but, it is not possible, to use single keys as "hjkl" instead, as the calculator is based on a Dialog and not on a graphical window! If you want to use the result for further calculations, press TAB, and the result is pasted to the first line.
B(Night)- clock (t)
ve implemented a clock, that you can reach by typing
. You will see a big clock, the date, the Julian day (Day in Year) and week in year. Press space, to turn Psion off or any other key, to return to your work.
You can configure it as Night-clock in the Preferences. Check the
enable
, and put in the Time from: and to: You should set the times (from: must be after to: of course) also, if you don
t enable the Nightclock. This is, because if the time is in the range, the Backlight will be automatically turned on and of for the clock. If you leave them both to 00:00, then also during the Day, by calling the clock, the Backlight would be turned on.
APlaying Sound Files: (w)
You can play a Sound File, by typing
. If you have a standard sound folder, you can set it up in the menu. If you do so, this folder will be the initial choice displayed. Else, a file selector is opened, and you can choose the file. There is a repeat function, so as long as you don't press Esc in the dialog, you can continue to play others.
If the master sound control in System is turned of, it will be automatically turned on, and afterwards turned off again.
CPassword functions:
You can turn your System Password to: On, Off, Once a day, without going ever to the System Control Panel. To use this function, you must enter your System password in the Preferences menu in Assistant. This will be encrypted, before it is stored to Disk! From now on, you can change turn the Password on or off, by simply typing :
"pon" turn it on
"poff" turn it off
"p1" turn it to once a day
This could be very practical, if you have your Psion with you in the office, go out for lunch, and want quickly turn on the Password, to prevent people, to see your savings and other secrets. After your back, turn it off again, by typing "poff". The way it works:
The password is turned to on or off, and in addition, the "show" is turned to "never, always,Once a day".
BSetting Alarms: (al)
You can set an Alarm by typing
Edit the time/date/repeat, the Message and choice the Alarm Sound and press enter.
Its up to you, that the values are valid. So, if you would enter things like a date next month and repeat next 24 hours, unpredictable things could happen! (at least, the Alarm would not be set correctly). It is always saver, to use "once" instead of "next 24 hours". This is not a bug, but caused by the unknown valid ranges of Alarm settings, that Psion didnt make available yet. For more Information about this, refer to the Homepage of RMR Software at
http://www.rmrsoft.com
But you have now the option to set an Alarm, without running Time.app (and there, you couldn
t enter an future alarm anyway!)
ACity information (city)
Display Informations for any city, that is stored in the World database by typing
. Type in the first letters of the city, initially home city, and find out the dialling code, the country, capital, time difference. All found cities beginning with the search string will be displayed one after another, if you press Enter, the action will be cancelled by pressing Esc.
ABHyperlinks:
You can insert Hyperlinks in the Standard Applikation Documents (Data, Word, Program, Agenda, Sheet)
The Hyperlink contains the full Path of the Document and a "+" character in front and afterwards, e.g. +D:\Dokumente\Agenda+
You can use here again any of the "Assistant valid" files, as Apps, Macros, Mbm's Textfiles, Webpages...
You can use also Email Addresses, which are the only one, that dont need the + signs, to enable you for example, to start the action in Data, positioned at an Email Address, and create a new Email, by starting the Hyperlink action.
rned to "never, always,Once a day".
GPFilemanager: (d)
Type
to bring up a File selector, from which you can start any registered Document (those who have the same Icon of its App).
In addition here, you can select:
A Mmb-File (must end with .mbm)
This is loaded in a built-in Mbm-Viewer:
Press arrows to scroll around the screen, Menu, to start (if installed) Picsee or Mbm-View or exit the Viewer. If the File has more than one Bitmap, you can press Tab/Shift-Tab, to cycle through the Bitmaps, or Space, to do an simple animation (any key to stop again). To open another, press Ctrl+o or select from menu. From here, only valid files are shown, and they could have also nother (or none) extension.
Any *.aif or *.jpg ,*.gif or *.bmp File (MbmView must be installed, for *.gif newest Version 2.1)).
In the case of *.gif files, you will be presented with a popup menu, to choice, wether to load the image in MbmView or the WebBrowser.
Any Zip-File (must end with *.zip and S5Zip V1.10F must be installed)
The usual Text-Files, ending with *.txt , *.me, *.now, *.1st.
*.htm or *.html files. These are loaded in the Browser.app (Message suite must be installed)
Important note:
Exept of the *.mbm Files the Files are loaded in the respective Apps:
For text files: If Textcv.app from Message Suite 1.5 is installed, they are opened directly. if not, a temporary copy of the file is created, and the file is loaded in Word.
For *.aif,*.jpg,*.bmp files, there will be created a temporary copy of the file, which is loaded in MbmView, and after you are finished with viewing, this file will be deleted again!
This is caused by some limitations of the Dialog structure of the Series 5. An exeption is, if the files are in the root directory of C or D. Here, the original file is loaded.
!!! So be aware, if you choose this method, any changes you make in the file from within MbmView, will take affect only, if you use "save as" functions from the menu. Same for gif files, but you have here the choice, to load them directly in the Browser, so the original file is loaded.
For the case of Textfile, (and Textcv is not installed), there will be created additional a Temp.wrd file, that is kept in the Assistant folder.
