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1990-07-09
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[Note: If your printer does not print IBM graphics characters,
you can use the supplied NOIBMPRN.EXE program]
PAL
Documentation, Version 2.1
Copyright (c) 1990
All Rights Reserved
PAL Software NY
51 Cedar Lane
Ossining, NY 10562
BBS: (914) 762-8055
┌─────────┐
┌─────┴───┐ │ (R)
──│ │o │──────────────────
│ │ │
│ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of
│ │ ├─┘ Shareware
└───┤ o │ Professionals
│ │
──────│ ║ │────────────────────
└────╨────┘ MEMBER
PAL and PALARM are trademarks of PAL Software NY
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
TABLE OF CONTENTS
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
INTRODUCTION AND QUICK START . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
CHAPTER 1: BASIC OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1 Menu Operation of PAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Entering a Command Line From the Menu . . . . . 5
1.3 Command Line and Batch Operation of PAL . . . . 6
1.4 Menu or Command Line? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
CHAPTER 2: REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1 Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2 Required Pal Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
CHAPTER 3: INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.1 Basic Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.1.1 Copy Required Files . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.1.2 Automate With Your AUTOEXEC.BAT File . . . . 12
3.1.3 Required Customization . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.1.3.1 Appointment File . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.1.3.2 Alarm Data File . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.2 Advanced Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.3 Screen Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CHAPTER 4: ONLINE HELP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
CHAPTER 5: REPORT MODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.1 What Does a Report Show? . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.2 REPORT MODE Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.3 Date Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.4 Toggle Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.5 File Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.5.1 File Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.5.2 PAL's Appointment Scratchpad . . . . . . . . 22
5.5.3 Overriding PAL's Assumptions . . . . . . . . 22
5.6 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.7 Special Memos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
CHAPTER 6: SEARCH MODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
6.1 SEARCH MODE Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
6.2 SEARCH MODE Optional Parameters . . . . . . . 25
6.3 What SEARCH MODE does . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
CHAPTER 7: THE APPOINTMENT SCRATCHPAD . . . . . . . . . . 29
7.1 Getting There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
7.2 The Appointment Scratchpad Menu . . . . . . . 29
7.3 The Appointment Scratchpad Screen . . . . . . 30
7.4 "A"dding Appointments . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
7.4.1 Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
7.4.2 Setting Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
7.4.2.1 Once . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
7.4.2.2 Daily, Weekdays and Weekends . . . . . . 32
7.4.2.3 Weekly, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Last 33
7.4.2.4 Biweekly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
7.4.2.5 Monthly, Bimonthly, Quarterly . . . . . . 34
7.4.2.6 Annual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
7.4.3 Entering the Memo . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
7.4.4 Choosing the Time Slot . . . . . . . . . . . 35
7.4.5 Saving (or Erasing) Your Choices . . . . . . 35
7.5 "D"eleting an Appointment . . . . . . . . . . 36
7.6 "E"diting an Appointment . . . . . . . . . . . 36
7.7 "F"inding an Appointment . . . . . . . . . . 37
7.8 "N"ext Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
7.9 Removing "O"ld Appointments . . . . . . . . . 38
7.10 "P"revious Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
7.11 "S"orting Appointments . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
7.12 "ESC"ape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
CHAPTER 8: REMINDERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
CHAPTER 9: SK AUTO-REPEAT APPOINTMENTS . . . . . . . . . . 42
9.1 Single Character Auto-Repeat . . . . . . . . . 42
9.2 Special Auto-Repeat Sequences . . . . . . . . 43
9.2.1 Daily types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
9.2.2 Weekly types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
9.2.3 Monthly types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
9.2.4 Annual type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
9.3 Special Month Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . 45
9.4 Limiting the Number of Times to Repeat . . . . 46
9.5 Auto-Repeats Not Shown Within SideKick . . . . 46
9.6 Auto-Repeats in Appointment Scratchpad . . . . 47
CHAPTER 10: SK DELETE AND PURGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
10.1 Out of Date Appointments . . . . . . . . . . . 48
10.2 Deleting Auto-Repeat Appointments . . . . . . 49
10.3 Putting Out the Garbage . . . . . . . . . . . 49
10.4 Avoiding a Conflict With SideKick . . . . . . 50
10.5 How to Safely Update When SK is Loaded . . . . 51
10.6 Multi-Tasking and Task-Switching Systems . . . 52
10.7 Knowing When to Use PURGE or DELETE . . . . . 53
CHAPTER 11: MULTIPLE SK APPOINTMENT FILES . . . . . . . . 54
11.1 SideKick's Deficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
11.2 PAL's Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
11.3 An Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
CHAPTER 12: ALARMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
12.1 Auto-Repeat Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
12.2 PALARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3
12.3 Two Ways to Set Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
12.4 Capacity for 10 Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
12.5 How to Kill or Snooze a Sounding Alarm . . . . 57
12.6 How to Pop Up a Snoozing Alarm . . . . . . . . 58
12.7 Controlling the Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
12.8 How to Write a Memo to Become an Alarm . . . . 58
12.9 Advance Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
12.10 Run PAL to Automatically Update Alarms . . . . 61
12.11 Editing Alarms Manually with PAL SET . . . . . 61
12.12 Removing PALARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
CHAPTER 13: TIMED EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
13.1 Creating and Editing Macros . . . . . . . . . 67
13.1.2 Macro Editor Commands . . . . . . . . . . . 69
13.1.3 Editing Existing Macros . . . . . . . . . . 70
13.1.4 Deleting Existing Macros . . . . . . . . . . 70
13.2 Setting a Timed Event . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
13.3 Conditional Application Macros . . . . . . . . 72
13.4 Finding your X,Y coordinates with PALOCATE . . 73
13.5 Refreshing the Alarm Queue . . . . . . . . . . 74
13.6 When the Time for an Alarm Arrives . . . . . . 75
13.7 Possible Messages From PALARM . . . . . . . . 77
13.8 A Practical Illustration . . . . . . . . . . . 78
13.8.1 Creating a Batch File to Do the Mail Run . . 79
13.8.2 Determining Launch Conditions . . . . . . . 80
13.8.3 Determining Keystrokes for the Macro . . . . 80
13.8.4 Creating the Macro . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
13.8.5 Testing and Debugging the Alarm . . . . . . 81
13.8.6 The Finishing Touches . . . . . . . . . . . 84
13.8.7 Postscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
CHAPTER 14: CUSTOMIZING PAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
14.1 The Clone Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
14.1.1 Appointment Scratchpad . . . . . . . . . . . 88
14.1.2 File Location Defaults . . . . . . . . . 88
14.1.2.1 The Second Directory . . . . . . . . . . 88
14.1.2.2 The Third Directory . . . . . . . . . . . 88
14.1.2.3 Appointment Calendar Name . . . . . . . . 89
14.1.2.4 Appointment Calendar Type . . . . . . . . 89
14.1.2.5 Report File Name . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
14.1.3 Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
14.1.4 Miscellaneous Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . 92
14.1.4.1 Default Command Line . . . . . . . . . . 92
14.1.4.2 Color Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
14.1.4.3 Reverse Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
14.1.4.4 Single Character Auto-Repeat . . . . . . 93
14.1.4.5 Effect of PURGE and DELETE . . . . . . . 94
14.1.4.6 Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
14.1.4.7 Extended Alarm Report . . . . . . . . . . 94
14.1.5 Printer Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
14.1.5.1 Initialization String . . . . . . . . . . 95
14.1.5.2 Exit String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4
14.1.5.3 Lines Per Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
14.1.6 Clone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
14.1.7 <ESC> to quit without change . . . . . . . . 96
14.1.8 The RESTORE Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . 97
14.1.9 Saving and Reading CLONE Images . . . . . . 97
14.2 The PAL SET INSTALL Procedure . . . . . . . . 99
14.2.1 Data File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
14.2.2 Macro File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
14.2.3 Sound Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
14.2.4 Snooze Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
14.2.5 Clock and Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
14.2.5.1 Clock Visibility on Start-Up . . . . . . 102
14.2.5.2 Date Visibility on Start-Up . . . . . . . 102
14.2.5.3 Colors for Clock and Date . . . . . . . . 102
14.2.6 Cloning Your PALARM Changes . . . . . . . . 102
CHAPTER 15: TSR WARS, RAM CRAM AND MULTITASKING . . . . . 103
15.1 TSR Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
15.2 Ram Cram and Multitasking . . . . . . . . . . 104
15.3 Hints on PALARM with Multitasking . . . . . . 104
15.4 PALARM and Task-switching Programs . . . . . 106
CHAPTER 16: REGISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
CHAPTER 17: LICENSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
CHAPTER 18: USER SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
CHAPTER 19: ASP OMBUDSMAN PROCEDURE . . . . . . . . . . . 111
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
5
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
INTRODUCTION AND QUICK START
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
FEATURES:
In addition to the ability to show a sorted report of your
upcoming appointments, PAL can, among other things:
* search for a particular appointment,
* maintain a to-do list which will tickle you if you fail
to do something after a specified date,
* set a virtually infinite number of alarms,
* use an alarm to initiate an event on your computer, even
if you are not present at that moment,
* run reports on multiple appointment files,
* automatically repeat appointments,
* delete old appointments,
* run with or without SideKick,
* provide online help,
* show common secular and religious holidays automatically,
* allow you to customize the program for your own needs and
style of use,
* show you a calendar for any month in the 20th or 21st
century, and
* do much, much more....
FOR A QUICK DEMONSTRATION:
If you would like a quick demonstration of some of PAL's
features, first copy all the files in this distribution to a
1
Pal 2.1 Documentation
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
single subdirectory which lies within your DOS path. Then run
the batch file PALDEMO.BAT.
SUMMARY OF DOCUMENTATION:
Here's a synopsis of the contents of this documentation.
Chapter 1 (page 4) describes the basic syntax for using Pal
and some of the common terms used throughout this documentation.
Chapter 2 (page 9) describes the hardware and software
requirements for using Pal.
Chapter 3 (page 12) gives you simple installation
instructions for Pal.
Chapter 4 (page 16) describes how you can get help within
PAL.
Chapter 5 (page 17) tells you how to get a report of your
upcoming appointments and your old reminders.
Chapter 6 (page 25) shows you how to find a particular
appointment.
Chapter 7 (page 29) describes PAL's own internal Appointment
Scratchpad. It is this facility which allows PAL to stand alone,
even if you do not have SideKick.
Chapter 8 (page 41) tells you how to get PAL to remind you
to do something.
Chapters 9, 10 and 11 are exclusively for SideKick users.
Chapter 9 (page 42) shows how you can create auto-repeat ap-
pointments within SideKick. Chapter 10 (page 48) describes how
to get rid of old appointments in your SideKick file. Chapter
11 (page 54) tells you how to combine multiple SideKick
appointment files so that PAL can do a side by side search.
Chapter 12 (page 56) describes how to create alarms.
Chapter 13 (page 65) tells you how to use an alarm to
initiate an action on your computer even when nobody is present.
Chapter 14 (page 86) tells you how to customize PAL and
PALARM to your own liking. In particular, section 14.1 focuses
2
Pal 2.1 Documentation
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
on changes to PAL's operation, while section 14.2 focuses on
changes to PALARM's operation.
Chapter 15 (page 103) contains a discussion of multitasking
and possible conflicts with other resident programs.
Chapter 16 (page 107) describes how to register, and the
benefits thereof.
Chapter 17 (page 108) indicates the complete terms of your
license to use Pal.
Chapter 18 (page 110) tells you how to obtain user support.
Chapter 19 (page 111) describes the Ombudsman procedures of
the Association of Shareware Professionals.
3
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
CHAPTER 1: BASIC OPERATION
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
PAL may be run either through menus or directly from the DOS
system prompt.
Any time that PAL is paused awaiting your input, you may
temporarily drop out of the program to DOS by striking the <AltD>
key combination. The <AltD> combination is obtained by pressing
and holding down the <Alt> key and then, while still holding down
the <Alt> key, simultaneously pressing the <D> key. When you
have completed your task in DOS, you must type "Exit" and hit the
<Enter> key to return to PAL. You will find yourself back in the
program, precisely at the spot you left. While in DOS, do not
load any resident programs.
1.1 Menu Operation of PAL
PAL is distributed so that if you invoke the program without
any additional command line parameters, it will present you with
a menu so that you may choose from its various operations. PAL's
main menu appears as follows:
1. Appointment Scratchpad
2. Clone New Defaults
3. Delete Old Appointments
4. Enter Command Line
5. Help
6. Purge Deadwood From Appointment File
7. Restore Original Distribution Defaults
8. Set Alarms
<ESC> to exit program
To select an operation on any menu, hit the alphabetic key,
function key or numeric key which corresponds with the operation
you desire to activate. No carriage return is required.
Some of the foregoing choices on the main menu will lead you
4
Pal 2.1 Documentation
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
to other menus. Just to give you an idea of the pathways you can
follow with PAL's menu system, here's a diagram showing the menu
structure:
MAIN MENU
│
┌──────────────────┬────────────┴──────┬────────────────────────┐
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │
Appointment Clone Help Set
Scratchpad Menu Menu Menu
Menu │
│
│
Alarms│
Menu
If you require online help, just choose the help function.
You will be presented with a number of topics to choose from.
You may use the CLONE procedure to force PAL not to show the
menu on start up, but to perform some other operation instead.
Hint: If you do clone PAL to perform a different operation
on start up, you can always reach the main menu by issuing either
"PAL MENU" or "PAL M" from the DOS system prompt.
1.2 Entering a Command Line From the Menu
If you choose selection 4 ("Enter Command Line") from the
main menu, you will be able to enter the commands which instruct
PAL to perform any of its possible operations, with the same
syntax you would use if you were summoning PAL directly from the
DOS system prompt. You will be provided with an on-screen
reminder of the syntax that PAL uses.
When entering a command line here, do not start with the
word "PAL" as you would from the DOS system prompt. The initial
word "PAL" is assumed; you'll see it on the screen already.
Examples:
If you enter "7" and hit return, PAL will give you a 7 day
report of your appointments.
5
Pal 2.1 Documentation
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
On the other hand, if you enter "PAL 7", this is incorrect
syntax since the word "PAL" is already assumed. What you have
entered is equivalent to the entry "PAL PAL 7" at the DOS system
prompt. You'll get an error message on the "booboo" screen.
More often than not, you will be using the command line to
summon PAL's REPORT MODE to show your upcoming appointments,
reminders and alarms, or to summon PAL's SEARCH MODE to search
for an entry. For more information about REPORT MODE, see
chapter 5 (page 17). For more information about SEARCH MODE, see
chapter 6 (page 25).
1.3 Command Line and Batch Operation of PAL
As an alternative to menu operation, you may invoke any of
PAL's operations directly from the DOS system prompt by adding
parameters after the program name. Command line operation is
especially useful for batch files.
There are many possible parameters which may be added after
the program name to instruct PAL to perform its operations.
These include the following (the items which are shown within
square brackets are optional):
PAL [@mm/dd/yyyy] n[ABCFHPRU] [FILENAME]
for REPORT MODE
(see chapter 5)
PAL [@mm/dd/yyyy] $[BCFPR] SEARCHTERM [FILENAME]
for SEARCH MODE
(see chapter 6)
PAL APPOINT or PAL A
for invoking Appointment Scratchpad
(see chapter 7)
PAL CLONE or PAL C
for invoking Clone procedure
(see chapter 14)
PAL DELETE or PAL D
for invoking Delete procedure
(see chapter 10)
6
Pal 2.1 Documentation
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
PAL DELETEAUTO
for non-stop Delete procedure
(see section 10.4)
PAL DELETEAUTOALL
for non-stop Delete procedure
(see section 10.4)
PAL HELP or PAL H or PAL ?
for invoking online help
(see chapter 4)
PAL MENU or PAL M
for invoking Menu operation
(see chapter 1)
PAL PURGE or PAL P
for invoking Purge procedure
(see chapter 10)
PAL PURGEAUTO
for non-stop Purge procedure
(see section 10.4)
PAL READIMAGE [FILENAME]
to read a Clone image
(see section 14.1.9)
PAL RESTORE or PAL R
for invoking Restore procedure
(see section 14.1.8)
PAL SAVEIMAGE [FILENAME]
to save a Clone image
(see section 14.1.9)
PAL SET or PAL S
for invoking the Set procedure
(see section 12.11 and section 14.2)
7
Pal 2.1 Documentation
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
1.4 Menu or Command Line?
In general, once you get the hang of what PAL can do for
you, you will find that things go more quickly by using command
line operation directly from the DOS system prompt.
Hint: The one instance in which the menu will be more
efficient is if you want to perform more than one operation with
PAL; in that situation, rather than reloading the program each
time you want to do something, you can quickly initiate each
successive request directly from the menu.
8
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
CHAPTER 2: REQUIREMENTS
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
One requirement which you should observe immediately is to
look among your distribution files for one which is named
PALREAD.ME. This file will include any changes to this
documentation that may require your attention.
2.1 Hardware Requirements
You must be running on an IBM-PC or compatible computer.
Some machines which are not 100% compatible and which include
their own screen displays may have some difficulty showing PAL
well.
You will find it convenient if you have a clock/calendar
within your system which sets the clock and date when you turn on
your computer. If you are uncertain whether your machine sets
the time and date automatically, either through hardware or
software, consult your equipment manual.
PAL requires at least 138K bytes of free memory to operate.
If you want to use the resident alarm feature, then you'll
need an additional 36K bytes to install PALARM.EXE. PALARM must
be loaded into memory for PAL's alarm feature to work.
A hard disk is not required, but is strongly recommended.
Expanded memory (memory above 640K which meets the LIM
specification) is not required. However, if you do have
sufficient expanded memory available, then Pal's overlay file
will be loaded into that region of your computer and accessed
with lightning speed. Similarly, EMS will be used by Pal for its
swap file whenever you swap to DOS.
9
Pal 2.1 Documentation
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
2.2 Required Pal Files
Please check your distribution files to see if you have
received a file called "PALREAD.ME". If so, this file contains
additional information or changes which do not appear in this
documentation. Use the DOS type command or any other file
listing utility to read the file.
You should have the following files:
PALREAD.ME If present, contains latest information
not included in this documentation.
PAL.EXE PAL main program file
PAL.OVR PAL overlay file
PALARM.EXE PALARM program file
PALOFF.EXE Removes PALARM from memory
PALDEMO.BAT Demonstrate PAL
PALDICK.APP Data file for PALDEMO.BAT
PALJANE.APP Data file for PALDEMO.BAT
PAL.DOC This documentation
NOIBMPRN.EXE Program to print documentation without IBM
graphics characters
PALOCATE.EXE Resident program to help with Conditional
Application Macros
ORDER.FRM Order form to register Pal and to order
Palrun (Palrun is another product of PAL
Software NY)
VENDOR.DOC Disk vendors must read this file
SYSOP.DOC Special offer to BBS Sysops
WHATSNEW.PAL A short file describing what's new in PAL
version 2.1
PAL21.INF A short description of the features of PAL
version 2.1, which you might want to
upload separately to BBSes
PALRUN20.INF A short description of the features of
PALRUN version 2.0
10
Pal 2.1 Documentation
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Only the PAL.EXE and PAL.OVR files are needed to use all the
capabilities of Pal other than alarms. Place them in a
subdirectory which resides in your DOS path. PALARM.EXE is
required to use the alarms.
11
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
CHAPTER 3: INSTALLATION
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
3.1 Basic Installation
Installation of Pal and Palarm is a three step process. You
need to place the needed files in your DOS path, make changes to
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file if you desire, and tell Pal and Palarm the
name and location of important data files.
If you are upgrading from version 2.0 to 2.1 and want to
transplant all your customized settings from the older version to
the newer one, take advantage of the SAVEIMAGE and READIMAGE
procedures described in section 14.1.9 at page 97.
