Business Assistant

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Business Assistant / Business Assistant.iso / sched / tikler / tikler.com / TIKLER.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1989-09-17 | 24.8 KB | 490 lines

TIKLER Version 3.2 by Dick Olsen Welcome to TIKLER. TIKLER is an easy to use program that will help you keep track of upcoming events. It is intended to be added as the last item in your AutoExec.Bat file so that it will be run automatically each time you turn on your computer. TIKLER displays the coming events for any number of days in the future, or it can display events that have occurred during any number of days past up until the present. It's kind of a note taker/reminder/calendar program that you should find useful, if not indispensable. Unlike many commercial programs that perform similar functions, TIKLER was designed to be quick, easy to learn, and free-form in its note entries. Chances are that you won't need to refer to this document in order to make full use of TIKLER. I suggest, however, that you read it in its entirety so that you'll have a fuller understanding of the program. If you have a color monitor, TIKLER displays today's events in yellow, tomorrow's events in light green, and all other events in cyan on your screen. All functions only require a single keystroke to activate. TIKLER creates and maintains a file on your disk called COMEVENT. This is the default file that TIKLER will use each time it is run. Once TIKLER is running, you can change to a different event file if you wish. The file is created in ordinary text mode so that it can be edited with almost any word processor program or editor, however, it is recommended that you use the built in editor to make any changes. If you must edit an event file with a word processing program, BE CAREFUL! If you have too few lines or too many lines, TIKLER will be confused when it reads the event file. When you first install and run TIKLER, you will be asked how many days notice you would like. What you enter here determines the default number of days that TIKLER will look ahead to find events. A good number seems to be 14 days, but you can enter whatever you would like. Once you have specified the number of days notice you would like, TIKLER will create a file in the current directory called COMEVENT, which is the default event file. The first entry in this file is the number of days notice you have specified. This number can be changed by selecting number five in the FLUSH EVENT mode. Each time you enter a new event, it will be added to the COMEVENT file, or to whatever event file is currently active. TIKLER, beginning with version 3.0, also contains a simple 'what you see is what you get' event editor. This built in editor makes it easy and fast for you to change events or their dates. If you have used older versions of TIKLER......CONVERT! If you have used a version of TIKLER prior to version 3.0, and you have an event archive file (TIKARC.EVT) created, you will need to convert it to the new format required by version 3.1. This is a simple process since a program is provided on your TIKLER disk to do this for you. The program is called CONVARC.EXE. Copy it from the distribution disk to the directory on your hard disk where TIKLER is installed. Then type CONVARC and the program will take care of the conversion for you. Once the conversion has been made, don't do it again! No other files should need to be changed. While TIKLER is running, the bottom two lines of your display will show eleven function keys. The operations performed by these function keys are as follows: F1 <EXIT> This key is pretty self explanatory. When pressed, it will return to DOS at whatever directory TIKLER is installed in. You can run TIKLER at any time by changing to the directory where it is and typing TIKLER. A batch file could be created that would do this for you. F2 <add event> Press this key if you want to add an event to your active event file. TIKLER will ask you first for the date of the event, then for the description of the event. You can enter up to 64 characters for the event description, but it's best to keep your entries as short as possible. The built in editor will truncate all events so that the date plus the event text all fits on one 80 character line. When entering the date of the event, you can use several formats. Some examples are shown below: 8/8/87 08/08/87 8/8 8-8-1987 8-08/1987 In the above examples, TIKLER will add missing digits, and convert the " - " characters to " / " characters so that for August 8, 1987, TIKLER would convert the date as entered in any of the above formats to 08/08/1987, if 1987 were the current year. If the event date is going to occur in the current year, the year portion of the date can be skipped by just pressing enter. TIKLER will get the year from DOS and add it for you. If you just press ENTER in response to the date question, TIKLER will get the current date from DOS. When adding events, there are two more special keys you should be aware of. One of these is the DITTO key. When you press the " key, the previously entered date or event string is copied. For example, suppose you had a meeting