|
GreatDates 2.0 User Guide
Table of Contents Registration Upgrading from Version 1.x
Home Tab Creating events using the New Tab Event Info Editing or Modifying events Deleting Events Display Preferences
Categories and organizing events Creating a new category Deleting all events within a category Editing a category Merging two categories
Icons Adding and managing icons on your handheld Selecting icons Associating icons with categories Associating icons with events Exporting icons to DateBk5 and Agendus
Import Tab Importing events from Memo Pad Importing events from Address Book
Export Tab Adding and removing events to and from Date Book Add to Calendar Preferences Exporting events to a Memo Sharing events with others
Recovering GreatDates if your Palm device crashes Additional information
GreatDates is a tool for tracking all sorts of annual, monthly, weekly and even daily
events in your life. Use up to 31 custom categories to help organize them. See upcoming events as a list within GreatDates, add them to Date Book or export them to a memo. Most forms have additional help specific to that form
available from their menu.
Requirements --------------- Palm OS 3.5 or above. Make sure to use the appropriate icon database or collection for the resolution of your device. For example, to use hi-res icons,
you must have a device with a hi-res screen.
Registration ------------- When you purchase GreatDates you will be provided with an unlock key (a 5 digit code). Click
"Register" and enter the unlock key. Until you do this, GreatDates is still fully functional, but limited to creating at most 5 events.
Upgrading from Version 1.x of GreatDates ---------------------------------------------- Install Version 2 of GreatDates on top of your current version. The upgrade will happen automatically, the first time you run
GreatDates. All of your events, categories and alarms will be preserved. Note: Once you have upgraded, you will not be able to go back to Version 1.x again.
Home Tab ------------ The Home Tab is where GreatDates will always start. Use this tab to see the list of your events. Determine which events
are shown in this list using the category drop down menu to show a single category, all categories or a mix of categories.
Each event in the list displays the event’s name and the next date on which the event will occur. Click on the “Name”
button to sort the list alphabetically. Click on the “Date” button to sort the list by upcoming date order. When the list of
events is first displayed and is sorted by Date, it will automatically scroll to the event with the closest upcoming date.
Click on an event to see the more detailed information about that event such as its age, the time left until it will occur and the note associated with the event.
If an event has been added to Date Book, a little cursive ‘i’ will appear next to the event’s name. Clicking on the ‘i’ will take you to that event in Date Book.
If an event has an icon associated with it, that will be shown.
If an event has an alarm set, an alarm icon will appear next to the date. Click the alarm icon to view the alarm setting or
to make changes to the event. Events without an alarm set will not have the alarm icon displayed.
If an event repeats annually, then the age of the event will be shown (unless the category is set not to display age).
Use the “Display Preferences” to customize which columns of information are shown, row color and the way that dates
are displayed.
Creating events using the New Tab --------------------------------------------
Click on "New" and provide the information. Enter the name of the event. You may use either the last name field, the first name field or both.
For events such as birthdays, specify the birth date in the Date field and the event info will always show you their
correct age to the day. Dates may be entered either by using the Date Picker or by editing the field directly. The format
of the date must be mm/dd/yyyy. The year specified in the date must contain all four digits such as “2002” and not “02”.
Valid years are from 1904 to 2031. Use the category drop down to group the event with other similar events. This will
allow the event to be shown when that category is visible in the Home or Export view. Click “Note” to bring up a form for
editing a note. The note is visible from the Event Info form and is associated with the event when added to Date Book.
Events are, by default, a one time event. However, they can repeat automatically by checking the “Repeating” box and
adjusting the interval at which they should repeat. You can adjust the default “Repeating Interval” by selecting the
menu option for “Preferences:Default Repeat”. For a birthday, set the repeating interval to be once per year. For a
payment, you might set it be once per month. For a monthly meeting that occurs every third Tuesday, set the start date
of the next meeting and then set the repeat interval to repeat monthly by day. If you would like a repeating event to
stop repeating after a certain date, then set the “End Date” for the event. The event’s repeat period will only be
extended up to and including the set end date. An example of this type of event would be a school vacation. Set the
event to repeat daily starting on the first day of vacation. Set the end date to be the last day of vacation. By default,
repeating events have no end date which means that they will continue repeating until you modify or delete the event.
