Personal Calendar (PC) for DOS Version 14.20 Documentation 17 Jan 1990 Page Topic ---- ------------------------------ ---- -------------------------------- 2 General Information 35 Options 2 Sample Clock Screen 40 Operation, Resource Requirements 3 Appointment File 42 Installation, Re-Installation 4 Privacy, Event List, Event Window 46 Enhancements Being Considered 5 Note List, Note Window 47 Recent Enhancements 6 Clock Screen Footer 47 Recent Corrections 6 History & Exclusions 47 Recent Internal Changes 8 Changing Events 48 Known Problems/Limitations 10 Warnings & Alarms 50 Enhancements and Contacting Me 11 Repeating Events 51 Ownership, Copyright, Distribution 11 Repeat Intervals 51 How to Register Personal Calendar 17 Types of Repeats 52 Getting Started 19 User Interface ╔════════════════════════════╗ 22 Single & Function Keys ║ "Personal Calendar" is a ║ 24 Pop Up/Pop Down (TSR) Operation ║ trademark of FunStuff(tm) ║ 34 Copying/Printing Appointments ╚════════════════════════════╝ GENERAL INFORMATION. Welcome to the Personal Calendar (PC) program, which displays a three-month calendar, a running clock (both analog and digital), and your Appointment and Note List, with a Clock Screen display similar to this: ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ Paul's ║ 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ║ Calendar ║▓▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░▓░░░░▓▓║ ║▓ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ▓║ 57 ║▓ │ 22:50:55 Thursday, 1 August 1991 10:50:55 PM │ ▓║ Events ║▓ └────────────────────── (91 213) ─────────────────────────┘ ▓║ Scheduled ║▓▓░░░░░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░░▓░░░▓▓║ ║ 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ July August 1991 September Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 28 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 You can exchange the current three month calendars for those which contain any date you wish to see, either by asking for a specific date, or by scrolling the calendars forward or backward a month at a time with the east (right) arrow or west (left) arrow keys, respectively. The running clock chimes on the hour and quarter hours, unless you silence the chimes. APPOINTMENT FILE. Along with the time and date display, you may create, keep, and update a useful Appointment File to hold your time-oriented events, other notes, and historical information. The Appointment File may be named as you choose (one to eight characters), and is thus known to DOS by that name and a file extension of .CLD. The file is described on the following pages. Here are some example notes and events -- 1 Send Letter to IBM Office in Arlington to add Postscript Option to contract 2 Get Craft Show Information 12-27-90 Thu 14:00 Call Dr. Zelman (Paul)--Vision Analysis Appt Change B6 12-28-90 Fri 07:00 Pay Day 12-31-90 Mon 13:00 Conference Room A -- Meeting on Year-End Finances Appointment File Privacy. If you wish privacy, you may protect this Appointment File with a password of your choosing. (If you choose this option, be certain that you know this password, as it is not displayed on the screen when you enter it.) 1. EVENT LIST. A list of "current events", or things that you have to do by a certain date and time is available to you, such as -- 12-31-90 Mon 13:00 Conference Room A -- Meeting on Year-End Finances An editing menu is available to let you to change the events. The initial default is 60 events (3 screens), and can be contracted or expanded from 20 to 300 in multiples of 20. More appears about events later in this information. Event Window. When you use the Event List with the clock and calendar display, the events appear at the bottom of your screen in a highlighted Event Window. You may scroll this window back and forth through the Event List with the "PgUp" or "PgDn" keys. You may change the Event List (full-screen) by commanding return to the editing menu (with the "E" key), or directly on the Clock Screen (with the "F3" key). 2. NOTE LIST. In addition to the Event List, a "note" list is also available. This is for those things which you wish to be reminded of that are not specifically time-oriented, such as -- Call Doctor to Make Appointment for Physical Exam Write Note to Newspaper About Missed Subscription Issues An editing menu similar to the event menu is also used. The same size default, 60, is used for notes with a similar capability to change capacity from 20 to 300. Notes are displayed at the bottom of the clock and calendar screen, just above events in the Note Window. In the Note Window, notes can be scrolled with the up- and down-arrow keys, edited in full-screen fashion by returning to the note editing menu (with the "N" key), or directly on the Clock Screen (with the "F4" key). CLOCK SCREEN FOOTER. The combination of the Note Window and the Event Window together is called the Clock Screen Footer. At least one event must appear on the Clock Screen Footer. The size of the Clock Screen Footer may be varied from three to nine lines, depending on whether you need help instructions to stay on the Clock Screen. The remaining two to eight lines may be shared between events and notes, in a mix of your choosing. 3. HISTORY. When the time passes by a scheduled event, when the event is changed or deleted, or when a note is changed or deleted, it is moved to a "history" list (limited in size only by disk storage on Personal Calendar's disk drive). (If a disk error occurs which causes an event to have nonsensical characters in the date or time fields, the event is also moved to history). History, being a combination of events and notes, might look like this -- Report -- Go See Cheryl For Chapter 3 Input 12-26-90 Wed 12:00 Xmas Party/Food Auction/Silent Auction 12-28-90 Fri 14:00 Distribute Weekly Meeting Minutes Check on Josi's Library Book at NOVA to Register For Next Quarter 12-29-90 Sat 14:00 Pick up Car at Repair Shop History (2) -- In a manner similar to the events and notes, you can also display and change the history list (with the "H" key), and likewise edit it (you can make your own "tailored" version of history)! Optionally, you may exclude one or two different routine events from being automatically recorded in history. For example, if you remind yourself to have lunch every day, you might consider that