3.1.1 Copy Required Files
Copy all the files included in the distribution to a single
subdirectory which resides in your PATH (if you aren't familiar
with paths, check your DOS documentation).
3.1.2 Automate With Your AUTOEXEC.BAT File
The changes to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file described in this
section are not required. You may, however, find them useful.
If you intend to use the alarm facility, you need to load
PALARM. This is most efficiently done by placing the command
PALARM
within your AUTOEXEC.BAT file after the statement that sets your
DOS PATH. If you also use SideKick, make sure that PALARM is
listed in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file before the command to load
SideKick.
A common use for PAL is to show you your upcoming
appointments as soon as your computer is finished booting up in
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the morning. To provide for this, you can add a command to your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Usually this will be the very last command in
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. For instance, the command
PAL 14
at the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file will show you your upcoming
appointments for the next 2 weeks.
3.1.3 Required Customization
There are two items that you need to tell PAL to remember
before you can let it loose. Once you set this information, you
won't need to change it again.
3.1.3.1 Appointment File
You need to tell PAL what file to examine when preparing a
report. To do this, you have to enter PAL's main menu, which you
accomplish by issuing the command
PAL
from the DOS prompt.
From PAL's main menu, strike the <C> key to enter the CLONE
procedure. Then from the CLONE menu, strike the <F> key to
change information regarding file locations.
As distributed, PAL assumes that the name of your
appointment file will be "NOFILE." This is the proper setting
for people who are not using SideKick, or for people using
SideKick who do not want to use the same appointment file all the
time. If you do use SideKick and want PAL to use the same
appointment file all the time, then enter the name here.
If you are planning to use PAL with SideKick then change the
name and extension of the appointment file to what SideKick
writes its appointments.
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3.1.3.2 Alarm Data File
The second item that you need to set is required only if you
intend to use PAL's alarm capability. If you do not intent to
use alarms, disregard this section.
On distribution, PALARM writes information to a file by the
name of PALARM.DAT in the root directory of drive C:. If this is
satisfactory to you, then you do not need to make any change.
If you want to change the default assumption as to the name
and location of PALARM's data file, you first need to have loaded
PALARM. Then get back to PAL's main menu. From the main menu,
hit the <S> key to get to the "Set Alarms" menu. From that menu,
hit <I> to install assumptions. Change the name and location of
PALARM's data file to whatever suits your purposes.
3.2 Advanced Installation
The foregoing installation procedure is all that is required
of you. Assuming that you have copied all required files, made
the suggested changes to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and changed the
assumptions that PAL and PALARM remember, you can reboot your
computer and see just what happens.
If you would like to examine the extensive customization
that is possible with PAL and PALARM, browse through Chapter 14,
starting at page 86.
3.3 Screen Display
Persons with 100% compatible monochrome and color monitors
will ordinarily find PAL's screen display quite comfortable.
However, persons with less than 100% compatible displays
which try to emulate the IBM color screen may have difficulty
reading what PAL writes. For instance, it is known that some
laptop computers which show colors as shades of gray interpret
some of PAL's color combinations very poorly.
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Solutions:
1. The simplest solution is to have PAL write to your
screen in basic black and white.
To see quickly how your screen will look in basic black
and white, go to the directory in which the PALDICK.APP file
resides (this is a demo SideKick appointment file which is used
by PALDEMO.BAT) and issue the command "PAL 60C PALDICK". If you
find the display more readable, then you should CLONE PAL to
always show in black and white. See section 14.1.4.2 at page 92.
Since the CLONE procedure itself may display poorly on the
screen, before attempting to CLONE, issue the DOS command "MODE
BW80" in order to turn off color generally within your system.
After you finish cloning, you can restore color to your system
with "MODE CO80".
2. Another possible solution to the screen display
problem is to use the facilities that may be provided by your own
computer manufacturer for dealing with such problems. Many
computers have the ability to emulate monochrome monitors rather
than color graphics adapters. Others may permit you to choose
from several palettes of color combinations to avoid a difficult
display. In any case, you should explore your hardware manual to
see what options you have.
15
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CHAPTER 4: ONLINE HELP
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
You can invoke online help from the beginning menu, or
directly from the DOS system prompt with "PAL HELP" , "PAL H" or
"PAL ?". To select a subject for help, hit the alphabetic key
which corresponds with the subject which you wish to review. No
carriage return is required.
Additional help regarding alarms is available from the PAL
SET menu. You reach the PAL SET menu by issuing "PAL SET" or
"PAL S" from the DOS system prompt or by choosing "S", "8" or
"F8" from PAL's main menu. Once at the PAL SET menu, you can
summon the additional help by striking "H", "4" or "F4".
16
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CHAPTER 5: REPORT MODE
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
5.1 What Does a Report Show?
When you request a report from PAL, you will first see PAL's
title screen. In the upper left hand corner, PAL will provide a
message telling you the name of the file it is analyzing. In the
center of the top line, as PAL inserts your memos in a sorted
manner into your computer's memory, PAL may display the number of
bytes of free memory which remain as it does its work. Here's a
sample screen display:
Personal Appointment Locator
Ver. 2.1 Copyright 1990 PAL Software NY ╔════════════════════╗
║April 20 1994║
Searching \SK\PAL.APP ╠════════════════════╣
Today is Wednesday, April 20, 1994 ║ 10:38:13am ║
14 entries listed for next 14 days: ╠══╤══╤══╤══╤══╤══╤══╣
║SU│MO│TU│WE│TH│FR│SA║
Wed, Apr 20 1994, 9:00 am :Mr. Kurlin ╟──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──╢
Wed, Apr 20 1994, 10:30 am :Word processing demo ║27│28│29│30│31│ 1│ 2║
Wed, Apr 20 1994, 5:00 pm :Run for the train@ ╟──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──╢
║ 3│ 4│ 5│ 6│ 7│ 8│ 9║
Thu, Apr 21 1994, 5:00 pm :Run for the train@ ╟──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──╢
║10│11│12│13│14│15│16║
Fri, Apr 22 1994, 5:00 pm :Run for the train@ ╟──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──╢
║17│18│19│20│21│22│23║
Mon, Apr 25 1994, 8:00 am :Partner's Meeting ╟──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──╢
Mon, Apr 25 1994, 12:00 pm :Lunch with Gracie @10 ║24│25│26│27│28│29│30║
Mon, Apr 25 1994, 5:00 pm :Run for the train@ ╚══╧══╧══╧══╧══╧══╧══╝
Tue, Apr 26 1994, 5:00 pm :Run for the train@
When the file is completely read and sorted, PAL will flash
the first screen of the report.
On the right side of the screen, you will see a calendar for
the current month, with today's date highlighted. There will be
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a digital clock above the calendar, ticking away with the present
time. The clock will continue as you page through the report.
PAL will highlight your most pressing appointments. Today's
appointments will show in intense yellow on color monitors, and
all appointments after today through the next business day will
be highlighted in intense green. Monochrome and black and white
monitors will show all these appointments in reverse video.
The memo "Run for the train @" is an auto-repeating weekday
alarm which was produced by a single memo entry.
When PAL has finished showing you your coming appointments,
it will then tell you if you have any future alarms to load into
PALARM. For information on alarms, see chapter 12 at page 56.
Then PAL will show you your old reminders, if any. See
chapter 8 starting at page 41 for information on reminders.
There are a few modifications to the report which you can
make with the CLONE procedure. First, you may have PAL tell you
at the beginning of the report how many bytes could be saved from
your file if you use the DELETE or PURGE procedures. Second, you
may have PAL give you an extended report describing each of the
alarms which will be loaded into memory. Third, you may turn off
the sound which PAL makes as it displays each page. For informa-
tion on the CLONE procedure, see chapter 14 at page 86.
5.2 REPORT MODE Syntax
Syntax for the REPORT MODE is:
PAL [@mm/dd/yyyy] n[ABCFHPRU] [FILENAME]
The only required entries at the DOS system prompt are the
program name and "n", where "n" is the number of days you would
like the report to encompass. The maximum number for "n" is
32,767. PAL can show memos and holidays through the year 2099.
For instance, "PAL 7" would give you a report of your next
week's appointments.
The remaining parameters are optional. Do not type in the
brackets; they are set forth above only to indicate that the
items are optional.
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Note that all operations which can be invoked from the DOS
system prompt can also be entered at PAL's main menu.
5.3 Date Control
The first optional parameter is to set the start date of the
report at other than your present system date. For instance,
"PAL @1/1/88 7" will give you appointments for the first week in
1990.
Hint: If you use the "@" by itself without a following
date, then PAL will assume you mean "@1/1/85"; this is useful if
you want a shorthand method to begin a Report or Search from a
very early date. For instance, "PAL @ 730" will show all
appointments for 1985 and 1986.
5.4 Toggle Switches
The second group of optional parameters ("ABCFHPRU")
consists of toggle switches. They must be specified immediately
following "n", without intervening spaces. They stand for:
* "A" disables the "A"larm updating function.
Any alarms which PAL finds scheduled within the ap-
pointment file will not be loaded. This toggle switch is useful,
for instance, where you have combined your own SideKick appoint-
ment file with somebody else's so that you can view them to-
gether, but you do not want the other person's alarms to be
loaded into your system. See chapter 11 for information on
combining several SideKick appointment files.
* "B" is for batch usage. This forces reports to pause
before exiting back to the DOS prompt, requiring the user to
strike a key. This switch would be useful only if you are
invoking PAL from a batch file and PAL is not the final command
in the batch file, thus preventing the report from scrolling off
the screen while the remaining commands execute. Since the
shareware version of PAL already requires user action to exit
from the program, the "B" switch is only necessary in batch
operation of the registered, commercial version of PAL.
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* "C" toggles "C"olor.
If you have a color display, or a screen which tries to
emulate a color display (such as many laptop computers), then PAL
will automatically attempt to show in color. You may prefer to
see a simple black and white display, or your laptop may display
the colors poorly. If this is the case, then you should try the
"C" toggle to see how the reports look with color turned off;
e.g., "PAL 7C".
If you prefer to have color turned off permanently, then
you can make the adjustment permanently within the CLONE
procedure. Once you make such a permanent adjustment with the
CLONE procedure, the meaning of the "C" toggle is that you will
temporarily be viewing the report in color. The "C" toggle
switch will not have any effect with monochrome displays.
* "F" sends your report to a "F"ile.
PAL uses the name PAL.TXT for the file. You may change
the name with the CLONE procedure. When you specify "F", the
screen display will not pause as it fills with appointments.
Instead, the appointments will scroll by quickly as they are
being written to the file. You may force the scrolling to pause
by hitting the key combination <CtrlS>; strike any other key to
continue scrolling.
* "H" suppresses the reporting of "H"olidays.
This toggle switch is useful if you want to see a report
of your appointments without the clutter of holidays. PAL will
ordinarily show several holidays automatically. Within the CLONE
procedure, you may turn off holidays individually, and you can
make PAL show several other holidays which the distribution
version is not set to show. See section 14.1.3 for information
on holidays.
* "P" sends your report to the "P"rinter.
PAL assumes that you would like only 48 lines per page
and that you would like a form feed at the conclusion of each
page. With the CLONE procedure, you may change these assumptions
and send tailor-made instructions to your printer immediately
before and after each report. As with the "F" parameter, when
you specify "P", the screen will not pause as it fills with
appointments. Instead, the appointments will scroll by quickly
as they are being sent to the printer. Use <CtrlS> to pause and
any other key to continue.
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* "R" suppresses auto-"R"epeat appointments.
This toggle switch is useful if you want to see a report
without the clutter of repeating appointments.
* "U" runs REPORT MODE in "U"nattended mode.
With this toggle switch, PAL will run through your whole
report without pausing for a key-press when the screen fills up
with information. This is useful, for instance, when you want to
automatically update your alarm queue for timed events.
5.5 File Handling
The last optional parameter permits you to specify the
complete name, including drive and path if needed, of the file
you desire to examine.
5.5.1 File Assumptions
If you do not specify the filename, then PAL will use its
default assumptions for the name and location of the file. These
default assumptions can be set in the CLONE procedure. On
distribution, PAL assumes that the name of the file to examine is
"APPOINT.APP" and looks for it first in the current directory and
the DOS path. If PAL does not find APPOINT.APP, it looks for the
file in "C:\SK" and then in "C:\".
PAL allows you to specify your filename in "shorthand". If
you specify a directory only, then PAL will supply the filename
and extension. If you specify a directory plus a filename but
leave out the extension, then PAL will automatically supply the
assumed extension. You can have PAL examine a file that has no
extension by adding a period after the filename.
Examples: For instance, assume that you have a file
called "BUSINESS.APP" for your business appointments and
"VIDEO.APP" to schedule all the TV shows you want to video tape,
and that both files reside in "C:\SK". The command line "PAL 7
VIDEO" will examine the file "C:\SK\VIDEO.APP".
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Similarly, the command line "PAL 7 BUSINESS" will examine
the file "C:\SK\BUSINESS.APP".
The command line "PAL 7" will cause PAL to look for the file
"APPOINT.APP" in the series of directories described above, while
the command line "PAL 7 C:\SK\" will force PAL to look for the
file "C:\SK\APPOINT.APP".
5.5.2 PAL's Appointment Scratchpad
In addition to examining the specified SideKick appointment
file, PAL will examine all the appointments which you have
entered in PAL's own Appointment Scratchpad. See chapter 7 for a
complete description of the Appointment Scratchpad.
If you specify "Nofile" as the file to examine, then PAL
will not examine any physical file on your disk. Instead, PAL
will only examine the Appointment Scratchpad. For instance:
PAL 30 NOFILE
will force PAL to avoid looking in any SideKick appointment file
and to focus its attention on the Appointment Scratchpad instead.
If you are not using SideKick with PAL, then you absolutely
must specify "Nofile" as the file to examine. Otherwise, PAL
will always be looking for a non-existent APPOINT.APP. If you
have "Nofile" as your default file name, you can always
explicitly name a SideKick file on the command line.
You can force PAL to change its internal file name assump-
tions. See section 14.1.2.3 for instructions on how to CLONE
such a change into PAL.
5.5.3 Overriding PAL's Assumptions
In general, if PAL's assumptions as to the name and location
of your appointment file are incorrect, then you may either:
(1) change PAL's assumptions with the CLONE feature, or
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(2) change the name and location of your appointment
file in order to match PAL's assumptions, or
(3) fully specify the name and location each time you
invoke PAL.
5.6 Examples
As an example of REPORT MODE, to see all your appointments
for the next week, issue the command "PAL 7".
A very common use for PAL is to insert such a command as the
last line of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, so that your coming appoint-
ments greet you when your computer finishes booting in the morn-
ing.
Other examples:
PAL @1/1/90 366hr
-- shows all appointments in 1990, suppresses
holidays and auto-repeat appointments.
PAL 30 nofile
-- shows appointments for next 30 days, but only
those which have been entered in the Appointment
Scratchpad.
PAL @ 32000p myapp.
-- shows appointments for 32,000 days starting at
1/1/1985, and sends the report to your printer.
Looks for file MYAPP (which does not have a
filename extension).
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5.7 Special Memos
In REPORT MODE, PAL will interpret some of your memos as
having special meaning and will provide you with extra-special
results when those memos are encountered. They are:
* Reminders: Memos containing "!"
* Alarms: Memos containing "@"
* Auto-Repeat: SideKick memos containing any of the
following characters: [ ] { } ~
Caution: A caution for persons printing out this
documentation rather than viewing it on a computer screen: The
special characters shown on the immediately preceding line are
generally known as the left and right square brackets, left and
right curly braces and the tilde (a small, wavy line). Some
printers may not print the correct image of these characters.
Therefore, if you have any doubt as to the "truthfulness" of your
printer, consult PAL's online help regarding auto-repeat
appointments and view the characters on your screen; or you can
view this documentation with DOS's TYPE command or any other
program that permits you to view the documentation on your
monitor.
For details on reminders, see chapter 8.
For details on alarms, see chapter 12.
For details on auto-repeat, see chapters 7 (for the Appoint-
ment Scratchpad) and 9 (for SideKick auto-repeat).
24
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CHAPTER 6: SEARCH MODE
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
6.1 SEARCH MODE Syntax
Syntax for the SEARCH MODE is:
PAL [@mm/dd/yyyy] $[BCFPR] SEARCHTERM [FILENAME]
The required parameters in SEARCH MODE are the program's name,
followed by the "$" character (think "$earch"), followed by the
term for which you want PAL to search.
6.2 SEARCH MODE Optional Parameters
The optional parameters are identical to those permitted in
REPORT MODE, with minor exceptions.
For information regarding date manipulation, see section
5.3.
For information regarding the toggle switches, see section
5.4. The only differences in the effect of the toggle switches
within SEARCH MODE are that the "A"larm and "H"oliday switches
have no effect, and the "R" switch prevents search of the Ap-
pointment Scratchpad.
For information regarding the FILENAME, see section
14.1.2.3.
6.3 What SEARCH MODE does
SEARCH MODE is restricted to the single, simple function of
conducting a search for your "Searchterm" through your file
and/or through PAL's own Appointment Scratchpad. A search will
pick up appointments which fall on or after the date of the
report.
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The "Searchterm" is the string of characters that you are
trying to match. The search is insensitive to upper or lower
case.
Suppose you want to search for "Uncle Herman's Birthday".
You can shorten the number of letters you type by just choosing a
few. Let's say you issue the command "PAL $ man". You may get a
search report that looks something like this:
Personal Appointment Locator
Ver. 2.1 Copyright 1990 PAL Software NY ╔════════════════════╗
║June 22 1990║
Searching APPOINT.APP ╟────────────────────╢
The following matches have been found ║ 10:49:25pm ║
for "MAN": ╠══╤══╤══╤══╤══╤══╤══╣
║SU│MO│TU│WE│TH│FR│SA║
# 1│Yrly│ 7/ 8 │ Title │Uncle Herman's Birthday ╠══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╪══╣
║27│28│29│30│31│ 1│ 2║
Mon, Jun 25 1990, 10:00 am :Appt. w/ Ullman @20 ╟──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──┼──╢
║ 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║
╚══╧══╧══╧══╧══╧══╧══╝
Notice that this search picked up another appointment as
well. You would have picked up only the appointment you wanted
if you had been more exclusive in your search by, for instance,
using "Herman" as your searchterm.
In your search report, all matching appointments which are
found in the Appointment Scratchpad which are auto-repeating
(that is, all of them except those which you designate with a
frequency of "once") will be clustered at the beginning of the
report with an indication that they are located in the Scratch-
pad, with fields of pertinent information separated by vertical
bars. For more detailed information, you'll have to enter the
Appointment Scratchpad to see the restrictions imposed on the
appointment.
All "carryforward" appointments from your SideKick appoint-
ment file will also be shown. By "carryforward" we mean appoint-
ments which were entered prior to today's date, but which are
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intended to be shown today or after today's date, such as auto-
repeat appointments and reminders. These carryforward appoint-
ments will be shown in your search screen as occurring on the day
for which they were initially entered. Thus, auto-repeat ap-
pointments are shown only once in Search Mode. It is up to you
to look at the special character codes that you have entered in
the memo in order to determine when they will repeat.
If your searchterm spans more than a single word, then you
must enclose the entire searchterm within quote marks; otherwise,
PAL will interpret the second word of the searchterm as the name
of the file you wish to search.
If you wish to search for a string which itself contains
quote marks, then you must enclose each of those quote marks
themselves within quote marks.
Examples:
PAL @ $r ~
-- will pick up all appointments in your SK file (the
"r" disables search of the Appointment Scratchpad) after
1/1/85 which contain the tilde character, which signifies
an auto-repeat appointment within a SideKick memo.