every Monday morning. After you add this event to TIKLER for the first time, simply change the date then press " when you are asked to enter the event. The same information used in the previous event will be copied into the current event, saving you lots of typing. The ditto function also works on the date. The other special key is the back-slash (\). If TIKLER finds this character anywhere in either your date or your event entry, it will abort the saving of that event. When events are listed on the screen, TIKLER will get the appropriate day of the week from DOS and print it next to the date. As each event is entered, it is sorted by date before being added to your event file. Beginning with version 1.80, the day of the week will also be added to your event date as it is saved in your active event file. Compatibility is maintained with existing EVENT files. F3 <view past events> This key allows you to temporarily change the NUMBER OF DAYS NOTICE to some number of days in the past. For example, suppose you want to view the events that occurred within the past 3 weeks. When TIKLER asks for the number of days past, you would enter 21. Now TIKLER will display events that happened during the three weeks preceding TODAY, as well as TODAY'S events. If you have more events than TIKLER can fit on the screen, TIKLER will pause and wait for you to press ENTER and then it will show you the remaining events. F4 <list ALL events> When you press this key, all of the events from your ACTIVE EVENT FILE will be listed. TIKLER will pause at the end of a full screen and wait for you to press the 'ENTER' key before showing you the rest of the events in your file. F5 <search for event> Pressing this key will cause the message 'enter KEYWORD:' to be displayed in a window on your screen. You can enter a single word or phrase that you want TIKLER to look for. TIKLER will search your entire ACTIVE EVENT FILE for event descriptions that contain your keyword or words. Each event containing the keyword or phrase will be displayed on your screen. F6 <flush & MORE> Pressing the F6 function key will present you with six choices. If you pick choice number 1, you will be asked for a date prior to which events are to be deleted. You can use any of the date formats specified under the F2 key description. After entering the date, TIKLER will ask you if you would like to ARCHIVE the events that are to be deleted. If you answer "yes" or "y" to this question, TIKLER will delete all events that occurred before the date you entered from your ACTIVE EVENT FILE file, but they will be added to a file called TIKARC.EVT in case you need to refer to them at a later time. Answering "no" or "n" will cause the events to be deleted without archiving them. Selecting choice number two will allow you to selectively delete events one at a time. Each event will be displayed sequentially until you press "e" to exit or the end of your ACTIVE EVENT FILE file is reached. As each event is displayed, you can press "a" to flush the event but add it to your ARCHIVE, "f" to just flush it from your ACTIVE EVENT FILE file, or any other key to keep it. You can press "e" at any time to stop flushing events. If you choose choice number three, TIKLER will ask you for a date. You can enter the date in any of the formats described under the F2 key description. TIKLER will then search your ACTIVE EVENT FILE file for events that have or will occur on that date, and display them one at a time. As each event is displayed, you can enter "a" to flush the event but add it to your ARCHIVE, "f" to just flush the event, "e" to exit the flush mode, or any other key to continue searching for the date you entered. Choice number four will give you the opportunity to delete ALL of the events in your ACTIVE EVENT FILE file. If you answer "y" when asked "are you sure ?", TIKLER will give you the choice of adding the flushed events to your ARCHIVE or simply deleting them ALL. Any other response will get you out of flush mode. Choice number five really has nothing to do with flushing events. This choice allows you to change the default NUMBER OF DAYS NOTICE that is used each time TIKLER is run. Just answer the question, and TIKLER will do the rest. Choice number six, CHANGE EVENT FILE, is something new that was added at version 3.0. Selecting it allows you to change from or to the default event file, COMEVENT, or to some other event file that is compatible with TIKLER. If you enter the name of an event file that does not exist, TIKLER will give you the opportunity to create it. If TIKLER finds the event file you have specified, all succeeding activity will be done to that file. If you ARCHIVE any events from this new file, they will still be added to your TIKARC.EVT file. If you have used versions of TIKLER prior to version 3.0, you will find that the older TIKARC.EVT files are not compatible with those created by version 3.1. However, the TIKLER disk contains a conversion program called CONVARC.EXE which will convert your old TIKARC.EVT file to the new format required by version 3.1. Once the conversion is made, the TIKARC.EVT file can be edited just like any other event file using the built in edit mode. Therefore, it