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Text File | 1991-02-09 | 28KB | 663 lines

╒══════════════╕ │ ToDo │ ╘══════════════╛ ToDo is a Task oriented Personal Time Management Tool. ToDo is also system for recording hours worked on a daily basis. It also lets you track tasks as a Project Management program would. It can also remind you of upcoming dates each time you reboot your computer and will remember important names, addresses, phone numbers and other personal information for you. You can also keep a diary in ToDo. It will even dial your phone numbers for you, and keep a log of calls. ToDo has been designed specifically for Consultants (of any type), Programmers or anybody that has a need to record hours worked on one or more projects. It's quite simple to use. This document only describes the general concept of the program. Specific operating instructions are available in the program through the use of Help Screens obtained at any time by pressing function key <F1>. To get the most out of ToDo, experiment with ALL of its options. To learn about ToDo's features, use the "ToDo Road Map", accessible by pressing <Ctrl><F1> from the ToDo Main Menu. ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒════════════════════╕ │ What is ToDo? │ ╘════════════════════╛ ToDo has 3 modes of operation: PROGRAM In 'PROGRAM' mode, ToDo has facilities for entering: * Task Information * Daily Hours Worked (by Task) * Expense Information * Diary Information * Special Dates * Important Numbers (password protected) * Client Information (or Project Names) * Names, Addresses and Phone Numbers It will supply you with many reports (screen or printer) of the information you entered today, a month ago or even years ago. It has lots of other options as well. BATCH ToDo has two BATCH modes: * ToDo will remind you of tasks that are due, upcoming 'special' dates (i.e., Meetings, Birthdays, etc.) and daily hours that you forgot to enter. * You can get BATCH HELP by entering: TODO /HELP from the DOS Command Line. DIALING ToDo will Dial phone numbers from your Names, Address and Phone list from the DOS command line. (See the section below entitled "Invoking ToDo" for Command Line Options) ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒══════════════════╕ │ Quick Setup │ ╘══════════════════╛ Add the following to your AUTOEXEC.BAT (ToDo probably did the first line for you!): Prototype Example ──────────────────────────── ─────────────────────────────── SET ToDo=[d:][path] SET ToDo=C:\ToDo ToDo [cmd line opt's-see below] C:\ToDo\ToDo /CHECK /S /T /H Add the following to your CONFIG.SYS (You MUST be running DOS 3.3 or higher!): FILES=31 (ToDo Requires a minimum of 30 files, but DOS prefers an odd number!) The default date format is mm/dd/yy, however, if you prefer the British format of dd/mm/yy, you can choose the "CONFIGURATION" option from the UTILITY MENU. On this screen you can change the ToDoDate default from mm/dd/yy to the British format: dd/mm/yy. ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒═══════════════════╕ │ You Supply... │ ╘═══════════════════╛ As stated above, you supply the following types of information to ToDo: Client Info You must FIRST enter at least one Client. This is accomplished through the "Client Maintenance" option on the Main Menu. You can enter a Client Name and Billing Rate (Dollars per Hour). If you don't have a need to enter Client Names, you can also use this to enter Project Names. NOTE: The first 3 characters of the Client Name is used as a "key", therefore, ToDo won't let you duplicate these first 3 letters. Once Client(s) are entered, Tasks can be entered. Task Info You can enter one or more Tasks with the following information: * Task Name (required) * Estimated Hours to Complete the Task (optional) * Estimated Completion Date (optional) * Priority (required) * Client (required) * Short Name (required) * A Link to another Task (optional) and when a task is complete, you can also indicate that to ToDo. Todo will produce a ToDo report (with several options) to help organize your day, as well as several other useful reports. You can also enter Notes about a task that will appear on your ToDo List. You can indicate to ToDo that a task won't start until another is completed. In other words, one is dependent on the other. The effect of creating a dependency is that the Time Line Chart (Report Menu) and the Average Hours Report (Task Maintenance) will reflect a different start date. Daily Hours Worked - The heart of ToDo is the daily input of hours worked. Each day, you enter the hours you worked on each task. ToDo keeps track of how many hours you've worked on each task, and will produce reports and statistics by task and/or time period. Expense Info At the same time you're entering hours worked, you can enter one or more expenses for each day. ToDo will track these and produce an Expense Report whenever desired. Additionally, expenses can be included on many other reports if desired. Diary Info At the same time you're entering hours worked, you can enter diary information for each day. Special Dates You can enter Special Dates, such as