Welcome to iAddress from DOVA-K Software. iAddress has been designed keeping three major principles in mind. 1. That an address book/bookmark manager should take such a small chunk of RAM that it can be left open and be available whenever you might need an address. Which is any time at all. 2. Despite small RAM appetite, be elegant and loaded with the features that users demand. 3. Work seamlessly with the user's current setup.
We think we have achieved these goals. iAddress will operate comfortably in less than 1 meg of RAM*, has a truly minimal screen footprint, sports features found only in more expensive, Ram-eating applications and is compatible with Navigator/Communicator, Internet Explorer and iCab.
Try iAddress and we think you'll agree.
* Tests were run on a Power Macintosh 8500/120 with virtual memory on. Test database contained 700 records.
OPERATION:
Beginning
Simply double-click the iAddress icon and you're on your way. Nothing to install. No support files to configure. After launch if nothing seems to have happened that's the beauty of iAddress. In the collapsed state iAddress takes up only a single-pixel-wide strip of the left or right side of your screen. To activate/expand iAddress just move the cursor to the extreme left/right hand side of your screen and click. (If iAddress is the frontmost application it is not necessary to click, as iAddress will expand as soon as the cursor enters the window.) Within a moment iAddress' tab window appears and presents you with a column of popup menus.
To begin entering addresses click on the "NEW" button at the very bottom of the tab window. Within moments the main data entry/editing window will appear. You will be presented with a pretty standard address book entry window with fields for Last, First, MI, Company, Address etc, etc. All the fields are pretty self explanatory except for the checkbox to the right of the company field. This checkbox is to allow the user to file the record using the Company field rather than the name fields. *(If you have your Browser open and active, the new record will automatically contain the URL of the current page and will be ready to file as a company using the title of the page as the company name.)*
Records not beginning with an alphabetic character will be filed under by the first alphabetic character in the files name. In the case of files containing no alphabetic characters, these will be filed under the "A" tab. For example, "123Go" would be filed under the "G" tab where as "123" would be filed under the "A" tab.
Multiple Address Books
iAddress allows the use of multiple address books. Each book has its own preferences file allowing you to set the default action taken based on the addresses in each book. For example a "Family and Friends" address book might be set to automatically launch your email client while a "Mac Support" book would launch your browser while a "Filemanager" address book would be used to open often used files and applications while yet another "Text Clippinps" address book would be used to quickly paste often used phrases such as your return address. (See Setting Preferences below to set deafault action for the type of iAddress Book you wish to create)
When you install and run iAddress for the first time an address book titled "iAddress Book" is created and will be the default address book that will be loaded at startup. To designate a different book as the default startup book simply append a tilde, ~, to the beginning of the chosen book's title.
To change address books click on the "╜" popup tab. The menu is broken into three sections. In the top section is the current address book being used. The next section gives you the option to create an entirely new address book. In the bottom section is the list of all available address books. Simply choose one of these to load it. Depending on the speed of your machine and number of records in the chosen book it may take a few seconds for the book to be available.
Address books, and only address books and their corresponding "Cat" files, must be located in the iAddress folder inside the System Preferences folder.
To Set/Edit Categories
Choose the category you want to set/edit in the category popup menu then click the "Cat" button at the bottom. A small window with an editing field in it will appear. Type in your new, or edit the existing, category and click "OK" and the new category will be ready for use.
To have iAddress display records by category tabs rather than alpha tabs, open the preferences record (see setting preferences below) and enter any character in the "Alpha" field. The caption will change to "Cat's" indicating that the tabs will now display categories rather than letters.
Bookmarks
Bookmarks can be added two ways, either using the "New" button or the "Add Bookmark" option in the "A" popup tab or if you are in the category view in every tab. In most cases the "Add Bookmark" option works just fine. However, suppose you are in the alphabetical tab mode and you wanted to bookmark a page titled "Welcome to Mark's Mac Emporium." If you use the "Add Bookmark" option the page will be automatically filed under W, not very condusive to remembering where the bookmark is filed. But if you use the "New" option, the editing window will appear allowing you to edit the title to something more logical, such as "Mark's Mac Emporium," before saving.
When recalling a bookmark, by default iAddress will launch the browser you have specified in "Internet Config." If you wish to use a different browser than the one specified in "Internet Config", simply launch the browser you wish to use, making sure that no other browsers are open, and iAddress will take care of the rest.
