Index
ToDoWin Index

What is ToDoWin?

Starting ToDoWin

Description of screens and menus

The Main Screen

File Menu

Opening a Database File

Saving the Database File

Printing Your ToDo Items

Record Menu

The Edit Screen

The View Screen

About ToDoWin - Registration


What is ToDoWin
What is ToDoWin?

ToDoWin is a simple To-Do manager for Windows 3.1. It was specifically designed to be easy to use, and not overblown with features that might not be required by most people.

The basic concept of ToDoWin is that, when you run the program, you're presented with an itemized list of things to do, or other memos, sorted by date and priority. The items at the top of the list are due today (or are overdue), while items towards the bottom of the list are due later.

Adding new items, or modifying items, becomes a very quick and easy process, with most functions available with simple keystrokes, rather then relying on a mouse like many other utilities. You can add a simple memo while talking on the phone, for example, without taking your hands off the keyboard, and without having to traverse through seemingly endless menus to accomplish the goal.

If you leave the program maximized on the screen (it takes about one sixth of the screen at standard VGA resolution), you can have an at-a-glance overview of your planned tasks. In addition, you can select some, or all, of your items to be printed in a checklist-like format, allowing you access to your To Do list while you're on the road, and the ability to check off items as they're completed.

ToDoWin allows you to use as many different database files as you wish. You can maintain separate work and personal lists, for example. Or, a department manager can maintain a list for each employee, adding items where required, and being able to provide each employee with a personalized, and itemized, list of things to be performed.

ToDoWin is released under the ShareWare concept. This means that it is not free, but it is inexpensive. See About ToDoWin - Registration for more information.


Starting ToDoWin

You start ToDoWin the same as any other Windows program. You can use the "Run" command in Program Manager, double-click on TODOWIN.EXE in File Manager, or create an icon in one of your Program Manager groups.

The ToDoWin command line accepts one optional parameter, which is the full pathname of a specific ToDoWin database you'd like to open. ToDoWin always remembers the last database you had open and, if you don't specify a different one, will attempt to open that database.

In addition, ToDoWin also remembers its screen position when you exit the program, and will attempt to restore the screen to that position the next time you restart.

You may open several copies of ToDoWin, each with a different database, and each at a different screen location. When you close all of these copies, only the last copy to close will store its database path, but each copy will remember its own screen location. The advantage of this is that you can configure Windows to start up several copies of ToDoWin when you start your system, each with a different database ("Work" and "Personal", for example), and each in a different location.

When ToDoWin starts up, you will be presented with the Main Screen.

While you're running ToDoWin, you can get context-sensitive help at any time by pressing the F1 key.


The Main Screen

The main screen (example) displays the current date & time, a list of things to be done (called "ToDo Items" in the help file), and several control buttons. For the most part, all major functions of the program can be controlled by the buttons, with the menu items supplying some of the lesser used functions.

The Control Buttons, and their functions, as as follows:

Calendar	brings up a handy monthly calendar.

Add New	creates a new blank record, with today's date, and pops up the edit dialog.

Edit	pops up the edit dialog for the currently selected item.

View	pops up a view box for the currently selected item.

Del	deletes the currently selected item, after confirmation.

Done	marks the currently selected item as done.

Exit	exits ToDoWin, allowing you to save any changes.

The Menu Bar has three menu selections. These menus provide duplication of the main Control Buttons, as well as additional functions that you will use less often. Available main menu items are as follows:

File	open/save files, print items, exit the program.

Record	duplication of the control buttons.

Help	display the help index, or the About dialog box.

The date & time is displayed according to some of the international settings in your WIN.INI file, controlled by Windows Control Panel. For specifics, see Date & Time.

The title bar shows the name of the current database file (or "Untitled" if a new database is being created). Also, if you have more than one copy of ToDoWin running, all copies (other than the first) will have a number indicating that copy's start order. This helps you keep track of which copy is which, especially if they are all minimized.

A major feature of the Item List is the use of color to denote specific details. For the most part, the use of color is made redundant by the displaying of the item dates (where applicable), or through use of checkmarks in the Record menu, so users of non-color systems should still find the program quite useable. The main screen example illustrates the use of color.


Main Screen Example
This is an example of a main screen (your colors may vary):


The Edit Screen

The Edit Screen (example) allows you to change any of the information related to an item, or to fill in the required information for a new item.

