The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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TO: INTEGRA COMPUTING, 910 Cobb Place Manor Dr., Marietta, GA 30066 RD 1.7 Name __________________________________________________________ Firm Name __________________________________ Phone ________________ Address __________________________________________________________ City _________________ State ___ Zip _______ County ________ # Professionals _____ # Employees ____ Type of Practice ________________ I first heard of Integra Computing from ___________________________________ Prices and availability are subject to change without notice. Send registered** copies of the following: RAMdesk for use on ___ network workstations $_____ ___ non-connected workstations $_____ $50 for each of first 5 wkstations; $40 for each of wkstations 6-20; $35 for each of wkstations 21-50; $30 for each of wkstations 51-100; $25 for each of wkstations 101-200; $20 each thereafter. ___ copies of TickleX at $60 (only $35 with each copy of RAMdesk) $_____ ___ copies of ReSearch at $90 $_____ +++ Add an extra $60 for each hour of telephone support* you wish to buy $_____ Send unregistered** copies of the following: ___ copies of TickleX at $10 ea $_____ ___ copies of ReSearch at $10 ea $_____ ___ copies of BillPower at $10 ea $_____ ___ copies of BillPower Plus at $15 ea $_____ To have programs supplied on 3.5" media, enclose $5.00 extra PER PROGRAM $_____ If you don't live in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico, please add $10.00 more $_____ TOTAL ORDER $_____ ___% Sales Tax for ___________ county, if you're a GA resident $_____ If you live in a country that was formerly governed by communists, and this order is being placed before 1 January 1994, you may subtract 50% -$_____ Please enclose CHECK or MONEY ORDER in US dollars -- GRAND TOTAL $_____ Credit card orders and purchase orders which are not accompanied by payment will not be accepted. A check or money order must show on its face the name & address of a US bank that will accept it. I have read and agreed to all the terms of the Disclaimer found below. _______________________________________ _________________ SIGNATURE DATE * Telephone support will be provided if you pre-purchase it with this order form. Such support must be used within a year. When you need assistance, you may reach Integra Computing (404-426-5735) most weekdays from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, Eastern Time. Because so much time is required to respond to mailed correspon- dence, letters requesting assistance may not be answered. If you need help, call -- don't write. But please don't even call unless you've pre-purchased support with this order form; if you call without having prepaid for support, each call will cost you a minimum of $15, plus $1.50 per minute. ** Unregistered software is programmed to remind you to register. Please note that no credit will be given at the time of registration for the cost of an unregistered copy. -- LICENSE: BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, RAMdesk, and their documentation are copyrighted in 1985 to 1992 by R.A. Kelly. You may use any program on as many computers as you like, as long as it is never ins- talled with a SERIAL NUMBER (provided to you when you register as a user) on more than one computer at a time and as long as you do not alter the program in any way. You may distribute any of these programs to potential new users, pro- vided that you never divulge your SERIAL NUMBER to anyone, that you charge no fee for the program, and that you do not bundle it with (or use it as an incen- tive to purchase or lease) any other product or service, without the written consent of R.A. Kelly. All rights not expressly granted above are reserved in R.A. Kelly. -- DISCLAIMER: BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, and RAMdesk may contain design and programming flaws. Before using ANY software on a regular basis, try estimating the potential harm that could result from your reliance upon it. Please don't use any of these programs unless you're willing to as- sume the associated risks, such as billing and report inaccuracies and data loss. BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY, RAMDESK, AND THEIR INSTRUCTIONS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND (INCLUD- ING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE). NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE PROVIDED BY INTEGRA, ITS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS, OR EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OF ANY KIND REGARDING BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY, OR RAMDESK, AND YOU MAY NOT RELY UPON SUCH INFORMATION OR ADVICE. USE OF BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY,OR RAMDESK IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. NEITHER INTEGRA NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY, OR RAMDESK SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSI- NESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, AND LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION) ARISING FROM THE USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY, OR RAMDESK, EVEN THOUGH INTEGRA MAY BE ADVISED THAT SUCH DAMAGES ARE POSSIBLE. -- AGREEMENT: As used in this Agreement, the terms "BillPower" ,"TickleX", "MT-Tracker", "PopForm", "ReSearch", "Nifty", and "RAMdesk", if not followed by a series or version designation, mean any version or series of BillPower, BillPower Plus, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, or RAMdesk provided to you now or in the future. Your attempt to use BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, or RAMdesk constitutes your acceptance of the terms set forth in the foregoing LICENSE and DISCLAIMER (which are incorporated into this Agreement). Your attempt to use BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, or RAMdesk also constitutes your agreement that if you bring any legal action relating to BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, or RAM- desk, 1) your sole remedy for the damages for which any defendant is found lia- ble (including direct, indirect, incidental and consequential damages) will be the recovery of whatever you paid to register as a user of the program, and 2) you will pay all defendants' attorneys fees and other legal costs if you do not prevail on all claims made in your pleadings. The terms of this Agreement are governed by Georgia law. If any of this Agreement's terms shall be held invalid to any extent, the remainder of this Agreement shall be unaffected by such invalidity. THE ABOVE PARAGRAPHS CONSTITUTE THE ENTIRE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND INTE- GRA. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION, INFORMATION, OR ADVICE FROM ANY SOURCE MAY ALTER THE AGREEMENT AS SET FORTH ABOVE. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR OF LIABIL- ITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH MAY VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. RAMDESK TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 GETTING AROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 OPERATIONAL MODES WITHIN EACH MODULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 SCHEDULER/ALARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 DIRECTORY (Phone Book) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 CALCULATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 WORKLOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 INFOBASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 LOCATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 CUSTOMIZING RAMDESK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Hotkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 First Module Displayed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 InfoBase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Calculator Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Alarm Pitch, Number of Beeps, Hourly Chimes . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Word Wrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Multi-Day Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Automatic Calculation of Amount to Charge for Services Rendered . 34 Conflict Checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Bypassing the Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Using the Server for the Phone Directory and InfoBases . . . . . . 35 Printer Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Write File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Dialing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Satellite Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 24-Hour Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Bypassing the Schedule Module. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Bypassing the Worklog Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Alphabetizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Keyword Hunts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Tagging Messages as "old" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Archiving Omitted Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Sending Messages that Beep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Pre-designated File Copy Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Workstation Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Locating Everyone with the Locator Module . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 APPENDIX: TYING INTO TICKLEX & BILLPOWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 APPENDIX: LOCAL AREA NETWORKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 APPENDIX: USING RAMDESK WITH MICROSOFT WINDOWS. . . . . . . . . . . 49 APPENDIX: TUNING UP PERFORMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 RAMDESK INSTRUCTIONS NOTE: If you're using an unregistered copy of the program, it will begin to beep at you in several weeks, reminding you that it's time to register. Don't worry -- no data will be destroyed, and you'll always be able to use the program, despite the fact that you delay registering. INTRODUCTION RAMdesk is a handy program that's designed with the typical small-business user in mind. It will: - schedule upcoming events, and allow you to set up to 20 alarms per day; - pass messages among workstations on a LAN; - act as an electronic "in-out" board to keep track of where office workers have gone; - hold phone numbers, addresses, and notes about your ac- quaintences; - maintain a record of your expenses and the time you spend working on various projects; - allow you to establish numerous mini-databases, such as to-do lists, general ledger account numbers, and client number cross-references; - provide a programmable calculator with a long "tape", the abilities to enter corrections into a long sequence of cal- culations and to transfer results to other programs; - co-exist and exchange data with TickleX (the ultimate sched- uler) and BillPower (integrated Time/Billing/Bookkeeping/GL). RAMdesk may be used on any IBM-compatible PC running DOS 2.1 (or greater). It requires about 200K when it's actually being used, but only 45K when it's just sitting in the background waiting for you to press its hotkey. As a matter of fact, if you can live without its RAM-resident alarm ("PC-Beep"), it's background memory requirements will be reduced to under 7K. As shipped, the program consists of seven files: RAMDESK.EXE the main program file; RAMDESK.OVR a program overlay file; INTRODUCTION 4 RAMDESK.CFG a modifiable configuration file RAMDESK.HLP brief on-line help and other notes; RAMDESK.DOC this documentation; PC-BEEP.EXE a RAM-resident alarm; RMD.BAT the file used to load RAMdesk. If you've obtained RAMdesk on a diskette, you'll probably also find several other files, including those that assist RAMdesk in linking to the powerful TickleX and BillPower programs. RAMdesk is a member of the "MANAGEX" series of software (Tick- leX and BillPower are also members), but it may be used by itself. Just in case you ever decide to use RAMdesk in conjunction with other members of the MANAGEX series, RAMdesk's files should be installed into a hard disk directory named "MANAGEX". RAMdesk comes with a batch file, RMD.BAT, which you should use to load the program. To run RAMdesk, log into the MANAGEX direc- tory and enter the following at the DOS prompt: "RMD" (for memory-resident service with alarm); or "RMD NA" (for memory-resident service without alarm); or "RMD NR" (for non-resident service without alarm). As you use RAMdesk, it will create whatever data files it needs. RAMdesk will always assume that the directory from which it was loaded (eg: the MANAGEX directory) is the directory in which you want to keep these files. Therefore, always be sure to log into the directory containing RAMdesk before you invoke RAMdesk. If you invoke it from another directory, you may find that it doesn't save its files where you expect it to. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER load RAMdesk while you're in any other directory, and NEVER include the directory containing RAMdesk in your computer environment's "path". -- COMPUTER CRASHES Any RAM-resident (pop-up) program may occasionally cause your computer to "freeze" or "lock up", and RAMdesk is no exception. The reason for this problem is that the computer's operating system is not designed to support multi-tasking, and RAM-resident programs have to play tricks on it in order to work their magic. If you start ex- periencing computer "crashes" after beginning to use RAMdesk, it's probably because RAMdesk is trying to do something in the background that conflicts with whatever you're doing in the foreground. Try al- tering the order in which you load your TSR programs (RAMdesk included). Please be sure to read the TUNING UP PERFORMANCE section, the final portion of which refers to the "FATAL SWAP ERROR" message that may occasionally occur. INTRODUCTION 5 GETTING AROUND Assuming that you've installed RAMdesk as a pop-up, you may subsequently enter it by pressing ALT-R. As mentioned earlier, RAMdesk has several primary functions (mod- ules). To go directly from one to another, you may press an ALT-key combination: ALT-S Scheduler/Alarm ALT-D Directory of names, addresses, phones ALT-C Calculator ALT-W Worklog of expenses and time worked ALT-I Infobases (mini-databases) ALT-M Messages (available only when installed on a LAN); ALT-L Personnel Locator (available only on a LAN). Alternatively, you may use the TAB key to move from one module to the next in a circular fashion. One final way to change modules is to access the Main Menu by pressing ESC once. When you do, you'll be shown which keystroke will take you to each module. To exit RAMdesk, press the ESC key twice. The first ESC will take you to the Main Menu, and the second will cause the RAMdesk window to disappear from the screen. If you're in the middle of mak- ing an entry when you first press the ESC key, you may have to press it a few more times to back your way out of the program. After you leave RAMdesk, it will still be lurking in the background, waiting for you to press ALT-R (to call it up again). NOTE: The Main Menu is designed to help a novice to find his way around the program. If you find that the Main Menu gets in your way, you may cause the program to completely bypass it. See the CUSTOMIZING section. GETTING AROUND 6 OPERATIONAL MODES within EACH MODULE Within each module, you will have several choices that will be listed at the bottom of the RAMdesk window. RAMdesk initially assumes that you're more likely to be look- ing for information than entering it. Therefore, when you enter most modules, RAMdesk will ask you to describe what you want to find. If, instead of looking for something, you want to enter a NEW item, simply press the space bar and begin filling in a new record. -- HUNT This is the default mode for all modules, except the Calculator (which has no Hunt mode) and the Scheduler (in which you must press "H" at the first screen that appears in order to access the Hunt mode). In the Hunt mode, you will be expected to describe what you're looking for. All you need to enter is a keyword (or any string of characters) that's contained in the record you want to find. If more than one record contain that word, each such record will be found for you. To move from one matching record to the next, press the PgDn key. To move back to the previous one, press PgUp. NOTE: Normally, RAMdesk will look at EVERY line in each record as it searches for a match. If you prefer that it look only to the first line of description in each record, end your keyword entry with F6, instead of the RETURN key. If, for instance, the first line of each record contains a name, and that's all you want RAMdesk to consider in looking for a match, this option will be handy. See also the CUSTOMIZING section, if you'd like RAMdesk to default to first-line-only searches (instead of entire-record searches), precluding your having to use the F6 key when entering a keyword. If you wish to narrow your search, you might want to enter two keywords separated by a slash (eg: "JEWEL/CLEAR"). The only records that RAMdesk will find will be those that contain BOTH words. RAMdesk will handle only one- , two, or three-word searches; don't try spec- ifying more than three words. If you are looking for a record, but don't know any of its key- words, you may press the PgDn key to step through each record, one at a time, until you find it. -- DATA ENTRY OPERATIONAL MODES 7 To enter a new record into the Directory, WorkLog, InfoBase, or Message modules press the space bar at the Hunt screen. Then, respond to each prompt asking for information. To enter an event into the Scheduler, first select the date on which you want to schedule something. Use the arrows (to move day or a week at a time), the PgUp and PgDn keys (to move one month at a time), or the Home key (to return to today). When the date has been selected, press RET (the Enter key). Finally, fill in the event's time, an alarm time (if appropriate), and description. Then press the F6 key. To enter something into the Calculator, type it exactly as you would if you were a fifth-grader writing it down on paper. No brac- kets, thanks; and don't try any of that reverse-polish mumbo-jumbo. -- SENDING INFO TO THE PRINTER OR DISK FILE To print a daily schedule, go to the Scheduler, move to the day whose schedule you want printed (by pressing the arrow keys or PgUp/Dn keys), and press Ctrl-PrtSc. The Directory, WorkLog, InfoBase and Message modules allow you to print either individual records or a group. To print a particular record, call it to the screen and press Ctrl-PrtSc. To print several records, press Ctrl-PrtSc at the Hunt screen. You'll be asked to de- signate exactly which record(s) you want to print. Just fill in a character sequence common to each record you want printed and press RET. After you've typed in a character sequence, RAMdesk will look at each record to see if it contains such a sequence. If so, that record will be printed. If you fill in no character sequence at all, RAMdesk will assume that you want ALL records to be printed. To send information to a disk file, press ^F (Ctrl-F), instead of Ctrl-PrtSc. The file created or appended will be called "TEXT.PC", and may subequently be edited with a text editor capable of dealing with industry-standard ACSII files. -- OMITTING ENTRIES To omit an entry in the Scheduler, use the arrow keys to move to the day on which the event to be omitted falls. Then, press "E" to enter the Edit/Examine/Omit mode. Finally, move the pointer in the left margin to the item you wish to omit and press ^O. In all the other modules (except the Calculator), a particular record may be omitted by first calling that record to the screen and the pressing ^O (Ctrl-O). OPERATIONAL MODES 8 Mass omissions are handled a little differently -- by pressing ^O at the Hunt screen, instead of at an individual record. When you press ^O, RAMdesk will initially assume that you want to eliminate all records made before tomorrow (that is, today and earlier). There- fore, tomorrow will be shown as the "cut-off" date. To change this date, use the arrow keys or PgUp/Dn. RAMdesk will regard whatever date you select as a "cut-off". All records entered before that date will be omitted when you press the F6 key to begin the omission pro- cess. If you want to omit only those records which fall before the cut- off date AND which contain a certain character string, you may also fill in that string before you begin the mass omission by pressing F6. Pressing the ESC key will abort the mass omission. Just before a mass omission takes place, you'll be asked whether you would like each record that's omitted to be printed for you. You should answer YES (by pressing `Y') if you'd like a permanent record of the items that are about to be omitted. The Calculator mode does not have a mass omission mode, but you can clear the "slate" or "tape" by pressing "C". Pressing C again will also erase the two variables stored by the calculator in memory. -- COPYING RECORDS If you ever need to duplicate the last record created or modi- fied, just press the space bar to create a new record. When the blank record entry form appears on the screen, press Ctrl-C to copy the last record into the new one. Modify it as needed and press F6 to save. -- ASSIMILATING DATA AMONG NON-NETWORKED MACHINES If you wish to assimilate Directory, Infobase, Schedule, or Work- log data from two or more non-networked machines, you may do so by pressing F4 at the Hunt screen in any of those modules. When you do, you'll be asked to choose either Input or Output. Of course, you should first Output data from one machine to a floppy disk. Then, walk the floppy disk to the machine the other machine and Input it. -- HELP Rudimentary on-line help is available at most points in the program whenever you press the F1 key. Most of the time, all you'll get is a very general help screen. But, if the cursor is at a field where you're expected to enter someone's initials, F1 will give you a listing of everyone -- IF you've created a NETUSERS.LBF file on the server (see the WORKSTATION IDENTIFICATION discussion near the end of the CUSTOMIZING section). OPERATIONAL MODES 9 SCHEDULER/ALARM This module is for storing and viewing upcoming events/alarms. It's not intended to be a substitute for TickleX, the ultimate sched- uler (described elsewhere in this documentation). If you need thor- ough planning capabilities, time-conflict checking, and complete re- porting facilities, use TickleX (which, itself, may be invoked as a "pop-up"). But if all you need is a quick place to enter up to 20 alarms per day, to scan or set upcoming events, or to just find the current time, this module in RAMdesk will be quite helpful. And what- ever you enter into this module will be subsequently picked up by TickleX if you also have it. The total number of events that RAMdesk can handle is 2000. Therefore, the first time RAMdesk is loaded each day, all events for dates earlier than one week ago are automatically eliminated from its database. This keeps the Scheduler from filling up with old events that are no longer of any use. If you're the type that uses a calendar to keep track of what you DID, in addition to what you PLAN to do, you should also use the WorkLog module, discussed later. Use the left and right arrows to move forward or back one day at a time. Use the PgUp and PgDn keys to jump 30 days. Whenever you change dates, RAMdesk will display everything that's already been scheduled for that day. If you want to make a new entry for that day, press the space bar and respond to the prompts that appear for the time, alarm, and description. NOTE: RAMdesk assumes that it's being used as a pop-up entry vehicle for TickleX IF both programs store their data in the same hard disk directory. Therefore, you might be asked to specify the type of event you're entering. The TickleX documentation contains definitions of the event types (Gotcha, Deadline, Appointment, Trip, Vacation, Miscellaneous). NOTE: If you intend to use RAMdesk to track multi-day ev- ents, such as trips and vacations, and you don't use Tick- leX, see the CUSTOMIZING section of this documentation. Times may be entered without colons (eg: 9:00 may be entered as "900", or just "9"). Unless you indicate otherwise, RAMdesk will assume that the times you enter will fall during standard business hours (7:00AM - 6:59PM, by RAMdesk's definition). Therefore, any- time between 7:00 and 11:59 will be assumed to be in the morning, un- less you append a "P" to the end of your entry to signify "PM". Any- time between 12:00 and 6:59 will be assumed to be in the afternoon, unless you append an "A" to the end of your entry to signify "AM". For example, "700" means "7:00AM", but "700P" means "7:00PM"; "200" means "2:00PM", but "200A" means "2:00AM". SCHEDULER/ALARM 10 If used on a LAN, RAMdesk will expect you to designate whether or not the event is to be private. If you want it to appear only at your workstation, and if the event is for YOU, you should enter "YES" at the "Private?" item. Otherwise, answer "NO" To save the new event, press the F6 key. NOTE: If RAMdesk and TickleX store their data in the same hard disk directory, you might be asked whether you want to quickly enter one or more TickleX reminders for the event just saved. Note that reminders, discussed in the TickleX documentation, will not be utilized by RAMdesk, itself; rather, they'll simply be passed on to TickleX. -- EDITING/EXAMINING/OMITTING AN EVENT Normally, when you're looking at a particular day's events, the only information displayed is the first line of each event's discrip- tion. If you'd like to see the full detail for that event, edit it, or even omit it, you must first enter the Edit mode by pressing "E". When you do so, you'll be able to use the arrow keys to point to the event in which you're interested. Then, press RET to edit/examine the event or Ctrl-O to omit it. If you inadvertantly enter the Edit mode, you may leave it by pressing "E" again or by moving to another day. -- SCHEDULING SEVERAL PEOPLE FOR THE SAME EVENT Since each event record will accept only one set of initials, you may wonder how to schedule several people for the same event. The answer is to make multiple copies of the same event record, but to change the initials on each copy. First, you make the original entry. After the record is saved, press the space bar to schedule another event. When a blank event screen appears, press Ctrl-C to copy the prior event into it. Then, change