The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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

/ The Business Master (3rd Edition) / The Business Master (3rd Edition).iso / files / wordmisc / thotplnr / tp_guide < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1985-06-21 | 46.5 KB | 1,107 lines

THOT-PLAN'r User's Guide ("Share" Version) CONTENTS 1. WHAT IT IS 2. HOW IT WORKS 3. LOADING and STARTING the Program 4. TUTORIAL: Getting started 5. SUMMARY of COMMANDS 6. Helpful Hints and Useful Tips INTRODUCTION: Welcome to THOT-PLAN'r<tm>! You are about to begin a revolution in your personal productivity. We at THOTSystems have been working on the concepts behind this program for over a year. Actually, the base of knowledge behind it spans over ten years of education/training/counseling experience. This is only the first module in a complete line of software that will create an integrated "Idea Processing System". We refer to this as a Text-based Information Management System. We hope that you'll refer to it as a handy tool for working with ideas! If you do find it helpful, please take the time, effort, and money to help us finish the development of the System. Apply for the User's License. The normal distribution methods are too difficult to penetrate without enormous advertising expenses that would have to be passed on to Users through higher prices. 1. WHAT IT IS: THOT-PLAN'r is an innovative, broad application software tool for brainstorming and outline generating. It will allow you to record your creative ideas and flights of imagination as they occur to you, and then to group similar ideas under major categories, assign priority in outline form, and realign them according to the perspective in which you wish to consider them. THOT-PLAN'r produces a highly organized outline or plan that you can use effectively to achieve your creative goal. You can use the outline as it is, or you can expand upon it by using your word processing program. THOT-PLAN'r has been designed to put you in control--and isn't that what "User Friendly" should be all about? There is a minimum use of "commands", and they are executed by pressing the key for the first letter of the command word, e.g. <H> for HELP. By minimizing the commands, you can get "up-and-running" quickly! If this were a specific application program, such as a "Stock Market Analysis" package, we would have a pretty good idea of who the User (You!) are--but because THOT-PLAN'r deals with thinking activities that are not specific to any one area of application, we can make very few assumptions about: 1) who you are; 2) what your needs are; 3) how you intend to use this Program to meet those needs; and 4) how much you know about using a computer. You will find that as you become more familiar with THOT-PLAN'r, you will find more uses for it. We have included a Tutorial which should step you through to a completed outline in about 20-45 minutes (depending on your previous Word Processing experience). If you are new to computers, THOT-PLAN'r will demonstrate the power that computerized tools can put at your finger-tips. So much for the "what". Now let's look at the "how". 2. HOW IT WORKS: THOT-PLAN'r has been designed and developed "from the ground up" around the the proven process people use to put our ideas/ thoughts into plans for action. We have adapted this process so that the computer can record your work in an effective way, and it will provide you with a structure through which you will process your thoughts. The program is divided into functional areas, or Functions. Each Function may be accessed through its corresponding Function Key (labeled F1-F10). They are arranged in the approximate that they will be used--approximate, because you don't have to sequentially through them, and as you discover what works best for you, the sequence will probably vary from one session, or Topic, to the next. The first step is to focus your thinking by creating a Topic. This Topic is a brief (50 characters or less) statement that describes what your Brainstorm session will be about. This activity takes place in the TOPIC Function (<F2> to access). The next step is to actually begin the "Brainstorming" (F3). This involves recalling and listing as many ideas as you can that relate to the Topic for your session. Again, the Topic provides the focus for your thoughts--thots<tm>. Note: We've coined this misspelled version of "thought" (thot) in order to simplify things. It refers to any contruct that would be readily identified as an idea, thought, etc. By using the one word, thot, to identify this concept we won't be confusing you with references to this concept using different words. In this Brainstorming step you will type in as many ideas as you can that the topic stimulates for you. You can use this in a "Brainstorming" session with a group of people, with one person acting as a recorder and moderator. You will create a list of thots. This List of thots will have no structure, other than the sequence that they were typed. There is a reason for this. Your mind constantly edits and arranges information, and probably most of this "editing" happens below a level of consciousness. Therefore, when your mind is presented with any kind of structure, it tends to steer your conscious stream of thought INTO THAT STRUCTURE. This is normally a wonderful aspect of the mind, but if you're not sure of what the structure (or content) should be, this "pre- editing" can cut off some great ideas that might be developing before you become