TealGlance User's Manual

By Vince Lee, Tex Tennison, and Amanda Epume
Program Version 3.27
Last Updated: Mar 4, 2000

Description

Thank you for trying TealGlance. This application gives pops up a 'quick view' window at power-up showing commonly-needed information such as: TealGlance is fully configurable, providing options for adjusting delay time, ToDo category, display mode, and Time and Date format, and optional automatic backlight activation.

Installing

This archive contains the files:

TEALGLNC.DOC
This doc in text format
TEALGLNC.HTM
This doc in HTML format
GLNCEDOC.PRC
This doc in tealdoc format
TEALGLNC.PRC
The TealGlance program file
CALLGLNC.PRC
The CallGlance activating application, appears as 'Teal Glance' in the Applications screen
HACKMSTR.PRC
The HackMaster System Extensions Manager
REGISTER.HTM
TealPoint Registration form in HTML format
REGISTER.DOC
TealPoint Registration form in text format
Important note: Before updating or deleting any Hackmaster program, be sure to disable the application first in the Hackmaster control screen. Also turn off TealLock first if you are running this application. If you fail to do so, your TealGlance will not operate, and Hackmaster will get confused until you disable and re-enable TealGlance a few times.

TealGlance uses the HackMaster System Extensions Manager by Edward Keyes (*See references below). This is a safe and standard way to add and manage extended system functionality on the PalmPilot.

Use the PalmPilot installer to install the program file TEALGLNC.PRC, CALLGLNC.PRC, and HACKMSTR.PRC, if you do not already have it on your machine. Instructions on how to use the PalmPilot installer are in the PalmPilot Handbook that came with your Pilot, PalmPilot, or WorkPad.

CallGlance will appear on your applications screen as a standard program labeled 'Teal Glance' (with space), but the real program is hidden and is activated only through HackMaster. To turn on TealGlance, simply click on the HackMaster icon in the applications launcher, and click on the checkmark next to the TealGlance entry in the Hacks list.


Using the Program

By default, TealGlance is automatically activated when you turn on your Pilot using the green power button. The information window will pop up and disappear after a configurable time limit. To make the window disappear sooner, just click anywhere with the pen or press one of the buttons on the Pilot, such as the up and down scroll buttons. If you hold down the pen, TealGlance will stay on screen until you release it.

As an alternate way to bring up TealGlance, use the CallGlance program (appears as Teal Glance in the App launcher). The display will come up and stay on screen, updating itself every 30 seconds until another application is selected.

To configure TealGlance, activate the Hackmaster application and click on the plus (+) button next to TealGlance. Here, you can adjust the format of the popup window, set the time it stays on screen, and adjust many other options. Additionally you may enter a keyword you receive when you register the product to remove the 'Please Register' text in the popup window. When you enter the password, the entry line in the config screen will still remain as it is, but you should not longer get the Please Register messages.

Datebook events appear in chronological order by start time, and are included up to an hour after start time (in case you're running late), or until the stop time has passed, whichever is latest. Tommorow's events are shown, if selected and there is room, after today's event separated by a horizontal line and enclosed in brackets.

Unchecked ToDo items in the selected category are shown sorted by priority. If you are using the Alt-ToDo feature, the current category can change depending on the time and day of the week. See options below for more info.

You may click on an entry to go to either the ToDo application or the Datebook application. This feature requires that your hardware buttons have the default mappings to the standard ToDo and Datebook apps. You will go to the correct day if clicking on a datebook item, but when going to the ToDo list application, the current category may not reflect the item you chose. You may also click on a checkmark box on the TealGlance screen to check-off a listed ToDo item, provided you are not activating TealGlance from within the ToDo application.


Setting Options

Set options by running Hackmaster and clicking on the '+' key next to the TealGlance listing.
Options
The following options may be changed within the config screen.

List Items
Sets what to show in display area below time and date. Choices are Upcoming Datebook Appointments, ToDo items, None, or Both.

Activate By
Selects combinations of alternate ways to bring up TealGlance.
Power button
When PalmPilot is turned on with the green power button
Application buttons
Power up using the 4 application buttons on the pilot
Double-command stroke
Doing the command graffiti stroke ( a slash from lower left to upper right) twice in succession.
Delay Time
Time Popup window stays up before automatically closing

Time Format
Format in which time appears

Date Format
Format in which date appears

Clock type
Choose Analog, Digital, Compact, or None (new for version 2.60)

Backlight Display
Allows automatic activation of backlight (if available) at powerup either all the time or only between dusk and dawn.

Dawn
Set dawn time (for backlight option above).

