Category : Databases and related files
Archive   : AN300.ZIP
Filename : AN.HLP

*I

Help index
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/* Note - topics in File View that have the same names as
topics in Appointment View have ascii code 255 used instead
of a space in name */
*B 1,Help index

Ample Notice version 3.0
Copyright 1992 by Mark Harris
All rights reserved.

Ample Notice is Shareware; please see the "About" screen
under "File" for registration information.

Press at any time for context-sensitive help.

Help topics:

General

^Editing keys^ ^Using a mouse^ ^Appt syntax^
^CONFIG.CAL^
*P

Appointment View

^Quick keys^ ^File options^ ^Edit options^
^Searching^ ^View options^ ^Categories^
^Alarms^

File View

^Quickÿkeys^ ^Fileÿoptions^ ^Editÿoptions^
^Searchingÿ^ ^Viewÿoptions^ ^Marking^
^Sorting^
*E
*B 2,Quick Keys

Quick keys in Appointment View

Cursor keys: Move through appointments

Shifted cursor keys: Move through calendar (and track
corresponding appointments)

+ Display all categories
- Display only selected categories
Insert appointment starting with date from
calendar
Exit program
Help
Space bar: Toggle display of selected categories
*P
D Delete appointment (toggle)
E Edit appointment
F Find text from cursor
I Insert appointment
M Mark appointment as done (toggle)
N Find next occurrence of text
S Save file
V Switch to file view

See also:

^Help index^ ^Editing keys^ ^Using a mouse^
*E
*B 3,Editing keys

Editing keys

Cursor keys: What you'd expect
Insert marked or current date.
Insert current time.
Insert both date and time.
or : Word left.
Insert date - point to a date in the calendar,
then press .
or : Word right.
Delete word.
or Toggle insert/overwrite mode.
Delete line.
or Accept edited entry.
Restore previous entry and quit edit.
*P

See also:

^Help index^ ^Using a mouse^ ^Appt syntax^
*E
*B 4,Using a mouse

Using a mouse

Mouse actions have different results in different screen
regions.

In the Appointment View:

Click on the menu bar arrows to page through the
appointment list. Elsewhere on the menu bar, click to
select menu options.

Click in the calendar window to move to appointments
occurring on the date selected. Click twice on a date to
insert an appointment on that date.
*P

Click on the calendar window borders to move by months or
years.

Click on an appointment to move the highlight bar to it.
Click a second time to edit the appointment.

Click on the appointment detail window (lower right) to
edit its contents.

When editing, you can move the text cursor by moving the
mouse and clicking at the appropriate position.

In most data entry windows, clicking on the border closes
the window.
*P

When the category menu is open, clicking the mouse selects/
deselects categories.

In the File View:

Click on the menu bar arrows to page through the
appointment list. Elsewhere on the menu bar, click to
select menu options.

Click in the calendar window (when open) to select a date.
Click on the calendar window borders to move by months or
years.

Click on an appointment to move the highlight bar to it.
Click a second time to edit the appointment.
*P

See also:

^Help index^ ^Editing keys^
*E
*B 5,File options

File options in Appointment View

Save - Save the current notes file.

Load - Load a new notes file.

Print list - Prints a range of appointments in List style.
You can specify a starting date, ending date, the print
style to be used, and the output device.

Print months - Prints a range of appointments in monthly
calendar style (7 columns). Again, you can specify a
starting date, ending date, the print style to be used,
and the output device.

*P

DOS Shell - Temporarily exit Ample Notice. You'll be at
the DOS prompt, from which you can run any normal DOS
program. Type EXIT to return to Ample Notice where you
left off.

Exit - Quit Ample Notice. If you've made changes to your
NOTES file, you'll be given an opportunity to save them.
You'll also be asked if you really want to exit.
(Putting the line
NoExitPrompt
in your CONFIG.CAL file will suppress this extra step.)