In the case of Textfile, you can though use "Save as" from the menu, to save the File as a new Word file, before you exit. The file Temp.wrd, that is kept in the Assistant folder, will keep the contents of the Textfile, until you "import" another. So, you can view the file easily again. Many thanks to Thomas Kunz for this very good idea!.
If messagesuite 1.5 is installed, Word 95,97 files are directly started.
You can also open any file for Viewing in Word, by selecting it from the Text function (txt).
It is up to you, that the file you select in the file manager, is a registered document or any of the mentioned ! Otherwise, you would get an error "damaged". I can not do anything against it, because this procedure uses the Macro 5 "FgDoc%:", and so I can not trap the error to give you a info to the screen, that this file can not be run.
To start a Document from here, press Enter.
You also have the possibility from here, to make simple File transactions:
If the file is an (Escript)-Macro ( and is not in the Macro-folder), type Ctrl-f or press the "Macro-Button", to run the Macro
Press ctrl-t to move a file to another place
Press ctrl-c to copy a file elsewhere
Press ctrl-r to rename a file
Press ctrl-p or ctrl-u to Write-protect or unprotect a file
Press Del to delete a file
In every case, you will get a message, if you are going to overwrite an existing file. Also, if you want to delete or overwrite a write protected file, you will have to confirm the Action!
By the way: You can access from all file selectors in Assistant any folder including that ones, located in System\ or in the Rom. The only problem is, that it seems, that the Series 5 does not show the System-folder in a selector directly by pressing repeatedly "s", but only if you change first to another Disk, or pressing Tab, and then select System.
For many File selectors of Assistant, I found out a way, to ship around this problem, so you have directly access to them.
@Close and kill Tasks (kk)
You can bring up a Dialog, from where you can close a Document or App, by typing "k". From there, you can also kill not responding tasks (those, who are frozen). You should be aware, that you should in every case to try, first to close it ! To do this, select it from the list, and press Enter. If the task does not respond, you can call the function again and kill it by pressing Space. The task will be cl
osed, without it knows it, so it can not save any changes you made since the last time you opened it !!! So use this only, if there is no other way. You can also close all open Files by pressing "Del", although this has to be still enhanced ! At the moment, the close all, will first switch to Macro5, closing it down, then tries to close all Files. Not responding tasks are presented in a new Dialog. Press Space to kill one, Enter, to switch to it and close down manually by Ctrl-e. You will be returned to the Dialog, to continue. Once, only "System" and "Assistant" are remaining, Assistant will shut down itself, and you are finished.
ACreating Hyperlinks:
To create a Hyperlink, type between two + characters the whole path of the document, App...
You can also call the Hyperlink function (h), because, if no link is found, you will be prompted to create one.
This works not so in Data: There, to insert a link, position the cursor to the field, you want to insert one, press menu, "Edit entry" and use function PASTE
PATH, to insert.
You can also use the function "pp":
Paste Path (see also Paste Path) , for this.
DFollowing Hyperlinks: (h)
To follow a Hyperlink:
In Word or Program editor: position the cursor behind the link
In Agenda: position the cursor to the Entry with the link.
In Data, position cursor to the field with the link. Data should though NOT BE IN LIST VIEW!!!
type "h" in the edit window, and you will jump to the respective document or what ever. If no Hyperlink is found, you will be prompted, to insert one, and afterwards, you have the possibility, to jump.
If you want to create links to external (not in Macro-Folder) (Escript)-Macros, just insert somewhere an asterix (*).
That way, you could do things like: Make an Appointment with a Hyperlink to the Addressbook in Agenda, and then, to find out the Address or the phone number, call Assistant, type h and open the Addressbook, to search for it.
Or create a Hyperlink in Word, to jump to a sheet, that you dont want to import, and in the Sheet file, insert one, to jump back. Very usefull for "projects", containing different files in different places. As any Assistant valid file can be used, you can in your Word or Sheet file links to MBM files or anything else, that has to do with your project.
9FCurrency Converter (cur)
I have implemented a Currency converter, reached by typing "cur"
First time you run it, a new file "Currencies.dat" is created in your Assistant folder. Also, there will be automatically added your Home country as Base Currency with the Currency Symbol and converting Factor 1.
You can, from the converters main dialog: Add, update, delete currencies, or start the convert utility.
In the ADD and UPDATE screen, you are prompted for the country, the symbol, and rate. To make things a bit easier, you can also type in the allowances, which are not saved, but only used for easier type in. What I mean, is:
If you get the actual currencies from Television or your newspaper, you will find the rates not always displayed in 1/1 mode, e.g for DM
USA: 1 US$ =1,84 DM
GB: 1
= 3,04 DM
Italy: 1000 LIT =0,011 DM
Greece:100 DRA =0,68 DM
To prevent you from finding out the 1/1 rate, simply type for above example:
Country: GREECE
Symbol: DRA
Rate: 0,68
Allowances: 100
Italy
0,011
The converter itself is pretty self explaining:
Type the Value, choice the FROM and TO Currency, and press Enter.