Dusk
Set dusk time (for backlight option above).

Enable when Locked
Set whether TealGlance is activated even if Pilot is locked.

Disable if off less than xxx mins
Doesn't come up if PDA is turned off less than a specified number of minutes

Disable after on for xxx mins
Set a minimum time between popups, regardless of the Pilot's on/off state. After it's already been popped up, TealGlance won't come come up at powerup again unless the specified number of minutes has passed.

Power Off after timeout
Turns off Pilot if TealGlance is activated at powerup and is allowed to time out without a key or pen press.

Bold Font
Use a bold font for appointment and ToDo item display

Datebook Options
The following options may be changed by pressing the 'Date Options' button on the config screen.

Show Tomorrow's events
With this option on, tomorrow's datebook items are shown below today's remaining ones, with a line separating the two.
Show Untimed events
With this option on, untimed events are shown in TealGlance.
Do full scan of datebook
By default, TealGlance assumes the datebook is sorted by date. The standard Palm applications guarantees this to be true. Unfortunately, many third-party conduits and hotsync replacement programs have bugs with scramble the Datebook, causing entries not to appear in TealGlance. Choosing this option forces TealGlance to look through the whole datebook each time, so it will find items even in a corrupt datebook database.
ToDo Options
The following options may be changed by pressing the 'Date Options' button on the config screen.

Show when due
Allows filtering of which ToDo items to show by Due Date
Choices Are:

Show All
Show ToDo items ignoring Due Date
Due Today
Only show items due Today or earlier
Due Sometime
Only show items with some due date set
Today or Unset
Only show items due Today or without a due date set

Primary Categories
Sets the default categories of ToDo items to be shown. Up to two categories can be selected. If only one is needed, set them to be the same.

NOTE: PalmPilot OS2.0 (personal and professional) filters out empty ToDo categories from appearing in the settings menu. Because of this you will not be able to select a Category if it is empty. If this happens, just create a temporary ToDo entry to make the category appear.

Alt Categories
Sets the alternate categories of ToDo items to be shown during non-primary hours (by default 9am-6pm Monday through Friday).

Primary Beg Time
Sets start time for when the Primary ToDo category becomes valid.

Primary End Time
Sets end time for when the Primary ToDo category becomes invalid.

Primary ToDo Days
Selects days for which the Primary ToDo category is valid.

Advanced Options
The following options may be changed by pressing the 'Advanced' button on the config screen.

Simulated Buttons for Goto
Simulates a press of one of the app buttons for app-goto instead of directly calling the system applications. You can use this option if you're using a ToDo or datebook replacement and want to go to it instead of the standard system app. If the app you want to call is 100% compatible with the standard app, you can use the Alt Date App and Alt ToDo App options below.

Pass-thru button presses
Normally, if you press a button when TealGlance's screen is up, it dismisses TealGlance, but doesn't perform its normal function afterwards. This allows you to, say, press the Power button twice when turning on the PalmPilot to immediately dismiss TealGlance. When this option is set, the key instead performs its normal function after TealGlance goes away.

Ignore pager activation
If selected, this option forces TealGlance to check it the PDA were woken up by pager hardware. If true, TealGlance will not come up. If you do not have Pager hardware or a Palm VII, you should leave this unchecked, as as it makes some assumptions about the hardware you are running to make its check.

Disable button power-on
This feature allows you to prevent accidental power-on, particularly on a Palm V, by automatically turning off the Pilot if turned on via a specified key.

Scan for alternate files
Some desktop synchronizing programs create datebook files with different names than the standard 'DatebookDB' database. Set this option to tell TealGlance to scan for these databases as well, especially if you are finding that datebook entries are not being shown.

Alt Date App
Select and set this option to choose a Datebook replacement app to call when you click on a datebook item. Note that the replacement application must be 100% compatible with standard app's record-goto mechanism to work properly.

Alt ToDo App
Select and set this option to choose a ToDoList replacement app to call when you click on a ToDo item. Note that the replacement application must be 100% compatible with standard app's record-goto mechanism to work properly.

Brainforest Options
TealGlance offers support for using Aportis Brainforest trees as sources for ToDo items. You can select up to two Brainforest trees to be scanned at any one time. Two can be set to supplement the Primary ToDo Categories and another two can be set to supplement the Alternate ToDo Categories. The entries are treated as standard ToDo entries, ignoring repeating and start dates.

Note that clicking on a Brainforest item will start Brainforest, but won't automatically take you directly to that item or tree due to differences between the standard applications' record-goto mechanism and Brainforest.
The following options may be changed by pressing the 'Brainforest' button on the config screen.