Set an alarm if you wish to be reminded of the event ahead of time. Turn on the alarm by checking the “Alarm” box. Pick
the time of day you wish the alarm to sound and display and how many days in advance. To have the alarm ring the day of the event, select “0” days ahead.
By checking the “Private” box, the event will be hidden from view unless the device is set to show private records. Even if you export the event to Date Book, the event will retain its private status within Date Book.
You can also add new events to GreatDates by importing them from a correctly formatted memo or custom field within Address Book. See the section in this guide on “Importing” for more detail.
Event Info ----------- Click on an event name within the list on the "Home" tab and the "Event Info" form will show you the event's name,
category, next date it will occur, time left till then, age (time since first occurrence) and the note you've created with it. Click "Edit" to make changes.
Editing or Modifying events ---------------------------------- To modify any information or setting for an event, first select the event within the list on the Home Tab. Then click on the
“Edit” button within the Event Info form. This will bring up the “Edit Event” form. On this form you can change all
information associated with the event. If the event has already been added to Date Book via GreatDates, then the events information within Date Book will be automatically updated when you click “Save”.
Deleting events ----------------- Delete events by going into that event's "event info" and either selecting "Delete Event" from the Menu or by clicking
"Edit" and selecting the "Delete" button on the "Edit" form.
Display Preferences -------------------------------------
Using the Display Preferences on the Home Tab menu, you can customize how the list of events is displayed. Use the preferences to:
- Set the Date Format - e.g. M/D/Y, D/M/Y, Y.M.D, etc.
- Hide events that occurred in the past and won’t occur again
- Set the row color on a color device
- Determine which columns in the events table on the Home Tab will be shown - you can show or hide: the Install
flag (italic i), Icon, Alarm flag and Age columns to adjust how much space is available to the event names
Categories and organizing events ------------------------------------------ Organize your events by placing them into relevant categories. Use the category menu to select events from a single
category, “All” categories or a "Mixed" set of categories. Select "Edit Mixed" on the category popup list to determine
which categories you want displayed in the “Mixed” category. Use "Edit Categories" to create, rename, merge or delete a category.
The category popup is alphabetically organized with the exception of the special options. The top of the popup list will
always have “All” and “Mixed”. The “Unfiled” category name can not be altered or deleted and is always found below
the last custom category name. When appropriate to the current task, “Edit Categories” and “Edit Mixed” will appear at the bottom of the category popup list.
Note: Depending on the number of categories created, you may need to scroll the category popup to find a desired category on the category popup list.
Creating a new category
------------------------------- You can create up to 31 custom categories to help organize your events in the way most meaningful for you. To create a
new category, simply click on “Edit Categories” on the category popup. Select the “New” button and enter the new category’s name and click “OK”. Duplicate category names are not permitted.
Note: When importing events from a memo, new categories will be automatically created if needed when specified as part of the event information within the memo. See the section on “Importing from Memo Pad” for more detail.
Deleting all events within a category ----------------------------------------------
To delete a category and all of the events within it, select “Edit Categories” on the “Categories” popup. Then select the category you wish to delete and click “Delete”. Note: This cannot be undone.
Editing a category -------------------------- To change the name of a category, simply click on “Edit Categories” on the category popup. Select one of the category
names in the list and click the “Edit” button. On this screen, there are three properties of a category that you can
change: the category’s name, setting an default icon for all events in this category and whether to display the age
Enter a new name and click OK. All events associated with the category that was renamed will reflect the new category
name. You may rename any of the pre-installed categories that came with GreatDates except for “Unfiled”, “All” and “Mixed”.
If you enter a category name that already exists, events from the selected category will be automatically merged into the existing category that you entered.
Displaying the age of annual events: While editing a category, you can also check whether or not to show an age in the
list of events for that category. For example, in a “Holiday” category, many events might be annual, but showing an age for that holiday is not a meaningful number.
Merging two categories ----------------------------- It is easy to combine (merge) the events of two categories into one category. To do this, simply rename the category
you would like to eliminate to the name of the existing category in which you want all of the combined events to reside.