PAL $c max
-- will pick up "max", "maxine", "maximum", etc. in your
default appointment file. Color is toggled.
PAL $ max planck
-- will pick up same as preceding command, but will
search a file called "PLANCK.APP" (if it can be found).
PAL $ "max planck"
-- will search for the words "Max Planck" in your
default appointment file.
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PAL $ "Pay Joey """The Hatchet""" !"
-- will search for the words:
Pay Joey "The Hatchet" !
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CHAPTER 7: THE APPOINTMENT SCRATCHPAD
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═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
PAL's Appointment Scratchpad allows you to keep track of
your appointments even if you do not have, or prefer not to use,
SideKick. You are provided with 60 slots to enter your memos,
but by employing the easy to use auto-repeat editing capacity
within the Appointment Scratchpad, the number of appointments you
actually design could easily exceed 60,000. Furthermore, by
using PAL's ability to save and read images, you can have an
infinite number of Appointment Scratchpads, restricted only by
available disk space. See section 14.1.9 at page 97.
7.1 Getting There
You can reach the Appointment Scratchpad any of three ways.
1. From the DOS system prompt:
PAL APPOINT, or PAL A
2. From PAL's main menu:
Hit "1", "F1" or "A"
3. From PAL's CLONE menu:
Hit "1", "F1" or "A"
7.2 The Appointment Scratchpad Menu
When you first enter the Appointment Scratchpad, you are
presented with the following simple menu:
Add, Delete, Edit, Find, Old, Sort, ESC to quit
To choose any of the operations, just hit the first letter
of the operation you wish to perform, or strike the ESC key to
exit the Appointment Scratchpad.
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Use the cursor keys to view another screenful of appoint-
ments. The Home key will always take you to the top screen,
while the End key will always take you to the bottom screen. To
page down through individual screens, use either the Page Down
key, the right arrow key or the down arrow key. To page up
through the individual screens, use either the Page Up key, the
left arrow key or the up arrow key.
If you perform a Find operation which results in a match for
a memo which is located on a screen not currently visible, then
the menu will also show "Next" if the match is on a screen with
higher numbered appointments and/or "Previous" if there is a
match on a screen with lower numbered appointments.
7.3 The Appointment Scratchpad Screen
When you enter the Appointment Scratchpad, you will see your
appointments in tabular form. Here's a sample showing the first
page:
No Frequency Restrictions Memo Timeslot
1│Once │11/07/1990x 1, ...............│Finish Documentation! │ Title
2│Once │11/25/1990x 1, ...............│First Jersey │10:30 am
3│Weekly │10/22/1990x 40, Thu............│Mtg with D.M. @45 │ 7:30 pm
4│Weekly │10/27/1990x∞∞∞, Tue............│Mtg with K.T. @45 │ 7:30 pm
5│1st Week │Always--------, Mon............│Partner's Meeting │ 6:00 pm
6│1st Week │10/27/1990x 9, Tue............│Marianne @45 │ 6:30 pm
7│3rd Week │10/22/1990x 9, Thu............│Rhetta @45 │ 6:30 pm
8│3rd Week │10/27/1990x 9, Tue............│Lynn @45 │ 6:30 pm
9│Yearly │Always--------, 07/06/****.....│Delia's Birthday │ Title
10│Yearly │Always--------, 07/20/****.....│Aunt Ethel's Birthday │ Title
11│Yearly │Always--------, 10/16/****.....│Micah's Birthday │ Title
12│Yearly │Always--------, 12/21/****.....│Dad's Birthday │ Title
13│Yearly │Always--------, 11/21/****.....│Laura's Birthday │ Title
14│Yearly │Always--------, 02/06/****.....│Jesse's Birthday │ Title
15│Yearly │Always--------, 02/20/****.....│Phyllis' Birthday │ Title
As you can see, each appointment is numbered (from 1 to 60).
The columns show the frequency with which the appointment will
appear, the restrictions which you have imposed on the appearance
of that appointment, the memo which will be shown with REPORT
MODE or SEARCH MODE, and the time slot for which the memo will
appear.
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To some extent, the facilities of REPORT MODE and SEARCH
MODE are duplicated within the Appointment Scratchpad's own menu.
For instance, you may "F"ind a sequence of characters in the
Appointment Scratchpad instead of exiting and running a search.
You may also order the appointments within the Appointment
Scratchpad with the "S"ort command; however, only a complete
report in REPORT MODE will expand the auto-repeating appoint-
ments, show you holidays, load alarms, and provide all the
goodies available in REPORT MODE.
7.4 "A"dding Appointments
To add an appointment to the Appointment Scratchpad, just
hit the "A" key. PAL will select the lowest-numbered empty slot
for your appointment to occupy.
As you construct the record for the appointment you want PAL
to memorize, PAL will guess at the answers to the questions posed
and will display those guesses opposite the questions. If you
wish to accept PAL's guess, then just hit the return key.
Otherwise, enter your own choice and then hit the return key.
As soon as you finish answering each question, PAL will
convert your answer to start building a visual record of your
choices. When you complete all of your answers, the record will
appear in identical form to all the other appointments which
already reside in the Appointment Scratchpad. This record will
appear on the line immediately below the last line of the Ap-
pointment Scratchpad.
If you make a mistake while building the record, don't worry
about it. Just keep hitting the return key in answer to all the
rest of the questions until you come to the last query: "Are you
satisfied with the record you have built?" -- which can be
answered only with a "Y" or an "N". Strike the "N" key, and your
erroneous information will disappear so you can try again. Even
if you select "Y" and the information in your Appointment
Scratchpad is changed, the changes are not permanently accepted
unless you CLONE when you exit the Appointment Scratchpad.
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7.4.1 Frequency
The first choice you are requested to make is the frequency
of the appointment:
Enter desired frequency: _____
A. Once D. Weekends G. 2nd Week J. Lst Week M. Bimonthly
B. Daily E. Weekly H. 3rd Week K. Biweekly N. Quarterly
C. Weekdays F. 1st Week I. 4th Week L. Monthly O. Yearly
You will see an "A" to the right of the "Enter desired
frequency:" prompt. If you want to enter a non-repeating ap-
pointment, then just hit the return key to accept the "A" selec-
tion. Otherwise, choose a letter that corresponds to the fre-
quency you desire and then hit the return key.
7.4.2 Setting Restrictions
Once you have chosen the frequency for the appointment, then
you will be asked for the manner in which you would like the
appearance of the appointment to be restricted.
7.4.2.1 Once
Setting restrictions for a one-time appointment is simple.
All you need to do is set the date on which the appointment
falls. Use the cursor keys to manipulate the month, day of
month, and year.
7.4.2.2 Daily, Weekdays and Weekends
For daily, weekday and weekend appointments you will first
be asked whether you would like to show the appointment always.
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If you answer "Y", then the appointment will be picked up by
PAL for every appropriate day which is contained within your
report, regardless of the beginning and ending day of your
report.
If you answer "N", then you will next be asked for the
earliest date for which you would like the appointment to appear.
To manipulate the date, use the cursor keys as shown at the
bottom of the screen. For weekday and weekend appointments, you
will note that as you change the date with the cursor keys, the
date will jump over inappropriate dates so that, for instance,
you cannot select a weekend date for a weekday appointment.
If you have answered "N" to the query whether you want the
appointment to repeat always, then after you select the date, you
are asked whether you would like to limit the number of times for
the appointment to repeat. If you answer "N", then the appoint-
ment will repeat from the date you have chosen in the prior step
until the end of your report, regardless of the ending date of
your report (The Appointment Scratchpad will reflect your choice
by inserting a series of three "infinity" characters in the line
you are building). If you answer "Y", you may then select a
number between 1 and 255 to limit the number of repetitions.
7.4.2.3 Weekly, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Last
The procedure for restricting weekly appointments is sub-
stantially similar to the discussion for restricting daily,
weekday and weekend appointments. The only difference is that
prior to getting into any of the other questions, you are first
asked the day of the week on which you would like the appointment
to be reported. Then you answer all the same questions outlined
above in section 7.4.2.2.
Appointments which you request to be scheduled for the
first, second, third, fourth or last occurrence of a particular
day of the week in each month are restricted with the same steps
as for weekly appointments. However, you are given the addi-
tional opportunity to further restrict the appointment to be
shown only in a particular month each year, so that, for in-
stance, you can set an appointment to fall on the fourth Thursday
in November if you know of any holiday or appointment that could
benefit from such a schedule.
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7.4.2.4 Biweekly
The procedure for restricting a biweekly appointment is the
same as for a weekly appointment, but with one significant
difference. Since it is important to know the starting date for
a biweekly appointment (so that PAL knows which of the alternate
weeks you want the appointment to be shown), PAL goes directly to
the question of the starting date. Thus, you are not given the
opportunity to designate a biweekly appointment as repeating
"always". However, if you do want the appointment to appear from
the beginning of any report through the end of any report, then
simply pick a starting date prior to today (or prior to any
earlier date that you might conceivably specify with the
"@MM/DD/YYYY" parameter on the command line) and do not restrict
the number of times for the appointment to repeat.
7.4.2.5 Monthly, Bimonthly, Quarterly
If you select a monthly, bimonthly or quarterly appointment,
you will first be asked to specify the day of the month on which
the appointment must appear. For bimonthly and quarterly ap-
pointments, you must then specify which monthly pattern to
follow; for instance, for bimonthly you can choose either the
even numbered months or the odd numbered months of the year.
Once you have specified the day of the month, and, where
appropriate, the monthly pattern, you will then be given the
opportunity to state whether the appointment should be shown
always. As with other types of appointments, if you answer
"Y"es, then the appointment will be shown from the beginning to
the end of all your reports. If you answer "N"o, then you must
specify a start date and then will be asked whether you wish to
limit the number of repeats.
7.4.2.6 Annual
First you will be asked to specify the month and day on
which you would like the annual appointment to fall. Then you
will be given the opportunity to require the appointment to be
shown always. If you do not want it shown always, then you must
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specify the beginning date and whether or not you want to limit
the number of repeats.
7.4.3 Entering the Memo
Now that you have chosen the frequency and have set the
restrictions for your appointment, you may enter the memo as you
would like it to appear in your report. As with SideKick, your
memo can be as long as 26 characters.
Any of your memos in the Appointment Scratchpad may contain
the special codes to create an alarm. In this way you can
readily create repeating alarms. See chapter 12 at page 56 for
how to create an alarm within your memo.
Since the Appointment Scratchpad has already learned the
frequency of your memo and the restrictions on how your appoint-
ment will repeat, there is no need to use any of the valuable 26-
character memo space for the special codes which would have been
needed in a SideKick memo to design an auto-repeating appoint-
ment.
7.4.4 Choosing the Time Slot
You may choose any standard SideKick-type time slot, includ-
ing "Title" and all half-hour intervals from 8:00 a.m. through
and including 8:30 p.m. Of course, with the ability to set
advance alarms (see section 12.9 at page 59), you have a much
wider choice of times at which you can be alerted to your
appointments.
7.4.5 Saving (or Erasing) Your Choices
Once you have selected the time slot, you will be asked
whether you are satisfied with the record you built.
If you answer "N"o, then the record will be erased and you
will be returned to the Appointment Scratchpad menu.
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If you answer "Y"es, that you are indeed satisfied with the
record, then your new appointment will temporarily be added to
the Appointment Scratchpad. You will be able to see it inserted
in the slot which was selected when you initially selected the
"A"dd operation. In order to make the addition permanent, you
must CLONE when you exit the Appointment Scratchpad. You will be
given this opportunity when you hit ESC to leave the Scratchpad.
If you choose not to CLONE, then you will lose the changes which
were made to the Appointment Scratchpad during this session.
7.5 "D"eleting an Appointment
To delete an appointment from the Appointment Scratchpad,
simply supply the number of the appointment you wish to delete.
You will be asked to confirm that you want to delete the appoint-
ment.
As with changes made using the "A"dd operation, the changes
which you make with the "D"elete operation take effect only
temporarily. To make the changes permanent, you must CLONE when
you "ESC"ape from the Appointment Scratchpad.
7.6 "E"diting an Appointment
To edit an appointment, select any appointment slot. You
will then be taken through each of the choices that you would
have to make if you were "A"dding an appointment (see section
7.4). The difference here is that if the slot you have selected
to edit is already occupied, the guesses which PAL makes for the
answers to the questions it poses will match the original infor-
mation which you already have for the entry being edited. If you
would like to retain any of the original information, just hit
the carriage return key to accept that default information. To
change the information, just enter the information as you would
like it to appear, then hit the return key.
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7.7 "F"inding an Appointment
While within the Appointment Scratchpad, you may search for
an appointment without having to exit and run PAL in its SEARCH
MODE. Of course, you may always run PAL in SEARCH MODE to look
for an appointment, and PAL will turn up the matches in both your
SideKick appointment file and PAL's Appointment Scratchpad.
When you select the "F"ind operation, you will be asked what
you want to search for. You can enter any sequence of characters
or words to search for. Do not use quotation marks to surround
groups of words as you would if you were using SEARCH MODE. Hit
the return key when you are finished typing the term or terms you
want to find.
PAL will then immediately examine all of the appointments in
the Appointment Scratchpad to see if there is a match. Lower and
upper case characters will be treated identically.
If PAL finds a match or matches, then those matches will be
highlighted in the Appointment Scratchpad screen, and PAL will
report in the lower left hand corner the numbers of the matched
appointments.
If there is a match located on a screen with appointments
numbered higher than those on the visible screen, then the "N"ext
operation will appear in the menu, and hitting the "N" key will
take you immediately to the next screen with a match on it.
Similarly, if there is a match located on a screen with lower-
numbered appointments, then the "P"revious operation will appear
in the menu, and hitting the "P" key will take you immediately to
the prior screen with a match on it. You may also use the cursor
keys to page through the Appointment Scratchpad screens one by
one.
Choosing any operation other than "N"ext, "P"revious or
paging with the cursor keys will remove the highlighting on the
found appointments.
7.8 "N"ext Screen
Immediately following a "F"ind operation, if a match is
found in an appointment which resides on a screen with higher-
numbered appointments than the screen presently being shown, then
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the "Next" selection will appear on the Appointment Scratchpad
menu. By hitting the "N" key, you will be taken directly to that
screen.
7.9 Removing "O"ld Appointments
When you select the "O"ld operation, you are being given the
opportunity to delete all non-repeating appointments (those which
show in the frequency column as "Once"). You will be prompted
whether or not you also want to delete old reminders, that is,
appointments with the "!" character in them.
It is possible that some of your auto-repeating appointments
for which you specified a limited number of repeats are indeed
out of date. However, the "O"ld operation will not automatically
delete them. Since it is possible that when you specified the
limited number of repeats you gave only a rough guess, it may be
inappropriate for PAL to assume that you want to get rid of the
limited auto-repeat appointment automatically.
To cull out the auto-repeat appointments which are out of
date by reason of the limitation on the number of repetitions,
you must examine each of them, and if you truly no longer need
them, use the "D"elete operation.
Hint: You may find it convenient to examine limited auto-
repeat appointments by using the "S"ort operation to sort by
number of repeats, thereby bring the limited appointments all
together. This will force the time-limited appointments to be
sorted between those which appear only once and those which
appear an infinite number of times. See section 7.11 at page 39.
7.10 "P"revious Screen
Immediately following a "F"ind operation, if a match is
found in an appointment which resides on a screen with lower-
numbered appointments than the screen presently being shown, then
the "Previous" selection will appear on the Appointment Scratch-
pad menu. By hitting the "P" key, you will be taken directly to
that screen.
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7.11 "S"orting Appointments
To sort appointments within the Appointment Scratchpad, just
hit the "S" key. You will be presented with a number of choices
as to the order in which you would like to sort the appointments:
A. Complete F. Start Date, Descending
B. Memo G. Frequency, Ascending
C. Time Slot, Ascending H. Frequency, Descending
D. Time Slot, Descending I. Repeats, Ascending
E. Start Date, Ascending J. Repeats, Descending
To run a sort, strike the alphabetic key which corresponds
with the type of sort you want. To get back to the Appointment
Scratchpad without sorting, strike the "Q" key to "Q"uit.
Once you run a sort, you may then immediately re-sort on
another category if you wish. This will permit you to set up
sorts within sorts, so that you can tailor the order of your
Appointment Scratchpad display to your own needs. For instance,
if you would like to see your appointments sorted mainly by the
number of repeats but would also like to see all appointments
further sorted by increasing start date, then first use sort "E"
(for the start date), then use sort "I" (for the number of
repeats).
Hint: In general, when you want a sort within a sort (or a
sort within a sort within a sort, etc.), then the least
significant category should be sorted first, and the most
important category should be sorted last.
If you select "Complete" (choice A), which is the default
choice, then PAL will do a multiple sort. The sequence of the
complete sort, in order of most to least significant, is (1)
ascending frequency, (2) ascending start date, (3) ascending time
slot, (4) ascending repeats, and (5) alphabetic.
Selecting "Memo" (choice B), will sort alphabetically by
your memo.
"Time Slot, Ascending" (choice C) will sort by the time slot
in increasing order of time, while "Time Slot, Descending"
(choice D) will sort by the time slot in decreasing order of
time.
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"Start Date, Ascending" (choice E) will sort by increasing
order of the commencement date of the appointment, while "Start
Date, Descending" (choice F) will sort in reverse.
When sorting by start date, appointments which are marked as
"Always" (that is, they have no start date) will be considered to
be earlier than appointments with a specified start date.
"Always" appointments will also be considered to be equal to each
other in start date, except that annual appointments situated
next to one another will be sorted by month and date, monthly
type appointments (monthly, bimonthly and quarterly) will be
sorted by day of the month, and weekly type appointments (weekly,
biweekly, first, second, third, fourth and last) will be sorted
by the day of the week.
"Frequency, Ascending" (choice G) will sort by the frequency
order. The order used for frequency is that which is displayed
in the choices provided when you add or edit an appointment (see
section 7.4.1). "Frequency, Descending" (choice H) will sort in
the opposite order.
"Repeats, Ascending" (choice I) will sort by order of
increasing number of repetitions, while "Repeats, Descending"
(choice J) will sort by decreasing number of repetitions.
Appointments which are not limited in the number of repetitions
will be considered to repeat infinitely.
If you want to quit back to the Appointment Scratchpad menu
without sorting, then strike the "Q" key.
7.12 "ESC"ape
At the Appointment Scratchpad menu, once you hit the ESC
key, you will either be dropped back to the DOS system prompt,
the main menu or to the CLONE menu, depending on how you first
entered the Appointment Scratchpad.
If you have made changes to the Appointment Scratchpad, then
you must CLONE them in order to save them. PAL will automati-
cally remind you of the need to CLONE unsaved changes when you
exit back to the DOS system prompt or to the main menu; if you
are "ESC"aping back to the CLONE menu, then you'll be reminded of
your unsaved changes if you attempt to exit the CLONE menu
without saving. If you choose not to CLONE, then the changes
you made in this session will be ignored.
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CHAPTER 8: REMINDERS
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
If you want to maintain a reminder list, then enter an
appointment either with SideKick or with PAL's internal Appoint-
ment Scratchpad and insert an exclamation point ("!") anywhere in
the memo. If the day passes and the memo is still there, then
PAL will remind you of that memo in a special section of its
report.
This feature is designed to serve as a "tickler." Any time
you have passed the day for which the reminder has been set, you
will be specially alerted. If you have run the demonstration
batch file "PALDEMO" you will recall that Dick was supposed to
have bought an engagement ring for Jane quite a long time ago.
Hint: Once you no longer require a memo to be
characterized as one of these tickling reminders, all you need to
do is enter SideKick or PAL's Scratchpad, as the case may be, and
edit the memo to delete the "!", or else delete the memo in its
entirety.
