Category : Databases and related files
Archive   : QWIKSKED.ZIP
Filename : QS.PRN

----------- HOW TO USE QUICK SCHEDULE ----------




Table of Contents



A. USING ON-LINE INSTRUCTIONS . . . . . . . 1

B. QUICK SCHEDULE IN ACTION . . . . . . . . 1

Installing & Running the Program . . . 2

Getting Around . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Exiting the Program . . . . . . . . . . 5

C. WORKING WITH QUICK SCHEDULE . . . . . . . 5

Creating & Adjusting Task Bars . . . . 6

Moving Task Bars . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Deleting Task Bars . . . . . . . . . . 7

Creating Task Note Cards . . . . . . . 7

Creating Line Headings . . . . . . . . 9

Inserting and Removing Task Lines . . . 9

Changing the Date Scale . . . . . . . . 9

Working with Schedule Files . . . . . . 11

Printing Schedules & Reports . . . . . 12






Copyright 1987 Channelmark Corporation
















A. USING ON-LINE INSTRUCTIONS

Be sure to read the material in the Read Me First card packaged
with your disk. And be sure you have followed the instructions
that appear on your screen when you type INSTALL at the DOS
prompt.

These instructions are contained on a series of screens you can
view at any time while using Quick Schedule. Press F2, and the
instructions will appear on your screen. Use the PgUp and PgDn
keys to page through the instructions. To return to the Table of
Contents, press Home. To leave the instructions and return to
Quick Schedule, press Esc.

To print these instructions, first check that your printer is on-
line and loaded with paper. Then press F1 while any page of the
instructions is on the screen. Use continuous-form paper; the
program does not pause during printing. The printed instructions
are 15 pages long.


B. QUICK SCHEDULE IN ACTION

Quick Schedule creates Gantt charts--the best way to convey the
essence of a project and all its components. Gantt charts are
easy to understand because they clearly show the relationship of
each element to the total project. Creating and communicating a
schedule is easier than ever before--and so is staying on
schedule. Just a glance at the clearly drawn chart tells you
where you are.

In contrast, a typical handwritten schedule is rarely visual: it
requires study before its full implications are grasped. Should
elements change--and they always do--it's tough to adjust a
handwritten schedule without copying the whole thing over from
scratch. Quick Schedule deals with these problems simply and
effectively.

You enter each project element directly as a horizontal "task
bar." Given the time required to finish each step, it's easy to
come up with a realistic project completion date; given a
required completion date, it's easy to adjust steps to meet it.
Task bars also work well for scheduling resources such as people
and equipment. Project schedules, team assignments, inven-
tory flow charts, all are easy to create with Quick Schedule.

You can lengthen or shorten task bars, insert new ones, move bars
around, and place sequential tasks in a single row. When dates
change, it's easy to shift the entire schedule, or just a portion
of it. An on-screen time scale, marked by day or week, keeps you
on track. A "zoom" feature lets you expand the time scale for
more detail.



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You can attach a 20-line "note card" to each task bar. Use note
cards to record important information: they pop up at a
keystroke, so they're always handy. You can print both the chart
and the note cards as separate reports. Charts print "sideways"
along the length of the paper.

Unlike complex, expensive, project-management software, Quick
Schedule doesn't require study to be useful. You can create your
first schedule just minutes after starting the program. If you
make schedules, Quick Schedule is the right tool.


INSTALLING & RUNNING THE PROGRAM

Make a working copy of the program diskette, and then save the
original diskette as a backup. Use the backup copy when
running Quick Schedule. If you have a hard disk system,
install the program and its data in its own subdirectory.
Here's how to proceed:


MAKING A WORKING COPY: First, format a blank diskette. Next,
copy Quick Schedule to the formatted diskette. Consult your
DOS manual if you are uncertain about the DOS commands for
formatting and copying.

Here is an example for making a "self-booting" copy of Quick
Schedule. Press Enter at the end of each line in the example.
To begin, put your DOS diskette in drive A and a blank diskette
in drive B. Type:

A:
FORMAT B:/S


When the formatting is complete, remove the DOS diskette. Put
the Quick Schedule diskette in drive A, and then type:

COPY A:*.* B:


INSTALLING THE PROGRAM ON A HARD DISK: We recommend you create
a sub-directory on your hard disk and copy the files from the
program diskette into that subdirectory. Consult your DOS
manual if you are unsure about the DOS commands for creating
subdirectories and for copying files.

