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1989-12-23
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ProMan Project Manager/Scheduler
Version 1.62
December 18, 1989
PURPOSE
The ProMan project manager was developed as an easy-to-use alternative to
the many "To Do" list programs available in the shareware market.
It can keep track of an unlimited number of projects, and an unlimited
number of events within each project. Each record can have an optional
note of over 800 characters in length. The system is very intuitive, but
a brief overview of the various options are presented below.
FILES
ProMan is distributed as a self-extracting archive containing the
following files:
PROMAN.EXE: The main executable program.
NEW.DAT: An empty data file used by PROMAN to create new databases.
PROMAN.DOC: The documentation file.
CREDITS
Turbo Pascal is the trademark of Borland International. The kernel
of ProMan is derived from the NetDemo.Pas program from TurboPower
Software, and is used with permission.
DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS
This program is distributed as shareware. The author retains
exclusive copyright to all the material. Users may freely copy
and distribute the software and documentation in it's original
unmodified state. Other than reasonable copying and shipping
and handling charges, no renumeration may be accepted by any
party other than the copyright holder. As a shareware program,
if you believe that the program is worthwhile, please consider a
donation of $15 to the author. Please direct all inquiries
and comments about ProMan to:
Dean A. Madar
720 #5 Tramway Lane NE
Albuquerque, NM 87122
or to
Dean Madar, CIS,
73210,2741
DISCLAIMER
ProMan is distributed as is, without warranty of any kind, expressed or
implied. The author will not be liable for any damage arising out of
its use.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
ProMan will run on any IBM or close compatible. The minimum system
requirements are 256 kilobytes of free memory, MS-DOS or PC-DOS 2.0
or greater, and 1 diskette drive and a color or monochrome monitor.
A printer is optional, and a hard disk is recommended for performance
reasons.
LANGUAGE
ProMan is written in Turbo Pascal 5.5, using many UNITS from the
Turbo Professional package of TurboPower software. The data and index
files use the TurboPower B-Tree Filer package.
GETTING STARTED
DUAL FLOPPY DISK SYSTEM
If you'll be running ProMan from a dual floppy system, the program
disk will be in drive A, and the data disk will also be drive A.
Place a newly formatted system disk in drive A and copy the
following files from your distribution disk to your new system
disk: PROMAN.EXE, NEW.DAT. You will have approximately 100 Kbytes
of space remaining on this disk.
HARD DISK SYSTEM
Create a new subdirectory of your choice and copy all of the
files from the distribution disk into the newly created
subdirectory. Type PROMAN16 at the DOS command line, and the ProMan
files will be expanded.
GENERAL FEATURES
ProMan has a variety of options that are initated with the function
keys. The list of active keys is always displayed on the last line of
the CRT to allow easy access. The function key options include:
<F1> Mod - Modify the highlighted record
<F2> Add - Add a new record
<F3> Del - Delete the highlighted record
<F4> DB's - Change the database in use
<F5> Key - Change the key used to sort the displayed records
<F7> Copy - Copy the highlighted record to another database
<F8> Prn - Print some or all of the records
<Alt> Opts - Other options; displayed when the <Alt> key is pressed
<Esc> Quit - Quit ProMan
Pressing the <Alt> key will show the following options:
<AltF7> New Deadline - Enter a new deadline to be used by <AltF8>
<AltF8> Change Deadline - Change the deadline of the highlighted record
<AltF9> Info - Display database information
<AltF10> Purge - Purge deleted records or rebuild indexes
Each of these options will be discussed below.
Records in the database are displayed in groups of 20. Records can
be viewed by moving the light bar with the arrow keys, or the <PgUp>
and <PgDn> keys. The note field can be displayed and/or edited by
pressing <ENTER> on a highlighted record.
Status messages are displayed on line 25 of the display, as are
certain verification messages such as asking for permission to create
files, or delete records.
The display window is greater than 80 characters in width. The
remaining fields (date and time of last modification) can be
displayed by using the right and left arrow keys to scroll the screen
sideways.
In any data entry field except Notes, entering any character in the
first position will clear the entire field contents. This usually
saves keystrokes, but can occasionally cause trouble to the unwary.
STARTING PROMAN
Change to the subdirectory containing ProMan. From the DOS command line,
type PROMAN and press <ENTER>. The available databases will be
displayed in a pick window. Move to the database of choice with the
arrow keys and press <Enter>. Select the NEW database to create
another database.
MAKING A NEW DATABASE
Whenever ProMan is started, or when the "<F4> DB's" key is pressed during
operation, a pick window of all available databases will appear.