Caution: You cannot create automatically repeating
reminders. PAL will tickle you only for the actual, physical
entry which you make, but not for any repetitions of that
appointment which it interprets with its auto-repeat function.
For instance, study the two following appointments:
Pay mortgage!
Pay car loan!]
Assuming that both are entered on March 1, 1990, then on March 2,
1990 and thereafter both will appear in the reminders section of
your report. If you have asked for a report which extends beyond
March 31, 1990, then since the car loan memo is a monthly auto-
repeat (see section 9.1 at page 42), you will see the car loan
memo on the first day of each month which is included in the
report. However, in the reminders section of the report, you
will see each of those memos only once. To be reminded for more
than a single date, you must enter a memo on each date for which
you want to be tickled.
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CHAPTER 9: SK AUTO-REPEAT APPOINTMENTS
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═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
If you are not using SideKick with PAL, you can skip this
chapter 9 in its entirety.
PAL has extensive facilities to automatically repeat an
appointment. You may combine the auto-repeat capability with the
alarm function to have an automatically repeating alarm.
PAL's Appointment Scratchpad gives you a very simple method
to automatically repeat appointments, but that is not the focus
of this chapter. Instead, this chapter focuses on creating auto-
repeat appointments with SideKick. For an in-depth discussion of
the Appointment Scratchpad, see chapter 7.
9.1 Single Character Auto-Repeat
Daily, weekly, monthly and annual appointments may be
repeated in either of two ways. That is, you may either use a
single character or a sequence of characters. All auto-repeat
patterns other than daily, weekly, monthly and annual require a
special sequence of characters to be set.
If you want to have an appointment come up periodically on a
daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis, then you may insert
characters as follows:
Annual:
Use the left bracket ("[") or the sequence "~A"
Monthly:
Use the right bracket ("]") or the sequence "~M"
Weekly:
Use the left curly brace ("{") or the sequence "~W"
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Daily:
Use the right curly brace ("}") or the sequence "~D"
The four single-character codes are found on two keys on
your keyboard. To remember their use, it may be helpful to
visualize them as follows:
weekly daily
\ /
\ /
{ }
[ ]
/ \
/ \
annual monthly
Thus, for instance, if you would like PAL to remind you of
your client's wedding anniversary so that you can remember to
send out a greeting card and thereby be assured that the client
will view you as a thoughtful person entitled to even more busi-
ness, then either of the following two methods will produce an
annual auto-repeat of that memo:
Mr. Money Anniv. [
Mr. Money Anniv. ~A
The single-character codes (the square brackets and curly
brackets) were chosen because of the likelihood that they would
be infrequently used in your memos. However, in the event that
you find that it is more important to you to use the square
brackets and the curly brackets as text instead of as auto-repeat
characters, then you may disable them as auto-repeat characters.
To do so, simply enter the CLONE procedure and make the change
described in section 14.1.4.4 at page 93.
9.2 Special Auto-Repeat Sequences
More complex auto-repeat patterns can be inserted through
the use of the tilde ("~") character. PAL interprets the tilde
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as a signal that the next character or characters represent the
codes for a special pattern. You may follow the tilde with any
of the following combinations:
9.2.1 Daily types
~D Daily
~WD Weekdays
~WE Weekends
9.2.2 Weekly types
~W Weekly
~WO Biweekly (think "Week Other")
~1 First occurrence of that day in each month
~2 Second occurrence of that day in each month
~3 Third occurrence of that day in each month
~4 Fourth occurrence of that day in each month
~L Last occurrence of that day in each month
9.2.3 Monthly types
~M Monthly
~MO Bimonthly (think "Month Other")
~Q Quarterly
9.2.4 Annual type
~A Annually
Each of these patterns will repeat starting with the day for
which the appointment has been entered, with the following excep-
tions:
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* If you enter a ~WD appointment on a Saturday or Sunday it
will not commence repeating until the following Monday.
* If you enter a ~WE appointment on a weekday it will not
commence repeating until the first Saturday which follows.
* If you enter patterns ~1 through ~L, and the day for
which you have entered the appointment does not coincide with the
occurrence that you have specified, then the appointment will not
repeat until the first appropriate occurrence thereafter. For
instance, suppose that you have entered "Department meeting ~2"
in a timeslot for Thursday, October 15, 1992. Your specified
pattern calls for the appointment to repeat on the second Thurs-
day of each month, but the date on which you entered the appoint-
ment is actually the third Thursday of October, 1992. The auto-
repeat will not commence until the second Thursday of the follow-
ing month: Thursday, November 12, 1992.
9.3 Special Month Restrictions
The patterns of ~1 through ~L may be further restricted to a
particular month. The way to impose this restriction is to add a
single character at the end of the pattern to signify the desired
month. The characters to add are:
1 -- January
2 -- February
3 -- March
4 -- April
5 -- May
6 -- June
7 -- July
8 -- August
9 -- September
O -- October
N -- November
D -- December
Thus, for instance, you can make Thanksgiving appear on the
appropriate date each year by entering the following memo in any
Thursday timeslot:
Thanksgiving ~4N
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Of course, PAL itself will automatically show Thanksgiving for
you, but you get the idea. This month-limiting feature may be
useful for special holidays for which PAL does not provide.
9.4 Limiting the Number of Times to Repeat
An additional useful function which PAL permits in an auto-
repeat appointment is to specify the precise number of times that
you would like the appointment to repeat. This is accomplished
simply by placing the number sign ("#") immediately following the
pattern which you have already constructed, and then following
the number sign with an integer between 1 and 255 to signify the
limitation. Placing the number sign in any position other than
immediately following your auto-repeat pattern will be ignored by
PAL.
To help understand this ability to limit the repeats to a
specified number, compare the following two entries:
Pan Am Flt #7~m
Pan Am Flt ~m#7
The first memo will display as "Pan Am Flt #7" and will
appear every single month, without restriction as to the number
of times displayed. The second memo will display as "Pan Am Flt"
and will repeat monthly for 7 times beginning with the date for
which it was originally entered.
If you do not limit the number of repeats with the number
sign, then the memo will repeat through to the last day of your
report, regardless of the number of days in your report.
9.5 Auto-Repeats Not Shown Within SideKick
Caution: One final caution regarding using the auto-repeat
ability within SideKick's appointment file. It is important to
understand that what is happening with PAL's auto-repeat function
is that PAL is interpreting a single memo within your SideKick
file and showing it multiple times within PAL's own report. That
memo will not be reproduced physically within SideKick's own
file. Therefore, when you use SideKick's calendar pad to page
through the appointment file, you will NOT see a repeating
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appointment unless you are looking at the actual day on which you
entered the appointment.
For this reason, if you use auto-repeat appointments within
SideKick and want to know whether a particular time slot is
available to make a new appointment, you will be best off by
using PAL first to report on what's doing for the day. Once you
have determined with PAL that you have the time, you can then
invoke SideKick to actually enter the appointment.
9.6 Auto-Repeats in Appointment Scratchpad
Once you start playing with the character sequences to
generate automatically-repeating appointments in a SideKick memo,
you may rue the 26 character limitation in each time slot. The
auto-repeat character sequence, depending on the restrictions you
impose, may take up much more space than you would like.
The logical alternative is to make use of PAL's own internal
Appointment Scratchpad, where auto-repeat appointments can be
designed without using up any of the 26 character limitation for
your memo. See chapter 7 for complete information about the
Appointment Scratchpad.
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CHAPTER 10: SK DELETE AND PURGE
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If you are not using SideKick with PAL, you can skip this
chapter in its entirety.
PAL has the ability to get rid of entries in your SideKick
appointment file which are of no further use to you. If you
would like to see the amount of space that you could save in your
SideKick appointment file by employing the DELETE or PURGE proce-
dures, then by making the appropriate changes within the CLONE
procedure (see section 14.1.4.5 at page 94), you can have PAL
advise you of the benefits each time you run a report.
To remove old appointments from the Appointment Scratchpad,
use the "O"ld function from the Appointment Scratchpad menu. See
section 7.9. Deleting old appointments from SideKick's file is
the subject of the remainder of this chapter.
10.1 Out of Date Appointments
If you'd like to delete all your old appointments from the
SideKick appointment file, then invoke the delete function with
"PAL DELETE" or choose "Delete" from the main menu. This will
get rid of all your out of date appointments except for reminders
("!") and auto-repeat appointments. PAL will specifically ask if
you would like to delete old reminders as well, and will do so if
you answer "Y"es. PAL will not automatically delete old auto-
repeat appointments whose usefulness has expired.
The DELETE procedure has no effect on the Appointment
Scratchpad.
Caution: Beware! When you DELETE old appointments, the
SideKick file is changed so that you will not be able to recover
the old appointments unless you have previously saved a backup
copy of the file.
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10.2 Deleting Auto-Repeat Appointments
The DELETE procedure, as stated above, is designed not to
delete old automatically repeating appointments. This is so even
though it is possible that an auto-repeat appointment whose
number of repeats has been limited may indeed be out of date (see
section 9.4 for an explanation of how you can limit the number of
repeats in a SideKick memo). The reason that we have implemented
PAL so as not to delete such appointments is that we recognize
that you may have merely estimated the number of times that you
want the appointment to repeat.
Hint: If you want to examine your time-limited auto-repeat
appointments to make a conscious decision whether to delete any
of them, then simply ask PAL to locate them for you so you can
examine them. To locate the time-limited auto-repeat appoint-
ments within your SideKick file, search for the special character
that signifies the limited number, the "#" character. The com-
mand to search for those appointments, starting from 1/1/85, is
"PAL @ $ #".
10.3 Putting Out the Garbage
The DELETE procedure will also get rid of some useless
records in your appointment file which SideKick tends to leave
there even after you delete them with SideKick. When you delete
an appointment with SideKick, SideKick does not physically remove
the bytes from its file. Instead, all that SideKick does is
place a special code within the file so that the appointment then
becomes invisible.
If all you want to do is collect and dispose of this garbage
but leave your old visible appointments intact, then use the
command "PAL PURGE" or choose "Purge" from the main menu. The
PURGE procedure has no effect on the Appointment Scratchpad.
The DELETE procedure will automatically invoke the garbage
collection procedure that PURGE uses, so you needn't invoke both
procedures separately.
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10.4 Avoiding a Conflict With SideKick
If PAL detects that SideKick is not loaded, it will automa-
tically change your appointment file and rewrite the new, clean
version to disk. However, PAL will refuse to upgrade your file
automatically if it senses that SideKick is resident within your
system. Instead, PAL creates a new file with the name
"CLEAN.APP" and instructs you to copy CLEAN.APP over your exist-
ing file when SideKick is not loaded in memory or when you know
that SideKick is not attached to the file that has just been
cleansed.
Caution: If you have multitasking software or task-switch-
ing software in your system, PAL may not be able to sense the
presence of SideKick. If you have such software in your system,
please read chapter 15 carefully.
The reason for this protection is that we have observed that
SideKick has at times had problems writing new appointments to
its appointment file when that file has been shrunken (by PAL)
without its knowledge, with the potential result of scrambling
data on your disk! For this reason, please heed PAL's warnings!
For convenience, we supply you with three additional command
line alternatives which you may find useful to place in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file prior to the command which loads SideKick.
Each of these commands will perform its operations to their
conclusion, without pausing to provide instructions or to request
input from the user. If PAL senses that SideKick is loaded when
these commands are issued, then the requested operation will not
be completed.
PAL DELETEAUTO
Deletes all out-of-date appointments,
except for old reminders.
Also performs "PURGEAUTO".
PAL DELETEAUTOALL
Deletes all out-of-date appointments,
including old reminders.
Also performs "PURGEAUTO".
PAL PURGEAUTO
Deletes only the empty appointments left
behind when you erase an appointment within
SideKick's calendar.
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10.5 How to Safely Update When SK is Loaded
We strongly recommend against DELETING or PURGING while
SideKick is loaded and encourage you to follow the procedures set
forth earlier in this chapter. If you do follow those proce-
dures, then there is no need for you to read the remainder of
this section.
If, however, you have a particular need to use DELETE or
PURGE while SideKick is loaded, then please read this section
carefully. If you have multi-tasking or task-switching software
in your system, please read chapter 15 before attempting to
employ these procedures.
When PAL senses that SideKick is loaded, PAL tells you it is
not automatically updating your appointment file but instead is
creating the file CLEAN.APP. There are three methods you can
follow to copy CLEAN.APP over your APPOINT.APP:
1. First, if and only if you have not yet used Side-
Kick's appointment entry pad since you booted your computer,
then SideKick will not yet be attached to your appointment
file. You may then perform the copy.
2. Second, you can remove SideKick from memory before
issuing the copy command. Follow the instructions in your
SideKick manual to do this. Go ahead and copy the appoint-
ment file. You may then reinstall SideKick.
3. Third, you can force SideKick (without removing it
from memory) to recognize the new size of your cleansed ap-
pointment file with a little bit of fancy footwork:
a) Pop up SideKick and force it to disattach
itself from your original appointment file by doing the
following. Call up the calendar, then enter the
appointment entry pad (<AltL>, followed by Return).
Hit "F2" to tell SideKick to attach itself to a new
file name for the appointment file. Give it the name
of any file other than the original appointment file
which PAL has just cleansed. Press return to make sure
that SideKick has accepted your new choice of file.
SideKick has now disattached itself from your original
appointment file. Drop out of SideKick and return to
the DOS system prompt.
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b) Now: "COPY CLEAN.APP APPOINT.APP".
c) Pop up SideKick again, and reattach your original
appointment file by using the "F2" selection in the ap-
pointment entry pad and supplying the name of the original
file. SideKick now will be operating with correct informa-
tion regarding the length of your cleansed file.
10.6 Multi-Tasking and Task-Switching Systems
Persons who use multi-tasking systems (e.g. Desqview, Task-
view, Topview) or task-switching systems (e.g. Carousel) must
exercise extra-special caution, because PAL will not be able to
sense when SideKick is loaded in a partition of memory different
from that from which PAL was invoked.
In particular, PAL will be able to sense SideKick only if
(a) SideKick has been made resident globally prior to installa-
tion of the multi-tasking or task-switching software, or (b) if
PAL is run within the separate partition in which SideKick has
been made resident.
When SideKick is made resident within one partition, and you
ask PAL to run either the DELETE or PURGE procedures within
another partition, PAL will merrily go about its activity obli-
vious to SideKick's presence in a hidden partition of your system
and will change your file without the built-in precautions de-
scribed above.
To avoid potential data loss in multi-tasking or task-
switching systems, you may exercise any one of the following
precautions:
1. Refrain from using DELETE and PURGE during the
normal course of your computer usage. Instead, insert one
of the automatic batch file commands (described in section
10.4 above) within your AUTOEXEC.BAT file prior to the com-
mand which loads SideKick.
2. If you must use the DELETE or PURGE procedures while
SideKick is loaded in your system, make sure that SideKick
is not hidden from PAL in another partition. You can assure
yourself of this by either:
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(a) loading SideKick globally before your
multi-tasker or task-switcher, or
(b) if you load SideKick after your multi-
tasker or task-switcher, then use PAL only
within the partition in which SideKick is
loaded.
3. You may run PAL DELETE or PAL PURGE with complete
safety from a partition which differs from that in which
SideKick resides only if the operation is performed prior to
your first use of SideKick's calendar since you last booted
your computer.
4. If you mistakenly run the DELETE or PURGE procedure
from a partition which differs from SideKick's partition,
and if SideKick's calendar has already been invoked, then
refrain from permitting SideKick to write any additional ap-
pointments to your appointment file until you follow the
"fancy footwork" instructions under option 3 described in
section 10.5.
10.7 Knowing When to Use PURGE or DELETE
If you would like to know how many bytes you can save in
your appointment file with these garbage collection procedures,
then you can enter the CLONE procedure, call up the screen for
Miscellaneous Defaults, and ask PAL to show you the effect of the
PURGE and DELETE procedures. The next time you run PAL in REPORT
MODE, you will receive information at the head of the report
showing the number of bytes you could save if you use either
procedure. See section 14.1.4.5.
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CHAPTER 11: MULTIPLE SK APPOINTMENT FILES
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PAL offers the ability to merge two or more SideKick ap-
pointment files in order to view them together. If you are not
using SideKick with PAL, you can skip this chapter 11 in its
entirety.
11.1 SideKick's Deficiency
SideKick by itself has no capability for simultaneously
viewing the appointments of two or more persons. In particular,
you can merge two files into a single file to be read by Side-
Kick, but if both files contain an appointment on the same day at
the same time, SideKick will show you only one of the appointm-
ents in the time slot. PAL corrects this deficiency.
11.2 PAL's Solution
If you keep more than one appointment file and would like to
view them together to check on conflicts or common free time,
then copy them together (using the "/b" parameter), and view the
combined file with PAL. For instance, if Dick uses DICK.APP and
Jane uses JANE.APP, use the following command to combine the
files into TOTAL.APP:
COPY DICK.APP + JANE.APP TOTAL.APP /b
Then use PAL on the combined file:
PAL 7 TOTAL
If you fail to use the "/b" parameter, then the combined
file will not have the correct number of bytes, and PAL will
refuse to recognize it as a valid appointment file.
If any of the files to be combined contains alarm appoint-
ments, then you may or may not want PAL to load all of the alarms
from all of the files. By default, PAL will load all alarms
which it senses. One of the command line toggle switches which
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might be appropriate for using here is the "A" parameter, which
turns off alarm loading. To turn off alarm loading when report-
ing on the combined file, use the command "PAL 7A TOTAL".
11.3 An Example
Suppose a single appointments secretary maintains appoint-
ments for six lawyers on her own computer using SideKick. She
uses files named "JOHN.APP", "SUSAN.APP", "ROBERT.APP" and so
forth, all in the "\SK" directory. There are no other "*.APP"
files in her system. Here's the contents of a simple batch file
which she could write to give her a hard-copy printout of every-
one's appointments for the next week:
CD \SK
DELETE ALL.APP
COPY *.APP ALL /B
REN ALL ALL.APP
PAL 7PA ALL
This batch file first changes to the directory on which the
*.APP files can be found, then deletes the old merged file (if
any), then merges everyone's appointment records, then sends a 7
day report on the merged file to the printer. Alarm updating has
been suppressed.
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CHAPTER 12: ALARMS
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PAL will insert alarms into your computer memory for you so
that you may have an audible and visual signal at the time you
wish to be alerted to an appointment.
12.1 Auto-Repeat Alarms
By combining the alarm feature with PAL's auto-repeat fea-
ture, you may design automatically repeating alarms. For in-
stance, with PAL and PALARM you can set your computer, with just
two memos, to awaken you at 7:00 a.m. each weekday and 11:30 a.m.
every weekend day for the rest of your life.
Since you'll be visually and audibly reminded at the appro-
priate times with an auto-repeat alarm, you may consider viewing
these alarms in your REPORT MODE reports to be unnecessarily
cluttering. Do you really want to see your 7:00 a.m. wakeup call
in your report intermixed with your other appointments? Probably
not. Therefore, PAL allows you the option of making an auto-re-
peat alarm invisible to REPORT MODE. This is accomplished by
inserting the inverted carat character -- ^ -- any place within
the memo. Although this memo will thereafter not appear in any
report, you can still search for it in SEARCH MODE, and any
alarms which are sent off to PALARM will be visible in the table
of alarms accessible in the PAL SET ALARMS menu (see section
12.11).
12.2 PALARM
In order for PAL to insert alarms into your computer memory,
you must first load PALARM. To do so, all you have to do is
issue the command "PALARM", and that program will install itself
and remain resident. You must call PALARM prior to installing
SideKick, because SideKick must remain the last-installed program
in memory.
