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APCAL
VERSION 3.20
____________________
MANUAL
Gamma Software
COPYRIGHT
_____________________________________________________________________
COPYRIGHT
_________
Copyright 1990,1991,1992,1993 by Gamma Software.
All rights reserved.
TRADEMARKS
__________
APCAL is a trademark of Gamma Software.
IBM PC, PC/XT, PC/AT and PS/2 are registered trademarks of
International Business Machines, Inc.
Proprinter is a trademark of International Business Machines.
Epson FX80 and RX80 are registered trademarks of Epson America,
Inc.
DISCLAIMER
__________
Users of APCAL must accept this disclaimer of warranty:
APCAL 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 APCAL.
_____________________________________________________________________
i
INDEX
_____________________________________________________________________
Contents
________ Page
Introduction ........................................ 1
Getting Help ...................................... 2
System Requirements ............................... 2
Manual Conventions ................................ 3
Upgrading From A Previous Version ................... 4
New Features In 3.20 ................................ 5
Installation ........................................ 6
Getting Started ..................................... 8
Pull Down Menu ...................................... 16
Executing APCAL ..................................... 20
Month/Appointment Screen ............................ 22
Appointment Editing ................................. 24
Alarms .............................................. 27
Monthly Calendar .................................... 29
Yearly Calendar ..................................... 31
Configuration ....................................... 32
Key Reference ....................................... 48
File Descriptions ................................... 51
Problem Resolution .................................. 52
Index ............................................... 54
Figures
_______ Page
FIGURE 1 - Split Screen Month/Appointment Display .. 8
FIGURE 2 - Time / Date Configuration Screen ........ 9
FIGURE 3 - Appointment Template Configuration ...... 10
FIGURE 4 - Printer Configuration ................... 11
FIGURE 5 - Holiday Configuration Screen ............ 12
FIGURE 6 - Monthly Calendar Screen ................. 13
FIGURE 7 - Appointment Edit Screen ................. 14
FIGURE 8 - Split Screen Month/Appointment Display .. 22
FIGURE 9 - Appointment Edit Screen ................. 24
FIGURE 10 - Appointment Alarm Menu .................. 26
FIGURE 11 - Regular Alarm Screen .................... 27
FIGURE 12 - Monthly Calendar Screen ................. 29
FIGURE 13 - Yearly Calendar Screen .................. 31
FIGURE 14 - Color Configuration Menu ................ 32
FIGURE 15 - Color Selection Bar ..................... 32
FIGURE 16 - Appointment Template Configuration ...... 33
FIGURE 17 - Printer Configuration ................... 35
FIGURE 18 - Holiday Configuration Screen ............ 38
FIGURE 19 - Start Screen Configuration .............. 40
FIGURE 20 - Alarm Configuration Screen .............. 41
FIGURE 21 - TSR Configuration Screen ................ 43
FIGURE 22 - Time / Date Configuration Screen ........ 45
FIGURE 23 - Auto Save Configuration Screen .......... 47
_____________________________________________________________________
ii
INTRODUCTION
_____________________________________________________________________
The APCAL program is the first PC based appointment calendar
you can actually use. Since the goal of any time management
system is to make better use of your time, it does not make sense
to have to spend hours learning how to use that system. APCAL is
extremely easy to use because it is patterned after things with
which you are already familiar. For example, it has a monthly
calendar with day blocks, in which you can type notes just like a
wall or desk calendar. The appointments are set up just like most
appointment books, you simply type in the appointment next to the
desired time.
APCAL has advantages over conventional, printed, appointment books
because you can customize it to suit your needs. You can configure
the appointment times to match your schedule. You can use the
speed of your computer to search for a certain appointment, rather
than scan through your appointment book page by page. You can
easily move an appointment to a different time or day. You can set
reminders which display, no matter what you are doing on your
computer, so you don't forget about an important meeting. Best of
all, with APCAL you don't have to buy more pages for your
appointment book every year. If you need to take your schedule on
the road, you can simply print out a hard copy. Better yet, if you
have a portable system, take it with you.
The program has a customizable holiday file for setting holidays,
birthdays, anniversaries, etc. These are automatically included in
the proper calendars. APCAL also contains a unique feature called
"boot alarms" which are displayed when you boot up your computer.
Great for reminding you of birthdays, anniversaries and other
important events.
All alarms can be set to occur over a given time period and will
keep resounding if you "snooze" them when they are displayed.
The program also contains a "quick scan" display which allows you
to easily view your appointments for the week or month. This can
be used to locate an empty time slot or just to see how busy you
are going to be. The quick scan display has 3 monthly calendars on
the left, with one day highlighted. The appointment file for the
highlighted day is displayed on the right. You can highlight
other days, and view their appointment schedule using the arrow
keys. If you want to change something in one of your appointment
schedules, simply press TAB, make the desired changes and press TAB
again to return to the quick scan display.
APCAL can be run as a TSR and popped up whenever you desire, no
matter what program you are in at the time. It is popped up via a
user specified "hot-key." It takes up less than 10k of memory
when loaded as a TSR. This can be handy if you are in another
program on your computer and someone calls and you need to make a
_____________________________________________________________________
1
INTRODUCTION
_____________________________________________________________________
change to your schedule. All you have to do is press the hot-key,
make the change, exit APCAL, and you are right back where you left
off in the other program.
APCAL is fully configurable and contains on-line help. The program
also supports international time and date formats, as well as
standard and military times.
Gamma Software is committed to bringing you quality software at
affordable prices.
About This Manual
_________________
The APCAL program is intended to be as easy to use as possible, but
you should take a few minutes to go through the "Getting Started"
section of this manual. The sections following "Getting Started"
describe the different features available in the program. They can
be read in any order, as needed.
The "Key Reference" section is designed to be used as a reference
once you become familiar with the program.
Getting Help
____________
If you have a problem with the APCAL software, first look to the
"Problem Resolution" section which contains solutions for the most
commonly encountered problems. If you are still having difficulty,
then support may be obtained by calling:
(303) 490-2928
between the hours of 8am and 5pm Mountain Time, Monday thru Friday.
Support may also be obtained by writing to:
Gamma Software
P.O. Box 8191
Fort Collins, CO 80526
or via CompuServe mail at:
73737,1721
Please describe the problem in sufficient detail so it can be
reproduced by us.
Support is currently free and unlimited. We do reserve the right
to change these policies in the future.
_____________________________________________________________________
2
INTRODUCTION
_____________________________________________________________________
System Requirements
___________________
- IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or compatible.
- 512k ram.
- DOS 2.0 or later.
- Monochrome or color monitor.
- Screen mode is assumed to be 80 columns and 25 lines (greater
line modes can be set but only the first 25 lines will be used).
- Floppy drive.
- Hard disk recommended.
Manual Conventions
__________________
When two keys need to be pressed simultaneously to perform a given
operation they are separated by a plus (+). For example, Shift+Tab
means to press the Shift key and hold it down while the Tab key is
pressed. The arrow keys are denoted as Right, Left, Up and Down.
File names are in all capital letters. There is an implied Enter
at the end of most commands (i.e. you must press the Enter key
after typing in the command).
_____________________________________________________________________
3
UPGRADING FROM PREVIOUS VERSION
_____________________________________________________________________
Upgrading From Version 3.10 To 3.20
___________________________________
Version 3.20 of APCAL does not recognize appointment, alarm and
monthly calendar files from previous versions of the program. If
you are upgrading from a version prior to 3.10, first follow the
steps in the next section to upgrade your files to 3.10 format.
Then follow the steps below to upgrade to version 3.20.
The program APUPDAT2.EXE will convert files from version 3.10 to
3.20 format. First, change to the drive and directory containing
APCAL, then type the following command.
APUPDAT2
The program will list the files it has found and convert them.
Upgrading From Versions Prior To 3.10
_____________________________________
Version 3.10 of APCAL no longer requires the APCAL environment
variable (as long as you are using DOS 3.0 or higher). If
no environment variable is set, then APCAL will use the directory
it was run from as the working directory.
The program APUPDAT1.EXE will convert files from all versions of
APCAL prior to 3.10 to 3.10 format. First, change to the drive
and directory containing APCAL, then type the following command.
APUPDAT1
The program will list the files it has found and convert them.
_____________________________________________________________________
4
REVISION HISTORY
_____________________________________________________________________
New Features In 3.20
____________________
- APCAL can now be loaded as a TSR and popped up over other
programs.
- It takes up less than 10k of conventional memory as a TSR.
- The hot-key used to pop up the program can be set by the user.
- Alarms no longer use a separate alarm handler TSR.
- Alarms will now display in graphics mode.
- A switch (/m) has been added which forces the program to use the
monochrome display mode. This can be useful on certain
monochrome systems the program mistakenly identifies as
having a color display.
- The time and date displays were modified to allow for
international formats.
- An "Auto Save" feature has been added. When auto save is on, the
appointment, monthly calendar and alarm files are automatically
saved.
- A quick means of moving between the split month/appointment
screen and the appointment edit screen has been added. Pressing
the TAB key switches between them. This, combined with the auto
save feature, makes appointment editing much easier.
New Features In 3.10
____________________
- Several new configuration options have been added.
Printer Configuration
Holiday Configuration
Start Screen Configuration
Alarm Configuration
- The program now uses a pull-down menu system.
- Alarms can be set to go off a specified number of minutes before
an appointment and will keep coming back for a specified number
of minutes if snoozed.
- The reminder screen has been replaced with the alarm screen.
- Boot alarms have been added.
- A time and date display has been added to the program.
- The program now has the ability to temporarily shell to DOS.
- The on-line help has been expanded.
- The program no longer requires an environment variable.
_____________________________________________________________________
5
INSTALLATION
_____________________________________________________________________
FLOPPY DISK INSTALLATION
________________________
No installation is required to run this program from a floppy.
Simply type in the proper command to execute the program. For
example:
A:\APCAL
The program should not be run as a TSR if it is executed from a
floppy disk.
To exit the program, press ALT+X or select "Exit" from the "File"
pull-down menu. See the following section, "Pull-Down Menu," for
information on how to use this feature.
HARD DISK INSTALLATION
______________________
Separate instructions are included which explain how to get the
APCAL files into a directory on your hard disk. After copying the
files to your hard disk, the setup program should be run. The
following paragraphs explain how to run the setup and what it does.
The setup program will modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT to contain the
proper line to load APCAL as a TSR. This will allow you to set
alarms which will pop up when you are in other programs. If you
do not want to load APCAL as a TSR, in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, you can
skip this section. See the section "Executing APCAL" for
information on the different ways APCAL can be run.
To run the setup program, change to the drive and directory where
APCAL has been loaded. For example, type the following commands.
C:
CD \APCAL
Modify the two lines above to reflect where you loaded APCAL.
Then type:
APSETUP
The setup program first prompts you for the drive from which you
boot your computer. The default of "c" is normally correct. If
you use another drive then type in the drive letter and press
Enter. The program will look in the root directory of the drive
specified for the file AUTOEXEC.BAT.
_____________________________________________________________________
6
INSTALLATION
_____________________________________________________________________
If the program does not find AUTOEXEC.BAT, it will ask you if you
want to create it. Answering no (pressing the n key and then
Enter), will cause the program to prompt you for the drive again.