conscious of them--just because they don't fit into the given structure! One of THOT-PLAN'r's benefits is that it provides "insight insurance". More of those great ideas will be allowed to surface, and when they do, they are captured in this list of thots! When your "Brainstorm" has reduced in intensity, it's a good time to advance to the next step (F4), which is to select thots from the list to create an arrangement. This arrangement will be in the format of an outline--that is, the most important thots are MAJOR POINTS, and are the leftmost items in the arrangement. Thots that relate to these major points will be placed below and indented to the right of them. As you select each thot, you will place it in the arrangement where you want it to go. Making evaluations and judgements is what YOU do best. Your Outline will be automatically indexed for you, and as new things are added, or the arrangement is changed, these indices are up-dated by the computer. The "house-keeping" is done by the computer (what it does best). After you have selected enough thots to create a rough-draft of your outline, you can advance to the OUTLINE Function (F5). Here you can use the whole screen to modify your arrangement. You can even add new thots directly to the Outline with the <N> (for New thot) command. As we said earlier, we can't make assumptions about your level of computer expertise. Therefore, here are several terms/concepts that you should be familiar with in order to operate the program. CARRIAGE RETURN, RETURN, or ENTER? That is the question! First, there is the issue of the "Carriage Return/Enter" reference. This key is labled differently on different computers so if you aren't sure which key it is, refer to your computer's manual. It is the key that acts like a "carriage return" on an electric typewriter. It also means ENTER or SELECT for some programs. We will occasionally refer to it as "ENTER". Whenever you see reference to "<CR>", it refers to this key. The enclosing arrows (< >) indicate that we are referring to a key, and not a letter or word. CURSOR If you are new to computers, you will become familiar with a possibly new word, Cursor. The Cursor refers to the graphic character that indicates the current location of the computer's logical focus on the screen--it tells you "where it's at". It points to the location where the letter that you type on the keyboard will appear on the screen. The graphic character that THOT-PLAN'r uses is an underline--it looks like this: "_" when it is not on a letter, or underlines the letter that it is on. If you are in the COMMAND MODE, the cursor is on the line that appears in inverse-video. You must be in this mode to use the commands found on the Command Summary Card. WINDOW THOT-PLAN'r uses different windows to display various information. If you have ever used or looked at a computer screen, you have used, or seen, a "window". The video-screen is in fact a window into which you look when you are watching a program run. Imagine, if you will, reading this page through a rectangular hole cut in a large piece of cardboard. This hole is as wide as these printed lines are, and 24 text lines high. Therefore, you can't read everything that is on this page unless you either move the hole, or move this page, as you read. This is more or less what your computer does. When you look at a document that is being displayed in a Word Processing program, the size of the document is usually much larger than can be displayed at one time on the screen, so you scroll the text into view. It's much like the paper roll in a player piano. The words roll up (or down) into view. So, your computer's screen is really a large, single window. Thanks to the video-magic of computers, we can have multiple smaller windows open up inside this large window, and we can have different "pages" under each of these windows--each one of which can have different things going on inside of them, or they can pass information to one another. THOT-PLAN'r makes extensive use of this technique. THOT-PLAN'r has helpful information available to you while you are in the program. The best way to get started is to run through the Tutorial in Section 4. 3. LOADING--How to load THOT-PLAN'r: The THOT-PLAN'r diskette does not have the Operating System on it, which means that you will have to either use another disk with the System on it to "boot", or you will have to add the System file to the THOT-PLAN'r diskette for self booting. Follow the directions for your particular system on starting your system and then follow these steps: 1) Make sure that your system is prepared to read the Program. You should see "A>" on the left edge of your screen, on the lowest (last entry) line. 2) Put the THOT-PLAN'r diskette in your 'A' drive. (You can either place the THOT-PLAN' r disk in the "A-Drive", or you can put it in the "B-Drive". ) If you put it in the "B-Drive", you must tell the System to use that drive, so type <B> ,then a semi-colon <:>, and then press <CR>. The disk-drives will whirl into action and a "B>" will appear on the screen. THOT-PLAN' r must be in the "default" drive. This means that you cannot be logged-on to one drive, and call it up from another drive. For example, you cannot load if you are logged into the "A-Drive" with a "b:tp" load command. 