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12.3 Two Ways to Set Alarms
There are two ways that PAL can communicate an alarm to
PALARM: automatically and manually.
First, PAL has the capability of automatically interpreting
a special character (the "@") in your SideKick or Appointment
Scratchpad memo as signifying that you want the memo treated as
an alarm. See section 12.8.
Second, in the PAL SET menu, you may manually add or edit
alarms directly without using SideKick or the Appointment
Scratchpad. See section 12.11.
12.4 Capacity for 10 Alarms
PALARM allows your computer to maintain up to 10 alarms at
any time. When the moment comes for the alarm, PALARM will pop
up over your current application and will present you with both a
visual and an audible alarm (the visual alarm will not pop up
over a graphics application).
12.5 How to Kill or Snooze a Sounding Alarm
You kill a sounding alarm by hitting the carriage return
key.
If you fail to kill the alarm within a specified period,
then PALARM will automatically silence the alarm, snooze for a
period, then pop up again later. You can intentionally force
PALARM to snooze by hitting any key other than the carriage re-
turn when it pops up. If PALARM is snoozing, you will hear a
soft ticking sound approximately once per second.
As distributed, the alarm will display for 10 seconds and
will snooze for 1 minute. You can change the time for display to
between 1 and 60 seconds, and the snooze time to between 1 minute
and 24 hours. This change can be made by entering the Install
function from the PAL SET main menu. See section 14.2.4.
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Hint: If you want to kill an alarm before it pops up or
while it is snoozing, then you must delete it within the PAL SET
ALARMS menu. See section 12.11.
12.6 How to Pop Up a Snoozing Alarm
New to version 2.1 of PAL is the ability to force a snoozing
alarm to pop up once again before the snooze time elapses.
You'll know if you have a snoozing alarm if you hear a soft
ticking sound coming from your computer. To make that alarm pop
up immediately, just strike the <AltP> key combination.
If the currently active application program also ordinarily
responds to <AltP> (for instance, Procomm Plus uses that key
combination to alter modem line settings), PALARM will take
complete control over <AltP> while an alarm is snoozing, so that
hitting that combination will always result in popping up the
snoozing alarm. Once PALARM detects that no alarms are snoozing,
it relinquishes control over the <AltP> combination.
12.7 Controlling the Sound
An additional control you have over the alarm is the ability
to specify the type of sound you hear when the alarm goes off.
You can change the sound to OFF, LOW, NORMAL or HIGH. The dis-
tribution version of PALARM has the sound set to SOFT. See sec-
tion 14.2.3.
12.8 How to Write a Memo to Become an Alarm
To tell PAL that you want a memo to be loaded automatically
as an alarm, simply insert the "@" character anyplace in the
memo. All of the following are valid examples of memos which
will be treated as alarms:
Run for the train @30
@@@@@@ WAKE UP @@@@@@
@ Partners Meeting
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When you ask PAL to run a report of your coming appoint-
ments, PAL will translate your memo into an alarm and feed the
information to PALARM. The alarm will then pop up at the time
for which you wrote the memo. The "Title" slot in SideKick and
the Appointment Scratchpad will be interpreted as 7:30 a.m.
12.9 Advance Alarms
If you want advance notice of the appointment, you can force
the alarm to pop up prior to the time slot of the appointment by
writing the amount of time to advance the alarm immediately fol-
lowing the "@" character. The alarm will then pop up that number
of minutes prior to the time slot for which you wrote the memo.
For instance, the sequence "@20" means you want the alarm to pop
up 20 minutes before the time slot of the appointment.
The maximum number you can use is 1440. This gives you the
capability of advancing the alarm anywhere from 1 minute to 24
hours.
Furthermore, you can amplify the effect of the number to
reflect the number of days or the number of hours for which you
would like advance notice. If you follow the number with a "D",
then the alarm will be advanced that number of days; if you
follow the number with an "H", then the alarm will be advanced
that number of hours; if you follow the number with any other
letter or with nothing, then the alarm will be advanced that
number of minutes.
Hint: By using advance alarms, you can effectively set
appointments for after 8:30 pm (the last regular time entry slot
in SideKick and the Appointment Scratchpad) or before 8:00 am
(the earliest slot). Note also that PAL will interpret the Title
slot as calling for an alarm at 7:30 am. For instance, suppose
you want an alarm to sound at 11:30 pm: you could enter an alarm
in the next day's Title slot with the code "@8h", in the 11:30 am
slot with the code "@12h" or in the 8:00 am slot with the code
"@510" -- any of the foregoing combinations (and innumerable
other possible combinations) would produce an 11:30 pm alarm.
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Examples:
Call IRS @
-- A simple alarm
Wake up @ ~wd
-- Example of a repeating alarm, every weekday
Run for the train @ ~wd^
-- Example of a repeating weekday alarm which will not
show up when you run a report, but which will pop up at
the appointed times regularly.
Flight to London @240
-- Warns you 4 hours in advance
Flight to London @4h
-- Warns you 4 hours in advance
Wedding Anniversary @1d
-- Lets the forgetful husband/wife know a full day in
advance
Catch Train @ 10
-- Beware! This will pop up at the precise time of your
memo slot, not 10 minutes in advance! The space between
the "@" and the number means that PAL will not interpret
the "10" as a command to advance the alarm.
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12.10 Run PAL to Automatically Update Alarms
In order to automatically update your alarms, you must run
PAL in REPORT MODE from time to time. The alarms which you de-
sign with SideKick and the Appointment Scratchpad do nothing at
all unless PAL reads them, interprets them, and sends them off to
PALARM.
PAL will examine each alarm for its intended date and time,
and if the alarm is to be sounded after the moment at which PAL
is examining it, then PAL will try to load it into the ten-slot
queue which PALARM holds in memory. Only the 10 most immediate
alarms will be held in the queue.
Hint: Periodically running PAL to ask for a report will
make sure that your alarms are updated regularly. If you run PAL
in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file every morning when you boot up, then
you're likely to do just fine. Since PALARM has only a 10 alarm
capacity, if you set more than 10 alarms during a day, you'll
have to run PAL more frequently than once daily.
12.11 Editing Alarms Manually with PAL SET
Editing alarms manually is accomplished by entering PAL SET,
then entering the "Alarms Menu".
You can reach the PAL SET menu by issuing the command "PAL
SET" or "PAL S" from the command line, or just invoking "PAL" to
get to the main menu and then selecting "SET" from the main menu.
The PAL SET menu appears as follows:
1. Alarms Menu
2. Clock Toggle
3. Date Toggle
4. Help
5. Install Assumptions
6. Load Info From Disk
7. Save Info To Disk
<ESC> to quit to main menu
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From the PAL SET menu, press the "A", "1" or "F1" keys to
enter the Alarms Menu. The Alarms Menu appears in the lower
right hand corner of your screen as follows:
1. Add an Alarm
2. Clear all Alarms
3. Delete an Alarm
4. Edit an Alarm
5. Purge Old Alarms
<ESC> to return to main menu
At the top of the screen when you enter the Alarms Menu is a
listing of all the alarms which PALARM currently contains in
memory (up to 10):
You have the following Alarms set:
1. Thu, Mar 3 1990, 4:30pm : Gary Fields @30 ................
2. Thu, Mar 3 1990, 6:45pm : Aerobics @45 ..................
3. Mon, Mar 7 1990, 6:45pm : Art Class @45 ................
4. Thu, Mar 10 1990, 6:45pm : Aerobics @45 ..................
5. Mon, Mar 14 1990, 5:45pm : Lynn @45 .......................
6. Mon, Mar 14 1990, 6:45pm : Art Class @45 ................
7. Thu, Mar 17 1990, 5:45pm : Rhetta @45 .....................
8. Thu, Mar 17 1990, 6:45pm : Aerobics @45 ..................
9.
10.
You are shown the full memo for each alarm and the time at
which it is scheduled to pop up. The next scheduled alarm will
be highlighted to set it off from the rest of the alarms. If any
of the alarms are currently snoozing, that fact will be noted
together with the time at which it will pop up again.
From the Alarms Menu, you can add alarms, edit them (change
the date, time or memo), delete specific alarms, purge old alarms
(those which are listed prior to the next scheduled alarm), or
clear the entire alarm sequence.
When you exit the Alarms menu and get back to the opening
PAL SET menu, you should "S"ave your changes to the data file if
you want the information remembered the next time you boot up.
If you fail to "S"ave the information, then your changes will be
remembered only for your current computing session. If, prior to
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saving the current changes, you would like to restore the infor-
mation which was last saved to disk, then use the "L"oad option
from the PAL SET main menu.
Manual editing of an alarm permits you to determine expli-
citly the date and time that a memo will pop up, without having
to insert any special codes within the memo.
Hint: It is best to manually edit alarms which are not
near the end of the 10-place queue that PALARM holds. The reason
for this caution is that the automatic interpretation by PAL of
SideKick and Appointment Scratchpad memos may, under certain
circumstances, delete your manually entered alarm. Here's how
that would happen. Let's say you have manually entered an alarm
for one year down the road. PAL, however, sees from your
SideKick or Appointment Scratchpad memos that you want 15 alarms
sounding between now and then. As indicated above, PALARM has
space for only 10 alarms. What PAL will do is insert the 10 most
immediate alarms in those spaces. If it finds that an alarm
which has already been scheduled is set to occur later than the
10 alarms it wants to insert, then the later alarm will be pushed
out of the queue. If that alarm which has been kicked out was
within the SideKick or Appointment Scratchpad memos, then PAL
will automatically add it back to the queue when there is room.
But if the unfortunate alarm was manually added, then it won't
get back in unless you manually add it in once again.
Hint: Whenever you kill a sounding alarm, PALARM will
update the alarm data file on your disk, even if you are in the
midst of an alarm editing session. Therefore, if an alarm pops
up in the middle of an editing session and you don't want the
current changes to overwrite your existing data, then instead of
killing the alarm, force it to snooze. When you are certain that
your editing changes are correct, you can then kill the alarm the
next time it pops up.
12.12 Removing PALARM
To remove PALARM from memory, you must be at the DOS system
prompt. Simply invoke "PALOFF" at the DOS system prompt.
"PALOFF.EXE" is one of the files supplied, and it should reside
in a directory within your DOS path for maximum convenience.
If it is safe to unload PALARM from memory, then the program
will terminate its operations and release its occupied memory.
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If another program is resident in memory after PALARM and
that program uses some of the same interrupt vectors that PALARM
uses, then it is not safe to remove PALARM until the other
program is first removed from memory. In the event such a condi-
tion exists, PALARM will remain in memory. You will have to
remove the other program first before trying again to unload
PALARM.
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CHAPTER 13: TIMED EVENTS
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In combination with PALARM's alarms, PAL now provides you
with the ability to initiate an "event" on your computer at a
pre-appointed time. With the flexibility of PALARM's alarms, you
can set up a series of regularly occurring events.
How might this facility be employed? Here are some examples
to stimulate your imagination:
* You want your tape drive to commence an unattended backup
every Wednesday night.
* You want your computer to retrieve your electronic mail
for you every weekday morning so that it awaits you when
you arrive at your office.
* You want your hard disk optimizer program to run its
defragmentizing option every Saturday morning, and you
want it to test disk integrity and lock out bad sectors
in the afternoon of the first Saturday of every month.
* You run a BBS which is a member of a network of BBSes
that exchange mail. You want your computer to exit out
of your BBS software (but only when none of your users is
in the process of using the BBS) and then run a batch
file or Palrun Alias that exchanges mail with your local
hub (Palrun is another product of PAL Software NY). You
want to do this three times a day.
* Once a day you want to run a series of programs designed
to tidy up your hard disk.
* Your spreadsheet program contains information derived
from a major online stock exchange database. You have
already figured out a way to download the information
from the database and incorporate it into your
spreadsheet, but you would like to automate the process.
What you want is for your computer to be able to exit the
spreadsheet once every half hour (but only if nobody in
your office is examining the spreadsheet at that moment),
call up the database, download the information,
incorporate the data into the spreadsheet, and then
return into the spreadsheet to present the data.
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In using the term "event", we refer to the ability for
PALARM to feed keystrokes to your computer. The actual series of
keystrokes we refer to as a "Macro".
PAL contains a sophisticated "Macro Editor" to allow you to
pre-define the series of keystrokes that make up your Macro. You
give each of your Macros a name of not more than 20 characters.
A Macro is executed when PALARM pops up with an alarm that
has a special identifying character in the first position of the
memo and has the name of the Macro following the special
character.
It wouldn't be much use to you if a Macro which is designed
to run a batch file started executing while you were in the
middle of your spreadsheet application. Therefore, PAL and
PALARM are engineered to permit you to create two different types
of Macros: "Prompt Macros" and "Application Macros".
A "Prompt Macro" is one which you want to run only if the
computer is resting at the DOS prompt or the Palrun Prompt. The
"Palrun Prompt" is the command line for Palrun, another product
of PAL Software NY.
An "Application Macro" is one which you want to run only if
the computer is NOT at the DOS prompt or Palrun Prompt.
Both types of Macros are created in the Macro Editor in
identical fashion. What separates the two is that the special
identifying character (to insert as the first character of your
alarm memo) for a Prompt Macro is ">", while the special
identifying character for an Application Macro is the "<"
character.
If an alarm pops up with a Prompt Macro ready to be run, but
your computer is not at the Palrun Prompt or Dos prompt, then the
alarm will snooze and pop up at a later time. The snooze time is
the same length that you have set in the Clone procedure (See
section 14.2.4).
Similarly, if the alarm contains an Application Macro, but
your cursor is sitting in DOS or at the Palrun Prompt rather than
in an application, the alarm will snooze.
An Application Macro may be further conditioned upon the
presence of a particular word or phrase at a particular screen
location, so that you can design a Macro that will execute only
when the situation is precisely right for it.
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In order for you to take advantage of this timed event
facility, you must know how to do a few things:
1. How to create an alarm. This is covered in detail in
Chapter 12.
2. How to define a Macro. This is covered below.
3. How to make an alarm initiate a Macro. This is also
covered below.
13.1 Creating and Editing Macros
Macros are created from the "Set Alarms" menu of PAL. From
the main menu of PAL, hit "S" to enter the "Set Alarms" menu.
Please note that in order to enter the "Set Alarms" menu, PALARM
must already have been loaded in memory
You'll see the "Edit Macros for Alarms" choice. Select that
and you'll be presented with a self-explanatory "Macro Action"
menu:
╒═════════════════════════════ Macro Action ══════════════════════════════╕
│Edit a Macro Delete a Macro Exit │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
You make your selection by moving the highlight bar with the
cursor keys and then striking <Enter>. You can either edit or
delete a Macro, or exit back to the "Set Alarms" menu. Hitting
the <Esc> key will also allow you to exit.
To create a new Macro, or to edit an old one, select the
"Edit a Macro" choice.
If you do not yet have any Macros, then PAL will immediately
ask you for the name of a Macro to create.
If, on the other hand, you have already created Macros, then
a window will pop up showing you the names of all the Macros
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which are available for editing. The first selection in the
window will be "Edit a New Macro". For instance, your pop up
window might look something like this:
╒══════════════════════ Choices for Editing Macros ═══════════════════════╕
│Edit a New Macro DOMYWORDPROCESSING DOWNLOADFILES │
│DOS UPLOADFILES │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
13.1.1 Creating a New Macro
The first thing PAL asks you to do when creating a Macro is
to select a name for the Macro. This must not be more than 20
characters long. It is this name which you will use to tell
PALARM which Macro to look for when you set an alarm.
If the name you select matches the name of a Macro that you
have previously recorded, PAL will warn you that the name you
have selected is not unique and will ask you to enter another
name. If you want to edit the Macro which already has that name,
then hit the <Esc> key when asked to enter the name so that you
can return to the "Choices for Editing Macros" menu to select
that Macro for editing.
After you specify a Macro name, a window will pop up. We
refer to this window as the "Macro Editor".
In the Macro Editor, you will create the actual Macro by
typing the keys that you want PALARM to play back at a later time
when it calls on the named Macro. All you have to do is type in
the keys that you want to be played back when your alarm later
pops up. As you type, you will see a written representation of
each key appear in the editing window. The maximum number of
keys that you can include in any Macro is 50.
For accuracy in recording the keys that need to be played
back in your Macro, it will be helpful if you keep by your side
notes that you have previously made which set forth, keystroke by
keystroke, the entire sequence that needs to be replayed by the
Macro.
When you are finished recording the Macro, press <Enter> for
the sequence to be memorized by PAL. The Macro will be stored in
a Macro File on your disk. On distribution, PAL is designed to
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create Macros in a file with the designation of "C:\MAC.MAC".
You can change the name and location of the Macro File from the
"Install Assumptions" selection on the "Set Alarms" menu.
"Wait," you say. "What if I need to use the <Enter> key to
be played back in the Macro? How do I get it to be recorded
within the Macro without the Macro Editor thinking that I'm
finished?"
The <Enter> key is one of several keys on your keyboard that
may be used either as keystrokes to be played back in your Macro
or as commands within the Macro Editor. When the Macro Editor
initially opens, all of these keys are used as commands. If you
want any of these keys to be replayed by your Macro, you can tell
PAL to treat them literally instead of as commands. To toggle
between literal treatment or command treatment of any of these
keys, you must press the <ScrollLock> key. Each successive press
of <ScrollLock> will change the treatment of these keys back and
forth between literal and command mode. Near the upper right
corner of the window, you will see the words "Literal" and
"Command" change places each time you press <ScrollLock>.
13.1.2 Macro Editor Commands
The following commands are available in the Macro Editor:
<Enter> Stop editing and accept changes
<Esc> Stop editing and discard changes
<Left>, <Right>, <Up> and <Down>
These cursor keys may be used to move left and right
one key, or up and down one line.
<Ins> Toggle insert mode. The edit window opens in
insert mode. With each successive press of <Ins>,
the words "Insert" and "Overtype" will exchange
places at the upper right corner of the editing
window to let you know the current state.
<Del> Delete key at cursor
<Bksp> Delete previous key
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<CtrlBksp> Delete all keys in Macro
<ScrollLock> Toggle between command mode and literal mode.
In literal mode, pressing any of the keys
listed above will insert that key into the
Macro, rather than executing the command.
13.1.3 Editing Existing Macros
To edit an existing Macro, choose the "Edit a Macro"
selection from the first menu. Then position the highlight bar
over the name of the existing Macro and strike <Enter>.
The first thing that PAL will do for you is permit you to
change the name of the Macro. If you are satisfied with the name
of the Macro, just strike <Enter> once again.
At this point, the Macro Editor will pop up. It will show
you the full sequence of keys in your Macro, as currently
defined. You have the full set of Macro editing commands at your
disposal to make any changes that you wish.
After making changes, hitting <Enter> will tell PAL to
accept your changes, while hitting <ESC> will tell PAL to ignore
the changes and leave the Macro as you found it. If you delete
all the keys in the Macro definition and then strike <Enter>, the
Macro will be deleted, without asking for your confirmation.
13.1.4 Deleting Existing Macros
There are two ways to delete existing Macros.
First, you can choose the "Delete a Macro" selection from
the top menu. You will be presented with a window setting forth
the names of all your currently defined Macros. Place the
highlight bar over the name of the Macro you wish to delete, then
strike <Enter>. PAL will then ask you whether you would like to
confirm your intention to delete that Macro.
Second, while editing any Macro, if you delete all keys
within the definition and then hit <Enter>, PAL will interpret
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that action as an intention to delete the Macro. In this case,
PAL will not request confirmation for the deletion.
13.2 Setting a Timed Event
A timed event is set by creating a memo, either with
SideKick or with PAL's Appointment Scratchpad. The memo must
have as its first character either the ">" or "<" characters.
