Black Box 4/BlackBox.cdr/genapps/tskpro24.arj/README.PER

Text File | 1991-08-05 | 22KB | 499 lines

TASK-PRO               Business Technologies                 Page 1




                         PERSONAL TASK-PRO

                         QUICK USERS GUIDE



INTRODUCTION

TASK-PRO is a PC program that allows the user to track, prioritize,
sort  and report on tasks and resources.  TASK-PRO was specifically
designed with  the  needs  of middle management in mind.   As such,
more emphasis  is  placed on the  organization,  representation and
status  of  tasks  under way than on the interrelationships between
tasks.  TASK-PRO  is  general purpose in that it allows the user to
track virtually any type of activity, from work-in-progress to tel-
ephone inquiries to trouble reports.

PERSONAL TASK-PRO maintains all tasks in the folder named 'SYSTEM'.
PROFESSIONAL TASK-PRO allows the user to mantain any number of task
folders.   These  folders  manifest  themselves in the TASK-PRO DOS
directory as '.TSK' files.   PROFESSIONAL  TASK-PRO allows tasks to
be  transferred  between folders and between computer systems.  The
user is allowed to record detailed information  for each task,  and
is provided  with the ability to also enter a free text memo giving
a detailed description of those tasks which require such a descrip-
tion.  Within a folder tasks may be sorted by priority, the name of
the person assigned to the task, the deadline assigned to the task,
the date the task was entered,  the  task start date or the systems
affected by the  task.   A  flashing red indication is provided for
all tasks which have exceeded their deadlines.

PERSONAL  TASK-PRO  maintains an availability calendar for the user
which allows the user to record weekends,  holidays, vacation time,
etc...,  as  well  as  scheduled work hours.  PROFESSIONAL TASK-PRO
maintains  a complete database of resources, along with an individ-
ual availability calendar for each resource indicating time  avail-
able for work on tasks. The availability calendar for each resource
takes the form  of an actual  on-screen  multi-year  calendar  with
which the user can interact  to indicate partial  work  days, holi-
days, vacations, trips,  training time,  weekends and other special
events.   Information   from  these  calendars  is  utilized in the
production of the Resource Allocation report (PROFESSIONAL TASK-PRO
only),  which  indicates on a resource-by-resource basis how effec-
tively available time is being utilized.

TASK-PRO can also produce detailed, descriptive timeslips for empl-
oyees, and PROFESSIONAL TASK-PRO provides a special Timeslip Inter-
face which can be used to easily  enter timeslip information (hours
worked) into the TASK-PRO database.

PERSONAL  TASK-PRO  was  designed for the home user or professional
worker who has  a  need to  track tasks  in progress.  PROFESSIONAL
TASK-PRO was designed to target the needs from middle management on
down  in  the corporate world.   The IMPORT and EXPORT capabilities
allow an entire organization to use  TASK-PRO  effectively  through
the  dessemination of export folders.

TASK-PRO               Business Technologies                 Page 2




TASK-PRO  incorporates  a  state-of-the-art  keyboard  and/or mouse
interface  which  makes excellent use of color, sound, text windows
and context-sensitive hypertext  help at the touch of the F1 key or
the click of the mouse button.


1.0 Required Equipment

TASK-PRO  runs  on  IBM PC's  and  compatables  with 256k of system
memory and CGA, EGA or VGA graphics adaptors.  TASK-PRO  will util-
ize  a  system  mouse if one is present and the mouse device driver
has been installed.  TASK-PRO may work with other equipment config-
urations.


2.0 INSTALLATION

The  distribution  diskette  contains  PERSONAL TASK-PRO along with
all  associated help,  documentation  and  sample  database  files.
Create  a dedicated directory for TASK-PRO (we recommend 'C:\TASK')
and copy these  files finto that directory.  You may then run TASK-
PRO, as described in this document,  and  practice  with the sample
data provided.   When you are satisfied with your expertise you may
delete every file except PTASK.EXE,  TSK.HLP  and  this README file
and begin using TASK-PRO for real.