For example, suppose you have two categories named “baseball” and “sports” and you would like to have all of the
baseball events moved into the “sports” category and to eliminate the baseball category. Click on “Edit Categories” on
the category popup list. Select “baseball” from the list of category names. Click “Rename” and enter “sports” as the new
name. Click “OK”. All of the events from baseball will be moved into sports and the baseball category name will be removed from the list of categories.
Icons ------ GreatDates allows you to select and assign icons at both a category and event level. Icons make it easier to visually
distinguish events as well as just provide fun while customizing the appearance of your GreatDates environment. When
you assign an icon to a category, every event in that category will use that icon by default. When you edit an event, you
may choose to assign any icon you want to that particular event (even if it is not one of the category icons). Then that event will always use its custom icon independent of the category icon.
Adding and managing icons on your handheld -----------------------------------------------------------
You may choose icons from as many as 20 icon files that reside on your handheld. Starter icon files are shipped as part
of GreatDates. Please just make sure you select the correct starter icon file for the color and resolution of your
handheld. For high resolution devices, please install the file “GD_Icons_HR.prc”. For standard resolution (160x160) devices, please install “GD_Icons_LR.prc”. For Grayscale devices, please install “GD_Icons_GS.prc”.
To be able to choose from a massive set of icons, please take a look at the professional and extensive Icon Collections available on our web site:
- GreatDates Premium Icon Collection (over 3,000 icons)
- GreatDates Icon Collection (2,000+ hi-res icons and 2,000+ lo-res icons).
- GreatDates GrayScale Icon Collection which contains over 650 icons
All collections can be purchased from The Ripple Factory at www.theripplefactory.com.
To manage your icons files, use IconMgr by Christopher Antos. IconMgr can be freely downloaded from our site. IconMgr
allows you to add, delete, or modify icons within an icon file as well as copy, rename and delete the icon files as a whole.
Icons can be moved around within an icon file without disrupting their association to categories and events within
GreatDates. If an icon used in GreatDates is deleted from its icon file, an ‘X’ icon will be displayed in its place to indicate
that the icon is missing. It is recommended that you use IconMgr to organize your icon in such a way that there are at most 20 files on your handheld. That way all of your icons will always be available.
Selecting icons ---------------- The icon picker is accessible through the Edit Category and Edit Event screens. The icon picker will display all of the icons
in the current icon file. You may either select one of those icons or choose from the file drop down menu to select a different icon file to dislay. The files are presented alphabetically.
Associating icons with categories ------------------------------------
Each category may have its own icon associated with it. By setting a category icon, all events (both new and existing)
within that category will use that icon. However, when you associate an icon with a specific event, then that event will ignore the category icon and use its own.
To set a category icon, click on the “Edit Categories” menu. Select the category of interest (e.g. Birthdays) and click the “Edit” button. On the form that pops up, click on the “Icon” button to select an icon.
Associating icons with events --------------------------------
Events will automatically use the icon associated with its category. However, you can also choose to have a different icon for each event.
To set an custom icon for an event, edit the event, click on the “icon” button and select your icon. The selected icon will be displayed for that event even if the category icon changes.
To remove the custom icon for an event, edit the event, click on the icon button and select “No Icon”. The event will then revert back to using the category level icon instead.
Exporting icons to DateBk5 and Agendus --------------------------------------------
If you use DateBk5 by Pimlico Software or Agendus by Iambic as your calendar, then when you export events into your calendar, the icon will also be associated with the events in those tools as well.
Note: Currently, DateBk5 will only recognize icons if they selected from the DateBk5 icon file “Icons-DATEBK5”.
Additionally, the way in which DateBk5 references icons is dependent on how they are arranged in the file. So if you use
IconMgr to change the order of the icons around within the file, you may be altering which icons will be associated with
events. This is only true for usage with DateBk5. Icon usage within GreatDates is not order dependent.
Agendus is able to support icons from multiple files.
Import Tab
-------------- Use this tab to import new events from either a Memo Pad memo or a custom field within Address Book. The ability to
import events makes it easy to rapidly create and organize a large set of new events within GreatDates.