The date is displayed and entered according to some of the international settings in your WIN.INI file, controlled by Windows Control Panel. For specifics, see Date & Time. The required formatting is shown below the date edit box, and the expanded date for your entry is shown just to its right. The date is validated before you exit this field, and a warning will be issued if the date is invalid.

In addition, pressing the Calendar button will pop up a handy monthly calendar to assist you in date selection.

If you desire, you can clear this field entirely. This will allow the item to appear without tying it to a specific date (ie. to be done "whenever"). The text "No set date" will appear instead of the expanded date.

If you wish, you can prioritize items by specifying a Priority value from 1 to 99. Prioritized items always appear before non-prioritized items in the main list, and sorted in ascending order of priority. A value of 0, or no value, indicates no priority.

The "To Do" item is a single line of text to briefly describe what's to be done.  This is the line that appears in the Main Screen.

If required, this can be expanded on by entering additional information in the "Details" edit box. The maximum amount of text that can be entered as details is 64k, which should be plenty. When you have entered detail information, the Item line in the main screen will have "..." appended to it (assuming there's space) to indicate that there are additional details.

Once the information has been entered or changed, click on either the Cancel or Save buttons to return to the Main Screen. You will not be allowed to save a record with an invalid date, or with no text entered in the "To Do" box.


Edit Screen Example
This is an example of an edit screen:


The View Screen

The View Screen (example) is similar to the edit screen, except that the information cannot be modified. The date is shown in its expanded format, and is formatted according to some of the international settings in your WIN.INI file, controlled by Windows Control Panel. For specifics, see Date & Time.


View Screen Example
This is an example of a View Screen


File Menu
The File Menu

All of the File-related functions appear in this menu. Available functions are as follows:

New	purges the current database (if any, and after allowing changes to be saved), and creates a new database (called "Untitled").

Open...	allows you to select a new database to display. The current database is closed (if any, and after allowing changes to be saved).

Save	the current database is saved. If it does not yet have a name (ie. "Untitled"), the "Save As..." dialog will appear first, allowing you to select a name and path.

Save As...	allows you to save the current database in a different location, or with a different name.

Calendar	brings up a handy monthly calendar for date selection.

Print...	allows you to print some or all of the ToDo items.

Exit	exits ToDoWin, allowing you to save any changes.


Opening a database file
File/Open - Opening a database file

Selecting File/Open creates a dialog box (example) that allows you to select which database file you wish to use. Operation of the dialog box is fairly straightforward, you can use the "Directories" list to traverse your drives and directories, and use the "Files" list to choose a specific file. Optionally, you can enter a full pathname in the File edit box, if you know it.

If you specify a file name that does not exist, or an incorrect path, a warning box will appear. If you wish to create a new database, use File/New instead.


File/Open Screen Example
This is an example of the File/Open dialog box:


Saving a database file
File/SaveAs - Saving a database file

Selecting File/Save As creates a dialog box (example) that allows you to select a new file name or path to which to save the current file. This dialog box is very similar to the File/Open dialog box. If you specify a filename that already exists, you will be asked to confirm overwriting of the existing file.


File/SaveAs Screen Example
This is an example of a File/Save As dialog box:


The Pop-up Calendar

The Main, Edit and View windows each have a "Calendar" button. When pressed, a monthly calendar is displayed (example). If you are in View or Edit mode, the month chosen is that of the current ToDo item, with the chosen date highlighted. Otherwise, the calendar will show the current month and date (ie. today). In addition, the number of ToDo items for each day will appear in the calendar display.

You can use the arrow, page up/down keys, or the small buttons to move the highlight around by day, week, month or year. Once a desired date is highlighted, you can press RETURN to select that date.

Depending on what mode you're in, selection of a date will have one of two possible effects. If you're viewing the main ToDo list when you pop up the calendar, then selection of a date will cause the first ToDo item with that date (or the next highest, if there are none) to be selected (and scroll into view if applicable). If you're editing a ToDo item, or creating a new one, selection of a date will fill in the Date field of the Edit dialog with the selected date for you. Date selection has no function in View mode.


Pop-up Calendar Example
This is an example of the pop-up calendar:


Printing your ToDo List

Selecting File/Print creates a dialog box (example) that allows you to select which items you wish to print. You simply select a range of items to print using the group of checkboxes. If there are no items to print that meet your selected criteria, a warning message will appear, and the print request will be cancelled.

