[Big Timesheet Icon]

Palmpilot Timesheet Application, Version 1.5.3
[Home] [Up] I used to work as a consultant for an IT company in Auckland, New Zealand. At the end of each month I had to submit a timesheet listing the tasks I had completed during the month for various clients.

Before discovering the PalmPilot, I used to lug around a hefty filofax and write it all down. After purchasing a PalmPilot I threw away my filofax with a sigh of relief and started tracking everything in the Datebook.

Unfortunately the Datebook still didn't quite fit my needs. Then I discovered the nifty GNU Palmpilot SDK and started coding up my first Palmpilot application. Three weeks later, Timesheet v1.0 was complete.

Get the Application

Timesheet version 1.5.3 is available as a zip file including this HTML documentation and the Timesheet2CSV utility.

Timesheet should be considered beta software. Make sure you backup your PalmPilot before you start using this Lapp.

Get the Source

I have discontinued development on version 1.5.x of the Timesheet application so I'm releasing the zipped source code used to build version 1.5.3 under the GNU Public License.

This doesn't mean I've stopped developing the Timesheet application. I'm in the midst of a complete re-write to produce version 2.0.0. This version will hopefully include conduit support with a desktop application for the PC.

License and Warranty Details

The Palmpilot Timesheet application is (c) Copyright 1998-1999, Stuart Nicholson.

Version 1.5.3 of the Palmpilot Timesheet Application and the related source code are distributed under the GNU Public License.

To Install

  1. Save the above zip file to a handy place on your PC (or Mac, or Linux box).
  2. Extract the zip file into an empty directory using your favourite unzip utility.
  3. This will create two sub-directories, one of which is called timesheet.
  4. Start your Palmpilot install tool and browse to the this timesheet directory.
  5. Select the Timsheet.prc file for installation the next time you Hotsync.
  6. Hotsync and Timesheet will appear on your Palmpilot, enjoy!

To Upgrade

If you're already running an earlier version of Timesheet on your PalmPilot, simply install the newer version onto your device and run it. The first time the new version runs, it will detect your existing Timesheet database and will prompt you before updating the database to the new format. You can then continue to use Timesheet normally.

User Documentation

Here's the user documentation which includes details on using the Timesheet2CSV export utility.

I have also started to build up a Timesheet Mini FAQ.

Future Features

Here's a brief list of features I had intended to add to Timesheet in future versions.

  1. Subtotals by Client for the Weekly summary view.
  2. Monthly summary by Client/Project/Task.
  3. Ability to move an existing entry to a different day.
  4. Decimal time representation. Eg. 3 hours 30 minutes becomes 3.5 hours.
Although I've stopped developing v1.5.x of Timesheet, all of these features should be available in v2.0.0 so stay tuned!

Compatibility

Timesheet has been developed on a 512k Personal Palmpilot running PalmOS 2.0. Timesheet is now being developed under a Palm III upgraded Personal Palmpilot.

Presently Timesheet will NOT run under PalmOS 1.0 as it uses some of the PalmOs 2.0 GUI elements.

I have tested Timesheet under an EMULATED PalmOS 3.0 environment and my Palm III upgraded Pilot. A number of 'true' Palm III users have confirmed Timesheet runs fine on their devices.

If you have problems with Timesheet and your Palm Personal, Professional or Palm III, please e-mail me with details.

Technical Notes

Timesheet presently has no Hotsync conduit support, however I am currently investigating developing a conduit for Timesheet. Hopefully within a couple of versions Timesheet will work with the Hotsync manager (at least under Windows).

The Timesheet database does have the backup attribute set, so every time you Hotsync your Palmpilot a copy of your Timesheet database will be copied onto your PC/Mac. Should anything go horribly wrong, you can recover your Timesheet data by transferring the application (*.PRC) and the backup database (*.PDB) back to your Palmpilot.

Technical Documentation

I have described the Timesheet database format in detail for anyone interested in developing utilities that work with Timesheet. This page also covers reading the TimesheetDB.PDB file, which is a backed up version of the Timesheet database. The page is only available in the online version of this documentation as it's of limited use to the average user.

Version history

Timesheet is currently version 1.5.3. A detailed version history is available (but not terribly interesting).

Comments, bug reports and suggestions for improvement are more than welcome, e-mail me!.

author: stuart nicholson
mail to: snic@ihug.co.nz