This file contains important additions and corrections to the information in the InfoLog User’s Manual. Please read it carefully. You may want to print these pages to add to your manual.
Be sure to send in your Warranty Registration Card so we can keep you informed of future updates. You may expedite registration by faxing the card to 415/571-5195, but please follow up by mailing the postage paid card.
STARTER KIT
An InfoLog Starter Kit is available from Connectix. Priced at $9.95, the Starter Kit contains the InfoLog manual and 5 sheets of the Avery 5267 Laser Printer Labels needed for InfoLog. Call 800-980-5880 to order yours today.
LABELS
InfoLog was designed to be used with Avery brand 1/2"x1-3/4" labels as described in the User’s Manual, part number #5267 white or #5667 clear. They are often called “Return Address” labels and come 80 to a sheet. These labels may be purchased at most office supply stores. You can also order them mail order from Modern Service Office Supply Co. (MSOS) by calling 800/672-6767, or call Avery Customer Service Center direct for a dealer near you at 800/252-8379 or 909/869-7711 for international callers.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
If you have any problems with InfoLog, please call Connectix 800/950-5880, or via fax 415/571-5195, or via electronic mail (AppleLink: “CONNECTIX.TS”, America Online: “Connectix” or the Internet: “connectix@aol.com”.)
COMMENTS & SUGGESTIONS
If you would like to discuss the current feature set of InfoLog, or new features, please write your comments to “ATTN: InfoLog Suggestions” at the Connectix address below. You can also send your suggestions via fax 415/345-1714, or via electronic mail (AppleLink: “CONSENSUS”, America Online: “Consensus” or the Internet: “consensus@aol.com”.)
The following describes the new features that were added since the manual was printed.
KEYWORDS MENU
The Keywords menu can contain a list keywords, allowing easy entry of keywords when searching or entering items. The Keywords menu will be disabled (gray) if there is no place for the keyword to be entered into. There are four styles of Keywords menus, selectable from the Search sub-menu: “All” will display every keyword in your database in a hierarchical menu from A-Z; “Marked” will display keywords marked in the Keyword Browser (to mark a keyword, double-click the item’s “in-menu” column); “Common” will display the 25 most common keywords; and “None” will leave the Keyword menu empty. The Keywords menu is constructed when you first open a database, causing a delay that can be avoided by selecting the “None” option.
NOTE: The “Common” keywords are calculated only when you first open an InfoLog file, and are not updated as you add or delete keywords. When you re-open the file, they will be correct.
SEARCH KEYWORDS, LOCATIONS AND NOTES
Each kind of search “Matches Exactly”, “Starts With” and “Contains” normally searches only keywords. Optionally, you can can choose from the Search menu to also search locations and notes. Choosing to search locations will slow down searches some, and searching notes will be significantly slow if you use many or large notes.
EXPORT
You can export the InfoLog database to tab-delinated text file by using the Export Database command from the File menu. The format is as follows: Each individual InfoLog item (a record) is separated into four fields with a tab character between them (the InfoLog Number, Location, Keywords, and Notes.) Each InfoLog record is separated from the next one by a return character. If there are return characters in the notes, they are converted into the paragraph symbol ( ¶ = option-7) in the export file. If there are any tab characters in the Notes, they are converted into the delta character ( Δ = option-j). Here is an example of the output (the tab characters shown in this example as a » character so that it is visible):
CRA.9301.0002»CRA.Chrono»more test output keywords»line 1 notes¶line 2 notes
CRA.9301.0003»CRA.Chrono»last test output»no more notes
IMPORT
You can import from a tab-delinated text file new InfoLog items. The format is the same as the export format described above. The keywords, location, and notes for each item are appended to your InfoLog database starting with the first unassigned item. If you are importing from an exported InfoLog database, the old InfoLog item number will be ignored, and a new InfoLog item number assigned.
