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Text File | 1987-08-29 | 21.2 KB | 560 lines

TICKLE ------------------------------------------------------ Comprehensive Command Line Reminder Program for the PC ------------------------------------------------------ *************************************************************** *PLEASE UPLOAD TO YOUR LOCAL COMPUTER BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS! * *************************************************************** I. General A. Date This documentaion was prepared on 08-26-87. B. Version This documentation is updated to version 1.4 of the program. C. Purpose In my profession as a patent attorney and manager for a large corporation, it is my duty to meet deadlines, to remember a large number of date sensitive tasks to be done, and to follow up on matters periodically with my employees and clients. TICKLE was written to assist me in this effort. I hope it will be useful to you also. D. The Author The author is a registered patent attorney working with Rockwell International Corporation in Cedar Rapids, IA (the old Collins Radio Company). He can be contacted on Compuserve (ID No.: 71016,1355), or GEnie (Address: L.MURRAH), or by mail at the following address: 10 Cottage Grove Woods, S.E. Cedar Rapids, IA 52403 The home telephone number is (319) 365-6530. Please feel free to call about TICKLE during weekend and early evening hours. E. The Software The development of TICKLE began in June, 1987. New versions will be released as features are added and corrections are made to previously released versions. TICKLE is written in Turbo Pascal. F. Latest Version The latest version of TICKLE can usually be found on GEnie. The latest version can also be obtained by sending a FORMATTED diskette and a STAMPED, SELF-ADDRESSED diskette mailer to the author at the above address. The request should be sent with sufficient postage that no postage is due upon arrival. G. Conventions When example command lines are shown, the sequence "<CR>" means to press RETURN or ENTER. II. Equipment and Program Configuration A. Setup TICKLE can be run on the IBM-PC and compatibles having 192K of memory and one floppy disk drive. A hard disk is not required, although you will find that a hard disk will enhance operation of this and any other program. Your CONFIG.SYS file should authorize at least 20 files. This can be done with the following statement: FILES = 20 CONFIG.SYS may be edited using a word processor or program editor. B. The System Clock TICKLE depends upon the system calendar being set correctly. If you have a real time clock, you will have a program which automatically sets the clock and which is usually run in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If not, you will need to set the date and time with the DATE and TIME DOS commands. III. Your Right to Use TICKLE A. License As you may have noticed I have retained the copyright in TICKLE, primarily in order to control its orderly development. However, I have granted the right to anyone to use the program for for private use without further permission from me. That is, you can copy it, use it, and share it so long as you do not charge any money for it. B. Contributions Several users have asked me whether I require payment of a "shareware" fee in order to use the program. The answer is "No"; but if you would like to support TICKLE with a small contribution (say $5), we certainly would not refuse your generosity. It would certainly help in continuing to improve the program. IV. Using TICKLE A. Installation The purpose of installation is to define the drive and subdirectory in which TICKLE and its associated data files are located. The TICKLE data files TICKLE.DTA and TICKLOG.DTA are created the first time TICKLE is run. If installation is not performed, it is assumed that the data files are to be located on the current drive and in the current subdirectory, which may or may not be the same drive and subdirectory as TICKLE.COM. In that case it will not be possible to use TICKLE from all subdirectories. "Normal" installation assumes that you have a single hard disk from which you normally boot your computer. In that case it is suggested that TICKLE.COM and the TICKLE data files be placed in a subdirectory named "\TICKLE". You can either use the following DOS command: MD \TICKLE to create the directory and then use the COPY command to copy TICKLE.COM to that directory, or you can run the TICKINST.BAT program which will do the same thing for you automatically. In order that DOS can find TICKLE.COM from any subdirectory, you should create a file using a word processor or editor named AUTOTEXEC.BAT, if you have not already done so for other reasons. The AUTOEXEC.BAT file should contain the following line: PATH = \TICKLE If you already have a path defined in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, then add \TICKLE as in the following example: PATH = \path1;\path2;\TICKLE In order that TICKLE.COM will know where to place the data files, you should include the following line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: SET TKLSPEC=C:\TICKLE\ If you wish to place the data files on another drive or directory, TKLSPEC can be defined accordingly. If you are using a floppy disk, you may wish to forget using a subdirectory. In that case simply copy TICKLE.COM to the disk in the boot drive. You will not need to define the path or use the SET command. You can use a subdirectory on a floppy disk, however, and the installation is identical to normal installation for a hard disk. If you use a floppy disk, you must the diskette containing TICKLE in the default drive when you wish to access TICKLE. B. General 1. Conventions When a response from the user is called for, the default response, i.e., the response which is automatically entered if RETURN is pressed, is indicated. To select the default all you have to do is press return. 