Primary Trees #1 and #2
These are the two trees that can be used as sources for ToDo items during Primary ToDo hours.

Alternate Trees #1 and #2
These are the two trees that can be used as sources for ToDo items during Non-Primary ToDo hours.

Show root branches only
By default, TealGlance scans down a Brainforest tree from top down, reading all leaves of the tree. If you set this option, only items from the topmost level (Leftmost in Brainforest) get displayed.

Show before standard
If set Brainforest entries appear before standard ToDos instead of after them.

Show Memo leaves
Shows memo-type leaves in TealGlance. They appear in the ToDo list with a rectangular document icon instead of a checkbox.

Show ToDo leaves
Shows ToDo-type leaves in TealGlance. They appear the same as ToDo list items from the standard ToDoList application. If neither this nor the previous option is set, no Brainforest items will appear.


Troubleshooting

Installing and Running

If you are having problems getting the program to run, be sure that you have installed all three files: HackMaster, TealGlance, and CallGlance. Refer to the PalmPilot manual that came with your unit if you are unsure how to do this.

Afterwards, be sure to activate TealGlance by running HackMaster and selecting the checkmark next to TealGlance. If it still does not work, try unselecting and reselecting the checkmark. If Hackmaster has gotten confused because you either updated or deleted TealGlance without first deselecting it in Hackmaster, Hackmaster will likely crash, but with no lingering side effects afterwards.

Lastly, check the TealGlance options in Hackmaster ('+' key) to insure it is set up to activate by your desired choices.

Other questions

It doesn't work properly with Fitaly Keyboard
Make sure TealGlance appears above Fitaly Keyboard in Hackmaster's list of hacks. Do this by deactivating and reactivating TealGlance. Also make sure you have the latest TealGlance.
It doesn't work properly with DateBk3 alarms
Make sure you are running version 3.0 or newer of Datebk3. This new version reportedly reduces stack usage, making it much more compatible with hacks like TealGlance.
I deleted it and it still comes up
As noted in the documentation, before deleting TealGlance or any Hackmaster app, you must first turn off the program in HackMaster. If you forgot, you'll need to restart the PalmPilot using the pinhole in the back.
TealGlance still doesn't come up at power-on
Are you running PowerHack? Make sure TealGlance appears first in the Hackmaster list by deactivating and reactivating it.
My datebook events aren't showing
TealGlance only shows upcoming events, not those that have expired, and will show as many as will fit, unless you have TealGlance setup to show To-Do items as well. If this is the case, it will stop at half screen. When you register, the space behind the 'Please Register' box will also become available.
I checked. They still aren't showing
If you are running Groupwise/Syncwise (or similar sync/datebook replacement), this program appears to have a bug that mis-sorts the datebook database, rendering some items invisible. To check, download dbScan from http://www.gorilla-haven.org/pimlico, which can be used to check the datebook database's integrity. TealGlance 2.62 added a feature that assumes a damaged database and does a full scan of the database each time. TealGlance 2.83 added a feature to skip over damaged records in the database instead of aborting when it encounters one.
I'm running Easysync. Is that a problem?
It appears to be. The Easysync package seems to rename the datebook database so TealGlance can't find it. Try setting the "scan for alternate files" options in the advanced options screen.
Can TealGlance's screen scroll?
Not yet, as it was intended to just preview the next thing coming up. We may add this in a future version.
I hotsynced a new version and it crashed
As noted in the documentation, before HotSyncing a new version, you must turn off the program in HackMaster and turn off TealLock if you are running it.
Help. TealGlance locks up.
Check to see what other applications are running. There are known incompatibilities with CheckIn and GlowHack. You should no longer need GlowHack, as TealGlance has options to provide GlowHack functionality. We are currently also looking into possible interactions with Snoozehack and 'memoplus' alarms.
Can TealGlance show Franklin Ascend to-do items?
Not currently, as Franklin's data format is not public knowledge. We are currently exploring this possibility. The Franklin folks have contacted us, but have yet to prepare and send us a data specification so we can continue.
It crashes when I press the Register button. I am using EVPlugBase.
This is a bug in the Hackmaster replacement EVPlugBase. We recommend using Hackmaster instead until the EVPlugBase is fixed to accurately mirror Hackmaster's behavior.
TealGlance doesn't work with the Palm V button hack.
Use the power-up button disabling features in the Advanced config screen of TealGlance 2.80 or greater. These allow you to automatically turn off the Palm if it is accidentally turned on by one or more specified keys.
Compatibility

As we cannot control the style and robustness of other products, we cannot guarantee compatibility with PalmPilot applications beyond those included from Palm Computing. However, we try to resolve compatibility issues as best we can, working with other developers where possible.