Answering, yes (pressing the y key and then Enter), will create an
AUTOEXEC.BAT file with the line to load APCAL as a TSR. If the
file could not be created then the program will prompt you for the
drive again. You can abort the setup process by pressing Esc at
the drive prompt.
If AUTOEXEC.BAT is found, the program will search for any existing
lines which need to be replaced. If it finds any then it displays
them, otherwise it displays only the new line to be added. The
setup program will then ask whether to make the indicated changes
or not. Answering yes, will replace the given line(s) (if
any) with the new line. A backup of your AUTOEXEC.BAT is created
with the displayed file name. Answering no, will leave your
AUTOEXEC.BAT unchanged and you must make the modifications
yourself.
If the AUTOEXEC.BAT file was successfully updated, the setup
program will prompt you to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete. This will reboot
your computer and load APCAL as a TSR.
Once the computer has rebooted, the program can be activated by
pressing ALT+A. This is called the "hot-key." The hot-key can be
configured to any key sequence you desire (see the section "TSR
Configuration"). The hot-key can be used to pop up the program at
any time, even when you are in another program. See the section
"Executing APCAL" for other ways of running the program.
To exit the program press ALT+X or select "Exit" from the "File"
pull-down menu. See the following section for information on how
to use the pull-down menu.
DOS 2.x NOTE
____________
The APCAL program cannot detect what directory it was run from if
you are running under a version of DOS less than 3.0. This means
you must set the APCAL environment variable if you are using DOS
2.x. A command similar to the following should be placed in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
set apcal=c:\apcal
Replace the text "c:\apcal" with the directory you loaded APCAL
into.
_____________________________________________________________________
7
GETTING STARTED
_____________________________________________________________________
This section will take you on a brief guided tour of the program.
It will highlight the key features of the program and some ways in
which it can be used. It will not cover every aspect of the
program, but it will give you a feel for what you can do with
APCAL.
You should already have installed the software and executed the
program before starting this section. You should be viewing the
following screen.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ File Edit Options Search Program Config. Help(F1) │
│ OCTOBER 1991 TIME │am│A│ ││
│ S M T W T F S│HR:MN│pm│L│ Appointments ││
│ 1 2 3 4 5│─────┴──┼─┼───────────────────────────────││
│ 6 7 8 9 10 11 12│ 7:30 am│ │ ││
│ 13 14 15 16 17 18 19│ 8:00 am│ │ ││
│ 20 21 22 23 24 25 26│ 8:30 am│ │ ││
│ 27 28 29 30 31 │ 9:00 am│ │ ││
│ │ 9:30 am│ │ ││
│ NOVEMBER 1991 │10:00 am│ │ ││
│ S M T W T F S│10:30 am│ │ ││
│ 1 2│11:00 am│ │ ││
│ 3 4 5 6 7 8 9│11:30 am│ │ ││
│ 10 11 12 13 14 15 16│12:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 17 18 19 20 21 22 23│12:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 24 25 26 27 28 29 30│ 1:00 pm│ │ ││
│ │ 1:30 pm│ │ ││
│ DECEMBER 1991 │ 2:00 pm│ │ ││
│ S M T W T F S│ 2:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7│ 3:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 8 9 10 11 12 13 14│ 3:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 15 16 17 18 19 20 21│ 4:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 22 23 24 25 26 27 28│ 4:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 29 30 31 │ 5:00 pm│ │ ││
│ │ 5:30 pm│ │ ││
└─────────────────────┴────────┴─┴───────────────────────────────┴┘
FIGURE 1 - Split Screen Month/Appointment Display
The first thing you will do is configure the program to your
specifications. The format in which the program displays times
and dates can be configured. This allows for different time and
date formats used in different countries and also for individual
preferences. To bring up the time/date configuration, press Alt+P
and then press the I key. This will bring up the time/date
configuration menu.
_____________________________________________________________________
8
GETTING STARTED
_____________________________________________________________________
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Time / Date Configuration │
│ │
│ TIME PARAMETERS │
│ │
│ Format: 12 Hour │
│ AM Text: am │
│ PM Text: pm │
│ Separator:: │
│ │
│ DATE PARAMETERS │
│ │
│ Order: Month Day Year │
│ Separator:/ │
│ │
│ │
│ ┌── Time/Date Config. ──┐ │
│ │Edit │ │
│ │Save │ │
│ │Help │ │
│ │Quit │ │
│ └───────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 2 - Time / Date Configuration Screen
Next, press Enter to select "Edit" from the pop-up menu. This will
place you in the first field of time/date configuration menu. If
you prefer to use 24 hour (military) times instead of a 12 hour
clock, then press the space bar. This will to the selection to
read "24 Hour." The selection can be toggled back to "12 Hour" by
press the space bar again. To move on to the next field, press
Tab.
The next 2 fields set the text used for AM and PM, respectively,
when 12 hour times are displayed. If you have configured 24 hour
times you can skip past these 2 fields by pressing Tab twice. If
you would prefer to use different text for AM/PM, then you may
enter it in the corresponding field. Press Tab to move to the next
field.
The "Separator" field sets the character used to separate the hours
and minutes when times are displayed. You may enter any character
in this field. Press Tab when you have set the desired separator
character.
The next 3 fields set the order in which the day, month and year
are displayed in dates. Using the configuration, in the figure
above, dates would be displayed as month/day/year (e.g. 1/20/93 for
1JAN93). If you would prefer to display dates as day/month/year
(e.g. 20/1/93), then press the space bar to toggle the first field
to "Day." Next, press Tab to move to the second field and press
_____________________________________________________________________
9
GETTING STARTED
_____________________________________________________________________
the space bar twice. This will toggle the field to "Month." Dates
will now display as day/month/year.
The next field sets the character which separates the day, month
and year when dates are displayed. If you prefer to use a period,
for example, then press the period key. Press Tab to process the
change.
To return to the pop-up menu press Esc. Now, press the S key to
save the changes you have made to the configuration. Press Enter
when the "File Saved" message box appears and press the Q key to
exit this configuration. This will bring you back to the month/
appointment display.
The empty appointment screen displayed when you first enter
appointments for a given date can also be configured. This allows
you to set the appointment times to match your schedule or enter
any text you want to appear on all appointment files. To edit the
initial appointment screen, press Alt+P and then press the A key.
This will bring up the appointment template configuration menu.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Appointment Template Configuration │
│TIME │am│A│ ││
│HR:MN│pm│L│ Appointments ││
├─────┴──┼─┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────││
│ 7:30 am│ │ ││
│ 8:00 am│ │ ││
│ 8:30 am│ │ ││
│ 9:00 am│ │ ││
│ 9:30 am│ │ ││
│10:00 am│ │ ││
│10:30 am│ │ ││
│11:00 am│ │ ││
│11:30 am│ │ ││
│12:00 pm│ │ ││
│12:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 1:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 1:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 2:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 2:30 pm│ │ ┌─Appt. Template Config─┐ ││
│ 3:00 pm│ │ │ Edit │ ││
│ 3:30 pm│ │ │ Save │ ││
│ 4:00 pm│ │ │ Help │ ││
│ 4:30 pm│ │ │ Quit │ ││
│ 5:00 pm│ │ └───────────────────────┘ ││
│ 5:30 pm│ │ ││
└────────┴─┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴┘
FIGURE 3 - Appointment Template Configuration
Press Enter to select "Edit" from the pop-up menu. This will place
_____________________________________________________________________
10
GETTING STARTED
_____________________________________________________________________
you in the appointment template. You may type in any text you
desire. For example, if you want your first appointment to start
at 7:00 am instead of 7:30, then press the right arrow key until
the cursor is over the 3 in 7:30. Press the 0 key to overwrite the
3. If you wanted to block out the 12:00 and 12:30 appointments for
lunch, then you could press Enter until the cursor is on the 12:00
line. Then press the right arrow key until the cursor is past the
"AL" (alarm) field. Then enter "LUNCH" or whatever text you
desire. Do the same for the next line. When you have finished
editing the appointment template, press Esc to return to the pop-up
menu. Press the S key to save the changes. Press Enter when the
"Parameters Saved" message box appears. Next, press the Q key to
exit.
In order to produce printouts in this program, you must configure
the printer parameters. To do this, press Alt+P and then press the
P key. This will bring up the printer configuration menu.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ EPSON Printer Name: EPSON FX 80 │
│->EPSON FX 80 │
│ EPSON RX 80 Printer Device: PRN │
│ HP Laserjet │
│ IBM PROPRINTER Printer Mode: GRAPHIC │
│ Standard Graphic Printer │
│ Standard Non-graphic Prn Escape Sequence Before Printing:│
│ File (graphic) FILE:apfx.dat │
│ File (non-graphic) │
│ Escape Sequence After Printing: │
│ │
│ │
│ ┌──────────────Key Assignments──────────────┐│
│ │F1 Help F7 Edit Esc2 ││
│ │F2 Select Printer F8 Add ││
│ │F3 Toggle Device F9 Delete ││
│ │F4 Toggle Mode F10 Save Configuration││
│ │F5 Edit Name ESC To Quit ││
│ │F6 Edit Esc1 ││
│ └────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 4 - Printer Configuration
Use the up and down arrow keys to position the pointer (->) to the
left of the printer to which you are connected. If your printer is
not listed, then select the "Standard Graphic Printer." Once you
have positioned the pointer to the proper printer press F2. This
will select the printer and highlight it. The printer device "PRN"
is normally correct for most systems. If you know your printer is
connected to a different port, then press F3 until the desired
device is displayed to the right of "Printer Device." Finally,
press F10 to save the printer configuration you have selected.
_____________________________________________________________________
11
GETTING STARTED
_____________________________________________________________________
Press Enter when the "Parameters Saved" message box appears and
then press Escape to exit this configuration.
The last configuration item we will look at is the holiday
configuration. This allows you to customize the holidays,
birthdays, anniversaries, etc., which appear in the monthly
calendars. To bring up the holiday configuration press Alt+P and
then press the H key.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Holiday Configuration Page 01 of 02 │
│ │
│->New Year's Day │
│ Valentines Day Type: Month/Day Every Year│
│ Presidents Day Name Line 1: New Year's │
│ St. Patrick's Name Line 2: Day │
│ Mother's Day Year: N/A │
│ Memorial Day Month: JANUARY │
│ Father's Day Day: 01 │
│ Independnc Day Day Of Week: N/A │
│ Labor Day Number: N/A │
│ Halloween │
│ Thanksgivn ┌─────Key Assignments────┐│
│ Christmas │F1 Help ││
│ Easter │F2 Edit ││
│ Easter │F3 Add ││
│ Easter │F4 Delete ││
│ Easter │F5 Save ││
│ Easter │PAGE UP Previous Page││
│ Easter │PAGE DOWN Next Page ││
│ Easter │ESC To Quit ││
│ Easter └────────────────────────┘│
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 5 - Holiday Configuration Screen
Press the F3 key to add an entry to the list. This will place you
in the "Type:" field on the right. This determines how often the
holiday occurs and determines what parameters the program will
prompt you for in the fields, below. We will enter a birthday.