You could use it in theory also for any other conversions: Type instead of the country the Base, with Value 1, and then add a second one for the other one, with the respective value, e.g:
1. (Base)
Nautic miles
2. KM
To convert now, type the value, and select "From": Nautic miles, "To": KM
If you would find it usefull, to have a second Converter for such things, vote for it. Maybe, future Versions will then contain one.
|BThe Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agenda File Compactor. These files are "Auto compacted" from Data and Agenda itself, but not very regulary. If you are short on space, you can free up very quick lots of memory, by compacting them manually. Type "com" , select the file, and press Enter.
Only valid files will be displayed.
You have also direct access to the System folder (where all the Help files of the Apps are placed)
NOTE, the file must be closed !, if not, you will get a message, that the file is in use. After compacting, you will get information on the old and new size of the file, and how much KB you got back.
EBattery checker
There is a configurable Battery checker inside:
You can configure it to be :
A status message
(Good, low, replace)
The Voltage as message (giprint)
Graphical (by default)
or even none
If this isn
t set to none, every time you press the Assistant Hotkey, at the upper side of the screen, as down you will see the edit window, you will see a small window, that shows you the Battery status in graphical form, the value in %, the total consumption, the hours on Battery and the voltage of the Backup Battery. If external power is present, in the right corner, you will find a plug. If battery is low, you will here a beep, if you enabled this in the preferences.
Also, if not set to none, at switch-on you will see a message and here a beep, if low. You can set a Value, for graphical and Voltage-mode, to warn, if the Voltage sinks below that value. You can also set a "full" value for fresh batteries. The
status message" uses, unlike the graphical mode, the System information of Batteries (which may be to late)
You can also reach this function by typing
, in that case, you will see the graphical mode, whether you use this or another setting. Please see the section
Batteries and no end
for more detailed information and my personal opinion to this never ending story.
Table1
Usage
KB you got back.
HFinger 11 function: (f11)
I have implemented a simple finger11 thing. What this is? This is a little help for text based Apps like Word or Program. It tries to make writing Texts more easily. After "." or "," automatically a space is inserted. After ".", "Enter" (New Paragraph) and "Shift-Enter", the first letter is converted to uppercase. For German Machines in addition, if one dont want to press the Fn-key or Shift-Fn+key, the Umlauts can be reached by typing # followed by "u,o,a,or p for
". If you need the upper Umlaut press Shift together. Not perfect, but more easier than doing finger acrobatics for e.g.
(have you tried to press Fn-Shift-a ?) . In addition there are (still) a few special functions, reached by typing double space. If you type double space, followed by "u", the previous word will be converted to upper,"l" to convert to lower, "1" to convert to : First letter upper, rest lower, "d" to paste date, "t" to paste time, c or c+first letters, followed by Enter, to paste a cliptext, "b" to set previous word in brackets, m or m+ first letters, followed by Enter, to run a macro. If you dont want to be the next character converted, e.g. you make a "." in a date, want to prevent though to isert a space or the next character to be upper, press ESC after "." and before the next character. The function is reached by typing f11 in the edit window.
!!! This function is still in development. I have made it available, to hear your comments, if you find it usefull or not. There are a few problems:
You will see no cursor! It would be in theory possible, to "emulate" one, it would slow down things though. After a "PenEvent" the Focus is lost! You can see this, because the Text cursor will get visible again. To get the focus back, press your "Macro5 Task cycling Hotkey" (Ctrl-Space).
Assistant doesnt respond during using this function. Therefore I provided the paste date, time, cliptext and run macro in it. To cancel the function, and return to normal mode, press Shift-Esc. If you lost control, where you are in the Text (because of the invisible cursor) press Shift-Tab. A cursor will be visible, and if you press a key, it will disappear again.
Please let me know, if you find it usefull and I should "try" to enhance this, or if you find it nonsens :-))
oBCreating new Macros (nm)
You can create a new Macro source File by typing "nm". You will be asked for a name. Enter this, without the ".opl", exit the Dialog by pressing Enter, or by pressing Tab, if you want to include Macro.oph in the File. Of course, you can cancel the action, like any other function, by pressing Esc. The Source File will be written, and brought to front afterwards for editing. You will find the cursor positioned ready for writing, and if you selected Tab, the line "Include Macro.oph" will be already there. You should notice, that any existing source File with the same name will be overwritten!
ARecording Macros: (rm)
You can record a new Macro5 Macro by typing "rm". This function is the same as in Macro5. You are prompted for a new File name. Start recording your Keystrokes. To switch to another Task, press Shift-Tab, to stop recording, press the Assistant-Hotkey. After you are done, the File will be foregrounded for translating or to make changes first. If you want to record Macros, Macro5 must be installed!
7BUpper/lower case: (ul)
There is a function, to convert Text automatically to Upper/lower case:
Select Text (up to 255 characters) and call Assistant, typ in the edit window "ul".The program searches character by character, If a lower character is found in the text, and it will be converted to upper, if not, whole will be converted to lower. If no Text is selected, the last word will be automatically selected and converted. If Text longer than 255 characters is selected, you will be warned, if the selection is invalid, as only numbers, the action is cancelled
YFManipulating Notes: (cn)
To make actions on the task, move the cursor to the record, type 'cn' in the Assistant edit window:
Note, that if you call this action from within another App, function cliptext will be activated ("c") and would search for a Cliptext with captions beginning with "n".