Birthdays, Anniversaries, Meetings, Travel Dates, etc. ToDo will accept both recurring (i.e., Birthdays, etc.) and nonrecurring (i.e., Meetings, etc.) dates. You tell ToDo how much in advance you want to be reminded, and ToDo can be placed in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to remind you when necessary. You can also LINK a Special Date to a Task. By this, the Special Date will be listed with any notes that you have on the ToDo List. Names, Addresses and Phone Numbers This information is independent of the other items listed above and may or may not be entered. If you wish, names, address information and phone numbers may be entered for your friends, business acquaintances, etc. ToDo will print both reports and labels from this information. Holidays If you tell ToDo about upcoming holidays, ToDo will ignore these days if you want in its date calculations. There are two types of Holidays that you can enter: 1 Holidays you have off 2 Holidays you have to work ToDo will also display these days as holidays when you print a calendar. ToDo produces many reports with many options. You can use some or all of its options. One of ToDo's features is that ALL date reporting is based on a 5 day business work week. When ToDo calculates the number of days between 2 dates, it doesn't count weekends. ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒════════════════════╕ │ INVOKING ToDo │ ╘════════════════════╛ ToDo Command Line Options are: /HELP - Help Screen for Command Line Options /MONO - Force Monochrome /CLOCK- Display the digital clock without running ToDo /D - Enter ToDo Date (w/o Changing System Date) /CHECK- Check with at least 1 of the following options: /S - Check for upcoming Special Dates /T - Check for Tasks Due Today /Hnn - Check for Hours not entered (for nn days) /DIAL - Dial a phone number from the ToDo Phone Data Base, followed by the Name to dial, which can be enclosed in Quotes. You will be given the choice of each of the 2 phone numbers that you can enter from within ToDo. For Example: ToDo /dial "John Doe Sr" John Doe ToDo /dial John Any name starting w/John ToDo /dial John Doe John Doe /R - If something happens to corrupt ToDo's index files, you may not be able to get back into ToDo without an error. If this happens, you can use this option on the DOS command line to force ToDo to re-index its files before doing anything else. NOTE: This option MUST be the ONLY option on the command line for this to function. for example: ToDo Command Line Mode Description ─────────────────────── ─────── ───────────────────────────────────── ToDo PROGRAM Start ToDo with no options ToDo /MONO PROGRAM Force monochrome ToDo /MONO /D PROGRAM Force Monochrome and a New Date ToDo /CLOCK PROGRAM Display Digital Clock ToDo /R PROGRAM Force a Re-Index ToDo /CHECK /T /S BATCH Check for due tasks/special dates ToDo /CHECK /S /H20 BATCH Check for due special dates and Hours not entered for the past 20 days. ToDo /dial John Doe DIALING Search for "John Doe" to dial ToDo /dial John DIALING Search for "John" to dial ToDo /dial "John Doe Sr" DIALING Search for "John Doe Sr" to dial ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒═══════════════════╕ │ Main Menu ... │ ╘═══════════════════╛ The Main Menu offers several choices: ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒╒══════════════════════════════╕ ▒▒│Daily: │ ▒▒│ Enter Hours/Expenses/Diary│ ▒▒│ What's Due Today │ ▒▒│ │ ▒▒│Maintenance: │ ▒▒│ Tasks │ ▒▒│ Special Dates │ ▒▒│ Clients │ ▒▒│ Names/Address/Phone │ ▒▒│ Holidays │ ▒▒│ Important Numbers │ ▒▒│ │ ▒▒│Other Menus: │ ▒▒│ Reports │ ▒▒│ Utilities │ ╘══════════════════════════════╛ Enter Hours/Expenses/Diary - This option allows you to enter hours worked by DAY by TASK. You select the day, and then enter hours worked for each task. New Tasks can be entered, and existing Tasks can be deleted though this option. You may also enter individual expenses incurred on that day, as well as diary entries. Task Maintenance - This option allows you to modify tasks, Estimated Hours, Estimated Completion date, Priority or Actual Completion Date. You also have the following options: * See Tasks due today * See a Briefing of a tasks statistics * Print a Report of all tasks * Add Notes to tasks * etc., etc. Special Dates - Special Dates are dates that you would like ToDo to remind you of. They can be Birth- days, meetings - or anything. This option allows you to enter these dates along with other information so ToDo can remind you. Client Maintenance - This option allows you to add/modify and delete Clients. Each task must be assigned to one client. The clients you enter with this option will be displayed each time you enter a new task. You can also enter an Hourly Billing rate which will be used on the "Billing Report". Names/Address/Phone - You can add Name, address and phone information for friends, business acquaintances, etc. ToDo will print a report or mailing labels for you, or it can Dial phone numbers from the list or from the DOS command line. Holidays - You can enter whatever holidays you wish into the Holiday Maintenance Screen. There are 2 types of Holidays: 1 Holidays you have off 