- Special Note to first time Notepad users -


Notepad has many files associated with it. There is no way around this. Lots
of if is just documentation. Please use the installers whenever possible and
you won't have to worry about where files go. Refer to the Notepad.doc file
for information about the installers to determine which one to use.

What is Notepad?

Notepad is a simple program that lets you take notes. Some notes will have
alarms, some will be linked to other notes. Some will have due dates. Some
will be linked to application files, like Word, or the Spreadsheet.

That's all there is to it. There are various parts of the program that are
there to take care of each of these options. For example, since Notepad handles
due dates, it needs a way to display a calendar of due dates. It does this in
the project viewer. (Use the diamond key to switch to this view.) Since Notepad
lets you attach alarms to each note, it needs a way to handle these alarms. The
Server application does this. Since Notepad needs to be able to link to
application files, like Word, there are various parts of the program that deal
with linking.


The Linking Concept:

The concept of linking should be an easy one to understand, although sometimes
it is not. Notepad is a type of an outline. There is a top level, or parent
notepad. There are lower level parts of the outline, or children notepads. To
move between the various parts of the outline, just use the right and left
arrows. The right arrow opens the outline downward. The left arrow key goes
in reverse back to the last open notepad.

Of course you must first create lower levels before you will have any
to go to. Pressing the right arrow on a note will expand it. Notepad asks you
for a name. It can't be more than 8 characters. (No special characters. a-z)
Give it a name and press Enter. You are now in the 2nd level down. Add notes
as needed in this level, and press the left arrow key to go back to the top
level. Or, press the right arrow on any note to expand it further down.

Any note can be expanded, (linked) to any other notepad. There is no limit
to how deep the notepads can go. (Only by available memory)

Linking is not limited to notepad-notepad. A note can also be linked to a
Word file, Spreadsheet, or Database. When you link a note to one of these
application files, you can still link the note to another notepad. So, there
are two possible links to each note.

I hope this helps to get started.

Mark Esposito
Pelican Software Inc.