Here is an example for installing Quick Schedule in a
subdirectory called SCHEDULE. Press Enter at the end of each
line.





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CD C:\
MD SCHEDULE
CD SCHEDULE
COPY A:*.*


STARTING THE PROGRAM. To start Quick Schedule, type QS at the
appropriate DOS prompt. The sign-on screen will appear
briefly, followed by the Gantt chart screen. Quick Schedule
is ready to start creating a new schedule or to retrieve an
existing one.


GETTING AROUND

When you work with Quick Schedule, you create and edit on-
screen, then print the results. Whether you're editing or
printing, the available commands are always displayed on your
screen. The screens are simple:


THE GANTT CHART SCREEN. Quick Schedule's primary screen
represents a Gantt chart. On top is the date scale, in weeks
or months. On the left is the headings area, where you enter
descriptions or legends for each line of tasks. The rest of
the screen is the task area. This area contains the bars
that represent the tasks in your schedule. You enter task
information by creating and manipulating task bars directly
on the screen. A task bar represents the duration of a task:
the bar's left edge marks the task's start date, the right
edge its completion date.

When you first start Quick Schedule, the cursor appears in
the task area. To use Quick Schedule you move the cursor
where you want, then use easily remembered one-key commands
to create, name, describe, move, and delete tasks. Here's
how to move the cursor:

Arrow keys Up/down one line; left/right
one character.

Ctrl-left/right arrow Left/right five characters.

Tab/Shift-tab Next/previous task.

Home Moves cursor to schedule start
date and remains on the current
line.

End Moves cursor to schedule
completion date and remains on
the current line.



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Ctrl-Home Changes the display one screen-
width left.

Ctrl-End Changes the display one screen-
width right.

PgUp/PgDn Up/down one page.

H Moves cursor into headings
area.

Esc Moves cursor from note cards
and headings back to task area.

You can create schedules up to ten years long, with up to 500
tasks. The amount of time that appears on a single screen
depends on the time scale and zoom factor selected (see
below). Your schedule probably will be longer than will fit
on a single screen. If so, as you add tasks, Quick Schedule
will scroll the task area to the right to show later dates,
and back to the left to show earlier dates.

Schedules print from the starting date to the end, without
breaks or interruptions. If your schedule contains more
lines than will fit on the paper, Quick Schedule prints the
additional lines at the end of the printout. Fasten the
printouts together along their long edges to complete the
schedule.


NOTE CARDS WINDOW. A small text-entry screen where you write
task note cards that name the tasks and provide additional
information. Note cards add vital detail to the visual Gantt
chart presentation.


FILE NAMES WINDOW. This window identifies a previously saved
schedule for Quick Schedule to read. Previously saved files
have the extension .QS.


PRINT REPORT WINDOW. This window tells Quick Schedule how you
want your schedule or note card report printed.


THE COMMAND AREA. Quick Schedule displays messages in the
bottom three screen lines. The first two lines tell you
which commands are currently available. To use a task-area
command, you simply press the key indicated in bold: Ins to
start a task, Q to quit, or P to print, for example. The
commands are easily-remembered mnemonics, as these examples
illustrate.



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When the cursor is in the headings or note-card area, you
hold down the Control (Ctrl) key as you type the key
indicated in bold. The Control symbol ( ^ ) appears before
the command letter when this rule applies: thus ^O means to
press Ctrl and O simultaneously to open a new line. The last
line is reserved for messages and requests for information.


GETTING HELP

Press F1 when you have a question about current program
activity, and a help screen will appear. For more detail, or
to read about other parts of the program, press F2, and these
instructions will appear.


EXITING THE PROGRAM

To exit Quick Schedule, press Q (Quit) when the cursor is in
the task area. You'll be asked to confirm the command. If
there is no schedule in memory, or if you haven't changed the
current schedule since it was last saved, type Y (yes) to exit,
or N (no) to return to Quick Schedule.

