The 640 MEG Shareware Studio 2

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OS/2 Help File | 1992-12-05 | 25KB | 806 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. About Alarm Pro ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Alarm Pro Information Manager WalkerWerks 572 Sabine Memphis, Tn. 38117 (901) 683-3770 Compuserve 70304,2705 (C) Copyright 1992 all rights reserved ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Overview ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Welcome to Alarm Pro version 1.1. With Alarm Pro you have a DeskTop clock, personal information manager, and event schedular. It maintains a database of events with up to 200 events scheduled per day. Send yourself reminders, notify groups of meetings, or have applications run unattended at the proper time. This is a fully 32 bit OS/2 2.0 application. It will not run on version 1.x. Menu Help Brought to you by: WalkerWerks 572 Sabine Memphis, Tn. 38117 (901) 683-3770 Compuserve 70304,2705 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Disclaimer ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ This program is provided as is. The author accepts no liability for damages, or loss of income caused directly or indirectly through the use of this program. This program is SHAREWARE all rights and priviledges provided by law are reserved by WalkerWerks and the author. Registered users will receive a registered copy and one update when available. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Registering ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Alarm PRO This program is not FREEWARE. Registeration is $45 U.S. per copy. Site licenses can be negotiated on request. Registered users will receive a registered copy and one update when available. The Shareware version may only be used for a 60 day trial period. Note: Please include a personal contact and the version number you are registering. Send Registration to: Bryan Walker DBA WalkerWerks 572 Sabine Memphis, Tn. 38117 Compuserve 70304,2705 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Calendar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The calendar displays the current month. Each day is displayed as a button. To select a given date press the corresponding button. To move to other months use the button to move forward one month at a time and the button to move backward. The and buttons will move you forward and backward, respectively, by years. The button will return you to the current month and year. Once you select a date you will go to the schedule event or todo list for that date, depending on where you selected the calendar option. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Scheduling Events ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Every event starts here. In this dialog you enter the time and date for the event. You also specify the type of event and the frequency. Your choices here will determine the options that follow for completing the setup of a new event. For Personal, onetime, reminders you can complete the time and press CTRL+P to fill in the current date and go directly to the reminder text input screen. For any event CTRL+D will fill in the date fields with the current date. Options for this Dialog. o Hour Sets the hour for the selected event. Use 12 or 24 hour time depending on your setup. With 12 hour format use the AM PM buttons. o Minute The minute for the selected event. o Month The month in which the event is to occur. For daily\weekly recurring events this will be automatically updated when the event is scheduled. o Day The day on which an event is to occur. Automatically updated for daily\weekly events. Monthly events will enter the day on another dialog. o Year The year for an event to occur. This is completed automatically for monthly and daily\weekly events. o Personal or All If you entered a system name for your copy of Alarm Pro select Personal to have the event only scheduled on your system. All will cause any system using the active event file to have the event scheduled. See Setting Search Files for more on the System Name. o Reminder or Application Select reminder to schedule a message or application to start an program at the given time. o One Time or Recurring Select wether the event is to occur only one time or should happen at specific intervals. Recurring events can be scheduled Annually, Monthly, one or more times a Week, or Daily. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1. Application ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ You have requested to schedule an application for launching at a given date and time. Enter the application name complete with drive and path in the first edit field. Any parameters to pass to the program go in the second edit field. The working directory is entered in the last edit field. A working directory is the active directory for an application, such as being in your DOC directory and starting your word processor even though the program is in another directory. The parameter and working directory information is optional. To locate a specific program select the search button. This displays a dialog to allow you to scan through your system for the correct application. If you select an application it will automatically be entered into the Program field. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.2. Reminder ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Type the reminder text in the displayed Edit field. This text will be displayed at the selected time and date along with an audible alarm to get your attention. The CUST button will bring up the list of contacts and allow you to tag a Customer to the reminder. This is the same as selecting the Cust check box in the ToDo list. However the ToDo list reminders are only one time. For repeating events such as Birthdays schedule the reminder here and set the recurring frequency. o Recuring Events Click the button corresponding to the type of recurring event you want to schedule. o Day of Week Select the day(s) of the week for an event to occur on. Select from 1 to all 7 days for the given event. Select by clicking the appropriate buttons to black. o Day of the Month Enter the day of the month for a monthly event to occur on. For end of the month events enter 31. Alarm Pro will automatically account for months with less days. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.3. Setting Search Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Alarm Pro will search up to 3 event files for scheduled reminders and applications. Enter the three files in the provided Edit Fields. The first event file is where all ToDo reminders are placed if they are not marked for "ALL". Use the search button at the end of each field to assist in locating event files. Entering the name of a file that does not exist will create that file. The System Name edit field is used to schedule personal events. Enter a name that will be unique among the users sharing event files. If "ALL" is not selected the event will be scheduled with this name. Only the system(s) with this name will schedule these events. If you do not provide a system name every event will be scheduled as "ALL". ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Editing Events ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Database dialog provides access to all scheduled events. The system will retrieve events from the first database in your search list or the last database opened. Use the NEXT and PREVIOUS buttons to move through the scheduled events. All events are displayed but you cannot save changes to events that are scheduled under another personal name. The number of events and selected event, the system name, and the event type are listed to the left. The active event database is listed at the top of the dialog. You may change any information in the Edit Fields and the radio buttons for the days of the week. The action buttons are listed below. If a particular action is not valid that button will be disabled. o NEXT Move to the next record in the database. o PREVIOUS Move back to the previous record. o DELETE Delete the displayed event. o SAVE Save the changes made to this record. o EXIT leave the event editing dialog. o HELP Display this help panel. o OPEN Search for and edit another event file. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Setting System Time ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Click on the appropriate field to change (ie. Hour, minute, or second). Once the field is highlighted press the up and down arrows to change the value. Select SET to accept the changes and reset the computers system time and date. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. Display Preferences ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Preferences dialog allows you to set the preferences for the different parts of the clock face. Select the part to change by clicking on the radio button for that part (i.e. Second Hand). Then click on the desired color for that part. In addition you may elect to have the title bar display the date or digital time. To change the size of the clock use the mouse to drag the edges of the window to the desired size. Move the window to your prefered position on the screen. When you save the changes the size and position will also be saved. Note: The changes are automatically saved if you shutdown OS/2 or Alarm Pro. The Setting Options are as follows: o Background Click on this radio button to change the color of the rectangular background. Then click the desired color from the color options below the Clock Parts group. o Face Click on this radio button to change the color of the clock's circular face. o Hour hand Click on this radio button to change the color of the clock's Hour Hand. o Minute hand Click on this radio button to change the color of the clock's Minute Hand. o Hour Tick Marks Click on this radio button to change the color of the Hour Marks. o Display Format Chose from an analog or digital clock. The digital clock has both 12 and 24 hour formats available. o Title Bar Display Choose the desired date format for displaying the current date in the titlebar. If the clock is minimized this will display as the icon text. o Font Choose an outline font for use in displaying the Digital Clock. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. System Settings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ o Hourly Chime Click on this checkbox to activate or de-activate the hourly chime option. If active Alarm Pro will produce an audible sound at the top of each hour. o FRQ Enter the frequency for the hourly chime. The default is 545Mhz. Any value from 37 to 3000 is valid. o DUR Enter the duration for the hourly chime. The default is 400. The value is in 1/100 seconds. o CNT Enter the number of chimes (beeps) to sound each hour. The default is 2. o Listen Press this button to hear the settings you have chosen for the hourly chime. o Working Directory This is the default directory for the system default databases. These databases are created when no others have been opened. This is also where all searchs for files begins when a SEARCH or OPEN button is selected. o Minutes to Return Reminders have a RETURN button which acts much like the "snooze" button on an Alarm Clock, causing the reminder to come back again in a few minutes. Enter the number of minutes to wait before the reminder returns. o Desktop Lockup Active Checking the option activates a feature similar to the Lockup feature in OS/2. The value set for Minutes till Lockup will be used to determine how long to wait without activity before blanking the screen. The lockup feature will not activate if a FULLSCREEN OS/2 or DOS session is active in the foreground. o Use Password Checking this option will require you to match the Lockup Password before the screen will be cleared after lockup has occured. o Lockup Password This entry field will always be empty. You should enter a password in this field only when you want to change the value required to unlock the desktop. Note: THE PASSWORD IS CASE SENSITIVE! o System Wide Hot Key The letter entered into this field will work to immediately lockup the desktop when pressed in combination with the ALT+CONTROL keys. This will take affect from any window that does not trap the key combination before the Lockup monitor can see the key. note.The Lockup monitor cannot see keystrokes in a fullscreen OS/2 or DOS session. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. Types of Events ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Alarm Pro currently has 2 types of events. Reminder messages that pop up to remind you of important information and applications (programs) that can be scheduled to start unattended at specific times on a one time or recurring basis. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. Glossary ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Definitions for some commonly used terms in the help text: o Accelerator keys - Key stroke combinations that carry out a command such as saving changes. o Alt+ - Carry out actions through Accelerator Keys by holding the ALT key down at the same time as pressing the designated text key. o Application - The executable file such as CMD.EXE. Most applications end with .EXE although some may end with .COM. o Box - The rectangular areas where text is to be typed in. Such as the line where you enter your reminder text. o Button - The rectangular gray blocks with commands such as Save. To carry out the command without using the mouse you can TAB to the button or press Alt+ the underlined letter. o Click - The act of placing the mouse pointer (arrow) on a button and pressing the left mouse button to select the item. It is also possible to click on a button by moving the focus to that button and pressing enter or pressing ALT+ the underlined letter. o Command Line - Options sent to an application by entering them at the prompt behind the name of the program such as COPY A:\*.*. Here A:\*.* would be the command line. o Dialog Box - The rectangular areas that appear on the screen asking for information or notifying you of errors or messages. The Event Schedule is an example of a common dialog box type. o Edit Field - See Box. o Field - See Box. o Focus - An item has the focus if keystroke and mouse actions will take place against it. When an edit field has the focus a vertical bar cursor appears. When most types of buttons have the focus they are surrounded by a black broken line. The window that has the current focus is usually brighter on the edge (frame) than the other windows appearing on the PC's screen. o Path - The complete name of the directory where a file or program physically exists. This can include the drive letter. The syntax is D:\dir\subdir where D is the drive letter. o Program - See Application. o Radio Button - The small circle to the left of a word such as AM. Commonly used to select one or more choices from a group of common options. If the circle is one color (usually gray) the item is not selected. If the center is darkened the item has been selected. o TAB - Pressing the tab key to move you to the next item such as a Field or Button. Pressing the Shift and Tab key together will move you backwards through the items. o Text Field - See Box. o Window - Most rectangular areas on the screen are actually windows, however the term usually implies the main window for an application. Areas that can be sized and have the system menu and minimum and maximum buttons along the top of the programs display area are considered WINDOWS. o Working Directory - The directory where you started a program. Often programs are physically located in one directory and run from another directory so that the data (such as word processor documents) are seperated from the program. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Keys Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ At any Window Alt + the Underlined letter for an option will select that action. Alt + a letter means to hold the ALT key down and while still down press the desired letter. From the clock you can go directly to a menu option using the accelator keys defined for that option. They are o ALT + A Display the Program Information ABOUT BOX. o ALT + C Display the Contact Menu. o ALT + D Bring up the ToDo list for today. o ALT + E Display the Event Menu. o ALT + H to toggle the menu and controls off and on. o ALT + R for instructions on registering Alarm Pro. o ALT + S to schedule an event. o ALT + T Display the ToDo menu. o ALT + U Display the Utilities Menu. o ALT + V View\Edit the contact list. o ALT + L Immediately lockup the desktop. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14. Starting Applications ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Starting OS/2 and DOS executables is straight forward and only requires that you enter the path and name in the program field. For .CMD and .BAT files the necessary changes are taken care of by Alarm Pro. Windows programs must be handled differently. Instead of entering the desired program in the program field you must enter the path and file name for WINOS2.COM. Pass the program's name and parameters in the parameters field for WINOS2 to start the application. Note: All applications are started in the background. DOS and Windows programs are, by default, full screen so will not be immediately visible. Use the Window List to switch to the new program. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15. Todo Reminder file ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ You have selected to post a reminder to "ALL". Select the event file to add the event to. If the event is scheduled for today other users of this file will NOT schedule the event unless they restart Alarm Pro. To select the file click the Radio Button beside the desired file name. To schedule an event in a file your system does not search choose the OTHER button. This event will NOT be scheduled by your copy of Alarm Pro. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16. ToDo ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The todo list allows you to record up to 100 items of importance daily. List your meetings, important events, etc. here. The Controls are: o Hour The hour for the ToDo item. If you are using 12 hour format also select the PM button for items from 12 noon till 11:59 pm. o Min The minute for the item. o PM Check if the item occurs between 12 noon and 11:59 PM. This will not appear if you are using 24 hour format. o Priority The single entry field is for marking the priority of the todo item. There are 4 levels of priority. C for critical, H for high, M for medium, and L for low. If you leave this blank the item will be marked as low priority. o Note Your reminder of what the item is. Items displayed in red are still pending from previous days. CTRL+S will display the date that the item was scheduled. For completed items CTRL+F will display the date that the item was completed. o Cust Checking this box will display a list of the current contact database. Select the desired contact. The record will be attached to the item. Now selecting the View Cust Detail button will display the contact information. o All Select this BEFORE