Welcome to Chron! With Chron you can automate your daily tasks on your Newton device. Chron will send your mail, faxes and print jobs at any time. Chron can also get your mail, and perform any task or tasks for which you would use the assistant. Chron will do any or all of these things for you, everyday!
Chron works even while you and your Newton are asleep. For example, you can set Chron to get your mail at 5:30 am. Leave your Newton plugged into your modem and hit the sack. At 5:30 am, your Newton will wake up, get your mail and go back to sleep. When you wake up (let’s hope it’s after 5:30 am!) all of your mail will be waiting for you. Or you can set Chron to call your Mom at 2:30 pm. Chron will wake your Newton if asleep, and bring up the call slip for you, already filled out with your Mom’s phone number.
Getting Started
Before using Chron for the first time, please check the included Read–Me file for any late breaking information. Then, load the Chron software package (filename Chron10.pkg) onto your Newton. Use the Newton Connection Kit or Package Express for this. If you are unsure how to load a software package onto a Newton, please consult the documentation which accompanies your Newton Connection Kit or Package Express. You may also want to load the ChronUtility package at this time (See the ChronUtility section later in this User’s Guide).
Tap Chron’s icon in the Extras Drawer. Chron will open, and you will see the controls for Chron’s five basic functions: Get Mail, Send Mail, Send Fax, Send Print and Do Script.
• Get Mail–Chron will wake your Newton if necessary, and get any mail you have waiting, leaving it in your Newton’s In Box.
• Send Mail–Chron will send all the mail that has accumulated in your Newton’s Out Box.
• Send Fax–Chron will send all of the faxes which have piled up in your Newton’s Out Box.
• Send Print–Chron will print all the print jobs waiting in your Newton’s Out Box.
• Do Script–Anything that the assistant can do Chron will do for you. In fact Chron can do more than one assistant action at a time. For instance, if you have to talk to Bob about sales, Chron can find everything on the Newton with the word sales, and then call Bob. When you speak with Bob, you’ll have the results of the find ready for your conversation.
Setting Alarms
Each function has a check box, a clock icon with time display and a “Now!” button:
To tell Chron to do one of the functions, tap the appropriate check box. Tap the clock icon next to that check box to tell Chron when to do it. A view will open to allow you to set the time. The clock in this view works exactly like the clock in Extras–>Prefs–>Date and Time. To set the hour, tap the inner, dotted circle on the clock face. To set the minutes, tap the outer circle. Choose am or pm and tap the close box in the Set Alarm Time view. The alarm time will be shown next to the clock icon. When you close Chron, an alarm will be set in your Newton for the time chosen.
As long as the check box is checked, your Newton will perform the chosen task at the specified time everyday, waking itself up if necessary. To cancel an alarm, clear the check box. When you close Chron, the alarm will be removed.
You can test each function with the “Now!” button. By tapping “Now!” Chron will perform the task right then and there. Your alarm time and status will not be affected.
An Example
I want my Newton to send all my faxes when I get home at night. I check the “Send Fax” check box, and tap the clock icon right next to “Send Fax.” I set the time to 7:30 pm and close the “Set Alarm Time” view. I close Chron and continue working. When I get home, I plug my Newton into its recharger and fax-modem. At 7:30 pm, my Newton wakes up, and sends all the faxes I’ve created during the day.
AssistScript
The mail, fax and print functions of Chron are set up identically. The AssistScript is different. Above the regular controls for this alarm, there is a three line field where you can enter in tasks for the assistant to perform:
Write your requests just as you would if you tapped the Assist Button on your Newton. To ask Chron to do more than one task, separate the tasks by commas. For Example, to Call Bob and schedule a meeting, write “Call Bob, Schedule lunch.” Try writing different sets of phrases and tapping “Now!” to see how Chron will send the commands to the assistant. Just be sure to separate each request with a comma.”Find Jim, Call Bob” is fine, but “Find Jim Call Bob” will end up telling the assistant to find “Jim Bob.”
Notes, Tips and Ideas
We like the following settings:
Get Mail: Early Morning, before we get up.
Send Mail: Evening, after dinner.
Send Print: Late Afternoon, before we leave the office.
Send Fax: Late Night, after the rates drop!
Do Script: We constantly change this, depending on what we want Newton to do next. Chron’s AssistScript is useful by itself. Whenever you want the assistant to do more than one thing, write your requests, and tap “Now!”
Tap the “?” button on the status bar at the bottom of the screen for information about Chron. There is also a clock icon on the status bar which displays the current time, date and battery level of your Newton. Hold down the pen on this clock icon to display the internal temperature of your Newton.
Chron is small enough to keep in your Newton’s internal memory, or on each of your storage cards. If you have more than one storage card, you can keep a different set of alarms on each one. Be sure to check Extras–>Card–>Store New Items on Card to force Chron to store its alarms on a card. To make sure the system alarms in your Newton’s internal memory are updated, open and close Chron after you change storage cards.
Try not to change storage cards while Chron is open. Depending on where you have set your Newton to store new items, this may result in two conflicting sets of alarms in your Newton.The next time you open Chron, this situation will be detected. Chron will keep and use the most recent set of alarms you’ve entered, and delete the older set.
Remember to clear the check box if you want to cancel an alarm. When you close Chron, that alarm will be removed from your Newton.
If you use the fax, mail or print keywords in an AssistScript, Chron will send the current note in your Newton’s Notepad.
To completely remove Chron from your Newton first clear the check boxes for all alarms and close Chron. If Chron is loaded on a storage card, tap Extras –> Card –>Remove Software –> Chron:tOP. If Chron is loaded in your Newton’s internal memory, tap Extras –> Prefs –> Memory –> Remove Software –> Chron:tOP. Load and use the included ChronUtility package to remove Chron’s soup. If you are using a third–party soup tool do not remove the SystemAlarmSoup, other applications may also use it.
ChronUtility
On your Chron diskette or in your e-Mail distribution file, there is an additional software package called ChronUtility (filename CUtil10.pkg). ChronUtility has three buttons:
• Remove Chron:tOP soup–Tap this button to remove Chron’s soup from your Newton. If you accidentally remove the soup, it will be rebuilt when you open Chron.
• Add Business Card–Tap this button to add a business card for theObjectPartnership to your Newton’s Names application.
• Add Registration Form–Tap this button to add a registration form for Chron to your Newton’s Notepad. Please fill out the form and print, fax or e-Mail it to us.
We recommend that you load ChronUtility when you first load Chron. Add our business card and the registration form to your Newton. Then remove the ChronUtility package. Unless you need to remove Chron’s soup from your Newton, there is no further need to keep ChronUtility loaded on your Newton. If you ever need to remove Chron’s soup, re–load ChronUtility and tap the “Remove Chron:tOP Soup” button.
Trouble?
If an alarm doesn’t seem to work, open Chron and make sure that you’ve set the appropriate check box, and that the am or pm setting is correct. Be sure your Newton is attached to the modem or printer as needed. If the alarm is still not working, try resetting your Newton. If the reset doesn’t fix everything try removing Chron’s soup with ChronUtility. Then open Chron and set your alarms again. If Chron is still misbehaving, contact us. Please have your serial number handy. You’ll need it for us to provide support. We’ll be happy to help you get the most out of Chron!
Thank You!
Thanks for choosing Chron to help you get the most out of your Newton device. Chron is only the first step towards total control and automation of Newton devices. We have many exciting enhancements planned for Chron, and would also love to hear your suggestions for improvements. We believe that Newton Technology is the path towards intimate and truly personal computing, communications and digital assistance. We hope that by automating your Newton with Chron, you enjoy the further assistance that your Newton will provide.