Your selection of which character to use will depend on
whether you want the Macro to be invoked while an application
program is running or whether you want it to be invoked when you
are at the DOS or Palrun Prompts.
As you might guess, the ">" character is used to signify
that the Macro is to be launched only if PALARM senses that your
computer is resting at the DOS or Palrun Prompt.
Conversely, the "<" character is used to tell PALARM that
the Macro should be invoked only if the computer is NOT at the
DOS or Palrun Prompt; i.e., only if you are then within an
application program. You have the ability to set additional
conditions with the "<" signifier, so that the Macro will run
only if those conditions are met when the alarm pops up. The
ability to set conditions is covered in detail below.
Following the ">" or "<" signifier, you must include the
name of the Macro that you have created and which you desire to
be invoked at the appointed time.
The last thing you need to remember to do is to include the
"@" character in the memo to let PAL know that this is an alarm.
For instance, if you want the Macro "EXITWP" to be invoked
while you are in your application program, you might have a memo
which reads "<EXITWP @". This Macro will run only if your system
is not at the Palrun or DOS prompt at the appointed time. If
that condition is not satisfied, then the alarm will snooze and
pop up intermittently until the computer is not at the prompt.
Similarly, if you have a Macro named "ENTERWP" which is
designed to enter your application program from the DOS or Palrun
Prompt, you could have a memo that reads ">ENTERWP @".
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All the special characters that you can use in a memo can be
used. For instance a memo such as
<EXITWP @5 ^
can be used to set the alarm for 5 minutes before the half hour
of the memo slot, and the memo will not be visible when you ask
PAL for a report. Please study the PAL documentation for a full
appreciation of the meanings of the special characters at your
disposal.
13.3 Conditional Application Macros
Any Application Macro can be set to run only if a particular
word or sequence of characters appears on your screen at a
specific location. We provide you with this facility because a
certain set of keystrokes executed by a Macro may make perfect
sense in one situation, but would wreak havoc in the application
in another situation.
Usually, the "right" situation can be identified by
reference to some word or set of characters which appear on your
screen at a particular location.
The proper syntax for conditional execution of an
Application Macro is:
<x,y,string< NameofMacro @
where "X" is the column of the screen location,
and "Y" is the row of the screen location,
and "string" is the sequence of characters to check for
starting at column X on row Y.
"NameofMacro" is, as you might guess, the name of the Macro
that you have already created.
The "@" character is used by PAL and PALARM to signify that
the memo must be treated as an alarm.
Note that everything that follows "<x,y," and precedes the
second "<" is significant in determining the string that must be
present in order for the conditions to be satisfied. This allows
you to include spaces as part of your test string.
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For instance, the following three memos will all require
different conditions to be satisfied:
<1,2,mystring< myMacro @
<1,2,mystring < myMacro @
<1,2, mystring< myMacro @
With the first example, the first 8 places starting at
column 1 on row 2 must match "mystring". In the second example,
the first 9 places must match "mystring ". In the third example,
the first 9 places have to match " mystring".
Although the positioning of characters and the number of
characters in the string is important, it does not matter whether
the characters are upper or lower case. Thus, a string of
"MyStRiNg" will match "mystring" and "MYSTRING".
If your Application Macro is launched from an alarm that
includes these conditions, then if PALARM does not find the
string at the specified location when it pops up, it will snooze
until a later time.
13.4 Finding your X,Y coordinates with PALOCATE
Finding the precise "X" (column) and "Y" (row) coordinates
can be difficult without a convenient tool. That's why we supply
you with the program PALOCATE.EXE.
PALOCATE is a resident program that will pop up at the touch
of the appropriate keystrokes. You need to load it before the
application program that you want to gauge. Once in your
application program, press the key combination of <AltSpacebar>.
You will then see a large block cursor which you can maneuver to
the point at which your "string" begins. PALOCATE will report to
you the X and Y values as you move the cursor. The values which
PALOCATE shows when the block cursor rests at the beginning of
your string are the values that you should use in designing the
alarm memo for your Conditional Application Macro.
Since PALOCATE is used for this purpose and this purpose
only, you should not load it regularly in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
Instead, use it only as needed.
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13.5 Refreshing the Alarm Queue
PALARM memorizes a queue of 10 alarms at a time. Whenever
PALARM causes an alarm to pop up, whether it's one that initiates
a timed event or whether it's just a reminder for you, one of
those alarms in the queue becomes stale. If you were to go
through 10 alarms without refreshing the alarm queue, then PALARM
would no longer know whether or not you have any further alarms
that you would like to trigger.
For this reason, it is important that you periodically
refresh the alarm queue. The alarm queue is refreshed every time
you ask PAL to run a report of your future appointments, assuming
that PALARM is loaded at the time the report is rendered. For
instance, if you invoke PAL at the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file
to give you a report of the day's coming events, then PAL will
make sure that PALARM disposes of any old, spent alarms and
becomes loaded with 10 future alarms.
Asking PAL to give you a report in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file
will do just fine for you so long as you are confident that fewer
than 10 alarms will be spent between successive boots of your
computer. If, however, it is possible that your 10-position
alarm queue might become exhausted before the next time your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file runs, then you must take other steps to make
sure that the queue gets refreshed.
One method, of course, is to manually call up PAL to render
a report. But since the name of the game here is automation, the
most efficient way to make sure that the queue gets refreshed is
to include the PAL report command in one of your regularly used
batch files. If you're using Palrun, the command could be
included in a regularly used Alias.
For instance, if you are using PAL's timed event capacity to
trigger a batch file or Palrun Alias, why not include the report
command in there?
The normal method of calling up a report with PAL is to use
the command "PAL n", where "n" is the number of days you want to
view. If you intend to include this command in a batch file that
you expect to be running on an unattended basis, then add the "U"
switch, which is designed to force PAL to render its report on an
"U"nattended basis. Thus, your batch file or Palrun Alias might
include as one of its commands "PAL 10U", which will examine the
next 10 days worth of appointments and send all alarms found in
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that period to the PALARM alarm queue. What the "U" switch does
is make sure that PAL doesn't pause for a keystroke whenever the
screen fills up with information.
13.6 When the Time for an Alarm Arrives
Whenever PALARM receives from PAL a memo that was
interpreted to be an alarm (it must contain the "@" character),
PALARM places that alarm in its 10-place alarm queue. It
continuously checks the date and time for the moment at which it
has been requested to pop up.
At the appointed time, a small window pops up in the upper
left corner of the screen, flashing the memo and providing an
audible alert.
If you strike the <Enter> key while the alarm is sounding,
then the alarm will be killed. If you hit any other key, the
alarm will cut short its sounding time and will fall into a
snooze period so that it can pop up again later. This behavior
is the same whether or not your memo contains a Macro for
execution.
If you take no action during the time span for which the
alarm is set to sound, what PALARM does depends on whether it is
issuing a normal alarm or whether the memo contains a Macro to be
executed.
If the memo is just an ordinary alarm, then if you do
nothing during the time the alarm is sounding, the alarm will
snooze for a pre-determined period, after which it will pop up
once again. It will continue to sound, snooze, sound, and so
forth, until you kill it with the <Enter> key.
If the memo contains a Macro to be executed, and the time
for sounding the alarm elapses without your touching the
keyboard, then PALARM will test for whether the conditions you
have set are then present. If your memo begins with ">", it will
test whether the computer is resting at the Palrun Prompt or DOS
prompt. If your memo begins with "<", it will test whether the
computer is not at the prompt. And if your memo starts off with
the "<x,y,string<" specification, it will test whether the
"string" is present at column x, row y.
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If the Macro conditions are satisfied, then PALARM will try
to execute the Macro that you have designated.
If the conditions are not satisfied, then PALARM will snooze
the alarm and pop up again later. When it does pop up later it
will go through the same test of the conditions that you have
set. If the conditions finally become satisfied, the Macro will
finally execute. If the conditions never become satisfied, then
the alarm will continue to sound, snooze, sound, snooze and so
forth, until you physically return to your computer and kill it
with the <Enter> key.
Both the length of time that the alarm will sound and the
length of time for snoozing are adjustable from PAL's "Set
Alarms" menu by entering the "Install assumptions" portion of the
menu. While the alarm is snoozing, your computer will emit a
tell-tale soft ticking sound. If you arrive at your computer and
detect that it is snoozing, and you would like to force the alarm
to pop up once again before the snooze time elapses, you can do
so by pressing the <AltP> key combination.
There is one additional measure of control that you can
exert over the time that a Macro alarm will sound before it
decides whether to execute or snooze. If you load PALARM with
the single parameter of "F", then PALARM will be initialized to
work in "F"ast mode when making its decision on executing Macros.
The command when loading PALARM from DOS would be
PALARM F
When PALARM is set up in this manner, the alarm will sound for
just a fraction of a second before PALARM decides what to do.
Fast action affects only Prompt Macros and Conditional
Application Macros. In these two cases, if the conditions are
met, the alarm will not waste time sounding, but will go right
ahead to execute the Macro. Similarly, if the conditions are not
met, the alarm will pop up for only a fraction of a second
(regardless of the time that you've set in the installation
procedures for the alarm to sound before it's supposed to snooze)
and will then snooze immediately, without giving you a separate
warning of why it's going to snooze. The "F"ast action switch
should be used only after you've tested your Macro under normal
operating conditions and know that you have it set up properly.
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13.7 Possible Messages From PALARM
If PALARM determines that it is not appropriate or not
possible to execute a Macro, it will snooze and will give you any
one of the following messages:
Not at DOS prompt
-- You have a Prompt Macro but you're not at the DOS
prompt or Palrun Prompt.
At DOS prompt
-- You have an Application Macro but you're not
within an application program.
Screen not ready
-- You have specified a Conditional Application
Macro, but the screen does not contain the specified
string at the specified location.
ERROR in "<x,y,string<"
-- You have an error in the way you wrote your
screen specification for your Conditional
Application Macro. Re-check the syntax of how you
wrote the conditions in your alarm memo.
The following messages may be given once PALARM determines
that conditions are ripe to try to execute the Macro:
Macro file missing
-- PALARM could not find your Macro file. Check the
location that you have specified in the "Install
Assumptions" section of the "Set Alarms" menu.
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[NameofMacro] not in file
-- PALARM found your Macro file, but it does not
contain a Macro with the name that you specified in
the alarm. Cross-check the name you specified in
your memo against the name that you selected when
you created or edited the Macro.
Macro read error
-- PALARM could not read your Macro file. You may
have a problem with your disk.
The following messages are coded, but you are unlikely to
receive any of them. Please let us know if you do get any of the
following messages:
Macro is blank
Macro file corrupt
Macro heap error
Macro unknown error
13.8 A Practical Illustration
It's time to give you a practical illustration of timed
events, one that employs just about all of the facilities
described above. This also happens to be a very real
illustration, since it describes how we are using 6 timed events
every day on the PAL Software BBS.
The PAL Software BBS runs a widely used bulletin board
package known as PCBoard. We are also a member of RIME (the
Relaynet International Message Exchange) which permits BBS users
around the world to exchange messages with one another. The
technique by which mail is exchanged is that the BBS at which the
user leaves a message (the user's BBS is known as a "node")
collects all of its outgoing mail in a packet and sends it to a
local "hub" BBS. At the same time that the mail is sent to the
hub, the node will pick up a load of mail that has been assembled
at the hub for delivery back down to the node. The hub BBS
communicates a central hub for the entire network, which serves
as a crossroads for all mail in the system.
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PCBoard has the ability to drop out of its BBS activity once
a day in order to run a batch file that the system operator
("sysop") has designed. PCBoard, like PAL, also uses the term
"event" to describe this. Our PCBoard event, among other things,
does our mail run to the local hub.
Doing just one mail run per day is inefficient in terms of
getting mail back and forth quickly. The turnaround time for a
conversation between users on different BBSes could be days.
Enter PAL and PALARM to expand beyond PCBoard's limited one-
event-per-day capability and permit messaging capabilities much
closer to real time.
13.8.1 Creating a Batch File to Do the Mail Run
The first thing we do is construct a batch file to be
summoned from a Macro. It does just three things:
PAL 10U
{......
Commands here to do the mail run
.......}
BOARD
The first line of the batch file runs PAL to get a report
for the next 10 days, making sure that the system's alarms get
refreshed. The "U" switch following the "10" runs PAL in
"U"nattended mode so that it will not pause when the screen fills
up with information.
The next group of commands in the batch file take care of
completing all that is necessary in order to send and receive
mail.
The last command in the batch file returns the computer to
the bulletin board.
This batch file is saved to a file by the name of
"RELAYBRD.BAT".
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13.8.2 Determining Launch Conditions
The next thing we do is to create a Conditional Applications
Macro. We know that the Macro will have to execute while within
an application (while PCBoard is running), but we want it to
execute only if there is no user currently on line on the BBS at
the appointed time. Therefore, we have to determine whether we
can find a "string" that will always appear on the screen at a
particular location whenever the board is not in use.
Conveniently, PCBoard version 14.2 prominently notes that the
board is idle with the string "System Available".
To find the exact X,Y coordinates of that string, we load
PALOCATE before PCBoard and then call up PCBoard. When the
"System Available" string became visible, we hit the
<AltSpacebar> key combination to pop up PALOCATE and move the
block cursor until it covers the first letter of the test string.
We note the X,Y coordinates to be 17,21 and write them down for
later reference. This information will be needed when designing
the memo that becomes an alarm.
13.8.3 Determining Keystrokes for the Macro
Now we exit from PALOCATE and figure out, keystroke by
keystroke, what keys must be pressed to exit PCBoard back to DOS
and run the RELAYBRD.BAT batch file. Again, we record each of
those keystrokes on paper so that we can enter them in the Macro
Editor later. These keystrokes will be played back at a later
time when the Macro is executed by PALARM.
After hitting the few keystrokes that bring us back to the
DOS prompt, we type in "RELAYBRD" and strike <Enter>. We
witness the operation of our batch file just to make sure that it
does what it's supposed to do.
13.8.4 Creating the Macro
The next thing we need is to create a Macro that can set the
ball rolling when the alarm pops up at the right time. We enter
PAL, visiting the "Set Alarms" menu and selecting "Edit Macros
for Alarms". This brings up the "Macro Action" menu, from which
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we choose to edit a Macro. PAL asks us for a name for the Macro.
We feed it the name "EXITBRD".
The Macro Editor pops up, and we give it the keystrokes
which we wrote down in step #3 above. To run the batch file
created in step #1, the Macro must conclude with
"RELAYBRD<Enter>".
Recall that in order to have the <Enter> key included as a
keystroke in the Macro, you must first change from command mode
to literal mode by striking the <ScrollLock> key. Once the
"<Enter>" appears as part of your Macro, you can tap the
<ScrollLock> key so that the next touch of <Enter> will be
interpreted as the command to register the Macro.
13.8.5 Testing and Debugging the Alarm
Before we set up our Macro as an automatically repeating
alarm, we want to test it to make sure that it works properly.
Based on our exploration with PALOCATE, we know that the
conditions we want to look for are "<18,21,System Avail<", and we
know that the name of the Macro that we created for execution at
upon those conditions is "EXITBRD". Consequently, our memo to
trigger the alarm must be:
<18,21,System Avail< EXITBRD @
To test how our Conditional Application Macro works, we have
to take the memo that we have designed and allow PALARM to give
it a try. What we want to do is manually to create a test alarm
that will sound just a minute or two from the time we set it.
We invoke PAL and enter the "Set Alarms" menu. From there
we enter the "A"larms menu and then strike <A> once again to add
an alarm. PAL guesses correctly that we want today's date, so we
hit <Enter> to accept the date. Then it asks for the time in
military format. We set the time for a few minutes from now.
Then, we provide PAL with the memo that we have designed:
"<18,21,System Avail< EXITBRD @". PAL asks us whether we are
satisfied that everything is correct, and we answer "Y"es. Our
memo instantly appears at the top of the screen in the alarm
queue, highlighted to indicate that it is the next alarm to be
triggered.
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Now we strike the <ESC> key several times to exit PAL, then
issue the command to get back into our bulletin board software.
If everything goes well, when the alarm pops up while the board
is "available" PALARM will feed the keystrokes necessary to exit
the BBS and invoke our batch file.
We wait for the BBS software to load itself, but, oops, we
didn't give enough time for our test alarm. There it goes up in
the top left corner of our screen. If we touch nothing, we can
see whether it's smart enough to know that now is not the time to
invoke our Conditional Applications Macro. We are rewarded when,
at the conclusion of the sounding period, PALARM feeds us the
message "Screen not ready" and begins to snooze.
When the alarm begins to snooze, we hear the tell-tale faint
ticking sound. PCBoard, now free to complete its loading, cycles
to its wait screen and displays the expected phrase "System
Available". Do we have to wait for the full snooze time to see
whether everything is working properly? No. We hit <AltP> to
pop up the alarm immediately.
Now for the moment of truth! As the alarm finishes
sounding, we watch as, sure enough, the computer seems to be
accepting keystrokes without anybody touching the keyboard. We
are thrilled to see that PCBoard is in the process of exiting to
DOS. We hold our breath as we await the moment that the computer
will type in the word "RELAYBRD" and send the batch file on its
way to do our mail run.
Unfortunately, we can't hold our breath long enough, because
the word "RELAYBRD" never appears. What has happened? Why, that
greedy software from which we just exited ate up all the
keystrokes! By the time the program had exited to DOS, none of
the "RELAYBRD<Enter>" keystrokes were still available to be fed
to DOS.
What is the solution when the application program eats up
all remaining keystrokes when you exit from it? The answer is
that you have to have two Macros. First, you need your
Conditional Application Macro to do nothing other than exit from
the application. Next, you need a Prompt Macro, which is
designed to do nothing other than invoke a batch file when the
computer is at the prompt.
So, we go back into the Macro Editor and edit the "EXITBRD"
Macro to delete the entire "RELAYBRD<Enter>" sequence. We save
that Macro and then create a new Macro called "GETMAIL" which
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contains all the keystrokes that we just deleted from "EXITBRD".
To get back to our testing, we enter go back and manually
set two alarms to sound one after the other. The first alarm
contains the memo:
<18,21,System Avail< EXITBRD @
The second alarm, which we schedule to occur just a minute after
the first one, contains the memo:
>GETMAIL @
Notice that the first one is a Conditional Applications Macro and
the second one is a Prompt Macro. The first one will not execute
unless the BBS is idle, and the second one will not execute until
after the first one has gotten us out of the BBS software back to
the prompt.
We now exit from PAL and reload PCBoard. We witness the
"System Available" notice appearing in its designated spot on the
screen and bide our time while the time for the first alarm
approaches. As we wait, one of our BBS users dials in to the
BBS, and the "System Available" notice disappears. This doesn't
bother us, for this will give us an opportunity to see the
behavior of the alarms while the BBS is in use.
While the user is examining some files on the board, the
Conditional Applications Macro pops up. At the conclusion of the
sounding period, the window indicates "Screen Not Ready" and
begins to snooze.
One important thing that we note is that the sounding period
is too long for BBS operation and could interfere with file
transmission if it interrupts in the middle of an upload or a
download. So we make a promise to ourselves to change our
AUTOEXEC.BAT file to use the command "PALARM F" when loading
PALARM so that the alarm will snooze immediately if conditions
are not satisfactory. We won't use the "F" parameter in loading
PALARM until we are sure that our alarm is properly debugged,
because otherwise the alarm will flash by so quickly that we
might not be able to see the messages that PALARM wants to show
us.
The BBS user continues in his exploration as, a minute
later, the Prompt Macro pops up. It, too, snoozes, as it reports
"Not at Dos Prompt". Another couple of minutes later, our
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Conditional Applications Macro pops up again while the user is
still browsing, and the alarm snoozes again.