2. Limits TICKLE will accept up to 500 notes. The number of notes used and the total number authorized (i.e., 500) are indicated at the right of the header when notes are listed. C. Use 1. Batch File Use One of the most convenient ways to use TICKLE is in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file which is run each time the the computer is turned on. Place it last in the batch file so that you are forced to look at the TICKLE notes each time you use the computer. Select the time period (and thus the command) that is most convenient for you. An example AUTOEXEC.BAT file, which can be created with a word processor (ASCII output mode only!) or a text editor is as follows: DATE TIME TICKLE W 2. A Suggested Program of Use Each morning I run the "O" option to dispose of matters not cleared from the preceding day's list. These matters are either deleted, rescheduled, or filed. After this is done, I use the "P" option to print a list for the current day (which also includes important events for the next 45 days). I then use this list as my checklist for my day's work. If new items are added which need to be done today I write them on the printed list. I can either enter these items into the TICKLE note data base at the end of the next day or at the beginning of the next day. D. Command Line Modes TICKLE has three command line modes as follows: 1. No Argument Mode If command line is entered with only the program name, i.e., TICKLE <CR> the main title screen will be displayed along with a list of commands. 2. Entry Mode Notes may be entered into the TICKLE note file by using the following command line entry: TICKLE MM-DD-YY Text of note <CR> where "MM" is the month, "DD" is the day, and "YY" is the year of the note. Months, days, and years may be entered as one or two digits each, and the wild card character "?" may be used in place of any date. For example, if you wish for a date to be redisplayed every year without deletion and re-entry, you can enter a command line such as the following: TICKLE 01-01-?? New Year's Day If you wish monthly redisplay, you can enter a command line such as the following: TICKLE ??-01-87 Pay electric bill The text of the note following the date can be up to 80 characters in length. Any date may be made a critical date by inserting a "!" in the text of the note. This will ensure that a critical note will be displayed up to 45 days in advance regardless of the display horizon chosen. The critical date feature is useful for planning ahead to accomplish a time consuming task before the critical date. These dates can also be separately displayed using the TICKLE ! command. Likewise, any date can be designated as an appointment by inserting the character "@" in the note. These notes can be separately displayed with the TICKLE @ command. 3. Command Mode In addition to the entry of notes, you can ask TICKLE to perform several function on the stored file by using the following command line: TICKLE % <CR> where "%" is a one letter command as discussed below. E. Dates 1. Valid Range All date comparisons and calculations in TICKLE assume that dates are in the range January 1, 1901 and December 31, 1999. Dates outside this range will not work! 2. Date Format and Content Dates must be entered in the MM-DD-YY format using two digits for MM, DD, and YY. Dates in abbreviated format such as "2-7-87" will also be accepted. Date content is not checked. Thus 13-56-87 will be accepted even though it is not a real date. Either "-" or "/" will be accepted to separate the month from the day from the year. Thus, "MM/DD/YY" is also an acceptable format. Invalid dates may be used for special purposes. For example, if you wish to specify that something is to be done during a month without specifying a particular date, you can use the day "00", e.g., "07-00-87". The same trick could be used for the entire year, e.g., "00-00-88". If you wish to enter non-date-specific notes, you can use an invalid date such as "00-00-00". However, this will make your non-dated notes appear at the beginning of the file. To make them appear at the end, you might use "99-99-99". The invalid date "50-50-50" may not be used for this purpose, since it is used for other purposes in TICKLE. 3. Wildcard Dates If a wildcard ("?") is used to replace any digit in a date, then both digits are assumed to be wildcards. Thus, if you enter 01-01-8?, it will be interpreted as 01-01-??. All wildcard dates can be displayed using the TICKLE # command. 4. Date Shorthand When entry of a date is expected, you can enter a one character shorthand for several common dates as follows: "=" - Today's date "-" - Yesterday's date "+" - Tomorrow's date "`" - One week from today (character is reverse apostrophe!) "~" - One month from today F. Examining the Notes File 1. Display Conventions When notes and their dates are displayed on the monitor screen, the notes may be accompanied by several symbols which convey important information about the note. A "-" before the date means that the note is overdue, i.e., it has a date earlier that the current date. A "*" before the date indicates notes having today's date. A "#" after the date indicates the the date contains wildcard characters. A "!" before the date indicates that the note is a critical one. A note is made critical by typing a "!" in the body of a note. The critical symbol will be printed only for dates beyond the current date. 2. Looking at All Notes All the notes in the TICKLE file can be examined by entering the following command line: TICKLE A <CR> 3. Looking Ahead You can display notes in the TICKLE file for several selectable future periods as follows: TICKLE T <CR> - Today's notes TICKLE D <CR> - Through the next day TICKLE W <CR> - Through the next week TICKLE M <CR> - Through the next month TICKLE Q <CR> - Through the next quarter TICKLE Y <CR> - Through the next year Any note which is made critical by the insertion of a "!" in the body of the note is and which is due within 45 days is displayed when the "T", "D", and "W" commands are used. This ensures that you are aware of critical dates sufficiently far in advance to take appropriate actions. 