is suggested that you perform this conversion prior to running version 3.1. The ARCHIVE file created by TIKLER can be viewed by any text editor or word processing program. If you decide to edit it, or any other TIKLER event file, BE CAREFUL! Make sure you retain the same format as the original file. Extra lines can cause strange looking displays! Instead of using a word processor or text editor, it is suggested that you change the ACTIVE EVENT FILE file as described above, then use the built in editor to preserve compatibility. If you decide to ARCHIVE some of your events, TIKLER will create the ARCHIVE file for you. The name of the file created is TIKARC.EVT. All archived events will be added to this file regardless of what your ACTIVE EVENT FILE is. F7 <find a date> When you press this key, you will be asked for the date that you want to find. TIKLER will search through your ACTIVE EVENT FILE file and display all events that match the date you've entered. You can enter the date in any of the formats previously described. F8 <print events> When you press this key, TIKLER will ask you if you want to print all events, or only those events within the number of days notice you have specified. The events from the ACTIVE EVENT FILE are printed in order of date. Don't forget that you can also use the DOS print screen command. It will print whatever you see on the screen by pressing SHIFT-PRTSC. F9 <change number of days notice> This key will allow you to change how far ahead (or back) you want TIKLER to look for events. The change is only temporary and will not be saved to your file. You may want to view all the events that are scheduled for the next month (meetings, birthdays etc.). Just press the F9 key and enter 30 for the number of days notice. TIKLER will immediately look for the events for the next 30 days and display them for you. TIKLER can also show you events that occurred before the current date by entering a negative number for the number of days notice. For example, if you were to enter '-7', TIKLER would find and display the events of the previous week. You can change the number of days notice as many times as you wish, but TIKLER will always use the default value from your ACTIVE EVENT FILE file each time you run it. If you want to change the default number of days notice, use F6, the flush mode key. F10 <list again> This key will list the events again, based on the current number of days notice. ALT-E <EDIT MODE> The built in editor is a new feature added at the release of version 3.0. It is something many people have asked for. The editor is a WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) type of editor. This means that once you have an event edited to your satisfaction on the screen, it will be saved to your ACTIVE EVENT FILE just as it appears on the screen. TIKLER will recalculate the day of the week for you if you change the date. To invoke the editor, just press ALT-E (hold down the ALT key while you press the E key). TIKLER will then enter the EDIT mode, and display a screen full of events from the event file you are currently using. A hilite bar will appear at the first event listed on your screen. This bar is used to select the event that you want to edit. Use the UP or DOWN arrow keys to move the bar up or down one event at a time, or you can use the PGUP or PGDN keys to move a page at a time through your event file. The HOME key will move the bar to the beginning of the file, and the END key will position it at the end of the event file. Edit mode can be aborted without saving the changes made during the CURRENT EDIT SESSION by pressing ALT-A. The bottom three lines of your screen will change to display what keys perform what while in edit mode. When you exit edit mode, these lines will be replaced by the general command function keys. After you have positioned the hilite bar over the event you want to edit, use the left or right arrow keys to position the cursor where your change is to be made. Pressing the DEL key will delete the character at the cursor, while pressing any other key will cause that character to be inserted at the cursor position. You cannot delete any characters in the date field or the day-of-week field because this will mess up the event file. You can however, change the date, but not the day-of-week. If the hilite bar is positioned over an event you want to delete, pressing ALT-D will delete it. ALT-I will increment the year of the event by one. As mentioned earlier, TIKLER will compute a new day-of-the-week for you if you change a date. When you have finished editing all of the events you want to change, press ESC to exit the EDIT MODE, and your event file will be updated to reflect the changes you have made. You can edit as many events as you like while in edit mode, since all changes are made to your event file at the end of the edit session. ALT-C Show Calendar When you are in EDIT MODE or at the main command level, you can pop a calendar on the screen by pressing ALT-C. The calendar will show the current month, with the current date hilited in yellow. While the calendar is displayed, pressing the UP arrow key will show you the previous month, the DOWN arrow key