If you have changed the schedule currently in memory since it
was last saved, Quick Schedule will ask if you want to save the
schedule before you exit. Press Y (yes), N (no), or Escape.
When you press Y, a File prompt appears. If you have
previously saved the schedule, its filename also appears; if
not, the prompt is blank. Type a new name or confirm the old
one, and then press Enter. Quick Schedule will save the
schedule and then exit to DOS. (You can enter a new drive and
path at the File prompt, if needed.) When you press N, Quick
Schedule exits immediately to DOS without saving the current
schedule. When you press Escape, Quick Schedule returns you to
your previous position in the task area.


C. WORKING WITH QUICK SCHEDULE

You'll find that working with Quick Schedule is easy and
intuitive. Available commands are always displayed, and the
screens always show you just what your printouts will look like.
You'll work with task bars, note cards, and the chart format.
Finally, you'll save and print your work.

To start off on the right foot, read all of the following
sections before working with Quick Schedule. Then experiment
with the sample schedule CALENDAR.QS, included on the program
diskette.





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CREATING AND ADJUSTING TASK BARS

To create a new task bar, first move the cursor to the starting
point for the bar. Press the Insert (Ins) key to mark the left
edge of the bar. Next, press the space bar repeatedly--or hold
it down--until the right edge of the task bar reaches the
completion date. The bar will lengthen in one-day increments.
To shorten the bar, press the Delete (Del) key. The bar will
shorten by one day each time you press the key. When the task
bar covers the desired period of time, use the arrow keys to
move the cursor to the starting point for the next task bar.
Repeat the process to create more task bars.

When a new task begins on the day a previous task ends, and
both tasks are in the same line, place the cursor on the final
day of the earlier task, and then press Insert. A symbol
indicating the end of one task and the beginning of another
will appear. Use the space bar to lengthen the new task. Then
move the cursor as desired to create or adjust other tasks.

Remember: a task bar is never "locked in." Whenever the
cursor is on a task bar, either when you first create the bar
or when you move the cursor back to it, the bar can be
lengthened, shortened, or moved. Use the space bar to make the
task bar longer, the Delete key to make it shorter. The right
edge of the bar sets the task's completion date. To change
the start date you'll need to move the task bar as a unit
(see below).


MOVING TASK BARS

To move a single task bar, place the cursor anywhere on it; to
move a group of tasks, place the cursor on the left-most task
bar of the group. Then type M (Move). The message lines will
change to offer you three options:


SINGLE TASK: Press S to move only the task the cursor is on.


LINE OF TASKS: Press L to move the task the cursor is on, plus
all tasks to its right in the same line.


ALL TASKS: Press A to move the task the cursor is on, plus all
tasks to its right and tasks on lower lines that have the
same or a later start date. Tasks with earlier start dates
are not moved.

When you press S, L, or A, the command lines change again to
show that you can use the arrow keys to move the task or group



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of tasks in any direction. The only limitation is that no task
can be moved above the top line, nor can any task start date be
moved to the left of the chart's start date. When you are done
moving, press the Escape key (Esc).


SHORTCUT METHOD: For convenience, you can use function keys to
move tasks without first pressing M. F5 moves single tasks,
F6 moves a line of tasks, and F7 moves all tasks (as defined
above). Position the cursor, press the appropriate function
key, and then use the arrow and Escape keys as described
above.

As you work, you can move a task or group tasks over other
tasks on the chart. You can even leave them there, although
this would obscure the underlying tasks. Just remember that
even though you can't see them, the underlying tasks are still
there. It's as if you had moved pieces of paper around on your
desk and temporarily covered some up. Simply move the
overlying tasks to see the ones that lie beneath.


DELETING TASK BARS

To delete a task, place the cursor anywhere on the task to be
removed, and then press D. At the bottom of your screen, Quick
Schedule prompts you to confirm this command. Press Y for yes
or N for no.


CREATING TASK NOTE CARDS

Task note cards let you name and describe the tasks on your
schedule. They enrich your schedule with important details and
help you document and flesh out the graphic presentation
provided by the Gantt chart. To add a note card to a task,
place the cursor anywhere on the task bar, press N, and Quick
Schedule will display the note card screen. The note card
screen consists of two sections: Name and Notes.

In the Name section you can type the task name or anything else
you like, up to 29 characters. Quick Schedule automatically
places this name in the task bar. If you type a longer name
than will fit in the task bar, only the part that fits will
appear; if you later make the task bar longer, or use a higher
zoom factor (described below) more will be included. The full
name always appears on the note card and in the note cards
report.