4. Checking a Particular Date If you need to check a particular date as when you are scheduling an appointment, you can use the following command: TICKLE K <CR> Enter the desired day at the prompt, and all notes for four days before and four days before the selected day will be displayed. This lets you look at several possible dates for the contemplated event. Any note on the selected day will be preceded with the right carat (">") character. If a date does not contain a date, a series of dots (....) or dashes (----) will be displayed to show that the date is free. Dots are used for weekdays and dashes for weekend days so that they may be distingusied at a glance. 5. Special Displays a. Critical Dates Only the critical dates (i.e., those which include the character ("!") with the following command: TICKLE ! <CR> b. Appointments All appointments (i.e., notes which include the character ("@") may be displayed with the following command: TICKLE @ <CR> c. Wildcard Dates All wildcard dates may be displayed using the following command: TICKLE # <CR> G. Manipulating Note Dates 1. Calculating a Date If you do not know the date on which to enter a date and instead know only that it is a certain number of days ahead, you can calculate the date using the following command: TICKLE C <CR> You will be prompted for the start date (the default date is the current date in your system clock) and a number of days to be added to the start date. Currently months and years cannot be added to the start date--only days. 2. Revising a Note A note can be deleted, rescheduled, logged, or edited using the following command: TICKLE R <CR> When this command is invoked, you will be asked to identify the date of the note to be revised. When the note is located, you will be asked to select one of four revise actions and will be prompted for the action selected. a. Deleting Deleting is accomplished by selecting the delete action. No further action is required. b. Rescheduling To reschedule all you need to do is to enter the new date (or shorthand) when prompted. c. Logging Logging is accomplished by selecting the log action. No further action is required. d. Editing Editing is accomplished by entering a combination of letters in the following form when prompted: oldstring;newstring where "oldstring" is a combination of characters containing the incorrect part of the note being edited, and "newstring" is another combination of characters which is to be substituted for oldstring. For example, in the following note: Call the home offce can be corrected by entering the following when prompted: offce;office H. Searching for a Note If you cannot remember the date of a note but do remember a word (or a fragment of a word) in the note, you can search for it using the following command: TICKLE S <CR> Enter the "search string" (i.e., word, part of a word, or character combination) when prompted. Notes can easily be classified and searched with this command using a special set of characters, such as initials, as part of the note. I. Overdue Notes The user can review all overdue notes (that is, notes having a date earlier than the current system clock date) regardless of date using the following command: TICKLE O <CR> Each overdue note (i.e., notes having dates earlier than the current date) will be selected and the user will be asked whether to delete, log, or reschedule the note. J. The Log File Instead of simply erasing a note from the file, you may wish to move it to another file for later review. If you do a monthly report, this "log" file may be a handy reminder of what you did last month. 1. Logging Notes When you have finished with a note, you can move it to the log file with the Revise command as previously discussed. 2. Viewing the Log You can view the log by issuing the View command as follows: TICKLE L <CR> 3. Erasing the Log When you are finished with the log, you can erase it and start over using the Erase command as follows: TICKLE Z <CR> 4. Printing the Log File At the end of the month when you do your monthly report, you print a copy of the log file with the following command: TICKLE G <CR> 5. Filing a Note to the Log File Sometimes you may wish to simply enter a note in the log file without having first entered it into the note file. This would most often occur when you do a task as soon as it arrives at your office and you want to remember it for your monthly report. The following command will accomplish this: TICKLE F <CR> L. Printing the Notes File The notes file for a day, week, month, or year ahead can be printed in chronological order on a line printer using the following command: TICKLE P <CR> The user is asked to select the period to be printed and to prepare the printer. A suggested use of the Print command is to make a hardcopy for the current day at the start of the day and use it as your "to do" list for the day. M. Backing Up Data Files You can back up the TICKLE.DTA and TICKLOG.DTA files to either drive A: or B: using the following command: TICKLE B <CR> Be sure to have a formatted diskette ready, and enter the desired backup drive ("A" or "B") when prompted. The colon (":") is not needed after the backup drive letter! V. We Need Your Feedback! As I continue to improve TICKLE, it is helpful for me to have your feedback about what you like about TICKLE, what you don't like about it, what would make it easier to use, any bugs or cosmetic defects you have discovered, what you would like to see changed or added, etc. Please take the time to fill out and mail the form in the file FEEDBACK.FRM to me. It would be much appreciated by the author and other users. If you would like to have the latest version of TICKLE, please send a FORMATTED diskette and a SELF-ADDRESSED, stamped diskette mailer along with your feedback form. APPENDIX TICKLE Commands A - List all notes in TICKLE file Q - List TICKLE file for next quarter B - Backup TICKLE file R - Reset date of TICKLE note C - Calculate TICKLE date S - Search for TICKLE note D - List TICKLE notes for tomorrow T - List TICKLE file for today E - Erase TICKLE log V - View TICKLE log L - Save note to log file W - List TICKLE notes for next week M - List TICKLE notes for next month X - Delete TICKLE note O - Remove overdue TICKLE notes Y - List TICKLE notes for next year P - Print TICKLE notes file'); Shorthand Dates "-" Yesterday "=" Today "+" Tomorrow "`" One Week from Today (this is the reverse apostrophe!) "~" One Month from Today