A Dialog comes up. Select the Action, you want to start
In work: Lets say, you made an entry, a Todo as example, with priority 3
Now, you start to work on it. So select the Button "in work". The entry will be modified in that way: The Font will change to Bold, the Priority will be set to
1, and in the field W, a "w" will be displayed.
Reverse the action, by simply pressing "in work" again.
You can also enter an Alarm for it. If an Alarm has been set, a little Symbol in field A will be shown.
Complete: If the Task is done, you can complete it, without to delete it:
Select Complete: The entry will be modified in that way:
The colour of text will change to dark grey, the Text will be displayed as "Strikethrought", the Priority will be changed to 9, in the field C a "c" is displayed, and the record is sorted coused by the changed Priority to the end of the file.
If you wish to undo the complete, e.g. something happened, and you have to work on it again, select "Undo Complete". The following changes will be made: The Text colour will change to black again and the strikethrough is removed, the Priority will be set to
1, and the date will be changed to the todays one and all attributes (Alarm, Complete) will be removed. Also, to see, that this was a completed record one time, the Text will be shown in Italic.
5FHandling of Macros: (Macro5 and Escript/BLPlus)
Here a few words to the handling of Macros:
From within Assistant you can:
Run any Macro5 or Escript Macro
Macro5 Macros are usually placed in a own Macro-Folder. You can find lots of them on Pascal Nicolas' Homepage, from where you can get also Macro5. The URL is: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/1215
Escript Macros are Macros written in a new Macro language. To write and run Escript Macros, you will need to install EpocPlus Library and Escript.sis, written by Jason Kneen, the Author of Programs like Backlite+ and Extrabars. You can find this at http:/www.palmscape.com
As these Macros could be in theory in any place of your System, you have to take care of a few things:
Any Macro that is placed in the Macro-Folder, you can run by the following ways.
Type "m" and select the Macro from the list
Type "m" and the first letter(s) of it, to run it directly
Create a Shortcut for it (ns) or run it from the Filemanager (d) by selecting it and pressing Enter.
Any Macro5 or Escript Macro, that is not in this Folder, you can run by:
Typing "m" and selecting it from the File selector, that you see below the list of Macros in the Macro-Folder (If Epoc Plus and Escript is installed !)
Creating a Shortcut for it, where you have to put an Asterix (*) somewhere in the Caption.
Selecting it from the Filemanager and pressing "Macro".
Creating a Hyperlink and, again, put somewhere an Asterix in it.
You can create a new Macro Source File
You can delete and edit Macros in the Macro folder
You can Record Macro5 Macros
CRunning Macros: (m or m...)
Run Macros in the same way as programs:
Type "m" for the list of all Macro5 and Escript Macros in the Macro-Folder.
Type ms, to show a list of all Macros, beginning with 's'
Type mexab or mpen, to run that Macros directly.
If you type 'm' and have installed the EpocPlus and Escript Library, written by Jason Kneen, the Author of Backlite+ and the excellent Extrabars, you will find below the list of Macros in the Macro-Folder a file selector, from which you can select any Macro5- or Escript/BL Macro, that is installed elsewhere (as Escript Macros could for example be also in the PLUGIN Folder of EXTRABARS).
Select either a Macro from the above list, or move down, to select a Macro from the File selector.
The location will be remembered, and if you call the action again, the last run Macro will be the initial choice for the File selector.
See also the Special Macro section below
|BWelcome to Assistant
This is a freeware add-on program for Macro 5 .
It provides you with many
features, for which you would have to pay elsewhere. Although I did spend many time for development and in enhancin Assistant, you don't have to pay for it, but you must send me your comments,critics, bug reports , similies and even suggestions, what you would like to see in future versions or what you don't. (On the other hand, if you are the Author of any Shareware program and find Assistant is usefull in any way for you, dont expect me to complain about it, if you absolutely want to give me a free Registration for your App :->
SReading UID's: (uid)
Read the 4 UID's in the Header of a document by typing "uid"
Editing Macros: (em)
You can edit a existing Macro (its Source File) by typing "em". Choice the Macro you want to edit. The Program searches for the Source File and, if found, it is started.
Deleting a Macro: (dm)
You can delete a Macro by typing "dm". Choice of the list of found Macros, and the module, as well as the Source File will be deleted.
,FHow does Assistant work, and what can I do with it ?
The idea is, by typing the Hotkey, to bring up a small
Edit window
in the lower right corner of the screen in the App or Doc you are. There you can, by typing different shortcuts, start all the actions of the program. I
ve chosen this method, because of the following reasons:
1. By bringing up only a small window, the screen is free for view, so you won
t have anymore the problem, that you want for example to calculate something, but bringing up the Macro 5 screen or even something else, it gets invisible, and if you forgot, what there was written, you have to cancel the action. Most functions of the program are using the same method.
2. Second, by this method, where you cant only press one shortcut key, there are more possibilities. Further, you don't have to remember, the Shortcut for a Cliptext, Document, Macro or Program to run it, or on which panel you will find it! To run it, just call it by its name or select it from a list.
3. You need for all functions only one single System-Hotkey.
The Shortcut, you type in, is kept, so if you repeatingly want to run for example te same Macro (e.g. Exab for your text), no need to type in every time things, just press the Assistant Hotkey and then Enter.