Current users of TASK-PRO 2.2 and 2.3 may upgrade to  TASK-PRO  2.4
or 2.5 by performing the following steps:

    o Back up the contents of your current TASK-PRO directory
      to a floppy disk (just in case).

    o Copy the files UPGR2325.EXE, PTASK.EXE, TSK.HLP and
      README.PER from the supplied floppy to your current
      TASK-PRO directory.

    o Run UPGR2325 from within your old TASK-PRO directory (this
      program updates the structure of your existing task files).

Current users of TASK-PRO 2.4 and 2.5 may upgrade to TASK-PRO 2.4a
or 2.5a (which incorporated disk caching) by performing the following
steps:

    o Back up the contents of your current TASK-PRO directory
      to a floppy disk (just in case).

    o From within you TASK-PRO directory run the supplied program
      UPGR25A (without arguments).

    o Your database should now be upgraded to the 2.4a/2.5a format.

TASK-PRO               Business Technologies                 Page 3




3.0 RUNNING AND QUITTING TASK-PRO

To   run  TASK-PRO  simply  enter 'PTASK -C'  for a color system or
'PTASK -M'  for  a monochrome system from the DOS prompt.  The user
will then be presented with the main menu screen of TASK-PRO.   You
may also enter  a  second  command line switch '-NOMOUSE' if you do
not want  TASK-PRO  to  take advantage of a mouse installed on your
system.

To quit  TASK-PRO  and  return to DOS simply select the Quit option
from the TASK-PRO main menu.


4.0 GETTING HELP SCREENS

You  can  always  get  a help screen describing the currently high-
lighted menu option by depressing  the  F1  key  or by clicking the
mouse  button while the mouse cursor  is  positioned over   a  help
prompt.  This help text is completely context-sensitive, and allows
you  to jump to the help screens for related topics by highlighting
the text associated with the topics within the help window (through
use  of  the arrow keys  of  the numeric keypad) and depressing the
ENTER key or by positioning the  mouse  cursor over the keyword and
clicking the  left mouse button.   You may exit the help system and
return to  TASK-PRO  by depressing the ESC key,  or by clicking the
right mouse button (which is always identical to depressing the ESC
key).


5.0 THE MENU SYSTEM

The  TASK-PRO main menu is the bar menu that appears across the top
of the screen  at all times that TASK-PRO is running.  You may move
between the items of  this menu with the left and right cursor con-
trol keys, and any associated  pull-down  menus  will automatically
appear.  You  may  also  move between main menu items by depressing
the hot key for the item (highlighted in yellow) while holding down
the  ALT  key (this is simply a shortcut for the experienced user).
If you are not within a data entry window or a pop-up menu then you
may also move  directly  to  a  main menu option by positioning the
mouse cursor over the main menu choice  and clicking the left mouse
button.   In  general the mouse may be used to select any option in
any menu within TASK-PRO,  and clicking the right mouse button will
exit all but the main menu level.

For main menu options that do not have an associated pull-down menu
the option is activated by depressing the ENTER key once the option
is highlighted. If such an option has been selected with the short-
cut  ALT-hotkey keystroke then the keystroke must be entered a sec-
ond time (or optionally the  ENTER  key  must be depressed) to act-
ivate the option.

For main menu options that have pull-down sub-menus,  the  sub-menu
option  is activated by highlighting the desired option with the up

TASK-PRO               Business Technologies                 Page 4



and down cursor control keys and depressing the ENTER key.   Alter-
natively the option may be activated by hitting the highlighted hot
key in the sub-menu (without depressing the ALT key).

Help information about any sub-menu option may be obtained by high-
lighting the option and depressing the F1 key.

