| ASTRAWARE | palm os products |
| Timetable User Guide |
| Introduction |
On your Palm organiser
Timetable is a compact utility which helps you to
It is ideal for teachers, students, lecturers, managers, or anyone else who has a repeating weekly schedule! Timetable shows you an at-a-glance summary of your week's activities, and you can get more detail on any activity with a single click. Another click and you can be editing any information you've entered.
On your Windows PC
Supplied for your convenience is TTCreator - a program which you run on your PC to allow you to create your timetables much faster than if you have to enter all the information on your Palm!
| Installing Timetable |
Timetable is available as a standalone as a compressed ZIP (for PC) or SIT (for Mac) file. The compressed files contain these release notes along with the actual Timetable .prc (program) file.
The .prc file needs to be installed on your Palm or compatible handheld. Firstly, locate and start up the 'Palm Installer' program. On Windows this is in the 'Palm Desktop' menu in 'Programs' on the Start Menu. Using the Palm Installer program, select the .prc file. Put your handheld in its cradle (or use a HotSync cable) and press the HotSync button. During the HotSync, the Timetable program will be transferred to your handheld and will be available from the menu when you press the applications button. Tap the Timetable icon, and you're ready to start!
| Installing TTCreator |
If you downloaded only the Palm .prc version of the ZIP or SIT file, then the TTCreator program is available for you to download from the Timetable page.
TTCreator is supplied as a single .EXE (program) file, which you will need to extract onto your PC's harddisk before it can be run. A good place to put TTCreator is in your Program Files directory. See the documentation that came with your ZIP extractor program (such as WinZip or ZipMagic) for instructions on how to extract a file.
Problems: TTCreator requires the Visual Basic 5.0 runtime libraries to be present on your computer - If you get the error "MSVBVM50.DLL not found" (or the same with ASYCFILT.DLL then you'll need to get hold of these - if you do a net search for "MSVBVM50.EXE" then you'll be able to download this (large - 1.3Mb) file from a site nearby you. If you cannot find it, then we recommend that you get it by doing a search on CNET download.com.
| Sample Files |
To help you get going, Timetable is supplied with two sample timetable .pdb (database) files, one for a university student and one for a school teacher (Howard's 1998-99 timetable in fact). These can be installed onto your Palm organiser using the Palm install utility or can be opened in the TTCreator PC program. Take a look around, and once you're ready to create your own timetable then you can use the New function in TTCreator or the Table Clear function in Timetable to get a starter table.
| Creating tables on your Palm |
Timetable has all the facilities you need to enter your timetable actually on the organiser, though it can take some time to enter all the information! Most of the dialogs in the program have a small (i) icon in the top-right corner which opens up help on the current task you are performing. There is also help available when you start Timetable for the first time and also from the Options menu.
If you have a sample timetable loaded, use the 'Clear...' item in the Table menu to remove it.
To start adding activities (called 'blocks') to your empty timetable, open the 'Record' menu when the timetable appears, and click 'New Block...'. Once you are there, set the day, time and details of your first activity. If field names such as 'Lesson' aren't appropriate for your schedule, you can use 'Table Properties' under the 'Table' menu to change them.
| Menu descriptions |
All the information below is available through the help functions within Timetable itself.
Record > Create
ò This form is used to enter a new block into the timetable.
ò If you select a date or time period outside what is currently visible,
Timetable will expand the view to show the new entry.
ò Use 'Display Properties' to choose which fields to show in the info box
on the timetable.
Record > Edit
ò This form is used to update a block in the timetable.
ò If you select a date or time period outside what is currently visible,
Timetable will expand the view to show the new entry.
ò Use 'Display Properties' to choose which fields to show in the info box
on the timetable.
Record > Duplicate
ò This form is used to create a
copy of an existing block in the timetable. Once you've created the first
block of a certain type, this is useful to copy it throughout your timetable.
ò If you select a date or time period outside what is currently visible,
Timetable will expand the view to show the new entry.
ò Use 'Display Properties' to choose which fields to show in the info box
on the timetable.
Table > Table Properties
ò Choose the names to show for each label when
adding or updating an entry.
ò Field 1 is a location (room, building)
ò Field 2 is the attendants (class, year, client)
ò Field 3 is the presenter (teacher, lecturer)
ò Field 4 is the subject (lesson, topic), and can hold twice as much
information (32 characters) as the other fields
Table > Display Properties
ò Choose which day of the week the timetable should run from
ò Choose how many days the timetable should show: either 5 or 7 days
ò Select the time range that the timetable should show
ò If some blocks won't fit in within the timetable size you've chosen then
the timetable will automatically expand to fit.
Options > Preferences
ò If you program set your Palm Preferences so that
Timetable is activated from the Date Book button, you can select 'Force
Date Book button action' so that a second click of the button takes you to
the Date Book.
Options > Register
ò If you haven't registered yet for Timetable then this page gives you details
of how to register, and also lets you enter your name and code to enable
the full version.
ò You can enter the name and code in either upper or lower-case.
| Timetable Pen shortcuts |
Your can quickly get to the Edit Block dialog by tapping the information box once you've selected a block. You can quickly do Delete Block by swiping the pen from the far-left side of the information box to the far right.
There are also command shortcuts for many menu items. For instance, in the graffiti area, swiping the pen from bottom-left to top-right ('/' - the command stroke) and then writing 'U' opens the duplicate block.
In future versions we'll add a mode where you can create new blocks simply by dragging on the timetable display.
| Using TTCreator on the PC |
The TTCreator program is designed to let you easily create timetables which can then be HotSync'd to your Palm.