Filemanager
To use iAddress as a filemanager you must first make a new iAddress Book and set the deafault action to 5 (see "Setting Preferences" below). To record the addresses of files simply drag and drop those files/folders you want records of on the iAddress icon. If the currently active iAddress Book has not been configured as a filemanager (default action of 5, see "Setting Preferences" below) you will be presented with a standard locate file dialog box. Once filemanager iAddress Book has been located iAddress will make a record of the address of each and every file/application and store them by name. To open a file or application make sure the filemanager iAddress Book is the currently active book, and choose the file you wish to open under the appropriate tab. To view file statistics such as date created, date modified, creator and size, simply depress the "Shift" key while choosing the file.
Text Clippings
To use iAddress as a text clippings server you must first make a new iAddress Book and set the deafault action to 6 (see "Setting Preferences" below). To use iAddress to serve up text clippings simply open a "New" record. Type the title you want the text clipping to be saved as in the "Company" field and check the box to the right of the "Company" field. Type the clipping itself in the "Comments" box. To retrieve a text clipping make sure the text clippings iAddress Book is the currently active book, then choose a clipping under the appropriate tab and the clipping sans title will be automatically copied to the clipboard. If you need to edit a clipping simply depress the "Shift" key while choosing it.
Buttons
The function of the buttons in the viewing/editing window are as follows;
Clip-copies the entire record to the clipboard for easy pasting into other applications/documents.
URL-will launch browser and connect to the address entered.
e'Mail-will launch email client with a new message addressed to address entered.
Save-will save the current information to either a new or existing record depending on circumstance and prepares the window for a new record.
New-clears the window and forces a new record state.
S/New-saves an existing record as a new and distinct record. Used mainly when you would like to file a record using both the "Last" name field and "Company" field.
Cat-Opens a small window that allows the editing of the category currently chosen in the category popup menu.
Search-will find the first record (records are stored chronologically) containing the text currently entered in the "Last" name editfield. To find the next occurrence, if any, use the "Again" button.
Again-will continue the search for the next matching record if any. Click "Again" until database has been completely searched.
Delete-will delete the current record and clear window.
Recalling Records
After a record has been saved it will immediately be filed under the appropriate popup item in the tab window. To open a record just click on the appropriate letter or category tab and choose the record as you would using any standard popup menu item. The default action of iAddress (which can be set and will be explained in the PREFERENCES section) is to open the record in the main viewing window. However if you wish to eMail someone depress and hold the "Control" key while choosing your record. To visit a URL depress and hold the "Option" key while choosing. To copy the entire record to the clipboard depress and hold both the "Control" and "Option" keys. And if the default action has been reset, depress and hold the "Shift" key to open the record in the main viewing window.
SETTING PREFERENCES:
Upon first launch iAddress created a new record, "Preferences," and filed it just like any othe record under "P" unless you are in the category tab mode where the preferences record is always filed under tab 26. To change the standard behaviour of iAddress open this record.
It is only necessary to enter registration code in the default book that loads at startup.
To have iAddress's tab window stay open rather than collapsing, enter any character in the "Collapse" field. The caption will change to "Stay Open" indicating that the tab window will stay open.
To have iAddress display records by category tabs rather than alpha tabs, enter any character in the "Alpha" field. The caption will change to "Cat's" indicating that the tabs will now display categories rather than letters.
To change iAddress from a default of having the editing/viewing window open when a record is chosen, use the following codes in the "Edit" field.
Enter a "2" to have visit URL as a default. Caption changes to "Open URL."
Enter a "3" to launch eMail. Caption changes to "Email."
Enter a "4" to copy entire record to clipboard. Caption changes to "Clip All."
Enter a "5" to open files in creator. Caption changes to "File Man."
Enter a "6" to copy text clippings to clipboard. Caption changes to "Clip Text."
To return to original state clear the field or enter a "1". Caption changes back to "Edit."
To change the side that the tab window resides on, enter any character into the "Left" field. Caption changes to "Right."
After you have made your changes, click Save and the new actions will immediately take effect.
Perhaps the best way to use iAddress is to make an alias and place it in "Startup Items" of your System folder so that iAddress will launch when you start your machine.
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Contacting:
If you have any questions or comments don't hesitate to contact the author, Kurt Vail, at the above address or e'mail him at kdvail@exploremaine.com
Send written correspondence to;
DOVA-K Software
24 Hall Lane
Norway, ME 04268
Also please visit our page at > http://www.exploremaine.com/~kdvail/DOVA-K.htm < for other great software products.