Assistant has a History list, with the last used 10 items. You can, as usual type your Hotkeys, or choose from the last used 10 items in the choice list below the edit field. If your choice is one of the list, that one is moved up to the edit field, and that one, that was in the edit field, is moved down
FRunning a program: (p or p...)
To run a program,press the Assistant-Hotkey, to bring up the Edit-window. Type there
for program and press Enter. A list of all found programs will be displayed, from which you can make your choice.
is, that you can, optionally, type behind of the
the first letter(s) of the App.
If more than one is found, you will be presented again with a list of all found, otherwise, the App is started directly. An example:
Type
and Enter to display a list of all found programs beginning with
e.g.. S5Bank, S5Zip ...
Type
and Enter to start directly Yatzee (as I think, this should be the only one beginning with
Type "ps5bank" to start S5Bank directly (Maybe ps5b will be enough)
Note, that what you type, is not case sensitive!
You could also directly start a macro or App by typing
(Space) and the full name of it, e.g.:
exab
or
sheet
. The program searches then, if there exists a macro with that name and, if not, if there exists an App and starts the found.
In every case, you will get a message, if there is no program or macro, that fits.
Important note: In order to get this function to work with maximal speed, there will be created a file: "Apps.log" in the Assistant Folder, where the list of all installed programs is stored. This file will be created the first time, you run the program, and should be refreshed from time to time, e.g.. if you installed a new program or moved one to another Disk. I use this method, because it would take up to much time, to search all drives for all Apps, every time you want to run one. (Users of Runextras.macro and a Compact Flash Disk will know what I mean. Access to these Disks is unfortunately very slow)
To refresh the list, type "ref"
FHotkey and Preferences:
The Hotkey is, by default set to Fn+n. You can change this to anything you like, but make sure, that this Hotkey isn't used elsewhere and be aware that some combinations will not work.
If you need it for something else, type
, the Hotkey is disabled. To reenable it, jump to Assistant by selecting it from the Tasklist, or from the Extrasbar, and type "dh" again.
The Preferences:
You can reach the Setup screen by typing
Battery:
Set up here your settings for the Battery checker
Macro-Folder: Select the Folder, where you store you're Macros. Note: if this is C:\Macros or D:\Macros, it will be autodetected. Otherwise you must set it up manually.
Default path: Enter your favourite Folder: in the most File selectors of Assistant, this will be the initial folder. If you dont set any, the initial folder for any action will be "C:\" and in the Filemanager, the initial choice will be the last started
About: Display the about screen: You can find there my email-address (remember, you must send me your comments! )
Close for Backup
Choose here, if you want Assistant to be closed for Backups or not
Sound Folder:
Select here optional a Folder, where you usually store your Sound Files.
Alarm preferences:
Edit here your default Alarm Message
Switchon Sound:
Select here, wether to play a sound file at switchon between predefined times, and the file for it.
Night Clock:
Set the preferences for the Night clock
Macro at Startup:
You can define a Macro, that is started, every time, you start the Program
Macro at Switchon:
You can define a Macro, that will be run (between predefined hours), every time, you switch the machine on.
ABacklight timer: (bl)
You can control the Backlight timer by typing "bl". You will see a message, if the Timer is enabled or not, and can change the state, or set up the time, after which the Backlight will be switched off (This time you could also change, by going to the System Control Panel, going to SCREEN, and change "Switch off Backlight after:", but it is faster, to set it from within Assistant :-) )
BTaskcycling (Hotkey)
I have implemented a Taskcycling function: If you want to use it, you must set up a Hotkey for it in the Preferences (disabled by default)
The way it works:
Lets say, the Hotkey is Ctrl+Space
Press and hold Ctrl. Now, if you press repeatedly Space, where you will see a list in the lower left corner, appearing all open Tasks.
Once you have found the Task, you want to switch to, release the keys and the respective file is foregrounded. If you press the left cursor together with Ctrl, it will cycle in the other direction. If you press DEL together with the Ctrl, the action will be cancelled.
This is very similar to the Macro5 cycling, except, that no Icons will appear.
KAFile Shortcuts
You can define unlimited Number of File Shortcuts, which could be Macros, Documents, Apps or Text-,Mbm-, Zip-, or Aif-, Gif-, Bmp-, Jpg- Files and Web pages, and by the way, also shortcut files created by "Extralink.app" or "Shortcuts.app" . You can also use for Zip-files the Zip-shortcut files created by S5zip
in the Assistant Folder will be deleted.
To send one: press Enter and select from the list.
al Macro section below
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Running Macros: (m or m...)
Run Macros in the sam
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Pass
Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typ
The Compactor (com)
Assistant has a Data and Agen
LLink on: Infrared: (li)
To turn the Remote Link on to: Infrared, type "li"
ULink on: (l)
Type "l", to turn the Remote Link on to: Last used (Infrared or Cable)
9Link off: (lo)
Turn the Remote Link off, by typing "lo"
lLink status: (ls)
Type "ls", to display the Status of the Remote Link:
Connected
On, but disconnected
Password on: (pon)
Type "pon". This turns the Password on. Every time, you turn your Psion on, you will be asked for the Password.