When it starts, TTCreator asks whether you would like to open an existing timetable or create a new one.
Opening an existing timetable
If you created the timetable using TTCreator then you will need to browse to its location on your system and double-click the '.pdb' file to open it. If you want to open a timetable which has been created or updated on your Palm organiser then you will need to find the 'backup' directory where HotSync stores copies of your Palm's information. First find the directory where Palm Desktop is installed. By default this is 'C:\Palm'. In that directory you should find a directory made up of your last name plus the first letter of your first name. For example, Fred Bloggs should find a directory called 'BloggsF'. In that directory you will find a 'Backup' directory, and (somewhere) in there will be your timetable .pdb file.
Creating a new timetable
Clicking 'Create New' opens up the 'Create a New Timetable' Wizard. Here you need to select whether you want TTCreator to create blocks for five days (Monday to Friday) or seven days, when the day should start and end, and when ti leave a lunch break. Don't worry if the given choices don't match what you need, because you can add and delete blocks later to suit. Click 'Create' to view the timetable.
Editing the timetable
To edit or delete an existing block in the timetable, select it using the left mouse button. Its details will be shown in the 'Block Editing' area, and you can change the text, time period and group of the block before pressing 'Update', or you can remove the block using 'Delete'. If you have changed some details but want to revert back to the original information, then click 'Cancel'.
To create a new block, click where you want the new block to start using the right mouse button. You can then enter details in the 'Block Editing' area.
Quick Fill: if you want to create a new block with the same code and details as one that has already been entered, type the code and click 'Quick Fill'. The details and group will be copied from the first block in the timetable with that code.
| Support Shareware! |
We think Timetable is really useful - it does one thing very well. Howard uses it on average ten times per school day!
If you find Timetable a useful tool, then we ask that you register it, which will remove the pause from the start. If you use the program regularly, the length of the pause will increase slightly, as a reminder to register!
All of the Astraware partners have at some time been poor students - and we know how you feel about expensive shareware! For this reason, we've decided to allow students to register for a lower price than lecturers and teachers (who are at least salaried!).
When you register, you get a registration code which unlocks your copy of Timetable, and future upgrades of Timetable version 1.x.
For information on how to register, go to the Timetable page. The quickest way is to register securely online, but you can also pay by UK Pounds Sterling cheque if you ask us first.
| Other Astraware Products |
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tongue. Bzzz 2! is updated with improved graphics and sound, and includes a bonus
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Fire! for Windows:
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You control two firemen - and as people jump out of a burning building, you have to
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Astroids for PalmPilot:
Astroids brings the rock blastin' excitement of Asteroids for your Palm!
Relive the adrenalin rush of the classic arcade game with authentic
gameplay, cool sound effects and those maddening aliens.
Astroids got Top rating at PilotZone,
Hot Product at PalmCentral,
number 1 for June at PalmGear H.Q.,
featured on the CNET download.com Palm page!
Features include: *
authentic gameplay * 3 gameplay speeds * 3 ship types * high quality sound
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secret 'Easter Egg' bonus for registered users!
Fire! for PalmPilot:
You can take Fire! anywhere with you with our version for the Palm range of connected
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| Contact Us |
If you've got suggestions about how to improve Timetable, or its PC companion TTCreator, then drop us a line, at david@astraware.com. If you can provide the following information, it would be a great help:
| Version History |
Timetable 1.01 ============== Removed some stray debug text Fixed timetable database name clash Timetable 1.00 ============== Beta timeout removed First full release Timetable 0.90 ============== Now compatible with 512K organisers (Pilot, PalmPilot Personal) Timetable 0.80 ============== Now honours OS time and date formats (24h clock, MM/DD, etc.) Prefs option for click on/off Removed end-of-June timeout TTCreator 0.80 ============== Doesn't allow blocks that end before they start Slightly re-arranged user interface Much smaller program size (120K instead of 180K) TTCreator 0.61 ============== Fixed bug which deleted the last block the first time that a new block was added Timetable 0.60 ============== Swiping pen from left to right in info box does 'Delete Block' Much smoother timetable redraw (no flicker every minute) Added 'Duplicate Block' Fixed bug where clicking on the info box caused Reset TTCreator 0.60 ============== Fixed bug that created a null block in every timetable Always leaves 1 hour on each side so that you can add a new block before or after the existing timespan Added timetable statistics Added Cancel button Added time bar above timetable Fixed Delete button properly Dragging with the right mouse button no longer creates lots of small blocks Timetable 0.51 ============== Running Timetable with no table caused a crash: fixed More Getting Started help Timetable 0.50 ============== Blocks can be marked as being in one of 6 groups, and these are displayed with different bars on the block. TTCreator 0.50 ============== Updated to include latest features Fixed Delete bug Version 0.40 ============ Choice of start of week day Choice of 5 or 7-day week Choice of timespan of timetable Changeable field names, instead of teacher-orientated ones More configurable display settings and info box size Version 0.30 ============ First publicly released version Fixed some Pilot incompatibilities Tidied up code Version 0.20 ============ Extended field lengths to 16 or 32 characters Switch to show teacher or class in info panel
| Known Issues |
Two users have reported that Timetable crashes when selecting 'New block', 'Timetable Properties' or some other menu items
On the Pilot, the program reads low memory on startup. Is this a problem?
| Wish List (in no particular order) |
Please email us if you can think of things to put on the wish list! Remember, once you register for Timetable, your registration code will work with all versions of Timetable 1.x!