Press the space bar once. This will bring up "Month/Day Every
Year" in the field. This means the holiday occurs on a specific
month and day every year. It will be placed in the proper monthly
calendar every year, automatically. Press Enter to move to the
next field.
Type in the text you want to appear on the first line of the day
block of the monthly calendar. You probably will want to type in
the name of the person whose birthday you are about to enter.
Press Enter to move on to the next field. If you wish, you can
enter some text which will appear on the second line in the day
block. For example, you may wish to enter "Birthday." Press Enter
when you have entered the text, if any.
_____________________________________________________________________
12
GETTING STARTED
_____________________________________________________________________
Next you must enter the month of the birthday. Press the space bar
until the correct month appears, then press Enter. The next field
sets the day of the birthday. Press the space bar to toggle the
selection and press Enter when the proper day is displayed.
You have now entered the birthday and control is passed from the
parameter menu back to the list on the left. Press the Page Down
key to see the entry you just entered. This will bring up page 2
of the list and your entry will be at the bottom. To check the
parameters you have entered, press the down arrow key until the
pointer (->) is positioned to the left of your entry. The
parameters for your entry will be displayed to the right.
Finally, press F5 to save the configuration. Press Enter and then
Escape to exit this configuration and return to the month/
appointment display.
To see the birthday you have just entered, press Ctrl+Right or
Ctrl+Left to scroll the monthly calendars to the next or previous
month, respectively. For example, if you are currently on the
month of May and the birthday you entered is in July, then press
Ctrl+Right twice. This will place you in July. Press the F4 key
to bring up the monthly calendar.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ File Edit Options Search Program Config. Help(F1) │
├───SUN──┬───MON──┬───TUE──┬───WED──┬───THU──┬───FRI──┬───SAT──┤
│ │ │ │ │ │1 │2 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┤
│3 │4 │5 │6 │7 │8 │9 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┤
│10 │11 │12 │13 │14 │15 │16 │
│ │ │Someones│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │Birthday│ │ │ │ │
├────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┤
│17 │18 │19 │20 │21 │22 │23 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┤
│24 │25 │26 │27 │28 │29 │30 │
│ │ │ │ │Thnksgvn│ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │NOVEMBER│
│ │ │ │ │ │ │1991 │
└────────┴────────┴────────┴────────┴────────┴────────┴────────┘
FIGURE 6 - Monthly Calendar Screen
_____________________________________________________________________
13
GETTING STARTED
_____________________________________________________________________
The birthday will be displayed in the day block of the day it
falls on. You can enter notes directly in the day blocks, as well.
Press the Tab key to move to the next day block. Enter any text
you desire.
To print the calendar, press Alt+F and then press the P key. The
calendar will then be printed to the printer you configured,
previously. If the graphic line characters did not print
correctly, then press Alt+P and then the P key. Use the arrow keys
to position the pointer to "Standard Non-graphic Prn" and press F2.
Press F10 to save the configuration and press Escape to return to
the monthly calendar. Print the calendar again. This time it will
print correctly.
Press F6 to return to the month/appointment display. Press
Ctrl+Home to return to the actual date. To enter an appointment in
the appointment schedule, displayed on the right, press Tab. This
will bring up the appointment edit screen.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ File Edit Options Search Program Config. Help(F1) │
│TIME │am│A│ ││
│HR:MN│pm│L│ Appointments MONDAY 11- 4-91 ││
├─────┴──┼─┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────││
│ 7:30 am│ │ ││
│ 8:00 am│ │ ││
│ 8:30 am│ │ ││
│ 9:00 am│ │ ││
│ 9:30 am│ │ ││
│10:00 am│ │ ││
│10:30 am│ │ ││
│11:00 am│ │ ││
│11:30 am│ │ ││
│12:00 pm│ │ ││
│12:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 1:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 1:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 2:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 2:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 3:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 3:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 4:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 4:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 5:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 5:30 pm│ │ ││
└────────┴─┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴┘
FIGURE 7 - Appointment Edit Screen
Lets say you have a meeting with the president (your a VIP) at
9 am. Press the down arrow key until the cursor is to the right
_____________________________________________________________________
14
GETTING STARTED
_____________________________________________________________________
of the 9 am time. Type in "Meeting with the president." Oh no,
the president just called and can't meet with you until 2 pm. No
problem, press Alt+M. This will copy the line to a scratch buffer
and erase it. Press Enter until the cursor is on the 2 pm line.
Now, press Alt+I. This will copy the scratch buffer to the current
line. You have just moved the appointment.
Press Tab to return to the month/appointment display. Press the
left arrow key. This will highlight the previous day and display
its appointment schedule. If you want to find a particular
appointment and are not sure what date it falls on, then press F7.
This will bring up the search prompt on the top line of the
display. Type in "president" and press Enter. The program will
then locate the next appointment schedule containing the text. It
will highlight the date and display the appointment schedule to the
right.
Now, lets say you have an appointment with the IRS at 8:15 am.
Press Tab to bring up the appointment menu. Move the cursor to the
8 am field. Since the appointment is really at 8:15 you need to
change the time. Press F9 to toggle the editing of the time
fields. Now press the left arrow key until the cursor is over the
first zero in the 8:00 am time. Type in "15" and press F9. The
time has now been updated and you are at the beginning of the
appointment slot. Type in "Meeting with the IRS." You have just
updated your schedule for the day.
To produce a printout of the schedule press Alt+F and then press
the P key. The schedule will then be printed.
This concludes our tour of the program. Press Alt+X to exit.
There are many more features in the program which you can read
about in the following sections.
It is best to enter all your holidays, birthdays, etc. before using
the program extensively. This is because any holiday entries you
enter will only be reflected in calendars you have not saved. In
other words, if you have entered text in some of the monthly
calendars and then configure a new holiday, it will not be added to
the calendars to which you have previously added text.
The same is true for the appointment template. Any changes made
to the template are not reflected in appointment schedules which
have already been saved.
_____________________________________________________________________
15
PULL-DOWN MENU
_____________________________________________________________________
PULL-DOWN MENU
______________
The pull-down menu at the top of the screen has several options
which can be used throughout the program. To activate this menu
press the Alt key. This will highlight the "File" field. The
right and left arrow keys can be used to move from one field to
another. To pull down the sub-menu for a field, press the Enter
key. Pressing one of the bold characters on the top line of
the pull-down will move to that field and pull down its sub-menu.
If a sub-menu is already pulled down, then the bold characters on
the top line are no longer active. The up and down arrow keys
are used to move from one sub-menu field to another. Pressing
Enter, selects the currently highlighted sub-menu field. Pressing
the bold character of one of the sub-menu fields automatically
selects it. Pressing Esc, exits the pull-down without making a
selection. Once a selection is made or Esc pressed, the
appropriate action is taken and control is returned to the main
menu below.
When a field in the pull-down menu is not currently active, it is
displayed in a different color (usually dark grey on most color
monitors and totally blacked out on monochrome monitors).
Selecting one of these fields does nothing.
The following sections describe the main menu fields of the pull
down menu. The "Edit" pull down varies depending on which section
of the program you are in at the time. This menu is described in
the documentation for each section. Some of the pull-down options
can be executed directly, without going through the pull-down.
These options list the appropriate key(s) (to the right, in
parenthesis) to type to execute the command directly.
Files
_____
The files section of the main pull-down has the following options:
Save, Delete, Print, Dos Shell, Go Resident, Unload and Exit.
They are described below.
Save - saves the currently displayed appointment, monthly calendar
or alarm file. The file is saved to the directory set by the
APCAL environment variable or, if none was set, to the directory
APCAL was run from. Selecting "Save" from the month/appt.
screen or the year screen has no effect, since these screens
cannot be edited or saved.
_____________________________________________________________________
16
PULL-DOWN MENU
_____________________________________________________________________
Delete - deletes the currently displayed appointment, monthly
calendar or alarm file. This causes the screen to be reset,
removing any changes you have made during this or any previous
session. This option has no effect in the month/appt. or year
screens.
Print - prints the currently displayed appointment schedule or
monthly calendar. You must be displaying the desired calendar
or appointment schedule before selecting "Print." Selecting
"Print" in the month/appt. screen or the year screen has no
effect since these screens cannot be printed.
Dos Shell - temporarily brings up the DOS command line. You can
then enter DOS commands. When you are ready to return to the
program, type "exit" and press Enter at the DOS command line.
It is important to remember to type "exit" when you are done.
The program remains in memory while you have shelled to DOS and
will severely limit the memory available to other programs.
This option should only be used to temporarily leave the program
to issue some DOS commands. If you wish to permanently leave
the program, use the "Exit" selection on the "File" menu in
APCAL. You cannot shell to DOS if you have loaded APCAL as a
TSR.
Go Resident - exits the program but leaves it resident in memory
so it can be popped up with the indicated hot-key. This
option does nothing if the program is already resident.
Unload - exits the program and removes it from memory. This option
does nothing if the program is not loaded as a TSR. The program
will not unload if it is not the last program in memory. This
means you cannot load other TSR's after APCAL. You also cannot
unload APCAL if you pop it from within another program. You
must pop it up from the DOS prompt to unload it.
Exit - Leaves the program and returns you to the DOS prompt or the
program you were in previously, if the program is being run as a
TSR. Pressing Alt+X will also exit the program.
Options
_______
The options section of the main pull-down has the following
selections: Appointments (F2), Alarm (F3), Month Calendar (F4),
Year Calendar (F5) and Month/Appt. (F6). They are used to switch
between the different screens available in APCAL.
Appointments - switches to the appointment edit screen. The
appointment file for the currently selected date is
displayed.
_____________________________________________________________________
17
PULL-DOWN MENU
_____________________________________________________________________
Alarm - switches to the alarm edit screen. The alarms for the
currently selected date, if any, are displayed.
Month Calendar - switches to the monthly calendar edit screen. The
monthly calendar for the currently selected date
is displayed.
Year Calendar - switches to the yearly calendar display.
Month/Appt. - switches to the split screen month/appointment
display.
See the individual sections for each of these options for more
information.
Search
______
The search section of the main pull-down has the following options:
Forward (F7) and Backward (Shift+F7). This pull-down sub-menu is
only active when the split month/appointment display is active.
This means you must select "Month/Appt." from the "Options" menu
(or press F2) before selecting "Search." The search options are
described below.
Forward - search for the given text in appointment files after the
current date.
Backward - search for the given text in appointment files before
the current date.
The current date is the one highlighted in the monthly calendars
on the left in the month/appt. screen. When a search option is
selected, the program prompts you for the text to search for on the
top line. Enter the desired text and press Enter. You may press
Escape to cancel the search. Once the search text has been
entered, the program will search the appointment files before/after
the current date for the given text. The search is not case
sensitive. If an appointment file is found which contains the
text, it is displayed to the right and the date corresponding to it
is made the current date. The next occurrence of the text string
can be found by selecting the search option again and pressing
Enter. The search string will default to the previous one entered
so you do not have to retype it.
_____________________________________________________________________
18
PULL-DOWN MENU
_____________________________________________________________________
Program Config.
