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Text File | 2001-09-19 | 21KB | 589 lines

PSIONIZER MANUAL **************** LEGAL STUFF *********** Users of Psionizer must accept this disclaimer of warranty. If you do not accept this disclaimer, do not use the programs. PSIONIZER IS SUPPLIED AS IS. THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND OF FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. THE AUTHOR ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES, DIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL, WHICH MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OF THE PSIONIZER, EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE LICENCE AGREEMENT AND WARRANTY SHALL BE CONSTRUED, INTERPRETED AND GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF ENGLAND AND WALES. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM ONE STATE TO ANOTHER. Psionizer is shareware, and is provided at no charge for evaluation purposes. Please share it with your friends and colleagues, but do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of shareware software is to provide computer users with quality software without high prices, and at the same time to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. Any person or organisation wanting to distribute ToDo for profit must contact John Whiting either by post or email for authorisation. Copyright for this software remains the property of: John Whiting 3 Fitzwilliam Road Colchester Essex England CO3 3RZ Lotus is a registered trademark in the United States and many other countries of Lotus Development Corporation. Lotus Organizer is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. INTRODUCTION ************ Psionizer is a utility that enables files to be exchanged between Lotus Organizer and the Agenda application on the Psion Series 3 palmtop computer. Currently, the Organizer Diary and Todo sections are catered for and an imminent upgrade will allow address book conversions. The new Series 3a Agenda format will also be covered in a future version. Psionizer reads Agenda files directly and Organizer data via export/import files. These Organizer files should always be created by using the Export "Map All" option. As these files are in Comma Separated Value (CSV) format, Psionizer can be used to convert Agenda files to other programs including databases and spreadsheets. Although Psionizer will carry out straight conversions between Agenda and Organizer, the most useful feature is probably the "synchronise" mode which will read in files from both programs, match the files to find differences, and produce new files containing the revised diary. This demonstration version of Psionizer is complete except that only entries from today's date up to two weeks from the current date will be output. When the program is registered, codes will be provided that open up the full functionality of the program. QUICK START *********** Most people want to try the program out quickly before reading the boring bits of the manual. For those people, this is the fast way to get Psionizer working for you. 1. Decide the type of transfer that you want to do and set the appropriate option at the top of the main display, just below the button bar. 2. The options that you need to enter are shown in black. Any options not applicable are greyed out. Set these options. If you are not sure what they mean, press F1 for context sensitive help. 3. Press the Paths button and enter the ungreyed fields in the same way as the options. Again context sensitive help is available. Use the browse buttons to navigate amongst the disk directory sructures. 4. If you think you will want to run the same conversion over again, use the Save As option from the main menu. If you want to use these settings again, you just Open the file as run the conversion. 5. Take the Convert option from the Run menu and your conversion will be run. 6. Export any resulting CSV files into Organizer, taking note of any deletions required, by using the Run|View Organizer Deletions option. That's about it! OPERATION OVERVIEW ****************** To perform a transfer, you first set the various program options and details of the various file paths, then select Run. However, setting the same options and file details over and over again can get tedious. Psionizer allows all settings to be saved in Psionizer parameter files. These can be opened and saved in the same way as documents in a word processor. Psionizer also allows the Psion link program or Lotus Organizer to be called from within Psionizer to automatically capture the required data. There are essentially two windows in Psionizer; the Options window and the Paths window. The Paths Window is called by pressing a button on the Options Window. OPTIONS WINDOW ************** The Options Window is the main Psionizer display. It contains menu commands which allow you to create and retrieve parameter files, capture input files and run a conversion. A Button Bar enables easy access to the most often used menu commands. The main display in the window allows various parameters to be set. In the main part of the display, there are three radio buttons at the top of the window. These allow you to pick from the three available types of conversion. The remaining parameters are grouped with each group in its own frame. Each group contains the parameters for a particular type of conversion. Not all parameters are used for every conversion type and those which will not be used are shown "greyed". However, all parameters, whether greyed or not, are saved in the parameter file. A button captioned "Paths" allows access to the Paths window. Paths are saved along with the options in a parameter file. PATHS WINDOW ************ The Paths Window allows you to enter the names of the input and output files for a particular conversion. Like the Options Window, items which are not used by the current conversion type are shown greyed. If, by inspecting the paths screen, you decide that you have set the wrong conversion type, go back to the Options Window by pressing the OK button and select the correct conversion type. The paths and file names are grouped first of all by Import or Export. Import shows the files being read by Psionizer and Export shows the files to be written. The Import paths have Browse buttons that allow you to select the file you require by navigating the drive and directory tree. MAIN OPTIONS ************ Organizer to Agenda =================== This option provides a straight conversion from Organizer export files to an Agenda file. Up to two Organizer export files can be provided; a Diary file and a