About - Displays a screen of registration information.
PLEASE REGISTER!
*P

See also:

^Help index^ ^Printing^
*E
*B 6,Printing

Printing

The two main print options (selected under the File option
of the Appointment view menu) are List and Month. For
either option you can specify:

The starting date (today by default),

The ending date (or enter the word PAGE to print until a
single page is full),

The print style: Normal, Compressed, Tiny, Custom,

The output device (PRN by default).
*P

The starting date for List printouts can include month, day
and year; if the year is omitted, the year that puts the
date in the viewing range is assumed. For Month printouts
you can enter the month, optionally followed by the year.
In either case, only appointments falling in the year being
viewed can be printed. Use the View option of the menu to
change the starting date of the year being viewed if you
want a different range.

Ending dates are entered in the same way, with one
difference: typing the word PAGE instead of a date will
result in a printout which just fills a page, regardless of
the ending date. PAGE is the default.
*P

Print styles can be changed (see the CONFIG.CAL section of
the manual for details), but the default styles are:

Columns Left_margin Length Width
Normal 2 7 60 66
Compressed 3 4 60 124
Tiny 4 4 124 124
Custom 2 7 81 91

The Custom style fills a region about twice the size of a
dollar bill, so that an appointment list can be folded and
carried in a wallet. Only styles with a width of at least
92 characters (Compressed and Tiny in the default setup)
can be used for the Month style.
*P

Border styles, spacing, and date header styles can be
changed; see the CONFIG.CAL section of the manual.

For List printouts, you have the option of including notes
(dateless appointments).

The default output device is PRN (the printer); this can be
changed to another device or file name. For example, you
might enter LPT2 to route output to a second printer, or
TEMP.OUT to capture the output in a file called TEMP.OUT.
Printing to a file is useful if you want to include your
appointments in a word-processed document.

*P

The default output device can be changed in CONFIG.CAL; for
example
OutDevice TEMP.OUT
will make the file TEMP.OUT the new default.

See also:

^Help index^ ^File options^
*E
*B 7,Edit options

Edit options in Appointment View

Insert appointment - opens an edit window for entering a
new note or appointment.

Edit appointment - opens an edit window for editing the
entry currently highlighted.

Insert appt with date - opens an edit window for entering a
new note or appointment, with the highlighted date from
calendar window inserted. (Use the mouse or shifted
cursor keys to change the highlighted date.)
*P

Mark appt as done - put a check mark in front of the
appointment. This is especially useful for cyclical
appointments, to distinguish actions done from actions
yet to be done. This option can also be used to unmark a
currently marked appointment.

Delete appointment - put a '~' in front of the appointment,
then remove it from the display at the next opportunity
(e.g., going to the File view and back to the Appointment
view, or next time AN is run). As long as the
appointment is still visible, the deletion can be undone
by selecting this option again.
Note: for cyclical appointments, only one instance of the
appointment is deleted.
*P

See also:

^Help index^ ^Editing keys^ ^Using a mouse^
*E
*B 8,Searching

Searching in Appointment View

Find - You're prompted to enter a string. The highlighted
bar is moved forward from its current location to the
next match. The search is not case-sensitive.

Find next - Move forward to the next match of the string
entered in the Find option.

Select all matches - You're prompted to enter a string.
All appointments and notes not containing this string are
removed from the calendar (temporarily).
*P

Restore - (available only after 'Select all matches' is
used) Restores the calendar to its state before 'Select
all matches' was selected.

See also:

^Help index^
*E
*B 9,View options

View options in Appointment View

File view - switch to File view, showing each entry as it
was originally entered. For example, the entry
!Mon xyz
would show 52 times (once each week) in Appointment view,
but only once in File view. File view is useful for
archiving and other file-manipulation activities.

Start date - the start date for the year's worth of
appointments you're viewing. If you need to browse
through a past year or an interval in the distant future,
you will need to change the start date.
*P

Listing - either LONG or SHORT. LONG shows all
appointments not otherwise screened out, SHORT shows only
the one-time appointments. For example
7/17/92 meet with Fred
would show under SHORT, but
7/17 Granny's birthday
would not. Precede a repeating appointment with \L to
have it show up in the SHORT mode.