_______________
The configuration section of the main pull-down has the following
options: Color, Appointment Template, Printer, Holidays, Start
Screen, Alarm, TSR, Time and Auto Save. They are described below.
Color - configures the program colors.
Appointment Template - configures the default appointment screen.
Printer - configures printer parameters.
Holidays - configures the holidays which are automatically built
into the monthly calendars when the are first created.
Start Screen - configures the first screen to appear when the
program is loaded.
Alarm - configures the alarm parameters.
TSR - configures the parameters associated with running the program
as a TSR.
Time - configures the time and date display. This allows for
different formats used in different countries.
Auto Save - allows you to turn the auto save feature on and off.
See each of these sections for more information.
Help
____
The help section of the main pull-down has the following options:
General, Appointment, Alarm, Month Calendar, Year Calendar, Month/
Appt. and Configuration. Each brings up the help information for
the indicated topic.
Help for a given topic may contain more than one page (screen). To
see the next page, highlight the "Next Page" field at the bottom of
the screen and press Enter. To go back to a previous page, select
the "Previous Page" field. To exit help, select the "End" field.
Press Tab and Shift+Tab to move between the selections.
_____________________________________________________________________
19
EXECUTING APCAL
_____________________________________________________________________
EXECUTING APCAL
_______________
The syntax for the APCAL command is:
C:\APCAL\APCAL [/L] [/M]
The path "C:\APCAL" must be replaced with the path of the directory
into which you loaded APCAL. The switches are optional and mean the
following.
/L Load the program as a TSR. This is how the program is
loaded resident in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file without having to
select "Go Resident" from the "File" menu.
/M Force the program to use the monochrome display attributes.
This is useful for certain systems APCAL mistakenly
identifies as having a color display.
There are two ways of running APCAL. First of all, it can be run
strictly as a foreground program. To run it this way you enter the
APCAL command without the "/L" switch. When you wish to leave the
program select "Exit" from the "File" menu and the program is
completely removed from memory. You can also press ALT+X to exit
the program.
The second way of running APCAL is as a Terminate and Stay Resident
(TSR) program. To run it this way, enter the APCAL command with
the "/L" switch. The program will load into memory and display the
hot-key which must be pressed to bring up the program. When the
hot-key is pressed, the program will be activated even if you are
in another program. To exit the program, select "Exit" from the
"File" menu. This will return you to the DOS prompt or whatever
program you were executing when the hot-key was pressed. The APCAL
program is not completely removed from memory as it is when "Exit"
is selected when APCAL is run as a foreground program. The program
can be popped up again via the hot-key as long as it is resident in
memory.
APCAL can also be loaded resident by executing it WITHOUT the "/L"
switch and selecting "Go Resident" from the "File" menu. This
option will exit the program but leave it resident in memory. It
can be activated by pressing the indicated hot-key.
To remove APCAL completely when it is loaded resident, you must
select "Unload" from the "File" menu. This will exit the program
and remove it completely from memory. This option can be used to
unload the program no matter how it was loaded resident. The
APCAL program cannot be unloaded if it is not the last program in
memory. You will get a message to this effect if it is not the
last program in memory and you select "Unload". This means you
_____________________________________________________________________
20
EXECUTING APCAL
_____________________________________________________________________
cannot pop up APCAL while in another program and then unload it.
You must pop up APCAL from a DOS prompt in order to unload it.
It is also very important APCAL be the last TSR you load. This is
because it swaps as much of its code and data as possible out of
conventional memory and to disk, ems or xms memory when it is not
active. Then, when it is re-activated, it swaps out any program
after it in memory and swaps back in its own code and data. This
can present a problem if one of the programs loaded after it is a
TSR servicing hardware or software interrupts (such as a mouse
driver or network driver) because the code to service the interrupt
will no longer be present. The setup program places the command to
load APCAL resident at the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file for this
reason.
The advantage of running APCAL as a TSR versus a foreground program
is the ability to pop APCAL up at any time to see your schedule.
Also, alarms you set will pop up in other programs when APCAL is
run as a TSR. When you run APCAL as a foreground program, the
alarms will only sound if you are in the program at the time the
alarm goes off. You also must always execute the program from the
DOS command line. You cannot activate it with a hot-key if it is
not run as a TSR.
The disadvantage of running APCAL as a TSR is it takes up some
of your conventional memory leaving less for other programs.
For information on how to set the hot-key and the other parameters
associated with running the program as a TSR, see the section on
TSR configuration.
NOTE - XMS version 2.0 or higher is required for XMS swapping.
EMS version 3.2 or higher is required for EMS swapping.
_____________________________________________________________________
21
MONTH/APPOINTMENT SCREEN
_____________________________________________________________________
The split screen month/appointment display is used to quickly scan
through your appointment schedules. It is also used to search for
a particular appointment and locate empty time slots.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ File Edit Options Search Program Config. Help(F1) │
│ OCTOBER 1991 TIME │am│A│ ││
│ S M T W T F S│HR:MN│pm│L│ Appointments ││
│ 1 2 3 4 5│─────┴──┼─┼───────────────────────────────││
│ 6 7 8 9 10 11 12│ 7:30 am│ │ ││
│ 13 14 15 16 17 18 19│ 8:00 am│ │ ││
│ 20 21 22 23 24 25 26│ 8:30 am│ │ ││
│ 27 28 29 30 31 │ 9:00 am│ │ ││
│ │ 9:30 am│ │ ││
│ NOVEMBER 1991 │10:00 am│ │ ││
│ S M T W T F S│10:30 am│ │ ││
│ 1 2│11:00 am│ │ ││
│ 3 4 5 6 7 8 9│11:30 am│ │ ││
│ 10 11 12 13 14 15 16│12:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 17 18 19 20 21 22 23│12:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 24 25 26 27 28 29 30│ 1:00 pm│ │ ││
│ │ 1:30 pm│ │ ││
│ DECEMBER 1991 │ 2:00 pm│ │ ││
│ S M T W T F S│ 2:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7│ 3:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 8 9 10 11 12 13 14│ 3:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 15 16 17 18 19 20 21│ 4:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 22 23 24 25 26 27 28│ 4:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 29 30 31 │ 5:00 pm│ │ ││
│ │ 5:30 pm│ │ ││
└─────────────────────┴────────┴─┴───────────────────────────────┴┘
FIGURE 8 - Split Screen Month/Appointment Display
This screen displays 3 months on the left with the current month
in the middle. The current day is highlighted and the appointment
file for that day is displayed on the right. The arrow keys are
used to highlight different days in the month. The appointment
file for the currently highlighted day is displayed on the right.
To scroll the monthly calendars ahead one month, press Ctrl+Right
or select the "Next Month" option from the "Edit" pull-down. To
scroll the monthly calendars back one month, press Ctrl+Left or
select "Previous Month" from the "Edit" pull-down. To return to
the actual date, press Ctrl+Home.
Pressing F1 brings up the help information on the month/appt.
display.
To search for a given text string in the appointment files after
the current date, press F7. Pressing Shift+F7 causes the program
to search backward from the current date. Both will bring up a
_____________________________________________________________________
22
MONTH/APPOINTMENT SCREEN
_____________________________________________________________________
menu on the top line of the display where you can enter a search
string. Press Enter when you have entered the desired text or
press Esc to cancel the search operation. If the specified text is
found in an appointment file, then that date is made current and
the appointment file is displayed to the right. The search string
defaults to the last value. This makes it easy to search for more
than one occurrence of the given text.
If you want to make a change to the currently displayed appointment
file, press TAB. This will bring up the appointment edit screen
and allow you to change the appointment schedule. Press TAB again
to move back to the month/appointment display.
_____________________________________________________________________
23
APPOINTMENT SCREEN
_____________________________________________________________________
The appointment screen is used to create and edit your appointments
for the currently selected date.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ File Edit Options Search Program Config. Help(F1) │
│TIME │am│A│ ││
│HR:MN│pm│L│ Appointments MONDAY 11- 4-91 ││
├─────┴──┼─┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────││
│ 7:30 am│ │ ││
│ 8:00 am│ │ ││
│ 8:30 am│ │ ││
│ 9:00 am│ │ ││
│ 9:30 am│ │ ││
│10:00 am│ │ ││
│10:30 am│ │ ││
│11:00 am│ │ ││
│11:30 am│ │ ││
│12:00 pm│ │ ││
│12:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 1:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 1:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 2:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 2:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 3:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 3:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 4:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 4:30 pm│ │ ││
│ 5:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 5:30 pm│ │ ││
└────────┴─┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴┘
FIGURE 9 - Appointment Edit Screen
If an appointment file has been previously saved for this date,
then it is displayed. Otherwise, the default appointment template
is displayed (see Appointment Template Configuration).
Many of the operations described below can be selected from the
"Edit" pull-down or by using the key(s) mentioned. Use whatever
method you prefer.
Use the up, down, right and left arrow keys to position the cursor
to the desired time. If no time exactly matches the time of your
appointment, then the time fields can be edited. Press the F9 key
to toggle editing of the time fields. Press the left arrow key
until you are positioned in the time field. Make the desired
changes to the time and press F9 again. This will move you out of
the time field and back to the start of the area where you can type
in your appointment. You cannot move back into the time field with
the left arrow key or by pressing Enter in this mode. This
prevents you from accidentally overwriting a time field. You can
tell which mode you are in by the color of the time fields. If the
_____________________________________________________________________
24
APPOINTMENT SCREEN
_____________________________________________________________________
time fields have the same color as the rest of the appointment
schedule, they are editable. If they are a different color, they
are protected. The F9 key toggles between the two modes.
Once you have positioned the cursor next to the desired appointment
time, type in any text you desire to describe the appointment.
Repeat this procedure until all appointments have been entered.
Press ALT+F to bring up the "File" pull-down and select "Save" to
save the appointments to a file. If auto save is on, exiting the
program or leaving the appointment edit screen will automatically
save the file.
If auto save is not on, trying to exit this screen without saving
changes made to the appointments will bring up the following
prompt:
"File has not been saved. Exit? Y/N "
Press the "Y" key and then Enter if you do not wish to save the
changes you have made. Press "N" and Enter if you do wish to save
the changes. Then select "Save" from the "File" pull-down.
To move an appointment to another time, position the cursor on the
line containing the appointment and press ALT+M. This will copy
the line to a scratch buffer and erase it. Position the cursor on
the line containing the new time for the appointment and press
Alt+I. This will overwrite the current line with the text in the
scratch buffer.
To move an appointment to another time and day, position the cursor
on the line containing the appointment and press Alt+M. Then press
TAB (you will have to save the file first if auto save is off) to
bring up the month/appt. display. Next, highlight the new date for
the appointment in the monthly calendars on the left. Press TAB
again to edit the appointment file. Position the cursor to the
desired time and press Alt+I.
The scratch buffer always contains the text from the last Alt+C or
Alt+M operation. It may be inserted with Alt+I as many times as
desired. The only difference between Alt+C and Alt+M is, Alt+C
(copy) does not erase the current line and Alt+M (move) does.
To delete all the characters from the current cursor position to
the end of the line, press Alt+D. To delete an entire line, press
Alt+L.