3) Load THOT-PLAN'r by typing "tp" (either upper or lower case), and then press <CR>. When the program has successfully loaded, the screen will "blank" and then fill-in with a Credit Screen, then automatically advance to a Welcome Screen. Press any key to advance. The next screen gives you the terms of the Limited License. If you accept these terms, press the <A> key. If you press any other key, the program aborts and returns you to the system. When you've accepted the terms of the Limited License, the rest of the program will load. The next screen you'll see is the MAIN MENU screen. NOTE: WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE PROGRAM, PRESSING THE "ESCAPE" <Esc> KEY TWICE WILL GET YOU BACK HERE. The box in the middle of the screen is the workspace--in this case it is a Menu. You can: 1) use the UP/DN cursor controls to locate the Function you want and then press the <CR> key; 2) press the number corresponding to the item (the numbers across the top of your keyboard--not from the number keypad); or 3) press the Function Key with the corresponding number. The box along the top of the screen is the Status Display. It has three different formats, depending on what mode the program is in. The box along the top of the screen is the Status Display. It has three different formats, depending on what mode the program is in. If the program is in the COMMAND MODE the upper-left box, which shows "TOPICS" in this case, will be highlighted to let you know that you are in the TOPICS Function. The box to the right of it shows the current Topic (in this case Undefined). Notice the "Message Line" in the bottom box. This line will contain useful information which relates to what you are doing. While in the COMMAND MODE, if you forget what commands are available to you in the Function that you are in, press the <?> (shifted, or un-shifted). The display will change to show the "command words" which describe the commands available to you. The commands will vary, according to the specific function that you are in. This display will return to normal when you press ANY key (including the letter for the command you want!). When you are in the EDIT MODE, the display will look like the COMMAND MODE, except, the second line will say EDIT MODE, and give you some general commands available. To exit the EDIT MODE, you must press the ESCAPE Key, <ESC>. You cannot access help, change Functions, or use the mnemonic commands while in EDIT MODE. 4. TUTORIAL: Getting Started The best way to get a feeling for THOT-PLAN'r* is to go through a session in a "Guided Tour". This Tutorial will use many of the commands that you will use in a typical session. Here are some points for you to keep in mind: A) The symbol <CR> stand for the key marked RETURN, ENTER, or with the Return Arrow. B) If you need to erase, just use the <BACKSPACE> key. C) If the Cursor is a blinking, underline character, you are in the EDIT MODE and must press the <ESC> key to get to the COMMAND MODE. D) If the entire line that the cursor is on is highlighted in "Inverse Video", you are in COMMAND MODE, and may use the single letter commands. E) While in the COMMAND MODE, you may see what commands are available to you by pressing the key with the question mark <?> (you don't have to press the <SHIFT> key with it). A list of the commands will be shown in the top box (Status Display), and when you press any key (including the key for the command that you wish to execute), this display will return to normal. F) When in COMMAND MODE, you can get help by pressing the <H> key (again, upper or lower case). Press <ESC> to exit from HELP. To Begin the Tutorial, just follow these steps: 1. Turn on your computer and call up the Operating System. You should have an "A>" on the screen. 2. Insert THOT-PLAN'r disk in Drive A. 3. Load THOT-PLAN'r by typing "tp" (upper or lower case is O.K.) and then press <CR>. You will see a Title Screen> as it loads. - You will now see two framed boxes on the screen. The box along the top of the screen is called the Status Display. Normally, this shows two lines of text separated by a line drawn across the display. Notice that the top line has a small box at its extreme left which is highlighted and now says, "FUNCTION MENU". This tells you where you are in the program. It changes as you move from function to function. - The rest of the top line displays the label for the Current Topic (which now reads, "Topic is Undefined"). The second line, the Message Line, will give you immediately helpful information in the form of messages. Right now it tells you that you are in COMMAND MODE, and that you may press <H> for HELP, <?> for a Command Summary (points E and F above), or <ESC> to "escape" to the FUNCTION MENU. - Go ahead and press the <?> key to see what happens. Watch the Status Display box contents change. Now press the SPACE BAR. It now returns to normal. Do this several times if you wish. Now press the <H> key. The disk drive will start up (to retrieve the HELP text from the disk) and the HELP window opens in the middle of the screen (replacing any workspace already there), and then it fills with text which should help you. If this information is larger than this window can display, you may "scroll" more information into view with <PgDn> or <PgUp> keys. When you wish to escape from all this help, press <ESC> and you will be returned to where you were in the program. - The box in the center of the screen is the Function Menu. The top line in this box is highlighted in inverse video (remember point "D" above?). This also shows you that you are now in the COMMAND MODE and that the cursor is on this line. Look at the eight items listed in this menu. These are the eight Functions, or functional areas, of THOT-PLAN'r. Press the DOWN ARROW key once. The cursor has now moved to the second item. - There are two ways that you may choose items from any of the menus in THOT-PLAN'r. The first way uses cursor movement to highlight the item and then select it by pressing the <CR>. The second way is to simply press the number (along the top of the keyboard, not from the numeric pad) that corresponds to that item's number in the menu. In addition to this, the Functions may be selected by pressing the Function Key with the appropriate number. This way, you may by-pass the menu once you become familiar with the functions. 4. Before you can do anything else in THOT-PLAN'r, you must select a Topic. This activitiy is the second Function, item "2" on this menu, so go ahead and select this using any of the two ways explained (or the third way as well, since this is a Function). Since the cursor is on this item, you could do so by simply pressing the <CR>. - The screen display will now change, and the upper left box of the Status Display has now changed to "TOPICS" and that a larger box has replaced the menu box of the previous Function. This new box will display the Topics already present (previous sessions). Actually, these are the labels for the Topics-- maximum of 50 characters. Also, notice that you are now in the COMMAND MODE. - Since you will be adding/creating a new topic, press <A>. This will open a new line at the end of the list of Topics and switch into the EDIT MODE (the message line reflects this). Now you can "Add" a new Topic to this list. 5. Type in the following: "Uses for THOT-PLAN'r", and press <CR>. This enters the new Topic's label and returns you to the COMMAND MODE. Press <CR> again to tell the computer that you now want to make it the Current Topic. Now it shows in the top line of the Status Display, and you are ready to work with it. 6. Press <F3> (the shortcut method for getting to the BRAINSTORM Function). You could have pressed <ESC> to return to the Function Menu and then proceeded from there. - Again the screen display changes. A new, blank window opens in the middle of the screen, and the Status Display shows "BRAINSTORM" at the upper-left corner. If this was a previously used topic, the ideas listed in it would be here, but since this is a new Topic, the workspace is empty, except for the "1." and the blinking Cursor which is waiting for you to begin typing in your thoughts. 7. Type: "General Business" and press <CR>. - The Cursor now jumps to the next line which is automatically numbered for you and awaits your next thot! 8. Now, please type in the following items, being sure to press <CR> after you have typed each thot: Court Briefs Business Plans Novels Lesson Plans Creative Writing Projects Education Law Marketing Plans Goals/Objectives Thesis Magazine Articles 9. Press the <ESC> key, followed by the <F4> key. (The <ESC> got you out of the Edit Mode, the <F4> advances you to the ARRANGE Function.) - Again the screen display changes. Now there are two boxes in the middle of the screen. The one on the left (the List Window), contains your Brainstorm list of ideas. The box on the right (the Arrange Window) is the workspace where you will select items from the List, and Arrange them into an Outline. - The Cursor has highlighted the first thot on the List (Command Mode!) 10. With the Cursor on thot #1, press <CR>. - The words "General Business" have been copied onto the Arrange workspace, preceeded by Roman Numeral One (capital "i")--You've just begun your Outline!--and the Cursor is now in this window. - Notice that "General Business" in the List is now diminished in intensity. As you use items, they will do this to help call attention to those that have not been used yet. 11. Now press <CR> again to move the Cursor back to the List. (The <CR> key toggles you back-and-forth between these two windows.) 12. Using the Cursor Controls (Up/Dn arrow keys), place the Cursor on thot #3, "Business Plans". 13. Press <CR> to make this the Current Thot so that it may be added whever you want it to the Outline. 14. Now press <A> to Add this after General Business, then press the Right Arrow key once. This will indent "Business Plans" and assign the capital "A." as its index. 15. Press <CR> to go back to the List. 16. Use the Cursor Controls to place the Cursor on #9 and then press the <A> key. This will Automatically Add it to the Outline without you having to toggle back-and-forth. 17. Move the Cursor to thot #10 and press <A>. 18. Now you are going to shift to another grouping. Move the Cursor to thot #6 and press <CR>. - Since you are going to create a new major group, you need to get the Cursor over into the Arrange Window, and doing this way carries this new idea with it as the "Current Thot". 19. Press <A> to Add this thot to the Outline, and then press the <LEFT> Arrow key to "promote" it to the next major group (Roman Numeral Two). 20. Press <CR> to get back to List. 21. Move the Cursor to thot #4 , then press <CR>, and then press <A>. 22. Now press the <RIGHT> Arrow key to subordinate this thot to "Creative Writing", and then press <CR> to get back to List. 23. Move Cursor to thot #12 and press <A> to add this to the new group. 24. Move Cursor to thot #8, "Law", and press <CR> (another new Group). 25. Press <A> to add it; <LEFT> Arrow once to promote it (creating the third group); then <CR>. 26. Now move the Cursor to #2, press <CR>,<A>, then <RIGHT> Arrow to put this under the newest group, and <CR> again to go to List. 27. Move Cursor to thot #7, press <CR>, press <A>, then <LEFT> Arrow (creating the fourth group), and then <CR>. 28. Move Cursor to thot#5, <CR>, <A>, <RIGHT> Arrow, <CR>. 29. Finally, move the Cursor to thot #11 and press <A>. . . . . .You've just complete your first outline in the Arranging Window, based upon the thots you typed into the Brainstorm Window. Notice that the Roman Numerals indicate the major categories, and that the thots grouped under them are properly indexed and indented. If you want to, Save this by pressing <S>, and then play around with it. Look at the Command Summary Card and try some of the moving and copying....Try collapsing and expanding the Outline with the numbers (don't forget to restore the View with <V>!). To quit the Tutorial, press <ESC> to go to the Function Menu, or use the Function Key short-cut, <F8>. If you didn't save your work, and don't care to, select the second option. Good Luck, and many Happy Thots to you! 5. SUMMARY OF COMMANDS: *** We recommend that you print out the following two pages *** to use as cards for command prompt reference. COMMAND SUMMARY CARD (Page 1) TOPICS (F2): Add Add a new Topic to list of topics Delete Mark this Topic for deletion, deletion actually ordered in Utilities (F6) Edit Edit this Topic, press <CR> when finished Help Gets function-specific HELP (commands , overview, and helpful hints) Merge Merge Topics that have been marked by <T> and/or <O> Outline Mark this Topic to Merge thots and OUTLINE Read Read in an external ASCII file into a list for Brainstorm Save Save current work to disk Thots mark this Topic to Merge THOTS only, not Outline <ESC> In EDIT MODE, Quit edit and abandon changes In COMMAND MODE, exit TOPICS and go to FUNCTION MENU BRAINSTORM (F3): Add Add another thot to the list--leaves COMMAND MODE, enters EDIT MODE and goes to end of the list Delete This feature marks(***), but does not delete at this time Edit Edit this thot, opens EDIT MODE. <CR> makes change permanent and switches back to COMMAND MODE Help Gets function-specific HELP (commands , overview, and helpful hints) Save Save current work to disk <ESC> In EDIT MODE, Quit edit and abandon changes In COMMAND MODE, exit TOPICS and go to FUNCTION MENU ARRANGE (F4): Add Add Current Thot after this thot Help Gets function-specific HELP (commands, overview, and helpful hints) Insert Insert Current Thot before this thot (like Add, but above this thot) Tag Mark this thot for Copy, Delete, or Move. To use this for "blocks" of thots, Tag the beginning of the Block, move the cursor to the last thot, and Tag it Move Move "tagged" thots, will be below (after) this thot Copy Copy "tagged" thots, will be below (after) this thot Delete Delete"tagged" (TAG first) thots Undo Undo (cancel) the Delete, must be the next command after Delete Right & Left Use <R> & <L> to move highlighted blocks Right or Left 1-4 Collapse Outline to that number level--"View" to continue View View Outline after collapse--must be restored to continue X-change eXchange this as the Current Thot for Add and Insert <ESC> In EDIT MODE, Quit edit and abandon changes In COMMAND MODE, exit TOPICS and go to FUNCTION MENU <RETURN> Go back-and-forth between List (left) and Arrange (right) Windows (When in List Window, make thot cursor is on the Current Thot) COMMAND SUMMARY CARD (Page 2) OUTLINE (F5): Add Add Current Thot after this thot Edit Edit this thot, opens EDIT MODE. <CR> makes change permanent and switches back to COMMAND MODE Help Gets function-specific HELP (commands, overview, and helpful hints) Insert Insert Current Thot before this thot (like Add, but above this thot) New Add New thot after this thot (opens line to add new text) Tag Mark this thot for Copy, Delete, or Move. To use this for "blocks" of thots, Tag the beginning of the Block, move the cursor to the last thot, and Tag it Move Move "tagged" thots, they will be below (after) this Copy Copy "tagged" thots, they will be below (after) this Delete Delete"tagged" (TAG first) thots Undo Undo (cancel) the previous Delete, must be the next command after Delete Right Move highlighted block to Right one level Left Move highlighted block to Left one level 1-4 Collapse Outline to that number level-"View"...to continue View View, or restore, Outline after collapse--View must be restored X-change eXchange this as the Current Thot for Add and Insert commands <ESC> In EDIT MODE, Quit edit and abandon changes In COMMAND MODE, exit TOPICS and go to FUNCTION MENU <RETURN> Go back-and-forth between List (left) and Arrange (right) Windows (When in List Window, make thot cursor is on the Current Thot) GENERAL HINTS: The commands shown here are "mneumonic-related"--that is, the command is executed by pressing the first letter of the Command Word. This is done as a memory aid. The key pressed is a single keystroke (you don't have to worry about upper or lower case). For instance, you don't have to press "Shift" key while pressing the "?"--just press the key with that symbol. Most of these commands effect the thot (line) that the cursor is on when the command letter is pressed. The exceptions are: Merge; <CR> (in ARRANGE Function); Save; and <ESC> . These are "global" in that they perform their function no matter where the cursor is. The Status Display will tell you whether you are in EDIT MODE or COMMAND MODE--most of the time. If you are not sure which you are in, look at the cursor. If it is a single-character, blinking underscore, you are in the EDIT MODE. If the line the cursor is on is high-lighted in inverse-video, you are in COMMAND MODE and may use the commands on this sheet. The FUNCTION MENU is never more than two keystrokes away-- <ESC> <ESC> 6. HELPFUL HINTS and TIPS: ACCESSING HELP: (There are three levels of help available) 1) The HELP and Overview Function (F1) provides information about how THOT-PLAN'r works and explains the CursorMovement and Line Editor commands. 2) The Help (<H> key) in each function's COMMAND MODE accesses helpful information related to that specific function. This includes: a Summary of Commands; an Overview of the purpose for that function; a detailed description of each command; and a section with helpful hints and short-cuts. 3) When you press the <?> key (while in the COMMAND MODE), the Status Display (box along the top of the screen) changes its display to show a list of the words that represents the commands available while in that Function. Press any key to resume normal display. SHORT-CUTS: How to Move and Copy thots (ARRANGE & OUTLINE): 1. Place cursor on thot to be Moved or Copied 2. Press <T> to "tag" thot for action 3. Put cursor on line above where you want thot to be 4. Press <M>, or <C>, to Move or Copy How to Move, Copy, or Delete "blocks" of thots: 1. Place cursor on thot to be Moved, Copied, or Deleted 2. Press <T> to "tag" first thot of block 3. Move cursor to last thot of block 4. Press <T> again--all thots in between will be highlighted now 5. If Deleting, press <D> (press <U> to Undo if you change your mind) 6. If Moving or Copying, move cursor to line above where you want block to begin 7. Press <M>, or <C>, to Move or Copy Note: If you wish to remove "tags", place cursor on a highlighted thot and press <T> a third time, or press <O>. How to use AUTO-Add in Select Window, ARRANGE Function: 1. Use <CR> to toggle to Arrange (right) Window 2. Place cursor on item thots from list will be added after 3. Toggle back to Select (left) Window with <CR> 4. Place cursor on thot you want and press <A>, instead of <CR> 5. Locate next thot and press <A> again--continue as desired 6. To stop using AUTO-Add, press <CR> to select instead of <A> How to make a "clone" of an existing Topic: 1. Access the TOPICS Function (F2) 2. Place cursor on topic you wish to make a copy of 3. If you want the whole thing, press <O> for OUTLINE If you just want the list of Thots (if you want to use the thots, but want to try an alternative Outline), press <T> for Thots 4. Press <A> to Add a new Topic 5. Give this new Topic a name that will distinguish it from original 6. Make this topic the Current Topic (press <CR> and look at topic line in Status Display. If it doesn't show a new topic, press <CR> again. 7. Press <M> to Merge the contents of the Topic you want copied into new Topic. How to clear the Arrange Window/OUTLINE workspace quickly: 1. Press <"Home"> (in cursor control keys) to get to top of Outline 2. Press <T> to Tag beginning of a block 3. Press <"End"> (in cursor control keys) to get to the last item 4. Press <T> to Tag (mark) the end of the block 5. Press <D> to Delete block (entire Outline), Undo with <U> "QUICK" ROUTINES: Quick erase of Outline: <Home>,<T>,<End>,<T>,<D> Quick exit with save: <ESC>,<ESC>,<F8>, <2> Quick exit, no save: <ESC>,<ESC>,<F8>,<CR> Quick access to main HELP: <ESC>,<ESC>,<F1> SOME TIPS ABOUT WORKING WITH "BLOCKS" When you "Tag" something (with <T> in ARRANGE or OUTLINE), you will notice that any thots that are subordinate to it in the Outline are also highlighted. This is done because it is logical to assume that whatever is going to be done to the superior thot (Move, Copy, or Delete) will effect all thots logically related to it. This might seem a little strange, or awkward at first, but it will become second nature soon. In order to keep you in control, we have left the rules for Block marking and use fairly open. Consequently you may sometimes mark a block that would violate Level Rules. There are only two rules: 1) there can be no more than 5 levels in the Outline; and 2) items can only be indented one level to the right of the items above them. If your attempts to use blocks fail (are illegal), try breaking up the Block into smaller pieces, or look carefully at what you are trying to do to try to find the rule violation. MERGING TOPICS TO DO List (an example)-- There are two Topics already on your disk. One is a Schedule (master) and the other a model Agenda (master). You may use the first one (Topic 1) as a "template" for a weekly TO DO List. Load THOT-PLAN'r and go to TOPICS (F2). With the cursor on Topic 1, press <O> to mark it for merging the Outline. Press <A> to Add a new Topic (if you've used the three topics allowed for the DEMO version, you'll have to delete at least one--see below). Give this new topic a label, make it the Current Topic (another <CR>), and press <M> to Merge. Now advance to BRAINSTORMING (F3). You'll see the thots used for the template. Press <A> to Add your own thots, and begin! Topic 1 will not be changed--it remains a Master. DELETING TOPICS Because the DEMO version is limited to 3 topics, you'll probably use this a lot. Enter TOPICS (F2). Place cursor on Topic(s) to be deleted and press <D>--it will now be marked with three asterisks (***). Go to UTILITIES (F6) and select option 2, "Clean the topics file". The marked Topic(s) will be cleared-- resume session. PUTTING OUTLINES TO WORK--Transferring them to Word Processing When you are satisfied with your Outline save this final form ("S" while in any Command Mode). Next, call up the FILES Function (F7), option 1, "Write current outline to a file". This will create a standard "text" file that you may then use with your Word Processor. This file will be named "OUTLINE.(N)", where "N" is the number of the Topic currently in use. For example, if you are using Topic 2, the Outline will be written to a text file named "OUTLINE.2". When you enter your Word Processor you may call this file up for editing and processing. This is a one-way operation. You cannot take this file back to THOT-PLAN'r. It is now a "text" file, and won't be recognized as a Topic file anymore--even if you make no changes! You'll find THOT-PLAN'r a real help over trying to edit an outline with a standard Word Processor--especially if the outline is very large, or complex. HOW TO CHANGE THE INDEX FORMAT FOR THE OUTLINE THOT-PLAN'r has a unique feature. It can change the index labels for the various levels in the Outline. The "standard" outline format is the default setting (its what you get unless you change it). To change these indices, go to UTILITIES (F6) and select the first item. You will now see grid with five columns across, and seven rows down. The index that is currently in use for each level is highlighted. To change these, simply use the arrow keys to place the cursor on the index label that you want, and press <CR> to change it from what it was to what the cursor is on. When you are satisfied with your selections, exit this selection process by pressing <Esc>, then go to whatever Function you want. NOTE: You can only use "ROMAN" (Numerals) for the Level 1 index. Also, the lower left box labeled "Index" is a "Decimal" format (e.g., 2.1.3). If you select this, all levels will be decimal format. The following activity uses this feature. Go ahead and try it! SOME IDEAS FOR USING PREVIOUS OUTLINES AS "TEMPLATES" Your THOT-PLAN'r diskette comes with two Topics already in the Directory. Topic 1, "WEEKLY SCHEDULE AND PRIORITIES (Master)" is an example of a "template". Here's how to use it: - Add a new topic while in TOPICS (F2) function. - Label it "Things to Do". - Advance to BRAINSTORM (F3) and type in things that you will do this week as a "To do list". - When satisfied, leave the input/edit mode by pressing <Esc>. - Now Save your work, and return to TOPICS (F2). - Put the cursor on Topic 1 and press <O> to indicate that you want to merge the Outline from this topic (if you choose the Outline, the list of thots will come too--if you choose <T> for Thots Only, just the list of thots will be merged. It will now be marked by a single asterisk. - Press <M> to Merge this topic to the current topic, "Things to do". - Go to UTILITIES (F6) and select item 1 to change the Outline format. - Now use the DOWN Arow to put the curosr on "NONE" for the Level 1 index, and select it by pressing <CR>--leave the other levels alone for now. - Press <Esc> to exit this index selection feature - Advance to ARRANGE (F4). Notice that the days now have no preceeding index, and that the "Things" now show "A", "B", and "C" class prioritites. - Arrange the things in your list under the appropriate items in the Outline. Group them by day, and under the class which shows their level of importance. THOT-PLAN'r ERROR MESSAGES When you try to do something that THOT-PLAN'r doesn't recognize as a legal command, it beeps and shows a numbered error message in the Status Window. The following are brief descriptions and suggestions in case you keep getting one and don't know why. #1 "Right movement will create illegal outline" #2 "Left movement will create illegal outline" If you try to move items in the Outline that violate the indentation rules for outlining, you'll get one of these. Keep in mind that you can't indent more than one level to the right of the item above. #3 "You are already at the highest view level" The "View" has been restored, you don't need to press <V> again. #4 "No lines are marked." You've tried to issue a command that requires item(s) to be marked, or "tagged" (with <T>) first. #5 "You cannot move to within marked lines." You can't move an item "inside itself" (turn it inside-out?!) Make sure that the cursor is not on a highlighted line before attempting to move; or, press <O> to turn marking off, think about what you want to do, and try re-tagging. #6 "A copy will create level violation." Copying the marked block to the location you've selected will either violate the indentation rule, or create more that five levels in the outline. #7 "No lines are marked." Same as number 4. #8 "You cannot select a topic marked for deletion." You've tried to select a Topic that is marked for deletion. If you really do want to use it, un-mark it with <U> first. #9 "Topic Undefined; Use Topics Option." You can't brainstorm, outline, or anything having to do with a Topic until you have selected it. Please go to TOPICS Function <F2> and select or add a topic. #10 "No Thots to Arrange; Use Brainstorm or Outline." There aren't any thots in the Topic selected. Either go to BRAINSTORM <F3> or OUTLINE <F5>. #11 "No thots to edit" You pressed the <E> key while in COMMAND MODE, but with no thots enetered yet. #12 "You cannot select a thot marked for deletion." You must un-mark this thot before you can use it. #13 "Cannot Write File." There is a problem with the file you've selected. Retry. If it fails to write again, try to edit it with your Word Processor. Bring it in as a "Non-Document" file, if your Word Processor has that capability. #14 "Line is too large" You are limited to a maximum of 50 characters per thot, when you type more than that, you get this message. #15 "Restore the view ('v') to use this command" When the Outline is collapsed (with the numbers, 1-4) you restore the "View" with the <V> before using other commands. #16 "Exceeds maximum number of lines allowed in outline" You may only have 400 lines in the Outline. You might consider narrowing the scope of your Topic, or breaking it down into several sessions/topics. #17 "Exceeds maximum number of Thots allowed in Brainstorm" You are limited to a maximum of 225 thots per session. #18 "Illegal cursor movement command" Typically, this is caused by trying to move the cursor to beyond the limits of the window. For instance, the cursor is already to the extreme left, and you have pressed the left arrow key. #19 "Illegal character for line editing." You pressed a non-text key while in EDIT MODE. The most common cause is trying to change Functions by pressing a Function Key BEFORE returning to COMMAND MODE with the <Esc> key. The following errors are caused by pressing a key that is not a recognized command. See COMMAND SUMMARY for allowable keys. #20 "Unknown Brainstorming command" #21 "Unknown Topics editing command" #22 "Unknown Select or Outline command" #23 "Unknown Option selection command" #24 "Merge will create illegally large topic" Since a session is limited to 225 thots, if you try to merge several large sessions, whose total number of thots would exceed this number, you will get this message. #25 "Cannot merge unless current topic is defined" You probably have marked topics to merge, but haven't defined the current topic yet. Select the current topic by placing the cursor on the desired one and pressing the <CR>, then order the "merge" with the <M> command. #26 "There are no topics marked for merge" You pressed the <M> key, but don't have topic marked for the merge. #27 "Exceeds maximum number of topics allowed" THOT-PLAN'r is limited to a maximum of 48 topics in a directory. This directory is actually the TOPICS file. Either delete any you no longer need, or use a new disk with a new directory. 7. THOT-PLAN'r FILES INFORMATION: In order for THOT-PLAN'r to function properly, all of its related files must be in the same Directory on the disk. There are are three mandatory files: TP.EXE This is the executable program file DISPLAYS.A These two files contain the displays and DISPLAYS.B help screen text--both are required. THOT-PLAN'r will generate a file called TOPICS if one is not available. This is a Directory file and points to the various files that contain the information for each session. While in THOT-PLAN'r, you may use up to 50 characters to describe a Topic. This description is linked to a file which is named TOPIC.n (where "n" stands for the number of the Topic shown in the TOPICS Function window). The first topic may have the description "Idea Processing Seminars", and its file name would be TOPIC.1. Even if you edit, or change the descriptor, the file name remains the same. If you write an Outline to a file, the new text file will be named OUTLINE.n (where "n" refers to the number of the Current Topic which has been written). And now for some tricks. Suppose you want to group some similar Topics together in the same disk (or directory on a hard-disk). You'll have to do some planning and manuevering. The best way to keep everything in order would be to make a numbered list of the Topics you want. Be sure to include their descriptor and topic number. Create a new THOT-PLAN'r work-disk with just the TP.EXE and two DISPLAYS files (no "topics"). Enter THOT-PLAN'r program as though you were going to use it. Go to the TOPICS Function (F2) and enter (as new topics) the descriptors for each topic on your list in order. Then exit with a Save. This will create a new TOPICS directory file and a bunch of TOPIC.1...TOPIC.n files (all empty at this time). You should be back at system level. Copy each TOPIC.n file to the new disk MAKING SURE TO RENAME IT to the new number extender. For example: Suppose you had a topic "Office Party Plans" that was the third topic on the THOT-PLAN'r disk. It would be the file TOPIC.3. Now suppose that when you copied onto the list (and then into the new THOT-PLAN'r disk) it was topic number 8. Put the old disk in the "A" drive, the new (consolidated) disk in the "B" drive and copy with rename by typing: (System prompt, A<) copy topic.3 b:topic.8 <CR> Do this for each file that is on your list, being careful to have the extension numbers correspond to the old/new relation on the list. Its a lot of work now--but this will be handled by a utility in our next product "Think-n-Write"<tm>! *** The following is a copy of the file LICENSE, in case it is missing from your diskette. USER'S LICENSE APPLICATION THOTSystems, Inc. P.O.Box 1508 Soquel, CA. 95073 Please either print this form out and fill-in information by hand (please print) or bring up on your word processor. Send this completed form and a check or money order for $30.00 to us at the above address. Program Serial Number (I.D.): Your Name: Address: City: State: ZIP: Area Code: Phone: The following is optional, but we would really like the feed-back if you will take the time. Please score 1-10 (ten being great) and include comments. What was your first impression of the product? Was there enough HELP or documentation? Was the Tutorial helpful? What could we do to improve this product? What do you like about THOT-PLAN'r? What did you dislike about it? Are you interested in discussing publishing our products or working with us on vertical market applications? If YES, describe what your interest is. Would you like us to send more information about the Distributor License? (Y or N) Thank you!