the initials, and press F6 to save. Repeat this simple process as many times as needed. -- ALARMS No matter what you're doing on the computer when it's time for an alarm to sound, the RAMdesk window will appear, and the computer's speaker will beep. The only exception to this rule is that the alarm will not sound if you happen to be using RAMdesk at the time it's set to go off; in that case, the alarm will sound as soon as you leave RAMdesk. When the alarm goes off, you may press the ESC key, SPACE bar, a number from 1 to 9, or a letter from 'A' to 'D'. If you press ESC, SCHEDULER/ALARM 11 the alarm will be erased from RAMdesk's files, though the event, itself, will remain. '1' to '9' will automatically reset the alarm the corresponding number of minutes from now, while 'A' to 'D' will cause it to sound again in 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes, and 'E' to 'H' will give you a 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-hour break. SCHEDULER/ALARM 12 DIRECTORY (Phone Book) This module maintains names and phone numbers for up to 2000 people. Each person's has room for three lines of notes. Thus, you may also keep an address and/or miscellaneous comments for each per- son. You may even prepare mailing labels. -- HUNT When you first enter the module, you'll be in the "Hunt" mode, since you'll more frequently be trying to find a phone number than entering a new one. Just enter any word (such as a name) found in the record of the person whose number you wish to find, and RAMdesk will zip to that record. If there are more than one record containing the word you enter, RAMdesk will take you to the first; if that's not the one you want, just press the PgDn key to move on to the next (the F6 key will also work here). If you just want to step through the records, one at a time, don't bother entering anything at the Hunt screen. Instead, press the PgDn key. RAMdesk will then take you to the first record. Pres- sing PgDn again will take you to the next, and so on. To move back- ward to a previous record, press the PgUp key. While in the Hunt mode, you can edit any record that RAMdesk finds. When you're done with each record, press F6, PgDn, or PgUp to move to the next matching record (or press ESC if you don't want RAM- desk to look for any other records). -- DATA ENTRY To enter a new record, simply press the space bar at the Hunt screen. RAMdesk will then pop into its "Entry" mode, and prompt you for name, phone number, and notes. Though not absolutely required by RAMdesk, you should make a habit of always entering last names before first names. RAMdesk attempts to place records into alphabetical order. The name it uses to alphabetize is the first one appearing on the first line of each record. For this reason, the line that would otherwise be given the title, "Name", is instead called "Last, First". You may enter as many phone numbers as will appear on the "Phone" line, but bear in mind that, if you want RAMdesk to dial for you, it will try to dial everything on the "Phone" line until it comes to a left curly bracket, "{". Therefore, you should place all secondary phone numbers to the right of a left curly bracket, so that the program won't attempt to add them to the number it dials. The phone number may be entered in nearly any fashion, using num- DIRECTORY 13 bers, dashes, spaces, and/or parentheses. You can even build in pauses in the dialing by entering tilde's. Each tilde represents a 1/2-second delay. If RAMdesk encounters "1-213-123-4567~~~~2345" during its dialing sequence, it will dial "1-123-4567", pause two sec- onds, and then dial "2345". -- OMITTING RECORDS See the "OMITTING ENTRIES" section near the beginning of the doc- umentation. -- ALPHABETIZING If you press Ctrl-A at the hunt screen, the database will be alphabetized on each record's first word in the first line of infor- mation -- PRINTING RECORDS To print an individual record, press Ctrl-PrtSc when that record is being displayed. ^F would send the the record to a TEXT.PC file. To print one or more records at a time, press Ctrl-PrtSc at the Hunt screen. When you do so, RAMdesk will ask you to enter a word common to the records you want printed. If you want to print EVERY- ONE's record, just press RET without entering anything. -- LABELS If you want to produce one or more mailing labels, press ^L (Ctrl-L) at the Hunt screen. RAMdesk will ask you to enter a word common to the records you want printed. If you want to print labels for EVERYONE, just press RET without entering anything. Incidentally, if you wish to send the labels to a "TEXT.PC" disk file, press ^B (Ctrl-B) instead of ^L. There may be some items contained in individual records which you don't want to appear on the labels that RAMdesk prepares. For in- stance, you probably don't want a mailing label to show a person's telephone number. In order to prevent certain information from being shown on a label, begin that information with a left curly bracket ("{") and make it the last info on its line. Consider this Directory entry: Name & Phone: Fred Smith {412-234-6789 Note: 45 Smith Way Note: Smithboro, GA 12345 Note: {work on this guy -- he's rich DIRECTORY 14 When a label is prepared for this record, the phone number and last line will be omitted: Fred Smith 45 Smith Way Smithboro, GA 12345 RAMdesk prints onto standard 3-1/2" x 15/16" labels (1 wide), which are available everywhere. Your printer must be in it's default setting of six lines per inch. -- DIALING Dialing must take place in the Look-Up (not the Entry) mode. When the number you want to phone is displayed, move to either the first position in the record or to any spot on the phone number line. Then, press either ALT-D or the "+" key. After your party has answered, you may want to remove the modem from the line if it creates any annoying background noise. To cause the modem to hang up, just press the minus ("-") sign. If RAMdesk doesn't work with your modem, it may not be Hayes- compatible. If it IS Hayes-compatible, make sure that all it's switches are set just as they were when the modem left the factory. If they've been changed, you may have difficulty. Also make sure that RAMdesk knows the communications port to which your modem is con- nected, as discussed in the CUSTOMIZING section. DIRECTORY 15 CALCULATOR The Calculator will handle figures up to 99 MILLION. It has these functions: + ADD ! SIN - SUBTRACT @ COS * MULTIPLY # TAN / DIVIDE $ ARCTAN ^ POWER OF L LN (natural log) I INVERSE E EXPONENTIAL P PERCENT ~ PI It also has two memory keys, macro programming, and the ability to transfer the results of a calculation to your primary application. To enter a calculation, type it in exactly as you would if you were writing it down. Example: To find the cube of 4 (4 to the 3d power) and add 5 to it, enter "4^3+5=" into the calculator; or to find the figure that's 17 percent less than 635, enter "635-17P". Other examples: 250+25P adds to 250 the amount that is 25 percent of 250. !20/L35= divides the sin of 20 degrees by natural log of 3. 7.5^2= raises 7.5 to the power of 2; this is 7.5 squared. 2^.5= raises 2 to the .5 power ; this is the square root of 2. E5= gives you the exponential of 5; that is, the value e raised to the power of 5, where e is the base of the natural logarithms. $1= gives you the arctan of 1. 5^2*~= raises 5 to the power of 2, then multiplies the result by pi. As each entry is made, it is stored on a 50-line "folded tape" that never forgets (unless you press "C" to clear it). Even cutting power to the computer won't erase this tape, as long as you exit the Calculator mode before power is lost. To change the number of figures shown to the right of the decimal point, press "D" until the desired number appears at the bottom of the RAMdesk window. Then continue with your calculator entries. All subsequent results will be shown with the new number of decimal places. To switch between using degrees and radians for the trig func- tions, press Ctrl-R. Note that the trig functions will give accurate results only with angles of 90 degress or less. -- MEMORY KEYS CALCULATOR 16 RAMdesk has two calculator memories, one accessed with the F4 key, and the other with F8. To store a number into the F4 memory, press ALT-F4 after entering that figure or after the figure appears as the result of a calculation. ALT-F8 will store a figure into the F8 Memory. Then, to recall the figure in either memory, simply press F4 or F8 at any point during the entry of a calculation. -- TRANSFERRING A RESULT TO AN UNDERLYING PROGRAM To transfer a calculation result to your word processor, spread- sheet, or any other application, simply press "T" when the result is obtained. When you do so, the RAMdesk window will vanish, and the result will be entered at the position your cursor occupied before you called up RAMdesk. -- PRINTING If you would like RAMdesk to print the contents of the calcu- lator's tape, press Ctrl-PrtSc. When you do, the current tape will be printed, and RAMdesk will be primed to also send subsequent entries to the printer, line by line. To turn off RAMdesk's printing of each line as it's entered into the calculator, press Ctrl-PrtSc again. -- CALCULATOR WINDOW SIZE The calculator's "folded tape" takes up a lot of space on the screen, so much that the figures you're referencing in an underlying screen may be covered. If you'd like to temporarily reduce the size of the calculator window, press Ctrl-W. Pressing Ctrl-W again will return the window to its original size. If even the small calculator window is obscuring something you need on the screen, you may "jump" it to the opposite corner of the dispaly by pressing Ctrl-J. -- PROGRAMMING THE CALCULATOR WITH MACROS Pressing "M" will bring you to a screen that lists all the macros available (as shipped, there are only a couple). Each macro is a sim- ple sequence of calculations that RAMdesk will digest as the macro is being processed. To begin a macro, just enter its name. To edit or create one, press the F6 key. Basically, a macro consists of the same stream of characters as would be typed at the keyboard to obtain a result (eg: to add 5 and 7, you would enter "5+7=" at the keyboard). Each line of the macro, how- ever, may contain only a single number, which should be followed by a single operator (eg: "5+", "7=", etc). Hence, the macro to add 5 CALCULATOR 17 and 7 would read as follows: 5+ 7= Sometimes, a line must not only end with an operator, but also begin with one. This is necessary when the preceding line does not end with "+", "-", "*", "/", or "^". 5+ 7= *6- 2= The equals sign on the "7=" line causes the calculator to display 12, the result of 5+7. Since this line does not end with a "+", "-", "*", "/", or "^", the following line must begin with such an operator if this result is to be included in the next calculation. Hence, "*6-" will multiply the result (12) by 6 and then subtract the number on the following line (2). The equals sign on the last line causes the new result to be displayed. Remember, each macro line may contain only a single number. It must end with an operator, and may sometimes also begin with one. If you want the macro to pause for input from the keyboard, sub- stitute a quote for a number. For example, a macro to find ten per- cent of your income might look like this: "YOUR INCOME"/ 10= When this macro is executed, "YOUR INCOME" will appear on the screen. When you fill in the amount of your income, it will be divided by 10, and the result will be displayed. You may clear the screen by placing a line in the macro that con- tains only "C". You may store a result in memory by placing "ALT-F4" (or "ALT-F8") by itself on a line. Similarly, memory may be recalled by substituting "F4" (or "F8") for a number on a line. To change the number of decimals displayed, use the "D=x" command, where x is the number of decimal places (0 to 9 only). If you want to display a short phrase (up to 13 characters wide), enclose it in quotes and place it on a line by itself (without an mathematical operator). NOTE: In addition to the F4 and F8 memories that are available when you manually work with the calculator, the macro function may also access "invisible" memories F3 and F7 to temporarily store figures. See the INT4 macro (shipped with RAMdesk) for examples of their use. CALCULATOR 18 "DO" loops may be included in the macro. A DO loop begins with a line saying, "DO" and ends with a line saying, "UNTIL COUNT=x" (where "x" is the number of times you want the DO loop to repeat itself). All lines between "DO" and "UNTIL COUNT=x" will be repeated x times. Example: 10= DO *1.09= UNTIL COUNT=20 "10=" causes the calculator to store the number 10 as a result. This result would then be multiplied by 1.09. The new result would then be multiplied again by 1.09, then again and again 18 more times. If you want the DO loop to repeat, not until the counter reaches a certain number, but until a certain condition is met, you may end the DO loop with "UNTIL =x", "UNTIL >x" or "UNTIL <x". Here, the last result calculated in the DO loop will be compared to the value "x", and the DO loop will repeat itself until the specified condition is met. The following example contains a DO loop that will repeat until the result is less than 5: 100= DO /2= UNTIL <5 Here, we begin with 100. The DO loop then causes a series of divisions by 2 until the result is finally less than 5. You may even execute conditional DO loops. To do so, use the "IF =x DO", "IF >x DO", or "IF <x DO" statement. Example: "GIVE ME A NUMBER"= IF >50 DO /2= UNTIL <5 Here, you're asked to enter a number, which is then displayed and stored as a result. If the number you entered is greater than 50, a DO loop will be executed, in which the result will be divided by 2 until it is finally less than 5. If the number you enter is less or equal to 50 then the DO loop will be skipped entirely. Here's another example: "HOW OLD ARE YOU?"