2 Holidays you have to work If you indicate that a holiday is a day you DON'T work, ToDo will ignore this day in all of its date calculations, including the Date Calculator. All of the Holidays will appear on the printed Calendar if you wish. Important Numbers - You can record 'important numbers' in ToDo. This can be used for credit card numbers, insurance policy numbers, etc. Because of the confidential nature of these numbers, ToDo encrypts them on disk, so that if somebody looks at your files, they won't be able to read any of the numbers. When you choose it for the first time you will be asked for a password. Don't forget your password! If you do, you will loose all of the information previously entered in 'Important Numbers'! Report Menu - The following Reports can be printed/dis- played from this option: * ToDo List * Hours by Day * Hours by Task * Hours by Week * Completed & Active Tasks (w/statistics) * Time Line Chart * Expense Report * Billing Report * Print a Calendar Utility Menu - The Utility Menu has options to move tasks from a 'Current' status to an 'Archive' status and back again. It also has options to select a printer for output, to Change the date, Restore from a Backup, etc. Additional options allow you to PERMANENTLY delete Tasks and Expenses. You can also TRANSFER hours from one task to another from here, etc., etc. ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒═════════════════════════╕ │ Generic Function Keys │ ╘═════════════════════════╛ Function Keys Available ANYTIME: <F1> Context Sensitive Help <Alt> <F1> Generic System Help <Ctrl> <F1> List of ToDo Functions <F10> Calendar <Alt> <F10> Clock <Shift><F10> Calculator (Math & Date) <Ctrl> <F10> If you're using an EGA or VGA monitor to change colors (there are 2 color options). Other Function Keys (when available): <F5> Print a Report <Ctrl><F5> Print Mailing Labels <F3> Search <Alt> N Search Again (Next) Plus other Function keys are available on specific screens. Check the bottom screen line for specific keys available on each screen. ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒═════════════════════════╕ │ The ToDo ARCHIVES │ ╘═════════════════════════╛ Tasks in ToDo have three general status categories: * Current * Archived * Purged Current The Current status is the normal status. You can enter hours worked for a Current Task and Hours and Date estimates can be changed for Current tasks. You can indicate that a Current task has been completed, etc. Archived When a task has been completed, and you no longer want to see the task when performing task maintenance or entering hours worked, the task can be Archived. When you Archive a task, you no longer see the task when using ToDo, but if needed, ToDo still can use information for an Archived task for a report, etc. ToDo allows you to restore Archived tasks back to a Current Status, if necessary. Purged After a while, you may want to totally eliminate all record of a task's existence. ToDo lets you PURGE tasks from the Archive. Once purged, nothing will get it back! Expenses, Special Dates and Phone Numbers all accumulate "History" data and can also be purged. ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒═══════════════════╕ │ About Dates... │ ╘═══════════════════╛ ToDo accepts dates in the format mm/dd/yy. When calculating the number of days between 2 Task Dates, ToDo ignores weekend days. The assumption is that you don't work weekends. ToDo will also ignore any dates that are Holidays that you don't work, based on what's been entered on the Holiday Maintenance screen. You can change the default U.S. date format of mm/dd/yy to the British format of dd/mm/yy from the Configuration Screen (from the Utility Menu). ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒════════════════════════╕ │ About Postal Codes │ ╘════════════════════════╛ ToDo lets you enter the Postal Code in any one of 3 formats: FORMAT EXAMPLE ------------- ------------ U.S. 012345-6789 Canadian or A1B 2C3 Free Format ABCDEFGHIJ or 0123456789, etc. The default format can be selected from the SYSTEM CONFIGURATION option on the UTILITY menu, or you can use Function Key F4 to change this format for any address entered. ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒══════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Hardware/Software Requirements for ToDo │ ╘══════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Hardware: ToDo requires an IBM-PC or Compatible with 640K RAM and a hard disk. (Minimum Available RAM should be 424K or greater - but more is recommended.) ToDo makes the assumption that your printer can print IBM-PC Extended ASCII characters. If it can't, answer NO to the Extended ASCII question on the System Configuration Screen. Any type monitor can be used with ToDo, but if you have either an EGA or VGA, there are two default color sets available. To switch between them, you can press <Ctrl> <F10> almost anytime. After pressing this key combination, the colors will be switched on the NEXT screen, and the new colors will be saved for each subsequent session. Software: DOS 3.3 is REQUIRED for ToDo. Additionally, ToDo requires a minimum