The Business Master (3rd Edition)

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ The Business Master (3rd Edition) / The Business Master (3rd Edition).iso / files / business / timetrk2 / ttrak11a.doc < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1991-08-14 | 184.8 KB | 4,386 lines

TimeTrak Version 1.1a Copyright 1990,1991 A bound version of this manual with screenshots, and keyboard overlays for 101 and 84 key layouts is available when you register TimeTrak. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991TimeTrak V1.1a (C)1990,91 Page 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- COPYRIGHT WARNING and REGISTRATION PROCEDURES --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TimeTrak, Ozimat, SL4P, 'Solutions Looking For Problems' and their associated logos are trademarks of Ozimat Development Sdn Bhd. All other products and brands mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks owned by their respective companies. Prices and specifications are subject to change without notice. Ozimat Development Sdn Bhd accepts no responsibility for the loss of data or suitability of its products for any particular application Refer to the various DOC and LST files that are packed with this version of TimeTrak. Some earlier TimeTrak 'samplers' were released with minor functions limited - this version of TimeTrak is completely intact, and represents the full state of development at the time of distribution. For a guide to 'which files contain what', print the PACKING.LST file to your hardcopy device with the command... COPY PACKING.LST LPT1: from the disk/directory that contains the TimeTrak file set. TimeTrak is NOT freeware, the unregistered version is provided so that potential users have a chance to explore the TimeTrak concept. This software and accompanying documentation are protected by International Treaty provisions and the Berne Convention. Any use of this software in violation of Copyright law or the terms of this limited licence will be prosecuted to the best of our ability. The conditions under which you may copy this software and documentation are clearly outlined below under "Distribution Restrictions". Ozimat Developments hereby grants you a limited licence to use this software for evaluation purposes for a period not to exceed sixty (60) days. If you intend to continue using this software (and/or it's documentation) after the sixty (60) day evaluation period, you MUST make a --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991TimeTrak V1.1a (C)1990,91 Page 2 registration payment to Ozimat Developments through your nearest distribution point. A list of regional distributors can be found in CONTACTS.LST, registration and licence details are available in the REGISTER.DOC and LICENCE.DOC files. Using this software after the sixty (60) day evaluation period, without registering the software is a violation of the terms of this limited licence. Licensee shall not use, copy, rent, lease, sell, modify, decompile, disassemble, otherwise reverse engineer, or transfer the licensed program except as provided in this agreement. Any such unauthorized use shall result in immediate and automatic termination of this licence. All rights not expressly granted here are reserved to Ozimat Developments, Malaysia. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991TimeTrak V1.1a (C)1990,91 Page 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction...............................................5 Glossary of terms..........................................6 Installation..............................................14 Starting TimeTrak.........................................17 Timesheet.................................................22 Alarms & Reminders........................................35 Diary.....................................................41 Calendar..................................................44 The File Menu.............................................47 The Split Menu............................................57 The Display Menu..........................................59 The Locate Menu...........................................60 The Config Menu...........................................62 Supervisor options........................................64 Index.....................................................72 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION --------------------------------------------------------------------------- By purchasing TimeTrak, you have chosen the most intuitive resource manager available. TimeTrak offers the ability to accept, store and display all types of time critical information in the format that is best suited to your needs. The program was born from observing that almost every computer user has a wall planner / schedule hanging nearby, often related to workgroups that share a common scheduling facility. TimeTrak provides the ease of use of a wall planner for random tasks, along with underlying power that may be utilized if and when required. TimeTrak avoids the complexity of a project scheduler while offering a day-to-day productivity tool. What does TimeTrak do ? TimeTrak provides a proportional display of time dependent events. It may be used at one work-station or simultaneously at many terminals on a computer network. Up to four schedules (with up to 999 resources in each schedule) may be viewed simultaneously so that normally isolated events may be compared in the most convenient way. In addition, each schedule may be split into mutiple views with different display attributes - to a limit of 8 splits on screen at one time. Individual events may be located by time, or by matching the contents of a data field within the event record. Up to 20 user- defined fields may be included within each event data record. Detailed information for each event is available simply by locating the cursor over the event, and pressing the ENTER key. A user defined window is displayed that contains all the details that were stored with the selected event. Typical applications of TimeTrak are - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INTRODUCTION Page 5 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Real-time event management with 1 second resolution | | | | Personal time management | | | | Staff scheduling and leave planning | | | | Time management for Skills, Resources and Facilities | | | | Work schedules by hour/day/week... | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ SAMPLE SCHEDULES With the TimeTrak program, we have included some sample schedules that will let you see how the program may be used, as well as providing some plug & play experience. Most people prefer to play with the software before they get too serious about reading the manual! The schedules included are - SALESMEN A sample to track travelling salesmen. MESSAGES An electronic replacement for 'While-You-Were-Out' BIGDAYS Memorable occasions for you and the world GLOSSARY OF TIMETRAK TERMS To gain a better understanding of this manual, and TimeTrak, we need to formalize some terms which appear regularly throughout TimeTrak discussion and operation. SCHEDULE - A schedule is the collection of related resources which share a similar timebase or scheduling requirements. Schedules may be defined with week and day starting times that match the operations of your company or department. Examples of items which may be organized in schedules... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INTRODUCTION Page 6 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ staff in a department or office, or | | machinery which is used in various combinations. | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ A schedule can be displayed in any of three different ways - a TIMESHEET, which resembles a spreadsheet, each separate schedule may contain cells of different sizes which correspond to varying periods of time. The organization is based on columns which represent time periods, and a single row for each separate resource that is being scheduled. a CALENDAR, reflects the activities of a single resource for a selected month. The calendar is correctly aligned and displayed in accordance with the week and day start times that were defined for the schedule. a DIARY display in a familiar list format with starting times listed alongside each event. The diary can display events for a single resource, or a sorted list of events for the whole schedule. RESOURCES - are the items within a schedule which may be allocated a responsibility or task for a period of time. Each resource occupies one line of a TimeTrak timesheet. Resources would typically be staff names, facilities or equipment that are to be scheduled. TIME SLOTS - Each schedule contains a pre-defined timebase upon which resources are allocated or released from responsibility. Timeslots are the columns that are displayed on a timesheet display. The duration of each timeslot is set when a new database is created. SPLITS - are the windows which contain individual schedule displays. Splits may contain different schedules, or display a different aspect of an already open schedule. MULTI SPLITS - Is the timesheet mode where more than one schedule or more than one display of the same schedule is visible on screen. This provides the user with the ability to make visual comparisons, observing events which normally are managed under separate schedules. EVENTS - An event is that block of time which is defined as occupied for any resource. Internally, each event contains a database record --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INTRODUCTION Page 7 which can be displayed as a pop-up over the timesheet. Events may be located by content, time or visually on the display. EVENT CURSOR - is a two-axis cursor which moves within a TimeTrak timesheet. The row indicates which resource is currently active, while the highlighted column position indicates the timeslot that is currently selected. The cursor style is selectable by using the Config-Options-Cursor function. AUTOTRAK - is the automatic mode of TimeTrak operation, where all events are displayed on the screen in proportion to the current date and time of day. When AutoTrak is enabled, the time-of-day cursor is displayed as a single highlight bar, which is updated automatically every second to correctly reflect the schedule status in a visual manner. SCROLL LOCK - ScrollLock is a toggle mode selected with the ScrollLock key on your keyboard, that allows the event cursor to alternately move - UNLOCKED - Floating within the screen area - causing display scrolling only when the cursor reaches a screen boundary, or LOCKED - Which locks the cursor to its current screen location, and allows the schedule to be scrolled horizontally past the cursor - without moving the cursor position. MENU BAR / TIME BAR - is the uppermost line of the timesheet display. Whenever a menu selection is pending (ALT or F10 pressed), the menu names are displayed. At all other times, the current timesheet position is indicated as a date and time. If you are using a colour display, and the cursor is in the past, the timebar will be shown with a RED background, in the future will display a GREEN background. FIELD DISPLAY - When a schedule is displayed, the default is for solid shaded cells to indicate occupied resource events, and for clear cells to indicate empty events. However with TimeTrak it is possible to select any user data field as the display contents on a split-by-split basis. This enhances the readability of the schedule when specific details are being examined or located. An example may be for sales personnel - where fields in each record contain the. . . 1) customer contact name 2) company name, 3) company branch name --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INTRODUCTION Page 8 4) city, 5) product interests, and 6) Notes about the contact In this case, by using the city field as the display field in the schedule, it is possible to easily locate the nearest salesman at any chosen time - without opening every event to examine the 'city' fields individually. EXTENDED MOVES provide the ability to define and move any distance in time by using one or two numeric keys, followed by one of W D H M S to specify the size of the jump. Extended Moves are invoked by holding the SHIFT key, while pressing the arrow key for the direction required. ALARMS - In TimeTrak, each event has the ability to maintain up to 20 alarm cues of different types. Once an event is created or opened for modification, the Alarm functions window may be called up. From this window, you set the type of alarm, and the trigger times required. TimeTrak will automatically execute the alarm actions at the required times. SCREEN LAYOUTS When TimeTrak asks you to layout the forms for a new schedule, you are limited to the dimensions that would normally apply to a standard text/graphics adapter (80columns x 25 lines). This is to avoid the situation where a form is designed on a high resolution adapter, and subsequently cannot be displayed on a lower text resolution device. With the above limitation, every display layout will always be visible - regardless of the type of display adapter being used. MOUSE TimeTrak automatically detects the presence of a 'Microsoft' or 'Mouse Systems' compatible mouse driver - if it was loaded before TimeTrak was started. Moving the mouse translates directly to cursor motion keys i.e. moving the mouse away from you will cause the cursor to move up on the screen... etc. The left mouse button mimics the ENTER key. The right button mimics the ESC key, and pressing both buttons simultaneously will exit from the current function, and display the main timesheet menu bar. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INTRODUCTION Page 9 Refer to TT_MOUSE in the Supervisor options chapter for configuration choices. KEYBOARD In this manual, the presence of a + character in a key description indicates that the first key should be held down, while momentarily pressing the key following the + character. If a - character is between the keys, then the first key should be pressed momentarily, then released before pressing the second key. Shift+ENTER indicates that either of the SHIFT keys should be held down while pressing the ENTER key momentarily. CTRL+PgUp requires that either of the CTRL keys is held down while the PgUp key is pressed momentarily. N-W asks you to press the N key, release, then press the W key. Pressing the ESC (or ESCAPE) key cancels the current operation, and returns the operator to the next higher level in the operating strategy. Repeated presses will return the operator to the highest operational level relevant in the current mode of operation. Pressing BackSpace in the timesheet, calendar or diary display, with no menus active, aligns the schedule to the current date and time of day. Pressing CTRL+BackSpace activates the AutoTrak function. The timesheet display is continuously positioned to align with the computer's internal clock circuitry. With AutoTrak active, many key functions are disabled - since they would affect the integrity of the AutoTrak display. The only keys that are kept active are the +PLUS and -MINUS keys and the < and > keys. Any other keys are ignored while AutoTrak is active. If ESC is pressed during AutoTrak operation, the display will revert to the normal timesheet display, with the event cursor aligned to the slot for the current date and time of day. TEXT ENTRY Whenever a text entry field is expecting you to type characters, several keys are available to help in the entry. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INTRODUCTION Page 10 Pressing the INS key will alternate between inserting and overtyping with respect to the existing text. Some fields will set the entry mode automatically, but your preference will be retained for general use. The DEL key will delete the character under the cursor, and move all characters after the cursor to the left by one position. The BackSpace key will remove the character to the left of the cursor, and move the characters to the right of the cursor to the left by one place. CTRL+END deletes the text from the cursor to the end of the entry field. CTRL+HOME will delete from the cursor position to the beginning of the entry field. When multiple text entry fields are visible in a form, you may skip over any remaining fields and complete the form by pressing the CTRL+ENTER keys together. ON-LINE HELP Pressing the F1 key displays context sensitive help information to assist you through the current operation. To move through the help text, use the Up and Down arrow keys. To exit the help window, press ESC or ENTER. If the TimeTrak program failed to locate the help files during startup, a warning dialog box will be shown. Pressing any key will clear the warning, and TimeTrak will operate normally - except the F1 key will not be operational. To display up-to-date status information about the active schedule and the program in general, press the TAB key. SELECTING THE DISPLAY CONTENTS When viewing or editing the timesheet, the F2 key displays a list of the fields available for display in the occupied cell positions. When a field other than -NONE- is chosen, the current split is redisplayed with the actual field data shown in the occupied cell locations. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INTRODUCTION Page 11 FUNCTION FEEDBACK TimeTrak contains visual feedback to help you achieve the desired results when moving events around the schedule. Audible tones may be enabled to accompany the visual cues. Depending on whether you are using a colour or monochrome display, the following cues are shown - COLOUR DISPLAY Whenever you press a function key that performs a successful non- visible operation, the status line (at the bottom) will blink with a GREEN background. If the operation was valid, but unusual in the current context of operation, then an AMBER warning will be shown. If the operation was unsuccessful, and could not be completed normally, a RED indicator is shown. Pressing F1 immediately after a RED warning will display an analysis of what caused the error indication. For serious errors, a RED text box will appear with a brief description of the problem that caused the error. Please write down the text in this window, and keep it ready when you contact us for assistance. Refer to the Supervisor Options chapter for more detailed descriptions of error conditions. MONOCHROME DISPLAY If you started the program on a monochrome system, or used the -M command-line switch, the visible feedback is limited to flashing the status line immediately after the failed operation. Pressing the F1 key will give you details of the problem if the flash was caused by an irregularity or error condition. TIME NOTATION The time notation used by TimeTrak is based on a 24 hour clock system ('military' time), and as such does not use AM or PM markers for morning or afternoon/evening indication. With 24 hour timekeeping, each day is divided into one stretch of 24 hours rather than two blocks of 12 hours. 12-hour notation was not included due to the difficulty of compressing the timesheet display, while still maintaining readable time markings. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INTRODUCTION Page 12 For those times that are in the PM half of the day, it is necessary to add 12 hours, and ignore the PM indicator. +---------------------------------------------------------------+ 1:30 PM becomes 13:30 (+ 12 hours) | | 7:30 PM becomes 19:30 | | 8:25 AM remains 08:25 | | 16:45 is the same as 4:45pm (- 12 hours) | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ COMPRESSED DISPLAYS To conserve screen space, TimeTrak needs to compress time indicator displays, so the following convention has been adopted. TimeTrak automatically selects the display format required - based on the resolution of each split. +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Timeslot Duration Normal Shortened | | | | less than 1 minute MM∙SS ∙SS | | less than 1 hour HH:MM :MM | | less than 1 day HH:MM HH: | | greater than 1 day DDMmm DDM | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Whenever a schedule is compressed to less than 6 characters per timeslot, TimeTrak chooses the shortened version until the slot width reduces to less than 4 characters. If a split is compressed to less than 4 characters, then the time bar shows every alternate slot time, until the schedule is reduced to as few as 2 columns per slot. If a split is reduced to less than 2 columns by its association with an adjacent larger split, then the denser splits become blank with a status message. Expanding any of the hidden splits will redisplay the contents when the schedule can be shown correctly. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INTRODUCTION Page 13 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTALLATION --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TimeTrak is distributed on a single 5.25 or 3.5 inch high density diskette (360K disks are available on special order). Included on the diskette are the TimeTrak program and sample files. Before installation, it is highly recommended that you make a safety copy of your original TimeTrak disk. Safety copies are for the use of the original registered purchaser only, and unauthorized distribution of registered copies will void warranty and support agreements. Replacement disks outside the 30 days warranty period are full-cost items. Use DOS' DISKCOPY or other utilities to make duplicate disks - refer to the DOS reference manual or your utility manual for instructions. TimeTrak is quite tolerant of almost every PC idiosyncrasy - the DOS version must be at least version 2.x to ensure correct operation. A hard disk is not mandatory - but to realize the full performance of TimeTrak, a hard disk is recommended. Schedule databases can be contained in quite small disk areas - larger files with multiple users will easily consume several megabytes of disk space in a heavily used system. The program is capable of opening a large number of files simultaneously. If you are uable to create/open a schedule or it's associated files, it may be due to the FILES= statement in CONFIG.SYS being set to a 'too low' value. Insert the following line into your CONFIG.SYS file (in the root directory of the boot disk)... +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ FILES=20 | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ This ensures that TimeTrak will have enough file handles to access all the data files that it requires. If you are running some other programs as TSRs or in a multi-tasking environment, allow a maximum of 20 file handles for TimeTrak's exclusive use. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INSTALLATION Page 14 DISK REQUIREMENTS A single 360K floppy disk is capable of holding the TimeTrak program files. Schedule data files may vary in size from a few kilobytes up to many megabytes, and as such, should be prepared on separate floppy disks in a 'floppy only' system. The size of TimeTrak files are not related to the amount of time contained, but rather, the number of resources in the schedule, the number of fields in the user pop-up window (and their size), and finally the number of events that are stored in a schedule will affect the index size. It is not unusual for the .TSX index file to be larger than the database. SINGLE USER INSTALLATION TimeTrak is self-configuring when it comes out of the box. To install into a hard disk system, simply type... +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ A:INSTALL targetdrive:\directory | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ Where A: specifies the disk drive that contains the TimeTrak master disk (replace the A: with B: if you are installing from the B: drive). targetdrive:\directory designates where you want to put the TimeTrak files on your hard disk. The default installation path is \TIMETRAK +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ Example | | | | A:INSTALL C:\SOMEWHERE | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ will begin the process to install TimeTrak from the A: floppy disk drive into the \SOMEWHERE directory on drive C: In addition to the default startup configuration, TimeTrak uses several environment variables and command-line options to provide security and to limit or extend certain functions. Refer to the Supervisor Options chapter for more information on these settings. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INSTALLATION Page 15 NETWORK OPERATION Version 1.1a is not a true network application. The TimeTrak program and help files may be shared between multiple users from a single network server/directory, however schedule files cannot be simultaneously shared between users at this time. An upgrade release later this year (1991) will include true shared file access along with many other enhancements. Multi-user access to TimeTrak requires that SHARE.COM is run on the network at some time prior to running the TimeTrak program - due to the help files being shared by several users. The TSX, TSD, TLX, and TLD files will normally be located in a directory specified by the individual users. Depending on individual installations, these files may be protected from Deletion, but Read, Write, Modify and Extend privileges are required. NOTE: The developers offer TimeTrak at a minimal price to give everyone access to the facilities of the program - however - multiple users on a network MUST MAINTAIN SEPARATE user REGISTRATIONS. If 20 people are using TimeTrak on a company network, then somewhere the company should have 20 original TimeTrak master disks of the same version and revision level as that runnning on the system. +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ Refer to the SUPERVISOR OPTIONS chapter for more informtaion on | | configuration options for advanced TimeTrak use. | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INSTALLATION Page 16 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- STARTING TIMETRAK --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HARD DISK STARTUP To begin a TimeTrak session - use the DOS CD command to move to the TimeTrak directory - or ensure that the required directory is in the DOS path. To run TimeTrak, type TT followed by the ENTER key - this loads the program, and prompts you to identify the schedule file required for display. If no schedules have been created, then it will be necessary to create a new schedule file - refer to the File Menu chapter for more information. Different users may have different function privileges which are preset by the TimeTrak supervisor for your computer. FLOPPY DISK STARTUP TimeTrak is quite fast on a floppy-disk based computer, but the following tips will make the program run almost as fast as a hard disk based installation... which makes it particularly useful to travellers and those that require more flexibility than a pocket organizer. Normally, the TimeTrak program will be present on a bootable DOS disk in drive A:, along with the necessary environment settings and configuration files. To run TimeTrak, type TT followed by the ENTER key - this loads the program, and prompts you to identify the schedule file required for display. If no schedules have been created, then it will be necessary to create a new schedule file - refer to the File Menu chapter for more information. If a second disk drive is available, it should be used to contain the schedules and their associated support files. Performance on a floppy system is of course substantially slower than a similar hard disk system - especially on full screen updates. However, scrolling and normal operations are surprisingly fast since TimeTrak only reads, writes and updates the relevant parts of the display with each schedule operation. By setting the TT_SCROLL=fast option (default), the program won't redraw the timesheet until you finish scrolling. The shortcoming in --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 STARTUP Page 17 this is that on a fast machine you will see very few events on the screen as you are moving. If the display of intermediate events is critical, then you must use TT_SCROLL=SLOW so that the screen is redisplayed between each horizontal movement. Overall performance improvements may be realized by using a RAMdisk and/or disk cache program to handle the schedule files - but remember that the files must be saved onto non-volatile media before you turn off the power ! NETWORK STARTUP Depending on the type of network you have, and how it has been set up, the startup procedure will vary considerably between installations. If possible, ask your network administrator to arrange a menu system, where you simply choose TimeTrak - and the rest is done automatically. If your system doesn't have an application menu system, then the best thing is to spend the time to prepare a batch file that will setup the system for your TimeTrak session. While this may take a little while to fine-tune and settle down with your personal preferences, the final result will make your life a lot easier. TimeTrak shows quite respectable performance on a network, for the same reasons as mentioned under floppy disk usage - TimeTrak only updates the relevant parts of the screen when handling schedule operations. CONSIDERATIONS If TT_PATH has been set, TimeTrak will allow you to use only schedules in the designated directory. TimeTrak looks for the help files in the startup directory. TimeTrak automatically looks for the help files (THD & THX) in the same directory that the main program was started from. TimeTrak detects the current screen dimensions of your display adapter, so if you prefer to run TimeTrak in high-resolution text modes, simply set your adapter to the preferred resolution, and run TimeTrak normally. Some preview copies of TimeTrak are distributed without the TSX index files - to save space during distribution. If you try to OPEN these schedules, the program will indicate an error while trying to --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 STARTUP Page 18 open the index files. To overcome this, simply use the File- Utilities-Reindex option to rebuild the TSX file for the desired schedules. Refer to the Supervisor Options chapter for more assistance on startup options. IMPORTANT TimeTrak depends entirely on the accuracy and correct setting of the computer system's clock/calendar circuitry. When you start your system, ensure that the date and time are correctly set - either automatically from the battery backed clock in the computer hardware, or by typing the correct values at the operating system prompt. COMMAND LINE OPTIONS When starting TimeTrak, it is possible to specify several parameters for the current session - by adding options to the standard command. +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ TT {-options} {schedulename} | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ where options may be any of . . . -L43 (L50) = enables 43/50 line modes on EGA/VGA -M = Selects Monochrome palette -N = No learner assistance screens -A = with schedulename, starts AutoTrak schedulename = auto-loads the named schedule If TimeTrak is started without the schedulename option, the initial screen will display the File Menu. From this point you may use the arrow keys to select an activity followed by the ENTER key to execute the function. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 STARTUP Page 19 MENU OPERATION To invoke any of the menu functions, it is necessary to press the F10 key - to display the Menu Bar from the timesheet, or if already known, press the ALT key along with the highlighted letter of the desired menu. Once the desired menu is displayed, move to the desired function and press ENTER, or simply press the hot-key that is indicated for each function (Shown here as an underlined character). ENDING A TIMETRAK SESSION Before turning off or rebooting your main computer or workstation, all TimeTrak schedules must be CLOSED, or TimeTrak terminated in the normal manner (FILE-EXIT). Failure to follow this guideline will possibly corrupt the data in the schedule files. FILE MENU - OPEN open a new split at current resource - REPLACE replace contents of current split - CLOSE close current split - NEW define & create new schedule database - PRINT print schedule - UTILITIES Schedule housekeeping - DOS suspend and execute DOS commands - EXIT close files and terminate TimeTrak SPLIT MENU - SPLIT split current window into two - CLOSE the current split/segment - WINDOW POSN move current split - ZOOM the current split/segment - NEXT enable next of multi splits DISPLAY - CALENDAR display the calendar for a resource - DIARY display the diary for a resource - FIELD... select field displayed in split --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 STARTUP Page 20 LOCATE - Next event in {current resource} - Prev event in {current resource} - Next event in current schedule - Prev event in current schedule - Key Field... - Jump to... CONFIG - OPTIONS... TimeTrak modes - RESOURCES... set width/name of resources --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 STARTUP Page 21 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE TIMESHEET --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The TimeTrak timesheet represents a great improvement in the way computers display time related events - including real-time proportional display. The screen is arranged as a time bar across the top, with the remaining area organized as a range of lines that each represent individual resources - the objects that TimeTrak is responsible for organizing. The columns in the timesheet display each represent a single timeslot for the resources listed on the edge of the screen. With a single schedule displayed, all the timeslots are aligned, since every resource within a single schedule is based on the same time interval. If the Diary or Calendar are displayed, pressing the F5 key will revert to the timesheet - aligned to the time indicated in the diary/calendar. When multiple schedules of different slot sizes are displayed, the timeslots will appear offset in various directions - this is the strength of TimeTrak - to represent the correct time relationships of unrelated resources. When multiple schedules are displayed that have different week and day start times, the display may look incorrect - however, the alignment is correct - the timesheet reflects the slot spacings and start times that were chosen for each schedule at the time of their creation. With closer examination, you'll notice that events that start at particular times are correctly displayed in relation to each other. When the cursor is moved horizontally between timeslots, the screen updates the correct relationships between all resources and events. To understand the 'mis-'alignment mentioned above, try switching between splits, and use the TAB key to display the schedule information. Note the difference in the start times, and the relationship between the adjacent splits. AUTOTRAK DISPLAY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 22 The timesheet is capable of operating in two different modes - time aligned and event aligned. When performing entry or modification of events, event aligned is automatically selected to ensure that each event is clearly displayed within its correct timeslots. When event aligned, the timesheet is moved in increments of a whole timeslot when the cursor keys are pressed. Time aligned - AutoTrak - may be initiated by the operator or selected as an automatic feature after an interval of no keyboard activity. With AutoTrak display, the event cursor is disabled, and the timesheet is under the control of the program. Time aligned operation automatically scales and displays the screen with a cursor that represents the current date and time-of-day. With AutoTrak, the timesheet is automatically positioned to indicate the real-time status of the schedule. The operator can reposition the reference cursor column, and expand or compress the view. To manually start AutoTrak, use the CTRL+BackSpace key combination. To cancel, use ESC. When AutoTrak is running on a schedule with a small slot size (less than 60 seconds), you may notice that the display pauses at odd (but regular) intervals - this is because TimeTrak moves the display in single character display columns, and the current timescale will not divide evenly into the number of columns on screen - the pause is to accumulate the difference, then proceed to the next display character column. Press the +PLUS key to widen the timeslots until the pauses disappear. If the timeslots are so wide that AutoTrak cannot 'soft-scroll' between adjacent slots in a 1-second period, the program will automatically switch to a faster scrolling mode until it catches up with the timesheet. Otherwise, AutoTrak will fall behind the real- time clock, and the display will be unsynchronised. CELL CONTENTS Each 'cell' displays the contents of the current resource at the indicated timeslot. Occupied cells may show a solid shaded block, or if selected with the F2 key, a data field value. By pressing the ENTER key over an occupied cell, the pop-up window displays the data window that was completed when the event was created - along with the available options for modifying or deleting the event contents and time range. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 23 By pressing the F2 key in the timesheet, you are offered a list of the fields available in the current schedule... -NONE- is the default, which displays the familiar solid block character at occupied event times. By selecting any other field name, you are able to see the split with the field contents visible in the display. If the ENTER key is pressed over an empty cell, the database window will appear that allows you to create a new event and specify the time range of the event. The actual order of pop-up and time range selection is a user defined preference which may be set to your desired method of operation by SET TT_DBWINDOW. The timesheet display is the only screen where schedules can be opened, closed, or created. Using the FILE menu, (ALT+F), each of the relevant functions is activated in line with your user access rights. FILE and SPLIT ACTIONS ALT+F-O creates a new split with the chosen schedule. The new split will be located at the cursor line which was highlighted when F-Open was selected. ALT+F-R will replace the contents of an existing split with a chosen schedule. If no splits exist, then F-Replace will duplicate the effect of ALT+F-O. ALT+F-C will close the currently active split, and restore the underlying splits to take over the available screen area. If no splits are remaining, then the screen will remain blank except for the menu bar. ALT+S-S opens a split at the cursor line, and provide a separately scrollable view of the split that it overlaps. MOVING AROUND IN THE TIMESHEET The arrow keys act in their normal manner for moving the cursor up, down, left or right relative to the current position. Whenever longer moves are required, holding the arrow keys will cause the screen to scroll at a rate equivalent to the key repeat speed. Depending on the timescale of the selected timesheet, it is possible to move several years in the space of a few seconds key time ! You --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 24 may use the Config-Options-Keyboard Speed function to increase the key repeat rate. To move longer distances, pressing the SHIFT key in conjunction with an arrow will perform an extended move that is programmable by the operator. If undefined, the default SHIFT+arrow key will move one screen width in the chosen direction. To define the extended move size, press any one or two digit keys to specify the multiplier of the move distance - then press one letter key from W D H M or S to indicate the size of the move - in multiples of Weeks, Days, Hours, Minutes or Seconds. While typing the values, the current extended move size is shown at the lower right-hand corner of the screen. If an invalid letter is pressed as the second or third key, a selector-list will be displayed to remind you to pick one of the valid unit sizes. Pressing ESC leaves the original settings untouched. (Refer also to the section - Moving to a particular date...) +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ Examples of key sequences for extended moves would be . . . | | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| 1 2 H 12 Hours | | 3 m 3 Mins | | 3 0 g 30 g ???? | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ To display the current extended move size, simply hold down the SHIFT key. The current setting will be shown in the lower right corner of the screen. If the ScrollLock function is enabled, the cursor will remain static, and the timesheet will pass 'underneath' the cursor position. If ScrollLock is disabled, the cursor will move freely within the screen area between the screen borders, at which time the timesheet will move to extend the visible range of the screen in the direction of movement. MOVING TO THE NEXT... or PREVIOUS... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 25 With TimeTrak, it's as easy as two keys to reposition to the next Hour, Day, Week or to any day within a 7-day range of the current day. Press N for NEXT (P for PREVIOUS), followed by... Week Day Hour If you want to move to a particular day, scroll to the day-name on the list, or press the digit key that matches the day-name. For Week, Day and Hour moves, the timesheet will immediately align to the next occurrence of a Week, Day or Hour boundary as specified in the schedule definition. When jumping to a specific day, the timesheet will align to the starting time of the day as defined in the original schedule setup. As a shortcut from the timesheet, you can move to the next occurrence of a particular day by pressing SHIFT+a digit (1 to 7), which represent the days Mon-Sun respectively. This shortcut only works in the forward direction. To repeat the move, press N-N or P-P which eliminates the need to redefine the move size or the day. The values used for Next/Previous are separate to those maintained by the extended moves, so you might prefer to set extended moves for some smaller figure... e.g. 2 hours, while using the Next function to select the Day. Also refer to the LOCATE function for moving to the NEXT or PREVIOUS event. MOVING TO A PARTICULAR DATE To jump to a specific date within a 12 month range of the cursor time, you must enter the date as TWO DIGITS, followed by a month selected from the keyboard overlay. (Keys 1-9, 0, -, =) Default operation is to move to the nearest occurrence of the required date - which means this function will jump backwards in time if the required date is more than 6 months in the future. To always move forward in time to the next occurrence of the required date, hold the SHIFT key while selecting the required month key. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 26 If an invalid key is pressed as the second 'digit' or third 'letter' key, the program assumes that you want to set the extended move size... the first digits will be retained, and a selector will ask you to indicate the unit of movement. To cancel the selector list, press ESC, and restart the operation from the first keystroke. +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ EXAMPLE: | | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Assume that today's date is 4th July... | | | | To move to the 21st June just past (i.e. the nearest), press | | | | 2-1-6 (the 6 key is for month #6, June). | | | | To move to 21st June next year, press | | | | 2-1-SHIFT+6 | | | | The SHIFT key forces the jump to move forward from the cursor time | | to the next occurrence of the required date. | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ (You may also use CTRL+J from the timesheet to specify and move to a specific date and time.) CHANGING THE ACTIVE SPLIT When more than one split is open on the screen, you can switch between active splits by using the CTRL+PgUp and CTRL+PgDn keys or by pressing ALT+SPACE. When moving between non-adjacent splits, TimeTrak will only realign the slot positions to the cursor when an arrow key or event alignment is required. SCROLL LOCK The ScrollLock function is indicated by a bar/arrow symbol in the lower right corner of the display. When the bar is shown, the timesheet will scroll under the cursor in all directions - and the 'reference' timeslot will remain static. If the double-ended arrow indicator is visible, then the reference timeslot will initially move within the width of the screen. Only when screen limits are reached, will the timesheet move to extend the range of display. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 27 ADJUSTING THE CURSOR POSITION The < and > keys allow you to reposition the reference timeslot anywhere on the horizontal axis - if ScrollLock is disabled, the next arrow key will move the reference time cursor in the direction of the arrow. It is advisable to play with these functions while watching the time bar so that the separate functions become more obvious. EDITING EVENTS IN THE PAST It should be noted that - by default, you are not able to modify events that have already passed the current date and time-of-day. If an event started in the past, but is still running, then you are able to adjust the end time, but the resource and start time will remain fixed. To change this feature, refer to the environment variables TT_EDITPAST (or press CTRL+O-P if you have access to the Config menu). Also worth noting is the fact that with default settings, the timeslot for the current time of day is regarded as being in the past - since the time for every slot is determined at the second the slot begins. The nett effect of this is that - if you schedule an event to run from 09:00 until 11:30, and when the event eventually begins, you want to change something at 9:01, you will be stopped from adjusting the starting characteristics of the event. The relationship of the current timeslot can be changed by using the SET TT_PRESENT=FUTURE command. The contents and duration of an event remain changeable until the event passes its end time. LOCATING A KEY FIELD VALUE - Pressing ALT+L to open the LOCATE menu will allow you to reposition to any event in the current resource or schedule. If any fields were designated as key fields in the File-Create process, you may select the Key Field... option to search for a value in any key field. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 28 Move the menu cursor to select one of the key field names, and press ENTER. A text entry box will then allow you to specify the field contents to be located. After completing this field with the ENTER key, you can use the CTRL+arrow keys (for current resource) or CTRL+SHIFT+arrow keys (whole schedule) to locate the desired event. The current search scope is indicated at the bottom right-hand corner of the display when the CTRL (+SHIFT) key is held down. +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ ... in Rsrc = Search in current resource only. | | | | ... in Shdl = Search in all resources of current schedule. | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ If the search fails, the timesheet will remain at the original position, and the status bar will flash to indicate that the search operation was unsuccessful. Example - To find the next occasion we have a salesman in London. Using the SALESMEN schedule, press F3 and select Location (Location was defined as a key field when salesmen schedule was created.) When the Search for... box appears, type in LOND and press ENTER (LOND is sufficient since the search is only matched to the number of characters entered. Now . . . if you want to find the next occurrence of the key value in the current resource, press CTRL+right arrow, or for the previous occurrence, CTRL+left arrow. By also pressing the SHIFT key the search will scan all resources in the current schedule. When more than one event starts at the same timeslot, TimeTrak will step vertically through those events before moving on to the next timeslot/event position. Searches may be repeated by using the CTRL+arrow keys to search within the same resource, or CTRL+SHIFT+arrow keys for all resources within the same schedule. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 29 If no key field searches have been made in the current schedule, then the CTRL+arrow keys will behave in the same way as CTRL+N and CTRL+P, to locate the presence of any event in the search scope. If a key search has already been performed in this schedule during this TimeTrak session, the CTRL+arrow keys will only perform key searches in the most recently selected key field. If a key search is currently available, the status line will show a tick '√' character in the lower Right hand corner. SEARCHING FOR ANY EVENT To ignore the most recent key search value, or simply search for the mere presence of an event, you may use either the LOCATE-Next / Previous (CTRL+N / CTRL+P), or select -NONE- as the key search field. SCROLLING SPEED The scroll speed / redraw priority can be preset by the TT_SCROLL option. Either from the DOS environment, or the Config-Options menu, it is possible to dramatically change the scrolling speed depending on the accuracy required of the displayed data during scrolling. If TT_SCROLL=fast, then keys are processed in real-time, and the complete screen update is delayed until the scroll keys are released. Depending on the speed of your computer and disk hardware, it is possible that you will see some screen activity between keystrokes, it's unlikely to completely redraw the whole screen while moving at 'full speed '. The time bars and current resource are always updated correctly during scroll actions. Floppy based systems are recommended to use TT_SCROLL=fast to provide scrolling faster than the disk operations. VISIBLE TIME RANGE The timesheet display may be compressed using the MINUS (-) key or expanded using the PLUS (+) key to any degree - several conditions apply. Any timesheet display can only be expanded until the densest split on screen reaches full screen width. Similarly, compression is limited to a point where the widest split reaches 1 single character width. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 30 When multiple splits are compressed, the densest splits will blank- out when they reduce to less than one character width. When expanded, they will return to visible state when the degree of scaling allows them to be shown correctly in relation to the adjacent split data. If you have more than one split, and the slotsize is not a direct multiple (in seconds), then you will be limited in the amount of compression when the denser split is active - since the display automatically checks the scaling to ensure that the column widths within a split are identical... hence non-multiples cannot be displayed symmetrically at some levels of compression due to the horizontal resolution of the screen. Note that if the display is compressed or scrolled beyond the range of 1970 and 2037 AD, the movement will be limited to stay within that range. Some positioning errors may occur if you try using the very first slot in 1970, or the last slot in 2037. TimeTrak will only display splits when all the cell data is accurately represented. CREATING A NEW EVENT To create an event in the timesheet, simply press the ENTER or the INS key over any empty cell. The program will display the user form previously set up for this schedule - so that you can fill in the relevant details. Once completed, you are prompted to indicate the resource and time-range required for the event. The start and end times of the event, along with the duration will be indicated at the bottom of screen. Pressing ESC as the first key when creating a new event will switch the entry modes - equivalent to toggling TT_DBWINDOW once for those irregular situations where the details need to be entered in opposite order. Pressing ESC repeatedly will move back through the program structure to the normal timesheet display. SETTING THE EVENT DURATION AND TIME When you begin setting a range, the program assumes that you will have already placed the start time, and need to define the end time with the arrows. By using the SPACE bar, you may switch between positioning the whole event, and adjusting the start and end times --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 31 individually. The time range display at the bottom of the screen indicates which times are being adjusted. If you prefer to set the event start and end times by typing the values, press the R key whenever a time range is being defined. The pop-up shown above will allow you to enter the exact time details required without moving the display (Times are rounded to fit into the nearest whole timeslot). The range setting technique is extremely flexible, but you may need to practice before you are completely comfortable with its operation, and its interaction with the scrolling facilities. +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ For each press of the SPACE bar, the positioning mode will step | | through the following sequence... | | | | --> START --> POSITION --> END --> POSITION --> | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ When setting one end only, the range is elastic... as you move nearer or further from the fixed end, the blinking range cursor will expand and contract with the cursor movement. In the case that you pass the movable end over the fixed end, TimeTrak will slide both times together until a new time point is marked. If the DEL key is pressed while setting a range, both the start and end time of the event will be repositioned to the cursor position. If the ScrollLock function is disabled (off), the event itself will not move, but rather, the cursor will move - which provides intuitive feedback when the whole range is on screen - however this can be distracting when the event stretches across more than one screen of time. In this case you may prefer to set the ScrollLock function, or use the < > keys to reposition the cursor x-position. While placing a range, you can use any keys that are normally used for positioning within the schedule. To confirm the range shown on screen, press the ENTER key. COPYING EVENTS As an operating aid, the timesheet maintains a holding buffer that can contain any single event. This is useful for placing multiple --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 32 events with the same data e.g. meetings for a number of staff - or several pieces of equipment on hire to the same customer. To store the image of an event into the buffer, press SHIFT+DEL, this will leave the existing event untouched, while creating a separate copy of its data and duration information. To reinsert the buffer anywhere into the timesheet, press SHIFT+INS. The blinking time-range block will appear at the cursor position with the same duration as the original event. You can adjust the length or resource of the event before finally placing it with the ENTER key. NOTE: Alarm information and triggers are not copied with the SHIFT+DEL/INS operation. MODIFYING OR DELETING AN EVENT To make any change to an existing event, simply place the cursor anywhere over the event, then press the ENTER key. TimeTrak displays a list of the available options. The default entry allows you to UPDATE the event contents by typing over or inserting new text directly into the existing data window. DELETE allows the selected event to be completely removed from the schedule. To directly access the delete function you may press the DEL key while the cursor is over any portion of an event in the timesheet. REPOSITION allows you to redefine the resource or start/end times for the selected event. By picking REPOSITION, you are immediately put back into the event placement mode - much as if you were creating a new event. The existing event block begins to blink, and may be repositioned or resized to any free location in the schedule. All the positioning and cursor functions are fully active within the schedule in the same way they are used in the new event operation. COPY follows exactly the same functionality as the REPOSITION function - with the exception that the existing event remains untouched. Using the SPACE bar will allow you to adjust the start or end times - or the overall position of the event in time. Refer to 'Setting the event duration and time range'. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 33 SELECTING THE FIELD DISPLAY Pressing F2 will list the fields available within the current split, by selecting a field name, the screen will be redrawn with the newly selected field data in place of the anonymous blocks. Selecting any of the field names for display will result in slightly slower screen updates due to the extra disk access required. Fields that were not given a name when the schedule was built, will be displayed with names of u0, u1, u2. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 TIMESHEET Page 34 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALARMS & REMINDERS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the most dynamic aspects of the TimeTrak program is the ability to apply multiple intelligent alarms to each event in the schedule. At any point in time prior to the event start time, you may place a visual reminder or initiate a DOS command sequence. ACCESSING THE ALARM FUNCTIONS After an event has been created or duplicated in the schedule, you can access the alarm options by positioning over the parent event and pressing CTRL+A or ENTER. In the modify options you are offered the chance to SET/CLEAR ALARMS. From these choices you are led into the following sequence... The initial alarm display is a blank selector box, or it may contain a time-sorted list of any existing alarms that have assigned to this event. SETTING ALARM DETAILS Once the Set/Clear Alarm window appears, move the highlighted bar to the Add option, or an existing event, and press ENTER. If you chose to add a new alarm, or pressed INS, you are now asked to define what type of alarm is required, and when the new alarm will be triggered. If you press ENTER over an existing alarm entry, then you are able to change any part of the alarm settings as required. Either way, the window now displays a choice of different alarm types that may be assigned to the new alarm / alarm that is being changed. Select one from the following list... POP-UP - displays the event data window over the current activity - no matter where in the TimeTrak program you are currently working. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 ALARMS Page 35 DOS CMD - allows you to send any DOS command-line to COMMAND.COM at the alarm trigger time. This may be used to print a document, transmit E-Mail, or initiate some other online process. You can also designate specific command strings to be sent to serial or parallel ports with the dialogue ECHO character string > COMx: etc. This type of alarm requires the external routine to check for its own hardware requirements and device availability. +---------------------------------------------------------------+ DOS commands require some familiarity with the DOS method of | | dealing with launching programs. | | | | Internal commands - DIR, COPY, ECHO etc (that don't require an | | external COM or EXE file) may run directly from the alarm | | command line without any modification. | | | | External commands (your programs along with CHKDSK, XCOPY and | | other EXE / COM files) will run from the command line | | untouched - unless they require redirection of their I/O | | streams (does your command line require the angle brackets < | | or >, or the pipe | character ?). | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ +---------------------------------------------------------------+ External commands that require redirection must be entered to | | the alarm prompt in the following way... | | | | COMMAND.COM /C {progname arguments} | | | | This loads another complete copy of COMMAND.COM to handle the | | redirection requirements of your external program. The /C | | switch tells the COMMAND interpreter to unload the extra copy | | as soon as your program has completed running. (The letters | | .COM are unnecessary if you prefer to leave them off.) | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ DOS CMD ERRORS TimeTrak will report an error, and allow optional rescheduling - only in the following cases... - COMMAND.COM could not be located, or - The external (EXE/COM) file returned with an exit code other than zero (success). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 ALARMS Page 36 If an external command cannot be found at all, the alarm will be cancelled. SETTING THE ALARM TIME If you are modifying an existing alarm, the selector bar is placed over the current type and can be moved as required to change to a different alarm type. Once the alarm type has been selected, pressing ENTER brings a list of possible activation times for the alarm, from the list... +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | | ■ AT EVENT START TIME | | | | ■ 1-MINUTE PRIOR | | | | ■ 1-HOUR PRIOR | | | | ■ 1-DAY PRIOR | | | | ■ 1-WEEK PRIOR | | | | ■ USER DEFINED ALARM TIME | | | | | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ The first five options offer a simple way to place an alarm without having to specify the exact date and time. For precise alarm setting, select the last option, which allows any alarm to be positioned within 1-second accuracy of the system clock. Pressing ENTER after selecting an alarm activation time, TimeTrak will validate the time, then store the new/modified trigger. Alarms cannot be set in the past - if an invalid time is detected, the alarm will be rejected, and you are returned to the alarm selector list. NOTE: The number of alarms is limited to 20 per timesheet event. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 ALARMS Page 37 Each schedule event must not initiate more than one trigger of the same type at the same time, setting the alarms one or more seconds apart is acceptable. Alarms with the same trigger time are prioritized from the first split opened, topmost resource, through the last resource, then on to the next opened split... ALARM ACKNOWLEDGEMENT DOS CMD alarms automatically cancel as soon as the alarm is processed. If the DOS command fails to be executed, then you are given the option to cancel or reschedule it automatically. (Rescheduling can be useful when the alarm application can't get the required resources at the current moment - but may succeed at some later time.) If you chose a POP-UP alarm type, then once the alarm message has been displayed, you are allowed 30 seconds to respond to the alarm with an order to CANCEL the alarm permanently, or ask it to go away and sleep. If you don't press any key within 30 seconds, the program will automatically reschedule the alarm in accordance with the strategy noted on the next page. DELETING AN ALARM To remove an alarm from an event without triggering the alarm, move the timesheet cursor over the event that contains the alarm, and press CTRL+A or ENTER-A. Select the SET/CLEAR ALARM function to open the alarm window, then move the highlight to the desired alarm, and press the DEL key. You will be asked to confirm that the indicated alarm should be removed permanently. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 ALARMS Page 38 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALARM RESCHEDULING (SLEEP) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- If a POP-UP alarm trigger is not acknowledged by the user, or a DOS CMD alarm fails - or the operator chooses to make the alarm go away and sleep, then the sleep interval is determined by the distance of the current alarm from the 'parent' event's starting time. If the rescheduling results in less than 60 seconds remaining to the event start time, then the alarm is placed at the event start. A rescheduled alarm will wait at least 30 seconds after rescheduling before sounding again. When a schedule has been closed, and alarms have accumulated over time, the first occurrence of each 'due' alarm will be triggered when the file is reopened for the first time, if sleep is chosen, TimeTrak will iterate through all the possible 'rescheduled' times up until the current date - so the alarm stays in the same context as it was originally set. +---------------------------------------------------------------+ That is . . . | | |---------------------------------------------------------------| . . . an alarm that was originally set for 10:00,on a day one | | week prior to the event will remain at 10:00 on the remaining | | days, even if the alarm is rescheduled automatically or | | manually at any time of the day. | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ If the event start time has already passed when the schedule is reopened after a period of inactivity, the alarm will sound as noted above, both cancel and sleep will cancel the alarm permanently by virtue of the rescheduled time falling into the past. If an event is moved in time, the attached alarms are moved with it. If after the move, any alarms fall in past time, or within 5 minutes of the current date / time of day, then they are discarded - as it is assumed that the operator is already looking at the event being moved, and doesn't want to be disturbed again within 5 minutes of placing the event in the new position. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 ALARMS Page 39 To use the following chart, determine how far away the present alarm point is from the actual event start... and locate that time position on the vertical line. From the adjacent text, you can determine what sleep interval will be added to the alarm time for the next 'wake-up' of the alarm. Time from event Alarm Time / Sleep time -------------------------------------------------------------------- ^ EVENT START | | No rescheduling | | |---- 1 minute prior | | | 1 minute intervals | | |---- 1 hour prior | | | 1 hour intervals | | |---- 1 day prior | | | 1 day intervals | | |---- 1 week | or more before event | | | 1 week intervals --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 ALARMS Page 40 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE DIARY DISPLAY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The TimeTrak diary provides the ability for each person or resource within a schedule to display a customized diary on demand. The diary presents the status of the resource or schedule on an event- by-event basis sorted by time. If the Timesheet or Calendar are displayed, pressing the F7 key will switch to the Diary - aligned to the time indicated in the timesheet/calendar. On screen, between 3 and 11 events may be displayed - depending on the height of the user-defined diary layout (set during File-New). More events will be shown if you are using extended text modes on an EGA or VGA monitor. The leftmost column displays the event starting date and time. The rest of the diary width is occupied by a time-ordered list of events for the selected resource/s. When displaying the diary for a single resource, each item is separated by a single or double horizontal rule... A single line indicates that the events are back-to-back, and there is no free time available between them, while a double line denotes that there is at least one free timeslot between the events where an extra event may be inserted. The items in a diary for the whole schedule are always separated by a double line. ALL RESOURCES / ONE RESOURCE DISPLAYED As well as events for the currently active resource, you can toggle between a view of all resources in the current schedule with the SPACE bar. Depending on where the cursor is positioned when switching between modes, the display will align to the correct event/timeslot relationship in the new display mode. If there are no events in the current resource, the diary automatically changes to display all resources in the schedule. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 DIARY Page 41 MOVING AROUND IN THE DIARY The Up and Down arrows are active in diary display - and each press will cause the diary cursor to move one event position in the arrow direction. When scrolling reaches the first or last event in the current diary screen, the display scrolls to reveal more events in the scroll direction. PgUp and PgDn move the display by one half screen height. CHANGING OR DELETING A DIARY EVENT Since the diary is a display-only format, you cannot directly change the events in the diary window. By positioning the highlight cursor over any desired event, and pressing ENTER twice (once to leave the diary and reposition the timesheet, and once to open the event under the timesheet cursor), you may use any of the timesheet tools to change the event. Once the event is modified as required, simply redisplay the diary (by using the Display menu or CTRL+D) with the cursor still positioned over the updated event. LOCATING EVENTS You can move to the next or previous event position by using the CTRL+N and CTRL+P keys for any event, or the CTRL+arrow key combination to find events by content (if a value has been set with the Locate-Key-Field function). The F3 key is available in the diary display to specify new search key values. The diary will automatically locate events in the correct context - current resource or whole schedule - depending on the SPACE mode toggle. Pressing CTRL+SHIFT sequences are treated the same as CTRL+arrow. MOVING TO A SPECIFIC DATE You may also move to any date in the current 12-month period by using a TWO DIGIT date, followed by a month key from the keyboard overlay. (1-9, 0, -, =) To ensure that the move is always forward from the cursor, hold the SHIFT key when selecting the month. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 DIARY Page 42 CLOSING THE DIARY Pressing the ENTER key terminates the diary display, and returns to the event highlighted by the cursor in the timesheet. To cancel the diary display, and return to the original location in the timesheet display, use the ESC key. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 DIARY Page 43 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CALENDAR DISPLAY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The TimeTrak calendar provides the ability for each resource or person within a schedule to have a calendar displayed or printed on demand. The calendar is always organized on a daily basis, with seven columns representing the days-of-the-week, and the number of rows organized to fit the current display mode. Adjacent months are displayed in alternating colours so that month boundaries are clearly indicated. If the Diary or Timesheet are displayed, pressing the F6 key will display the calendar - aligned to the time indicated in the diary/timesheet. The display is drawn with respect to the week and day start values that are defined in the schedule. If the schedule begins on Tuesday at 09:00, then each week of the calendar will begin on Tuesday, and end on Monday - times before 09:00 on any day in this particular schedule will be regarded as part of the prior day. When first displayed, the month containing the current timeslot is positioned in the centre of the calendar, and portions of the preceding and following months are shown above and below. The current date is indicated in a distinctive colour if it is within the calendar area. The calendar cursor is a highlighted block that moves in response to the cursor keys. MOVING AROUND IN THE CALENDAR Motion within a calendar is limited to units of one whole day. As you move around the screen with the arrow keys, the display will reposition to ensure that the cursor stays within the calendar area. The time bar at the top of screen will correctly indicate the cursor position even during fast scrolling. By using the cursor movement keys, you can position over any day in the calendar. The calendar and contents are always correctly displayed when the cursor keys are used for positioning. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 CALENDAR Page 44 The PgUp and PgDn keys will scroll the display by one screen in the desired direction. It should be noted that if the PgUp/PgDn keys are held down, the calendar will be scrolled faster than the screen can redisplay - only when the key is released, will the calendar and contents be fully redisplayed. Pressing BackSpace will move the calendar and cursor to the current date. LOCATING EVENTS You may jump to the next or previous event position by using the CTRL+N and CTRL+P keys for any event, or the CTRL+arrow key combination to find events by content (if a value has been set by the Locate-Key-Field function). The F3 key is available in the calendar display to specify new search values. The calendar will only locate events in the current resource, so CTRL+SHIFT+arrow sequences are treated the same as CTRL+arrow. MOVING TO A SPECIFIC DATE You may also move to any date in the current 12-month period by using a TWO DIGIT date, followed by a month key from the keyboard overlay. (1-9, 0, -, =) To ensure that the move is always forward from the cursor, hold the SHIFT key when selecting the month. CLOSING THE CALENDAR Pressing the ENTER key terminates the calendar function, and returns with the date highlighted by the cursor to the underlying window... In the case of the timesheet, the active timeslot will be aligned to match the highlighted date in the cursor. To cancel the calendar display, and return to the original location in the underlying display window, use the ESC key. EVENTS IN THE CALENDAR Below each date that is displayed in the calendar, is space for 6 block characters. Each block represents a 4-hour period within the indicated date. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 CALENDAR Page 45 6 blocks x 4 hours = 24 hours. For schedules based on multiples of a whole day, events are displayed as a solid bar... for any events that occur within each 4-hour period of the schedule, a solid block will be displayed, where no events are present, the character space is left blank. Since each date cell is displayed with respect to the starting day and time of the associated schedule, each block is positioned on a 4-hour boundary from the specified schedule starting time... not necessarily on periods calculated from 00:00 midnight. For those schedules with a slotsize less than 24 hours, press the TAB key to display a key to the event-block times. +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ EXAMPLES: | | | | If the schedule was defined to start at 09:00 each day, the blocks | | will show... (in order left-right) | | | | Block 1 09:00 - 12:59 on date shown | | 2 13:00 - 16:59 | | 3 17:00 - 20:59 | | 4 21:00 - 00:59 next morning | | 5 01:00 - 04:59 | | 6 05:00 - 08:59 | | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ If the schedule starts at 00:00 each day, the breaks are confined | | within the same day in the expected manner... | | | | Block 1 00:00 - 03:59 on date shown | | 2 04:00 - 07:59 | | 3 08:00 - 11:59 | | 4 12:00 - 15:59 | | 5 16:00 - 19:59 | | 6 20:00 - 23:59 | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 CALENDAR Page 46 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FILE OPERATIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In TimeTrak, the FILE menu provides access to all the file functions required during normal use. FILE-OPEN Creates a new split at the cursor line (space permitting), and fills the split with the named schedule. In the case of the first split, TimeTrak will fill the screen from top to bottom with the first schedule that is opened. To select a particular schedule name, press ENTER at the Open Filename prompt... TimeTrak will display a list of the available schedule files - or allow you to move through the directory structure to find the schedule that you require. If you specify a partial filename with wildcard characters (as per the DOS convention), TimeTrak will use the requested directory, and list only those files that match the desired file specification. Using the file list, you may also move to other directories by selecting any of the dot or \entries that are shown in the list and pressing ENTER. A maximum of 4 schedules may be open at one time - however those 4 may be displayed in as many as 8 sepoarate splits on screen. FILE-REPLACE File-Replace will load another schedule to replace the existing split contents. The file selection procedure is identical to that used in File-Open. If no splits are visible, then File-Replace will perform the same function as File-Open to create the first visible split. NOTE: If the schedule in the current split has other multiple splits open - then REPLACE is disabled due to the internal links that are maintained between the multiple splits. You must close the other splits of the same schedule so that only one split remains before a REPLACE operation may be performed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 FILE MENU Page 47 FILE-CLOSE Removes the active split from the screen. All displayed data is saved, and the adjacent splits are repositioned and expanded to fill the space that was vacated by the closed split. FILE-CREATE Is the most complex of the File operations. It allows you (with the correct privileges) to define the structure of a new schedule. Once specified, the new schedule is immediately available for use by TimeTrak. To assist in creating files, a series of 'forced help' screens are displayed before each step of the create operation. To disable these guide screens, start TimeTrak with the -N switch, or set TT_GUIDE = NO The File-Create option is presented as a series of fields to complete, and a form designer. NEW SCHEDULE NAME Once CREATE is selected, you are asked to provide a name for the new schedule - this should be limited to 8 characters - any more will be ignored. After creation, the new schedule will be stored as yourname.TSD and associated index file yourname.TSX NUMBER OF RESOURCES The next step in the schedule definition is to specify the number of resources that should be present in the schedule. The number of resources is the number of individual items that are to be separately scheduled - in the above example, the staff names would be resources - so this field would contain some value nominally larger than the number of staff available at the present time. RESOLUTION OF THE SCHEDULE Now you must specify the minimum size of scheduled events. This is a two step process where you supply the number of units per event, and the size of the unit. Examples are... 1-hour, 7- days, 30-seconds . . . etc. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 FILE MENU Page 48 This base time period determines the interval that will be used to place time markers on the screen. (Every schedule is stored with accuracy to 1 second - scrolling a personnel file in one second increments would soon become tiring! - so we let you define the most convenient time slot size. The minimum slot size is 1-second, and the largest is 99-weeks. IMPORTANT If you choose a slot size that does not divide evenly into 24 hours, the slot boundaries will drift throughout the length of the schedule, since all slots are calculated as an offset from 00:00 midnight on the first of January 1970. To check your desired timebase for this limitation, convert the required event resolution into seconds (e.g. 12 minutes x 60 secs = 720 seconds), then divide 86400 by the calculated result (86400 / 720 = 120.0) If the final result has any non-zero digits after the decimal point, then the proposed timebase will drift. The following list contains all possible slot durations less than 24 hours that may be created under TimeTrak without the drift effect coming in. Larger slot times are dependent on the week alignment required. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 FILE MENU Page 49 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ 1 SECOND | | | | 00:00∙01 00:00∙02 00:00∙03 00:00∙04 00:00∙05 | | 00:00∙06 00:00∙08 00:00∙09 00:00∙10 00:00∙12 | | 00:00∙15 00:00∙16 00:00∙18 00:00∙20 00:00∙24 | | 00:00∙25 00:00∙27 00:00∙30 00:00∙32 00:00∙36 | | 00:00∙40 00:00∙45 00:00∙48 00:00∙50 00:00∙54 | | | | 1 MINUTE | | | | 00:01∙00 00:01∙04 00:01∙12 00:01∙15 00:01∙20 | | 00:01∙30 00:01∙36 00:02∙00 00:03∙00 00:04∙00 | | 00:05∙00 00:06∙00 00:08∙00 00:09∙00 00:10∙00 | | 00:12∙00 00:15∙00 00:16∙00 00:18∙00 00:20∙00 | | 00:24∙00 00:30∙00 00:32∙00 00:36∙00 00:40∙00 | | 00:45∙00 00:48∙00 | | | | 1 HOUR | | | | 01:00∙00 01:12∙00 01:20∙00 01:30∙00 01:36∙00 | | 02:00∙00 02:24∙00 02:40∙00 03:00∙00 04:00∙00 | | 04:48∙00 06:00∙00 08:00∙00 12:00∙00 | | | | 1 DAY | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ STARTING DAY AND TIME Each schedule is aligned to a day and time that is most applicable for the schedules intended use. For example, personal schedules may be started from Saturday or Sunday, while business schedules could be Monday. Similarly, a factory shift system could be aligned to Thursday. In that case, a schedule based on Thursday would be more appropriate for the factory staff. In the same concept, different departments will often align their work patterns around different office times... In the office mentioned above, you may choose to schedule on 30 minute intervals from 09:00, while the factory works from 07:00, which is the shift starting time for each new 'production' day. By setting the schedule start time to reflect the actual requirements of the department being scheduled as shown above, --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 FILE MENU Page 50 TimeTrak is able to provide more intuitive displays which show the correct relationship between multiple schedules. +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Example: | | |---------------------------------------------------------------| From the above situation, consider a shift worker that applies | | for some holidays, and needs to pick up his salary from the | | company office before leaving... | | | | By looking at the two schedules alongside each other, it is | | immediately apparent from the schedule offsets that his last | | shift ends outside regular office hours, thus he must pick up | | his pay during the preceding day. | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ SCHEDULE DATA LAYOUT The screen now displays a blank rectangle on the screen. This box after resizing and addition of data fields, will be the data window that is used to store and display the information about any event in the schedule. The cursor is positioned within the box area, you can create prompts and reposition with the arrow keys as required. By pressing CTRL+W, you may resize the rectangle using the arrow keys interactively while defining the window contents. Resizing is terminated with the ENTER key. At this time you should determine the most favourable layout to contain the information needed in your schedule. Typing text will create messages or legends on the form - the position and content is completely arbitrary, and has no effect on TimeTrak operation. UNDERSCORE and TILDE characters are reserved for field definitions - see the next paragraph. To access the extended character set, hold down the ALT key while you type the decimal character value on the numeric keypad. The extended character set is listed at the rear of this manual. LINE DRAWING --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 FILE MENU Page 51 To assist in creating boxes and simple graphics, press the CTRL+L keys to enable the line drawing function. Moving the cursor will produce a continuous line that can be used to highlight fields and user entries. Pressing ENTER restores the form layout mode. To insert or delete lines within the form design, press CTRL+I or CTRL+D (INS & DEL are used within the current line to add or delete characters). DATABASE FIELDS As well as text and prompts, the data window will probably contain variable fields that are used to hold information unique to each event. To indicate the position for a data field within the form layout, use the UNDERSCORE ( _ ) character to fill the required space. +---------------------------------------------------------------+ e.g. Name _______ | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ If the field is required to be used in LOCATE operations, a tilde (~) character +---------------------------------------------------------------+ e.g. Name ~______~ | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ should appear at any one or more positions within the field area, more details may be found under the LOCATE function in the timesheet chapter. Fields and key-fields are determined by the presence of continuous strings of UNDERSCORE or TILDE characters. If the field area contains any other character, TimeTrak will interpret the area as two separate fields/keys. SETTING FIELD NAMES When the layout is complete, press CTRL+ENTER to begin setting the names for each of the user data fields. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 FILE MENU Page 52 For each user field that was defined, a small text box will appear. Type in the name that will be associated with this data in normal operation - these are the names that will appear in the F2 display field selector. +---------------------------------------------------------------+ e.g. if the field is designated as holding the customer | | account number, the field name may be CustAccNo or | | Account#.... | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ LAYOUT DIARY FORM Once the schedule data form is complete, you have defined the way data will be entered and displayed within the new schedule. You have also designated the type and size of all the data fields that are associated with the schedule... The screen will now display another blank 'window' rectangle on the screen... To make some aspects of the schedule more readable, layout allows you to design a text box that tells TimeTrak how you want to see the schedule data when it is displayed in a list form. By providing this second display method, you can select only the most relevant information to be shown in a convenient form. To specify the diary layout, use exactly the same keys as you did when setting up the schedule data form. All the layout keys behave in the same manner for both the diary and schedule data windows. The diary window is limited in its height between 1 and 6 lines, so that you may display between 3 and 11 events on screen simultaneously with the diary (with a standard PC display). Similarly the width is limited so that TimeTrak is able to fit the time indicators in the margin alongside each event when it is displayed later. To indicate where a data field should appear in the diary, place UNDERSCORE characters to fill the desired space. TimeTrak will look after padding or trimming the actual field data to use only the designated space. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 FILE MENU Page 53 If more underscore areas are indicated than fields are available in the schedule, the status bar will flash, and a diagnostic message can be displayed by pressing the F1 key. NOTE: Each data field may only appear once within the diary layout, if a single field is designated to appear in two or more underscored areas, the program will flash the status bar, and a diagnostic message will be available by pressing the F1 (help) key. Once the diary layout is completed, press CTRL+ENTER to designate which fields should appear in the underscored locations. SELECT FIELDS FOR THE DIARY DISPLAY With the diary, you are not specifying new fields, but rather, you are defining an alternate way that the schedule information may be displayed. After specifying the diary layout, one of the previously underscored areas will be shown as a flashing block, and TimeTrak automatically places the field names into each of the possible field areas. To change which field is displayed in any field location, use the arrow keys too select the desired field location, then press ENTER. A list of the available fields allows you to pick which field should be shown in the currently highlighted field location. NOTE: Each data field can only appear once within the diary layout, if a single field is designated to appear in two or more underscored areas, the program will flash the status bar, and a diagnostic message will be available by pressing the F1 (help) key. SUGGESTIONS Before setting up a new schedule, consider the possibilities available for the particular application... When setting up a sales activity database, it may be more relevant to define the sales areas as the resources, while the salesman name is a keyed in value on the data form ... or perhaps you only have one piece each of the demo samples - then the product samples could be more appropriate as the resources. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 FILE MENU Page 54 Also, while high resolution schedules can be applied to any problem, they can require more horizontal scrolling than you're prepared for ! In this case, maybe a less dense schedule, with multiple items per data form is appropriate. FILE-PRINT Refer to Config-Printer for more details on printer setup information. The first operation when printing from TimeTrak is to indicate the type of output required. The available choices are: A Planner similar in layout to the timesheet - with various formatting options for range and display style. A Calendar format that provides a hard copy of the 'display' calendar function. A Diary listing which provides a time sorted list of events in the 'compact' diary layout. Having selected the listing format, you can choose between printing all the resources in the current schedule, or only the current resource under the cursor highlight. After selecting the resource scope of the listing, you must specify the time range of events that should be printed. The listing will include all events that begin in the period bounded by the entered start and end times (inclusive). By default, the time range includes all events that are currently visible in the timesheet display. CANCELLING A PRINTOUT To cancel a printout that is in already in progress, press the ESC key. FILE-UTILITIES These functions are supervisory, and may never need to be used - however they are provided for completeness. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 FILE MENU Page 55 Reindex allows you to scan the schedule data file (TSD), and rebuild the pointers that allow fast access to the schedule information. This function need only be used if the schedule index file (TSX) is damaged or lost. Reindexing has no way of reconstructing alarm information, so it is suggested that as with all database systems, you keep a regular nackup of important schedules. Note: To save space when archiving schedules, you do not need to save the 'TSX' index files, since they may be rebuilt from the TSD files. This is a significant advantage since the TSX file is often much larger than the TSD file. Purge provides the ability to remove all events from a selected range of time within a schedule. This would typically be used to remove old events from a schedule that was becoming too large, or slowing down due to unneccessary storage of a large number of 'past' events. FILE-DOS When this menu item is selected, TimeTrak operation is suspended, and the user is placed in a temporary DOS shell. From this point, you may run any DOS application or utility that will fit into memory alongside TimeTrak. To return to normal TimeTrak operation, type EXIT at the DOS prompt, followed by the ENTER key. A copy of DOS' COMMAND.COM must be present on disk and correctly identified to DOS for this function to work. FILE-EXIT Is the normal method of terminating the TimeTrak program. Once selected, all current operations are stopped, files closed and the screen restored to the state prior to TimeTrak operation. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 FILE MENU Page 56 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPLIT OPERATIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Split menu provides the ability to manage multiple schedules in the timesheet. Some split menu operations cross-over with the File-Open, Replace and Close functions. SPLIT-SPLIT Creates a new split of the active schedule at the cursor line. This new split may be scrolled separately, and have different display fields as required. Any changes made in either of the splits will reflect correctly in the other splits of the same schedule. The total number of splits on screen is limited to 8. SPLIT-CLOSE Performs the same operation as the FIle-Close function. If multiple splits are open for a single schedule, only the current split is closed. SPLIT-ZOOM Bring the currently active split up to full screen (and vice-versa) - this allows more resources to be shown for the selected split. A shortcut for this function is to press the CTRL+Z key combination. SPLIT-WINDOW POSITION By selecting this function or pressing CTRL+W from the timesheet display, you may adjust the size of the active split when there is more than one split visible on screen. When the active split is the top-most or bottom-most, Split-Window Position allows you to adjust the position of the dividing line between the active split and that split immediately adjacent. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 SPLIT MENU Page 57 When the active split is between two others, you are asked to choose which edge is to be positioned - or both if you want to move the split overall. If repositioning is impossible in the current context, the status bar will flash when the invalid option is chosen. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 SPLIT MENU Page 58 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISPLAY MENU --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Display menu is the standard method for changing between the timesheet and the various alternate TimeTrak screen displays. To select a display from the menu, either move to your choice with the arrow keys, and press ENTER, or use the hot-key that is indicated in a contrasting colour. Each function on the menu may be accessed directly from the timesheet by using the keyboard shortcut key that is shown at the right-hand edge of the menu item bar. REMEMBER - ALT keys are menu functions, CTRL keys are menu shortcuts. DIARY The diary displays the contents of the schedule in a scrollable list format - with the exact layout designed by the user. The diary contents are selectable between the events for a single resource, or those of the whole schedule. The diary display can be repositioned to any date or time, as well as providing the ability to search to events by content or presence. Pressing CTRL+D from the timesheet will also access the diary. CALENDAR With the calendar display, you are presented with a day-by-day view of activities for the currently selected resource. The calendar may be repositioned to any date or time, as well as providing the ability to search to events by content or presence. You can also press CTRL+C from the timesheet to access the calendar display. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 DISPLAY MENU Page 59 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOCATE MENU --------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the Locate menu, TimeTrak offers some of its most powerful features. Each schedule is created with a number of user data fields or searchable key fields in the pop-up window and diary form. The Locate menu allows you to use these searchable fields to access any event in the schedule - as well as finding any event simply by its presence. LOCATE NEXT / PREVIOUS EVENT IN RESOURCE By using these menu selections, the timesheet is repositioned to the start time of the next (or previous) event in the currently highlighted resource. The search is unconditional, and simply moves to the presence of any event that is forward of the current cursor position. These functions may be called within the timesheet by using the CTRL+N and CTRL+P key sequuences. LOCATE NEXT / PREVIOUS EVENT IN SCHEDULE These menu selections, perform much the same function, but the timesheet is now repositioned to the start time of the next (or previous) event for any event in the current schedule. As above, the search is unconditional, and simply moves to the presence of any event that is forward of the current cursor position. Where multiple events occur at the same start time, the cursor wil step vertically through the events, until it is necessary to move horizontally for the next event start position. Holding the SHIFT key while pressing the CTRL+N and CTRL+P key sequences noted above, you may execute these functions directly from the timesheet. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 LOCATE MENU Page 60 LOCATE KEY FIELD VALUE Searching for a specific event by content is one of the many unique functions of TimeTrak. With this menu choice, you may specify the field to check, and the value to be located within the schedule. Once the field and value have been chosen, use the CTRL+arrow keys to initiate the search in the desired direction. The search can be repeated as many times as required as the field and value are retained for each split until new values are stored. As above, pressing the CTRL+arrow keys alone will search within the current resource, while holding the SHIFT key simultaneously, will locate the field contents anywhere in the current schedule. The field locate function may be called from any screen display by pressing the F3 key. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 LOCATE MENU Page 61 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONFIGURATION OPTIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Config menu sets the operating characteristics of TimeTrak. If the TT_CONFIG variable is set to NO, then this menu will be unavailable to users. CONFIG-OPTIONS Selecting this function displays a list of the options that may be set-up. From the timesheet, you may press CTRL+O to open the Options submenu. You may choose from any item on the list with the cursor keys followed by pressing ENTER. Once a selection is made, a selector box will offer a list of the available settings for the chosen option. Any changes made here are for the current session only, the next time TimeTrak is run, the defaults (or environment settings) will be used. CONFIG-RESOURCE Allows you to modify the resource names and the width of the left margin in the timesheet. By selecting this function, or pressing CTRL+R in the timesheet, a submenu will appear that allows you to choose the desired action. If you chose to modify the resource name, a text entry box will appear on the current cursor line. Type over the existing name and press ENTER to store the new text. To allocate more or less space to the left margin that contains the resource and file/field names. select the Resource-Width option, you can enter a value between 1 and 31 to indicate the number of characters to be shown from the resource names. After pressing ENTER, the screen will be redrawn with the new value. CONFIG-PRINTER --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 CONFIG MENU Page 62 If you have printer access privileges, this menu option allows you to specify where the printer output should be directed (to a file or device), as well as changing the existing formatting parameters. The print destination may be any device name that is recognised by DOS, or any drive:path\filename.ext that is accessible to the current user. If a filename is used without any path prefix, then the file will be located in the current working directory. If no destination value has been set by TT_PRINTER the default destination is LPT1. You may also specify the character set to be used when writing to the print device / file. In Version 1.1a of TimeTrak, ASCII and IBMPC are recognised. The default, IBMPC - provides an output stream that includes all the line drawing characters found in the IBM-PC extended character set. This is compatible with the majority of dot-matrix and PC-compatible laser printers available on the market today (Refer to your printer manual for settings that allow the use of the PC character set symbols). For those applications and devices where the extended PC line- drawing set is not available, the ASCII setting will translate the line characters into plain vanilla ASCII characters that most closely represent the line intentions. The print output dimensions are defined as the number of characters and lines that can be contained within a single sheet of paper with the existing printer settings. These values are limited to a minimum of 25 lines and 80 columns per page. These settings are used when formatting the various reports to ensure that pages and lines are broken in the most meaningful manner. If you chose CON as the destination device, the number of lines will automatically be set to 25 - You must explicitly type a new value to override this default. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 CONFIG MENU Page 63 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUPERVISOR OPTIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TimeTrak provides many functions that can be misused - or accidentally used by inexperienced operators. To prevent these accidents, the supervisor functions can be used to limit specific users in their access to the system. In a larger system, as well as security and ensuring proper utilization, the supervisor must also be responsible for maintaining the backup copies of the schedule databases. Backups may be performed locally by individual users - but for orderly maintenance of files and backups in a networked system, the network administrator should be solely responsible for timely and reliable backup procedures. Other than the program files supplied on the diskette, the new schedules that have been created by you should be copied to a safe media on a regular basis. The schedule files have an extension of .TSD and the primary index .TSX. The filename is the same as the schedule name. The alarm index file is type .TLX Note: To save space when archiving schedules, you do not need to save the 'TSX' index files, since they may be rebuilt from the TSD files with the REINDEX function. This is a significant advantage since the TSX file is often much larger than the TSD file. Wher running TimeTrak from some other 'special' command line or launcher program, the startup path may be not be passed to TimeTrak correctly. This will be indicated by a warning that the help files could not be opened - since TimeTrak always looks in the startup path to find the help files... To overcome this, give the launcher program the complete TimeTrak path, which it will then pass on to TimeTrak at startup. e.g. If the TT.EXE program and help files are located in the \TIMETRAK subdirectory, you would start TT through your launch program with... yourlaunchprog {youroptions} \TIMETRAK\TT ... etc For any notes or enhancements about the TimeTrak program that were unavailable at the time of printing the manual, refer to the README.TXT file that is supplied on the TimeTrak master disk. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991SUPERVISOR OPTIONS Page 64 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES To provide the invisible control of user privileges, TimeTrak makes extensive use of DOS environment variables. This method was chosen so that in a controlled menu environment, it is almost impossible for a user to change these variables - and their access privileges. A separate environment is maintained for each DOS shell that is created - that is, if a user calls the DOS option in the File menu, and sets his own privileges, then EXITs back into TimeTrak, those new variables will be ignored, since the program is running under the original shell and environment that was present when TimeTrak was initially loaded. Using the environment requires a little tact, since DOS doesn't give you much space to move - especially when you start setting long path and prompt strings. If your system displays the error... +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Out of environment space | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ when SETting variables or running TimeTrak, then it will be necessary for you to either remove some previous settings in the environment, or modify your CONFIG.SYS file to provide more environment string space with the command... +---------------------------------------------------------------+ shell=c:\command.com c:\ /e:512 /p | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ This is exactly the same as if the shell statement was omitted from the CONFIG.SYS file, but in this case we are adding the /e:512 (or some larger figure) so that the environment is allocated more space than usual. Replace C:\ with your own drive:\path if COMMAND.COM is not located in the root directory of drive C: CAUTION : It is recommended that you prepare a bootable DOS system disk with your existing config and autoexec files included - so that --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991SUPERVISOR OPTIONS Page 65 in the event of something going wrong, you can still access your system ! SETTING THE ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES To use any of the following variables, you may include the SET commands in your startup batch file, or type those that you require immediately before running the TimeTrak program. To define any of the environment variables to some other value than the default, use... +---------------------------------------------------------------+ SET variablename=value | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ In the following list, the underlined option is the default value if no value has been specified. For the non-default options, only the CAPITALISED letters need to be typed in order to conserve environment space. Note: There should be no SPACE character before or after the EQUAL (=) sign. Running TimeTrak without any environment or command-line options will provide... +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Default settings | | |---------------------------------------------------------------| all menus enabled, | | | | editing in the past disabled | | | | present slot is 'past' | | | | no audible warnings | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991SUPERVISOR OPTIONS Page 66 Whenever the timesheet is displayed, press the TAB key for a brief description of the current environment settings. TT_ACCESS= {create|MODIFY|VIEW} enables or disables the ability of the user to create or update databases from within the program. ACCESS=create allows the user to perform any function on a schedule file. ACCESS=MODIFY allows all functions except the ability to create a new schedule. ACCESS=VIEW only allows the user to display existing schedule information. Events may not be added or updated in any way. create access is required to perform any changes to the schedule structure or defaults - including the ability to change resource names. TT_AUTODELAY= {5|nn} - allows nn minutes of no key activity before automatically changing into AutoTrak mode. If nn is set to 0, AutoTrak will never be activated. If no schedules are open, the system will beep every nn minutes between keystrokes. TT_CONFIG= {yes|NO} If set to NO inhibits the user from changing the working characteristics of the program. TT_CURSOR= {narrow|Wide|2-bar} sets the preferred cursor style when working in the timesheet. TT_DBWINDOW= {before|AFTER} allows the operator to determine whether the schedule data window should be displayed & completed before or after the time range when creating a new event. TT_DOS= {yes|NO} enables or disables the user's access to the File- DOS menu function and the DOS-CMD alarms. For maximum system security, this should be set to NO. TT_EDITPAST= {no|YES}, selecting YES will allow the operator to change events that have passed the current date and time. If set to the default of no, only events in the future are modifiable, past events are viewable only TT_GUIDE= {yes|NO} disables the forced help screens that are displayed to help you through complex operations. e.g. New schedule file creation. TT_KBSPEED= {Slow|Medium|fast} adjusts the keyboard typematic delay and repeat rate to allow faster operation within TimeTrak. TT_MOUSE= xscale, yscale adjusts the mouse speed scaling to suit your preferences. The initial values are preset as 70,60 Lower values = faster mouse response. Setting both values to zero will disable the mouse functions from the program. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991SUPERVISOR OPTIONS Page 67 TT_PATH= {currentpath|requiredpath} the DOS compatible path name that defines the location of the TimeTrak databases and indexes. If undefined, TimeTrak will initially use the current directory, then allow the user to move between directories when opening or replacing files. For security purposes, this variable should be set to the appropriate directory for each user. If requiredpath is defined, TimeTrak will let the user access the specified directory only - excluding any higher or lower levels of subdirectories. TT_PRESENT= {past|FUTURE} specifies whether the current time slot (today's date and time-of-day) should be regarded as past time (used by TT_EDITPAST), or future time, which would allow changes to the current slot even when the editing of past events is disabled. TT_PRINTER= {LPT1|device|path\filename.ext|NO} ,{80|width} ,{66|lines} ,{IBMPC|ASCII|charset} Specifies the target for the File-Print command. device indicates the initial destination for all print requests, width sets the maximum number of character columns that can be printed across each page, lines specifies the maximum number of lines per page between headers, and charset indicates the character set to be used when sending reports to the printer/file. Setting TT_PRINTER=NO disables all user access to printer functions and configuration from within the program. Setting TT_CONFIG=NO will indirectly inhibit the user from changing the settings made with TT_PRINTER. The default setting is equivalent to TT_PRINTER=LPT1,80,66,IBMPC TT_SOUND= {off|ON} enables the computer's speaker to accompany error or warning messages. TT_SCROLL= {fast|slow} When TimeTrak performs scrolling, it may be considerably slowed down by disk access - especially on floppy disk based machines. Entering any value after the equal sign will make the scroll operations wait until the screen is redrawn. ENDING A TIMETRAK SESSION Before turning off or rebooting your main computer or workstation, all TimeTrak schedules must be CLOSED, or TimeTrak terminated in the normal manner (FILE-EXIT). Failure to follow this rule will possibly corrupt the data in the schedule files, or the most recent additions/changes will be lost. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991SUPERVISOR OPTIONS Page 68 ERROR MESSAGES TimeTrak automatically resolves most error situations, and informs you of the current status through flashing the bottom message bar. Pressing the F1 key immediately after the status bar blinks will display a description of the problem that caused the warning. For those errors which TimeTrak cannot handle internally, a text message box is popped-over the current display, with a description of the condition that caused the error. Can't chdir to .... Indicates that TimeTrak was asked to access a schedule in a device or directory that is inaccessible to the current user. One possible cause may be that the target is write protected. Can't check range, database corrupted... When you press ENTER to create a new event, TimeTrak scans the current resource to see if there is space for an event to fit. If you see this error, you should backup the TSD file, and immediately try to REINDEX the offending schedule. Can't create index for ... This error will usually occur if you have run out of disk space, or some other critical disk error has occurred. It cannot happen during normal operation, as indexes are only created during the initial schedule setup and reindexing operations. Couldn't find original record... This is a serious error, as the resource names are all stored near the beginning of the schedule TSD file. This indicates that the schedule file has been corrupted in a very critical place, and may be irrecoverable. Critical errors of this type are usually be caused by power failure during disk operations, or physical disk problems. It is suggested that you copy the TSD file to another disk, and then restore your previous backup copy. Cant open database... During an open or replace operation, TimeTrak failed to locate the schedule TSD file that was requested. Can't open index... TimeTrak successfully opened the TSD (schedule database), but could not open the TSX (index) file. This may be due to some disk error, or more likely, the TSX file has been deleted to save disk space. Use the FILE-UTILITIES-REINDEX function to build a new index for the desired schedule. Couldn't modify database... Probably indicates that the schedule file is set as write-protected. Any changes you have made will be discarded. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991SUPERVISOR OPTIONS Page 69 Drive .... not available... An attempt to access a disk drive that is not available to TimeTrak. Pressing ENTER will restore the program to that point immediately prior to the error operation. File already exists... You may not create two schedules with the same name. Invalid file name... TimeTrak expects all schedule names to adhere to the rules required for DOS filenames. (Refer to your DOS manual for more detail) Invalid number of resources... TimeTrak allows between 1 and 999 resources per schedule. This error is displayed when an invalid number is entered... typically 0 or some letters that do not evaluate to a number. Invalid slot size... TimeTrak allows between 1 and 99 units per time slot. e.g. 1 second, 30 minutes, 4 days This error is displayed when an invalid number is entered... typically 0 or letters that do not evaluate to a number. Invalid unit... Only predefined units are available in TimeTrak - i.e. multiples of Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days and Weeks. Terminated by user... This message indicates that the current operation was terminated by the user (pressing ESC). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991SUPERVISOR OPTIONS Page 70 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE EXTENDED CHARACTER SET --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 123 { 124 | 125 } 126 ~ 127 128 Ç 129 ü 130 é 131 â 132 ä 133 à 134 å 135 ç 136 ê 137 ë 138 è 139 ï 140 î 141 ì 142 Ä 143 Å 144 É 145 æ 146 Æ 147 ô 148 ö 149 ò 150 û 151 ù 152 ÿ 153 Ö 154 Ü 155 ¢ 156 £ 157 ¥ 158 ₧ 159 ƒ 160 á 161 í 162 ó 163 ú 164 ñ 165 Ñ 166 ª 167 º 168 ¿ 169 ⌐ 170 ¬ 171 ½ 172 ¼ 173 ¡ 174 « 175 » 176 + 177 + 178 + 179 | 180 | 181 + 182 | 183 + 184 + 185 | 186 | 187 + 188 + 189 + 190 + 191 + 192 + 193 - 194 - 195 | 196 - 197 + 198 + 199 | 200 + 201 + 202 - 203 - 204 | 205 - 206 + 207 - 208 + 209 - 210 + 211 + 212 + 213 + 214 + 215 + 216 + 217 + 218 + 219 + 220 + 221 + 222 + 223 + 224 α 225 ß 226 Γ 227 π 228 Σ 229 σ 230 µ 231 τ 232 Φ 233 Θ 234 Ω 235 δ 236 ∞ 237 φ 238 ε 239 ∩ 240 ≡ 241 ± 242 ≥ 243 ≤ 244 ⌠ 245 ⌡ 246 ÷ 247 ≈ 248 ° 249 ∙ 250 · 251 √ 252 ⁿ 253 ² 254 ■ The characters above 127 are only available when laying out windows or forms. They cannot be typed into text entry fields. To access characters that are not present on the keyboard, hold either ALT key, while typing the character value on the numeric keypad. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991EXTENDED CHARACTER SET Page 71 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INDEX --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Active split..............................................27 Alarm actions.............................................35 Alarm cancellation........................................38 Alarm errors..............................................36 Alarms.................................................9, 35 Automatic display..........................................8 AutoTrak...........................................8, 22, 23 BackSpace key.............................................11 Blank splits..........................................13, 31 Calendar...............................................7, 44 Calendar cursor...........................................44 Calendar events...........................................45 Cancelling a printout.....................................55 Cell contents.............................................23 Changing a diary entry....................................42 Changing an event.........................................33 Changing the active split.................................27 Character set listing.....................................71 Command line options......................................19 Compressed displays.......................................13 Compressing the display range.............................30 Config menu...............................................21 Config-Options............................................62 Config-Printer............................................62 Config-Resource...........................................62 Config.sys............................................14, 65 Copying events............................................32 Creating a new event......................................31 Creating a new schedule...................................48 Ctrl+END key..............................................11 Ctrl+ENTER key............................................11 Ctrl+HOME key.............................................11 Ctrl+L key................................................51 Ctrl+N key................................................30 Ctrl+O key................................................62 Ctrl+P key................................................30 Ctrl+R key................................................62 Ctrl+W key (in File-New)..................................51 Ctrl+W key (in timesheet).................................57 Ctrl+Z key................................................57 Cursor position...........................................28 Cursor style..............................................67 Data fields in the timesheet..........................34, 52 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INDEX Page 72 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INDEX --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Data form layout..........................................51 Date setting..............................................19 Default settings..........................................66 DEL key (in range setting)................................32 DEL key (in text).........................................11 Deleting a diary entry....................................42 Deleting an alarm.........................................38 Deleting an event.........................................33 Diary..................................................7, 41 Disk requirements.........................................15 Display adapters..........................................18 Display menu..........................................20, 59 DOS shell.................................................65 Duration of an event......................................31 Editing in past time......................................28 Ending TimeTrak.......................................20, 68 Entry order for new events............................31, 67 Environment space.........................................65 Environment variables.....................................65 Error Messages........................................12, 69 Event cursor...............................................8 Event duration............................................31 Events.....................................................7 Expanding the display range...............................30 Extended moves.........................................9, 25 F1 key....................................................11 F10 key...................................................20 F2 key....................................................23 F3 key............................................28, 42, 45 F5 key....................................................22 F6 key....................................................44 F7 key....................................................41 Field display.............................................34 Field names...............................................52 Fields in the data window.................................52 File menu.................................................20 File operations...........................................47 File options..............................................24 File-Close................................................48 File-Create...............................................48 File-DOS..................................................56 File-Exit.................................................56 File-Open.................................................47 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INDEX Page 73 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INDEX --------------------------------------------------------------------------- File-Print................................................55 File-Replace..............................................47 File-Utilities............................................55 Floppy disk startup.......................................17 Floppy system performance.................................17 Function Feedback.........................................12 Glossary...................................................6 Graphics characters...................................51, 71 Hard disk startup.........................................17 Help......................................................11 Help files missing........................................64 Help guide screens....................................48, 67 Ignoring the key search value.............................30 Information about the schedule............................22 INS key in text...........................................10 Installation..............................................14 Introduction...............................................5 Jump to a particular time..................................9 Jump to a specific date...................................26 Key fields................................................52 Key names.................................................52 Keyboard..................................................10 Keyboard speed........................................24, 67 Locate - example..........................................29 Locate menu...........................................20, 60 Locating a specific value.................................28 Locating an event by content..............................28 Making a new schedule.....................................48 Menu bar...................................................8 Menu operation............................................20 Modifying an existing event...............................33 Mouse......................................................9 Mouse speed...............................................67 Moving a week at a time...................................26 Moving alarms with an event...............................39 Moving an event...........................................33 Moving in the calendar....................................44 Moving in the diary.......................................42 Moving to a date..................................26, 42, 45 Moving within the timesheet...............................24 Multiple schedules.................................8, 22, 27 Multiple Splits............................................8 Network operation.........................................16 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INDEX Page 74 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INDEX --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Network startup...........................................18 New event entry order.....................................31 New events................................................31 New schedule name.........................................48 Next... function..........................................25 Number of resources.......................................48 Odd display alignment.....................................22 Paper size................................................63 Path for schedule files...................................67 Previous week.............................................26 Print cancel..............................................55 Printer character set.....................................63 Printer configuration.....................................62 Printing..................................................55 Purging events............................................56 Reindexing................................................55 Reminders.................................................35 Repeating the Locate function.............................29 Rescheduling strategy.....................................39 Resolution of schedule....................................48 Resource names............................................62 Resources..................................................7 Sample schedules...........................................6 Schedule definition........................................6 Schedule status...........................................22 Scroll Lock............................................8, 27 Scrolling speed...........................................30 Search repeat.............................................29 Searching for any event...................................30 Searching for event by content............................28 Security..................................................64 Setting environment values................................66 Setting field names.......................................52 Setting the alarm time....................................37 Setting the time range....................................31 Shift+digit...............................................26 Slot size.................................................48 Sound on/off..............................................68 SPACE bar.........................................27, 32, 41 Split menu............................................20, 57 Split-Close...............................................57 Split-Split...............................................57 Split-Window Position.....................................57 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INDEX Page 75 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INDEX --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Split-Zoom................................................57 Splits.....................................................7 Starting TimeTrak.........................................17 Startup path..............................................64 Status information........................................11 Status line...............................................12 Supervisor options........................................64 System clock..............................................19 System shutdown.......................................20, 68 TAB key...........................................11, 22, 46 Text entry................................................10 Tilde character...........................................52 Time Aligned...............................................8 Time bar...................................................8 Time notation.............................................12 Time setting..............................................19 Timesheet..............................................7, 22 Timeslots..............................................7, 49 TT_ACCESS.................................................67 TT_AUTODELAY..............................................67 TT_CONFIG.................................................67 TT_CURSOR.................................................67 TT_DBWINDOW...............................................67 TT_DOS....................................................67 TT_EDITPAST...............................................67 TT_GUIDE..................................................67 TT_KBSPEED................................................67 TT_MOUSE..................................................67 TT_PATH...................................................67 TT_PRESENT................................................68 TT_PRINTER................................................68 TT_SCROLL.................................................68 TT_SOUND..................................................68 Types of alarm............................................35 Underscore character......................................52 User data fields..........................................52 User data layout..........................................51 User privileges...........................................67 Warning messages..........................................12 Width of timeslots........................................30 Wildcards in filename.....................................47 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 August, 1991 INDEX Page 76