= ALT-F4 IF F4>65 DO "YOU'RE OLD" UNTIL COUNT=1 IF F4<66 DO CALCULATOR 19 "YOU'RE YOUNG" UNTIL COUNT=1 Here, you're prompted for your age, which is then displayed and stored as a result. "ALT-F4" then places that result into the F4 memory. If the amount now stored in F4 is greater than 65, a DO loop is executed one time ("UNTIL COUNT=1"). That DO loop contains a simple display that says "YOU'RE OLD". If, on the other hand, F4 is 65 or less ("IF F4<66 DO"), an alternate DO loop is executed once, displaying the "YOU'RE YOUNG" message. Macro files may be up to 1500 characters long, so the power they afford you is considerable. Use the "INT_" macros (shipped with RAMdesk) as examples. If you're on a network, you should manually copy the sample macro files (*.LBM) to each workstation's hard disk or "home" directory (see the LOCAL AREA NETWORKS appendix). CALCULATOR 20 WORKLOG This module may be used to track up to 2000 records reflecting your expense and the amount of time you spend on various projects. It includes a "stopwatch" that keeps time to the ten-thousand of an hour and (if you've customized the program appropriately -- see the CUSTOM- IZING section) automatically figures the amount to charge for that time. The stopwatch will not lose its place after you leave the Work- Log module (even if you suffer a power failure). This module will produce a simple printout and summary that you may find useful in bil- ling your clients. And if you happen to be a BillPower user, you'll find that whatever is entered into the RAMdesk Worklog will be subse- quently assimilated into BillPower's database. BillPower offers you the ability to automatically bill your clients and/or run a variety of useful management reports. -- HUNT When you first enter the module, you'll be in the "Hunt" mode. Just enter a word (such as the project number or name) contained in the record you wish to find, and RAMdesk will zip to it. If there are more than one record containing the character sequence you enter, RAMdesk will take you to the first; if that's not the one you want, just press the PgDn key to move on to the next (the F6 key will also work here). If you just want to step through the records, one at a time, don't bother entering anything at the Hunt screen. Instead, press the PgDn key. RAMdesk will then take you to the first record. Pres- sing PgDn again will take you to the next, and so on. To move back- ward to a previous record, press the PgUp key. While in the Hunt mode, you can edit any record that RAMdesk finds. When you're done with each record, press F6, PgDn, or PgUp to move to the next matching record (or press ESC if you don't want RAM- desk to look for any other records). -- DATA ENTRY To enter a new record, simply press the space bar at the Hunt screen. RAMdesk will then pop into its "Entry" mode, and prompt you for several items of information. The "Entry Date" is the date for which you wish to record this item. The default date is today, but you may change it by pressing the left/right arrows or PgUp/PgDn keys. When the date you want ap- pears, press the RET key. Next, you'll tell RAMdesk whether this entry is for a Receipt Disbursement, or Service performed. WORKLOG 21 The "Project" is the number or name of the project for which you have incurred an expense or spent (or are about to spend) time wor- king. You MUST fill in this item. Make sure that you enter the pro- ject correctly. If you're not consistent from record to record, and from day to day, you may not be able to find all the data pertaining to this project when you decide to produce a report at some time in the future. There are several "Description" lines on which you can describe the work done (or disbursement or receipt). You may save space by using whatever abbreviations you've programmed BillPower to recognize (assuming that you have BillPower). The "Hours" item is for the time you spend working on whatever you've described in the Description lines. Time is kept only in "hours" (all the way to the nearest ten-thousandth of an hour), so don't attempt to enter minutes or seconds. If you'd like to begin the auto-timer (stopwatch), press ^T (Ctrl-T). Press ^T again to turn the the auto-timer off. The auto-timer may be toggled on or off as many times as you wish. The "Amount" item should be filled in if you're entering an expense. It may optionally be filled in for service records as well. The "Incm/Expns Cat" item will accept any number from 1 to 9999. Here, you should enter the general ledger Income/Expense category into which this expense falls. This item is of greatest value if you're also using BILLPOWER, which can generate income-expense reports. Pressing the F6 key will save the record you've just entered, unless the auto-timer is still on (in which case the record will sim- ply be held in "suspension" until you check back to turn the timer off). -- OMITTING RECORDS See the "OMITTING ENTRIES" section near the beginning of the documentation. -- THE AUTO-TIMER (stopwatch) As mentioned earlier, ^T will start the auto-timer when you're entering a work record. After the timer has been turned on, you may leave the WorkLog module (or even RAMdesk) to begin working on what is being timed. When you're done, just get back to the WorkLog mod- ule's Hunt screen, press the space bar, and you'll find that the au- to-timer is still ticking away. Make sure that you fill in a "Pro- ject" and a description of what you did. Then, press ^T to turn the timer off. That's all there is to maintaining a precise record of the time spent on something. By the way, any time you don't like the time WORKLOG 22 that appears at the "Hours" item, you may type over it manually. Press the F6 key to save this new record. Even after you've saved a record, you can call it back up, press ^T and begin adding more time to what had originally be recorded. Note that, when the timer is on, the only record that can be ac- cessed (created or found) is the one that's being timed. -- PRINTING A REPORT (for billing or other reasons) NOTE: Though RAMdesk is not a billing program, you may find it useful in compiling the expense and work infor- mation that you want to include in your bills. If you need full-featured billing software, you should consider BILL- POWER (available from Integra Computing), a powerful stand- alone program that may be used by itself or in conjunction with RAMdesk. See the "TYING INTO TICKLEX & BILLPOWER" section. To obtain a printout of all work and expenses for any individual project, press Ctrl-PrtSc at the Hunt screen. When you're asked to designate the specific records that you want to include on the report, you should enter the project name. If you want ALL work and expenses to be included, regardless of project, just press RET (the Enter key) without entering a project name. At the end of the printout will be a two-line summary that totals all the expenses and time worked. This report may be used as the bas- is for a bill that you send to a client. A separate report may be kept for each project that you handle. After you've prepared a bill for a particular project, go through the MASS OMISSION routine for that project, making sure that the cut- off date for the omission is set to TOMORROW. If you don't omit that project's data from the database, it'll re-appear on the next print- out. Since it's possible to accidentally omit items you really want to save, it is recommended that you make a backup of the "WORKLOG.LB*" files before omitting anything. Incidentally, you should also back up ALL "*.LB*" files on a daily basis, just in case you have a hard disk failure. WORKLOG 23 INFOBASE This module will maintain one or more mini-databases, each con- taining up to 2000 records. Each record can hold up to 12 lines of data, and you may search through the records to quickly find the exact information you need. The InfoBase module may be quite helpful if you'd like to maintain small reference files that can be accessed from within any program. You may wish to keep a "NOTEPAD" infobase to track your random thoughts. Or you might want to establish a separate infobase for each of your projects, so that you can keep notes on them. You'll find a hundred-and-one uses for this module. -- FILE DESIGNATION When RAMdesk first loads, it defaults to the NOTEPAD database (unless you've customized RAMdesk to default to another). Thus, when you first enter the INFOBASE module, you'll notice the word "NOTEPAD" in the upper left of the window. That means that the NOTEPAD infobase is currently being accessed. NOTE: At the DOS level, you may note that RAMdesk's INFO- BASE files all begin with an underline (eg:"_NOTEPAD.LBF" and "_NOTEPAD.LBI"). When you enter an INFOBASE name into RAMdesk, however, you should NOT include the underline or the extension ("LBF" or "LBI"). If RAMdesk is already accessing a file (such as NOTEPAD), and you want to open another, press ALT-A at the Hunt screen. When you do, RAMdesk will close the current file and then ask you for the name of another file. You'll be expected to enter a 1- to 8-character name. Give a new file as short a name as possible, so that you can type it in quickly when you subsequently need to access it. And be sure that you can remember the name, since RAMdesk won't be able to open it later, unless you know what it's called. After you enter a name, RAMdesk will look for that file. If it's not found, RAMdesk will ask you whether you want it to open a new file with the name you typed in. If you're opening a new infobase, you'll be expected designate a short heading for each of the 12 lines (or "fields") that each record can hold. For instance, you might have a field for NAME and another for ADDRESS, etc. Try to give some thought to the database's struc- ture before you open it. If, after having established field headings for the records in an infobase, you wish to change them, you may do so by pressing ALT-F at that infobase's HUNT screen. -- HUNT After a file has been designated, you'll first find yourself in the "Hunt" mode, since you'll more frequently be trying to find infor- INFOBASE 24 mation than entering new data. Just enter a word found in the record you need, and RAMdesk will zip to that record. If there are more than one record containing the character sequence you enter, RAMdesk will take you to the first; if that's not the one you want, just press the PgDn key to move on to the next (the F6 key will also work here). If you need to narrow your search, you may enter TWO character sequences, each separated from the other by a slash ("/"). Doing so will cause RAMdesk to find only those records that contain BOTH character sequences. If you just want to step through the records, one at a time, don't bother entering anything at the Hunt screen. Instead, press the PgDn key. RAMdesk will then take you to the first record. Pres- sing PgDn again will take you to the next, and so on. To move back- ward to a previous record, press the PgUp key. While in the Hunt mode, you can edit any record that RAMdesk finds. When you're done with each record, press F6, PgDn, or PgUp to move to the next matching record (or press ESC if you don't want RAM- desk to look for any other records). -- DATA ENTRY To enter a new record, simply press the space bar at the Hunt screen and begin filling in information. After you've entered all the data you need, press the F6 key to save the record. -- OMITTING RECORDS See the "OMITTING ENTRIES" section near the beginning of the documentation. -- ALPHABETIZING If you press Ctrl-A at the hunt screen, the database will be alphabetized on each record's first word in the first line of infor- mation -- PRINTING RECORDS To print an individual record, press Ctrl-PrtSc when that record is being displayed. To print one or more records at a time, press Ctrl-PrtSc at the Hunt screen. When you do so, RAMdesk will ask you to enter a word common to each record you want printed. If you want to print EVERYONE's record, just press RET without entering any- INFOBASE 25 thing. INFOBASE 26 MESSAGES Only when RAMdesk is installed for use on a LAN is this module available. It maintains a server-based file which holds messages passed back and forth across your LAN. The file will hold up to 2000 messages, each of which can be up to 1500 characters long. If you need to communicate with someone, but he's not in, you may find this module very handy. Messages concerning telephone calls are an ideal use. Designed for use in the small office environment, the program is optimized to quickly find new messages addressed to you. When you enter this module, you'll be shown a listing of the most recent messages sent to you. Those you haven't read yet will appear in bold print and will be listed before those that you've already seen (which will be dimmed). Within each category (read