To set or remove an alarm for the appointment at the current cursor
position, press Alt+A. This brings up the appointment alarm menu.
_____________________________________________________________________
25
APPOINTMENT SCREEN
_____________________________________________________________________
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│Alarm: OFF │
│Number Of Minutes Before: 10│
│Duration (minutes): 10 │
│ │
│ OK CANCEL │
│ │
│ 0 Appointment Alarms │
│ 0 Regular Alarms │
│10 Alarms Available │
└─────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 10 - Appointment Alarm Menu
The first field in the alarm menu toggles the alarm "ON" and "OFF."
Press the space bar to toggle between the 2 values. Press Tab to
move to the next field and Shift+Tab to move to the previous. The
second field in this menu sets the number of minutes before the
appointment the alarm will sound. Entering anything other than an
integer causes a beep and the field cannot be exited until an
integer is entered. The duration field sets the number of minutes
the alarm will continue to sound if it is snoozed. It must also be
an integer.
For example, if the appointment time is 2:00 pm and the "Number
Of Minutes Before" field is set to 15 and the "Duration" field is
set to 15, then the alarm will sound at 1:45 pm. If "Snooze" is
selected when the alarm sounds, the alarm will snooze for the time
period set in the alarm configuration. If this value is 5, the
alarm will sound again 5 minutes from the time at which snooze was
selected. This continues until "End" is selected or the time is
later than 2:00 pm which is after the 15 minute duration of the
alarm.
Pressing Enter on the "OK" field, sets the alarm and exits the
alarm menu. Pressing Enter on the "CANCEL" field, exits the alarm
menu without setting the alarm. Pressing Esc on any field will
also exit without setting the alarm.
Appointments with alarms have a check mark in the alarm column. Up
to 10 alarms can be set for any day. This includes any alarms set
in the regular alarm menu.
The alarms will NOT sound until they have been saved. To save the
alarms and any other changes made to the appointment file, select
"Save" from the "File" pull-down menu. If auto save is on, exiting
the program or selecting another option from the "Option" pull-down
menu will also save the appointment file and alarms.
_____________________________________________________________________
26
ALARMS
_____________________________________________________________________
Alarms
______
There are 2 types of alarms which can be set in this program:
Appointment alarms and Regular alarms. The appointment alarms are
associated with an appointment and are set in the appointment edit
screen (described above). Regular or Boot alarms are set in the
alarm edit screen. They can be set for any time range and are not
associated with an appointment.
The "Alarm" selection on the "Options" pull-down allows the setting
of regular and boot alarms.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ File Edit Options Search Program Config. Help(F1) │
│ │
│->ALARM 1 Message │
│ ALARM 2 Message │
│ ALARM 3 Message │
│ ALARM 4 Message │
│ ALARM 5 Message │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
││Alarm: REG 0 Appointment Alarms ││
││Start Time: 11:00 am 5 Regular Alarms ││
││End Time: 11:30 am 5 Alarms Available ││
││Message: MONDAY 11- 4-91 ││
││ALARM 1 Message ││
││ ││
││ ││
│└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 11 - Regular Alarm Screen
The top portion of the regular alarm screen consists of the message
text for each alarm set for the current date. The pointer (->), at
the left, points to the selected alarm. The parameters associated
with this alarm are displayed in the box in the bottom portion of
the screen. The up and down arrow keys can be used to select other
alarms in the list. The "File" options on the pull-down menu can
be used to save and delete the alarm file for the currently
selected date.
When Alt+A or Alt+M is pressed, the parameter menu at the bottom of
the screen is activated. These parameters can then be edited.
Alt+A adds a new alarm and Alt+M allows the modification of the
parameters for the currently selected alarm. To move to the next
field in the alarm parameter menu, press Tab. Press Shift+Tab to
move to the previous field.
_____________________________________________________________________
27
ALARMS
_____________________________________________________________________
The first field in the alarm parameter menu determines whether the
alarm is a REGULAR or BOOT alarm. The space bar toggles between
the 2 values. Regular alarms occur for the time interval given in
the start and end time fields. Boot alarms occur when the computer
is first booted and continue until midnight unless terminated.
The start time fields set the time when the alarm will first sound
for REGULAR alarms. The hour field must be an integer between
1 and 12 (or 1 and 24 if 24 hour times have been configured). The
minute field must be an integer between 0 and 59. Entering
anything else causes a beep and the field cannot be exited until a
valid integer is entered. The last field on the start time line
indicates whether the time is am or pm (this field is absent if 24
hour times are configured). Use the space bar to toggle between
the 2 values.
The end time sets the end of a REGULAR alarm. The fields have the
same restrictions as the start time fields.
The start and end time are not set for BOOT alarms.
For example, if a regular alarm is set to start at 1:45 pm and end
at 2:00 pm, then the alarm will first sound at 1:45 pm. If
"Snooze" is selected when the alarm sounds, then the alarm will
snooze for the time period set in the alarm configuration. If this
value is 5, then the alarm will sound again 5 minutes from the time
at which snooze was selected. This continues until "End" is
selected or the time is later than 2:00 pm.
The message field sets the text which will be displayed when the
alarm sounds.
Pressing Enter on the "OK" field sets the alarm and exits the alarm
parameter menu. Pressing Enter on the "CANCEL" field exits the
alarm parameter menu without setting the alarm. Pressing Esc on
any field will also exit without setting the alarm.
Up to 10 alarms can be set for any day. This includes any alarms
set in the appointment menu.
The alarms will NOT sound until they have been saved. To save the
alarms, select "Save" from the "File" pull-down menu. If auto save
is on, then exiting the program or selecting another option from
the "Option" pull-down menu will also save the alarms.
If auto save is not on then trying to exit this screen without
saving changes made to the alarms will bring up the following
prompt:
"File has not been saved. Exit? Y/N "
_____________________________________________________________________
28
MONTHLY CALENDAR
_____________________________________________________________________
Press the "Y" key and then Enter if you do not wish to save the
changes you have made. Press "N" and Enter if you do wish to save
the changes. Then select "Save" from the "File" pull-down.
The monthly calendar screen is used to edit the monthly calendar
for the currently selected date.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ File Edit Options Search Program Config. Help(F1) │
├───SUN──┬───MON──┬───TUE──┬───WED──┬───THU──┬───FRI──┬───SAT──┤
│ │ │ │ │ │1 │2 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┤
│3 │4 │5 │6 │7 │8 │9 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┤
│10 │11 │12 │13 │14 │15 │16 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┤
│17 │18 │19 │20 │21 │22 │23 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┤
│24 │25 │26 │27 │28 │29 │30 │
│ │ │ │ │Thnksgvn│ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
├────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │NOVEMBER│
│ │ │ │ │ │ │1991 │
└────────┴────────┴────────┴────────┴────────┴────────┴────────┘
FIGURE 12 - Monthly Calendar Screen
If a monthly calendar file has been previously saved for this date,
then it is displayed. Otherwise, one is built for the currently
selected month, including any holidays configured for the month.
Any text you desire can be typed into the day boxes of the
calendar. Use the TAB and Shift+Tab keys to move from on day to
another.
Press Ctrl+Right to move to the next monthly calendar or Ctrl+Left
to move to the previous. Ctrl+Home returns to the actual date.
These options can also be selected from the "Edit" pull-down.
Select "Save" from the "File" pull-down menu to save the monthly
calendar to a file. If auto save is on, then exiting the program
or exiting the monthly calendar screen will also save the monthly
calendar.
_____________________________________________________________________
29
MONTHLY CALENDAR
_____________________________________________________________________
If auto save is off, trying to exit this screen without saving
changes made to the calendar will bring up the following prompt:
"Calendar has not been saved. Exit? Y/N "
Press the "Y" key and then Enter if you do not wish to save the
changes you have made. Press "N" and Enter if you do wish to save
the changes. Then select "Save" from the "File" pull-down.
_____________________________________________________________________
30
YEARLY CALENDAR
_____________________________________________________________________
The yearly calendar screen is used to select the current month and
year.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ File Edit Options Search Program Config. Help(F1) │
│ JULY 1991 AUGUST 1991 SEPTEMBER 1991│
│ S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S│
│ 1 2 3 4 5 6││ 1 2 3││ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7│
│ 7 8 9 10 11 12 13││ 4 5 6 7 8 9 10││ 8 9 10 11 12 13 14│
│14 15 16 17 18 19 20││11 12 13 14 15 16 17││15 16 17 18 19 20 21│
│21 22 23 24 25 26 27││18 19 20 21 22 23 24││22 23 24 25 26 27 28│
│28 29 30 31 ││25 26 27 28 29 30 31││29 30 │
│ ││ ││ │
│OCTOBER 1991 NOVEMBER 1991 DECEMBER 1991 │
│ S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S│
│ 1 2 3 4 5││ 1 2││ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7│
│ 6 7 8 9 10 11 12││ 3 4 5 6 7 8 9││ 8 9 10 11 12 13 14│
│13 14 15 16 17 18 19││10 11 12 13 14 15 16││15 16 17 18 19 20 21│
│20 21 22 23 24 25 26││17 18 19 20 21 22 23││22 23 24 25 26 27 28│
│27 28 29 30 31 ││24 25 26 27 28 29 30││29 30 31 │
│ ││ ││ │
│JANUARY 1992 FEBRUARY 1992 MARCH 1992 │
│ S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S│
│ 1 2 3 4││ 1││ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7│
│ 5 6 7 8 9 10 11││ 2 3 4 5 6 7 8││ 8 9 10 11 12 13 14│
│12 13 14 15 16 17 18││ 9 10 11 12 13 14 15││15 16 17 18 19 20 21│
│19 20 21 22 23 24 25││16 17 18 19 20 21 22││22 23 24 25 26 27 28│
│26 27 28 29 30 31 ││23 24 25 26 27 28 29││29 30 31 │
└────────────────────┴┴────────────────────┴┴────────────────────┘
FIGURE 13 - Yearly Calendar Screen
The yearly calendar screen displays 9 months on the screen at once
and allows you to scroll through them using the arrow keys or Tab
and Shift+Tab. This screen sets the month and year used when other
options are selected. For example, highlighting May 1995 and
pressing F4 will bring up the monthly calendar for May 1995.
Pressing Ctrl+Home returns to the actual date.
_____________________________________________________________________
31
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
Color Configuration
___________________
This screen allows the configuration of the colors used by the
program.
┌──── Color Config. ────┐
│Normal Text │
│Highlighted Text │
│Lowlight Text │
│Pop-up Normal │
│Pop-up Highlighted │
│Save │
│Restore Defaults │
│Help │
│Quit │
└───────────────────────┘
FIGURE 14 - Color Configuration Menu
To make a selection from the pop-up menu, highlight it using the up
and down arrow keys and press Enter or just type the field's bold
character. Selecting any of the options above "Save" will bring
up the color selection bar.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Normal Text │
│ v Foreground Color│
│████████████████████████████████████████████████ │
│ * Background Color│
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 15 - Color Selection Bar
The down arrow on the "Foreground Color" line points to the
currently selected foreground color. Use the left and right arrow
keys to change the selection. The diamond on the "Background
Color" line marks the currently selected background color. To
switch from selecting the foreground to the background color use
the up and down arrow keys. The text in the upper left displays
what the current selection looks like. Press Enter to accept it.