Select the NEW database and press <Enter>. A second window will open
asking for the name of the new database. Type any legal DOS file
name and press <Enter>. A blank display screen will appear with a
verification message on line 25 asking if the new database should be
created. Press "Y" and <Enter>. A status message notifying you that
there are no records will appear, asking if you want to enter one at
this time. Press "Y" and <Enter>. Entering a data record is discussed
below.
This process will create 2 files on your disk. The first, with an
extension of .DAT contains the data records. The second with an
extension of .IX contains all index information for the corresponding
data file. The index file preallocates a certain amount of space and
will be 13Kbytes before any records are added. It will remain at
this size for some time, even after records are added.
PICKING A DATABASE
Start ProMan by typing PROMAN at the DOS command line. A pick window of
available databases will appear. Move to the desired database with
the arrow keys and press <Enter>. The screen will display a list of
the first 20 records in the database and wait for further keystrokes.
During operation of ProMan, you can select another database by using
the "<F4> DB's" option. Pressing the <F4> key will cause the current
database to be saved, and the pick window of databases to be
displayed. You can switch databases, or create a NEW one at this
time.
ADDING A NEW RECORD <F2>
With the light bar anywhere in a database, press <F2> to add a new
record. The data entry window will appear with the cursor in the
first field. The fields are: Project; Priority; Deadline Date and
Time; Event Summary; Notes; and Date and Time of last modification.
Type a project name and press <Enter>. Any character string up to 22
characters in length is acceptable.
The priority field defaults to 0, but can be changed to any
alphanumeric character. The numbers 0 through 9 are the most
intuitive with 0 being low priority and 9 being high, but A..Z and
a..z can also be used. The priority is sorted in ASCII sequence,
that is, is order 0..9, A..Z, a..z, with "z" having the highest
value.
Deadline date defaults to 1 month beyond when the entry is being mad
at 08:00. Only valid dates and times can be entered, and the cursor
will move from field to field within the date. Leading zeroes are
recommended during date and time entry.
The summary field is a brief description of the event (or may be the
entire description, depending on the event). Any alphanumeric
character can be entered. The summary field is informational only,
and is not used for any indexing.
The Project, Deadline and Summary fields are required.
The Notes field is optional. Pressing <Enter> with the cursor in
this field will move the cursor to the Notes window. This is a small
text editor, allowing notes up to 850 characters in length. The
commands available for used in this editor are given in appendix A.
Press <Ctrl Enter> to leave the note field.
After completing the record (with or without a note field), press
<Ctrl Enter> to file the record. Four indexes are created for the
record: Deadline, Priority, Project+Deadline, and Project+Priority.
These indexes are used to sort the records prior to display or
printing. See <F5> Displaying records and <F8> Printing records,
below.
The Date and Time of last modification are automatically updated from
the system date and time. These fields cannot be changed manually.
MODIFYING A RECORD - <F1> Mod
Any existing record can be modified by highlighting the record and
pressing <F1> or <Enter>. The entire record, icnluding the note
field will be displayed in the same format used to add the record
originally. Any field can be changed as desired. Press <Ctrl Enter>
when the modifications are completed. All indexes are updated
accordingly if the Project, Priority, or Deadline is changed.
DELETING A RECORD - <F3> Del
When a deadline has passed and the event has been completed, the
record can be deleted by highlighting it and pressing <F3>. The
entire record will be displayed, and you will be asked to verify that
the record should be deleted. The default answer is <N>o. Press Y
and <Enter> to delete the record. All index references will also be
deleted.
The database will reuse records that have been deleted to minimize
the expansion of the file sizes.
CHANGING THE DATABASE IN USE - <F4> DB's
At any time that the record display screen is shown, the database can
be changed by pressing <F4>. The current data files will be saved,
and the pick window of available databases will be displayed. Select
the new database with the arrow keys and press <Enter>, or create a
NEW database if needed.
CHANGING THE DISPLAY ORDER OF RECORDS - <F5> Key
The order in which the records are displayed to the screen can be
alternated between any of the 4 keys by pressing "<F5> Key". The
default sort order is by Deadline. Pressing <F5> will rotate
between Priority, Project+Deadline, and Project+Priority display
orders. Pressing <F5> again will return you to Deadline order.
Records can be entered or altered no matter what sort order is in
use. Any record added or changed will be placed in the display in
the correct location for the current sort order.
COPYING A RECORD TO ANOTHER DATABASE - <F7> Copy
It is sometimes desireable to have the same record in more than one
database. For example, one database may be a "Master", listing all
events, and other databases may contain a more detailed separation of
Projects. The <F7> Copy function is provided to make this an easy
process.