and non-read), the messages will be listed in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent will appear first. Just point to the one you want to view and press the PgDn key. When you've read it, you may view the next most recent message by pressing the PgDn key again. Continue using the PgDn key until you've read all the messages you wish. When you're done, press the ESC key to return to the message listing. If you feel the need to hunt through the message database for something specific, press "H" at the message listing. When you do, you'll be shown several sorting criteria, a couple of which have al- ready been filled in. Most of the time, you'll probably want to ig- nore them, since all you'll be looking for are messages sent to you since you last scanned the file. That being the case, all you'll nor- mally have to do at this point is to press the PgDn key to begin the hunt. It couldn't be easier to find new stuff. Only if you want to change the hunt parameters (discussed below) will it take longer than a few seconds to find recently-dispatched mail. Please note that the CUSTOMIZING section describes a couple of ways in which the use of this MESSAGES module may be modified. -- HUNT When you enter the module, you'll find yourself in the "Hunt" mode, since you'll more frequently be trying to find information than entering new data. There are five parameters by which you may conduct your hunt. The more items you fill in, the more discriminating the hunt through the messages will be. One, the "TO" item, will already be filled in with your workstation's designator (see the "LOCAL AREA NETWORKS" sec- tion). This parameter tells RAMdesk to find only those messages which are addressed to you. You may change the "TO" item if you wish to find items sent by you to other people. NOTE: RAMdesk won't let you read other persons' messages. MESSAGES 27 The only messages you'll be able to see are those that have been sent either to or from you, regardless of how you fill in the "TO" and "FROM" items. One of the parameters asks whether you want to see only new mes- sages, that is, messages that have not yet been read by the people to whom they were sent. If you want to see even old messages that have already been read, then move to this item and press the `N' key. If you leave a parameter blank, you're telling RAMdesk that that item should not be considered when hunting for messages. If, for instance, you leave the "Word to Find" item blank, RAMdesk will find ALL messages that meet the other parameters designated. But if you designate "house" as the "Word to Find", the only messages RAMdesk will show you will be those that contain the word, "house". If there are more than one record meeting the parameters you set up, RAMdesk will take you to the first; if that's not the one you want, just press the PgDn key to move on to the next (the F6 key will also accomplish the same thing here). To move backward to a previous record, press the PgUp key. If you need to narrow your search, you may enter TWO character sequences, each separated from the other by a slash ("/"). Doing so will cause RAMdesk to find only those records that contain BOTH character sequences. -- OLD MESSAGES Normally, once a message has been read, RAMdesk will tag the message as "old". This will keep you from re-encountering it whenever you want to scan the database for only your NEW messages (that is, ones that have never been read before). The only messages that will not be tagged as "old" as soon as they are read will be those that have been sent to multiple worksta- tions or to ALL workstations. Such messages will be considered "new" for a period of two days after they're sent, and then they'll be tagged as "old". But if you use the NETUSERS.LBF file (discussed in the next section), even messages sent to multiple workstations will be tagged as "old" as soon as they're read. If you prefer not to have messages tagged as "old" once they've been read, please refer to the CUSTOMIZING section of this documenta- tion. -- DATA ENTRY To enter a new record, simply press the space bar at the Hunt screen and begin filling in information. Pressing Ctrl-C (instead of MESSAGES 28 the space bar) will begin a specialized type of message called a "checklist". The "From" item will already be filled in with your initials, but you may change it if you wish. At the "TO" item, fill in the initials of the person to whom you wish to send the message. The initials you use must be those entered into the RMD.BAT file on that person's work- station (see the LOCAL AREA NETWORKS appendix). If the message is to go to more than one person, enter each one's initials with a comma separating each set of initials (to pre-designate groups of people, see the WORKSTATION IDENTIFICATION discussion near the end of the CUSTOMIZING section). If the message is to go to ALL workstations, enter "ALL". After you've entered all the data you need, press the F6 key to save the record. NOTE: Normally, when you fill in "ALL" at the "TO" item, only one message will be saved, but anyone can read it. If you'd prefer to send a SEPARATE message to each workstation when "ALL" is placed into the "TO" item, you'll need to have previously placed an ASCII text file into the server's MANAGEX directory. This file, NETUSERS.LBF, may identify up to 99 workstations (for info on how to set up this file, see the WORKSTATION IDENTIFICATION discussion near the end of the CUSTOMIZING section). RAMdesk will refer to this file whenever the "TO" item designates more than one workstation or is filled in with "ALL". NETUSERS.LBF also comes in handy if you want RAMdesk to double- check your entry at the "TO" item. If the intials you enter do not match a set found in the NETUSERS.LBF file, RAMdesk will not accept them. Hence, you'll be protected from making typographical errors at the "TO" item. By the way, pressing F1 at the "TO" item will reveal the list of users entered into NETUSERS.LBF. A "checklist" is a special message that will never be tagged as "old". And, no matter how many users you have indicated in the NETUSERS.LBF file, only one copy of a checklist will be written to the database. This allows several people to read the same record and en- ter their comments or responses into it. It might, for instance, con- tain a list of things that each person is to accomplish. When each item is done, the responsible person can "check it off" by entering some brief comment into the record. -- SENDING FILES ACROSS THE NETWORK If your message references a file that you want the recipient to view or manipulate, you may send a copy of the file across the network to a designated directory on the server. There, the recipient may retreive it with his word processor, data base program, or spread- MESSAGES 29 sheet. To send a file across the network, press Alt-F as you're entering a message. When you do, you'll be asked to specify the file to send. Be sure to give the complete name of the file (including the drive and directory, if it's not located in the directory into which you're cur- rently logged). You may also be asked to specify the drive/directory to which you wish to copy the file. See PRE-DESIGNATED FILE COPY DIR- ECTORY in the CUSTOMIZING section. -- OMITTING RECORDS See the "OMITTING ENTRIES" section near the beginning of the documentation. Each workstation may omit only those entries orig- inated by, or addressed specifically to, that station. -- PRINTING RECORDS To print an individual message, press Ctrl-PrtSc when that mes- sage is being displayed. To print one or more messages at a time, press Ctrl-PrtSc at the Hunt screen. When you do so, RAMdesk will ask you to enter a parameters common to each message you want printed. MESSAGES 30 LOCATOR Only when RAMdesk is installed for use on a LAN is this module available. It maintains a server-based file which holds records left by employees as they leave the office. The proper use of this module requires that you set up a server-based file containing the names of all the users on the LAN, so please refer to the WORKSTATION IDENTIFI- CATION discussion near the end of the CUSTOMIZING section as soon as you can. It is contemplated that the main use of this module will be for employees to leave information on where they're going, how they can be reached, and their estimated time of return. If this module is being used regularly by each employee, it will be very easy for anyone on the network to quickly learn whether so-and-so has left the office or whether he's just temporarily absent from his desk. When you enter this module, you'll be shown a list of employees who are not in the office, along with their current locations. If you need to view any detailed notes that an employee may have left before departing, move the arrow to that employee and press the PgDn key. -- DATA ENTRY If you're about to leave the office, call up the RAMdesk LOCATOR module and press "O" (for "out"). When you do, you'll be expected to enter the time you expect to return, as well as your location, phone, and any other notes you wish to leave. If you won't be returning to- day, back up to the "date" item and enter your expected return date. Save your entry by pressing F6. When you return to the office, the first thing you should do is call up the LOCATOR and press "I" (for "in"), so that you can omit your "I'm out" record. Anyone can change anyone else's "out" record, just as he would be able to do if the LOCATOR were a chalkboard. That way, you can call in to someone else and request that he change your location or estim- ated time of return. To change your, or anyone else's, "out" record, just point to it and press PgDn. If you're signing someone else out and have forgotten his initials, press the F1 key at the "Init" field. To sign another person "in", point to his record, tap PgDn to call it to the screen, and then press ^O. LOCATOR 31 CUSTOMIZING RAMDESK One of the files accompanying RAMdesk is RAMDESK.CFG. This file contains information that tells the program how to behave in sev- eral respects. You may use RAMdesk, itself, to modify certain lines of RAMDESK.CFG, as described below. NOTE: DO NOT CHANGE ANY LINES IN RAMDESK.CFG OTHER THAN THOSE MENTIONED IN THIS SECTION. DOING SO MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT THE PROGRAM'S PERFORMANCE. To access the RAMDESK.CFG file, enter "RAMDESK C" at the DOS prompt. The file will be read, line by line, into the RAMdesk win- dow, and you'll find yourself at the bottom of the file. To go back to the top of the file, where you'll probably prefer to start, just press the up arrow. You may move around the file by using the cursor control keys. Make whatever corrections you need, and press the F6 key when you're done. If you want to abandon the changes you've made, press the ESC key, instead. Each line in RAMDESK.CFG begins with a keyword or short phrase describing the program attribute affected by the line's data. Next is an equals sign, followed by the value associated with the keyword. If you look at the RAMDESK.CFG file, as shipped from Integra, you'll notice that several lines are enclosed in curly brackets. Curly brac- kets tell RAMdesk to ignore the line. You'll also note that there's a line that tells you not to modify anything at the bottom of the file. Please heed it. NOTE: The changes you make to the RAMDESK.CFG file will have no effect until you load RAMdesk by entering "RMD" at the DOS prompt. If RAMdesk is already loaded when you change the file, you should re-boot your computer after the file has been saved and then run RAMdesk again. -- HOTKEY RAMdesk's default hotkey is ALT-R. To change it, you need to modify the two lines beginning with "HOT-KEY-LETTER" and "HOT-KEY- CODE". After the equals sign on the first of these lines, place the letter you wish to use in conjunction with the ALT key. After the second line's equals sign, place a code beginning with "$08" and ending with the two-digit sequence associated with the letter you placed onto the first line. Your choices are as follows: Q=10 W=11 E=12 R=13 T=14 Y=15 U=16 I=17 O=18 P=19 A=1E S=1F D=20 F=21 G=22 H=23 J=24 K=25 L=26 Z=2C X=2D C=2E V=2F B=30 N=31 M=32 Example: To make ALT-Q the hot key, the first line should read, "HOT- KEY-LETTER=Q", and the second should read, "HOT-KEY-CODE=$0810". If CUSTOMIZING RAMDESK 32 you'd like to use the CTRL key in place of the ALT key, substitute "$04" for "$08". -- FIRST MODULE DISPLAYED Normally, each time you press RAMdesk's hot key, you'll find yourself in the last module you used when you were last in the prog- ram. If, instead, you'd like RAMdesk to ALWAYS take you initially to a particular module, place that module's code after the equals sign on the "FIRSTMOD" line. Your choices are as follows: 1 Schedule 2 Directory 3 Calculator 4 WorkLog 5 Infobase 6 Messages (for LAN use only) Example: "FIRSTMOD=2" would cause RAMdesk to zip directly to the Directory every time you press the hot key. -- INFOBASE RAMdesk normally defaults to the NOTEPAD infobase. If you'd prefer another default, enter the name of the desired infobase right after the equals sign on the "INFOBASE" line. "INFOBASE=FORMULA", for example, will cause RAMdesk to default to the FORMULA infobase, instead of NOTEPAD. -- COLORS You may designate the primary colors used by RAMdesk. Just find the "FOREGROUND" and "BACKGROUND" and add the color codes