TrackFastä tracking software for Palm Computingâ organizers is a contact relationship and activity tracking tool. It helps you to organize and keep track of important business relationships, progress toward goals, completion of assigned tasks, and preparation for events. The built-in applications provided by Palmä handhelds do a great job of helping you to plan your days and weeks ahead. TrackFast tracking software is the perfect addition to these applications because it helps you to track your past and present activities, so you can see how you’re progressing and decide what you need to do next.

The TrackFast application organizes your recorded activities into Tracks and Entries. Tracks are the highest level of organization. A Track can be created for an important customer business contact, project, objective, event, or anything else you want to monitor over a period of time. Examples of other things you can track include personal diet and exercise, frequent-flyer mileage, and golfing scores. Each Track contains a list of Entries.

• Entries keep a record of specific activities or events within a Track. They contain a date and optional start and stop times to help you view them chronologically and to show you how much time you’re spending (or not spending).
• Both Tracks and Entries can be assigned to Categories to assist in finding information or quickly checking on the number of a particular type of project or activity (business, personal, phone calls, meetings, memos, etc.). You can customize your category list to reflect the types of activities you want to track.
• Both Tracks and Entries can contain Links to items in your Palm Address Book, Date Book, To Do List, and Memo Pad applications so you can reference important contacts, appointments, etc., from within the TrackFast software. Links are memory-efficient and they keep information in one place, so it stays up-to-date when you change a phone number or modify the time for an appointment. You can jump to view or edit a linked item directly from the TrackFast application and when you return you come back to the Tracks view, Entries view, or Edit Entry view you left. Deleting a linked item automatically deletes the link, so you don’t have to worry about removing them manually.

While editing an Entry, the TrackFast software supports keyword and name completion. Name completion uses the Palm Address Book to look for matching first names and enters the full name upon selection. Keywords are completed from a keyword database. The keyword database is fully customizable so you can enter words that you frequently use and prioritize them so the most common word will appear in the keyword selector. An expand popup lets you pick a keyword or name from a list of matches. You can also share your favorite keyword database with your friends and associates because you can copy and install it separately from your Tracks database. When you remove the TrackFast software, both databases are removed, so there isn’t anything left behind in memory.

TrackFast tracking software requires the Palm OSä version 2.0 operating system or greater. That means it runs on the PalmPilotä Personal, PalmPilot Professional Edition, Palm IIIä, Palm IIIxä, and Palm Vä connected organizers as well as the IBM WorkPadä PC companion. The TrackFast application and initial keyword database take approximately 87 Kbytes of memory.

You install the TrackFast software the same way you install any Palm OS application using the Palm Install Tool. Follow the steps below to install the software

• Unzip the contents of the distribution file to a convenient location on your computer’s hard disk.
• Browse to the location where you unzipped the distribution file and double-click on the TrackFast.prc file. Select your device User Name and click OK. Click Done and then click OK to the confirmation dialog.
• Place your Palm device in the cradle connected to your computer and press the HotSyncâ button. The TrackFast.prc file will be downloaded and installed on your device.

Follow the steps below to create a sample Track (we’ll delete it later):

• Run the application by tapping on the TrackFast icon in the launch screen of your Palm handheld. The first time you run it, a few extra seconds will be taken to initialize the Tracks and keyword databases.
• You are now in the Tracks view.
• Tap the New button to bring up the New Track dialog. Enter a title for your sample track.
• Tap the Category popup arrow next to the "Unfiled" category on the New Track dialog and set the category to "Business".
• Tap the Save button to save the track and return to the Tracks view.

Follow the steps below to open the Sample Track and add an Entry:

• In the Tracks view, tap on the empty arrow symbol to the left of your sample Track title. This will open the track and display the Entries view. You can also tap the Open button to open a Track.
• Tap the New button to create an empty Entry with today’s date and display the Edit Entry view.
• Enter some text for this sample Entry and notice how the keyword selector box above the Delete button will offer keywords that you can insert by just tapping on the selector.
• Try tapping on the expand popup arrow to the left of the keyword selector to see a list of currently matching keywords.
• Tap on the Date popup with today’s date and change the Entry date to "Yesterday".
• Tap on the Time popup where it currently says "none" and select a start/stop time for this Entry.
• Tap the Category popup arrow next to the "Unfiled" category in the top-right corner of the screen. Select a new category for the sample Entry.
• Tap the Done button to complete the editing of the Entry and return to the Entries view.
• Notice that the date of the Entry and the first line of text appear on each line of the Entries list. Entries are displayed in chronological order with the latest entries at the top of the list. Also note that the down-pointing arrow symbol is now filled to indicate that Entries are present in the Track.
• Tap the Close button to return to the Tracks view.

