| ASTRAWARE | palm os products |
|
Timetable / Timetable Pro User Guide |
| Introduction |
On your Palm organiser
Timetable is a compact utility which helps you to
It is ideal for teachers, students, lecturers, managers, or anyone else who has a repeating weekly schedule! Timetable shows you an at-a-glance summary of your week's activities, and you can get more detail on any activity with a single click. Another click and you can be editing any information you've entered.
On your Windows PC
Supplied for your convenience is TTCreator - a program which you run on your PC to allow you to create your timetables much faster than if you have to enter all the information on your Palm!
| Installing Timetable |
Timetable is available as a standalone as a compressed ZIP (for PC) or SIT (for Mac) file. The compressed files contain these release notes along with the actual Timetable .prc (program) file.
The .prc file needs to be installed on your Palm or compatible handheld. Firstly, locate and start up the 'Palm Installer' program. On Windows this is in the 'Palm Desktop' menu in 'Programs' on the Start Menu. Using the Palm Installer program, select the .prc file. Put your handheld in its cradle (or use a HotSync cable) and press the HotSync button. During the HotSync, the Timetable program will be transferred to your handheld and will be available from the menu when you press the applications button. Tap the Timetable icon, and you're ready to start!
| Installing TTCreator |
If you downloaded only the Palm .prc version of the ZIP or SIT file, then the TTCreator program is available for you to download from the Timetable page.
TTCreator is supplied as a single .EXE (program) file, which you will need to extract onto your PC's harddisk before it can be run. A good place to put TTCreator is in your Program Files directory. See the documentation that came with your ZIP extractor program (such as WinZip or ZipMagic) for instructions on how to extract a file.
Problems: TTCreator requires the Visual Basic 5.0 runtime libraries to be present on your computer - If you get the error "MSVBVM50.DLL not found" (or the same with ASYCFILT.DLL then you'll need to get hold of these - if you do a net search for "MSVBVM50.EXE" then you'll be able to download this (large - 1.3Mb) file from a site nearby you. If you cannot find it, then we recommend that you get it by doing a search on CNET download.com.
| Sample Files |
To help you get going, Timetable is supplied with two sample timetable .pdb (database) files, one for a university student and one for a school teacher (Howard's 1998-99 timetable in fact). These can be installed onto your Palm organiser using the Palm install utility or can be opened in the TTCreator PC program. Take a look around, and once you're ready to create your own timetable then you can use the New function in TTCreator or the Table Clear function in Timetable to get a starter table.
| Creating tables on your Palm |
Timetable has all the facilities you need to enter your timetable actually on the organiser, though it can take some time to enter all the information! Most of the dialogs in the program have a small (i) icon in the top-right corner which opens up help on the current task you are performing. There is also help available when you start Timetable for the first time and also from the Options menu.
If you have a sample timetable loaded and are using Timetable student edition, use the 'Delete...' item in the Table menu to clear it. If you are using Timetable Pro edition, use the 'New Table...' item in the Table menu to create a new timetable.
To start adding activities (called 'blocks') to your empty timetable, open the 'Record' menu when the timetable appears, and click 'New Block...'. Once you are there, set the day, time and details of your first activity. If field names such as 'Lesson' aren't appropriate for your schedule, you can use 'Table Properties' under the 'Table' menu to change them.
| Selecting timetables on your Palm (Timetable Pro only) |
On the Pro edition of Timetable, you can keep several timetables on your organiser at once. Either use HotSync to load the timetables from your PC (if you created them using the TTCreator utility), or use 'New Table...' on the Palm to create them directly. Each timetable must have a unique name.
There are two ways to select which timetable to view. The easiest is to use the Up/Down buttons on your organiser. These 'scroll' between the timetables, and the name of the newly visible timetable is shown momentarily at the top of the screen. Alternatively you can use the 'Select table...' item in the 'Table' menu to list and then select a table to view.
| Menu descriptions |
All the information below is available through the help functions within Timetable itself.
Record > Create
ò This form is used to enter a new block into the timetable.
ò If you select a date or time period outside what is currently visible,
Timetable will expand the view to show the new entry.
ò Use 'Display Properties' to choose which fields to show in the info box
on the timetable.
Record > Edit
ò This form is used to update a block in the timetable.
ò If you select a date or time period outside what is currently visible,
Timetable will expand the view to show the new entry.
ò Use 'Display Properties' to choose which fields to show in the info box
on the timetable.
Record > Duplicate
ò This form is used to create a
copy of an existing block in the timetable. Once you've created the first
block of a certain type, this is useful to copy it throughout your timetable.
ò If you select a date or time period outside what is currently visible,
Timetable will expand the view to show the new entry.
ò Use 'Display Properties' to choose which fields to show in the info box
on the timetable.
Table > Select Table (Pro only)
ò Select which timetable to view from a list of
all available timetables.
Table > Table Properties
ò Choose the name of the current timetable,
which is displayed when a timetable is selected (Pro only).
ò Choose the names to show for each label when
adding or updating an entry.
ò Field 1 is a location (room, building)
ò Field 2 is the attendants (class, year, client)
ò Field 3 is the presenter (teacher, lecturer)
ò Field 4 is the subject (lesson, topic), and can hold twice as much
information (32 characters) as the other fields
Table > Display Properties
ò Choose which day of the week the timetable should run from
ò Choose how many days the timetable should show: either 5 or 7 days
ò Select the time range that the timetable should show
ò If some blocks won't fit in within the timetable size you've chosen then
the timetable will automatically expand to fit.
Table > New Table (Pro only)
ò Choose the timetable properties for the new timetable.
Table > Delete Table (Pro only)
ò You will be asked whether you wish to delete the current
timetable permanently from your Palm.