Priority level - Appointments and notes are unprioritized,
or of priority 1 through 4 (with 1 the 'most important').
You add a priority to an appointment by preceding it with
a backslash followed by a number 1 - 4, e.g.:
\2 10/12/92 8:00 pm Concert
*P

Prioritized appointments are displayed with different
colors (which can be changed -- see the section on
CONFIG.CAL). Setting the priority level to 3 would
result in only entries with priorities 1 - 3 being shown.
The default level, 4, doesn't screen out any
appointments.

Show unprioritized entries - This setting (YES or NO)
determines whether entries with no priority prefixes are
displayed. The default, YES, is what you probably want
most of the time.

See also:

^Help index^
*E
*B 10,Categories

Viewing categories

When you have recorded more than a few dozen appointments
and notes, you will probably want to group entries in order
to reduce clutter. Category definitions permit grouping by
topic, owner, or other criteria. For example, you can
separate all entries relating to taxes, or all entries
owned by Judy. (The calendar may be used for more than one
person.)

Categories are defined by entering a line starting with \C.
Here's an example:
\C TAX=Federal Income Tax
*P


In this instance, the identifying code, which can be from 1
to 4 characters, is TAX. (Case is not significant.) The
description on the right, 'Federal Income Tax', is
displayed in a list of categories which you can turn on or
off. Any note or appointment starting with \*TAX can then
be selected in this way. For example,
\*TAX 4/15 Form 1040 due
will result in 'Form 1040 due' showing on April 15 when
'Federal Income Tax' is chosen in the category list. You
can choose as many categories at once as you like. You
have the option (described in the manual) of having the
codes included in the appointment display.

*P


Categorized notes can be entered with a short cut. The
entries
\*TAX * This is a note
and
*TAX This is a note
are equivalent.

To use categories, pick the Categories option from the main
menu (assuming you have previously defined at least one
category). You'll see a list of your category
descriptions, preceded with two special options:
All (overrides other selections)
Default (no explicit category)
*P

When Default is checked, all entries with no category code
are displayed. When All is checked, all entries are shown
regardless of category. (In this case, all other checks
are ignored.) You check a category by either clicking the
mouse on the category line, or moving the cursor to the
line and pressing the space bar. The same action toggles
the check off. Press or when finished with
all selections.

See also:

^Help index^
*E
*B 11,Appt syntax

Appointment syntax

While most appointment entries are straightforward - just a
date and an activity - the syntax can be a challenge for
some of the more obscure cyclical styles. Following are
several illustrations of different appointment formats.
If you are using the European date format DD/MM/YY (by
putting the line 'European' in CONFIG.CAL), the month and
day fields will be reversed. If you want a time to be
recognized by the alarm clock, make sure that it
immediately follows the date field.

A one-time appointment:
2/5/93 2:00 Lotus 1-2-3 workshop
*P

A note (a space following the '*' is required):
* change oil
An anniversary:
2/5 Bob's birthday
A birthday with age. The age is shown in the parentheses,
\B indicates birth date:
\B6/2/60 Bob is ( )
10th day of every month:
?/10 Mortgage due
Last day of every month:
?/32 xyz
Show entry on date and following 3 days:
3/7/93+3 Asheville meeting
Remind (in Notes section) for 3 days in advance:
3/18/93-3 Get birthday present!
*P

Every Wednesday:
!Wed 3:00 Piano lesson
Every Mon, Wed & Fri:
!Mon,Wed,Fri 10:00 French class
3rd Sunday in June:
!Jun3Sun Fathers Day
3rd Monday of every month:
!?3Mon Rotary Club
Last Monday in May:
!May5Mon Memorial Day
One day past first Monday in November:
!Nov1Mon>1 Election Day
Every other day starting 6/26/93:
\s6/26/93 !2d weed garden
*P

Every third week starting 6/26/93:
\s6/26/93 !3w call Mom
Every third month starting 1/10/93:
\s1/10/93 !3m Quarterly report due
Every other day starting 6/26/93 and ending 7/12/93:
\s6/26/93 \e7/12/93 !2d weed garden

There are several '\' options besides starting and ending
dates which can be used to qualify appointments. Here are
some of them:

\1, \2, \3, \4 - assign priority 1 - 4
*P

\L - Show a cyclical appointment in Short View. Normally
the Long View shows all appointments and the Short View
suppresses cyclical appointments.