In the Notes section you can enter any information you want,
such as the resources required by the task, names of suppliers
or customers, special cautions or conditions, important dates,



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and so on. Unlike the task name, the task notes are not
displayed on the chart. To see them, position the cursor on
the task and call up its note card as described above. Or
print the Note Cards report, a text report listing every task
on the schedule, its start and completion dates, and its notes.
The Note Cards report is described in the section on printing,
which follows.

When you move the cursor into the Notes section, the command
lines display a set of text-entry commands. Here is a guide to
the text-entry commands:

^C COPY CARD: Press Control-C to copy the text from the
last note card you created or edited into the current
note card.

^E ERASE CARD: Press Control-E to erase the text from
the notes section of the current note card and remain
on the screen to add new text.

^O OPEN LINE: Press Control-O to add a new line at the
cursor position and to move the cursor-location line
and all subsequent lines down.

^K KILL LINE: Press Control-K to delete ("kill") all or
part of the line the cursor is on. If the cursor is
at the beginning of the line, the whole line is
removed and lower lines are moved up. If the cursor
is one or more characters into the line, only the
portion from the cursor position to the end of the
line is removed, and lower lines are not moved up.

^HOME BEGINNING OF LINE: Press Control-Home to move the
cursor to the beginning of the line it is currently
on.

^END END OF LINE: Press Control-End to move the cursor to
the end of the line it is currently on.

INS INSERT: Press the Insert key (Ins) to change between
insert and
overwrite modes.

ESC SAVE: Press Escape (Esc) to save the current note
card and return to the task area.

^N TASK NAME: Press Control-N to move from the Notes
section back to the Name section.







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CREATING LINE HEADINGS

To enter headings, descriptions, or legends for the lines of
task bars, press H (Headings) when the cursor is in the task
area. The cursor will move into the headings area, and the
command lines will change to display the text-entry commands.
(These commands are identical to the ones used for writing task
note cards--see above.) Headings can be up to 33 characters
long, of which 18 characters will appear on your screen. To
exit the headings area and return to the task area, press Esc.


INSERTING AND REMOVING TASK LINES

To insert a new line above an existing line in the chart, move
the cursor to the existing line, and then press O (Open Line).
The line the cursor is on, together with all lines below it,
will move down. Corresponding lines in the headings area also
move down. The cursor remains on the newly opened line, ready
for your next command.

To remove a line from the chart, move the cursor to the line,
and then press K (Kill Line). You will be asked to confirm the
command. When you press Y (yes), the whole line is removed and
all lines below it move up. When you press N (no), the command
is abandoned.


CHANGING THE DATE SCALE

To change the date scale, press T (Schedule Time) when the
cursor is in the task area. The command lines will change to
show three prompts: Start Date, Scale, and Zoom Factor. The
cursor appears on the Start Date prompt; to move between
prompts, press Enter or the tab key.


START DATE. The start date is the first date on your
schedule's date scale; it may or may not be the date the
first task begins. When you first run Quick Schedule, the
system date set by your computer appears as the start date.
When you load a previously saved schedule, the date scale
changes to show the schedule start date saved as part of the
schedule file. Printed schedules extend from the start date
through the month containing the last task on the schedule.
Your schedule must begin sometime before the year 2000.

Quick Schedule always maintains the interval you specify
between the start date and the events in the schedule.
(Schedules look best if there is a little space between the
start date and the first task.) If you change the start date
after entering tasks, the dates of the tasks will change to



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preserve the interval. This feature makes it easy to
transfer entire schedules to different times of the year.
When you create a new schedule, however, always set the start
date you want. If you simply accept the system date, create
a schedule, then change the start date, all the events will
move.

Quick Schedule bases weekly and monthly increments on the
start date. For example, if you set the start date of a
weekly schedule as a Monday, divisions appear between each
Sunday and Monday on the scale; if the start date is a
Friday, they appear between each Thursday and Friday.
Monthly schedules are marked off by weeks, with a date
appearing at each mark. If the start date is a Monday, the
weekly dates are also Mondays; if the start date is a Friday,
the weekly dates are Fridays.


