PDA Software Library/pdasoftwarelib.iso/PSION/1997/1031/TVSCHED.TXT

Text File | 1997-05-22 | 5.9 KB | 149 lines

TVSched - a TV viewing scheduler
================================

Copyright (C) 1997 David P Gymer
All Rights Reserved

You can send the author email via
     [e-mail]
and visit the TVSched home page for the latest version at
     http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Way/4798/tvsched.html


License
-------

TVSched 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 TVSched.

You are permitted to use this version of TVSched for any purpose free of
charge.

TVSched may be freely distributed, provided that all the files in the
official distribution remain present and intact, with exception that if you
charge a copying/distribution fee, you must make it clear that users are NOT
purchasing the software, which is distributed under this license.


Installation
------------

Copy the TVSCHED.APP file into the \APP\ directory of a disk on your Psion,
then make a \APP\TVSCHED\ directory and copy the TVSCHED.HLP file into it
(you don't need to do this is you don't want online help).

NOTE: this file does not exist in the 1.00B beta release.

Install the TVSched application on your System screen (using the Psion-I
key). Optionally, assign an application button (using Psion-A); on my 3c I
use Control-Jotter.

Now open TVSched. The first thing you should do is press the Diamond key to
take you to the Channels display, where you should add the names of the
channels you watch. (See below.)


Basic operation
---------------

TVSched has two modes of operation, the Programmes display (the default) and
the Channels display; you can switch between them using the Diamond key.
Both modes share most of the commands, and are built around a list of
entries, one per line, which can be navigated, edited, and added to. The
basic commands are:

  Psion-S (Save)
    Saves a snapshot of the current
  Psion-A (Add)
    Add a channel or programme.
  Psion-E or Enter (Edit)
    Edit a channel or programme.
  Psion-D or Delete (Delete)
    Delete a channel or programme.
  Psion-N or Down (Next)
    Select the next channel or programme.
  Psion-P or Up (Previous)
    Select the previous a channel or programme.
  Psion-Q (Preferences)
    Alter how TVSched - see below.
  Psion-Shift-A (About TVSched)
    Displays version, copyright, and contact information.
  Psion-X (eXit)
    Exit from TVSched, saving the current file.

The above commands are also available from the menus.

The Preferences dialog
----------------------

The Preferences dialog allows you to set the time which you regard as the
start of the day; this defaults to 06:00 (6am). A day, as defined by
TVSched, is from the start of the day on one date to 1 second before the
start of the day on the next. Note that if the start of the day is set to
00:00 (midnight), a TVSched date covers a single calendar date; if the start
of the day is set to anything else, a TVSched day covers two calendar dates.

The default was chosen because most UK television guides list programs up to
06:00 in the previous day's listings.

The Channels display
--------------------

Here you can enter as many channels as you want, using the Add and Edit
commands as desscribed in "Basic operation" above. Note that it's a good
idea to keep channel names down to around 9 characters, or at least ensure
that they are unique in the first 9, because the Programmes display (see
below) only displays the first 9 charcters. (9 was chosen because it's just
large enough for "Channel 4".)

The currently selected channel is hightlighted in "inverse video".

If the number of channels exceeds the number of lines displayed, the display
will "jump" up and down as you move through the list. It will also "wrap
around", that is, if you have the last channel selected, and press the Down
key, you will jump to the first channel.

You can change th order of the channels by selecting a channel you wish to
move, and pressing Control-Shift-Up (or -Down) to move it up (or down). Note
that changing the order of the channels has NO EFFECT on the channels
selected for each programme.

You must enter at least one channel to enter any programmes.

You cannot delete a channel on which programmes are scheduled; you must
first delete all the programmes on that channel.

The Programmes display
----------------------

The heart of TVSched, this display shows all the scheduled programmes for a
given day. They are sorted by start time (and end time, if the start times
for two programmes are the same). At the top of the display, the date (or
dates, if the "start of the day" is not 00:00) on which the displayed
programmes start is shown.

The currently selected programme is highighted in "inverse video".

Note that it is possible to enter a programme which spans two TVSched
"days". Such a programme will always be shown according to the day on which
it starts, and will be wholly absent from the day on which it ends.

Each programme is displayed on a line, with the channel name and programme
name first, followed by a graphical representation of when the programme is
on, surrounded by the start and end times as 24-hour clock readings. (Rather
than trying to describe how it works, I suggest you simply try it - from a
visual standpoint, it's very easy to see how it works. There is also an
example screen display on the TVSched WWW page.)

You move the selection about as normal (using the Up/Down keys). If you are
on the last programme for a given day and press Down, you move on to the
first programme of the next day.



Thank you for trying TVSched! Please feel free to contact me with any
questions, comments, and suggestions using the email address at the top of
this file.