Amiga MA Magazine 1998 #6/amigamamagazinepolishissue1998.iso/www/cucug/amiga/amiinfo/reviews/timetracker.txt

Internet Message Format | 1997-11-07 | 16KB

Path: menudo.uh.edu!usenet
From: [e-mail] (Edward D. Berger)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews
Subject: REVIEW: Time Tracker version 1.0
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.applications
Date: 10 Nov 1993 02:39:43 GMT
Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett
Lines: 358
Sender: [e-mail] (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator)
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <2bpk9f$[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Edward D. Berger)
NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu
Keywords: address book, appointment book, calendar, notepad, commercial


PRODUCT NAME

    Time Tracker version 1.0


BRIEF DESCRIPTION

    Time Tracker is what the DOS/Windows world call a Personal
Information Manager, or "PIM" for short.  It is basically a combination of
appointment calendar (with alarms), address book, phone note editor, "to do"
list manager and calculator.


AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

    Name:        INVENTURE
    Address:    P.O Box 777
            Morrison, CO  80465-0777
            USA

    Telephone:    [phone]
    FAX:        [phone]

    E-mail:        Unknown

    The program was written by M. Joel Guerra.


LIST PRICE

    Unknown.  I purchased the package for $69.95 (US) at a local Amiga
dealer.


SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

    HARDWARE

        512K RAM or more.
        Hard drive recommended, but not required.
        Battery backed clock recommended, but not required.


    SOFTWARE

        AmigaDOS 1.2 or higher required.
        AmigaDOS 2.x and 3.x compatible.
        req.library required (and is provided with the package).


COPY PROTECTION

    None.


MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

    Amiga 3000/16
    2MB Chip RAM
    12MB Fast RAM
    AmigaDOS 2.1


INSTALLATION

    Drag the program drawer from the floppy to a hard drive partition.
To get automatic startup, drag the special project icon to your WBStartup
drawer and manually edit the icon tooltype with the correct AmigaDOS path to
find the program.  Under AmigaDOS 1.x, you add a line to your
startup-sequence and add req.library to your LIBS: directory.


GENERAL INTERFACE

    Time Tracker is a multiple window program that can open on the
Workbench or on a custom screen.  When run, it pops up its calendar
window, or you can set it to start iconified with or without a digital style
clock.  It uses the AmigaDOS 2.x 3D-style buttons for its calendar days and
other uses.

    Unfortunately the program has the Topaz font hard-coded into its
interface.  I'd prefer it to use either my default screen font or my default
system font (Times 11, Courier 13) for its text.  When Time Tracker is
opened on the Workbench screen, its title bar and menus are in my default
screen font (Times 11).  When opened on its own custom screen, it uses my
system default font (Courier 13) for its screen title and window title bars
and menu texts.  The gadgets' texts always remain in topaz.font.  I would
prefer this to be consistent, and preferably user-configurable.  The program
would look more professional if the Day buttons matched my Workbench font or
used a prettier font like Helvetica.

    Time Tracker is unaware of public screens (AmigaDOS 2.0 and up).
Other programs cannot easily open on the Time Tracker screen, and the Time
Tracker windows cannot open on a named public screen.  These are general
faults of programs written for AmigaDOS 1.x.  Perhaps a newer version of
Time Tracker will be enhanced for later versions of AmigaDOS.

    One slightly quirky thing about the interface is that some of the
windows are available by way of button gadgets at the bottom of the calendar
window, and some through menu items in the calendar's 'other' menu.  I think
they should be available by both methods.  The Icon button at the bottom is
also redundant since it performs the same thing as the window's close gadget
does.  While there is a button gadget for help in the calendar window, the
program does not respond to the keyboard 'help' key.  Also the help gadget
only puts a text help on top of the calendar display.  I'd like it to pop up
a separate window with AmigaGuide help.

    The menu layout does not follow the Amiga User Interface Style
Guide.  The menus do have many shortcut keys, using an unusual combination of
both upper and lower-case shortcut keys.  Unfortunately, the shortcut keys
are not always consistent between the various windows of the program,
sometimes leading to confusion for this user.


CALENDAR AND APPOINTMENT REMINDER

    From the calendar window, you can click on a Day button to pop up
that day's schedule window and add an event.  Once you add an event to the
calendar, the button for that date gets a highlight added to the right side
of its button.  A small horizontal line appears relative to the time of the
appointment, with earlier events being towards the top and later ones toward
the bottom of this highlighted section.