silly to record. This recording suppression is accomplished by specifying which event descriptions (texts) are to be excluded. MUCH MORE ABOUT EVENTS. Since time is so special to most of us, a wealth of capabilities are available to manipulate time-oriented events. Entering and Changing Events. In specifying an event, you give its date and time, a description of the event, and optional specifications for a repeating event (daily, weekly, biweekly, multiweekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly). A large portion of the remaining explanation of events deals with these optional specifications for event scheduling. Here is a typical event -- ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ 12-W7 01-26-91 Sat 13:00 Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle ║ ╚═╧══╧═══╧════════╧═══╧══════╧════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ └─ Description ── you enter this │ │ │ │ └─ Time of Day ───────── you enter this │ │ │ └─ Day of the Week ───────── this is always computed for you │ │ └─ Date ───────────────────────────── you enter this │ └─ Repeating Event Weekly on Saturday ─── you enter this, optionally └─ Schedule This Event 12 Times ──────────── you enter this, optionally More On Events (2) --- PC is very forgiving of dates and times if you don't want to enter them--leave either one out and you get the next possible date and/or the current time. The day of the week in the display is automatically computed for you. Date/Time Order Is Maintained. PC always maintains your Event List sequenced by date and time, with the earliest event at the top of the list. While entering or changing events, to see what this order will be before you finish your changes, you can resequence the Event List as often as needed by pressing the "F2" key. Clock and Calendar Screen. When you're finished entering events, press the "Esc" key. The events are automatically resequenced, again by date and time, and your display then changes to the clock and calendar screen with your earliest events displayed at the bottom of the screen. Days on which you have events scheduled are visually emphasized on the calendar display of the Clock Screen. More On Events (3) --- Events, Warnings and Alarms. Warnings. A warning will sound when the next event is within a pre-set time period of occurring (5 minutes is the default; you may vary the period from 1 to 99 minutes or disable the warning entirely). When the warning sounds, the event blinks in the Event Window until the alarm sounds. Alarms. An alarm will sound when the event occurs (you may also silence the alarm). When the alarm sounds, the event appears highlighted and blinking in the window, until you leave the clock and calendar display to enter new events, or until you command that the highlighted and blinking event be erased (with the "Del" key). (If more events pass at the same time than the Event Window is set to hold, a separate screen will appear, listing them all). Rescheduling and Resequencing Events. At the alarm, the event is removed from the active Event List. If it is a repeating event, a new date is computed for the next occurrence and the event is rescheduled. Remaining events are again automatically resequenced. More On Events (4) --- Repeating Events. Intervals. Events occurring more than once may be set to repeat themselves. Seven intervals may be specified--daily, weekly, biweekly, multiweekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Repeating may be set to indefinitely until you delete the event, or to a certain number (called "limited repeating events", discussed on a later page). - For a one-time event, enter nothing in the repeat interval field. Note that if you make no entry in the repeat field, the limited repeat count field also stays empty. __ ___ 01-26-91 Sat 13:00 Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle │ └─ Repeat field is empty for a one-time event └─ Limited Repeat count is also empty More On Events (5) --- Repeating Events. Intervals. - For a daily repeating event, enter "D" in the field. Note that the daily option by default won't schedule on Saturday and Sunday, causing a Friday event to reschedule to Monday. You can change this through the Options menu. D 01-24-91 Thu 13:00 Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle └─ Repeat Field For Daily More On Events (6) --- Repeating Events. Intervals. - For a weekly, biweekly, or multiweekly repeating event, enter "Wn" or "Bn" or "jn" in the field, where "n" is a number for the day of the week (for example, "W1" is Sunday, "W2" is Monday, and so on), and "j" is the number (up to 9) of weeks for multiweek repeats (for example, "32" is every third Monday). If your date for the event is incorrect for that day of the week, PC will automatically replace it with the next correct one. B7 01-26-91 Sat 13:00 Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle └─ Repeat Field For Biweekly On Saturday 47 01-26-91 Sat 13:00 Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle └─ Repeat Field For Every Fourth Saturday More On Events (7) --- Repeating Events. Intervals. - For a monthly, quarterly, or yearly repeating event on a certain day of the month, enter "Mnn" in the field, where "nn" is a number indicating the day of the month. For example, "M10" is the tenth day of each month. "M31" will work for 31-day months, but when a 30, 29, or 28 day month occurs, the date will be set to the last legal day. Likewise, "M30" will schedule correctly, except in February. If you truly want the last day of the month, use "ML". M26 01-26-91 Sat 13:00 Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle └─ Repeat Field For Monthly on the 26th of the Month More On Events (8) --- Repeating Events. Intervals. - For quarterly and yearly events (such as birthdays), use "Q10" or "Y10" for the tenth day of the month, and likewise "QL and YL". Quarterly and yearly events will reschedule every three or twelve months from the month in which they occur. Q25 01-25-91 Fri 13:00 Quarterly Report is Due └─ Repeat Field For Quarterly from January 25 (reschedules to April 25) Y26 01-26-91 Sat 13:00 Julie's Birthday └─ Repeat Field For Yearly on January 26 More On Events (9) --- Repeating Events. Intervals. - For a monthly repeating event on a certain day of the week (for example, the 2nd Wednesday of each month), enter "Nnm", where "n" is the day of the week (just like the weekly and biweekly events), and "m" is which week of the month. The example just mentioned for the 2nd Wednesday would be entered as "N42". (Of course, if you enter the certain day of the week for the 5th week of the month, not all months have a 5th week for each day. Each time a 5th week request can't be honored for a specific day, the event will automatically schedule for the 4th week instead.) N74 01-26-91 Sat 13:00 Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle └─ Repeat Field For Monthly On the 4th Saturday More On Events (10) --- Types of Repeating Events. Indefinite and Limited Repeats. Two types of repeating events are available, those which reschedule themselves indefinitely until you remove them from your Event List, and those which schedule themselves the exact number of times you specify (the "limited repeating event"). When giving the interval to say that an event is repeating, you will be prompted for the optional count, if you want to limit the number of repeats. 12-W7 01-26-91 Sat 13:00 Bowling Class--BowlAmerica in Fairfax Circle └─ Limited Repeat Count of 12 times, each weekly on Saturday at 13:00 More On Events (11) --- Limited Repeat Example. - For example, say I am going to three planning meetings, every other Friday in the afternoon at 1:00 PM, starting on January 4, 1991. I specify "B6" in the repeat interval field for "biweekly on Friday", "3" in the limited repeat field for the number of meetings, the starting date 01-04-91, the time 13:00 (note that the same 24-hour clock which DOS uses is used by PC), and a description of my activity. 3-B3 01-04-91 Fri 13:00 Planning Meeting All Afternoon <- 1st Meeting At 13:00 on January 4, 1991, when the first event occurs, it is replaced by a second event with a count of "2". On January 18, the second is replaced by a third with a count of "1". The last event is then deleted from the list when it occurs on February 1. The last two events would each look like this -- 2-B3 01-18-91 Fri 13:00 Planning Meeting All Afternoon <- 2nd Meeting 1-B3 02-01-91 Fri 13:00 Planning Meeting All Afternoon <- 3rd Meeting USER INTERFACE. Menus and Instructions. PC is user-friendly. Choices to make are presented in a standard menu fashion, or are explained on each screen. Menu selections are chosen by pressing the space bar or down-arrow to go down the list, and the backspace key or up-arrow to go up the list; or by pressing the first letter of the desired entry. The "Return" key then proceeds with the menu choice. Pressing F5 recalls this Help Text in a context-sensitive manner. Clock Screen Instructions. If the size of the Clock Screen footer is 6 lines or more, this is the "experienced user" mode, and clock screen help instructions are suppressed. In this mode, you may recall the clock screen instructions at any time for 10 seconds by pressing "Shift-F5". Printing This Help Information. If you haven't already noticed it, you can print this help text to your printer by pressing the "Print" key (so marked on the older IBM-PC and PC-XT series; marked "*" on some of the IBM-AT series machines). (If you are printing this before you have created an Appointment File and before you have chosen a type of printer, no change in your printer's setup will be made.) User Interface (2) -- Pop Down/Pop Up (Memory-Resident). You may make PC memory-resident (Terminate-and-Stay-Resident or TSR) by pressing F10 to pop the program down to whatever program was executing previously. (PC doesn't allow a new user to try this until after you Esc from this Help Text--be patient!) You may pop PC back up by pressing the "hot key" you have defined (defaults to LeftShift-Ctrl-F10). If your appointments are active and you have at least one event pending, PC will pop up automatically at the time of the earliest event warning or alarm. Many options for the use of PC in the TSR mode are discussed later. The symbol "TSR" appears on the screen once PC has been memory-resident. Exiting PC. You may leave PC by pressing "Ctrl-Esc" (or "Ctrl-Break") just about any time, except when any serious writing to your Appointment File is going on (in this case the writing is finished to preserve your changes before exiting and a "Wait" prompt appears; pop down is also delayed while this is happening). ("Ctrl-Esc" results from holding down the "Ctrl" key with one finger and then pressing the "Esc" key with another.) If PC is running in the TSR mode, Ctrl-Esc will attempt to remove it from memory; there are restrictions on being able to do this, discussed later. User Interface (3) -- Program Control of Certain Keys. When entering information, you can toggle the "Insert" and "Overstrike" modes with the press of the "Insert" key. The "Numlock" key is automatically turned on and off as necessary, depending upon whether the information is all numeric. "Cap", "Num", and "Ins" appear on screen as necessary. At exit (either by popping down in the TSR mode or at program termination), CapsLock, NumLock, Insert, and ScrollLock are restored to whatever you had them set when last outside PC. (PC does not use ScrollLock for any purpose, but does preserve its state.) DOS Session or Stored DOS Command. You may also leave PC temporarily and run a DOS session from the Main Menu, or by pressing "F6" from the Clock Screen. If you change the drive/directory while in DOS, PC will automatically change them back when you return. You may execute a stored DOS command also from the Main Menu, or by pressing "F7" from the Clock Screen. You may specify or change what the stored command contains from the menu only. If PC is running in the TSR mode, the DOS session or stored DOS command are only available if no other program is loaded higher in memory than PC. User Interface (4) -- Function Keys. A reference listing of function keys -- F1 Accept event information while in editing menu (Esc works too). F2 Resequence Event List while in editing menu. F3 Event editing while on Clock Screen. F4 Note editing while on Clock Screen. F5 Context-sensitive recall of this Help Text at any time. Shift-F5 Clock screen instruction recall for experienced user. F6 Run DOS from the Clock Screen and return at the "EXIT" command. F7 Run stored DOS command from the Clock Screen and return. The following three Function Key Commands are