Follow the steps below to add a Link to the sample Track:

• From the Tracks view, tap on the Sample Track title to highlight it and tap the Details button to show the Track Details dialog.
• Tap the Links selector in the upper right corner of the dialog to go to the Links view.
• Tap the Add button to go to the Add Link view.
• Try tapping on each of the push buttons to the right of the Cancel button to display Palm Address Book, Date Book, To Do List, and Memo Pad items.
• Notice that a Look Up field is available to help you locate Palm Address Book items; a Go To Date popup is available to locate Palm Date Book items; and a Show Completed checkbox is available to show or filter completed To Do items.
• Select an item to link and tap the Add button. You will return to the Links view.
• Notice that the link you added is displayed with a symbol indicating the type of item. Keep in mind that this is a link to the item in the Palm application, not a copy of the item's contents. For example, you can update a phone number in a linked Address Book item and it will automatically be updated in the TrackFast link.
• Tap the Done button. You will return to the Track Details dialog.
• Tap the Save button to save your changes and return to the Tracks view.
• Notice the links symbol now appears to the right of your sample Track title, indicating that it has one or more links.

Once you have a link added to a Track or Entry, you can view them by tapping on the links symbol located to the right of the title in the Tracks or Entries views.

• In the Tracks view, tap on the links symbol to the right of your sample Track title. The Links view will be displayed.
• Select the link you added earlier and tap the Go button. The Palm application for the linked item will be launched and the item displayed.
• To return to the TrackFast application, tap the Application icon and tap the TrackFast icon in the Launch screen. This will return you to the Tracks view. Whenever you leave the TrackFast software to go to another application and then return, TrackFast will automatically return you to the last Tracks view, Entries view, or Edit Entry view that you were in.

From any Tracks, Entries, or Edit Entry view, you can edit your keyword database using the Keyword menu option.

• In the Tracks view, tap the Menu icon and select the Keywords option. The Editing Keywords view will be displayed and the keywords starting with the letter A will be listed.
• Try tapping on the various lettered push buttons to view keywords that start with that letter. Note that the * push button is used for keywords which start with a number or international character. Keywords may not begin with a punctuation mark.
• Tap the A push button and then tap the Add button. The Add Keyword dialog will be displayed.
• Notice that an ‘a’ has been entered for you to begin the new keyword. Keywords are kept in lower case, but they match upper or lower case letters as they are entered in the Edit Entry view. Enter the remaining characters for the word "always" and tap the Add button. The new keyword will be displayed in the Edit Keywords view.
• Let’s move the priority of the "always" keyword so that it matches before the "all" keyword. Select the "always" keyword and tap the up arrow to the right of the keywords list until the selected word is above the "all" keyword. Now when you enter the characters "al" in the Edit Entry view, the keyword selector box will display the word "always". You can still get to the "all" keyword by tapping the expand arrow in the Edit Entry view to see all matching keywords.
• Tap the Done button to return to the Tracks view.

Follow the steps below to delete your sample entry:

• In the Tracks view, open your sample track by tapping on the filled arrow symbol to the left of the title.
• In the Entries view, tap the title of your sample entry.
• In the Edit Entry view, tap the Delete button. A confirmation dialog will appear.
• Tap the Yes button to permanently delete the entry and return to the Entries view.
• Tap the Close button to return to the Tracks view.

Follow the steps below to delete your sample track:

• In the Tracks view, select your sample track by tapping on the title.
• Tap the Details button to go to the Track Details dialog.
• Tap the Delete button. A confirmation dialog will appear.
• Tap the Yes button to permanently delete the track and all its entries and return to the Tracks view.

Vision7 Software has arranged with PalmGear H.Q. to provide users the benefit of downloading and purchasing the TrackFast application online. The price is US$30. Just visit http://www.palmgear.com and search for the keyword "TrackFast". If you wish, you can download a free 30-day evaluation copy and return later to purchase the registered version. When you purchase online, you will be asked to provide the user name for your Palm connected organizer. You can find your user name by tapping on the HotSyncâ icon on your device and looking in the top right corner of the screen. Please be certain that you enter the name correctly online. After payment is received, a registration code for your device will be sent to your e-mail address. There is no need to re-install the TrackFast software or lose your existing Tracks or keyword databases.

Once you receive your registration code, follow these steps to register your software:

• If the 30-day evaluation period has expired, you will see the Evaluation Timeout screen when you tap the TrackFast icon in the launch screen. Just tap the Register button, enter your registration code, and tap OK. If the code is correct, the software will register and display the Tracks view. All of your Tracks, Entries, and keywords are now available again.
• If you are still within the 30-day evaluation period, tap the TrackFast icon in the launch screen to display the Tracks view. Tap the menu icon and select the About TrackFast option to display the About screen. Tap the Register button, enter your registration code and tap OK. If the code is correct the software will register and display the About screen again with the words "Registered Copy" rather than "30-Day Eval Copy". Tap OK to return to the Tracks view.

Keep your registration code in a safe place. If you ever need to re-install the TrackFast software, you will need to follow the steps above to re-register.

Copyright ã 1999 Vision7 Software. All rights reserved. TrackFast is a trademark of Vision7 Software and Randy Rorden. Palm Computing, Graffiti, and HotSync are registered trademarks and Palm, Palm OS, PalmPilot, and Palm III are trademarks of Palm Computing Inc., 3Com Corporation, or its subsidiaries. IBM WorkPad is a trademark of IBM Corporation. All other brands and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.