Highlight the record to be copied with the arrow keys and press <F7>.
The pick window of available databases will be displayed, allowing
you to choose the destination database. A NEW database can also be
created at this time if needed. Select the destination database with
the arrow keys and press <Enter>. Another window will appear giving
you the opportunity to change the Project name of the record before
it is copied to the new database. The default Project name is the
same as it is in the source database.
Complete the copy by pressing <Enter>. The record and any notes will
be copied to the destination database and you will be returned to the
original screen of records.
PRINTING RECORDS - <F8> Prn
Some or all of the records in a database can be printed by pressing
the <F8> key. A selection criteria window will appear, allowing you
to limit the search to one database, and/or a restricted range of
deadline dates. Accepting the defaults (no database, and the
displayed beginning and ending deadlines) will cause ALL records to
print.
ENTERING A NEW DEADLINE - <Alt F7> New Deadline;
<Alt F8> Change Deadline
It is frequently desireable to change a deadline after a record has
been entered. This can be done in one of two ways.
The first way requires that you highlight the record and modify it
by pressing <F1> or <Enter>, moving to the deadline field, changing
it and refiling the record. This works well if you are changing the
deadline of only a single or a few records.
The second method allows you to change the deadline of many records
with a single keystroke. First, press <AltF7> to enter the new
desired deadline. An entry window allowing for a new date and time
will be displayed. Fill in the fields and press <Ctrl Enter>. The
records will then be displayed. Highlight the record whose deadline
is to be changed and press <AltF8>. The deadline that was entered
with <AltF7> will automatically be entered into the highlighted
record, reindexed and refiled.
In truth, the <AltF7> step, above, is needed only if you are using
<AltF8> for more than one changed deadline. If there is no new
deadline defined when you first press <AltF8>, you will be given a
chance to enter the new deadline without explicitly first using
<AltF7>.
DISPLAYING DATABASE INFORMATION - <AltF9>
The number of records in use, the number of deleted records and a few
other statistics of the database in use can be displayed by pressing
<AltF9>. The display is informational only, and cannot be changed.
PURGING DELETED RECORDS - <AltF10>
REBUILDING INDICES - <AltF10>
In an active database on a disk that is pressed for space, it will be
necessary to compress the datafile by removing deleted records. This
can be done by pressing <AltF10>. The remainder of the steps are
automatic, with the system first reading the database, then rewriting
it without the deleted records.
Recovering from corrupted indices should also be automatic, but it
may be necessary to initiate this manually under some circumstances
such as a program upgrade. The <AltF10> function will provide this
function as it rereads the datafile.
Appendix A
Summary of the Editor Commands.
Cursor left one character: <Left>, <CtrlS>
Cursor right one character. <Right>, <CtrlD>
Cursor left one word. <CtrlLeft>, <CtrlA>
Cursor right one word. <CtrlRight>, <CtrlF>
Cursor to beginning of line. <Home>, <CtrlQ><S>
Cursor to end of line. <End>, <CtrlQ><D>
Cursor up one line. <Up>, <CtrlE>
Cursor down one line. <Down>, <CtrlX>
Cursor to top of edit window. <CtrlHome>, <CtrlQ><E>
Cursor to bottom of edit window. <CtrlEnd>, <CtrlQ><X>
Cursor to beginning of file. <CtrlPgUp>, <CtrlQ><R>
Cursor to end of file. <CtrlPgDn>, <CtrlQ><C>
Delete character at cursor. <Del>, <CtrlG>
Delete character to left of cursor. <Bksp>,
<CtrlH>,
<CtrlBksp>
Delete current line. <CtrlY>
Delete to end of line. <CtrlQ><Y>
Delete word to right of cursor. <CtrlT>
Start a new line. <Enter>, <CtrlM>
Move to the next tab stop. <Tab>, <CtrlI>
Insert control character. <CtrlP>
Scroll display up one line. <CtrlW>
Scroll display down one line. <CtrlZ>
Scroll display up one page. <PgUp>, <CtrlR>
Scroll display down one page. <PgDn>, <CtrlC>
Toggle insert mode <Ins>, <CtrlV>
Toggle auto-indent mode <CtrlO><I>
Toggle word wrap <CtrlO><W>
Reformat current paragraph. <CtrlB>
Reformat the entire file. <AltR>
Restore original contents of the current line. <CtrlQ><L>
Quit editing. <Esc>, <CtrlBreak>