Password off: (poff)
Type "poff" to turn the Password off. Until you change this, you will never be asked for the System Password
}Password: Once a day: (p1)
Type "p1", to set the System Password in that way, that you are asked for it every day one time.
Sunrise/Sunset calculations: (sun)
Type
to find out the times of sunrise or sunset for any city and date, that is stored in the World database. As initial choice your home city and today will be displayed.
;Jump to System: (sy)
Type
, to jump to System Screen.
aJump to Macro 5 (m5)
Type
to jump to the Macro 5 main edit screen (not the Shortcut table)
Tasklist (tl or hotkey)
You can display a Tasklist by typing
. You can also set a Hotkey for this in the Preferences, for faster access.
JControl Panel (cp)
You can reach the System Control Panel by typing "cp"
Set Contrast (co)
You can set the contrast by typing "co" + the value, e.g.. "co27", although this would be only from usage, if you want set it to a defined value (System key is quicker)
MLThe functions:
You can action the following things with Assistant:
Running any installed program or macro by only typing
Add, edit, start,delete unlimited Number of File-Shortcuts to Apps, Macros, registered documents and even to some files, that you normally cannot open from the Explorer like Webpages, Mbm files, Text files...
Add, delete Folder-aliases for direct access or jumping to any folders.
Make simple calculations and paste optionally the result or even the whole formula in your document.
Paste Date or Time in the format of your System settings to your document
A clock, that you can also use as Night-clock if you don't have 5 or 6 at all :-)
A "quick message clock"
A configurable Battery checker.
Optional play a Sound File at Switchon between defined times
Optional run a Macro at Startup
Optional run a Macro (between predefined hours) at Switchon
Turn off or on:
The System master Sound
Remote Link
Password
Set Alarms
Calculate Sunrise/Sunset for any city or date of the world database
Display information like dialling code, time ... for any city
Show available Disk space and Ram
Read UID
s in File headers
Play a Sound File
View Mbm-Files (built in Viewer)
Open Zip-Files(S5Zip Version 1.10F or higher must be installed)
Open Text-Files
View Aif, Jpg, Gif and Bmp-Files (Mbm-View must be installed)
Open Web pages (Message suite must be installed)
Open MsWord files (Message suite 1.5 or higher must be installed, or at least the 'MSWordCV.app' of it)
Jump to System
Jump to Macro 5 Mainscreen
Display a Tasklist
Create a new Macro Source File
Record a new Macro (Macro5 must be installed)
Delete a Macro (including its Source)
Edit a Macro
Display the Link status
Close or kill not responding tasks
Choice from a list of all functions
Insert Hyperlinks in your
Documents of Standard Applikations
Take Notes and Tasks with categories, priorities, Alarms,and find, manipulate them (complete, in work)
Open Web pages (Message suite must be installed)
Create a new Email from an Email address
Compact Agenda and Data files
Convert currencies
Prepair simple or complex Keystroke combinations to send to an App or Document, that is optionally foregrounded (unlimited Number)
Run Escipt Macros (Epocplus and Escript Library must be installed)
Insert Special characters
Convert to Upper/lower text
Control the Backlight timer
Control contrast and Backlight at Switchon.
Display Tasklist by pressing a Hotkey
Cycle Tasks
Choice list
If you read this file, you may find, that it would be complicated to use this program. Believe me, it isn't.
You will see, that in a few minutes you will have learned all functions. I tried to use the most logical function keys, where possible. But I have implemented instead or in addition of a Help File, a function to choice any supported function of the program. Type
in the edit window, and choice from the list. In brackets, behind, you will see also the shortcut for it, e.g.:
Run a program (p) or (p..)
New Cliptext (nc)...
FKeystrokes: (key)
You can store unlimited Numbers of Keystroke combinations like in Macro5.
This can be simple combinations like Ctrl+s or Ctrl+Shift+e or more complex like Ctrl+Shift+r,Right,Right,Enter (up to 255 characters). For the complex combinations, you have to isert a comma "," between each Key-Combination, same way, you would do with the Sendkey: command, when you write a Macro. Optionally, there is the possibility, to foreground first the respective file, to which you want to pass the Keystrokes.
The setup Dialog for it you can reach by typing "key". You can here: add, edit and delete Keystrokes.
To create a new one: press Ctrl+n
Edit the Caption for it, which could be the key itself, as "Ctrl+Shift+b" or the thing, it does, like "Edit Entry". Select, wether to foreground a File or App first, and select, wether it should be a simple or complex one. If you select simple, the Window, you know from Assistant and Macro5 Hotkey-setup, will come up. Press the Keycombination you want, and confirm. If you choose complex, an edit window comes up, where you have to type in the Keystrokes, seperated by commas like:
Ctrl+Shift+b,Down,Down,H,e,l,l,o
After this, if you selected, to foreground a file, a File selector comes up, from where you can choose the file or App.
To update one: press Ctrl+e
Select from the list and make your changes.
To delete one: press Delete
Select from the list and confirm.
If you delete all, the file Keys.dat in the Assistant Folder will be deleted.
To send one: press Enter and select from the list.