you desire: 0 Black 1 Blue 2 Green 3 Cyan 4 Red 5 Magenta 6 Brown 7 Light Gray Be sure that the curly brackets are removed if you want these lines to be effective. -- CALCULATOR WINDOW Normally, the RAMdesk calculator's "folded tape" occupies the entire window. As described earlier in the CALCULATOR section, you may temporarily reduce the size of the calculator window by pressing Ctrl-W. But what if you intend to use the small calculator window more frequently than the large? In that case you'll wnat RAMdesk to automatically default to the small calculator size. To do so, just remove the brackets from the "SMALL-CALC" line. CUSTOMIZING RAMDESK 33 -- ALARM PITCH, NUMBER of BEEPS, HOURLY CHIMES The pitch of the Schedule module's alarm is determined by the "BEEP-FREQ" line. Fill in the desired frequency (in hertz) after the equals sign on this line. Note that some computers can't reproduce very high or very low pitches. Therefore, you might want to keep within the 100-5000 range. The number of beeps emitted by your computer's speaker whenever an alarm sounds is determined by the "RINGS" line. If you enter "0" after the equals sign, the alarm won't sound at all; "1" to "8" will result in a corresponding number of beeps; if you enter "9", the alarm will continue to sound until you press a key. If you'd like the alarm to go off on the hour, just remove the brackets from the "CHIME-HOUR" line. No equals sign is needed. To remind you, instead, of each passing half hour, remove the brackets from the "CHIME-HOUR-HALF" line. -- WORD WRAP If you'd like to employ word-wrapping in multi-line descriptions, make sure that the "WORD-WRAP" line has no brackets. To turn off word-wrapping, enclose "WORD-WRAP" in curly brackets. RAMdesk's word- wrap feature works only when the cursor is at the very end of your entry. That is, it functions only when you are adding something to the end of your entry, as is the case when you are typing in your entry from scratch. Word-wrap does not work if your are editing some- thing in the middle of your text. -- MULTI-DAY SCHEDULING RAMdesk normally assumes that each event you schedule will occur on just one day. If, however, you want RAMdesk to default to the assumption that each event has both a beginning and ending date, you should remove the brackets from the "MULTI-DAY" line. In this mode of operation, RAMdesk will always ask for an ending date whenever you enter a new event. -- AUTOMATIC CALCULATION OF AMOUNT TO CHARGE FOR SERVICES RENDERED RAMdesk's WORKLOG module includes an automatic stopwatch that will keep time to the ten-thousandth of an hour. If you like, you can also have it automatically calculate the amount to charge a client for the time reflected on the screen. To do so, you need to tell RAMdesk how much you normally charge for each hour of work. The "HOURLY-RATE" line handles this. Just put your hourly rate after the equals sign and get rid of the curly brackets. CUSTOMIZING RAMDESK 34 -- CONFLICT CHECKING If you'd like RAMdesk to check for schedule conflicts whenever you enter a new event, remove the brackets from the "CONFLICT-CHECK" line. The drawback to checking for conflicts is that it takes time to do so. Therefore, unless you really feel you need it, don't use it. -- BYPASSING THE MAIN MENU If you find that the Main Menu just gets in your way, you may cause RAMdesk to completely bypass it. To do so, simply remove the brackets from the "EXPERT-USER" line. -- USING THE SERVER FOR THE PHONE DIRECTORY AND INFOBASES When RAMdesk is used on a network, it will normally place only the Schedule and the Messages databases on the server. The Directory and all Infobases will be left on the local drive, unless you remove the curly brackets from the "SERVERBASE" line. Doing so will cause RAMdesk to look to the server whenever it creates, reads or writes to the Directory or any Infobase. If you use the server for the Directory and Infobases, everyone on the network will have access to the data contained therein, with the exception of items that you mark as "private". Private items may be viewed and edited only by the user who originally entered them. Remember that the Directory and each Infobase is limited to 2000 entries, whether placed on the server or not. Also note that each workstation's Calculator and Worklog will always be located on that workstation's local drive, regardless of whether the "SERVERBASE" line is active. The "SERVERBASE" line affects only the Directory and Infobases. -- PRINTER PORT Whenever you try to print something with RAMdesk, it will send information out printer port 1, unless you change the "PRINT-PORT" line. Just substitute the number of the printer port you want RAMdesk to use. -- WRITE FILE Whenever you try to write to a disk file (by pressing Ctrl-F), it will send information to a file called "TEXT.PC", unless you change the "WRITE-FILE" line. Substitute the name of the file you want cre- ated or appended whenever Ctrl-F is pressed. And be sure to remove the curly brackets. CUSTOMIZING RAMDESK 35 -- DIALING Whenever you try to dial with RAMdesk, it sends signals out the communications port, which, by default, is assumed to be comm port 1. If you want to use comm port 2, place a 2 after the equals sign on the "COMM-PORT" line, and make sure that there are no curly brackets on that line. RAMdesk will also assume that the modem is hooked into a touch-tone telephone system. If the line to which it is attached is actually a Pulse (rotary) line, place a P after the equals sign on the "TONE-PULSE" line, and remove the curly brackets. If you need to precede each number dialed with some special sequence, add that sequence after the equals sign on the "DIAL-PREFIX" line, and remove the curly brackets. You may build in time delays by including tildes (~) in the sequence. Each tilde will represent a half-second delay. -- SATELLITE USE If RAMdesk is being used on a non-network satellite computer, and you'll want to regularly assimilate its data into a TickleX or BillPower database on a central machine, you should remove the brac- kets on the "SATELLITE" line. Do so for the RAMDESK.CFG file on each satellite computer, but not on the central machine. -- 24-HOUR TIME If you want RAMdesk to display time in 24-hour fashion, remove the brackets on the "24-HOUR" line. -- BYPASSING THE SCHEDULE MODULE If you've installed TickleX as a "pop-up", you may find it unnecessary use RAMdesk's schedule module, since TickleX's scheduler is far more powerful. To prevent RAMdesk from even offering you its schedule module, remove the brackets from the "SCHEDULE-OFF" line. -- BYPASSING THE WORKLOG MODULE If you're using TickleX or BillPower as a "pop-up", you may find it convenient to turn off RAMdesk's worklog module (since TickleX and BillPower offer more logging power than RAMdesk). To prevent RAMdesk from offering you its worklog module, remove the brackets from the "WORKLOG-OFF" line. CUSTOMIZING RAMDESK 36 -- ALPHABETIZING By default, RAMdesk will alphabetize the Directory or Infobase whenever a new entry is made. Having the records in alphabetical order is useful only for preparing printouts of an entire Directory or Infobase file. It's down side is that, as the listing of entries in a file increases, the alphabetization process will take longer. If you don't need automatic alphabetization, you may turn it off by plac- ing curly brackets on either side of the word "ALPHABETIZE" in the RAMDESK.CFG file. To turn it back on at some future date, just remove the brackets. If automatic alphabetization is turned off, you may still alphabetize periodically by pressing Ctrl-A at the Directory or Infobase Hunt screen. -- KEYWORD HUNTS Normally, RAMdesk will look at EVERY line in each record as it searches for a match to the keyword you enter at the beginning of a HUNT. If you'd like RAMdesk to default to first-line-only searches (instead of entire-record searches), you should remove the brackets from the "COMPARE-1ST-LINE-ONLY" line. If, for instance, the first line of each record contains a name, and that's all you want RAMdesk to consider in looking for a match, this option will be handy. See also the OPERATIONAL MODES section of these instructions. -- TAGGING MESSAGES AS "OLD" Normally, once a message has been read, RAMdesk will tag it as "old". This will keep you from re-encountering it whenever you want to scan the database for only your NEW messages. Since pressing the PgDn key is normally the way to move from one new message to another, that keystroke will also cause each new mes- sage to be tagged as "old". But what if you normally DON'T want to tag messages as "old", even though they've been read? To override RAMdesk's presumption that a message, once read, should be tagged as "old", find the "OMIT-MESSAGE" line in the RAMDESK.CFG and remove the brackets. That will cause RAMdesk to always pause when you finish reading a message. At that point, the program will ask whether you wish to: - OMIT the message entirely from the database; - TAG the message as "old", but keep it in the database; - SAVE the message as is (without omitting or tagging as "old"); - REPLY to the message (and tag it as "old"); - FORWARD the message to someone else (that is, send a copy to another workstation, and tag your copy as "old"). CUSTOMIZING RAMDESK 37 Remember, tagging a message as "old" will make finding new messages faster in the future, while omitting it will achieve the same result AND also keep your messages database from growing too large. -- ARCHIVING OMITTED MESSAGES If you want RAMdesk to save omitted messages in a separate text file, remove the brackets from the "ARCHIVE" line. Then, when- ever anyone on the LAN omits a message, it will be appended to a file called "MESSAGES.OLD" on the server. That way, you'll always be able to read your old messages with a word processor, even after they've been omitted from the RAMdesk database. One drawback to this is that the MESSAGES.OLD file will just keep growing and growing until you either erase it or pare it down with your word processor. Another drawback is that anyone will be able to read anyone else's old mes- sages just by using a word processor to look at MESSAGES.OLD. -- SENDING MESSAGES THAT BEEP If you're on a Novell network and would like RAMdesk to beep a workstation when a message is addressed to its user, remove the brackets from the "NOVELL" line. BE SURE to do so in ALL work- stations' RAMDESK.CFG files. In order for this beeping to work, each user's workstation should be identified to NETWARE by the same initials that RAMdesk recognizes for that user. In other words, user ABC should be identified to both RAMdesk and NETWARE as "ABC". If you're not on a Novell network, remove the brackets from the "CHECK-FOR-MESSAGES" line in EACH workstation's RAMDESK.CFG file. Doing so will cause each workstation to check for new messages once a minute. Beeping won't occur as quickly as on a Novell network, but the recipient of a message will be notified of it within sixty sec- onds. Please also note that this memory-resident feature may conflict with some other software. -- PRE-DESIGNATED FILE COPY DIRECTORY If you intend to copy files across the network in the MESSAGES module (see SENDING FILES ACROSS THE NETWORK in the MESSAGES section), you may wish to pre-designate a directory into which all such files will be copied. If you don't pre-designate it, you will be asked each time you copy a file to specify the destination directory. To pre-designate the directory, remove the brackets from the "COPY-DIRECTORY=" line and specify the directory after the equals sign. Example: COPY-DIRECTORY=F:\COPIES CUSTOMIZING RAMDESK 38 Pre-designating the copy directory will also result in the program's automatically appending each message with a short note telling the reader which files were copied to that directory while the message was being prepared. Hence, the sender of the message won't have to waste any extra time typing in such a note, himself. -- WORKSTATION IDENTIFICATION If you'd like RAMdesk to automatically check for a proper entry whenever you type in someone's initials, or if you intend to use the LOCATOR module of the program, you should first create an ASCII text file on the server called "NETUSERS.LBF". The NETUSERS.LBF file may contain up to 99 lines, each of which should contain identifying initials for one user on the net. Each set of initials may be up to three characters long. NOTE: If you're on a Novell network, or if you're on a LAN which identifies each workstation by a one- to three- character sequence, the NETUSERS.LBF initials that identify an employee should be the same as that employee's workstation network ID. In addition to initials (or network ID), each line in the NET- USERS.LBF file should also contain up to fifteen letters of the iden- tified user's name, enclosed in quotes. Always place the last name first, then a comma, and then the first name or initials. Here's an example NETUSERS.LBF file for a network having three workstations: ACR "Raymond, Allen" TPM "Mann, Thomas P" KOL "Lawrence, Keri" Remember, the initials used to identify each workstation's user should match those recognized by the network for that workstation (if the network employs a user ID scheme). By the way, also note that these same initials identifying a workstation should match those contained in that workstation's RMD.BAT file (see the LOCAL AREA NETWORKS appen- dix for a discussion of RMD.BAT modification). In addition to identifying individual users, the NETUSERS.LBF file may also identify up to 10 user groups, each with up to 10 mem- bers. This makes it easier to enter a message (in the MESSAGES mod- ule) to all members of a group, such as the secretarial staff or the public relations section. A group is identified in the NETUSERS.LBF file by placing an equals sign after the group ID, and then following that with the ID of each member in the group. Example: CUSTOMIZING RAMDESK 39 ACR "Raymond, Allen" TPM "Mann, Thomas P" KOL "Lawrence, Keri" SEC=TPM,KOL PR=KOL,ACR,TPM Here, each workstation user's initials (ACR, TPM, and KOL) and name appear by themselves on a single line. A group (SEC or PR) is iden- tified by placing an equals sign after the group ID initials. The equals sign is followed by the group's members, each separated from the others by commas. Note that each member of a group must have pre- viously been identified in the file as a workstation user. Please note that if you use a group designator at the "TO" item of a message (in the MESSAGES module), a separate message will be sent to each member of the group. Assume that group ZZZ consists of users DEF and MNO. If you sent a message to group ZZZ, the program would actually store no message to "ZZZ"; instead, it would send separate messages to "DEF" and "MNO". Any ASCII text editor may be used to set up NETUSERS.LBF. To use RAMdesk, itself, to create this file, use the "RAMDESK servDskDir\NETUSERS.LBF" command, where "servDskDir" is the server disk\directory used to store RAMdesk data (eg: "RAMDESK H:\MANAGEX\NETUSERS.LBF"). If you create NETUSERS.LBF with a word processor, ensure that you save it as an ASCII file. -- LOCATING EVERYONE WITH THE LOCATOR MODULE Normally, the Locator module reports the location of only those people who have signed out. But if you want to track EVERYONE, whether signed out or not, you should remove the curly brackets from the "LOCATE-ALL" line. If you'd also like to reset each person's en- try at the beginning of each day, remove the brackets from the "LOCATOR-RESET=" line, and place a 1- to 15-character message after the equals sign. The daily reset message you specify will automatic- ally appear next to each person's name at the start of each new day. Only by signing in each morning can the person remove this message. If a person doesn't sign in, you might assume that he's ill or having some problems that might require your assistance or understanding. NOTE: Removing the brackets from the LOCATOR-RESET line is tantamount to also removing them from the LOCATE-ALL line. CUSTOMIZING RAMDESK 40 APPENDIX: TYING INTO TICKLEX & BILLPOWER RAMdesk is a useful program in its own right. But its utility can be amplified if it's used in conjunction with TickleX and/or Bill- Power, each of which is described at the end of this documentation. BillPower is a large, sophisticated product designed for thorough timekeeping, billing and bookkeeping. And TickleX is a no-compromise scheduling program. Each of these programs is unrivaled in its field, but has far too many features to fit into a small "pop-up" program. That's where RAMdesk comes in. RAMdesk can act as an simple entry vehicle for BillPower and TickleX. RAMdesk is always available at the touch of a few keys, even if you're in the middle of writing a letter with your word pro- cessor. Whenever you need to schedule an appointment, log some work, or record an item of income/expense, RAMdesk is ready. Of course, RAMdesk won't handle as much detail as its more powerful siblings; it doesn't link related records to each other; and it can't produce elaborate bills and reports. But if all you usually need is the abil- ity to quickly make simple scheduling/logging entries, RAMdesk's a good solution. When you need the full strength of TickleX or Bill- Power, use one of those larger programs. But some of the time, you will find RAMdesk to be an adequate means of entering data that will subsequently be incorporated into BillPower and TickleX. Whenever you load TickleX or BillPower, RAMdesk's files will be examined. Any record that should be included in TickleX's or Bill- Power's databases will be transferred. NOTE: If you've had to extract RAMdesk from a ZIP file, you probably lack some auxiliary programs that assist in linking RAMdesk to TickleX and BillPower. One of these programs, for instance, is named "input.exe". If you lack these extra programs, you'll be wasting your time attemp- ting to use RAMdesk with TickleX or BillPower. To obtain a full copy of RAMdesk and all its auxiliary files, please use the order form. As mentioned earlier in this documentation, RAMdesk must be lo- cated in a MANAGEX directory, the same directory that contains TickleX and BillPower. If RAMdesk isn't in this directory, it won't be able to assist TickleX and BillPower. Whenever you load RAMdesk, it checks to see whether TickleX or BillPower is in the same subdirectory. If so, RAMdesk assumes that you intend to use it in conjunction with one of those programs, and it will ask you to enter your initials. RAMdesk will need your initials, so that it can tell TickleX/BillPower who does the work that you en- ter. Make sure that the initials you enter are the same as those that BillPower/TickleX recognize for you. If you enter incorrect initials, the input routine described below will not go as smoothly as it could. TYING INTO TICKLEX & BILLPOWER 41 REMEMBER, when used in conjunction with BillPower or TickleX, RAMdesk merely provides a simple means of ENTERING information. It does not allow you to FIND data in the BillPower or TickleX files (though, as discussed below, RAMdesk will -- in its own way -- largely reflect the TickleX schedule). Also note that that, once RAMdesk's data has been assimilated into the BillPower and TickleX files, RAM- desk's WorkLog files will be erased. This prevents a useless build-up of old records in the WorkLog. It's not necessary to erase RAMdesk's Schedule records during the assimilation, because RAMdesk automati- cally erases past-due appointments and deadlines each new day. -- IMPORTING DATA FROM RAMDESK TO TICKLEX OR BILLPOWER When you load TickleX ("TX") or BillPower ("BP"), a program called INPUT is automatically run first. That program looks through RAMdesk's files for data that should be transferred. When it encoun- ters a record, it attempts to incorporate it into TickleX's or Bill- Power's files. But first, several checks are made. NOTE: If you're on a LAN, refer to the LOCAL AREA NETWORKS section for instructions on modifying the "input" line of TX.BAT and BP.BAT; INPUT makes sure that the "case/project" in the RAMdesk record matches one in BillPower's files. It also checks BillPower's in- come/expense categories to see if the one specified in the RAMdesk record is valid. If an inconsistency is found, INPUT will beep at you and explain what's wrong. You'll be expected to correct the problem by entering a correct case/project or income/expense category. If you can't remember what your project or category choices are, just press the F1 key, as you would do if you were using BillPower or TickleX. INPUT also checks the initials of the person responsible for each RAMdesk record. If they don't match valid TickleX/BillPower ini- tials, you'll be asked to correct that problem, too. After INPUT is satisfied with the validity of each field in a RAMdesk record, it assimilates that record into the TickleX or BillPower databases. -- ASSIMILATING RAMDESK DATA FROM SEVERAL COMPUTERS If you have several registered copies of RAMdesk, you can use each on a different machine and combine their data into a common Bill- Power or TickleX database on a central machine. Each computer other than the central one containing BillPower or TickleX will be referred to as a "satellite" in the following discussion. As on the central machine, RAMdesk must be installed into a TYING INTO TICKLEX & BILLPOWER 42 MANAGEX directory on each satellite's hard disk. If the satellite does not have a hard disk, install RAMdesk into the ROOT directory of the floppy you'll be using. The RAMDESK.CFG file on each satellite (but not the main machine) must have a line saying "SATELLITE" (see the CUSTOMIZING section). When you enter "RMD" at the DOS prompt of a satellite, you'll be asked to enter your initials. Make sure that the initials you enter are the ones that TickleX and BillPower recognize for you. After RAMdesk is loaded, it may be used on the satellite ex- actly as it might be used on the central machine. Periodically, the data from the satellites should be transferred by diskette to the central machine, where it can be assimilated into the TickleX and BillPower files. The routine for doing so is very straightforward. If RAMdesk is on the satellite's hard disk, the data must first be transferred to a floppy, as follows: 1. Place a blank diskette into drive A of the satellite; 2. Log into the satellite's MANAGEX directory; 3. Enter "OUTPUT A:" at the DOS prompt; and 4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen. Note that this routine is not needed if the satellite uses RAMdesk on a floppy, instead of a hard disk. Now, walk the diskette containing RAMdesk's data to the cen- tral computer, and transfer the data to the the main database: 1. Place the diskette into drive A of the central computer; 2. Log into the central computer's MANAGEX directory; 3. Enter "INPUT A:" at the DOS prompt; and 4. Wait for the data to be transferred from the diskette. Repeat these steps for each satellite computer. Note that the INPUT routine will not work properly unless each satellite is using a DIFFERENT registered copy of RAMdesk. The frequency with which you assimilate data from the satellites into the main computer's files is up to you. Note that after each satellite goes through the OUTPUT routine, it's RAMdesk Schedule files will remain intact, but its WorkLog files will be erased in order to prevent a useless build-up of old records in the WorkLog. It's not necessary to erase Schedule records when the OUTPUT routine is run, because RAMdesk automatically erases old records each new day. NOTE: TYING INTO TICKLEX & BILLPOWER 43 The OUTPUT routine also makes backup copies of the RAMdesk schedule and worklog files. PC-SCHED.LBF, PC-SCHED.LBI, PC-WKLOG.LBF, and PC-WKLOG.LBI are copied to files called PC-SCHED.BAF, PC-SCHED.BAI, PC-WKLOG.BAF, and PC-WKLOG.BAI. If, for any reason, you need to restore these files, just copy them back to their original names. -- EXPORTING DATA FROM TICKLEX TO RAMDESK Right after each day's first use of TickleX, the TickleX database will be automatically exported to RAMdesk's files. In this way, RAM- desk will always be kept abreast of the things you've entered into its larger sibling. Whenever you call up RAMdesk during the day, you can feel confident that, with few exceptions, you will see an accurate reflection of the TickleX schedule. NOTE: If you're on a LAN, refer to the LOCAL AREA NETWORKS section for instructions on modifying the "export" line of TX.BAT. There are some limits, however. First of all, TickleX's database will hold 8000 records, while RAMdesk's will hold only 2000. There- fore, only the first 2000 TickleX events will be moved to RAMdesk each morning. Another limitation is that RAMdesk can handle only 20 events per day, whereas TickleX will handle 100. If you're keeping track of only one or two individuals, this 2000/20 limitation will present no problem. In order to save space, reminders (not to be confused with al- arms) will not be transferred from TickleX to RAMdesk. This limi- tation should not be a problem if you follow the recommended procedure of always visiting TickleX at the beginning of each day to obtain a printout of the day's events (which will include all reminders set for that day). Also ignored in the transfer to RAMdesk's database are Frequent and Recurring events (such as weekly meetings, birthdays, and holidays) that fall due more than three months from now. These are ignored because there are potentially thousands of such events falling due in the next half century. To include them all could consume an inordinate amount of space, so only three-months'-worth are trans- ferred. In summary, if you don't have more than 2000 future events sched- uled in TickleX, RAMdesk will pick them ALL up, except for: reminders, and recurring events scheduled more than 3 months from now. And remember that, though RAMdesk may not pick up absolutely ALL of TickleX's events, TickleX, itself, still has them all. So, make a TYING INTO TICKLEX & BILLPOWER 44 habit of obtaining a daily activity printout each morning with TickleX. You can also export TickleX data to another disk by using the EXPORT program. For example, to export to a diskette in drive A, go to the MANAGEX directory and enter "EXPORT A:" at the DOS prompt. This routine allows you to transfer a current copy of the TickleX schedule to RAMdesk programs on other machines around the office. Once the transfer is made, the diskette can be taken to the satellite machine, and inserted into drive A. Then, you log into the satel- lite's MANAGEX directory and enter "INPUT A:" at the DOS prompt. -- DAILY START-UP You should regularly load TickleX at the beginning of each day. That way, you can start the day by reviewing a TickleX printout of everything that's been scheduled. As TickleX is loading, it will first search RAMdesk's files for new appointments or deadlines that should be incorporated into the TickleX database. It will also place today's alarms into RAMdesk's memory. After TickleX has reported today's activities, you may exit that program. As you do, TickleX's data will be exported to RAMdesk, which will remain lurking in the background all day, waiting for you to press its hotkey. Of course, you may run TickleX at any time dur- ing the day, but you may find RAMdesk to be more convenient for the little things. NOTE: It is important that you load RAMdesk and then TICKLEX AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH AND EVERY WORKDAY. Failure to do so might result in RAMdesk's not being apprised of the current day's alarms. TYING INTO TICKLEX & BILLPOWER 45 APPENDIX: LOCAL AREA NETWORKS If you install RAMdesk for use on a Local Area Network, each workstation will share common Schedule and Messages databases, but all other information will be kept on the workstation's local hard disk (in the program's "home" directory, the one from which RAMdesk was loaded for use). The program will utilize file locking to prevent more than one person from overwriting another's work in the Schedule and Messages databases maintained on the server. If your LAN defaults to the assumtion that you want it to auto- matically lock files for you, you may have problems with RAMdesk. RAMdesk, not your LAN, must decide when to lock which files. Make sure that your LAN is configured to give ALL users complete access to ALL files in the server's MANAGEX directory. Make sure that ALL program and data files are "sharable" (eg: immediately after instal- ling the program onto a Novell workstation, enter "FLAG *.