The user now logs off. PCBoard returns to its idle state,
displaying the "System Available" notice. Our Prompt Macro,
which was the next alarm in line, pops up and then snoozes
because we are still in an application program. Next, our
Conditional Applications Macro pops up, detects the "System
Available" notice in the correct location, and issues the
keystrokes to exit PCBoard and return to the prompt. In a short
time, our Prompt Macro pops up and issues the command "RELAYBRD"
at the prompt.
We watch with great joy as our batch file calls up PAL to
update the alarm queue, then does our mail run, then returns to
PCBoard, all without human intervention.
13.8.6 The Finishing Touches
Now that all the ingredients are perfect, the last thing
that we need to do is create automatically repeating alarms with
our Macros, so that the events can be triggered on a recurring
basis.
This is accomplished by creating auto-repeat alarms with
PAL. There are two ways to do this. You can either enter PAL's
Appointment Scratchpad and use its flexible facilities for
creating auto-repeat alarms or you can create an auto-repeat
alarm in a SideKick memo utilizing the special characters that
PAL interprets for recurring alarms. Details for creating auto-
repeat alarms are set forth in section 7.4 and in chapter 9.
In our BBS example, we decide that we would like our mail
runs to "surround" the times that we know that our hub
communicates with the network hub. By "surround", we mean that
we want to do a mail run to our hub immediately before and after
its network runs so that we can be sure that we send out our
latest mail to the entire network and that we receive the latest
mail from the network as soon as it becomes available to us. We
know that our hub communicates with the network hub twice a day,
so that means that we need four mail runs to our hub each day.
We can use PCBoard's built-in event for one of those runs, so we
need to design just three mail runs with PAL and PALARM. Since
each mail run will require a pair of Macros, as we discovered in
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testing and debugging our alarms, this means that we need to set
six alarms daily.
Assuming that our hub relays with the network at 5:00 am and
6:00 pm, we decide to have our PCBoard event run at 6:30 am and
for our PAL/PALARM timed events to run at 4:30 am, 5:30 pm and
6:30 pm. Let's take the 5:30 pm event as an example. The alarms
can be set with SideKick or with the PAL Appointment Scratchpad.
We'll use the Appointment Scratchpad. We enter the Scratchpad
and ask to add an appointment. We tell PAL that the appointment
is to be run daily and always. We will enter the memo and then
tell PAL that the time slot will be 5:30pm.
For the first memo, we will enter
<18,21,System Avail< @1
and the second memo will be
>EXITBRD @
The "@1" in the first memo indicates that the alarm to exit out
of PCBoard is to be triggered 1 minute in advance of the time
slot.
13.8.7 Postscript
Your application program may be updated from time to time
with new versions. If you use a Conditional Application Macro
with an updated program, you might want to double check the
conditions that you set for launching your event still pertain to
the updated version. For instance, the foregoing real life
example relating to PCBoard required a change when PCBoard went
from version 14.2 to 14.5. We needed to change the test string,
its anticipated position on the screen, and the keystrokes for
the macro to execute.
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CHAPTER 14: CUSTOMIZING PAL
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There are many, many ways you can customize PAL to meet your
own needs. All you need to do is tell PAL how to change its
assumptions, then PAL will clone a new version of itself which
will remember what you told it.
There are two places within the program in which you can
specify assumptions:
1. In the CLONE procedure, you have numerous options to
change regarding the operation of PAL. See section 14.1,
immediately below.
2. To change aspects of the operation of PALARM, you
must first enter the SET procedure and then select "Install
Assumptions". See section 14.2 at page 99.
To reach the CLONE procedure, simply invoke "PAL CLONE" or
"PAL C" from the command line, or select it directly from PAL's
opening menu.
Similarly, to reach the SET procedure, invoke "PAL SET" or
"PAL S" from the command line, or select it from PAL's opening
menu. Then select "Install Assumptions".
14.1 The Clone Procedure
After reaching the CLONE procedure, you will be presented
with a menu of the following choices:
1. Appointment Scratchpad
2. File Location Defaults
3. Holidays
4. Miscellaneous Defaults
5. Printer Defaults
6. Clone
<ESC> to quit without change
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You may select any of the six operations by hitting the
alphabetic key corresponding to the function, the numeric key, or
the function key (F1 - F6).
Each of the first 5 operations permit you to change PAL's
internal assumptions. You may change all, some or none of the
assumptions. You may jump from operation to operation, and PAL
will remember all of your changes until you leave the CLONE menu.
There are only two ways to leave the CLONE menu: by choos-
ing operation #6 to CLONE the changes you have made, or by
hitting ESC to leave the menu without making any changes.
Hint: If for some reason you have made so many changes
from the original distribution default assumptions that you want
an easy method of returning to PAL's original assumptions, then
use the RESTORE procedure, discussed at section 14.1.8.
Example:
The benefit of being able to CLONE different copies of PAL
is illustrated by the following scenario. Suppose you use PAL
sometimes to print out (on paper) a report of your coming ap-
pointments for a month, and you need to use special printer
control codes to squeeze the characters to the smallest possible
size so that you have a nice neat little schedule to slip into
your wallet. At other times you want to use normal size print
for a hard copy of the coming week's appointments to place on
your desk. For the first use, you can insert the special printer
codes , make the default command line "30P", and, when you go
through the CLONE operation specify "MONTHLY" as the name of your
new ".EXE" file. For the second use, use PAL's default printer
codes, change the command line to "7P" and name the ".EXE" file
"WEEKLY". At the DOS system prompt, issuing the command "MONTH-
LY" will cause your squeezed, monthly report to be issued, while
issuing the command "WEEKLY" will give you your hard copy for the
next week, at normal print size.
A description of each of the operations which can be ini-
tiated from the CLONE menu follows.
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14.1.1 Appointment Scratchpad
This choice summons PAL's Appointment Scratchpad, which can
be used both as an auxiliary to and/or as a replacement for
SideKick's appointment file. For detailed information about the
Appointment Scratchpad, see chapter 7.
The changes which you make in the Appointment Scratchpad
will take effect only if you choose to CLONE the changes.
14.1.2 File Location Defaults
When you summon this choice from within the CLONE menu, you
are given the opportunity to change the following assumptions.
Remember that the changes which you make here will not take
effect unless you CLONE and do not ESCape from the CLONE proce-
dure.
14.1.2.1 The Second Directory
This is the full path name of the directory in which PAL
should look for your SideKick appointment file if it cannot find
the file in your DOS path. As distributed, PAL assumes the
Second Directory to be "C:\SK\".
14.1.2.2 The Third Directory
This is the full path name of the directory in which PAL
should look for your SideKick appointment file if it cannot find
the file in your DOS path or in the Second Directory. As dis-
tributed, PAL assumes the Third Directory to be "C:\".
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14.1.2.3 Appointment Calendar Name
This is the filename (first 8 characters only) of the
SideKick appointment file. As distributed, PAL assumes the name
to be "APPOINT".
If you change this name to "NOFILE", then PAL will automati-
cally look only in its own Appointment Scratchpad, unless you
supply a specific filename on the command line.
14.1.2.4 Appointment Calendar Type
This is the extension for the filename (the 3 characters
after the period in the whole file name) of the SideKick appoint-
ment file. As distributed, PAL assumes the type to be "APP".
The purpose of this assumption is that PAL will automatically add
the extension to a filename specified by you on the command line
but for which you do not explicitly state the extension.
If your filename is "NOFILE", PAL will not add the exten-
sion. Instead, the NOFILE filename will force PAL to look in the
Appointment Scratchpad without looking at any SideKick appoint-
ment file.
To override the assumption for files that do not have any
extension, simply specify the filename on the command line with a
period immediately following it.
Examples:
PAL 7
-- will look for APPOINT.APP in the DOS path, then the
Second Directory, then the Third Directory.
PAL 7 JANE
-- will look for JANE.APP in the same sequence of
directories.
PAL 7 d:\utility\
-- will look for d:\utility\appoint.app
PAL 7 d:\utility\jane
-- will look for d:\utility\jane.app
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PAL 7 noextens.
-- will look for the file NOEXTENS, which does not have
any extension in the last three character places of the
file name.
14.1.2.5 Report File Name
This is the name of the file to which PAL writes your report
when you specify the "F" optional parameter. On distribution,
PAL assumes the name of the file to be PAL.TXT. This file will
be written in the current subdirectory from which you invoke PAL.
14.1.3 Holidays
PAL will automatically show you several common holidays.
You may use the CLONE procedure to change the holidays that PAL
shows.
Once you enter the CLONE procedure, hit "3", "F3" or "H" in
order to view your holiday settings. You will be presented with
a list of possible holidays in two columns: "General Holidays"
and "Religious Holidays". On distribution, PAL is set to show
fewer than 50% of those holidays which it is capable of showing.
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The holidays marked below with an asterisk are the ones which PAL
will show you if you make no changes to its initial assumptions:
*New Year's Day *Easter Sunday
Martin Luther King Day *Good Friday
Lincoln's Birthday Ash Wednesday
Valentine's Day Shrove Tuesday
*President's Day Palm Sunday
St. Patrick's Day Pentecost
*Mother's Day
*Memorial Day *Hanukkah
Flag Day *Rosh Hashanah
*Father's Day *Yom Kippur
*Independence Day *Passover
*Labor Day Succoth
*Columbus Day Simchat Torah
Election Day Tu B'Shevat
Veteran's Day Sh'mini Atzeret
*Thanksgiving Day Purim
*Day After Thanksgiving Yom Hashoah
*Christmas Day Lag B'Omer
Shavuot
Tisha B'av
When you first enter the holiday screen, those holidays
which are set will appear highlighted. You will be asked whether
you want to change any of the holidays. If you answer "Y" for
yes, a small arrow will be pointed at "New Year's Day" and you
will be prompted for your response for each holiday. At each
position, you may answer "Y" or "N", you may simply hit the
carriage return to accept whatever state the holiday is set for,
or you may hit "ESC" to end your editing session.
The changes which you make in the holiday editing session
will take effect only if you choose to CLONE your changes.
The holidays you select will show up whenever you run a
report in REPORT MODE. If you prefer not to see the holidays in
a report, you may either (a) turn off all of the holidays per-
manently in the CLONE procedure, or (b) turn them off temporarily
by using the "H" toggle switch (e.g. "PAL 7H").
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14.1.4 Miscellaneous Defaults
The Miscellaneous Defaults operation is selected by hitting
"4", "F4" or "M". You will be presented with a series of
choices, with a description of the effect of each choice, and you
will be asked whether you want to change any of the assumptions.
If you answer "Y" for yes, then you will be able to make the
following decisions:
14.1.4.1 Default Command Line
This is the command which PAL will execute if you do not
specify any additional parameters on the command line. In the
distribution version of PAL, this default command line is "MENU",
so that PAL will show you its main menu if all you do at the DOS
system prompt is write the command "PAL".
You may change the default command line to any command that
PAL can understand. Do not start off the command with the word
"PAL" as you would if you were issuing a command from the DOS
system prompt. Instead, provide a command similar to that which
you would use in the "Enter Command Line" choice in the main
menu. The beginning "PAL" is assumed.
If you have substituted a new default command line with this
option, you can always request the main menu from the DOS system
prompt with the command "PAL MENU" or "PAL M".
14.1.4.2 Color Display
This choice is important only for color monitors. The
distribution version of PAL will display in color on systems with
color monitors. Systems which try to emulate color monitors but
in shades of gray will try to display PAL's colors.
Some color and composite monitors may display PAL's colors
poorly. A "composite" monitor is one which displays only two
colors (e.g., black and white, black and amber, black and green)
but which tries to emulate a color graphics adapter rather than a
monochrome display; this is common in many laptop computers. You
can use this selection to permanently turn off color so that PAL
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will write to your screen as if it were a simple monochrome
monitor. If your screen display is so poor that you cannot even
read the directions within the CLONE procedure, then please read
the discussion in the Installation chapter under the heading
"Screen Display" at section 3.3. If you run PAL on a true mono-
chrome monitor, your selection for this option is unimportant.
Hint: Whatever you choose for this selection, you can
temporarily force PAL in REPORT MODE or in SEARCH MODE to toggle
back to the reverse kind of display by using the "C" toggle
switch.
14.1.4.3 Reverse Video
This choice is significant only for monochrome and black &
white monitors (including color monitors for which you have
forced PAL to display in simple black and white).
The distribution version of PAL will show some messages in
reverse video on monochrome monitors and black & white monitors.
For instance, your appointments for today through the next
business day will show up in reverse video. However, some
monitors may not show reverse video in a satisfactory manner. If
you prefer to use intense (bright) video in lieu of reverse
video, then answer "N" to this question. Otherwise, answer "Y".
14.1.4.4 Single Character Auto-Repeat
PAL will interpret certain special characters in your
SideKick memos as signals that you want the appointment to be
repeated in your report automatically. The square brackets --
'[' and ']' -- and the curly brackets -- '{' and '}' -- will
signal annual, monthly, weekly and daily repeating appointments.
These frequencies for repeating may also be signified by two-
character sequences beginning with the tilde character "~". See
the chapter on auto-repeat appointments for more information,
section 9.1.
You may prefer to employ the bracket characters for normal
usage within your SideKick memos without having them signify
auto-repeat appointments. You would then rely on the tilde
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sequences instead. To make PAL ignore the bracket characters,
answer "N" to this question, otherwise answer "Y".
The distribution version of PAL does use the bracket charac-
ters to signify auto-repeat.
If you do not use SideKick with PAL, then your answer to
this choice is unimportant.
14.1.4.5 Effect of PURGE and DELETE
If you answer "Y" to this question, then at the top of each
Report of your appointments, PAL will let you know how many bytes
you could save in your SideKick appointment file if you were to
use the PURGE or DELETE procedures.
The distribution version of PAL does not show this informa-
tion.
If you do not use SideKick with PAL, then your answer to
this choice is unimportant.
14.1.4.6 Noise
The distribution version of PAL will blip at you occasio-
nally in certain circumstances. You can silence PAL by answering
"N" to this question.
14.1.4.7 Extended Alarm Report
The last thing that PAL tells you in REPORT MODE is whether
you have alarms to be loaded into PALARM. If so, you can have
PAL tell you all the alarms which it is loading. On distribu-
tion, PAL does not give you this extended report. To force PAL
to give you this information, answer "Y" to this question.
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14.1.5 Printer Defaults
You can send a report to your printer by using the "P"
switch. For instance, "PAL 7P" will send a 7 day report to your
printer. There are three changes which you can make to PAL's
printer defaults.
14.1.5.1 Initialization String
PAL allows you to send up to 26 bytes to your printer to
initialize it prior to printing a report. You need to know the
hex notation of the printer codes you want to send. On distribu-
tion, PAL's initialization string is merely a series of zeroes,
which should not have any effect on your printer.
14.1.5.2 Exit String
PAL also allows you to send up to 26 bytes to your printer
after the report is concluded. As with the initialization
string, you need to know the hex notation of the printer codes to
send. On distribution, PAL's exit string is just a form feed
character (hex code: 0C), followed by a series of zeroes.
14.1.5.3 Lines Per Page
This is the number of lines that PAL will print to a page
before telling your printer to advance to the next page. On
distribution, PAL will issue the form feed instruction after
every 48 lines. You may change this number to any other number.
A simple 0 will force continuous printing without form feeds.
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14.1.6 Clone
Once you have made all the changes that you desire within
the CLONE procedure, the only way to make those changes permanent
is to strike "6", "F6" or "C" to force the changes to be written
to disk.
The first screen that you reach is one which reminds you
what happens if you proceed. If you want to avoid writing your
changes, then hit the ESC key. You may proceed to CLONE by
hitting any other key.
Assuming that you proceed, you will next be asked the name
of the file that you want to create. You may accept the default
name by hitting return, or you may select any other name for the
file. The default name will appear as "PAL" or as the last name
you chose when you previously CLONED the program. You can CLONE
several copies of PAL, all with different names, each of which
can contain different internal assumptions.
The next screen informs you that PAL will seek a valid
PAL.EXE file in your path and will CLONE a new copy into that
directory. Here again you will be given the opportunity to avoid
CLONING by hitting the ESC key. If you hit any other key, PAL
will proceed with the CLONE operation. If PAL cannot find a
valid PAL.EXE file in your path, it will seek your help in
locating one. If you are asked to supply the name of a valid
PAL.EXE file, you may provide the name of any renamed or CLONED
file which is a descendant of your original PAL.EXE.
If PAL finds that a file already exists with the same name
that you are trying to create, PAL will give you the choice of
overwriting that file, backing it up, changing the name, or
hitting the ESC key to abort the process.
14.1.7 <ESC> to quit without change
....means just what it says. If you hit the ESC key, then
all the changes which you have made within the CLONE session will
be lost, and the defaults which existed within PAL prior to
entering the session will be retained.
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14.1.8 The RESTORE Procedure
For a quick method of restoring PAL's original distribution
defaults, use the RESTORE procedure. Employing this procedure
returns all of the selections back to PAL's virgin state. You
may have need of this procedure, for instance, if you have made
many changes, have thought better of it, and would like to start
from scratch again.
The RESTORE procedure restores only the assumptions which
were changed with the CLONE procedure, as described in all of the
sections which fall within section ? of this manual. The changes
which you may have made with the PAL SET INSTALL procedure
described in section 14.2 will not be affected.
To invoke the RESTORE procedure, either choose the RESTORE
selection from PAL's main menu, or you can call it from the DOS
system prompt with "PAL RESTORE" or "PAL R".
14.1.9 Saving and Reading CLONE Images
You can use virtually an infinite number of CLONE setups by
taking advantage of PAL's ability to save its CLONE settings,
including the entire Appointment Scratchpad, to a disk file. You
may then read back any one of those CLONE images to make PAL
accept all the assumptions contained in the requested image.
This feature may also come in handy for you when future
enhancements of PAL come out. Instead of having to re-enter all
your Appointment Scratchpad memos and all your CLONE settings to
a new version, each new version of PAL will be able to read your
old image file.
Saving and reading CLONE images affects only the assumptions
which were changed with the CLONE procedure, as described in all
of the sections which fall within section ? of this manual. The
changes which you may have made with the PAL SET INSTALL
procedure described in section 14.2 will not be saved or af-
fected.
To save an image, go to PAL's main menu. Press the "ALT"
key, then while still holding the ALT key, press "S" (this key
combination is commonly referred to as <AltS>). You will be
asked for the name of the file to which you would like the image
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written. The default name is "PAL2.1", which will be used unless
you specify a different name. If you accept the default name,
the file will be written in the current directory. If the file
already exists, then you will be given the choice to overwrite
the file, back it up, change the name you want to use, or else
escape the procedure.
To read an image, press <AltR> at PAL's main menu. Since
reading a new image into PAL will obliterate the CLONE image
which currently exists within PAL, you will be asked to confirm
your choice to read an image. This will give you the opportunity
to change your mind so that you can save the existing image
first. If you choose to proceed, you must select the file name
of the image. The default name is "PAL2.1", but you may choose
any other existing image file. Once you select the name, PAL
will search for the file along your DOS path and the two alter-
nate directories which you previously set with the CLONE proce-
dure. If you specify a complete file name including the direc-
tory, then PAL will look only in that directory for that particu-
lar file.
As an alternative to using <AltS> and <AltR> at the main
menu, PAL offers two special command line parameters: SAVEIMAGE
and READIMAGE. Each of these command line alternatives is
designed for quick action by PAL without pausing for confirmation
or choices from the user, and therefore should be employed only
when you know that the data which will be overwritten either has
been previously saved or does not need to be saved.