SCALE. Quick Schedule offers weekly and monthly time scales.
The weekly scale is divided into days, the monthly scale into
weeks. To change back and forth between scales, move the
cursor to the Scale prompt, and then press the left or right
arrow key to change scales. Changing scales doesn't affect
the dates of the tasks, nor the start date. The task bars
stay correctly aligned, regardless of format.


ZOOM FACTOR. The zoom factor determines the number of
character positions used to display and print each date
increment. There are five zoom factors. Higher factors
use more space to display or print a given period of time;
lower factors use less.

Increasing the zoom factor means that a shorter time period
is displayed on the screen at one time and that a printed
schedule creates a wider report. (Remember that the Gantt
chart report prints sideways, so a wider report simply uses
more sheets of paper.) Higher zoom factors allow long task
bar titles to be displayed without cropping the text.

The zoom factor is represented as a bar divided into five
segments. When just the first segment is highlighted, the
lowest zoom factor (the default value) is in effect. When
all segments are highlighted, the largest factor is in
effect. To change the zoom factor, first move the cursor to
the Zoom Factor prompt; then press the left or right arrow
keys until the desired zoom factor is highlighted.

Date-scale and zoom-factor changes are reflected in the screen
display as you make them. Thus the easiest way to learn the
effects of using the Schedule Dates function is to experiment
for yourself. (The sample file, CALENDAR.QS, is provided for



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just such experiments.) Remember that date-scale changes never
change the time period represented by the task bars, nor do
they affect the locations or relative positions of the bars.


WORKING WITH SCHEDULE FILES

Quick Schedule saves your charts and notes cards as individual
schedule files. You can save and retrieve these files as
needed from within Quick Schedule; you can delete them at the
DOS level. DOS subdirectory support is provided, so you can
set up separate directories for your schedules as required.


SAVING A SCHEDULE. To save the schedule currently in memory,
press S (Save Schedule) when the cursor is in the task area.
A File prompt will appear on the message line. If the
schedule was loaded from disk or was saved previously, the
original schedule name will appear at the prompt; if it's a
new schedule, no name will appear. At the prompt, either
type a DOS filename for the chart or accept the one that's
there. Press Enter to save the schedule. You can enter the
name of any valid drive or directory at the prompt.

When you save a schedule that has been saved before, Quick
Schedule asks if you mean to overwrite the prior version.
Press Y (yes) if you intend to replace the prior version with
the new one, N (no) if you don't. When you answer "no," you
must use the Save command again, this time giving the
schedule a new filename. Use a new filename for each version
of a schedule you want to keep.

Quick Schedule automatically adds the filename extension .QS
to its files. This distinguishes schedule files in directory
listings of your disks. Quick Schedule also saves its files
on the disk and in the directory from which you ran the
program. To specify a different drive and path, backspace
over the entry at the File prompt and then type the new
entry, following standard DOS rules.


READING A SCHEDULE. To read (retrieve) a schedule you have
previously saved on disk, press R (Read Schedule) when the
cursor is in the task area, and the filenames window will
appear. The window displays the files in the drive and
directory from which you ran the program. Use the arrow keys
to highlight the file containing the schedule you want, and
then press Enter. The schedule will appear on your screen.

If the schedule is in another directory, press F10 when the
filenames window appears. The cursor will move to the Direct
Entry prompt. Enter a new drive, path, and filename. Press



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Enter and the schedule will appear. If you enter just the
drive designator, or a just a drive and path combination (A:
or C:\MYDATA, for example), Quick Schedule displays the
appropriate listing. Then you can highlight a file to
retrieve.


ERASING A SCHEDULE. To erase the currently displayed schedule,
press E (Erase Schedule) when the cursor is in the task area.
Quick Schedule will ask you to confirm your request. Press Y
(yes) or N (no). When you press Y, the screen (and memory)
are cleared; when you press N, you are returned to the task
area. The Erase Schedule command erases the schedule from
the screen (from memory) only. Use the DOS DELETE or ERASE
command to remove a schedule from disk; see your DOS manual
for details.