The following options are available on the pop-up menu.
Normal Text - Sets the normal text color. The color of the
majority of the text in the program.
Highlighted Text - Sets the color of highlighted normal text. For
example, the color of the current day selected
in the split screen month/appt display and the
color of the current month selected in the
yearly calendar display.
_____________________________________________________________________
32
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
Lowlight Text - Sets the color of lowlight text. For example, the
color of the appointment section of the split
screen month/appt display and the color of the time
fields in the appointment edit screen when they are
protected.
Pop-up Normal - Sets the color of the pop-up menu.
Pop-up Highlighted - Sets the color of the selected field in the
pop-up menu.
Save - Saves the current color selection to the configuration file.
If this is not done, any changes made to the color selection
will remain in effect for the current session only.
Restore Defaults - Reads the values set in the configuration file
and sets the colors to those values.
Help - Brings up a help screen.
Quit - Exits color configuration and returns to the previous menu.
Appointment Template Configuration
__________________________________
This screen allows the initial appointment screen to be configured.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Appointment Template Configuration │
│TIME │am│A│ ││
│HR:MN│pm│L│ Appointments ││
├─────┴──┼─┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────││
│ 7:30 am│ │ ││
│ 8:00 am│ │ ││
│ 8:30 am│ │ ││
│ 9:00 am│ │ ││
│ 9:30 am│ │ ││
│10:00 am│ │ ││
:
:
│ 2:00 pm│ │ ││
│ 2:30 pm│ │ ┌─Appt. Template Config─┐ ││
│ 3:00 pm│ │ │ Edit │ ││
│ 3:30 pm│ │ │ Save │ ││
│ 4:00 pm│ │ │ Help │ ││
│ 4:30 pm│ │ │ Quit │ ││
│ 5:00 pm│ │ └───────────────────────┘ ││
│ 5:30 pm│ │ ││
└────────┴─┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴┘
FIGURE 16 - Appointment Template Configuration
_____________________________________________________________________
33
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
This is the initial screen displayed when you select the
appointment edit option and no appointment file yet exists for the
current date. You may configure the times to match your typical
schedule and set any text you always want to appear in a particular
appointment slot. For example, you may want to block out the 12:00
to 1:00 pm slots for lunch. You can change the appointment
schedule times and appointment slots in the appointment edit menu
to allow for daily variations to your schedule. The appointment
template is just a starting point for each day.
To make a selection from the pop-up menu highlight, it using the up
and down arrow keys and press Enter or just type the field's bold
character. The following options are available on the pop-up menu.
Edit - Allows the editing of the appointment template. Press Esc
to end editing and return to the pop-up menu. Most of the
available keys in appointment editing are valid here.
Save - Saves the appointment template.
Help - Brings up a help screen.
Quit - Exits the appointment template configuration and returns to
the previous menu.
Printer Configuration
_____________________
This screen allows you to select the printer to which all print
operations will send their output. It also allows you to configure
new printers and modify the parameters of existing ones.
_____________________________________________________________________
34
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ EPSON Printer Name: EPSON FX 80 │
│->EPSON FX 80 │
│ EPSON RX 80 Printer Device: PRN │
│ HP Laserjet │
│ IBM PROPRINTER Printer Mode: GRAPHIC │
│ Standard Graphic Printer │
│ Standard Non-graphic Prn Escape Sequence Before Printing:│
│ File (graphic) FILE:apfx.dat │
│ File (non-graphic) │
│ Escape Sequence After Printing: │
│ │
│ │
│ ┌──────────────Key Assignments──────────────┐│
│ │F1 Help F7 Edit Esc2 ││
│ │F2 Select Printer F8 Add ││
│ │F3 Toggle Device F9 Delete ││
│ │F4 Toggle Mode F10 Save Configuration││
│ │F5 Edit Name ESC To Quit ││
│ │F6 Edit Esc1 ││
│ └────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 17 - Printer Configuration
The up and down arrow keys can be used to move the pointer (->) on
the left through the list of printers. The parameters for the
printer, to the right of the pointer, are displayed in the right
portion of the screen. The currently selected printer (the one
print output will be sent to) is highlighted. To select another
printer, move the pointer (->) to the desired printer and press F2.
The program is initially set to the "Standard Graphic Printer." If
this does not produce a good printout (e.g. the graphics line
characters come out as something other than lines), then select
your printer from the list. If your printer is not listed, select
the "Standard Non-graphic Printer."
The graphic and non-graphic printer modes cause the program to
print or not print, respectively, the graphic line characters. The
graphic line characters are part of the IBM character set. If your
printer is an IBM, or emulates an IBM printer, it will probably
print these characters (and you can use the "GRAPHIC" printer mode).
If your printer is an EPSON, or a printer which emulates an EPSON,
it probably will NOT print these characters. The 2 specialized
printer configurations: "EPSON FX 80" and "EPSON RX 80," will create
the line characters for these 2 printers only. When the non-graphic
print mode is selected, the graphic line characters are converted to
normal ASCII characters which will print on any printer. The
disadvantage is, these characters do not produce a printout which
looks as good as one using the graphic line characters.
_____________________________________________________________________
35
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
It is important to understand for each printer listed on the left
there is a separate set of parameters. When the pointer is moved,
the parameters for the printer it points to are displayed on the
right. Simply moving the pointer does not select another printer.
You must move the pointer to the desired printer and press F2 to
select it.
You can modify the parameters for any of the printers listed or
create your own printer configuration. You may need to modify the
parameters for your selected printer if output sent to the standard
print device "PRN" does not come out on your printer. To do this,
move the pointer to the proper printer and press F3. This will
toggle through the list of available devices. Select the proper
one for your printer. To modify the print mode, press the F4 key
to toggle between "GRAPHIC" and "NON-GRAPHIC." You can change the
name associated with these print parameters by pressing F5. The
escape sequences can also be edited (more on this later).
You can add a completely new configuration to the list by pressing
F8. The printer configuration currently to the right of the
pointer will be copied to the end of the list. You can then move
the pointer down to the end and give it a unique name (by pressing
F5) and edit the other parameters associated with it.
If you want to remove one of the printer configurations from the
list, position the pointer beside it and press F9.
To save the changes you have made to the printer configuration
press F10.
Now, just what are escape sequences anyway? Well, escape
sequences are special characters the printer recognizes as commands
and does not try to print. The are used to put your printer into
different modes. For example, to create bold, italic or condensed
print. They generally start out with the escape character and then
are followed by characters telling the printer what command you are
requesting. The parameters associated with the command, if any,
come next. The escape character is the signal which alerts the
printer a command is to follow. Your printer manual should list
the commands available on your printer and the escape sequences to
initiate them.
This program will send escape sequences before the appointment or
calendar is printed and after. These can be used to set your
printer to a desired mode before printing and reset it afterwards.
These escape sequences are optional. They can be placed in a
separate file if there are too many to fit within the field in the
parameter menu. If you want to place them in a file, you will need
an editor which allows you to create the escape sequences.
_____________________________________________________________________
36
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
As you have probably figured out by now, creating your own printer
configuration is not an easy task. APCAL provides this capability
so the program is as flexible as possible. It should only be
attempted by advanced users.
To edit the escape sequence which is sent to the printer before the
appointment/calendar is printed, press F6. To edit the one after,
press F7. The escape character is usually ASCII character number
27. It can be created by pressing the ALT key and holding it down
while the number 27 is typed on the numeric key pad. Other
nonstandard ASCII characters can be entered in a similar manner.
If you would prefer to enter the escape sequences in a separate
file, using your own text editor, simply enter the text "FILE:" in
the escape sequence field. This must be followed by the file name.
No path should be specified and the file should be placed in the
APCAL directory.
All the printer configurations contain a form feed in the second
escape sequence field. You can remove this by pressing F7 and
spacing over the form feed. You can put it back by typing ALT+1+2.
Finally, if you try to exit this screen without saving the changes
made to the printer configuration, the following prompt will be
displayed.
"Configuration has not been saved. Exit? Y/N "
Press the "Y" key and then Enter if you do not wish to save the
changes you have made. Press "N" and Enter if you do wish to save
the changes. Then press F10 to save the changes.
The following keys can be used in this configuration menu.
Up Arrow moves the pointer (->), on the left, up to the next
printer configuration.
Down Arrow moves the pointer (->), on the left, down to the next
printer configuration.
F1 brings up a help screen.
F8 adds a printer configuration to the end of the list.
F9 deletes the printer configuration to the right of the
pointer.
F10 saves the printer configuration.
ESC exits the printer configuration.
The following keys are used to change the parameters associated
with the configuration to the right of the pointer.
F2 selects the printer as the one to which all print output
will be sent.
F3 toggles the print device.
F4 toggles the mode between "GRAPHIC" and "NON-GRAPHIC."
_____________________________________________________________________
37
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
F5 allows the editing of the name associated with this set
of print parameters.
F6 allows the editing of the first escape sequence.
F7 allows the editing of the second escape sequence.
Holiday Configuration
_____________________
This screen allows you to add, modify and delete the holidays which
are automatically placed into the monthly calendars.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Holiday Configuration Page 01 of 02 │
│ │
│->New Year's Day │
│ Valentines Day Type: Month/Day Every Year│
│ Presidents Day Name Line 1: New Year's │
│ St. Patrick's Name Line 2: Day │
│ Mother's Day Year: N/A │
│ Memorial Day Month: JANUARY │
│ Father's Day Day: 01 │
│ Independnc Day Day Of Week: N/A │
│ Labor Day Number: N/A │
│ Halloween │
│ Thanksgivn ┌─────Key Assignments────┐│
│ Christmas │F1 Help ││
│ Easter │F2 Edit ││
│ Easter │F3 Add ││
│ Easter │F4 Delete ││
│ Easter │F5 Save ││
│ Easter │PAGE UP Previous Page││
│ Easter │PAGE DOWN Next Page ││
│ Easter │ESC To Quit ││
│ Easter └────────────────────────┘│
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 18 - Holiday Configuration Screen
The up and down arrow keys can be used to move the pointer (->), on
the left, through the list of holidays. The parameters for the one
currently pointed to are displayed on the right.
The following keys can be used in this configuration menu.
Up Arrow moves the pointer (->), on the left, up to the next
holiday entry.
Down Arrow moves the pointer (->), on the left, down to the next
holiday entry.
F1 brings up a help screen.
F2 allows the editing of the holiday parameters to the
right of the pointer.
_____________________________________________________________________
38
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
F3 adds a new holiday at the end of the list.
F4 deletes the holiday entry to the right of the pointer.
F5 saves the configuration to a file.
Page Up brings up the previous page, if any.
Page Down brings up the next page, if any.
ESC exits the holiday configuration.
To modify one of the holiday entries, press the up and down arrow
keys until the pointer is positioned to the left of the entry you
want to modify. Then press F2. Control is then passed to the
parameter menu on the right. The first field sets the type of
holiday entry. Press the space bar to toggle through the
selections.