When importing a set of events from either Address Book or a Memo, you can set default attributes that will be applied to every event created. The attributes you can set are:
- whether events will repeat and at what interval - whether or not the events should be private - a default alarm time and number of days ahead
After the import is completed, a popup will be displayed that shows you how many events were created, how many events already existed and if importing from a memo, how many lines of the memo were skipped because it didn’t
contain a properly formatted event.
Importing events from Memo Pad ------------------------------------------ Using memos to create event lists is a very simple process.
From within GreatDates 1. go to the Import Tab
2. check the “Memo Pad” box 3. select the desired memo name from the “Memo List” drop down 4. set default attributes if desired 5. click the “Import” button.
The information for each imported event can contain a last name, first name, date and a category to which it should be
assigned. If the category specified doesn’t already exist in GreatDates, it will be automatically created. If no category is specified, then the event will be added to the “Unfiled” category.
Memo Format: In order for events to be imported from a memo, the memo must be properly formatted. The format
required is simple to follow. The first line of the memo is the memo’s title. After that simply list the events. Each event
will contain four fields separated by a comma. It’s okay for an event to word wrap across multiple lines. However, you must separate each event with a carriage return (hit the Enter key).
The four fields in an event are “last name,first name,date,category name”. Some fields are optional. An event may have
either a last name, first name or both. Even if you leave one of the name fields empty still put in the comma. Specifying a
category field is also optional. Below is an example memo that demonstrates what possible event lines should look like with and without the optional fields. Next to each line is a comment.
Event Format: “last name,first name,date,category name”
|
|
|
Example Memo
|
Explanation
|
Work Events
|
// The first line is always the title of the memo
|
Smith,Bob,4/23/1954,Co-Worker Bday
|
// All fields are used
|
,Mary Jo,11/16/1974,Co-Worker Bday
|
// Last name is left out but first comma is required
|
Inventory,,9/3/2003,Business
|
// First name is left out but second comma is required
|
Company Picnic,,7/3/2003
|
// Category is left out but with no comma after date
|
Don’t forget to bring lots of soda
|
// Improperly formatted lines will be ignored
|
|
Any line in a memo not correctly formatted will simply be ignored and reported as a “line skipped”. So if you want to
enter some comments in the memo before or after a set of events, there is no need to worry about it interfering with the import process. The comments will not be imported.
The text for a memo can be created in your Palm device, on your desktop within any text editor, as e-mail or even
downloaded from a web site. If the event list is created with a desktop text editor or by someone else, you will need to
copy and paste it into a memo first. To do this: simply create a new memo within Palm Desktop Memos (or wherever Memo Pad on your Palm device syncs with during a HotSync operation). Copy and paste the memo and then perform a
HotSync to transfer that memo to your Palm device. Now proceed with using Import from GreatDates.
If you ever accidentally delete an event that was created by importing it from a memo, simply re-import that memo and
the event will be re-created for you. The other events in the memo that already exist will be recognized as already existing so long as their name and start date have stayed the same.
Note: Events that existed prior to the import but that are also found in the memo will not be changed in any way. For
example, if you set the default attributes for imported events to have an alarm set, a pre-existing GreatDates event that also appears in the memo, will not have its alarm set as a result of the import process.
Importing events from Address Book ------------------------------------------------
Many people store event information such as birthdays for contacts and their family within Address Book. It is a fast and
convenient way to get all the information about that person in one place. But Address Book doesn’t provide any way for
you to easily look across your contacts to see who is having a birthday this month. GreatDates can scan a selected
custom field in Address Book for event information and establish those events within GreatDates. Once in GreatDates, looking across your contacts for upcoming events is easy.
Preparing Address Book: Within Address Book, choose a custom field such as “Custom 2”. As an example, let’s assume
we’re adding birthday information for a make believe contact called Ken Kirby and his family members. To enter the
birthday for Ken, simply enter his birth date “ 4/14/1964” on a line by itself within the “Custom 2” field. To enter the
birthday for his wife Mary, on another line within “Custom2” enter “Mary 2/22/1965”. So the Address Book record in this example would like the following:
The date by itself is assumed to refer to the record’s primary contact. The date with a name before it is assumed to be a
first name (e.g. Mary) and the same last name as the primary contact (e.g. Kirby). Within GreatDates, once imported,
two events will be created one for “Ken Kirby” and one for “Mary Kirby” with the correct birth dates as their Start Dates.