PRINTING SCHEDULES AND REPORTS

To print your schedule, press P (Print Schedule) when the
cursor is in the task area. The Print Schedule screen will
appear. This screen uses several prompts to define the report
to be printed. Each prompt displays default or previously
entered responses. Check each prompt, and then press Enter to
move to succeeding prompts. At each prompt, press the left or
right arrow key to cycle through the possible entries. Here is
what you'll see:


REPORT TYPE: Choose Schedule (the Gantt chart) or Note Cards,
a printed report that lists all tasks, their dates, and the
contents of all the task note cards in the schedule.


OUTPUT TO: Choose Printer or Disk File. If you choose Disk
File, you will be prompted for a filename when you press F10.
The prompt is the same one used at the Direct Entry prompt
when you save a schedule. (See "Saving a Schedule," above,
for details.)

The Disk File option provides a convenient way to transport
note cards and other parts of a schedule into a word
processor or text editor--something you might want to do when
preparing fully detailed reports. Disk files are in ASCII
text format and can be read by any software that reads ASCII
files.


PAPER SIZE: Choose Narrow for 8.5" wide paper (80-column
printers); choose Wide for 14" wide paper (132-column
printers).



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TYPE SIZE: Choose Small, Medium, or Large. Larger type looks
neater than smaller type, but uses more paper and takes
longer to print.


PRINTER TYPE: Pick your printer from the list that cycles
through as you press the left or right arrow key. If your
printer does not appear, but is compatible with one that
does, pick the compatible printer.


SCHEDULE TITLE: Enter your schedule title, using up to ten
lines of 59 characters each. Available text-entry commands
appear at the bottom of your screen. The title is printed
above and centered over the schedule, and is used for both
the Gantt chart and the Note Cards. The title is saved along
with the rest of the chart whenever you save your schedule.

When each prompt is filled in, press F10 to print the report.
Press Escape if you need to halt printing for any reason.


PRINTING PROBLEMS: Printing problems can be caused by the
size of your schedule, or by your hardware. Here are some
troubleshooting guidelines:


SCHEDULE-SIZE PROBLEMS. Quick Schedule allows a maximum of
500 tasks per schedule. The schedule must begin sometime
before the year 2000, but can extend for any length of time.
No other time constraints apply. There are, however, two
additional size constraints: the amount of memory in your
system and available disk space. Although it's unlikely on
most systems, these limits may come into play when you
prepare to print your schedule.

Quick Schedule creates a temporary disk file when it formats
the schedule for printing. Both memory and disk space are
required to create this temporary file. Should there be
insufficient memory or disk space, one of the following
messages may appear when you try to print your schedule:
"Not enough memory to print schedule file," or "Not enough
disk space for print file." Very long schedules and
schedules filled with numerous long note cards are the ones
most likely to cause problems--especially if your system has
limited memory and/or is floppy-disk-based.

If your machine has at least 312K of memory, you probably
will not encounter memory problems. Should a problem occur,
check to see if you are running memory-resident programs. If
you are, use a disk that contains only DOS to reboot your
system. This eliminates the resident programs, and leaves



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more memory for printing your schedule. If this procedure
doesn't work, split your schedule into two parts. First,
save a copy of your schedule file under a new name. Then
erase half of the schedule lines from one file, and the other
half from the other file. Print the two files separately and
fasten the printouts together.

You will probably encounter disk-space problems only on a
floppy-disk system. If you run out of space, load the
schedule file you want to print. Then, before printing,
remove the data diskette you are currently using and replace
it with a diskette you know has at least 150K of space
available. Quick Schedule will use this disk for its
temporary file.


HARDWARE-RELATED PROBLEMS. First check your equipment; then
analyze your printout. If the printout is enlarged,
condensed, broken, or the printer prints "garbage," turn the
printer off, wait a moment, and then turn it on. Try
printing again.

If your printer refuses to print, check the following, then
turn your printer and computer off for a minute and try
again:

1 Make sure your printer cable is tightly plugged into both
the computer and the printer and that the printer is on-
line and is not out of paper or ribbon.

2 Make sure you've specified the right printer selection
and that your printer has any required options.

3 Make sure that all printer switches are properly set to
print graphics (see your printer manual for details).

4 If you are using a serial printer, make sure the COM port
has been properly configured with the DOS MODE command
(see your DOS manual).

5 If you are using an Okidata printer, try selecting the
IBM option when you specify your printer on the Print
Schedule screen.




------- End of Instructions -------







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