6.0 DATA ENTRY WINDOWS

Data entry windows allow the user to enter data  into the  TASK-PRO
system.   The user may move between fields by positioning the mouse
cursor on the desired field and clicking the left mouse button.  To
operate without a mouse the up and down  cursor  control  keys,  as
well  as  the  TAB  key,  allow the user to move between data entry
fields.   Depressing  the  CONTROL  key  while hitting the left and
right cursor control keys will also  move one field to the right or
left where appropriate.

The  left  and  right  cursor  control  keys allow the user to move
within the field.  The insert key toggles text entry between insert
and overstrike mode.   The  delete key deletes characters under the
cursor.  The return key successfully  ends  the data entry into the
form and the  ESC  key aborts the data entry process.  Help for any
field  is  available  by  depressing the F1 key while the cursor is
positioned within the field.


7.0 The FOLDERS menu option

The FOLDERS menu option has an associated  pull-down sub-menu which
offers the options  BROWSE, DEFAULTS, RE-INDEX and QUIT.

Selecting  BROWSE  brings up the window on the lower portion of the
display which allows the user to view and modify tasks in the  cur-
rently opened task folder.  See Section 8.0  for  a  more  detailed
description of this option.

Selecting DEFAULTS brings up a data entry window in which the  user
can  pre-fill  various  fields that will usually be the same when a
new task is being added to  the  currently  opened  folder.   These
fields  will  then be pre-filled with this data whenever a new task
is added.  Any entry  into  the  DATE ENTERED field will be ignored
when a new task is added, however,  as  the  computer's system date
is entered into this field each time a task is added.

Selecting  the RE-INDEX option of the folders pull-down menu allows
TASK-PRO to rebuild  all  pointers  and  indexes  for the currently
opened task folder.   Before  the  operation  proceeds  the user is
queried  by TASK-PRO to ascertain that the operation is intentional
(for  a  large  task  database  this operation may take significant
time).

Selecting the QUIT option of the FOLDER pull-down menu causes TASK-
PRO to terminate immediately and return the user to DOS.

TASK-PRO               Business Technologies                 Page 5




8.0 The BROWSE FOLDER menu option

Selecting the BROWSE option from the TASK-PRO FOLDER menu brings up
a formatted list of all tasks in for folder in the lower portion of

the display.   The user may use the up and down cursor control keys
to highlight the various tasks.  This window scrolls up and down as
necessary to accommodate a large number of tasks.

One important feature of the  BROWSE  window  to be aware of is the
ability  to  edit a memo for the highlighted task by depressing the
F10 key.  Keep in mind that the  F1  key  will provide you with de-
tailed context-sensitive help at all times.

If  you are using a mouse you may highlight a task by simply click-
ing the mouse  button  with the mouse cursor positioned on the task
of interest.  Clicking on  a  task within the first five columns of
the display also has the affect  of  toggling the status of the tag
for that task, thereby providing an extremely  convenient  means of
tagging tasks.   Clicking  on  a  task  that is already highlighted
causes  the  task detail window  to  be brought up, allowing you to
view and modify task information.

The command keystrokes available from within the browse window are:

     'T'        - Tag/Untag Highlighted Task
     INS or '+' - Add a New Task
     DEL or '-' - Delete the Highlighted Task
     CTL F5     - Begin Searching Database for String Match
     F5         - Continue Search Started with CTL F5
     CTL K      - Auxilliary Keystrokes
     CTL S      - Re-Sort
     CTL T      - * Tag all tasks
     CTL F      - Change the task display format
     CTL P      - * Produce A Report/Listing
     CTL U      - * Untag all tasks
     CTL C      - * Close all tagged tasks
     CTL Y      - * Delete All Tagged Tasks
     Up Arrow   - Highlight Next Task Line
     Down Arrow - Highlight Prev Task Line
     PgUp       - Scroll Up One Page
     PgDn       - Scroll Down One Page
     Home       - Go to First Task In List
     End        - Go to End of List
     F10        - Edit Memo for Highlighted Task
     Enter      - View and Edit the Highlighted Task
     ESC        - Return to Task-Pro Main Menu

* - Only available with PROFESSIONAL TASK-PRO

For mouse users, many of these capabilities are available by click-
ing  the  left mouse button with the mouse cursor positioned on any
of the keywords appearing on the bottom of the screen.