available on DOS 3.0 or later: F10 Pop down to previous program (Terminate and Stay Resident) Shift-F10 Pop down with automatic pop up disabled (for one time only) LeftShift-Ctrl-F10 (default Hot Key; can be redefined) When executed while PC is in the TSR mode, pop up to PC. (Hold down the Left Shift and Control keys, and then press F10). User Interface (5) -- Use of the Clock Screen Single-Keystroke Commands. Several other single-keystroke commands have also been mentioned for use on the Clock Screen. Here is a reference listing of them and what they do -- E Event editing in full screen fashion. N Note editing in full screen fashion. H History editing in full screen fashion (the only way). D Show three calendars for a date from year 0000 to 9999. T Return the three calendars the current months. S Change the sound setting (cycles through the settings). Esc Return to PC's Main Menu; also accepts event data. Ctl-Esc Quit (also remove from memory if in TSR mode). Print Send events, notes, and history (option) to the printer. End Eject a printer page. Del Remove overdue events from the clock display. PgUp/PgDn Scroll the Event Window through the Event List. North and South Arrows Scroll the Note Window through the Note List. East and West Arrows Scroll the three calendars backward or forward a month. POP UP/POP DOWN MEMORY-RESIDENT OPERATION (TERMINATE-AND-STAY-RESIDENT/TSR). 1. POP DOWN. The PC program can be popped down at any time during its execution. This causes the program to execute the DOS function "Terminate and Stay Resident" (TSR). Other programs may be executed while PC is popped down. (If you are using a version of DOS earlier than 3.0, sorry but this feature is not available--maybe a consideration for upgrading your DOS version!) How to pop down. PC can be popped down manually by pressing either F10 or Shift-F10. PC can also be set to pop down automatically, the first time after automatic startup gets you to the Clock Screen (if no events are overdue), and if you select this from the Memory-Resident Options menu. The automatic pop down feature can be useful if PC is started from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, as it gives a completely hands-off initialization process. Memory/disk usage when popped down. When PC pops down, it's use of DOS real memory (the lowest 640K) can be changed by allowing the program to "swap" (write itself out of DOS memory to some other location) while it is popped down. Swapping is useful, at it frees DOS memory for other purposes. PCwill choose the best possible method you haven't disabled. Three choices exist:Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (2) -- Pop Down Memory/Disk Use Methods. a. Pop down and swap to Expanded Memory (memory which meets the Lotus/Intel/Microsoft (LIM) EMS 4.0 specification). This is the primary method of operation that PC will attempt. After swapping, a tiny program remains in real DOS memory (about 6,000 bytes). A slight pause (a fraction of a second) occurs during the swap. Note that either actual EMS hardware or emulated EMS memory works here (PC Magazine has a wonderful software emulator that makes AT-Class Extended memory (not the same!) appear to DOS as EMS memory; call or write me for a copy of it)! You can disable EMS swapping through the menu. b. Pop down and swap to disk. This is the secondary method that PC will use if EMS memory is not available. Either a real or virtual disk (VDISK or RAMDISK) can be used, depending on the drive you choose. Virtual disk swapping is nearly as fast as EMS memory. Real disk swapping takes a bit longer--about 5 seconds. During disk input/output, the top left character on the screen will flash in green inverse video. The same tiny 6,000 byte program remains in memory until pop up occurs. You can also disable disk swapping. Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (3) -- Pop Down Memory/Disk Use Methods. c. Pop down without swapping (stay in DOS memory). This method is used automatically as a last resort if the EMS and/or disk methods are disabled, or if they are selected, but can't be used (because there's no EMS memory or not enough disk space or a wrong disk path). Disk Swap File Path. You may optionally specify the drive and/or directory (default is PC's directory) for two disk swap files which are written, named CALSWAP.000 and CALSWAP.001. The swap files are about 242,700 bytes each. While popped down, it is important that you do not delete or alter these files in any way (if you do, your system will hang on the next pop up)! When PC starts or ends, these files will be deleted if they exist. Temporarily Disabling Automatic Pop Up. You can use Shift-F10 instead of F10 to pop down and disable automatic pop up on a one-time basis. This is can avoid unwanted popping up over a process that shouldn't be interrupted (such as communications over your modem)! Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (4) -- 2. POP UP. The PC program can be popped up while another program is running in three different ways: a. Pop up on "hot key" press. PC can be popped up while another program is running by pressing the defined "hot key". If a choice for the hot key is not specified through the Options menu selection, it defaults to LeftShift-Ctrl-F10. You may choose a Function Key; a combination of the Ctrl, Shift, and Alt keys; or a mixture of these, giving you 170 different possible hot keys, more than enough to avoid conflicts. I recommend that you make your hot key choice CAREFULLY, so that it will be different from ALL keys used by ALL other software that will be active while PC is popped down. b. Automatic pop up on the earliest event alarm or warning. PC will automatically pop up when the time passes for the earliest alarm or warning in the Event List, if the program is popped down when you aren't in the process of changing the Event List (automatic pop up is disabled if the program is popped down during an Event List change). Automatic pop up can be disabled through the Memory-Resident Options menu. Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (5) -- Pop Up. c. Pop up by DOS command. PC can also be popped up by executing the command "CALPOPUP" at the DOS prompt. For batch files executed in TSR mode, CALPOPUP must be the LAST command (this program pokes two ASCII 254 characters into the keyboard buffer, which PC is always looking for when popped down). PC can be popped up over programs running in Text Mode, CGA, EGA, VGA, and Hercules graphics adapters (DOS video BIOS modes 0 to 19 decimal are supported). In Text Mode (modes 0, 1, 2, 3, or 7), the underlying program's screen will be saved with no additional memory required. In any of the graphics modes, if PC is swapped to EMS memory and if enough (varying up to 256K) additional EMS memory exists, the screen will be saved to EMS. If not enough exists, a temporary screen save file CALSCRN.DAT is written to the same directory as the disk swap files. This file is deleted upon initiation or termination of the program, The contents of this file must NOT be modified when PC is active. The determination of screen modes, and the creation and deletion of the screen save file is automatic, and requires no action from you! Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (6) -- Pop Up. If you attempt to pop up (either manually or automatically) while DOS is "busy" (usually while writing to your disk!), PC will keep trying for one second. If not successful, the speaker will give a low-pitched buzz (during disk swapping) or a short chirp (during other DOS activity) and pop up will not occur; give the system a chance to finish what it is doing and try the hot key. If you pop up over a program whose screen can't be saved for any reason(such as in one of the new non-standard video modes), you'll be told. You can optionally set PC to not pop up in those circumstances, but to chirp instead. 3. DOS SESSION/COMMAND IN THE TSR MODE. The DOS command/session feature (F6/F7) has somewhat different operating characteristics once PC is operating in the TSR mode -- If PC is operating in the TSR mode, the DOS command/session feature is available if no other program has been loaded higher in memory than PC (this means loaded in memory after PC has been loaded). Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (7) -- DOS Session/Command In the TSR Mode. If PC is the highest program in memory, selection of the F6 DOS session feature will simply cause a pop down. The three methods of pop up discussed above are then available to return to PC. If PC is the highest program in memory, selection of the F7 DOS command feature will cause a pop down, followed by the passing of the command to the keyboard handler of whatever program PC pops down to. If the program PC pops down to is the DOS command processor (COMMAND.COM), the command will then be executed. If the program is not the command processor, the command will be processed, keystroke by keystroke, by the receiving program as if the keystrokes were entered one at a time manually; use caution here, as this may not get you what you want if the program you pop down to isn't the "right" one! When using F7 in TSR mode, pop up requests using the hot key will not be honored until the DOS command being executed is completed; in the case of a batch file, this is after execution of the last statement in the file. Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (8) -- 4. PROGRAM TERMINATION IN THE TSR MODE. When you attempt to terminate the PC program once it has popped down and back up, the following occurs: If PC is not the highest program in memory (loaded last), you will be told that the program cannot be removed from memory and you will be returned to the main menu, at which point you can pop down and terminate whatever is loaded above it, pop up, and try to terminate again to remove it from memory. If PC is the highest program in memory, an attempt will be made during termination to remove it from memory. If the program loaded below it in memory is the permanent (lowest memory) copy of the DOS command processor (COMMAND.COM), the attempt will be successful. If the program loaded below it is any other program (including menus or temporary copies of COMMAND.COM), the system may hang and have to be rebooted, or sometimes the program loaded below it will be terminated also! (The system hang can be avoided by starting PC from the permanent copy of COMMAND.COM, and having that in memory directly below PC when it terminates.) Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (9) -- Program Termination in the TSR Mode. Another method for removing PC from memory is available, but must also be used with caution. Pop PC down, go into DOS, and type: "CALREMOV CAL" This should be used carefully, as removing PC from memory in this manner can create a block of unallocated memory between two programs, and can also cause a system hang. The same results may occur when using CALREMOV as when using the Ctl-Esc key. 4DOS versions 3.01a thru 3.02a now support all TSR unloads. Pop Up/Pop Down Operation (10) -- 5. INSTALLATION IN THE TSR MODE (AUTOEXEC.BAT) File. If PC is to be installed as a TSR, the best method of installation is placement of the CAL command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, to be executed from any directory. This should be done in a loading order so that PC doesn't conflict with any other TSRs you may be running (you might have to experiment with loading order), and in a way so that enough DOS memory is available to start PC. Memory and disk size requirements to run PC in the TSR Mode are shown in a later topic. LAN (network) software installation must precede PC installation. It is also important to configure PC's Memory Resident Options so that Automatic Pop Down is enabled (not the default), and so that Automatic Startup is enabled with the name of your appointment file (also not the default). ONE FINAL WORD about the TSR Mode. It is a lot easier to use than it is to write about! The best combination is the TSR Mode with EMS memory or Virtual Disk for swapping and automatic Pop Up on the earliest event! If you used PC before the TSR version was available, you'll find this a very friendly way of life! Try it, you'll like it! (Such a deal ... <grin>!) MANIPULATING YOUR APPOINTMENT FILE EXTERNALLY. PRINTING YOUR APPOINTMENT FILE. You may also use the menu to print appointments, or with the "Print" (or "*") key from the Clock Screen. For convenience, when you are on the Clock Screen, you can also eject a page of paper (a form feed) from your printer by pressing the "End" key. When you print your appointments, you always get printed events, and a display of the current three months calendars. You can, by using the "Options" menu, suppress the printing of notes, or enable the printing of history. Another option exists to suppress the dividing line (break) between each week of events.