ftp.whtech.com/ftp.whtech.com.tar/ftp.whtech.com/articles/limanews/README.TXT

Text File | 2006-10-19 | 12KB | 224 lines

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN NOVEMBER 1991 LIMA NEWSLETTER



   ^^^^^^  REMIND ME: ^AN APPOINTMENT CALENDAR
   ^^^^^^^^THAT IS FASTER AND EASIER THAN SOME
   ^^^^SIMILAR SOFTWARE DESIGNED FOR MS-DOS USERS
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^reviewed by Charles Good
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Lima Ohio User Group

     I must confess I have a MS-MOS computer for home
use.  I like some of the reference software currently
available such as PC GLOBE and PC USA that takes large
amounts of memory.  My kids like some of the new games
available in MS-DOS format.

     My MS-DOS computer is a Tandy 1000HX.  Tandy markets
its 1000 series computers as "home computers" and they come
bundled with software that is supposed to make life more
organized and easier at home.  All this software runs under
Tandy's DESKMATE graphical interface.  Besides word
processing, a common "home" application is an appointment
calendar.  Ideally, you should be able to turn on your
computer, quickly get to the calendar program, move to a
specific date, and write notes about what is happening when
on that date.  Once a day you can then turn on your
computer to view and optionally print the notes for that
particular day.  This is made easier by the fact that most
MS-DOS computers, including my Tandy, have a battery backed
clock calendar that automatically sets the calendar software
to the current date and time.

     The key to practical use of such appointment calendar
programs is SPEED and EASE OF USE.  The usual home
alternatives with which the computer has to compete are
writing notes on a pad of paper or sticking notes on the
refrigerator with magnets, both of which can be done quickly
and easily.  The advantage of using a computer to keep daily
messages and appointments is that you always know where the
information is located and the computer can organize and
sort this information.  Refrigerator notes and notes written
on tablets of paper can get lost and disorganized.  You
always know where the computer is; it doesn't move around
much.  If creating and viewing computer messages can be done
QUICKLY and EASILY enough, a computer can usefully be used
as a message center.

     Tandy's DESKMATE has two very similar appointment
calendar applications called CALENDAR and INFORMATION
CENTER.  From a cold start it takes me between 65 and 75
seconds to get to the calendar display of the current date,
even though my Tandy boots from a hard disk and has a
battery clock calendar.  When I turn my Tandy on it first
it does a system and memory check to find the hard disk,
then it loads its BIOS from ROM.  After that drive A grinds
away for awhile as the computer checks to see if a
"bootable" disk with MS-DOS on the disk is in that drive.
If none is found the computer then boots MS-DOS followed by
DESKMATE from the hard disk.  This is all done
automatically.  I then have to move the cursor to the box
labeled CALENDAR or INFO CENTER on the DESKMATE screen
display and press <enter>.  The appointment calendar program
I have selected then boots from the hard disk and the
current date is displayed.  OVER ONE MUNUTE!! It seems like
an eternity, just to see what is supposed to be scheduled
for today.

     Now my Tandy isn't the fastest MS-DOS computer around,
but its 8.75MhZ clock speed is alot faster than the 99/4A's
3.3 MhZ speed.  Furthermore, because of high cost, I don't
have a battery clock calendar on my TI.  You can purchase a
clock calendar for most MS-DOS computers for under $35,
whereas used CorComp clocks for the TI cost at least $75
these days.  In spite of my TI's slower clock speed and lack
of a battery clock calendar, it takes me only 15-20 seconds
to power up my 99/4A and automatically boot from my
horizon ramdisk a Funnelweb central menu, then load from
this menu the TI world's best appointment calendar program
and bring up a display of the appointments and notes for the
current date.  That appointment calendar program is John
Johnson's  REMIND ME!

     Most TI appointment calendar programs I know about are
written in extended basic, and they all suffer from a bad
case of the "slows".  One of the reasons REMIND ME is so
fast is that it is 100% assembly.  It comes as one 33 sector
EA5 PROGRAM file named REMIND.  When you boot REMIND ME you
are prompted for the month and year you want displayed and
the actuve drive number where the data for that particular
month and year are stored.  REMIND ME then searches the
active drive for the monthly data file.  Whether or not the
data file is found (if the month is new there may not yet be
a data file for that month), REMIND ME quickly displays on
screen a calendar of the month.  If a data file is found for
that month, each day that has data is indicated with a dot
on the calendar display.  You move the cursor to the day of
interest, press <enter> and read the data for that day
(meeting reminders, birthday reminders, etc).  When the data
window for a particular day is displayed you are given the
opportunity to add and/or change the data for that day.
Whenever you add or change data, you press S, and the entire
month's data is saved to disk or ramdisk without disturbing
REMIND ME's screen display.  You can at any time print to
your printer the data for a single day, a group of
consecutive days, or the entire month.  Monthly data files
created by pressing "S" are in DV80 format, so they can be
read and/or manipulated with TI Writer or the Funnelweb text
editor.  Each month has a different data file, automatically
named 09/91, 10/91, 11/91, etc. by REMIND ME.

     The key to the ease of use of REMIND ME is that usually
when you boot the program you can accept the displayed
defaults for the day, month, and active drive.  All you need
to do is press <enter> three times in quick succession to
get the calendar display of the current month.  The very
first time you use REMIND ME you do need to specify the
desired month, year, and active drive.  You can then select
C(onfigure) and write this information back into the REMIND
ME program.  The next time you boot REMIND ME, your
C(onfigure)d date and active drive will appear as defaults
and all you have to do is press <enter> three quick times.
Configuring is quick and easy.   To keep REMIND ME current,
you only have to configure once a month, and usually the
only item you have to change in the configuration is the
month number.  Virtually every other appointment calendar
program I have seen for the TI (and for MS-DOS computers)
requires that you have a battery computer clock or that you
enter the month and year EVERY TIME you boot the program.
NOT SO WITH REMIND ME! REMIND ME usually knows the current
month and year even if you don't have a computer clock.

     Of course if you have a computer clock for the TI this
is supported by REMIND ME.  If a CorComp MBP or "Clulow"
clock is part of your system, or if you are using a Geneve,
REMIND ME will detect the computer clock and display the
current time.  Also the current month and year will appear
as defaults when you boot REMIND ME.

     You are not limited to the configured default month,
year, and data drive.  Upon first booting REMIND ME, or at
any time later in a REMIND ME session, you can look at a
different month (optionally from a different data drive)
without altering the default month year and drive settings.
You can check out next month  or last month very quickly.
How about viewing the month of your birth? Just type in the
month, year, and a non existent drive number (such as "6").
REMIND ME will not waste time looking for the nonexistent
data file for that month if you specify a non existant drive
number, and will quickly put your birth month up on the
screen.  Mine is June 1946.  Here is another example of
REMIND ME doing something that can't be done with most
MS-DOS appointment calendar programs.  The DATE command of
MS-DOS does not recognize dates prior to January 1980, and
neither do most MS-DOS calendar programs.

     Two nice features of REMIND ME are the message window,
and the ability to pickup and drop a line of text.  The
message window is the same size as the data window for a
particular date.  Anything you type in the message window
(accessed by pressing the space bar) stays in memory for the
entire session, even if you view data for several different
months.  Messages are not saved to monthly data files and
are lost when you exit REMIND ME.  One way to use this
window is to open it and type CHRISTMAS VACATION.  Then
press FCTN/5 to "pick up" this text into memory.  Close the
message window, then display December and one at a time open
the data window of each day of the vacation and press
FCTN/6.  The text CHRISTMAS VACATION is "dropped" from
memory into a date's data window each time FCTN/6 is
pressed, saving a lot of typing.

     You can also do a string search of all the data for a
particular month.  Upper and lower case are treated
identically in a string search.  If you search the December
display described in the previous paragraph for the word
"vacation", a check mark will appear in the calendar screen
display next to each date that contains the word "vacation"
in its data.

     I like REMIND ME better than either of the two DESKMATE
appointment calendar programs.  It boots faster and is
easier to use.  I use it frequently to help me organize my
daily activities.  REMIND ME was formally a commercial
program but is now in the public domain.  The author states
in the docs that fairware donations are not required, but
will be accepted.  Its on disk 258A of the Lima UG software
library.

     ----------
     SPECIAL NOTES ON USING  REMIND ME  WITH  FUNNELWEB:
     To configure REMIND ME into one of Funnelweb's central
menus it is necessary to remane the file from REMIND to a
two character name such as RE.  However, when REMIND ME is
configured, the entire file is resaved back to disk or
ramdisk under the name REMIND.  The configuration data is
contained within the resaved file, so it isn't necessary for
REMIND ME to boot a small configuration data file at the
start of each REMIND ME session.

     The problem when using REMIND ME from a Funnelweb
central menu is, "How do I get REMIND ME to resave itself
under the name RE instead of REMIND?"  Use a sector editor
capable of string searches, such as Funnelweb's Disk Review
or Birdwell's DSKU.  Search the REMIND file in ASCII for the
string DSK6.REMIND.  The number 6 may be some other number,
but 6 is the number in REMIND as found in the Lima UG's
library.  Use the space bar to blank out the MIND part of
DSK6.REMIND.  Then move the cursor back to the space just in
front of the "D" in what now looks like DSK6.RE and press
CTRL/H to switch the display to Hex.  There you will find
"0B".  Change this to "07", since the text string is now 7
characters in length.  Alternatively, search REMIND for the
Hex string 0B44534B.  Change this, starting at the "0B", to
0744534B362E524520202020.

     Save the altered file using the file name RE to the
Funnelweb boot disk, or better still to a ramdisk containing
Funnelweb.  Use Funnelweb's configure utility to put RE on a
central menu.  If you are using a ramdisk, you too can have
15 second cold boot access to this great appointment
calendar program.
     .PL 1