\N - Nag (in the Notes section) after appointment has
passed. If the appointment is a one-time entry, the nag
is indefinite (until the appointment is deleted or
edited); if it is cyclical, the nag will stay in effect
for the 'nag interval' which defaults to one week but
which can be changed in CONFIG.CAL.

\P - Don't print. The entry will show on the screen but
will be suppressed in printouts.
*P

\U - Unimportant note - show only once a week. The day on
which entry will be shown is Monday by default, but can
be changed by a CONFIG.CAL entry. Example:
\U * work on Great American Novel

\W - Show appointment only if it happens to fall on a
weekday.

See also:

^Help index^ ^Categories^
*E
*B 12,Quickÿkeys

Quick keys in File View

Cursor keys: Move through appointments
+ Mark current appointment
- Unmark current appointment
View monthly calendar
Exit program
Help
C Copy appointment
D Delete appointment
E Edit appointment
F Find text from cursor
I Insert appointment
K Copy appointment but change date
*P
N Find next occurrence of text
S Save file
U Undelete appointment
V Switch to appointment view

See also:

^Help index^ ^Editing keys^ ^Using a mouse^

*E
*B 13,Fileÿoptions

File options in File View

Save - Save the current notes file.

Load - Load a new notes file.

Archive - transfer marked entries to the archive file
(ARCHIVE.CAL by default) with the option of then removing
them from the notes file being viewed. First choose the
Mark menu to select appointments to be transferred. This
is an important option for keeping the notes file
manageable - a shorter notes file makes Ample Notice
snappier.
*P

DOS Shell - Temporarily exit Ample Notice. You'll be at
the DOS prompt, from which you can run any normal DOS
program. Type EXIT to return to Ample Notice where you
left off.

Append marked - just like archive, but used for appending
marked notes to any other file. For example, you might
want to copy appointments from your personal notes file
to the notes file that your secretary uses. You have the
option of subsequently deleting the appointments you
marked.
*P

Append from - glue a copy of another file to the end of
your notes file. For example, you might run across the
Tour de France schedule in file form and wish to include
it in your notes file.

Exit - Quit Ample Notice. If you've made changes to your
NOTES file, you'll be given an opportunity to save them.
You'll also be asked if you really want to exit.
(Putting the line
NoExitPrompt
in your CONFIG.CAL file will suppress this extra step.)

About - Displays a screen of registration information.
PLEASE REGISTER!
*P

See also:

^Help index^ ^Markingÿ^
*E
*B 14,Editÿoptions

Edit options in File View

Insert appointment - opens an edit window for entering a
new note or appointment.

Edit appointment - opens an edit window for editing the
entry currently highlighted.

Copy appointment - add an exact copy of the highlighted
entry to the file.

Kopy with new date - Use this option to copy an appointment
and change the date in the copy. Kopy should be used
with one-time appointments only. A pop-up calendar is
*P

displayed, and the date you select (by pressing )
is substituted for the date in the appointment.

Delete appointment - delete the highlighted appointment.

Undelete appointment - restore previously deleted
appointments (in reverse order). The appointment is
inserted at the cursor position.

See also:

^Help index^ ^Editing keys^ ^Using a mouse^
^Appt syntax^

*E
*B 15,Searchingÿ

Searching in File View

Find - You're prompted to enter a string. The highlighted
bar is moved forward from its current location to the
next match. The search is not case-sensitive.

Find next - Move forward to the next match of the string
entered in the Find option.

See also:

^Help index^
*E
*B 16,Viewÿoptions

View options in File View

Appointment View - closes the File View and takes you to
the Appointment View. The quick key 'V' will toggle the
two views.

Calendar - pops up a monthly calendar. You can navigate
through different months with the mouse or cursor keys.