of 30 DOS file handles to function properly. You will need the statement: FILES=31 in your CONFIG.SYS file (DOS likes odd numbers!). Additionally, you also need to have the following statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so ToDo knows where its files are: SET ToDo=[d:][path] This tells ToDo where it can find its files. The [path] should be the path for the ToDo data files. For example: SET ToDo=C:\todo ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒══════════════════════╕ │ REQUIRED FILES │ ╘══════════════════════╛ The following files are required for ToDo: AHOURS DBF Archived Hours Worked Data Base ATASKS DBF Archived Task Data Base CLIENTS DBF Client Data Base COLORS DBF Standard Color Definitions CONTROL DBF Internal Data Base used by ToDo EXPENSES DBF Expenses Data Base FONTS DBF Printer Fonts Definition HOLIDAY DBF Holiday Data Base (not required initially) HOURS DBF Hours Worked Data Base HOWTO DBF ToDo Road Map Data Base (not required initially) IMPORTAN DBF Important Numbers (encrypted) Palette EXE Stand alone program to Change EGA/VGA palette PHONEHIS DBF Phone Call History Data Base NOTES DBF Task Notes Data Base NOTES2 DBF Name and Address Comments NOTES3 DBF Diary Rpt EXE ToDo Program #3 Rpt OVL ToDo Overlay #3 SPECHIST DBF Special Dates Archive SPECIAL DBF Special Dates Data Base SYSHELP DBF System Help Data Base (not required initially) TASKS DBF Task Data Base TEMP RPT Screen Report File (not required initially) TD EXE ToDo Program #2 TD OVL ToDo Overlay #2 ToDo EXE The ToDo Startup Program ToDo HLP ToDo System Help File ToDo MEM Internal Storage File (not required initially) TODO PAL Palette Color Changes (required for PALETTE.EXE) ToDo2 MEM Internal Storage File (not required initially) ToDoERRS DBF Error History (not required initially) ToDoNA DBF Names and Phone Numbers TODONA2 DBF Addresses ToDoREST EXE Restore Program for ToDo Backup (ToDo.BU) Util EXE ToDo Program #4 Util OVL ToDo Overlay #4 Plus ToDo will create its own indexes for the above files. ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒═══════════════════════╕ │ Backing Up │ ╘═══════════════════════╛ As with ALL programs, you should back up the ToDo program files on a regular basis (I backup up once a day). When you exit ToDo, you will be given the opportunity to Back Up the ToDo Data files (the corres- ponding RESTORE program can be accessed from the Utility Menu). ToDo will back up all of the necessary files to a single file on whatever drive you choose. ------ This backup is limited to a single drive. For example, if backing up to a 360K - 5 1/4" floppy, your backup will be limited to 360K of data. In ToDo's world, this is a LOT of information, and it is unlikely that you will ever need more than this. But.....if you do, you can use any commercial (on non-commercial) backup product you choose. The only files you will need to back up can be categorized as follows: *.DBF *.MEM If for some reason, you can't get into ToDo, because of a problem with the databases, you can use the stand alone program: ToDoREST.EXE to restore ToDo databases. You should run this program from the ToDo directory, and it requires one parameter: the location of the ToDo backup file (ToDo.BU). For example, if the ToDo.BU file is on drive B: in the root directory, you would enter: ToDoREST B:\ When starting up ToDo after manually restoring these files, you should always use the /R option from the command line (i.e., ToDo /R). This will cause ToDo to regenerate all of its index files. This WON'T be necessary if you use ToDo's Backup and Restore function (from the Utility Menu). ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒═══════════════════════╕ │ Other Information │ ╘═══════════════════════╛ ToDo is written in the dBase Language, compiled using the Clipper compiler, along with a few "C" & assembler programs thrown in for good measure! ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒═══════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Copyrights, and other necessities │ ╘═══════════════════════════════════════╛ This software is distributed to you on an "as is" basis without warrantee of any kind. PriceWise and Bert Sirkin make no warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation, any warrantees of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. Neither PriceWise or Bert Sirkin shall not be liable for any damages, whether direct, indirect, special or consequential arising from a failure of any function within the above mentioned program to operate in the manner desired by the user. In no event will PriceWise or Bert Sirkin be responsible for any damage, including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of use of the programs contained on the above mentioned disk(s). whew! (c) Copyright 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 PriceWise (Bert Sirkin) ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ╒══════════════╕ │ Help!! │ ╘══════════════╛ If you have any suggestions or ideas for improving ToDo, or find any Bugs (ugh!), please let us know! Thanks! Bert Sirkin (PriceWise) P.O. Box 370542 West Hartford, CT 06137 (203) 232-2515