* S" at the DOS prompt in the directory containing RAMdesk). Of course, RAMdesk is normally loaded by entering "RMD" at the DOS prompt. This command accesses the RMD.BAT file, which, in turn, contains a line that causes RAMDESK.EXE to be executed. The "ramdesk" line in the RMD.BAT file on each workstation should be modified by the addition of parameters which tell the program: 1) who the main user is, 2) who you are, 3) the server's hard disk and directory in which the Schedule and Messages databases are to be stored, and 4) the hard disk and directory in which the workstation's RMD.BAT file is to be located (the program's "home" directory). These four items are han- dled by the fifth through eighth parameters following "ramdesk". The first four parameters may each be "X", which signifies a null para- meter. Example: RAMDESK x x x x ABC DEF H:\MANAGEX C:\MANAGEX This line tells RAMdesk that the primary user's initials are ABC, that this workstation's user's initials are DEF, that the Schedule and Messages databases are to be located in the MANAGEX directory on drive H, and that this workstation maintains the RAMdesk files in the MANAGEX directory of drive C. Who is the main or primary user? Typically, he is the person who is likely to use the program the most, the one who's mainly "in charge" of RAMdesk. He may be the network's system administrator. Or, if you also use BillPower and/or TickleX in your office, the pri- mary user is probably the one who is responsible for maintaining the BillPower/TickleX databases. At the primary user's workstation, the fifth and sixth parameters would be identical. Example: RAMDESK x x x x ABC ABC H:\MANAGEX C:\MANAGEX LOCAL AREA NETWORKS 46 But at everyone else's workstation, th fifth and sixth parameters will be different. The RMD.BAT file may also contain a reference to PC-Beep, which should be followed by parameters identical to those that follow "ramdesk". Example: pc-beep x x e: x JJ AWB F:\MANAGEX F:\AWB ramdesk x x e: x JJ AWB F:\MANAGEX F:\AWB Remember, each workstation must have its own customized RMD.BAT file. But all the other files needed to make RAMDesk work may be in- stalled either on the workstation's hard disk or on the server (in the directory identified by the seventh parameter). If the program is installed on the server, be sure to modify the RMD.BAT file on each workstation, so that DOS knows where to look for for RAMdesk. For example, if a workstation's local hard disk were C:, but RAMdesk were located in the MANAGEX directory on drive H, the batch file might look like this: echo off cls c: cd\managex h: cd\managex pc-beep x x x x abc h:\managex c:\managex ramdesk x x x x abc h:\managex c:\managex Finally, be sure to customize the RAMDESK.CFG file appropriately. For example, if you're on a Novell network, refer to the CUSTOMIZING RAMDESK section, "Sending Messages that Beep" subsection. -- INPUTTING AND EXPORTING TO/FROM TICKLEX AND BILLPOWER If you're a TickleX or BillPower user, you'll need to ensure that RAMdesk's database keeps abreast of what's going on with its larger sibling. Data is automatically transferred from RAMdesk to and from BillPower/TickleX when you run the TX.BAT or BP.BAT batch file. There is a line near the top of TX.BAT and BP.BAT that contains the word "input". There's also a line near the end of each file that contins the word "export". These lines are instructions to run the INPUT.EXE and EXPORT.EXE programs, and you'll need to modify them to account for the fact that you're on a LAN. The TX.BAT file also contains a line beginning with "ticklex", while the BP.BAT file contains one beginning with "billpowr". These lines, too, must be customized. Generally, INPUT.EXE, EXPORT.EXE, TICKLEX.EXE, and BILLPOWR.EXE LOCAL AREA NETWORKS 47 will recognize the same parameters as does RAMDESK.EXE. Just place the same parameter sequence after "input", "export", "ticklex", or "billpowr" that you would use to invoke RAMdesk for use on the LAN. For instance, if RAMdesk were invoked as RAMDESK x x x x ABC ABC H:\MANAGEX C:\MANAGEX then the "ticklex" line in TX.BAT should probably read, TICKLEX x x x x ABC ABC H:\MANAGEX C:\MANAGEX and the "export" line would read EXPORT x x x x ABC ABC H:\MANAGEX C:\MANAGEX -- WHOSE ALARMS WILL RING RAMdesk will normally ring everyone's alarms at all workstations. If you'd prefer to have only a single user's alarms ring at a par- ticular workstation, the fourth parameter should be changed to that person's initials (DO NOT make a comparable change to the fourth par- ameter in your TX.BAT file if you're using TickleX). -- INTER-WORKSTATION LAG Each workstation keeps information about the current module's database in memory it's own memory at all times. This information will be updated only when that workstation makes a new entry or when that workstation moves to another module (eg: from the Schedule to the Worklog). It will NOT be updated automatically when someone on an- other workstation makes a new entry. Therefore, each workstation may not always be maintaining an absolutely current copy of the current module at all times. This means that your workstation may not always be aware of what another has done until you begin a hunt or leave the current module to move to another. LOCAL AREA NETWORKS 48 APPENDIX: USING RAMDESK WITH MICROSOFT WINDOWS If you wish to use RAMdesk with Microsoft Windows, you will need to run Windows in its 386 mode ("WIN /3" at the DOS prompt). You will also need to customize a PIF file. Before you do ANYTHING in Windows, however, make sure that you have RAMdesk running successfully at the DOS level. Use the PIF editor within Windows to set up RMD.PIF. Keep all the default settings, except as follows: Program Filename RMD.BAT Window Title RAMdesk Optional Parameters NR Start-up Directory (example: C:\MANAGEX) KB Required 235 (if you need the alarm, otherwise 195) KB Desired 235 (if you need the alarm, otherwise 195) Display Usage "Full Screen" item should be selected Execution "Background" item should be selected (but only if you need the alarm) Background Priority 1 Retain Video Memory select this item (if you need the alarm) Allow Fast Paste DE-select this item Application Shortcut Press ALT-R here if you wish to be able to Key access RAMdesk with this key combination Now, you need to edit your WIN.INI file. Find the line that be- gins with "load=" and add "RMD.PIF" to that line (eg: "load=RMD.PIF"). That will cause RAMdesk to be loaded automatically when you run Win- dows, so that all you need to do is to press ALT-R to access it. NOTE: If you're using RAMdesk to sound alarms, always make a habit of checking into RAMdesk IMMEDIATELY after you load Windows. Doing so will cause the alarms to be set for this session with Windows. Next, you need to alter your RMD.BAT file. Look at all lines that begin with "RAMDESK". Since you'll be accessing RAMdesk through Windows, not as a memory-resident program in its own right, the first parameter should be "nr" (for "non-resident"), not "x". Now, you may wish to prevent an exit from RAMdesk by pressing the the ESC key. If so, the second parameter should contain the character string, "NX" (for "no exiting"). And if you wish to use the alarm (PC-BEEP.EXE) you should make sure that the RMD.BAT file contains a line that begins with "PC-BEEP" and contains the same listing of parameters found on the line that begins with "RAMDESK". The PC-BEEP line should be just above the RAMDESK line. Windows is a very complicated (even "squirrely") environment. So you may have to do a lot of "tweeking" to make everything work. USING RAMDESK WITH WINDOWS 49 APPENDIX: TUNING UP PERFORMANCE RAMdesk is a program that would consume about 200K of memory if the entire software were kept in memory waiting for you to press the hotkey. But that would leave you with 200K less memory to run your other applications. Therefore, efforts have been made to reduce the memory required by the program when it's lurking in the background. On the assumption that memory is more precious to most users than is time, RAMdesk has been optimized to use as little memory as possible, even though that means that it might take a little longer for it to respond when you press its hotkey. Rather than keep RAMdesk's entire code in memory when you're using another program, only a small "kernal" is maintained in RAM. When you press the hotkey, your current application is saved to disk or EMS (LIM-specification expanded memory), and then RAMdesk is loaded from disk or EMS. When you temporarily exit RAMdesk, it is then saved, while your former application is re-loaded. The memory-swap- ping that takes place whenever you enter or exit RAMdesk will take time. How much swapping time is required depends upon whether the swapping is between RAM and your hard disk or between RAM and other memory. If RAMdesk recognizes that you have sufficient EMS memory avail- able (200K), such memory will automatically be used, minimizing swap time significantly. If no EMS is recognized, the program will assume that you want it to swap to the disk directory from which RAMdesk was loaded. If you have EMS and RAMdesk does not recognize it, please don't call to report it; there are several incompatible EMS schemes floating around, and RAMdesk can't recognize them all. If you don't have EMS, but do have a extended memory, you might want to set up a large RAM disk and tell RAMdesk to use it for swap- ping. That'll speed things up quite a bit. Make sure that the RAM disk you use will be used for NOTHING other than RAMdesk, TickleX and/or BillPower. How big a RAM disk do you need? If you're using it just for RAM- desk, it should be at least 384K. Add another 850K if you also want to install BillPower as a pop-up, and yet another 850K if you use TickleX as a pop-up. To tell RAMdesk which RAM disk to use, you'll need to alter the RMD.BAT file. Place the RAM disk designation at the third parameter following "ramdesk". Example: ramdesk x x e: tells RAMdesk to use drive E as the swap drive. Remember that you use the designated RAM disk for NOTHING other than RAMdesk, Bill- Power and TickleX program swapping. TUNING UP PERFORMANCE 50 IMPORTANT: As mentioned above, if you don't have sufficient EMS memory and haven't designated a RAM disk, RAMdesk will swap to the hard disk. When swapping to the hard disk, the program creates and uses two hid- den files, "PCxxx.SWP" and "PCAPPxxx.SWP" for each user accessing the program (xxx are the user's initials). Normally, you won't have any problems with disk swapping. But if, after having loaded RAMdesk, you use other programs that cause your available hard disk space to drop below 384 kilobytes, you may get a "FATAL SWAP ERROR" when you try to pop into RAMdesk. If that happens, you'll have to re-boot your machine, probably losing whatever you'd been working on when you pressed the hot key. The lesson here is that you should not try using the program as a pop-up unless you're sure that you'll never come close to running out of space on whatever drive the program will be using for swapping. TUNING UP PERFORMANCE 51 THE "POWER OFFICE" LINE-UP Each unique program in this series requires a hard disk-equipped IBM-compatible PC with 512K of memory. The following paragraphs contain brief descriptions. BillPower --> time & billing with totally integrated general ledger (can be invoked as either stand-alone or POP-UP program) TickleX --> the ultimate in scheduling/planning/docket control (can be invoked as either stand-alone or POP-UP program) ReSearch --> research/evidence organizer for litigation support