There are 3 types of holidays which can be set:
Month/Day Every Year - these occur on a specific month and day,
every year (e.g. December 25 for Christmas).
Month And Nth Day Of Week - these occur on a specific day of the
week in a month (e.g. 4th Thursday in November for Thanks-
giving).
Month/Day/Year - these only occur on one specific date (e.g.
April 19, 1992 for Easter).
To select the holiday type, press Enter. This will move you to
the "Name Line 1:" field. Type in the text you want to appear on
the first line. This text will appear on the first line of the day
block for the date of the holiday. It will be placed in all the
monthly calendars containing the holiday. When you have entered
the desired text, press Enter. This will move you to the
"Name Line 2:" field. Enter the text you want to appear on the
second line of the day block.
The program prompts you for the year, month, day, day of the week
and week number - as appropriate - depending on the holiday type
you selected in the first field. For example, only the month and
day need be entered for a holiday type of "Month/Day Every Year."
The year must be entered as the desired year minus 1900 (e.g. 93
for 1993). Type in the desired year and press Enter. To set the
month, press the space bar until the desired month appears, then
press Enter. The day field sets the day of the month. Use the
space bar to toggle the selection and then press Enter. To set the
day of week, press the space bar until the desired day appears,
then press Enter.
Changes to the holiday configuration will not be reflected in
monthly calendars which have already been saved. This information
is only used when the calendar is first built. In other words, if
you add some text in a calendar and save it, then any holidays you
configure at a later date will not be built into that calendar.
_____________________________________________________________________
39
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
Start Screen Configuration
__________________________
This screen allows you to select the first screen displayed when
the program is loaded.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Appointment │
│ Alarm │
│ Monthly Calendar │
│ Yearly Calendar │
│->Split Screen Month/Appt. ┌───Key Assignments───┐│
│ │F1 Help ││
│ │F2 Select Screen ││
│ │F3 Save Selection ││
│ │ESC To Quit ││
│ └─────────────────────┘│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 19 - Start Screen Configuration
The up and down arrow keys can be used to move the pointer (->) on
the left through the list of screens. The currently selected
screen is highlighted.
The following keys can be used in this configuration menu.
Up Arrow moves the pointer (->), on the left, up to the next
selection.
Down Arrow moves the pointer (->), on the left, down to the next
selection.
F1 brings up a help screen.
F2 selects the initial screen. Move the pointer to the
desired screen and press F2. This screen will then be
highlighted.
F3 saves the current selection to the configuration file.
ESC exits the start screen configuration.
_____________________________________________________________________
40
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
Alarm Configuration
___________________
This screen allows the configuration of the pop-up alarm.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Alarm Configuration │
│ │
│General Alarm Parameters: │
│ Frequency (20 to 20,000 Hz) Duration (0 to 100 1/10 Sec) │
│ ┌───────────────────────────┌────────────────────────────┐│
│Tone 1:│ 700 │ 1 ││
│Pause: │ │ 1 ││
│Tone 2:│ 650 │ 1 ││
│ └───────────────────────────└────────────────────────────┘│
│Number of Tones: 10 │
│Snooze Duration (1-99 minutes): 5 │
│Color: ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ ││
│ │ ││
│ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│Appointment Alarm Parameters: ┌── Alarm Config. ──┐│
│Default minutes before: 10 │Edit ││
│Default duration: 10 │Play Alarm ││
│ │Save ││
│ │Help ││
│ │Quit ││
│ └───────────────────┘│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 20 - Alarm Configuration Screen
To make a selection from the pop-up menu, highlight it using the up
and down arrow keys and press Enter or just type the field's bold
character. The following options are available on the pop-up menu.
Edit - Allows the editing of the alarm parameters. Press Tab to
move to the next field in the parameter menu and Shift+Tab
to move to the previous field. Press Esc to end editing and
return to the pop-up menu. If you move into a field and
change it and then press Esc, the changes will be discarded.
To process the changes, press Tab and then press Esc.
Play Alarm - plays the alarm as it will sound using the current
alarm parameters. The alarm sounds for the given
duration. It can be terminated before the end by
pressing any key.
Save - Saves the alarm parameters.
Help - Brings up a help screen.
Quit - Exits alarm configuration.
_____________________________________________________________________
41
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
The alarm consists of 2 tones with an intervening pause. The
frequency values (1st and 4th fields in the parameter menu) can
range between 20 to 20000 Hertz. Lower numbers produce a lower
pitched sound. The duration of the tones (2nd and 5th fields) and
intervening pause (3rd field) are input in tenths of a second. For
example, a value of 10 represents 10 tenths of a second, or 1
second. The durations can vary from 0 to 100 (0 to 10 seconds). A
value of zero for a tone means the tone will not play. A zero
pause produces no pause.
From 0 to 99 of the tone 1/pause/tone 2 sequences can be sounded
for the alarm. A zero value produces no sound.
The snooze duration field sets the number of minutes between when
"Snooze" is selected to snooze an alarm and when the alarm will
resound. This value can range from 1 to 99 minutes.
The color bar sets the color of the pop-up alarm message. Use the
left/right arrow keys to change the color selection and the up/down
keys to switch between configuring the foreground and background
color.
The appointment alarm parameters set the initial values displayed
in the "Number of minutes before:" and "Duration (minutes):" fields
when an appointment alarm is set.
Entering an invalid value in a field produces a beep and the field
cannot be exited until a valid value is entered.
_____________________________________________________________________
42
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
TSR Configuration
_________________
This screen allows the configuration of the TSR parameters.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│TSR Configuration │
│ │
│ │
│Hot-key:ALT+A │
│ │
│Swap order │
│ First:XMS │
│ Second:EMS │
│ Third:DISK │
│ │
│Swap Path:C:\ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ ┌── TSR Config. ──┐ │
│ │Edit │ │
│ │Save │ │
│ │Help │ │
│ │Quit │ │
│ └─────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 21 - TSR Configuration Screen
To make a selection from the pop-up menu, highlight it using the up
and down arrow keys and press Enter or just type the field's bold
character. The following options are available on the pop-up menu.
Edit - Allows the editing of the TSR parameters. Press Tab to move
to the next field in the parameter menu and Shift+Tab to
move to the previous field. Press Esc to end editing and
return to the pop-up menu. If you move into a field and
change it and then press Esc, the changes will be discarded.
To process the changes press Tab and then press Esc.
Save - Saves the TSR parameters.
Help - Brings up a help screen.
Quit - Exits the TSR configuration.
To set the hot-key, press the key or keys you wish to use as the
hot-key, while in the hot-key field. The keys you pressed will
then be displayed in the field.
When the program is loaded as a TSR it swaps as much of itself as
it can out of conventional memory. This is done to reduce the
amount of memory it consumes when run as a TSR. The program can
_____________________________________________________________________
43
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
swap to disk, EMS memory or XMS memory. The "Swap order"
parameters determine the order in which the program tries to swap.
In the screen above, the program would first try to swap to XMS.
If insufficient XMS memory is available, it tries to swap to EMS
memory. If it cannot swap to EMS, it tries to swap to disk. Press
the space bar to toggle the selection. If "NONE" is selected for
one of the fields, it is skipped. For example, if the fields are
set as follows.
First:XMS
Second:DISK
Third:NONE
The program will try to swap to XMS first and then DISK. EMS
memory will not be used.
The swap path determines where the program will swap to, if the
disk is used for swapping. You may enter any path you desire in
this field. The program will swap to a file named APCAL001.SWP in
the directory specified.
NOTE - XMS version 2.0 or higher is required for XMS swapping.
EMS version 3.2 or higher is required for EMS swapping.
_____________________________________________________________________
44
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
Time Configuration
_________________
This screen allows the configuration of the time and date display.
This allows the program to be configured for use in countries with
different time and date formats.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Time / Date Configuration │
│ │
│ TIME PARAMETERS │
│ │
│ Format: 12 Hour │
│ AM Text: am │
│ PM Text: pm │
│ Separator:: │
│ │
│ DATE PARAMETERS │
│ │
│ Order: Month Day Year │
│ Separator:/ │
│ │
│ │
│ ┌── Time/Date Config. ──┐ │
│ │Edit │ │
│ │Save │ │
│ │Help │ │
│ │Quit │ │
│ └───────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 22 - Time / Date Configuration Screen
To make a selection from the pop-up menu, highlight it using the up
and down arrow keys and press Enter or just type the field's bold
character. The following options are available on the pop-up menu.
Edit - Allows the editing of the parameters. Press Tab to move to
the next field in the parameter menu and Shift+Tab to move
to the previous field. Press Esc to end editing and return
to the pop-up menu. If you move into a field and change it
and then press Esc, the changes will be discarded. To
process the changes, press Tab and then press Esc.
Save - Saves the Time/Date parameters.
Help - Brings up a help screen.
Quit - Exits the Time/Date configuration.
Times can be displayed in 12 hour or 24 hour (military) format.
Press the space bar in the "Format:" field to toggle between the
two. The text used for "AM" and "PM" (when in 12 hour mode) can be
set in the next two fields. Simply type in the desired text. The
_____________________________________________________________________
45
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
separator between the hours and minutes can also be set. Type in
the desired separator. The time/date clock, in the upper right of
the display, is updated as the parameters are changed. This
allows you to see the effect of the changes.
The order of the day, month and year, in dates, can also be
configured. Press the space bar in one of the date order fields to
toggle between month, day and year. The day, month and year are
displayed in the order you select. For example, in the figure
above, the dates will be displayed as "month/day/year". If the
following order is selected.
Order: Day Month Year
The dates will display as "day/month/year".
The separator between the day, month and year can also be set.
Simply type in the desired separator in the date separator field.
The time/date clock, in the upper right of the display, is updated
as the parameters are changed. This allows you to see the effect
of the changes.
IMPORTANT: Changes to the time format will not be reflected in
appointment files which have already been saved.
_____________________________________________________________________
46
CONFIGURATION
_____________________________________________________________________
Auto Save Configuration
_______________________
This screen allows the configuration of the auto save feature.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Auto Save: On │
│ │
│ Press the space bar to toggle the selection and Enter to select.│
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FIGURE 23 - Auto Save Configuration Screen
Pressing the space bar will toggle the selection between "On" and
"Off." Press Enter to save the setting or press Escape to discard
any changes made.
When auto save is on, the appointment, alarm and monthly calendar
screens are automatically saved whenever you exit the program or
switch to another screen. When auto save if off, you will be
prompted when you try to exit one of these screens if changes have
been made and not saved. You can then either exit without saving
them or not exit and then save the changes.
_____________________________________________________________________
47
KEY REFERENCE
_____________________________________________________________________
Appointment Editing
___________________
The following keys can be used in the appointment edit screen.
Some of these can also be selected from the pull-down menu.
Insert toggles insert mode on and off.
Delete deletes the character at the current cursor position.
Home moves to the beginning of the appointment line.
End moves to the end of the appointment line.
Backspace moves the cursor left and deletes the character at that
position.
Enter moves to the beginning of the next line.
F1 brings up the help screen.
F3 switches to the alarm screen.
F4 switches to the monthly calendar screen.
F5 switches to the yearly calendar screen.