(These options also affect copying to an ASCII file, described below.) You may have to change the type of printer you are using (or other control options) from the "Options" menu to get the best result -- see the next pages. EXPORTING APPOINTMENT FILE INFORMATION. From the menu, you may copy events (and notes and history if you choose) to a standard DOS ASCII sequential data file, on which you may then use any program or utility. Options chosen for printing appointments have the same effect on copying to the file. OPTIONS. PC's Main Menu, the "Options for Appointment File" menu, and the "Memory-Resident Options" menu (both selected from the Main Menu), allows you to change the following characteristics PC's operation -- 1. To start Personal Calendar in the automatic mode, going directly to the clock and calendar display, with or without an Appointment File. To do this, choose "Automatic Startup" from PC's Main Menu. 2. To change the selection of event, note, clock, calendar, menu, instruction, and emphasis foreground and background colors if you have a color monitor. Each of the 7 color pairs, foreground and background, are set together. Select "Color Choices" from the Main Menu. 3. To change the date and time in the DOS CPU clock. The change is effective for the current boot of your Personal Computer. If you have a battery-operated (permanent) clock calendar, the change will be made to it only if you have an associated "resident" program which monitors changes to the CPU clock. Select "Change DOS Date and Time" from the Main Menu. (This function uses the BASIC equivalent of the DOS "DATE" and "TIME" commands.) Options -- (2) 4. To require you to type in the date and time when the program starts. Select "Automatic Startup" from the Main Menu. 5. To run a DOS session or a stored DOS command from either the Main Menu (by selecting "DOS Session or Command"), or from the Clock Screen (function key "F6" and "F7", respectively). 6. To customize PC in the TSR (pop down/up) mode, including: definition of the hot key, use of EMS or disk (and path) for program swap and screen save, CGA snow checking, use of automatic pop up on the earliest event, use of automatic pop down after automatic startup, protect popping up over non-standard video screen modes, and for registered users to suppress the "popping down" screen. "Memory-Resident Options". 7. To show additional event or note information on the clock screen, by setting the size of the footer to 6 or more; to balance how much is used for notes or events. Use "Options" from the Main Menu to do this, or any of the remaining options described below. Options -- (3) 8. To change the music that is played on an alarm, warning or chime. This is done by changing the string executed by the BASIC PLAY statement. Consult Microsoft's or IBM's BASIC manual for a description of the PLAY statement. 9. To vary the event warning period from 1 to 99 minutes or disable the warning feature, by setting the warning period to 0. The default warning period for an event is 5 minutes. 10. To start PC with any of four levels of sound -- . Silent . Errors Only . Errors, Warnings, and Alarms . Errors, Warning, Alarms, and Chimes (Everything) 11. To establish, change, or eliminate the Appointment File password. Options -- (4) 12. To determine whether notes and/or history are printed or copied to an ASCII file along with the Event List. The default setting is print and copy events and notes, but not history. 13. To suppress the dividing line (break) between weeks of events upon printing appointments or copying them to an ASCII file. The default is to show the break between each week of events. 14. To exclude one or two events from being moved to history, useful to suppress recording trivial recurring events. This is accomplished by specifying the event description(s) (text(s)) to be excluded. The default is not to exclude any events from being moved to history. 15. To determine whether daily events are allowed to be scheduled on Saturday/Sunday if you regularly use PC on weekends. The default setting is not to work on weekends! 16. For registered users, to suppress PC's startup screen. Options -- (5) 17. To choose one of these printers: IBM Color (4-band), Epson FX, HP IIP/ III/IIID LaserJet, or IBM 4019E/01 LaserPrinter. The default is no change to printer setup; if you have a printer which doesn't work with one of the choices; choose no change, but realize that this requires you to initialize your printer before running PC. You may also set an option to limit the number of lines printed on each page (a top-of-page is sent when this is reached). If you choose this limit, you may optionally force the printer to pause between pages, useful if you wish to feed the paper to the printer one sheet at a time. 18. To change the capacity of the Appointment File to hold events and notes in increments of 20 and ranging from 20 minimum to 300 maximum. The default capacities are 60 events and 60 notes, unless you create a new Appointment File during the same PC session as one whose capacities are different from 60 and 60. If you decrease the event or note capacity, any non-blank events or notes which are at the excess end of the larger list are written to history during the compaction process. SOFTWARE OPERATION, RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS, AND INSTALLATION. PC works on DOS 2.01 to 5.00-beta (DOS 4.00 isn't supported in TSR Mode), and all CPUs 8088 to 80486. TSR mode only works on DOS 3.00 or later. 4DOS 3.01a to 3.02a are supported; OS/2 is not. Resource requirements (all numbers in bytes): -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MEMORY in 307,110 DOS memory, temporarily just for the moment of first pop TSR Mode down (7,000 more if using 4DOS) which *immediately* reduces to: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- if swapped 6,050 DOS memory is left after swapping to EMS or disk, and / 262,200 EMS (Expanded) memory is used for program memory, and OR up to 262,200 EMS memory is used for graphics screen saves \ if not swapped 248,900 DOS memory is used if disk & EMS swapping are disabled. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------Non-TSR Mode: 234,100 DOS memory is used at all times while executing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISK SPACE: 237,300 for program and data storage (permanent) + 80 for each event, note, and history entry (permanent) + 485,400 for TSR mode if using disk swapping (temporary) + up to 262,200 for TSR mode if graphics saved on disk (temporary) Software Operation and Installation (2) -- In the TSR mode, only one copy of PC may be in memory at any time. PC works with either color or monochrome displays, and is invoked from DOS with the command (if under DOS 2.x, this must be in the installation direcotry): CAL PC is written in and compiled by the Microsoft Professional Development System (PDS) BASIC 7.10 BC compiler, and is linked by the Microsoft Segmented Executable Linker 5.10 on a Northgate 486/25 under MS DOS 3.30. PC also uses assembly language library subroutines and utilities from the MicroHelp Mach 2 library (v 2.51), Toolbox 2 (v 1.10), QB/Pro 1-4 (v 1.50), and QB/Pro 7 (v 1.10) for better program execution; and from the MicroHelp Stay-Res Plus package (v 4.00) for support of the TSR mode of operation. MicroHelp (in Roswell, Georgia) is a supplier of programming aids/libraries for Microsoft BASIC applications. If you are a BASIC programmer and find the TSR, performance, and graphics capabilities interesting or useful, their phone number is 800-922-3383 or 404-552-0565. Software Operation and Installation (3) -- INSTALLATION. PC is shipped on an authenticated compressed archive file in one of two forms: either a self-extracting archive or a normal archive file, created by PKWARE's ZIP compression software, version 1.10. The file is named: PCnnnn.EXE - Self-extracting archive [diskette version] or PCnnnn.ZIP - Normal archive [BBS version] "nnnn" is the version number (PC1420.EXE is the archive for version 14.20). For the .EXE file, just type the file's name. Examples for the .EXE file: PC1420 Extracts to your current directory or a:PC1420 d:\path Extracts from a floppy to "d:\path" For the .ZIP file, use PKUNZIP (you obtain this from your favorite Shareware source). Examples for the .ZIP file: PKUNZIP PC1420 Extracts to your current directory or PKUNZIP a:PC1420 d:\path Extracts from a floppy to "d:\path" Software Operation and Installation (4) -- When you extract Personal Calendar from the archive, the required program and data files will be created. If you already have an older version of Personal Calendar in the directory to which you are writing, you will receive messages from PKSFX or PKUNZIP of the following type: PKSFX (R) FAST! Self Extract Utility Version 1.1 03-15-90 Copr. 1989-1990 PKWARE Inc. All Rights Reserved. PKSFX/h for help PKSFX Reg. U.S. Pat. and Tm. Off. Searching EXE: C:/PC1420.EXE - Personal Calendar (Executable), Version 14.20 PKSFX: Warning! file: CAL.EXE already exists. Overwrite (y/n)? y Exploding: CAL.EXE -AV <<== (the -AV indicates an authentic archive) Just answer "y" for each file for which the message appears, and the old version will be replaced by the new one. After extracting the files, you may delete the PCnnnn.EXE or PCnnnn.ZIP file, if you wish. However, if you give PC to someone or upload it to a BBS, you *must* give the original PCnnnn.EXE or .ZIP file only, and *must not* upload your CALSER.DAT file. Software Operation and Installation (5) -- The first time PC is installed, these 17 files are extracted from the archive. To reinstall a fresh copy of PC, either extract the archive or COPY the first 7 of these files to the same disk directory. 1. CAL EXE Program Personal Calendar program file 2. CALERROR DAT Data Error messages text file 3. CALHELP DAT Data Help Text (this information) 4. CALINIT DAT Data Critical data for program startup 5. CALNAMES DAT Data Context-sensitive help and procedure name file 6. CALPOPUP COM Data Program to pop up PC from DOS or a batch file 7. CALREMOV COM Data Program to remove PC from memory 8. README DOC Introductory Info 13. WARRANTY DOC Warranty Terms 9. HISTORY DOC Program Changes 14. SYSOP DOC BBS SysOps info 10. REGISTER DOC Registration 15. VENDOR DOC Disk Vendors info 11. LICENSE DOC User License 16. SHARWARE DOC Shareware & ASP info 12. SITELICE DOC Site License 17. PACKING LST List of Files Software Operation and Installation (6) -- To put PC to another system after using it, and to preserve your Appointment File information and options customization, also COPY the following DOS files 18-25 which are created by PC (or more if you have multiple Appointment (.CLD) Files). Do NOT copy files 26-29, as they are temporary -- 18. CALAUTO.DAT Data Automatic Startup Option Chosen 19. CALDOS.DAT Data Stored DOS Command 20. CALEXCL.DAT Data Events To Be Excluded From History Recording 21. CALFIG.DAT Data Color Choices (Not Used on Monochrome System) 22. CALMUSIC.DAT Data Music Choices For Chimes, Warnings, & Alarms 23. CALRES.DAT Data Choice for operation of PC in the TSR mode 24. CALSER.DAT Data Registered user serial number data file 25. <name(s)>.CLD Data Appointment File(s) (Events, Notes, History) (one DOS .CLD file is created for each named Appointment File) 26. <name(s)>.CLV, .CLN, and .CLS Temporary work files (do NOT copy!) 27. CALSCRN.DAT Data Temporary graphics screen save file(do NOT copy!) 28. CALSWAP.000 Data Temporary TSR disk swap file 1 (do NOT copy!) 29. CALSWAP.001 Data Temporary TSR disk swap file 2 (do NOT copy!) ENHANCEMENTS WHICH I AM CONSIDERING. Enhancements to PC which I am already considering follows -- . The option to emphasize all of the limited repeated days for an event on the calendar display of the Clock Screen, instead of just the first one. . The option to store limited repeating events individually in the event list, rather than with the repeat indicators. (This option wouldn't work for unlimited repeats, as the Event List would fill up on the first scheduling action.) . Storage of all non-changing data (like this help text) in screen libraries which are controlled by MicroHelp's NovaScreen support functionality. . Video special effects when changing screens within the PC program (just for variety)! . Placement of time ranges on the function to print or copy appointments. . Choice of 12- or 24-hour format for entry and display of time. . Recovery of