    With the pre-marked Alarm times for non-repeating events you can add
events for times on the hour or half hour between 8:00am and 5:30pm.  You
can enter any time you wish; but if your schedule is quite different, you
may wish that the preset times listed would either go 24-hours or be user
configurable.

    Below the preset times is a subsection for writing notes about the
day.  A short note can be added to a given date's button on the calendar
window by typing an exclamation point before the alarm text.  The alarm text
will be spoken, if you have the appropriate speak-handler software installed
from AmigaDOS 1.3 or 2.04, or it will use the standard AmigaDOS "display
beep" function.  I would prefer to have the addition of using multiple
sampled sounds instead of one display-beep.  Alarms can also launch AmigaDOS
programs if you precede the command with a "^" character.  The programs do
not inherit Workbench's search path.  They can only find C:  and
"Current_Dir".  You could work around the display beep limitation by using
an outboard AmigaDOS program which can play a sample.  You must specify the
commands full path such as "SYS:mybin/play8svx".

    ARexx is not supported by the alarm, nor the rest of the program.

    Adding repeating events is handled one of two ways.  The first way
is for 'every month on this day' type of events which you add by way of a
requester, and a user-defined abbreviation of up to four characters appears
on the calendar day.  The second way uses an editor window where you type
'first Sunday of every month' or similar verbose descriptions.  This allows
for such things as 'every Wednesday' or 'odd Thursday'.  Unfortunately, you
can't enter 'the Wednesday after the third Sunday'.  I'd need this for one
of my user group meetings.  I was also unable to enter 'last weekday of
every month:  Pay day!'.  I'd like to see more flexibility here.

    It would be a welcome addition if you could choose images to appear
on the day button for a given event, such as a dollar symbol for paying
someone or a telephone for reminders to call someone.  This would probably
require a less cluttered view such as a 'view by week' instead of the
current monthly format.

    The 'Tickler' button gives you a preview of the next seven days'
events.  The Monthly summary gives a listing of all the month's entered
events.  Both of these are editor windows and you can delete all the lines
that you feel are unimportant.  I think the event editor should have a line
option so you can exclude events from the monthly summary at the time you
enter them.  I plan to use the monthly summary for work related reports.
You can print either of these out.  You can only have one or the other open
at a time as they use the same window.  I'd like to have two separate
windows instead.


TO DO LIST MANAGER

    The To Do List manager opens up with a blank text editor window.
You can select from one of three lists.  To enter an item, you simply click
and start typing.  To show that you have finished an item, you press Shift
and click on the left mouse button with the cursor on the line you wish to
check off.  It then displays a copyright symbol in front of the line.  I
think this interface, while usable, is not intuitive.  A 2 column
arrangement with the first column having some sort of GUI selection for, say,
a check mark and other visual queues for such things as priority (How
important is this To Do item?) would make this much more appealing to use.

    After an item is completed, you can have the program transfer that
information to the Calendar's Day Note's subsection.  This is useful for
preparing a monthly report.  I think that at least one of the To Do lists
should be configured to do this transfer automatically.  The others should
have it as an option.  I would like this subsection of Time Tracker to have
more than 3 lists.  I'd like to be able to name such lists things like
'Work', 'Home', 'User Group', 'Amiga', etc.  Of course you can currently
just add such headings as Text to the current 3 lists.

    There is an option to print To Do lists, and the manual suggests you
precede your items with the "[]" characters so you have something to check
off.  I think this should be added automatically and save time.


ADDRESS BOOK

    The Address Book features 2 lists -- Business and Personal.  I'd like
to have more lists such as: Family, CoWorkers, BBSes, Clients, and Suppliers.
There is a listview gadget on the left side of the window for finding your
entered items.  To enter an item you click on the 'New' button and start
filling in the various string gadgets.  There are 2 phone number entry
gadgets.  One is for phone and one is for FAX.  I could use more phone entry
gadgets for things like home phone as well as business phone numbers, or
multiple extensions at a place of business to try to reach someone.

    There is a gadget to have your modem dial the number in the string
gadget.  There are the standard fields for street address, city, state, Zip
Code, country, and additional notes.  I'd also like to have multiple
addresses per entry.  For business use, this could be address for billing,
and address for shipping.  For personal use, this could be home address and
work address.  There are options to print from here, but I haven't had time
to evaluate that -- yet.


CALL NOTES AND NOTEPAD

    The Notepad is a basic text editor.  By default, it opens the last
opened file, usually 'Call Notes'.  I think that since there is a menu item
for editing 'Call Notes', The Notepad should have its own default file, so
the user doesn't have to select 'New file' or 'Open File...' every time they
start the Notepad.  Unfortunately, you can only have one of these editor
windows open at a time.

    The editor has some quick menu shortcuts for things like Enter Date,
Enter Time, Enter Calculator Answer, etc. It does not support drag-select,
nor does it use the standard AmigaDOS Clipboard, so I can't copy text from
TurboText to the NotePad, nor copy an address to a letter I'm writing in
Final Copy.

    While there is word wrap, there are no options for using non-default
fonts or any styles such as bold or italic.  There is a separate 'Call
Notes' editor which you can access from the phone book, by way of a gadget
next to the phone number.  I think the 'edit call notes' should not run the
Notepad; instead, it should call this a editor with the timer turned off and
an option to turn it on if appropriate.  This would keep the call notes
separated from the Notepad, which is how they belong in my opinion.  This
separate Call Notes editor automatically time stamps your entry and starts a
timer to let you know how long you've been on the phone.  This is good for
keeping track of what you talked about on the phone.  It has the same basic
feature set of the Notepad with the addition of the 2D analog clock style
timer on the left side of the editor window.  A prettier LCD type of
display, or a 3D-style clock, would enhance its appearance.  A settable alarm
for how long you want to talk would also make a welcome addition.


CALCULATOR AND PUZZLE

    The calculator is a separate window with 2.x style buttons and a
visible paper tape to let you see your previous calculations.  It responds
to the numeric keypad just like the standard Workbench calculator.  Its main
additional features are memories, square root, and percentage functions.
While you can paste to other Time Tracker editors, this calculator does not
support the Amiga clipboard and thus external programs.

    The included puzzle is a separate window with 3D-style buttons, each
containing a number from 1 through 15 which are shuffled.  The object is to
put the numbers back into appropriate order by clicking on the piece you
wish to move to the empty spot in the puzzle.  Just something to waste time
while you are waiting for someone to answer the phone.


DOCUMENTATION

    The program comes with 74 page manual + 1 page addendum for AmigaDOS
2.x and above users, explaining the WBStartup installation.  The manual's
binding cuts off some of the printed text so that it can be difficult to
read.  The print quality of the text and graphics is also of poor quality,
also hindering its ease of use.  Once you get past that, the manual reads
well and provides a useful reference for the program.  It starts out with a
tutorial, for those in a hurry.  The manual then provides supplemental
information and examples to help you to use the program well.


LIKES AND DISLIKES

    I like the basic functionality of the program and the 3D-style
gadgets.

    I dislike the hard coded topaz.font, and think the program could
sell better if were written for AmigaDOS 2.x and above and used prettier
fonts.  I almost declined to purchase the program when I saw the screen
shots on the box.

    I'd like to see some more features added:

    - support of the AmigaDOS clipboard.
    - ability to send and receive ARexx commands.
    - support of AmigaDOS 2.x public screens.
    - ability to resize the calendar, address book, and puzzle windows.
    - alternate views for calendar (by month, by week, by year).
    - additional visual cues for events in the calendar.
    - user configurability of the default times listed in the event
      editor.
    - more and user titled To Do lists, with their own separate windows.
    - a more intuitive To Do List interface, with additional items like
      priorities.
    - more fields in the address book.
    - ability to print out in fonts other than the printer defaults.
    - a font sensitive interface.


COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

    I had previously purchased versions of Who!What!When!Where! and Nag
Plus, only to find their AmigaDOS 1.3 style interfaces reduced my desire to
use them.  Time Tracker does have an AmigaDOS 2.x style to match my
Workbench.  I don't have enough experience with these or the various
shareware packages to make any detailed comments here.  The shareware
packages I have taken a cursory glance at either had similar misfeatures or
a less attractive interface, in my opinion.


BUGS

    I didn't find any bugs.


VENDOR SUPPORT

    The registration card had a stamp on it, suggesting the company
wishes to keep track of their customers.  The technical support phone number
is listed as being available only on Wednesdays 9am-4pm Mountain Time.


WARRANTY

    The diskette is warrantied for 90 days.  All else is disclaimed.


CONCLUSIONS

    Overall, I have mixed reactions to this program.  It has much of the
functionality I require and will use.  I think the program could be greatly
enhanced to be both more functional and attractive.  I'm glad I have
something to use today.  I'd like something better to use tomorrow.  I think
the author should consider a rewrite with AmigaDOS 2.04 as a minimal
platform, using more up to date things like clipboard support, ARexx
support, AmigaGuide help, an Installer script, and a font sensitive
interface.  The program is quite useful, but could be even more so, with
further development.


COPYRIGHT NOTICE

    This review is released to the public domain.
    Ed Berger, [e-mail]

---

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