There is a button marked "Setup..." in this dialog. Pressing this button brings up a new dialog box, allowing you to select from your list of installed printers, or to modify the configuration of the selected printer (ie. paper size). Any changes you make in your printer setup are temporary for this print job only, and are not saved as your permanent printer setup.

However, the item selections that you make are saved in the initialization file, so you can set up a "standard" selection list, which will become the default.

Once you press "OK", your print job will begin. An information dialog will appear, including a "Cancel" button, allowing you to abort the current print job. Print Manager (or the printer driver, if you don't use Print Manager) will handle any error conditions that may arise.


File/Print Screen Example
This is an example of a FIle/Print dialog box:


Record Menu
The Record Menu

The Record Menu basically duplicates the record functions available from the buttons in a menu format, such as Add, Edit, View, Delete and Done. The "Done" menu item will also have a check mark beside it, if the currently selected item is so marked, making it possible to use ToDoWin on systems without color displays.


Date & Time

ToDoWin makes use of some of the settings found in the International ([intl]) section of your WIN.INI file. These settings can be set through the International item in Control Panel. The actual settings used, and their meanings, are described below (this information taken from the WININI2.TXT file). Note that the expanded date is actually displayed using the sShortDate setting (rather than the sLongDate setting) in this version of ToDoWin.

iTime=<number>

  Purpose: Specifies whether to format time using a 12-hour

           clock or a 24-hour clock.

             Value  Format     Meaning

             -----  ------     -------

               0    1:00       12-hour clock

               1    13:00      24-hour clock

           The actual time separator is specified by the

           sTime setting.

iTLZero=<number>

  Purpose: Specifies whether to put leading zeros in time

           according to the following:

             Value  Format

             -----  ------

               0    9:15

               1    09:15

           The actual time separator is specified by the

           sTime setting.

s1159=<string>

  Purpose: Specifies the string that follows times before

           noon in the 12-hour time format.

s2359=<string>

  Purpose: Specifies the string that follows times after

           noon in the 12-hour format or that follows all

           times in the 24-hour format.

sTime=<string>

  Purpose: Specifies the character used to separate the

           hours, minutes, and seconds in time. An example,

           if the value is a colon (:), is 15:29:31.

sLongDate=<date-picture>	[NOT USED IN THIS VERSION]

  Purpose: Specifies your choice for the long date format,

           including abbreviations for the words and

           different separators, according to the following:

             Date Picture      Item     Format

             ------------      -----    ------

             M                 Month    1-12

             MM                Month    01-12

             MMM               Month    Jan-Dec

             MMMM              Month    January-December

             d                 Day      1-31

             dd                Day      01-31

             ddd               Day      Mon-Sun

             dddd              Day      Monday-Sunday

             yy                Year     00-99

             yyyy              Year     1900-2040

sShortDate=<date-picture>

  Purpose: Specifies your choice for the short date format,

           including abbreviations for the words and

           different separators, according to the list

           described above in the sLongDate listing.


About ToDoWin - Registration

ToDoWin, a simple TO-DO manager for Windows,  is Copyright (c) 1992 by:

Brad P. Smith

R.R. #2 - 777 Crozier Rd.

Oxford Mills, Ontario, Canada

K0G 1S0

This program is being released as "ShareWare". Try it out for a while. If you decide you want to use it on a regular basis, then you should pay for it. A "donation" of $25 is suggested (see below). Free duplication and sharing of this program is permitted and encouraged. There is to be no fee to be charged for distribution of the program, other than those specifically related to duplication costs, or BBS service fees.

Regardless of whether you do pay for it or not, the author would like to hear your comments or suggestions about this program, and would especially like to hear any bug reports. Simply send your comments to the above address. If you prefer, you can contact the author electronically, on BIX at 'B.P.Smith', or via Internet at 'B.P.Smith@BIX.com'.

When you register ToDoWin, you encourage the author to continue to enhance the program, and to continue to work on new utilities.

To register, mail a money order (preferably, though US or Canadian cheque will suffice) to the author at the above address. Don't forget to specify the disk size you'd like. Other distribution methods (E-mail, for example) may be available; contact the author for details.

ToDoWin was written entirely in C language, using the Microsoft C compiler, and the Microsoft Windows Software Developers Kit. The Borland Resource Workshop was used to create the various resources used. The help document was originally prepared using Word for Windows (1.1 and 2.0).