Table > Clear Table (standard only)
ò You will be asked whether you wish to clear all
data from the current timetable.
Options > Preferences
ò If you program set your Palm Preferences so that
Timetable is activated from the Date Book button, you can select 'Force
Date Book button action' so that a second click of the button takes you to
the Date Book.
Options > Register
ò If you haven't registered yet for Timetable then this page gives you details
of how to register, and also lets you enter your name and code to enable
the full version.
ò You can enter the name and code in either upper or lower-case.
| Timetable Pen shortcuts |
Your can quickly get to the Edit Block dialog by tapping the information box once you've selected a block. You can quickly do Delete Block by swiping the pen from the far-left side of the information box to the far right.
There are also command shortcuts for many menu items. For instance, in the graffiti area, swiping the pen from bottom-left to top-right ('/' - the command stroke) and then writing 'U' opens the duplicate block.
In future versions we'll add a mode where you can create new blocks simply by dragging on the timetable display.
| Using TTCreator on the PC |
The TTCreator program is designed to let you easily create timetables which can then be HotSync'd to your Palm.
When it starts, TTCreator asks whether you would like to open an existing timetable or create a new one.
Opening an existing timetable
If you created the timetable using TTCreator then you will need to browse to its location on your system and double-click the '.pdb' file to open it. If you want to open a timetable which has been created or updated on your Palm organiser then you will need to find the 'backup' directory where HotSync stores copies of your Palm's information. First find the directory where Palm Desktop is installed. By default this is 'C:\Palm'. In that directory you should find a directory made up of your last name plus the first letter of your first name. For example, Fred Bloggs should find a directory called 'BloggsF'. In that directory you will find a 'Backup' directory, and (somewhere) in there will be your timetable .pdb file.
Creating a new timetable
Clicking 'Create New' opens up the 'Create a New Timetable' Wizard. Here you need to select whether you want TTCreator to create blocks for five days (Monday to Friday) or seven days, when the day should start and end, and when ti leave a lunch break. Don't worry if the given choices don't match what you need, because you can add and delete blocks later to suit. Click 'Create' to view the timetable.
Editing the timetable
To edit or delete an existing block in the timetable, select it using the left mouse button. Its details will be shown in the 'Block Editing' area, and you can change the text, time period and group of the block before pressing 'Update', or you can remove the block using 'Delete'. If you have changed some details but want to revert back to the original information, then click 'Cancel'.
To create a new block, use the left mouse button to drag from where you want the block to start to where you want it to end. You can then enter details in the 'Block Editing' area. To create a one hour block, simply right-click your mouse at the point where you want the block to start.
Quick Fill: if you want to create a new block with the same code and details as one that has already been entered, type the code and click 'Quick Fill'. The details and group will be copied from the first block in the timetable with that code.
| Support Shareware! |
We think Timetable is really useful - it does one thing very well. Howard uses it on average ten times per school day!
If you find Timetable a useful tool, then we ask that you register it, which will remove the pause from the start. If you use the program regularly, the length of the pause will increase slightly, as a reminder to register!
All of the Astraware partners have at some time been poor students - and we know how you feel about expensive shareware! For this reason, we have two versions of Timetable available: student edition which only allows you to keep one timetable on your organiser (but is at a low price), and Pro edition for non-students which allows you to switch between several timetables.
When you register, you get a registration code which unlocks your copy of Timetable (either student or Pro), and future upgrades of Timetable version 1.x.
For information on how to register, go to the Timetable page. The quickest way is to register securely online, but you can also pay by UK Pounds Sterling cheque if you ask us first.
| Astraware Products |
Palm Games Pack - get Zap!2000, Astroids, Bzzz! and Fire! for your Palm at 20% off the price if you bought them separately.
| Contact Us |
If you've got suggestions about how to improve Timetable, or its PC companion TTCreator, then drop us a line, at david@astraware.com. If you can provide the following information, it would be a great help:
| Version History |
Timetable 1.22 ============== Palm OS 3.5 seems to have a bug when you try to change the name of a database. Worked around.
Timetable 1.20 ============== Now highlights in colour on the Palm IIIc, etc. Fixed bug which crashed Timetable when no table was loaded on startup Timetable, Timetable Pro, TTCreator 1.10 ======================================== Beta timeout removed Second full release Timetable 1.10 beta 2 ===================== New Block form did not correctly fill in the timespan: fixed New Block and Update Block forms do not allow you to create a block with no timespan. Warns if new/updated block clashes with an existing block Option to have Date Book button go to DateBk3 Timetable 1.10 Pro beta 2 ========================= Fixed error when scrolling to a previous timetable after creating a new one User is prompted to retry if timetable name in use/invalid TTCreator 1.10 beta 2 ===================== Behaves correctly if Cancel is pressed when initially opening an existing timetable Timetable 1.10 Pro beta 1 ========================= Added ability to view many timetables on the Palm Scroll between timetables using up/down buttons Timetable 1.10 beta 1 ===================== New timetable property to show days as numbers (1,2,3...) instead of letters (M,T,W...) TTCreator 1.10 beta 1 ===================== Fixed timetable database overwriting aplication if the database name was "Timetable" Added facility to create a new block by left mouse button dragging from beginning of the new block to end Timetable 1.01 ============== Removed some stray debug text Fixed timetable database name clash Timetable 1.00 ============== Beta timeout removed First full release
| Known Issues |
Two users have reported that Timetable crashes when selecting 'New block', 'Timetable Properties' or some other menu items
On the Pilot, the program reads low memory on startup. Is this a problem?
| Wish List (in no particular order) |
Please email us if you can think of things to put on the wish list! Remember, once you register for Timetable, your registration code will work with all versions of Timetable 1.x!