events from History, in the case where the PC's clock inadvertently gets set to a date which is too far in the future. RECENT CHANGES IN PC. Enhancements which I have made to PC or problems which I have corrected in recent versions are now listed in the HISTORY.DOC file (called WHATSNEW.CAL in prior releases). From DOS just enter the following command (if you see F10 at the bottom of this screen and you're popped up over the DOS prompt, you can pop down and type this): TYPE HISTORY.DOC to go to your screen (no pause) or TYPE HISTORY.DOC|MORE to go to your screen (pause between pages) or LIST HISTORY.DOC to go to your screen (if you have either Vern Buerg's or 4DOS's LIST program) or PRINT HISTORY.DOC to go to your printer KNOWN PROBLEMS/LIMITATIONS WITH PC. PC is stable, but occasional problems appear in sophisticated environments. If you find ANY problem, PLEASE tell me all about it, recording conditions and/or messages which occur. I know about: . Other TSRs. If you run PC with other memory-resident programs, you should follow the requirements imposed on you by them (i.e. the order of loading programs into memory, such as specified by SideKick). (Unless removal from memory is important, there is no specific memory loading order imposed by PC in the TSR mode.) . LAN (network) software. If you run PC in the TSR mode, you must install your network software prior to popping down PC (generally true of all TSRs). . Restores of some CGA screens upon pop down sometimes give incorrect colors (this is a limitation of DOS). . If a limited repeating event is scheduled, the limited repeat counter is not decreased for the days on which PC wasn't used at all. . PC will run under Microsoft Windows 3.0 as a task, but without effective use of the TSR mode. PC may also be loaded before Windows 3.0 in either mode, but won't pop up while Windows 3.0 is active. . If the F7 command is used in a 4DOS v 3.01a/2a environment, once the DOS command is completed the program won't pop up automatically (the hot key works).Known Problems/Limitations (2) -- . If PC is in the TSR mode and is highest in memory and above another active program which is not DOS (COMMAND or 4DOS), a request to run a DOS command will pass that command to the other program as keyboard input, giving the same result as manually inputting to the other program. . In the TSR mode, PC can only be removed from memory successfully if: (1) It is the highest-loaded program in memory, and (2) The permanent COMMAND or 4DOS is directly lower than it in memory. Condition (2) cannot be detected from inside the PC program; if it is not true, a request to remove PC from memory sometimes causes a system hang/reboot, or may terminate the program below it as well. . Popping down to SVGA video modes greater than 19 won't restore the screen, due to total lack of standardization of these modes (watch this space!) . There are two rare compatibility problems with 386MAX version 5.0, one with 386DISK.SYS and the other with FLEXFRAME (both acknowledged by Qualitas): - The system will hang if PC is swapped to EMS and popped down to some GWBASIC programs in video mode 4 (CGA) if FLEXFRAME is used at all. - User program video pallette will be set wrong if swapped to RAM disk and popped up over video mode 16 (EGA) if 386DISK is configured with VERIFY ON. SOFTWARE ENHANCEMENTS AND HOW TO CONTACT ME. We all love user-friendly software, and of course, this means different things to different people. I wrote PC to make my life easier. If you can find a way for me to enhance PC to improve yours, I am certainly willing to listen. You may contact me as follows. The *excellent* BBSs listed are support boards and have the latest version of Personal Calendar posted -- Paul Muñoz-Colman Phone: (703) 435-1110 (home) 11645 Charter Oak Ct., #201 487-8658 (office) Reston, VA 22090-4526 71141,1224 -- CompuServe (IBMSYS & MSLANG) & PCMagNet (UTILFORUM) THE ELUSIVE DIAMOND THE VOR & MOTHERBOARD BBSs (703) 323-6423 & -1782 (707) 778-8944 & -8841 Gregg Snyder, SysOp Vern & Julie Buerg, SysOps THE BREAK EAST BBS (The phone number of the new (703) 680-9269 BREAK WEST will be published when Bruce Jackson, SysOp available, Jim Thompson, SysOp) OWNERSHIP, COPYRIGHT, DISTRIBUTION, SHAREWARE REGISTRATION, AND LICENSE FEES. Personal Calendar is my copyrighted property, and its name is a trademark of my company, FunStuff(tm). You may distribute the compressed archive Shareware version by diskette or BBS; disk vendors see VENDOR.DOC. You may not distribute CALSER.DAT or your licensed copy of the source code. Distribution does not constitute Shareware registration. HOW TO REGISTER PERSONAL CALENDAR. See file REGISTER.DOC for license fees, order form, software license, address, payment terms, credit card orders, and registration. You may use Personal Calendar free for 30 days. After that, if you continue using it, you must register it with me by paying a license fee. The single-user fee is $35, for use on one computer at a time. Site license discounts are available. Source code (as licensed material only) is available for an additional $35 fee, only to users who register the program. PAYMENT METHOD. Fill out the order and license forms, sign the license, and return them with your payment (including shipping and tax if applicable) to the address shown, specifying whether you need 5-1/4" or 3-1/2" diskettes, and the spelling of the name for your license. I will return a program diskette to you with file CALSER.DAT that will have your personal coded registration data. IN CLOSING. To get started, press "Esc" to return to the previous menu, and select the item appropriate for what you wish to do. If you're a beginner, start by creating your Appointment File, follow the instructions on the screens to put in some events and notes, go to the Clock Screen, and see what happens! Enjoy! ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ┌─────────┐ ║ Personal Calendar (PC) for DOS ║ ┌─────┴───┐ │ (R) ║ ASP Shareware $35. ║──│ │o │────────────────── ║ ║ │ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of ║ Copyright 1985-1991 Paul Muñoz-Colman ║ │ │ │─┘ Shareware ║ All rights reserved. ║ └───│ o │ Professionals ║ ║──────│ ║ │──────────────────── ║ "Personal Calendar" is a trademark ║ └────╨────┘ MEMBER ║ of FunStuff(tm) ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝
