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Text File | 1995-03-29 | 31KB | 842 lines

PROGRAM LICENSE =============== ProPoc 1.4 for PSION Series 3 and 3a is owned and (c)Copyright 1993-1995 by Berthold Daum. All Rights Reserved. Shareware version ----------------- The shareware version is clearly recognisable in the "About" screen. The version number has the appendix "(sh)" which the commercial version has not. The shareware version may be distributed freely (not for resale) only in its original form including this documentation. You can use ProPoc freely for 10 days, but if you want to continue using it, you have to register. ----------------------------------------------------------- | Warning!!!!!!! | | This shareware version has been "crippled". | | 1. Number of projects in one file restricted to 2. | | 2. Number of activities in one file restricted to 20 | | 3. Number of milestones in one file restricted to 4 | | 4. Files from older ProPoc versions can only be | | converted with the registered version. | ----------------------------------------------------------- For registration details see below. Disclaimer ---------- Although ProPoc has been extensively tested, the author shall not be responsible for any loss of any kind due to its use. It is the user's responsibility to establish the suitability of this software for any particular purpose. Registration of Shareware version --------------------------------- The shareware version comes in S3 and S3a mode. The registration fee is A$59.95 for the shareware version + A$6.00 for postage and handling. We can send you a registration number by email, and send you the printed manual and a floppy with all of our shareware by mail. Please use the ORDER.FRM. Post it via mail or email or FAX. Alternatively, you can register via CompuServe (GO SWREG): Author: Berthold Daum Program title: PROPOC V1.4 S3/S3a Registration ID: 3841 Fee: US$ 54.95 plus postage and handling Registered users can upgrade to a higher version (commercial, power pack) by paying the price difference (plus postage). The price of the commercial version is A$99.00 + A$6.00 for postage and handling. We can send you a ZIPPED version by email (add A$5.00), and send you the printed manual and a floppy with the full version and all of our shareware by mail. Please use the form ORDER.FRM. Post it via mail or email. Berthold Daum lichtbild p/l 21 Margate St. Beaumaris, Vic. 3193 Australia CompuServe 100026,3365 INTERNET: 100026.3365@compuserve.com Entering the registration number: Call the ABOUT-box (PSION-/) then press PSION-/ again and enter your first name and the registration number. Commercial version ------------------ Registered users can upgrade to the commercial version by paying the price difference plus postage (see ORDER.FRM). The following additional features are supported with the commercial version: - "Save as" function to export project to spreadsheets. Spreadsheets are generated in the formats SPR and WKS. SPR is a PSION proprietary format while WKS is understood be most spreadsheet programs. If you use the cost estimation functions of ProPoc, you may find the option "SPR with graphics" interesting. This mode will generate with the spreadsheet a series of graphics (one for each project in the file). These graphics show the item cost and cumulated costs (milestones and project) as stacks. - Cashflow analysis. This opens up a totally new dimension in project control. Positive costs or negative costs (earnings) can be assigned to activities. A specific function allows to plot an accumulated cost graph over the time axis. The graph shows at which time how much money is needed to keep a project (or an ensemble of projects) going. This function is only available on S3a. - Location control. A specific location can be assigned to a project. If a non-global location is specified, resources are not allowed to be used on different locations during the same time interval. - Agenda link. An option allows to use the PSION Agenda instead of Morpheus as an alarm handler. ProPoc alarms will be shown in the Agenda, can be edited, and will move to other days when projects change. This feature comes handy as a "one stop information". This function is only available on S3a. - Supply of public holiday files for a variety of countries. - German and English language versions available. - Explicite online help file. NEW!!! Recommendation program ----------------------------- We distribute our programs directly to offer you the lowest prices as possible. Direct distribution depends very much on mouth-to-mouth recommendation. We would like to acknowledge this fact by honouring the recommenation of our products. If you are a registered user of any of our products, and another user quotes your name when he registers, we will send you a floppy disc with the newest versions of the products you had registered absolutely free ! ProPoc Version 1.4 - Release Notes ================================== Program Description ------------------- ProPoc is a project planner. It can handle multiple projects, activities, milestones, and resources. Activities and milestones can depend on the completion of other activities. Activities can share resources, even between different projects. ProPoc determines the StartDate and EndDate of each activity, the ActualDate of each Milestone, the number of days each activity is allowed to float, and if a activity or milestone is critical. The results are displayed in graphical or table form on screen or can be printed in ASCII- or WORD-form (tables). The commercial version allows output to SPREADSHEET and AGENDA, too. Platforms --------- The program runs on PSION S3 and S3a, and Acorn PocketBook I & II in native mode. Requirements ------------ The disk space requirements are between 55k and 80k depending on the options. When active, the system requires about 33k of main memory. We recommend to install the system on flash SSD, the PROJ folder (data drive) on the internal disk or a RAM SSD. New features in Version V1.4 ---------------------------- - Lead and lag days for activities and milestones - Budgets for activities and projects - cumulated resource schedule Printer: table form Screen graphic mode: graphical form, use CNTRL-cursor keys to scroll. Screen table mode: table form - TAB/Shift-TAB switches resources in resource schedule. - Up to 15 resources (instead of 7) - S3a support: - Support of big screen and all 13 system fonts - Zoom in both directions - Support of diamond key for display mode switching - Show and hide links from menu - Currency symbol for new project files taken from systems setting Last minute enhancement (not contained in manual) ------------------------------------------------- - Navigation in graphical mode: To move from critical activity to critical activity switch CAPS on. Don't forget to switch it off thereafter. - Reorder indicator: If automatic reorder is switched off, a little indicator (+/-) in the top right corner of the screen (bottom right corner in table mode) will indicate when a reorder is required. - Flashing cursor - Table mode: Milestones are now underlined, critical items are bulleted - Progress report: In addition to "Open,delayed,closed" the status of an activity can be set to 10%,20%,30%,...,90% completion, if all prerequisites are closed. This will be reflected in the graphical display. The project statistics will show the completion value for the whole project. - Diagram-WordFiles can now be printed in landscape orientation (provided your printer can) - Show function does not longer interrupt link mode - PSION-Shift-Cursor up/down in table mode leads to project begin/end ProPoc Description ================== Explanation of terms: File: ----- Each file can contain: 7 projects 224 activities 56 milestones 7 resources 1 set of preferences(alarm, mode, holidays) Files are totally independent from each other. It is possible to copy activities and milestones from one file to another by using the Copy function, closing the first file, opening the second file, and using the Insert function. Project: -------- Name: a unique name Description: up to 255 characters of text Priority: 1 for high, 7 for low Priorities are unique! If you specify for instance priority 3 the other projects in the file are pushed upwards or downwards. High priorities wins in resource conflicts. Start Date: Official project start date. Alarm advance days: How many days before the event you want to have the alarm Alarm for: Type of events generating alarms End date: Computed end date for project. Total duration: Difference between end date and start date Critical: List of critical activities Hot milestones: List of milestones where the actual date is higher or equal the planned date. Total costs: Accumulated fix costs and resource costs. Budget: Planned total costs for project. Two figures will be shown in the project statistics: 1. Budget as entered for project 2. Budget computed from activity budgets. Item: ----- Can be both an activity or a milestone. Project: to which project it belongs Name: unique name Description: up to 255 characters of text Lead: A number of workdays before the activity actually begins or the milestone is actually due. No resources are allocated during the lead time. A negative lead value can be used to overlap depending activities. Earliest date: Activities may depend on external influences, e.g. suppliers. This may define an earliest date for activity start. Duration: Duration of Activity in days. Lag: A number of workdays after the activity by which depending activities are delayed. No resources are allocated during the lag time. A negative lag value can be used to overlap depending activities. Usage of: Percentage (0-100) of how much the resource is used. Most important resource: Yourself. If some activities must be done in business hours, create a resource business hours - or split yourself into a business you and a home you. Fix Costs: Setup costs for activity. Budget: Planned total costs for activity. Planned date: Planned date for milestone. If the actual date exceeds the planned date, the activities causing this will go critical and the milestone will go hot. Links: List of activities the current activity or milestone is depending on. Start date: Computed start date for an activity. Activites in other projects with higher priority can influence the start date when they compete for the same resources. End date: Start date + duration Float days: Number of days, the activity is allowed to float. Activites in other projects with higher and lower priority can influence the float days when they compete for the same resources. An activity with null float days is called critical. Actual date: Computed actual date for a milestone Links: ------ Milestones and Activities can depend on other activities in the same project. To define such a link, use the Link function. Then navigate to the desired activity and press Enter. ESC will cancel the link mode. To remove links, use the Unlink function. Associated documents: --------------------- Items (activities and milestones) can have associated WORD documents. These can be quite complex documents containing very detailed descriptions. When you press PSION-A or Shift-ENTER, the WORD processor is activated and the associated document is opened (or created if it did not exist). Then you edit the document in the usual way (you may even print it). When you leave the WORD processor with PSION-X you are back in ProPoc. You can delete an associated document with PSION-H out of ProPoc. Associated documents are deleted, too, when the item or the whole project is deleted (PSION-D or PSION-V). Associated documents are stored under the following pathname: project_folder\project_file\itmname.WRD for instance, an associated document for item REGIST in project PROPOC would be stored in LOC::M:\PROJ\PROPOC\REGIST.WRD. Restrictions: The hardest restriction is memory. Each WORD document uses at least 700 byte, so 20 documents would use a minimum of 14k. So use associated documents sparingly. Use the item description entry for short descriptions. The ProPoc print functions will not print associated documents. Associated documents must be printed out of the WORD processor. Preferences: ============ The preferences are file specific and can be modified with the Preferences function. Mode ---- Reorder: For small projects choose "automatic". For big projects it is better to use "manual" and to call the Reorder function from time to time. Font: Different screen fonts to be selected small/normal/big (S3), 13 system fonts (S3a) Statuswindow: on/off (S3), off/big/small (S3a) Display: normal (1 day = 1 character) condensed (1 day = 2 pixels) table (spreadsheet like mode) Show Links: Yes/no When set to "yes", links are shown as a line from the end of a requisite activity to the beginning of the linked item. If one of both is not contained in the current screen, the link as only shown as a short dotted line. Show Grid: Yes/no Shows gridlines at weekstart when set to "yes" Holidays -------- By default the system workdays/weekends are used and the custom holidays are disabled. You may, however, change weekend and custom public holidays. Resources --------- Resources are created and edited with the preference function. When no resources are defined the project planning process is straight forward. However, when resources are defined, the planning becomes a tricky optimisation process. We use a heuristic strategy (otherwise computation times would be enormous). This strategy may sometimes not lead to the shortest possible project duration. You can, however, use "Earliest date", dummy links, dummy activities, to make manual adjustments. You can print or display a resource schedule for the current project or for all projects with PSION-Z. Name: Unique resource name Cost per workday: Resource costs rated: - full time (100% during usage) - shared in project (100% but shared between activities) - shared overall (100% but shared between activities) - part time (as defined in Resource usage) For further details see manual. Public holiday file: -------------------- Use this function to edit the global holiday file. You may disable or enable a holiday, set it to "Custom" or choose "Modify" to edit it. A holiday can be based on EasterSunday in which case a delay can be entered (e.g. -2 for Good Friday). Otherwise you simply specify a base date which can be modified. Example: Base date: 31Oct Modification: Sat Direction: before Result: the last Saturday in October. Holidays set to "Always" are enforced through all project files. Holidays set to "Never" are disabled for all project files. Holidays set to "Custom" depend on the Calendar setting in each project file. Display: ======== The screen shows a window to the current project. Switch projects with PSION-T or the TAB key. Switch the Statuswindow on or off with CONTROL-MENU. Switch the Display mode (normal/condensed/table) with CONTROL-MENU. If an item has an associated document the cursor is displayed as a rectangle, otherwise as a triangle. Graphic mode (normal/condensened): ---------------------------------- Navigate along the time axis with the forward/backward cursor keys. The PSION key accelerates. Little arrows in the bottom left corner indicate if there are more activity lines. Scroll with the upward/downward cursor keys. The project name is found in the botton right corner of the main window. Activities are displayed as horizontal solid 1-pixel lines, if critical as solid 2-pixel lines. The name of the activity is found below the line. Milestones are displayed as vertical dotted 1-pixel lines, if critical as solid 1-pixel lines, if overdue as solid 2-pixel lines. In this case a dotted line to the left at the bottom of the vertical line indicates the delay. The name of the milestone is found to the right at the bottom of the vertical line. A calendar is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Saturdays and Sundays are marked with a dash, Week start is marked with a dot. The date displayed above refers to that date. Holidays (weekends and public holidays) have a dash at the very bottom of the screen. Activities appear dotted in holiday areas. During link mode a line is drawn from the origin item to the target item. If the cursor is set on an activity you can use the <> keys to modify the activity duration. Table mode ---------- Navigate along the time axis with the up/down cursor keys. Scroll with the Left/right cursor keys. The PSION key accelerates. If a value appears in a lupe (extra window) it can be modified. Numeric key: Add digit DEL key: Remove digit ESC key: Restore old value Alpha key: Select value <> keys: Decrease/increase value or rotate values The ProPoc-HyperPoc Connection ------------------------------ Beginning with ProPoc V1.32 and HyperPoc V2.22 it is possible to attach ProPoc items to HyperPoc cards and vice versa. This feature allows to use HyperPoc cards as an active documentation medium for project plans. The following information is not contained in the manuals, as this function has been created after the manuals were printed. 1a. To link a HyperPoc Card to an ProPoc item: Edit that item using the ProPoc function PSION-M (or ENTER) Include a reference to the HyperPoc card into the description field Syntax: {stack_name/card_numer} The curly brackets identify the enclosed string as a reference and the slash separates the stack_name from the card number. Abbreviation: If you enter only a single left curly bracket "{" ProPoc and HyperPoc is currently active (in the background), ProPoc will automatically insert a reference string pointing to the current card in HyperPoc. 1b. To jump to a linked card: Press PSION-TAB. If HyperPoc was not already running it will be invoked. 2a. To link a ProPoc item to a HyperPoc card: In HyperPoc create an application link to ProPoc (PSION-L in edit mode). If ProPoc is currently active (in the background), HyperPoc will automatically remember the current cursor position in the ProPoc file. 2b. To jump to a ProPoc item from a HyperPoc card: Activate the application link to ProPoc. If ProPoc was not already running it will be invoked. The cursor is positioned to the linked item. Installation ============ Host platforms -------------- We deliver our products via email or on 3.5" floppy discs (1.44 MB IBM Format) On request we can send out 720 kB floppy discs. These formats can be read by PC, Mac, Amiga, Atari, Acorn. If you received the software via email or downloaded it from an electronic network you will received it in compressed format (PKZIPF). You will need the latest version of PKUNZIP to decompress the software. On the Macintosh do not use the standard UNZIP utility. Instead, use the ZIPIT utility which you will find on your network. In ZIPIT uncheck the box that says: "By default, smart-strip line feeds from text files." As a rule of thumb avoid options containing the word "smart". Installation from PC or Mac --------------------------- 1. Decompress the software (see above). 2. Connect your Series3 computer to your PC or Mac. Start MCLINK and activate "Remote link" from the PSIONs system screen. 3. Set the cursor under the RunOPL-icon (not under the OPL editor!) and press TAB. When the file selection screen appears, press TAB again. In the first line of the dialog box specify the name of the installation directory (where the new software is stored), e.g. REM::C:\CSERVE\DOWNLOAD\ A file selection list appears. 4. Select the file !setup3.opa (first file). Press ENTER. SetUp3 now takes control. The screen goes blank for a few seconds. Don't panic. A file selector box appears. 5. If the file selector box shows the product name, just press ENTER. If the file selector box shows a language, choose a language of your choice. If your language is not mentioned, select "international", which is English. 6. The file transfer starts. If the product was installed before, SetUp3 will start a dialog asking you if you want to (Continue) = Overwrite existing version (Other drive) = Install new version on different drive (Options only) = Install options you did not install the first time. 7. SetUp3 asks you about the drives to use: System drive: Where the programs go to. We recommend a Flash SSD. Data drive: Where you keep your data. We recommend internal disk or RAM SSD. Permanent drive: Where Morpheus will be installed. Usually internal drive, see below. 8. SetUp3 will ask you about optional modules. You can decide to install them now, or you can leave it for later. 9. SetUp3 will give instructions on how to proceed after the successful transfer. Installation from other platforms --------------------------------- On other platforms than PC or Mac there are two possibilities: A) You have enough free memory, preferably on internal memory, RAM or a spare Flash pack. Proceed as follows: 1. Decompress the software (see above). 2. Transfer the whole installation folder to a new installation folder on the palmtop (M:\INSTAL\ for instance). However, there is no need to tranfer *.ZIP, *.TXT, and *.FRM files, so you may leave these ones out. 3. Set the cursor under the RunOPL-icon (not under the OPL editor!) and press TAB. When the file selection screen appears, navigate to the new installation folder on the palmtop. Continue as described above under (4). After installation is completed remove the installation folder from the palmtop. B) If you do not have so much memory an assisted manual installation is still possible. Proceed as follows: 1. Decompress the software (see above). 2. Connect your Series3 computer to your host computer. Start the host communications software and activate "Remote link" from the PSIONs system screen. 3. Copy !setup3.opa into M:\APP\ . Copy a *.ipf file of your choice into M:\APP\ . Install !setup3 to the system screen (see user manual). 4. Activate !setup3 by positioning the highlight under it and pressing ENTER. A file selector box appears. 5. Acknowledge the file selector box by pressing ENTER. 6. The installation begins. If the product was installed before, SetUp3 will start a dialog asking you if you want to (Continue) = Overwrite existing version (Other drive) = Install new version on different drive (Options only) = Install options you did not install the first time. 7. SetUp3 asks you about the drives to use: System drive: Where the programs go to. We recommend a Flash SSD. Data drive: Where you keep your data. We recommend internal disk or RAM SSD. Permanent drive: Where Morpheus will be installed. Usually internal drive, see below. 8. SetUp3 will ask you about optional modules. You can decide to install them now, or you can leave it for later. 9. SetUp3 will ask you to copy files from the installation directory on the host computer to a target destination on the PSION. Start the file transfer from your host computer. When the file has been transmitted, acknowledge be pressing ENTER on the PSION. 11.SetUp3 will give instructions on how to proceed after the successful transfer. When things go wrong -------------------- If the installation does not run smoothly, do not try to install manually. The chance is, that if Setup3 or the installation control (IPF) file was corrupted, that other modules are corrupted, too. Please read the instructions again and repeat installation. You could also try to use a lower transmission speed between host and PSION. If the problem should persist, check for data corruption. Order another floppy disc, or download again. If the problem still persists, please seek our advice. Morpheus -------- If you want access help texts or use alarms you need Morpheus. Please do not send us questions "What is Morpheus". Instead read this: One of the tricky things when writing OPL-applications is the HELP-key. For instance, it is not possible to react to the HELP-key when a menu or a dialog box is on the screen, which is not very nice, because you may want help to fill out that dialog box. That is the reason why we created Morpheus. Morpheus is a independent application which runs in the background and intercepts the HELP-key. Morpheus checks which application is in the foreground and will then display the appropriate help texts. The other function of Morpheus is to handle alarms (for the products ProPoc and HyperPoc). It can do this better than the Agenda. Morpheus is launched automatically by any application that uses Morpheus' services. Morpheus will stay active as long as a client application is active or any Morpheus-alarms are scheduled. (The actual shutdown may be delayed for 1 minute). So, usually you don't have to shutdown Morpheus manually. One of the beauties of the system is that Morpheus can serve many masters. So if you use some of our products simultanously, still only one copy of Morpheus will be active. Morpheus is installed on the "permanent drive", usually the internal disk. The permanent drive should not be removed from the palmtop and cannot be reformatted unless Morpheus is stopped. If you must, here is the way: Install Morpheu2 to the system screen (see user manual) Then press PSION-Z(S3) or SHIFT-PSION-X(S3a) to kill Morpheus. If Morpheus was running it will respond with a beep and will die. Deinstall Morpheus (see user manual). Deinstallation -------------- To deinstall the application from you palmtop proceed as follows. 1. First backup your system. 2. If you don't have other applications that use Morpheus: Stop Morpheus as described above. Remove MORPHEU2.OPA and folder \MORPHEU2 from the folder M:\APP. 3. If you don't have other applications that use alarms (HyperPoc) remove the file ALRM.$$$ from the root directory M:\. If the file is locked, try again after a short while. 4. If you do not have other applications from us (POC-appications) remove the folder \APP\COMMON from the system drive. 5. Remove the file PROPOC.OPA and the folder PROPOC from the folder APP on the system drive. 6. Remove the datafolders PROJ from the data drive(s). 7. Remove the license file PROPOC.$$$ from the root directory M:\ Troubleshooting --------------- Alarms are not ringing or are ringing at the wrong time: Alarms are only updated when ProPoc is exitted, or when a new project file is opened. Please exit ProPoc and restart. Removing all alarms: We recommend not to delete file ALRM.$$$. This would also delete alarms set with other ...Poc applications such as HyperPoc. ProPoc would also recreate the file in the next session. Instead, edit each project (PSION-M) and set "Alarms for" to "none". Then exit ProPoc. ProPoc will remove all alarm entries from ALRM.$$$. Acknowledgements ---------------- Thanks to Gary Barr, Frederic Caussarieu, Lonnie Dworkin, Tony Jeffrey, Wolfgang Schmid for help and creative input.