TealGlance, like all Hackmaster applications, hook into the PalmPilot operating system in a way which may not be compatible with all other programs of this type, as all such programs must share limited system resources. If you experience unexpected behavior or crashes, always try disabling all other hacks to diagnose whether what you experience is the result of a conflict.

Palm V Button Hack
Use the TealGlance "disable power-on" features under the advanced menu instead to access some of the same functions.
EVPlugBase
The Pilot reportedly crashes upon pressing the 'Register' button when using this Hackmaster replacement. We recommend using Hackmaster instead until EVPlugBase is upgraded to fix this bug.
ReDo
ReDo wakes up your Pilot at midnight to reschedule events. The new version of TealGlance ignores alarms at midnight to avoid coming up at this time. Set ReDo's wake time to midnight to best avoid a conflict.
Fitaly Keyboard
Fitaly Keyboard does some intense hacking of the Operating System to do its stuff. Be sure TealGlance appears *above* Check-In in the list of hacks in HackMaster. When you decactive (uncheck) and reactivate (check) a hack in the list, it's moved to the top of the list.
GlowHack
Known to crash when TealGlance is active.
Use TealGlance's backlight-activation option instead
PowerHack
Make sure you have an updated version of PowerHack. Version 0.95 reportedly fixes a previous conflict with TealGlance.
Franklin Ascend
No compatibility problems, but we're currently accessing the demand and viability of adding an option to list Ascend ToDo items instead of the standard PalmPilot ToDo application as a service to your customers who use Ascend.
Brainforest
Compatibility options have been added with TealGlance 3.0. Note that clicking on a Brainforest item won't take you directly to that item, however, due to differences between the standard applications' record-goto mechanism and Brainforest.
Check-In
Check-In seems to have some compatibility problems with TealGlance. When using Check-In, be sure TealGlance appears below Check-In in the list of hacks in HackMaster. When you decactive (uncheck) and reactivate (check) a hack in the list, it's moved to the top of the list. Better yet, use TealLock instead.
Datebk3
Make sure you have Datebk3 version 3.0 or newer, which greatly decreases stack uses for compatibility.
Syncwise
We believe this hotsync application can corrupt the datebook database and do not recommend it for this reason. If you find datebook items are not appearing when they should, try selecting the "Do full scan of datebook" option under the details menu. If this works, download the freely downloadable program dbScan to check/fix corrupted datebook records.

Registering

Currently, you may register by snail mail, electronically through our website with a credit card and a secured server, or through PilotGear HQ at 1-800-741-9070. For the first option, the enclosed registration form is provided for your convenience. You may use this form or simply send the following to the address above. After you register, you will receive email with a passkey you can enter in the config screen for TealGlance in Hackmaster. This key will turn off the 'Please register' message, freeing up space on the TealGlance display screen. If you register via PilotGear H.Q., you can download a temporary password that you can use until your permanent passkey arrives. Through are website, this temporary key will appear in the very bottom of your initial order confirmation. To enter a passkey, activate the HackMaster Control program and press the '+' (plus) button next to the program's name. Click on the 'Register' button. Click on the text entry field to activate it, and enter the passkey.

Revision History


Contact Info

TealGlance by TealPoint Software
(c) 1997-2000 All Rights Reserved.
TealPoint Software
454 Las Gallinas Ave PMB #318
San Rafael, CA 94903-3618
We look forward to hearing from you.

Please visit us at www.tealpoint.com, or
email us at contact@tealpoint.com.

Thank you.
*HackMaster is By Edward Keyes, DaggerWare Software
www.daggerware.com

Disclaimer

We at TealPoint Software are committed to providing quality, easy-to-use software. However, this product is provided without warranty and the user accepts full resposibility for any damages, consequential or otherwise, resulting from its use.

This archive is freely redistributable, provided it is made available only in its complete, unmodified form with no additional files and for noncommercial purposes only. Any other use must have prior written authorization from TealPoint Software.

Unauthorized commercial use includes, but is not limited to:

  1. A product for sale.
  2. Accompanying a product for sale.
  3. Accompanying a magazine, book or other publication for sale.
  4. Distribution with "Media", "Copying" or other incidental costs.
  5. Available for download with access or download fees.
This program may be used on a trial basis for 30 days. The program will continue to function afterwards. However, if after this time you wish to continue using it, please register with us for the nominal fee listed in the program.

If you do choose to register with use, please also register HackMaster with DaggerWare if you have not already done so.
Thank you.