To save an image, use the command:
PAL SAVEIMAGE [FILENAME]
where FILENAME is the optional name of the file to which you
would like to write. If you do not designate a FILENAME, then
PAL will write to the file PAL2.1 in the current directory. PAL
will not query whether you want to take alternative action if the
file already exists, it will just overwrite the file, so be cer-
tain before using this command that you are not concerned about
losing the data in the existing file.
To read an image, use the command:
PAL READIMAGE [FILENAME]
where FILENAME is again the optional name of the file which you
want to read. If you do not designate a FILENAME, then PAL will
try to find PAL2.1. PAL will seek the image file in the DOS path
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and the two special directories which you have set with the CLONE
procedure. It will not query you to confirm whether you want to
proceed, so satisfy yourself that the existing CLONE information
either is not of importance to you or has first been saved. If
PAL cannot find the specified file in the path, then it will
return to the DOS system prompt without further action.
14.2 The PAL SET INSTALL Procedure
This chapter has, so far, described the assumptions that can
be changed within PAL concerning its methods of operation and how
it presents its reports to you. We now turn to a description of
how you can change various assumptions that PALARM uses with
respect to how it deals with your alarms.
As with the CLONE procedure, PAL offers you the opportunity
to change these assumptions through a series of choices, then
writes your desired changes to your PALARM.EXE file for perma-
nence. These changes are reached from the PAL SET menu, at which
you arrive by issuing "PAL SET" or "PAL S" from the command line,
or hitting "7", "F7" or "S" from PAL's main menu. Once in the
PAL SET menu, choose "Install Assumptions" by hitting "5", "F5"
or "I".
When you request the INSTALL procedure, you are presented
with a screen that shows the current assumptions with which
PALARM is presently working, and you are asked whether you want
to change any of them. If you do, then respond with a "Y"; if
not, then hit the "N" key and you will be returned to the PAL SET
menu.
When you respond with a "Y", you will be presented with a
series of four screens offering you the opportunity to change
assumptions. Each screen shows a few of the assumptions which
can be changed, describing what effect they have and what PALARM
presently assumes. The screens are as follows:
14.2.1 Data File
This is the name of the file which contains a record of your
alarms. When PALARM is first loaded into memory, it will look
for this file. When PALARM pops up an alarm and you kill it by
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hitting the carriage return key, then PALARM will update this
file. This is so that PALARM will know the next time it's loaded
that the alarm has already been popped up. If, when PALARM
loads, it senses an old alarm in the data file which has not yet
been popped up, then PALARM will pop up with that alarm imme-
diately. This will assure you that if you missed an alarm
because your computer was shut off at the appropriate time then
you will not ignore the alarm in silent bliss.
On distribution, the name of the data file is assumed to be
"C:\PALARM.DAT." You may change this to any legal file name.
14.2.2 Macro File
This is the name of the file which contains the macros that
you create for timed events.
On distribution, the name of the data file is assumed to be
"C:\PAL.MAC." You may change this to any legal file name.
14.2.3 Sound Level
When an alarm pops up, you will be presented with a visual
and an audible alarm (though the visual alarm will not pop up
over a graphics screen). You may select any of four sound levels
for the alarm:
a) Off -- self-explanatory.
b) Soft -- the distribution default, sounds a bit
like the squishy sound of walking in soggy shoes.
c) Normal -- a more insistent beeping that sounds
like your nephew's toy ray-gun.
d) Loud -- a high-pitched siren.
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14.2.4 Snooze Feature
Once the alarm pops up, you may cancel it by hitting the
return key. If within a limited period of time you fail to hit
the return key, or if you hit any key other than the carriage
return, then the alarm will silence itself and permit your system
to continue running while it snoozes. You will be reminded that
an alarm is snoozing because your system will be emitting a soft
ticking sound in the meantime. The alarm will pop up once more
after a specified period of time.
The two changes you can make here are:
(a) The number of seconds for the alarm to sound:
between 1 and 60 seconds.
(b) The number of minutes for the alarm to snooze:
between 1 and 1440 minutes (a full 24 hours).
The purpose of the snooze mode is fairly obvious. Imagine
the following scenario with an alarm system that captures your
system and refuses to let go until you consciously choose to
silence the alarm. Suppose you start a sort of your customer
records with SlowBase VI, knowing that it ought to take an hour.
So you go out for lunch, expecting the sort to be completed by
the time you come back. Lo and behold, when you return you find
that the alarm is screeching at you for some event that you had
forgotten about. When you kill the alarm, SlowBase VI resumes
its sort at the 45th of 5,784 records! An alarm without a snooze
feature is fairly useless, isn't it?
Hint: If, while an alarm is snoozing, you would like to
cancel the alarm without waiting for the snooze period to finish,
you can delete the alarm by entering the PAL SET procedure. From
the PAL SET menu, select "A"larms, then "D"elete the alarm that
shows as snoozing.
14.2.5 Clock and Date
This section describes the parameters you can change that
involve the clock and date that PALARM can show at the top right
corner of your screen.
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14.2.5.1 Clock Visibility on Start-Up
As distributed, PALARM will automatically show you the time
in the upper-right corner of your monitor. With this choice, you
may force PALARM not to show the clock when it loads.
To turn the clock on or off quickly and temporarily, you may
use the "Clock Toggle" selection at the PAL SET menu.
14.2.5.2 Date Visibility on Start-Up
As distributed, PALARM will automatically show you the date
in the upper-right corner of your monitor. With this choice, you
may force PALARM not to show the date when it loads.
To turn the date on or off quickly and temporarily, you may
use the "Date Toggle" selection at the PAL SET menu.
14.2.5.3 Colors for Clock and Date
If you are not pleased with the color combination for the
clock and date display, you may change the colors with this
choice. You will be presented with a table of numbers displayed
in varying combinations of background and foreground colors.
Simply choose the number which corresponds to the color combina-
tion of your choice.
14.2.6 Cloning Your PALARM Changes
Once you have made your desired changes within the PAL SET
INSTALL procedure, you may clone these changes permanently. Just
follow the instructions presented on the screen. If you choose
to clone, then all changes will take effect immediately.
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CHAPTER 15: TSR WARS, RAM CRAM AND MULTITASKING
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This chapter discusses some of the problems you might face
if you use PALARM for its alarm capability. If you do not use
PALARM, then you don't need to read the remainder of this
chapter.
15.1 TSR Wars
Resident programs are often referred to as TSR's, named
after the DOS programmer's function that permits a program to
Terminate but Stay Resident. As more and more resident programs
vie for memory, processor time and control, it is inevitable that
skirmishes may result, sometimes resulting in total system lockup
which can only be remedied by turning the system off and then
back on again.
PALARM has been tested in many system configurations and has
been found to coexist peacefully in the vast majority of situa-
tions. If, for any reason, you find that the introduction of
PALARM as a resident program in your system causes computer lock-
ups or any other problems, then try the following:
1. In most cases, you will find that loading PALARM early
on in the sequence should solve your problem.
2. You should also make sure that SideKick is your last-
loaded resident program.
Caution: Running "CHKDSK" with the "/F" parameter is a
potential problem under certain limited circumstances. This is
the case with ANY program that alters your disk's FAT table.
Although this is not the result of a war between two resident
programs, it is a concern which can arise because two things are
happening in your computer at the same time without the two
processes being aware of each other. If you kill an alarm while
CHKDSK is running, PALARM updates its data file, and it is pos-
sible that CHKDSK may be fooled into thinking that you have a
disk error when in fact there is none. Answering "YES" to
CHKDSK's query whether it should fix the "problem" could result
in scrambling PALARM's data file and other unknown results. For
this reason, you should do either of the following when running
"CHKDSK /F": (1) Snooze the alarm instead of killing it if the
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alarm pops up before CHKDSK makes its report, or (2) Answer "NO"
to CHKDSK's fix-up query if the alarm has popped up before CHKDSK
has finished its processing and CHKDSK then reports an error on
your disk.
15.2 Ram Cram and Multitasking
Another problem which is presented by the proliferation of
resident programs is "ram cram," a malady that results when you
have so many programs residing permanently in your computer's
memory that you don't have sufficient memory left to run your
normal applications programs. A few years ago, CP/M based
computers with a 64K limit were the cutting edge of technology,
and when IBM came forward with a 640K capacity, many people
wondered why anybody could possibly want so much memory. Now,
the 640K "horizon" is more frequently viewed as a "barrier" to
efficient computing. PALARM only uses about 30K of your RAM, but
that little bit may, to some people, be too precious to part
with.
In order to go beyond the 640K barrier, you'll need to get
operating software that supports breaking down that wall. Future
versions of OS/2 promise to permit this, and some presently
available software, such as Desqview operating on 80386 machines,
offer this possibility now.
15.3 Hints on PALARM with Multitasking
PALARM and PAL have seen limited testing in multitasking
systems. If you have any problems using PAL and PALARM in a
multitasking system, please let us know so that we can make it
work for you.
If you use a multitasking program, PALARM will work best if
it is loaded prior to the multitasker. This will ensure that
PALARM will always be watching the system clock and that PAL and
PALARM can communicate with each other.
If, for reasons of limited memory, you must load PALARM in a
window of the multitasker, then you have a solution to the ram
cram problem, but the operation of PALARM will be somewhat
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inefficient. Following are considerations which you should be
aware of if you load PALARM within a window of your multitasker:
1. The PALARM window should be configured to run in the
background. Otherwise, PALARM won't be able to watch your
system clock to determine when to pop up an alarm.
2. When an alarm pops up over your current application,
you will not be able to communicate with PALARM to snooze or
kill the alarm unless you switch to the PALARM window first.
3. Once you snooze or kill the alarm within the PALARM
window, PALARM will attempt to restore your screen to its
state at the moment before the alarm popped up. The trouble
here is that the visual alarm originally popped up over an
application in an entirely different window. Consequently,
the PALARM window will wind up with screen information from
your Lotus spreadsheet (or whatever you were in), and the
Lotus spreadsheet will still have the visual alarm blinking
in it when you return to the Lotus window. Although this
may be disconcerting when you see it, no harm is done. What
has been scrambled is only your screen information, not your
data. Each window's screen will be corrected the next time
you take an action in that window which causes the screen to
be refreshed.
4. You will have to decide whether you want PALARM by
itself in a small window, or whether you want PAL and PALARM
together running in a larger window. There are advantages
and disadvantages to both choices. The advantage of the
small PALARM window is that multitasking RAM is being used
more efficiently. The disadvantage is that PAL will not be
able to communicate with PALARM unless it is within the same
window. The advantages and disadvantages of the large
PAL/PALARM window are, of course, the converse of the small
PALARM window.
5. If you choose the small PALARM window, you will
still be able to communicate new alarms to PALARM by observ-
ing the following procedure. To update alarms either auto-
matically or manually, you'll have to completely kill the
small PALARM window, temporarily open a large PAL/PALARM
window to communicate the alarms and create an updated data
file (PALARM.DAT), kill the large PAL/PALARM window, then
open a brand new PALARM window which will read the updated
PALARM.DAT. This procedure is clunky, but if you must save
RAM by loading PALARM in a small window, you will find that
it does work.
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6. Lastly, you will have to design a batch file to be
executed in each window. An appropriate batch file for the
small PALARM window would be:
PALARM
PAUSE
The "PAUSE" is required to prevent your window from closing
immediately. You would add the same command for any window
in which you want to load a program that terminates and
stays resident. An appropriate batch file for the large
PAL/PALARM window would be:
PALARM
PAL
This window will close whenever you exit PAL.
15.4 PALARM and Task-switching Programs
Task-switching programs such as Carousel are designed to
shift programs rapidly in and out of memory. The application
which is shifted out of memory does not run in the background.
For this reason, it is inappropriate to load PALARM in a window
of a task-switching program. Instead, PALARM should be loaded
globally before the task-switching program.
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CHAPTER 16: REGISTRATION
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If you use and like this product, please register.
To register, send your check in the amount of $25, payable
to PAL Software NY to the following address:
PAL Software NY
51 Cedar Lane
Ossining, NY 10562
For your convenience, we have included the file ORDER.FRM,
which you can print out and use for this purpose.
If you register Pal, you will be entitled to the following:
1. You will be provided with an exclusive password which
will tell Pal not to continually remind you that you need to
register.
2. You will be provided with free support by mail for one
(1) year following the date of registration. The level of
support which we agree to provide is to answer questions and fix
serious bugs. We are not required to modify the program for
specific hardware or software environments or features.
3. You may access the PAL Software BBS at any time. The
telephone number is (914) 762-8055. The BBS runs 24 hours a day
and accepts calls at 300-9600 baud (US Robotics HST Dual modem).
In addition, you can communicate with us on Compuserve; the PPN
is 70475,1071. For additional avenues of support, see Chapter 18
below at page 110.
4. You will be added to our mailing list.
If you are a Sysop of a BBS, kindly read SYSOP.DOC, a file
included with the Pal distribution files, for a special
registration offer.
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CHAPTER 17: LICENSE
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Pal and Palarm (the "Licensed Program") is the exclusive
property of PAL Software NY (the "Licensor"). Holders of the
shareware version are granted a license to try the Licensed
Program for a limited period of time.
If you use the Licensed Program at least once a week or over
a period in excess of one month, then it is understood that you
are satisfied with the Licensed Program and must register and pay
for the Licensed Program. If you continue to use the Licensed
Program under such circumstances without registering and paying
for it, then you are in violation of this limited license.
Registration grants to a single user the right to use the
registered program in perpetuity. By "single user" we mean one
individual person. Entities other than individuals must register
one copy for each individual user. Site licenses at reduced
rates may be arranged for this purpose by direct negotiation with
PAL Software NY.
The plain English limitation here is: If you like and use
the program, then register and pay for it. If, after a period of
time of using the program you choose not to pay for it, then stop
using it.
Persons in possession of a copy of the Licensed Program are
encouraged to share it with others by uploading it to computer
bulletin boards, sending copies to friends, etc. You are
permitted to re-distribute the Licensed Program so long as no
changes are made to the program or the documentation and the
entire archived set is distributed unaltered.
A reasonable charge may be received for the expense of
copying and transmitting the program, but in no event must the
person with whom you are sharing the Licensed Program be lead or
permitted to believe that payment of such amounts constitutes
registration or satisfies the requirements to register which are
imposed by this license.
Disk vendors who distribute shareware and public domain
software on 5 1/4 inch and/or 3 1/2 inch floppy diskettes are
permitted to distribute Pal and Palarm providing that the
vendor's fee is less than $10.00 for the disk containing Pal and
Palarm files. Vendors who charge more than $10.00 per disk are
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PROHIBITED from distributing Pal and Palarm in any form without
express written consent from PAL Software NY.
The catalog or other indexing material used by a disk vendor
must contain a clear statement that the program is shareware, not
public domain, and that the user is expected to pay for the
program if the user likes it and intends to continue to use it.
Disk distribution services are encouraged to contact the
Association of Shareware Professionals for suggested language.
Vendors who meet the above requirements may distribute Pal
and Palarm only if ALL attendant files are included on the
distribution diskette, and only if NO files are modified in any
way. Vendors are urged to read the file VENDOR.DOC, included
with this distribution.
Computer consultants and hardware sellers are permitted to
distribute the Licensed Program along with their products and
services so long as it is made clear to the end user that the
Licensed Program is shareware and that the Licensor requires pay-
ment if the end user continues to use the Licensed Program. In
no event may the end user be lead or permitted to believe that
the fee paid for consulting, hardware or software includes the
registration fee required for the Licensed Program.
For information concerning site licenses and dealer pricing,
please contact the Licensor.
In no event is any person permitted to modify the Licensed
Program or any of the associated documentation.
THE LICENSOR DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE LICENSED PROGRAM IS
FIT FOR ANY PARTICULAR USE OR IS MERCHANTABLE. THE LICENSED
PROGRAM IS NOT WARRANTED TO BE FREE OF BUGS, NOR IS IT PROVIDED
WITH ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. IT
IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE LICENSED PROGRAM
IS SUITABLE FOR YOU. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE LICENSOR, ITS OWNERS
OR AGENTS BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSE-
QUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR LOST DATA OR PROFITS TO ANY PERSON OR ENTITY
THAT MAY ARISE OUT OF THE USE OF THE LICENSED PROGRAM, EVEN IF
THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION
OF THE LICENSOR. RECOVERABLE DAMAGES IN ANY EVENT SHALL BE
LIMITED TO NOT MORE THAN THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSED PROGRAM.
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CHAPTER 18: USER SUPPORT
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We are available for support in a number of ways.
If you have a modem and are familiar with BBSing, you can
reach us in several places:
1. The PAL Software BBS is open 24 hours a day and
accepts callers at 300 through 9600 baud (US Robotics Dual
Standard modem in use). The telephone number is 914-762-8055.
Try to reach us here for the most immediate response.
2. Our BBS is a member of RIME, the Relaynet
International Message Exchange, which, as of this writing, boasts
over 300 member boards. We co-host the "Archives" conference,
which might be known on your most local board as the
"Compression" conference. You can post support questions there.
3. We are also available on Compuserve, monitoring
IBMSYS, IBMAPP and IBMPRO. You can also leave an EASYPLEX
message. Our Compuserve PPN is 70475,1071.
Lastly, if you aren't into modems, you can always contact us
by U.S. Mail at the address on the title page.
Please note that support is guaranteed only for registered
users. Nonetheless, we will try to be of assistance to
unregistered users who need our help in order to evaluate the
program to their satisfaction prior to registering.
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CHAPTER 19: ASP OMBUDSMAN PROCEDURE
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This program is produced by a member of the Association of
Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the
shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a
shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the
member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can
help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but
does not provide technical support for members' products. Please
write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006
or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman
70007,3536.
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INDEX
█████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████
Advance Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 59
ASP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Auto-Repeat Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56, 84
Auto-Repeat Appointments . . . 2, 23, 24, 27, 38, 42, 47-49, 93
AUTOEXEC.BAT . . . . . . . . . 12-14, 23, 50, 52, 61, 73, 74, 83
Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 18, 61, 101, 102, 104, 105
Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 15, 18, 20, 27, 92, 93, 102
Customizing PAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Date Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
DELETEAUTO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 50
DELETEAUTOALL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 50
File Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
File Location Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86, 88
Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 30, 32, 35, 38-40
Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 18, 20, 23, 31, 46, 86, 90, 91
Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 12, 14, 52, 76, 93
License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 108
Macro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66-73, 75-85, 100
Miscellaneous Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53, 86, 92
Multi-Tasking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51, 52
Multiple SK Appointment Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Nofile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 22, 23, 89
Noibmprn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 10
NOIBMPRN.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 10
Ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 111
ORDER.FRM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 107
PAL.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 11, 96
PAL.OVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 11
PAL2.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
PAL21.INF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
PALARM.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-11, 99
PALDEMO.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 10, 15
PALDICK.APP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 15
PALJANE.APP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Palocate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 73, 80, 81
PALOCATE.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 73
Paloff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 63
PALOFF.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 63
PALREAD.ME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 10
Palrun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 65, 66, 71, 74, 75, 77
PALRUN20.INF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Printer Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86, 95
PURGEAUTO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 50
READIMAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 12, 98
Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107-109
Reminders . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 6, 18, 24, 27, 38, 41, 48, 50
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Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 9, 108, 109
RESTORE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 7, 15, 63, 87, 97, 105
Restore Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 87, 97
SAVEIMAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 12, 98
Setting Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Shell to DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
SK Delete and Purge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 57-59, 75, 76, 81-83, 100, 101
Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 107, 110, 111
Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 5, 6, 18, 25, 72, 77
SYSOP.DOC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 107
Task-Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50-52, 106
Timed Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67, 71, 74
Toggle Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 25, 54
VENDOR.DOC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 109
WHATSNEW.PAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
*** End of Pal 2.1 Documentation ***
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