ToDo file. These are produced by taking the File Export option from within the appropriate section. Instead of providing both input files, only one can be converted by not specifying a file path on the Paths screen. Agenda to Organizer =================== This option provides a straight conversion from a Series 3 Agenda file to Lotus Organizer Import files. Up to two import files can be produced: a Diary file and a ToDo file. If you only wish to output one of these files, define a blank file path on the Paths screen. Synchronisation =============== The Synchronisation mode allows you to take an Agenda file, an Organizer Diary export file and an Organizer ToDo export file, and match the files against each other. A new Agenda file is output, as are CSV files for importing to Organizer. These CSV files contain additions to the Organizer data file. Any deletions to the Organizer files are itemised in a Synchronisations Deletions file. When Psionizer finds a record in one file that is not present in the other, a dialogue box is presented to the user. You can then decide whether the record in question is an addition (added to one file but not to another) or a deletion (deleted from one file but not from the other). When Psionizer finds two items from different files whose titles match but whose dates and/or times are different, a dialogue box is shown, You can determine whether both items are to be output, only one of the items or neither. Both of these dialogue boxes allow you to choose one of the input files as the master. This is useful if you have been amending only a single file, i.e. updating your Series 3 all day and haven't touched Organizer. By specifying one file as the master, Psionizer automatically posts all differences to the other file. OPTIONS DISPLAY *************** Agenda Export Options ===================== This section of the Options display contains the information necessary to write the defaults to the output Agenda file. Set these options to the same values as your Series 3 Agenda settings Organizer Diary Export Options ============================== These values are used when writing the Organizer Diary Export File. The Alarm Tune is used for all entries with alarms written to the Organizer export files. The Note Prefix Text is only applicable when using the Agenda to Organizer conversion type. The contents of this field will precede any day note entries written to the export file. The reason for doing this is that Organizer does not have an equivalent entry type to day notes. Day notes without an alarm are written to the Organizer Diary section with a start time of midnight and a duration of zero. When a conversion is made in opposite direction, either Organizer to Agenda or Synchronise, Psionizer checks each entry to see if the note text preceded the text. If it does, it is written back to the Agenda file as a Day Note. Work Days are used when creating multiple entries from a single Agenda repeat item which is set to repeat for each workday. Entries are only generated for the days that have been marked. Matching Options ================ The "Number of Characters To Match" specifies the number of characters in the item text that Psionizer will attempt to match when run in Synchronise mode. i.e. if this field is set to 10 then the item "Lunch with Fred" will match with "Lunch with Jenny". This field should therefore be usually set to a relatively high number. Export Options ============== The "Earliest Date" allows you to provide a start date for conversions. No entries preceding this date will be written to any output files. Note that this field is not operative on the demo version which will only convert entries in the range Current Date to three weeks hence. Capture Options =============== The Path to Organizer field should give the full path and filename of the Organizer program ORGANIZE.EXE. e.g. C:\ORGANIZE\ORGANIZE.EXE This is used when launching Organizer from within Psionizer. The Data File field should contain the full path and filename of the data file from which the export file(s) are to be created. e.g. C:\DATA\ORGANIZE\DIARY.ORG The Auto Capture routine sends keystrokes to initiate Organizer and to start the creation of an export file. Psionizer then waits for the Mapping Options dialog box to appear and enters the correct keystrokes. Psionzer then waits for an Organizer message box that shows that the export process is complete. Psionizer then closes Organizer down. The length of time that Psionizer will wait for these signal;s from Organizer is determined by the TimeOut value. The time is given by the value multiplied by 1.5 seconds. A TimeOut of 10 will therefore wait 15 seconds. The period that suits you will depend on the overall speed of your computer. The Series 3 Link Path field should contain the path and filename of the program you use to communicate with the Series 3. This is normally MCLINK.EXE. You can also include parameters to MCLINK, e.g. -p2 -b19200. Parameter File can contain the name of a parameter file to the Link program. This will be used to call the link program with a command line of <Series 3 Link Path>space@<Parameter File>. MENU COMMANDS ************* File Menu --------- Open Opens a parameter definition file containing details of options and paths. These settings then become the current settings. Save Saves the current option and path settings to the current parameter file shown in the title bar of the main window. If there is no current file, this option is inoperative. Save As Saves the current option and path settings to a new parameter file. Exit Shut down Psionizer. Capture Menu ------------ Organizer File Opens Lotus Organizer and reads in the Data file specified in the Paths screen. Export file(s) with the name given in the Import Organizer section are then automatically generated. Agenda File Runs the Series 3 link program indicated in the Series 3 link path field on the Options screen. A parameter file may be provided which contains a series of commands when the link program is executed. See the MCLINK documentation for details of the format of this file. Run Menu -------- Organizer Runs Organizer using the Organizer Path and (Organizer) Data File fields on the options screen. Series 3 Run the Series 3 link program, usually MCLINK.EXE. Convert Perform the conversion indicated by the current Options and Paths settings. View Organizer Deletions Runs notepad on the current Deletions file, specified on the Paths display. Notepad Runs the Windows notepad application. This command is useful for viewing CSV files input or output from Psionizer. BUTTON BAR ********** The Button Bar allows easy access