F6,TAB switches to the split screen month/appointment display.
F9 is used to toggle editing of the time fields.
Alt activates the pull-down menu. Pressing Alt plus one of
the bold characters in the top pull-down line activates
that pull-down menu.
Alt+C copies the current line to a scratch buffer.
Alt+M copies the current line to scratch and then erases it.
Alt+I overwrites the current line with the contents of the
scratch buffer.
Alt+D deletes the characters from the cursor position to the
end of the line.
Alt+L deletes all characters in the current line.
Alt+A brings up the alarm parameter menu for the appointment
at the current cursor position.
Alarms
______
The following keys can be used in the alarm screen. Some of these
can also be selected from the pull-down menu.
F1 brings up the help screen.
F2 switches to the appointment screen.
F4 switches to the monthly calendar screen.
F5 switches to the yearly calendar screen.
F6 switches to the split screen month/appointment display.
Alt activates the pull-down menu. Pressing Alt plus one of
the bold characters in the top pull-down line activates
that pull-down menu.
Alt+A adds another alarm.
Alt+D deletes the currently selected alarm.
Alt+M modifies the currently selected alarm.
_____________________________________________________________________
48
KEY REFERENCE
_____________________________________________________________________
Monthly Calendar
________________
The following keys can be used in the calendar edit screen. Some
of these can also be selected from the pull-down menu.
Insert toggles insert mode on and off.
Delete deletes the character at the current cursor position.
Home moves to the beginning of the current day block line.
End moves to the end of the current day block line.
Backspace moves the cursor left and deletes the character at that
position.
Enter moves to the beginning of the next line in the day
block.
Tab highlights the next day in the calendar.
Shift+Tab highlights the previous day in the calendar.
F1 brings up the help screen.
F2 switches to the appointment screen.
F3 switches to the alarm screen.
F5 switches to the yearly calendar screen.
F6 switches to the split screen month/appointment display.
Alt activates the pull-down menu. Pressing Alt plus one of
the bold characters in the top pull-down line activates
that pull-down menu.
Ctrl+Right brings up the next monthly calendar.
Ctrl+Left brings up the previous monthly calendar.
Ctrl+Home returns to the actual date.
Yearly Calendar
_______________
The following keys can be used in the yearly calendar screen. Some
of these can also be selected from the pull-down menu.
Tab highlights the next monthly calendar.
Shift+Tab highlights the previous monthly calendar.
F1 brings up the help screen.
F2 switches to the appointment screen.
F3 switches to the alarm screen.
F4 switches to the monthly calendar screen.
F6 switches to the split screen month/appointment display.
Alt activates the pull-down menu. Pressing Alt plus one of
the bold characters in the top pull-down line activates
that pull-down menu.
Ctrl+Home returns to the actual date.
_____________________________________________________________________
49
KEY REFERENCE
_____________________________________________________________________
Month/Appointment Screen
________________________
The following keys can be used in the month/appt screen. Some of
these can also be selected from the pull-down menu.
arrow keys are used to highlight different days in the calendar.
F1 brings up the help screen.
F2,TAB switches to the appointment screen.
F3 switches to the alarm screen.
F4 switches to the monthly calendar screen.
F5 switches to the yearly calendar screen.
F7 searches for text, in appointment files, after the
current date.
Shift+F7 searches for text, in appointment files, before the
current date.
Alt activates the pull-down menu. Pressing Alt plus one of
the bold characters in the top pull-down line activates
that pull-down menu.
Ctrl+Right scrolls the month display one month ahead.
Ctrl+Left scrolls the month display one month back.
Ctrl+Home returns to current date.
_____________________________________________________________________
50
FILE DESCRIPTIONS
_____________________________________________________________________
File Maintenance / Description
______________________________
The following files are created by the program.
APCAL.CFG APCAL configuration parameters. This file is
created when a new configuration is saved.
CALmm.yy is used to save a calendar.
CALmm-yy.prn is used when you print a calendar to a file.
APPmm-dd.yy is used to save an appointment schedule.
APPmm-dd.prn is used when you print an appointment schedule to
a file.
ALRmm-dd.yy is used to store appointment and regular alarms.
APCAL001.SWP Program swap file. This file is created in the
directory specified in the TSR configuration if
the disk is used to swap the TSR in and out.
APCAL002.SWP Screen save file. This file is created only if
the disk is used to save the screen when the TSR
is swapped in and out.
In the file names, above, mm is the month, dd the day and yy the
year.
This system should contain the following files.
APCAL.EXE main program.
APAPPT.TPL appointment template.
APAPPT24.TPL appointment template used if 24 hour times are
configured.
APFX.DAT EPSON FX 80 printer configuration.
APRX.DAT EPSON RX 80 printer configuration.
APSPEC.DAY holiday configuration.
APPRN.CFG printer configuration parameters.
APCAL.HLP help file.
APSETUP.EXE Setup program.
_____________________________________________________________________
51
PROBLEM RESOLUTION
_____________________________________________________________________
WHY DON'T THE ALARMS WORK?
1. Make sure you are loading APCAL as a TSR. Alarms will not
display when you are in other programs unless APCAL is
loaded as a TSR. See the section "Executing APCAL".
2. The alarm was entered but not saved. The alarms are not set
until the appointment or alarm file is saved.
3. The DOS time and date must be set properly for the alarm to
work. See the TIME and DATE commands in your DOS manual.
WHY HAVE MY SAVED APPOINTMENT/CALENDAR FILES DISAPPEARED?
WHY IS MY CONFIGURATION CHANGED?
1. Make sure you are executing APCAL from the same directory
every time (or setting the APCAL environment variable in DOS
2.x).
2. Make sure the associated files have not been deleted or
corrupted (APPmm-dd.yy, CALmm.yy, APCAL.CFG, APSPEC.DAY,
APAPPT.TPL, etc.).
3. You have not updated your appointment/calendar files from a
previous version. See the section "Upgrading From a Previous
Version."
WHY DO THE GRAPHICS LINE CHARACTERS PRINT INCORRECTLY?
1. Make sure you have the proper printer configuration set. If
your printer is not listed in the configuration, try the
"Standard Graphic Printer" option. If the graphic line
characters do not print correctly using this configuration,
use the "Standard Non-Graphic Printer" option.
WHY WON'T THE PROGRAM PRINT?
1. Make sure your printer is on and on line.
2. Make sure the correct device is set in the printer
configuration. See the "Printer Configuration" section.
3. You must be in the appointment edit screen or the monthly
calendar screen to print. The currently displayed
appointment schedule or monthly calendar is printed. You
cannot print the month/appt. or year screens.
WHY DOES MY COMPUTER LOCK UP WHEN APCAL IS LOADED AS A TSR?
1. APCAL must be the last TSR loaded in your system. If it is
not, the computer may lock up.
2. There is a conflict between the APCAL TSR and some other TSR
you are loading. Remove one of the TSR's.
3. If you are swapping the program to disk, make sure you have
sufficient disk space.
4. If you are swapping to XMS or EMS, make sure enough is
available.
HOW DO I EXIT THE PROGRAM?
1. Press ALT+X (or possibly ESC, then ALT+X, if you are
currently in a sub-menu).
_____________________________________________________________________
52
PROBLEM RESOLUTION
_____________________________________________________________________
WHY IS THE CURRENT DAY NOT HIGHLIGHTED ON THE SPLIT
MONTH/APPOINTMENT SCREEN ON MY LAPTOP/PORTABLE?
WHY DO THINGS SEEM TO BE MISSING OR HARD TO READ ON MY MONOCHROME
SYSTEM?
1. Run the program with the "/m" switch to force it to use the
monochrome display attributes. See the section "Executing
APCAL."
WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN I GET THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE:
" Unable to unload. Program not last one in memory."
1. You cannot pop up APCAL from within another program and
unload it. You must pop it up from a DOS prompt.
2. You have loaded another TSR after APCAL and that TSR must be
unloaded before APCAL can be unloaded.
_____________________________________________________________________
53
INDEX
_____________________________________________________________________
----- A -----
alarm 4-6, 16-19, 21, 25-28, 41-42, 47-48, 51-52
ALRmm-dd.yy 51
anniversaries 12
APAPPT.TPL 51
APCAL environment variable 4-5, 7, 16
APFX.DAT 51
APPmm-dd.yy 51
appointment 4-5, 10-11, 14-19, 22-26, 33-34, 40-42, 46-48, 51-52
APPRN.CFG 51
APRX.DAT 51
APSETUP.EXE 51
APSPEC.DAY 51
APUPDAT.EXE 4
AUTOEXEC.BAT 6-7
auto save 5, 19, 25, 28, 47
----- B -----
birthday 12-15
boot alarms 5, 27-28
----- C -----
calendar (see monthly or yearly calendar).
CALmm.yy 51
.CFG 51
clock 9, 45-46
colors 19, 32-33
command line arguments 20-21
CompuServe 2
configure 5, 8-13, 19, 31-47
Conventions 3
----- D -----
.DAT 51
date display formats 45-46
DOS 3, 7
DOS Shell 16-17
----- E -----
EMS 21, 43-44
environment variable 4-5, 7, 16
EPSON 35, 51
escape character 36-37
escape sequences 35-38
.EXE 51
Executing APCAL 20-21
exit from a DOS shell 17
exiting APCAL 17
_____________________________________________________________________
54
INDEX
_____________________________________________________________________
----- F -----
file descriptions 51
Floppy drive installation 6
frequency of alarms 41-42
FX 80 35, 51
----- G -----
graphic line characters 34-37, 52
graphics mode 11
----- H -----
Hertz 41-42
.HLP 51
holiday 5, 12-15, 19, 38-39, 51
----- I -----
installation 6-7
interrupts 21
----- K -----
key reference 48-50
----- L -----
LAPTOP 53
loading APCAL 20-21
----- M -----
memory 17, 20-21, 43-44, 53
Monochrome 5, 20, 53
monthly calendar 4-5, 12-19, 29-30, 38-40, 49, 51
mouse 21
----- N -----
network 21
----- O -----
options 17-18
_____________________________________________________________________
55
INDEX
_____________________________________________________________________
----- P -----
port 11
portable 53
print 11, 14-17, 19, 34-38, 51-52
.PRN 51
pull-down menu 16-19
----- R -----
ram 3
reminder 5
Requirements 3
Resident 16-17, 20-21
RX 80 35, 51
----- S -----
schedule 10, 14-15, 17, 22-26, 33-34, 51
scratch buffer 15, 25, 48
search 15, 18, 22-23, 50
setup 6-7, 21, 51
shell 16-17
snooze 5, 26, 28, 41-42
start screen 5, 19, 40
support 2
swap 21, 43-44, 51
.SWP 44, 51
syntax 20
system requirements 3
----- T -----
Template 10-11, 15, 19, 24, 33-34, 51
Time display formats 45-46
Tones 41-42
.TPL 51
TSR 5-7, 17, 19-21, 43-44, 51-53
----- U -----
Unload 16-17, 20-21, 53
updating files 4
----- X -----
xms 21, 43-44
----- Y -----
yearly calendar 18, 31, 40, 49
_____________________________________________________________________
56