See also:

^Help index^ ^Calendar^
*E
*B 17,Marking

Marking appointments in File View

You mark selected appointments in File view to indicate
which entries are to be copied or moved to another file.
The most common application of marking is for archiving
outdated appointments (in the ARCHIVE.CAL file). Another
use is to mark all appointments related to a specific
activity, to be copied to someone else's NOTES file. The
available options are:

Mark Outdated appointments - highlight all appointments
with dates preceding the current date. Cyclical
appointments won't be marked.
*P

Mark matched String - highlight all appointments containing
a string which you are prompted to enter.

Mark current appointment - mark the single appointment at
the cursor. (The '+' character provides a shortcut.)

Unmark current appointment - unmark a previously marked
appointment. ('-' is a shortcut.)

Clear all marks - undo all marking operations.

See also:

^Help index^ ^Fileÿoptions^
*E
*B 18,Sorting

Sorting in File View

When you view your appointments in Appointment View, order
isn't normally a problem -- chronological order is what you
expect and what you get. However, File View may show a
rather jumbled sequence of entries depending on how you
entered them. If you make much use of File View (and you
should use this view at least for archiving), you will find
it helpful to put entries in some kind of order. The Sort
option lets you sort by date or by category. If you sort
by date, all entries on one date (regardless of category)
will precede all entries on a later date. Sorting by
category lets you order first by category, then by date.
In either case, cyclical appointments are listed following
all one-time appointments.
*P

Be sure to save the file if you want the sorted order to be
retained next time you run Ample Notice.

See also:

^Help index^ ^Categories^
*E
*B 19,Calendar

Using the Calendar

You will occasionally consult a monthly calendar on screen,
either for browsing or for copying a date into text you are
editing. In the Appointment view the calendar is always
visible, and you can navigate using shifted cursor keys or
the mouse. When you're editing text or using the Kopy
operation in File view to change a date, you can go to the
calendar by pressing . Move the calendar until the
cursor is on the date you want, then press to
select the date.

In the calendar, the cursor keys operate as follows:
*P

Left and Right Arrows - move one day,
Up and Down Arrows - move one week,
Page Up, Page Down - move one month,
Home, End - move one year.

In Appointment view when not editing, you'll have to press
a shift key when using the cursor keys. (Otherwise the
cursor keys will move you through the appointment list.)

You can also use a mouse to navigate. Within the month
shown, simply click on the date you want. Click on the
vertical borders to change by month, and on the horizontal
borders to change by year.
*P

See also:

^Help index^
*E
*B 20,CONFIG.CAL

The CONFIG.CAL file

You'll have a configuration file CONFIG.CAL located in the
directory containing AN.EXE (the program you're running
now). At a minimum, this file will contain the names of
the notes and archive files. CONFIG.CAL can also be used
to set lots of options. It's a standard text file, so you
can edit it with any ASCII editor (including AN itself).
Entries are one per line and fall into four categories:
off/on options (you just add a name),
value options (add a name followed by a number),
string options (add a name, followed by a character
string),
list options (add a name, followed by a list of numbers).
*P

Lines preceded with ';' are ignored and can be used for
comments. Here are a few sample entries:

; suppress blank lines between dates on screen:
FullScreen
; same thing for printouts:
FullPrintout
; use print style 3 (Tiny) as default for List printouts:
Listmode 3
;specify archive file
Archive c:\an2\archive.cal

See the CONFIG.CAL section of the manual for details.
*P

See also:

^Help index^
*E
*B 21,Alarms

Alarms

The program ALARM.COM is a separate part of the Ample
Notice package and need not be used at all. However, if
you have installed ALARM before AN.EXE is run, you can have
alarms go off automatically when appointments are supposed
to occur. An appointment which starts with a time will
automatically set the alarm clock. The default alarm will
be for 5 minutes before the appointment; you can change the
default for all appointments in CONFIG.CAL, or you can
change the delay for individual appointments. For example,
the entry
\(15) 11/14/92 3:30 meet at elt. school
will set the alarm for 3:15.
*P

Normally alarms are set when you exit AN. You can turn off
this feature by toggling the 'Set alarms on exit' option.
You can also set alarms right now or show current alarms
from the Alarm menu.

See also:

^Help index^
*E