Version 1.1
May 1998
Whether you downloaded the software from our Web site or received it in the mail, you should have a file called random.prc on your computer or floppy disk. Here's how to install it on your Pilot:
Run the program InstallApp. Click on the Select button, set the List Files of Type to All Files, locate and select the file random.prc, and click Open. Now click on the Install button. The next time you HotSync your Pilot, the program will be downloaded.
Run the program INSTAPP.EXE, which is located in the C:/PILOT folder. Click on the Browse button, locate and select the random.prc file, and click Open. Now click on the Install button. The next time you HotSync your Pilot, the program will be downloaded.
From the Applications window on your Pilot, look for the icon labelled Random# which looks like this:
If you have registered the software, and have obtained a serial number from Stevens Creek Software, you enter the serial number by tapping on the word *Unlicensed* on the top right of the screen. When you do, you'll see this screen appear:
Use Graffiti (or the on-screen keyboard) to enter your serial number (supplied to you by Stevens Creek Software); when you're done, tap on the OK button. If you enter an incorrect number, the software will let you know. If necessary, tap on the Cancel button to dismiss the Enter Serial Number screen. When you have entered the Serial Number correctly, you'll see the word *Unlicensed* disappear from the main screen.
If you run into a problem, this probably means that when you provided your PalmPilot name to Stevens Creek Software, you did so incorrectly. To find the name, tap on the Applications icon in the lower left of your Pilot, then tap on HotSync. Look at the top line of the screen and it will read, "Welcome, XXX" (on a Palm III, your User Name appears instead in the upper right corner of the same screen). Read the name which follows the word Welcome, and write it down exactly (including case, i.e., whether the letters are upper-case letters like THIS or lower-case letters like this) and email it to Stevens Creek Software technical support and wait for a new serial number to be provided to you.
Once you have licensed Handy Randy, the main screen of the program looks like this:
Once you have configured the software, all you'll need to do is to tap the Draw a Number button to have Handy Randy pick a random number for you. Configuring the software is accomplished by tapping the Setup button, which will bring up this screen:
Don't allow duplicates is a checkbox which you can check or not as you choose. If you check it, Handy Randy will never select any random number more than once. Of course, this means you have the possibility of "running out of numbers." If you get to that point, Handy Randy will let you know that it has selected all the numbers, and that you can't select any more. You can change this setting while you're in the middle of picking numbers. That is, you could select the first 50 numbers with Don't allow duplicates checked, then return to the settings screen, uncheck the setting, and then select more numbers with duplicates allowed.
Draw X number(s) per draw is the way in which you can have Handy Randy draw more than one number at a time. So if you want to select 100 random numbers, you can just enter 100 in the field provided. When you return to the main screen, the button which used to be labelled Draw a Number will now be labelled Draw Numbers, and when you tap it, Handy Randy will draw 100 numbers at once (or however many you asked for). If this number is set to 1, then Handy Randy draws one number at a time.
Valid Ranges is the area of the screen where Handy Randy displays the possible numeric ranges in which you want to allow random numbers to be selected. You can have up to nine different ranges. The total number of numbers in all the ranges combined must be less than 32767.|
To add a new range, tap on New and you'll see this screen:
Enter the minimum number and maximum number for the range that you're adding. The minimum number allowed is 1; the maximum number is 99999999.
To modify a range which is displayed, tap on that range with the stylus. It will be highlighted (changed to white letters on a black background). Now tap on Modify and the Numeric Range screen (above) will appear with the old range filled in. Modify the numbers, and tap OK.
To delete a range, tap on it to highlight it, and then tap on the Delete button.
Ranges are automatically sorted and "de-overlapped." So if you have one range that's 1-100 and another that 200-300, and you enter a new range of 50-250, you'll end up with one range that goes from 1-300.
After configuring the software, you'll return to the main screen. Just tap on the Draw a Number (or Draw Numbers, if you have specified drawing more than one number per tap) button and the random number (or numbers) in your allowed ranges will be selected and displayed. You can use the scroll arrows at the lower right to scroll through all the numbers you have drawn.
Under some circumstances, after you draw the numbers, they will be more useful to you if they are in numerically sorted order. Just tap the Sort button and the numbers are sorted:
When you want to start a new drawing, tap the Reset button and all the numbers will be erased (you'll be given a chance to confirm that that's really what you want to do). Note that Handy Randy remembers your drawn numbers until you reset them, so you can leave the program to run other PalmPilot applications and then return to Handy Randy without losing anything. Of course these numbers do take up memory on your PalmPilot, so if you draw a lot of numbers you'll probably want to erase them when you're done with them.
When you draw multiple numbers, and especially when you're in the "No Duplicates" mode, selecting the numbers may take a long time. For this reason, the Draw Numbers will change to read Cancel whenever you are drawing 5 or more numbers. If you tap on the Cancel button, the drawing of numbers is aborted. The numbers drawn up to that point will be displayed, and are completely valid, the only thing that happens is that Handy Randy stops before selecting as many random numbers as you had specified. The random number draw will also abort prematurely (intentionally so) if you push the power off button, or any of the other "hard-coded" buttons (the Applications, Menu, Calculator, and Find buttons).
Handy Randy can not only select random numbers, it can also print them out for you, if you have a copy of PalmPrint software, also from Stevens Creek Software. Assuming that you have a copy of PalmPrint installed, configured, and functioning on your PalmPilot, you simply need to select Print from the Options Menu in Handy Randy. All of the numbers you have drawn will be printed out in a columnar format (five numbers across if you're using standard 8 1/2" wide paper). You can also use this method to transfer the numbers to another computer instead of printing them to a printer; see the PalmPrint manual for details.
If you have any problems using Handy Randy, you can contact Stevens Creek Software in one of the following ways:
By email: | pilotsupport@stevenscreek.com |
By phone: | 1-408-725-0424 |
If you lose this manual, you can find this same information on the "About" screen of Handy Randy (tap on Menu, then on About Handy Randy in the Options menu).
The unlicensed version of Handy Randy operates three times; after that it won't draw any more random numbers. If you haven't yet licensed your copy of Handy Randy, you can do so in one of the following ways:
Online: | http://www.stevenscreek.com/pilot/pilotorderform.html |
Phone: | North America: 1-800-823-4279 Elsewhere: 1-408-725-0424 |
Fax: | 1-408-725-0424 |
E-mail: | sales@stevenscreek.com |
Mail: | Stevens Creek Software 21346 Rumford Drive Cupertino, CA 95014 |
We accept Visa, MasterCard, and American Express credit cards, and checks made out in U.S. funds. If ordering via fax, e-mail, or mail, be sure to include credit card type, number, and expiration date (if using a credit card), mailing address, e-mail address, and daytime phone number. |