The suggested memory size as well as the minimum memory size of the InfoLog application is set to 1,000K. Additional memory allocated to InfoLog can significantly speed up usage by “caching” the database better. In particular, once you have more than 2,000 keywords or 500 records you may wish to increase memory to 1,500K. Larger InfoLog databases may also require additional memory. To change the setting, quit InfoLog, click to highlight the InfoLog application icon, and choose Get Info from the Finder.
KEYS FILE
Each InfoLog database consists of two files, a record file and its associated Keys file. The Keys file MUST be in the same folder as its associated InfoLog database file. You may not use an alias for the Keys file. If InfoLog can’t find its Keys file, it will attempt to recreate one from the database file if there is room on the disk—this may take a few minutes.
CAPITALIZATION AND LAST USE OF KEYWORD
For fast access, InfoLog only stores one copy of each keyword no matter how many InfoLog items use it. It is not possible to have some keywords be “Jones” and others to be “jones”. InfoLog will use the capitalization of the last use of a keyword, thus if you have been using “Jones” for many items, then enter “jones” in a new item, all the old “Jones” items will now appear as “jones”. For convenience we recommend that you use predominately lower-case keywords in InfoLog.
PREFERENCE “USE INFO WINDOWS FOR EDITING”
In Preferences (under the File menu) there is an option called “Use Info Windows for Editing”. When this option is selected, editing an items will open that items “Info” window instead of allowing you to edit it directly in the browser. This option is useful when you have many more keywords in each item than what can fit in a single line.
PREFERENCE FOR FONTS WHEN PRINTING
When using the Print Items option under the File menu, the font used for printing will be the same font and size as the font displayed in each of the Browser windows. You can change this font through the Preferences option (also under the File menu) in the Browser section. You can also change the font used when printing labels from the Label section of Preferences.
If you want to try using InfoLog without printing labels immediately, use the Print Labels menu normally, and “Cancel” when you get to the standard Print dialogue. You will have 80 new items available. You can re-print the associated labels later.
PRINTING LABELS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH
If you have a partially used sheet of InfoLog labels from the previous month, you have two choices: either print a new sheet of labels starting at the first unassigned item (this will change the date of the InfoLog numbers in the remaining unassigned items); or if exact month on the label does not have to precise for your needs, use the last of the old InfoLog labels.
WHITE VS. CLEAR LABELS
Avery makes both white (#5267) and clear (#5667) labels . You may prefer the to use the clear labels on white documents as they look cleaner. However, the white labels may be easier to read on dark colored items. Remember, you can always reprint a sheet of InfoLog labels by using the “Start Sheet with this Item…” option under Print Labels.
EXISTING FILE SYSTEM
One of the best ways to integrate an existing file system with a new InfoLog one is to start by logging your file folders themselves. For instance the Jones Project folder can have keywords “jones project advertisement florida press release”. When you search for “jones ad” you will at lease find the folder that it is in. Of course, new or important items in a folder may deserve to be logged individually.
PRINT LOCATION LIST
Some people find it useful to print a list of all the items in a location, and place it in the front of that location (especially Archived items.) This provides an index making it easier to find specific items in that location. To print out a list for a single location, select the Locations option from the Search menu, then enter the name of the location you wish to list into the search field. All items with that location will be displayed, and then just select the Print Items option from the File menu.
MULTIWORD KEYWORDS
InfoLog separately keeps track of each word entered as a key. However, there are some instances where it might be useful to have a single multi-word keyword. For example, place names, such as the word “New York”, or a special items like “op amp”. In these cases, you can enter an option-space or a hyphen to allow the two words to be stored as a single keyword.
DATE AND NUMBERS AS KEYWORDS
Being consistent is the most important thing, but a couple of these number and date tricks may be of use:
• Dates search easier if you put them in year/month/day order. This way you can easily find each of “90”, “9012” or “901215” if you only know it happened in 1990.
• Single digit numbers such as “1” and “1st” often search easier when spelled out (i.e. “one” and “first”.)
• Some numbers are not significant unless connected to another word. Either skip the spaces that separate them, or use a hyphen or an option-space to join them, i.e. “4-part harmony.”