TASK-PRO               Business Technologies                 Page 6




9.0 The CALENDAR Main Menu Option

The CALENDAR  option of the TASK-PRO main menu has a pull-down sub-
menu with two associated options.   These options are to BROWSE the

personal  availability calendar or to PURGE the personal availabil-
ity calendar.

Selecting  the  BROWSE  option of the pull-down menu results in the
personal  availability  calendar appearing on-screen.  The user may
interact with the calendar as described in section 9.1 below.  Sel-
ecting  the  PURGE  option of the menu results in all calendars for
previous years being deleted.  This simply reduces disk space usage
and allows the personal calendar to come up in the current year.


9.1 Working with Calendars

The  TASK-PRO  calendar  system allows the user to interact with an
on-screen  calendar  to indicate  hours  available  for  performing
tasks.  This information is ultimately used to produce the RESOURCE
ALLOCATION REPORT (PROFESSIONAL TASK-PRO only), which indicates the
degree of loading imposed by task assignments for each resource.

In addition  to recognizing command keystrokes, the calendar inter-
face allows the user to manipulate calendars with the mouse.    The
user may  click on the text icons along the bottom of the screen to
move from month to month,  from year to year,  or to go directly to
a specific month.   Additionally  the user may click the left mouse
button while the mouse cursor is positioned over  a  particular day
and  initiate  the  entry  of  a  new hours available for that day.
Clicking the right mouse button exits the calendar  and returns the
user to the previous window.

The  following  command  keystrokes  are recognized by the calendar
system:

        ESC      - Exit Calendar System.
        Arrows   - Move highlighted area around calendar.
        PgUp     - Go To Previous Month.
        PgDn     - Go To Next Month.
        CTL PgUp - Go To Previous Year.
        CTL PgDn - Go To Next Year.
        'G'      - Bring Up Month Selection Menu.
        'H'      - Set Highlighted day to HOLIDAY.
        'V'      - Set Highlighted day to VACATION.
        'T'      - Set Highlighted day to TRIP.
        'R'      - Set Highlighted day to TRAINING.
        'O'      - Set Highlighted day to OTHER.
        'W'      - Set Highlighted day to WEEKEND.
        ENTER    - Modify number of hours available for
                   currently highlighted day (or simply
                   begin entering the number).

TASK-PRO               Business Technologies                 Page 7




10.0 The REPORTS Main Menu Option

The  REPORTS  option of the TASK-PRO main menu has a pull-down sub-
menu with a list of the  available reports.   These reports are the

CRITICAL DATES report,  the  HOURS WORKED  report, the  ABBREVIATED
report,  the  FULL PAGE  report,  the  TIMESLIPS  printout  and the
ALLOCATION report.

On the sub-menu the legend '(f)' indicates a report to be a 'folder
report', which only produces information pertinent to the currently
opened task folder, and the legend '(s)' indicates a report to be a
'system report',   which  represents  data  acquired  from all task
folders.

Selecting  a 'folder report' will cause the user to be subsequently
prompted for a sorting  order  and a task selection criteria within
additional pop-up menus, and then the  report  will  be sent to the
system  printer.   Depressing  the ESC key during this process will
cancel the report and return the user to the TASK-PRO main menu.

All 'folder reports', when sorted by the name of the person assign-
ed to perform the task, will automatically insert page breaks when-
ever the name changes.   This is a handy method of producing status
reports for handout to individual employees.

The full page report contains  all information on each task,  incl-
uding the contents  of  the memo.  This report is actually a series
of work orders.

The  TIMESLIP  printout is designed such that employees may fill in
the  hours  worked  on  a project periodically for recording in the
TASK-PRO database.   PROFESSIONAL TASK-PRO provides a handy command
line interface ideal for allowing  a secretary to enter updates for
hours worked.

The ALLOCATION report indicates, given availability as indicated in
the personal availability  calendar as well as current task assign-
ments and the budget, start date and deadline associated with each,
the percentage of available  time  being  consumed  throughout  the
entire period for which tasks have been defined.  This is an excel-
lent means of documenting an  overallocated  condition as well as a
tool for distributing the workload.


11.0 The SETUP Main Menu Option

The  SETUP option of the TASK-PRO main menu allows you to customize
TASK-PRO to meet your needs and preferences.  The options available
on the associated pulldown menu are DISP MODE, SORTING and PRINTER.

Selecting  the  DISP  MODE option evokes a pop-up menu which allows
you to select a default  format  for the  individual  task lines in
the browse window.

TASK-PRO               Business Technologies                 Page 8




Selecting the SORTING options evokes a pop-up menu which allows you
to select a default sorting  format for the tasks within the browse
menu.

Selecting  the PRINTER option evokes a pop-up menu which allows you
to configure TASK-PRO  for the set of control codes to send to your

printer as reports are  being printed.   Selecting  the  PROPRINTER
option will configure TASK-PRO  to send font selection control seq-
uences   to  the  printer  following  IBM  PROPRINTER  conventions.
Selecting the EPSON option will configure TASK-PRO to send font se-
lection  control  sequences  to the printer following EPSON conven-
tions.  Selecting the NULL option  will cause TASK-PRO to use what-
ever  fonts  are  currently  set  on  the  printer  with no control
sequences being passed.  Selecting the CUSTOMIZE option  will bring
up  a  data entry window  in which the user can specify exactly the
hexadecimal  escape  sequences  to be used to select compressed and
normal fonts.  Depressing  F1  from within this window will provide
detailed information on this data entry with examples.

Once  you  have set any TASK-PRO configuration, it will be in force
until it is specifically changed, even if you quit TASK-PRO, return
to DOS, and run TASK-PRO at some time in the future.


12.0 The INFO Main Menu Option

Selecting the  INFO  option from the TASK-PRO main menu brings up a
hypertext system containing  product  information as well as infor-
mation about technical support, product ordering,  and availability
of other software products and services.


13.0 The TASK-PRO Timeslip Interface

This option is only available on PROFESSIONAL TASK-PRO.

The TASK-PRO Timeslip Interface allows for the quick and easy entry
of updates to the  HOURS WORKED  field  for  any task without going
into the user interface of TASK-PRO.   This  is  achieved through a
command prompt which understands the following commands:

    FOLDER <name of task folder to update>
    ADD <id of task for which hours worked are to be added>
    SUB <id of task for which hours worked are to be subtracted>
    SET <id of task for which hours worked are to be set>
    DIR
    HELP
    QUIT

(cont'd)

TASK-PRO               Business Technologies                 Page 9




The  FOLDER  command  sets  the  current  folder for work.  The ADD
command adds hours to a task,  the SUB command subtracts hours from
a task,  the SET command sets the number of hours worked on a task,
the  DIR  command produces a listing of all available task folders,
the  HELP  command produces a help message  and  the  QUIT  command
returns the user to DOS.

To  bring  up the timeslip interface simply enter 'TASKPRO -U' from
the DOS prompt.  The  following  dialog with the timeslip interface
would add 5 hours to the hours worked field of task 7 in the folder
SYSTEM and set the hours worked field of task 3 in the folder TESTS
to a value of 50.

        ->FOLDER SYSTEM
        SYSTEM-> ADD 7 5
        SYSTEM-> FOLDER TESTS
        TESTS-> SET 3 50
        TESTS-> QUIT

Note  that  the  command  prompt contains the name of the currently
opened folder.