Creating Folder Aliases: (nf)
To create a new Alias, type "nf"
Select the Folder and confirm the action. First time, you do it, a File "Folders.dat" will be created in the Assistant Folder
Deleting Folder Aliases: (df)
To delete a Folder Alias, type "df".
Select from the list, and confirm the action. If you delete all, the File Folders.dat will be deleted.
}Pasting date or time: (dd or tt)
Type
to paste the date or time in that format, that your System settings are.
yMemory and Disk Space: (mem)
Type "mem" to bring up an Information Screen about available Space on Drives and free Ram.
ZTurn Sound off: (off)
You can turn off the System sound (master control) by typing
VTurn Sound on: (on)
You can turn on the System sound (master control) by typing
CLink: Cable: (lc)
To turn the Remote Link on to: Cable, type "lc"
AControl Backlight/Contrast at Switchon (from Menu)
You can configure Assistant to control the Backlight/Contrast at Switchon with different settings for Night and Day. You can also configure it, to turn on the Backlight, when the Main adapter is plugged in (at Switchon)
iKNote/Task Jotter:
Notes/Tasks is a simple Jotter, based on a normal Data File and Macros, to automate things. It is not as elegant, and also not as complete as other Jotters. If you are looking for something complex, have a look at RmrNotes, RmrTask from RMR Software (http://www.rmr.soft.com) or Jotpad from Colin Shearing (http://www.btinternet.com/~Colin.Shearing).
As I implemented the Quicknotes function, a big discussion came up. Many people were happy, to have a simple, easy to use Jotter, others needed something more complex. It isn't easy, to fit all peoples needs, but I think, that the solution I found, should be a good compromiss (Hopefully):
Anyone, who has already the Quicknotes from V1.2, and is happy with it:
It is and will stay compatible. But you can use only one of them!!! All others, and new Users:
There is a new file in the Zip: Notes. This is a extended thing, supporting categories, completing of Tasks, changing the Priority or date, if in progress (work), and setting Alarms for it
The file is a normal Data file, containing the fields:
Note: The note or Task itself
Category: You can enter here a category, to filter out later entries
Date:
Priority: To adjust the same for the entry
A: a field, that will show you, if an Alarm is set for the Task
W: Shows, if Task is "in work"
C: shows, if Task is completed
it is sorted by default like this: Priority,Date,Category. You can change the sorting order of course! as well as the order of appearing in the screen.
If you need more fields, simply add new ones. If you don't need some of the fields inside the file:
DO NOT DELETE THEM !!!. If you dont want them to displayed, turn them off, to not be shown. But they are needed by Assistant, as the Task manager is structured by Macros, that will fill out the standard fields with informations!!!
If you add new fields, theese will be automatically added at the end.
If you
dont know, how to : turn on, off, reorder fields in Data, refer to the Psion manual. You can, of course, also change the zoom level, the widthness of the fields (e.g. to have more room to display the Note field, but do not display the date). The Note field is a memo field, and you can type in text of any length. You can also use all the functionality of Data, as inserting Sheets, or Sketches.
USAGE OF NOTES:
The way it works:
The idea is the following. You can enter Notes/Tasks, sorted by Priority, date and Categories. Normal entries are displayed in normal font. There are 3 additional small fields:
A Displays a Symbol, to show, that for this entry an Alarm has been set
W Displays a w, if Task is "in work"
C Displays a c, if entry is completed.
New is: You can now handle two seperate Files: Notes and Tasks.
This is Optional, for anyone like me, who wants to write Notes in a different file, than the Tasks. If you want to do so, just make a copy of the Notes file, and rename it to Tasks.
@Create a new note/Task: (nn) (nt)
Type "nn" and fill out the Dialog:
Type in your Text (any length) select a category, if you wish, (select from found categories, New category or None), select the Priority, select whether to set an Alarm for it or not, and optionally, if the Task is already in "work".
You have the choice of:
Save and return to previous App
Save and stay in the Notes file
Simply fill out without save (e.g. if you added more fields, that you wish to fill out and save
the record manually )
After this, if you selected Alarm, you will be prompted to fill out Alarm details (The first line of the Text will be the initial Text for the Alarm message). Notes is foregrounded. A new entry is automatically created and the fields will be filled out. If you selected only fill out, you may now fill out other fields, that you may have added, and save the Record.
If you run a Notes and a Tasks file, you can type "nn" for a new Note, "nt" for a new Task.
AFinding Notes: (f...) (ft...)
To find a note, Task, from wherever you are, type 'f' and the searchstring in the Assistant edit window: e.g. fpsion, to display all entries, containing the word Psion. Notes is foregrounded, the searchstring will be pasted, and you are presented with the found list.
If you run two files, Notes and Tasks, you can also type "ft" + the searchstring. Then, the Tasks file is foregrounded instead.
Categories: (ctg)
Assistant supports the handing of categories for notes: Type "ctg". You are presented with a Dialog. From here, you can add, edit and delete categories for the Notes file
QExit: (x or e)
To exit the program, type
(Also in the main screen)
2Setup menu: (#)
To configure Assistant, type "#"
lDisable Hotkey: (dh)
Type "dh", to disable the Hotkey.
to reenable it, jump to Assistant, and press delete
xSpecial Character: (.)