CORPORATE LIBRARIAN
Many companies or teams have a single person assigned as an informal “librarian” for the group. This can be a very effective way to use InfoLog. However, a centralized person as librarian makes it difficult for other members of the group to place labels on documents and enter keywords. We recommend that group members write keywords on a PostIt™ note and give the document to the librarian. Ordering custom-printed PostIt notes (available from many print shops) can also be useful, they can have common keywords, check boxes, other other standard information printed on them.
PORTRAIT PRINTING AND SMALL FONTS
When printing the results of a search you will often find that you can’t see all the keywords on the printout. If you go to Page Setup on the File menu, you can change the orientation from Portrait to Landscape, allowing more room for keywords across the wide page. Also, when printing many items, you may want to go the Preferences item on the File menu and change the font size to 6 or 7, this will allow more items to be printed on a page.
EXAMPLE LOCATIONS
You might find useful these examples of locations and their descriptions:
• Top Desk Drawer—Top file drawer of my desk
• At Home—At home to be reviewed
• Hot Files—The file box on top of my desk
• Back Shelf—The shelf behind my desk
• Cabinet 1—File cabinet 1 in the Resource Room
• Archive Box 12—The storage box 12 in the Archive Room
• Safe Deposit—Box 231 at Bank of America, San Mateo
• Storage—Public Storage space C1 in Union City
• Box 35 in Storage—Box labeled 35 at Public Storage space C1 in Union City
• F1:01:01—File one, drawer 1, folder 1
• On Loan—See memo for who loaned to and when due back
• On Loan to Harry—Call Harry at 415/555-1212 for return
InfoLog works very well as a tracking system for computers and other office equipment. Just simply tag the equipment, enter keywords for the type and serial numbers, and create a location for each person responsible for the equipment, or it’s physical location. We find that Seton Name Plate Company 800/338-5810 has available a number of non-removable “asset/property” stickers that are sequentially numbered like InfoLog numbers. Their QuickGuard™ label #QG100 is the simplest sticker, with “Property of COMPANY NAME” and a 6 digit serial number, and it can be shipped in 3-5 days. Other kinds of property tags can include your logo, and have a precise InfoLog number on it, such as “CNN.93.0001”.
SOFTWARE INVENTORY
Each box, with manual and disks, can be labeled. InfoLog the name of the software, type, and other keywords, serial number, and the person responsible for it or the location the software is located (i.e. Top Shelf—Software Library.) You may also choose to separately label the disks and manuals, that way people can “check out” the manual without taking the original disks.
RESUMÉ DATABASE—InfoLog can be very useful as a database for resumés. Place an InfoLog label on each resumé, and enter the job requested and the relevant qualifications from the resumé. Avoid entering information such as the applicants name, address, or other information that might be considered discriminatory. A search for “vice president sales marketing mba 10yrs” will display all qualified applicants, regardless of gender or race—then go back to the resumé files to get the original resumé for the applicant’s name and address.
PHOTO DATABASE
Create a database exclusively for photographs. Place an InfoLog label on the back of a photograph or negative sheath, then enter keywords for what the contents of photo (for example: the subjects “children”, type “family”, models “john doe”, the predominant color “blue”, and other pertinent information “indoors f5 ektar 100/21°”, etc.) Then just file chronologically.
CD DATABASE
Place an InfoLog label on each of your compact disks. In your InfoLog file, enter keywords for the name of the CD, the artist, the label, parent label/distributor, producer, music category, etc. Add additional keywords for how the music sounds to you, i.e. “soft acoustic guitar folk warm”. Locations can include “Music Shelf”, “At Office”, “In Car”, “On Loan”, etc.
To perform a consistency check on an InfoLog database, hold down the Option key while opening the database. Any internal problems or minor inconsistencies in the database will be displayed in a window, the contents of which you can either print or save as a text file. Should InfoLog report problems with any of your databases, please contact Connectix Technical Support and report this information.