will show the next month, the LEFT arrow key will show the currently displayed month of the previous year, and pressing the RIGHT arrow key will display the currently displayed month of the next year. Pressing ESC will erase the calendar from the screen. The calendar is not operational while any other windows are displayed. The range of the calendar is limited by DOS. It will display as far back as 1/1/80 and as far ahead as December 2099. Installing TIKLER To install TIKLER on your computer, first change to the directory in which you want it installed. Then simply copy it from the floppy disk to the current directory. Once you've copied it, just type 'TIKLER', and your COMEVENT file will be created, with a default number of days notice set for whatever number of days you entered when asked to do so. TIKLER will run, and display the message 'there are no coming events...'. At this point, you can begin entering your events with the F2 key. If you have used a version of TIKLER prior to 3.0, you will need to convert your ARCHIVE FILE (TIKARC.EVT) to the newer format. Instructions describing how to do this appear earlier in this document. To make TIKLER run each time you turn on your computer, just add the TIKLER command to your autoexec.bat file, similar to the example shown below: CD\<directory where TIKLER is installed> TIKLER At this time, TIKLER is limited to 300 events. The number of events you have in your ACTIVE EVENT FILE file is displayed on the top line of the screen and is updated anytime you add or delete an event. If you exceed 290 events, TIKLER will remind you that you are approaching the maximum of 300 events. You should delete events that are no longer needed. This limit of 300 events is an arbitrary number that seems to satisfy the needs of most people. I chose this value in order to save disk space and optimize speed. Although TIKLER runs quite fast with 300 events, the fewer you have, the faster it will run. A few extra words.... TIKLER is distributed under the concept of SHAREWARE. Under this concept, you are free to use, copy and distribute this program without charge. You are not permitted to sell it either by itself or as part of a package. The author retains all of the rights to the program. The idea of SHAREWARE is a good one. It helps us all to obtain some really good software at a price we can all afford. If the SHAREWARE concept is going to continue, we need to support the efforts of the software authors. Most of these people would gladly accept a small donation as a token of appreciation for their work. These donations don't even come close to compensating an author for the many hours of work his or her program represents, but it sure makes them feel more inclined to continue the SHAREWARE practice. All of us benefit then! If you find TIKLER to be as handy and helpful as I have, please register your copy of the program. To register, just fill out the registration form on the next page, and send it together with your registration fee of $10.00 (cash, check or money order) to the address shown. Registered users will receive, free of charge, the latest version of TIKLER if the one you have is not recent. If you pass this program on to others, either on floppy disk or through bulletin boards, please be sure to attach this document. Please address all correspondence to: Richard Olsen 68 Hartwell Ave. Littleton, Mass. 01460 Tikler v3.1 REGISTRATION FORM Dear Dick, Enclosed please find my check or money order for $10.00. Please register me as a TIKLER user and send me the latest version if the version I currently have is not the latest. Thanks! YOUR NAME________________________________________________ STREET ADDRESS___________________________________________ CITY, STATE, ZIP_________________________________________ COUNTRY__________________________________________________ TIKLER Version you have__________________________________ WHERE DID YOU GET TIKLER?________________________________ COMMENTS_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Mail To: Richard Olsen 68 Hartwell Ave. Littleton, MA 01460 Other programs available from the author: BASSTOUR......A bass fishing tournament game. Comes with six different areas to fish. You control a fully rigged bass boat with on-screen contour maps, LCD graph, over 2300 lure/color choices. Superb graphics in EGA. Also runs on Hercules and CGA systems. LAKES #1......A collection of 7 new fishing areas you can add to BASSTOUR. Installation instructions are included. LAKES #2......Another seven fishing areas to use with BASSTOUR. Use of both LAKES #1 and LAKES #2 will bring the total number of fishing areas to 20. Includes installation instructions. FISHBASE ][...A fisherman's data base/statistics program for color or monochrome systems. BASSTIPS......A great way for the fisherman to start his day! Over 100 fishing tips that pop onto your NEW!! screen. You can also add your own tips. More tips are added all the time. Color or Mono systems. Available for $10 each. Plus $2.00 to cover postage and materials. Please specify what you want by circling the titles and send this form to the address shown below. Mail TO: Richard Olsen 68 Hartwell Ave. Littleton, MA. 01460