to some of the more often used menu commands. The buttons are, left to right: Open File --------- Opens a parameter definition file containing details of options and paths. These settings then become the current settings. Save File --------- Saves the current option and path settings to the current parameter file shown in the title bar of the main window. If there is no current file, this option is inoperative. Exit ---- Shut down Psionizer. Convert ------- Perform the conversion indicated by the current parameters. Capture Organizer Import File ----------------------------- Opens Lotus Organizer and reads in the Data file specified in the Options screen. Export file(s) with the name(s) given in the Import Organizer section are then automatically generated. Run Organizer ------------- Runs Organizer using the path given in the Organizer Path field in the Capture Options section of the Options window. Run Series 3 Link ----------------- Run the Series 3 link program, usually MCLINK.EXE. PATHS DISPLAY ************* Import Agenda File Path ======================= Specifies the full path and filename of the Agenda file to be input to the Psionizer conversion. This file will normally have the suffix .AGN. Psionizer does not automatically append this suffix. Auto Import =========== If the Auto Import check box is checked, then whenever the conversion process is run, Psionizer will invoke Organizer to create the Diary and ToDo export filea from the data file. The "Path to Organizer" and "Data File" fields on the Options screen provide the full path and filename of the Organizer program ORGANIZE.EXE and the full path and filename of the data file from which the export file(s) are to be created. Import Organizer Diary File =========================== Specifies the full path and filename of the Organizer Diary file to be input to the Psionizer conversion. The file should have been created by using the Export option within Organizer although this can be effected as part of the conversion process by checking the Auto Import box. Note that the "Map All" option should be specified during the Organizer Export process. Import Organizer ToDo File ========================== Specifies the full path and filename of the Organizer ToDo file to be input to the Psionizer conversion. The file should have been created by using the Export option within Organizer although this can be effected as part of the conversion process by checking the Auto Import box. Note that the "Map All" option should be specified during the Organizer Export process. Export Agenda File ================== This field should contain the name of the Agenda file to be output by Psionizer. Export Organizer Files ====================== The two Export Organizer paths contain the full path/filenames of the Diary and ToDo files produced by Psionizer. If a path is blank, the relevant file is not produced. The files are produced in a format that can be imported into Organizer via the Import command from the File menu. The "Map All" option should be used when importing the file. Synchronisation Deletions File ============================== When items are found that should be deleted from the Organizer file, a note is made to the Synchronisation Deletions file. This file can be viewed by using a file viewer or editor such as Notepad. For instance, if you delete a record from your Series 3 Agenda file but not from the Organizer file, Agenda will ask you during the conversion process whether the fact that only one item exists means that the record is an addition to the one file or a deletion from the other. In this case, the record should be deleted from the Organizer file. As Psionizer cannot post a deletion record, a note is written to the Synchronisation Deletions file to indicate to you that the entry should be deleted "manually". The file is not overwritten with each run, but is appended to. To clear the file, manually delete the file. REGISTRATION DETAILS ******************** How to Register =============== The demonstration version of Psionizer is restricted in that only entries falling in the range from today to three weeks hence will be output. Upon payment of a registration fee of 15 pounds sterling, you will be sent two codes which you enter on the registrations screen. This will enable all of the features of Psionizer. You should register the program if you continue usage for a period of three weeks or more. When registering Psionizer, please provide either an electronic mail id or, failing that, a daytime telephone number. I will use this to send you your codes. Registration fees should be sent to: John Whiting Lexsoft 3 Fitzwilliam Road Colchester Essex CO3 3RZ England. Cheques should be made payable to "John Whiting" When you are a registered user, you can obtain support by mailing John Whiting at Compuserve 100025,3337 or at CIX as johnw. Internet: johnw@cix.compulink.co.uk Registration Reminder Display ============================= When the Psionizer Registration Reminder display appears, you have three options as follows: Register Register the product. Before taking this option you should have received codes from John Whiting. See Registration Instructions I Agree Proceed into Psionizer. The demonstration version of Psionizer is restricted in that only entries falling in the range from today to three weeks hence will be output. Quit Now Exit the program. Register Psionizer Display ========================== When you have registered Psionizer, either by sending a cheque to John Whiting or by registering on-line with Compuserve, you will receive two codes. These will be send either by email or by postal mail. Enter the two codes on the Register Psionizer display exactly as detailed. If you have not entered the codes correctly, a message "Invalid Codes" will be displayed and you will be returned to the main display as an unregistered user. If the codes are validated succesfully, you will be enrolled as a registered user. A file PSIONIZR.REG is created in your Windows directory ontaining the registration details. This file should be backed up in case you lose it. History ======= Version 1.00 Initial Release Version 1.01 Fix Release Cope with dates in MM/DD/YY format. Cope with non "/" separators. Both of these formats are now read from WIN.INI settings. Schematic Overview Diagram included in Help Documentation Check if Import and Export Organizer files are the same. Produce error if they are. Problem with date ranges on non-registered version corrected. Error "Invalid File" resulted if a Deletions file was specified whilst not in Synchronise mode. Fixed. Progress display made slightly larger to contain all text.