Insert a special character, by typing "." Select it from the list, and press Enter, to paste it
Help: (hlp)
Display the Help file by typing "hlp"
!!! Important Note for Users of a Rom 1.00 Machine:
The Rom 1.00 doesn't handle Helpfiles (ending with *.hlp) correctly! To get it work properly, rename the file "Assistant.hlp" to simply "Help".
eACompacting of Notes/Tasks: (cnotes)(ctasks)
The Data Applikation compacts Data files automatically, but not very regulary. If you mean, that it would be time, to do so, type "cnotes":
If the Notes file is closed, it will be compacted. If not, it will be shut down, compacted, and reopened.
If you run also a Tasks file, the same, but type "ctasks" instead
DInstallation files:
Assistant makes use of the following (always newest !) OPX extensions:
Macro5.mcx
Systinfo.opx
Sysram1.opx
These are also used by Macro5 from Pascal Nicolas, and you don't have to warry about them, if you always have the newest Version of this (And you surely have, because I think, nobody can live without it
!). If you don't have it, get it at:
http://geocities.com/siliconValley/Pines/1215
In addition, you need to install
RMRAlarm.opx
by running the RMRAlarm.sis file.
And if you want to run Escript/BLplus-macros from within Assistant, install also the Escript library and EpocPlus from Jason Kneen. You can get it at:
http://www.Plamscape.com
Assistant has also the following own files:
Assistant.app
Assistant.aif
Assistant.mbm (optional)
Assistant.hlp (the optional Help file.
!!! Users of a Rom 1.00 !!!
For correct handling of the Help file, rename the file "Assistant.hlp" to "Help"
Notes (A Task/Note file)
Tasks (If you want to have seperate Files for Notes and Tasks). If you do so, just make a copy of Notes, and rename it to Tasks. You could also foreground the Notes file, and create a new, blank file by using the menu command "New File". This will create a new blank file, with exactly the same fields.
Assistant
Mario Collado
}Cliptexts
You can define an unlimited Number of Cliptexts, edit, update them, delete them or paste them to your documents.
Editing Cliptexts: (ec)
Edit an existing Cliptext, by typing "ec". Choice from the list of all Cliptexts. Make your changes to the Caption and the Text and save it.
Deleting Cliptexts: (dc)
Type
to delete one. Select from the list of all Cliptexts and confirm. If you delete all defined cliptexts, the file Clips.dat will be deleted.
Updating Shortcuts: (es)
To edit/update a Shortcut, type "es"
Select from the list of all existing Shortcuts and make your changes to the Caption and the location.
Deleting Shortcuts: (ds)
Delete a Shortcut, by typing "ds".
Select from the list, and confirm the action. If you delete all Shortcuts, the file Documents.dat will be deleted.
AJump to folder: (ff)
You can jump to any folder from your Machine, by typing "ff", and selecting the folder to jump to. You will then jump to the real folder in the System screen.
You can access this function also from the "Alias folder", when you check the Box "Jump to folder".
nRefresh App-List: (ref)
Refresh the App-list by typing "ref"
This will scan all Drives for all Applikations.
LTasklist (Hotkey)
You can set up a Hotkey, to display directly a Tasklist.
DTips:
You could by the way, if you find it usefull, use the following lines, to access functions of Assistant in your own Macros, for example to access the Memory function or the time or anything else:
Proc Macro:
... your procedure here
if Fgapp%:("C:\System\Apps\Assistant\Assistant.app") Rem Adapt the path here
pause 90
endif
Sendkey:("Esc,Fn+n") Rem Background and then Assistant Hotkey
Sendkey:("m,e,m,Enter") Rem the memory function
Rem or : Sendstring:("cadr")
Rem Sendkey:("Enter") for pasting your predefined Address
Rem or: Sendkey:("b,Enter") for showing the Battery checker
... your procedure here
You can use theese either by running it from Maro5 or Assistant.
You can assign the program to a shortcut in Macro5, to run it again, e.g.. after a Backup You could start it together with your favourite documents at Macro5 startup with your STARTUP Macro. To do this, insert the lines: (Dont forget, to adapt the path!)
Fgapp%:("C:\System\Apps\Assistant\Assistant.app")
Please note, that Assistant is designed to run all the time in Background, and not, like a macro, just if you call it by its Shortcut from Macro5. Macro 5 is not busy, while you use Assistant, so you can use both at any time.
pDCredits and disclaimer
Thanks to Pascal, writing Macro 5, and making Psionlive easier!
And again many, many thanks to Pascal, enabling me to implement the "Record Macro" function, the "jump to folder" and giving me access to some functions in Macro5.mcx as well as his help on many things!!!
Thanks to Otfried Cheong, (RMR-Software) for writing the RmrAlarm.opx and Systinfo.opx, which allow us, to provide functions like Battery checking and setting Alarms or searching the World Database.
Thanks to Jason Kneen, for enabling me to support running of Escript macros.
Thanks to all of you, contacting me, reporting the bugs, sending me :-) and suggestions.
The usual disclaimers. This is a freeware program. Use it at your own risk. Although I have done my very best, to make it as safe as possible, there are surely some bugs in it! (hopefully not toooo much !)
If you occur any error messages or bugs (you surely will :-) ), please contact me.
If you have wishes or Tips for improving functions, don't hesitate, contact me
(.txt)