checking reminder to have a reminder scheduled for "ALL". When checked the list of Event files searched by your system will be displayed. You can then select the file to schedule the reminder in. o Notify Check this to automatically add the item to your reminder events. If you selected all above it will be added to the selected file. If it is a personal reminder it is automatically added to the first event file searched by your system. The contact detail (if selected) is automatically attached to the reminder as well. Note: All reminders scheduled from the todo list are ONETIME events. Items marked for "ALL" will not be scheduled by other systems until midnight so any event for "ALL" should be for the next day or later. o Done Check this when the item is completed. Unmarked items will be displayed as pending items every time you view the todo screen. o EXIT Leave the todo list and save the current items in the list. o Open Open another todo file. If this file is not searched by your copy of Alarm Pro any personal reminders using it will not be scheduled. o View Cust Detail View the contact information, if one has been attached to the todo item where the cursor is currently located. This can only be activated with the mouse. o Help View this help panel. o Sort on Time This will order the items from low to high by the hour and minute that was entered. All entrys without a time will follow those that have this value entered. o Sort on Priority Order the items on the screen in order of priority from critical to low. o Sort on Age. Order the items on the screen from oldest to newest. This will order any items carried over from previous days by oldest first. o Archive Save all completed entries in an Archive file and remove them from the active file. o View Archive View and browse the file of archived todo items. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17. Todo Specific Date ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Enter the month, day, and year for the desired Todo list. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 18. Contact ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Maintain files of contacts and customers. You can keep one list or multiple lists. Contacts can be tied to your todo lists entries and reminders (both onetime and recurring). Note: The current contact file name is displayed at the bottom of the dialog. The controls are as follows: o Name The contact or company name. This field is required for indexing and listing the contacts. o Contact. For company entries an optional contact name. o Address 1 First line street address. o Address 2 Second line street address. o City City or province. o St State or any 2 character address such as country code. o Zip 7 to 9 digit Zip Code. o Phone 1 First phone number listing. o Phone 2 Second phone number listing. o Comments a free form note field for other information. o Save Save the current contact information. o Undo undo any unsaved changes. o New Clear the fields and use the next changes to create a new contact entry. o Get List the contacts in the current database and select one to view or edit. o Open Open another contact database for use. o Exit Leave the contacts View/Edit dialog. o Help Display this help panel. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 19. Retrieve Contacts ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ This dialog displays a list of the Contact names for the active contact list. Select a contact by double clicking on the name or using the arrow keys to move the selection bar onto the name and pressing enter. To Delete a contact select the contact with a single mouse click or move the selection bar over the desired contact. Then press the Delete button. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 20. Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The menu provides a way to get to the various options for Alarm Pro. Each item can be reached by pressing Alt+ the underlined letter of the menu item. In addition some options have an accelator key combination that will take you directly to the option without going through a menu. The menu also appears in the system menu because Alarm Pro will continue to function as an icon if you choose minimize window to desktop under the settings-window of the Alarm Pro Desktop Object Icon. Note: Running Alarm Pro minimized on the desktop disables automatic lockup. The Menu Structure: o Events Alt+E The events menu including: - Schedule Alt+S Schedule reminders and applications for onetime or repetative events. - Database Edit the events database. - Calendar Schedule events by choosing the date from a virtual calendar. - Set Search Files Select up to three event files for Alarm Pro to search when it schedules events each midnight. - List Today's Events. Display a list of the events that will occur today. - Review old events. If Alarm Pro notified you of missed events when you started the application and you wanted to hold them select this to review them and process repetative events for the next occurance. o Contacts Alt+C The Submenu of Contact options. - View-Edit Alt+V Retrieve contact detail for viewing or editing. - List List the contents of the active contact list. o ToDo Alt+T The Todo List submenu. - Today Alt+D View and edit todays todo list. - Specific Date. Enter the month day and year to view a specific date. - Calendar. Use a virtual calendar to select a todo list. o Utilities Alt+U - Pack databases Pack the active database of the listed type (event, contact, todo). - Clock Settings Presents a submenu for setting the display or system values. o Display Preferences Set the colors, display formats, and other options for Alarm Pro. o System Settings Set the working directory, Desktop lockup, and hourly chime options. - Time and Date Set your computer's system time and date. - Hide Controls Alt+H Hide or display the title bar, system menu, menu, and minimize and maximize buttons. o Help F1 - Help for Help Instructions on using the OS/2 help facility. - Keys Help Listing of the accelerator keys. - Help Index Index of Alarm Pro help topics. - About Program information dialog. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21. Day of Month ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Enter the day of the month for a monthly event to occur on. For end of the month events enter 31. Alarm Pro will automatically account for months with less days.