The process for importing from Address Book within GreatDates:
From within GreatDates 1. go to the Import Tab
2. check the “Address Book” box 3. select the custom field name from the drop down 4. select the GreatDates category in which to create the events
4. set default attributes if desired (e.g. “Repeating 1 years” for birthdays) 5. click the “Import” button.
When this is completed, the popup will show how many events were created. Note: Events that existed prior to the
import but that are also found in the Address Book will not be changed in any way. For example, if you set the default
attributes for imported events to have an alarm set, a pre-existing GreatDates event that also appears in Address Book, will not have its alarm set as a result of the import process.
Export Tab ------------- Use this tab to export one or many events to either Date Book or a memo. You may also use this tab to remove events
from Date Book that were previously exported with GreatDates.
Adding and removing events to and from Date Book
------------------------------------------------------------------- Click on the “Export” tab. Use the category menu to display the desired events. Use the “Mixed” category if you would
like to see some but not all categories at once. Check the desired events that you would like to add into Date Book. As a
convenience, click the “all” or “none” button to speed the process of checking events. Click “Do It”. An italic ‘i’ will appear
next to each event that was checked and imported into Date Book. Clicking on the ‘i’ will take you to that event within Date Book.
Events that were repeating or private in GreatDates will also be repeating or private in Date Book. Alarms however do not migrate to Date Book. Clicking “Add to Date Book” twice won’t create duplicates events in Date Book.
To remove events from Date Book that had previously been added, follow the same procedure as above for checking
events on the “Export” tab. Click on the drop down menu that says “add to Date Book” and select “remove from Date Book”. Click “Do It”. Events that are checked that were never added will be ignored.
Add to Calendar Preferences ------------------------------- The Add to Calendar Preferences allow you to customize how GreatDates events are added into your Date
Book/Calendar. Access to these preferences is through the menu on the Export Tab. Preferences include:
- Timed or Untimed events - By default, events are added to Date Book as untimed events. Use this preference to
instead add events at the time of day that you specify (e.g. 7:00 am to 7:00 am). Note: This preference will apply to how events are added into Date Book from all categories.
You may set the following preferences differently for each category:
- Category name in title - Show or hide the category that the event belongs to in the event’s title within the Date Book. The default is to show the title.
- Add annual events showing the age - For events that repeat once every year (annual events), the default is to
add them into Date Book as simple repeating events that will be visible every year through 2031. This preference
lets you can choose to instead add these events as a series of one time time events with the correct age showing
for that year. For example, for a birthday event, the event’s title in the Date Book will show how old the person is each year.
You can choose to have the series of one time events be added for either 2, 5, or 10 years at a time going forward from the time the event was added.
Note
: If you edit an event within GreatDates, the start year of the series will be modified to start from the next occurrence of the event. Past occurrences of the event within Date Book will be deleted.
Turning off this preference for a category will also cause the series of events in Date Book showing the age to be deleted from Date Book and to be replaced by the default repeating event.
- Select into which Date Book category the events will be added. - For example, add birthday events from the
GreatDates birthday category into the birthday category in the datebook calendar. Note: This preference is only
available if you are using a datebook calendar tool that supports categories, If no categories are found, then this preference will be hidden.
Clicking “Use these settings for all categories” - As a shortcut, clicking this button will alter the preferences set for the
currently displayed category to be the same exact preference settings for all categories. Note: Once you click this, any custom preference settings for a particular category will be lost.
Clicking “OK” - On the Add to Calendar Preferences form, you may make changes to the preference for multiple
categories at once. The new preference settings will not go into effect until you click the “OK” button. Once you click
“OK”, then all effected existing events in Date Book will be updated. And these settings will be applied to all new events that are added.
Clicking “Cancel” - Clicking cancel will cause all changes to the preference setting to be lost and no events will be modified.
Exporting events to a Memo
------------------------------------ Exporting events to a memo makes it very easy to be able to view your events outside of the handheld environment or
to share lists of events with other GreatDates users. Events can be exported into a memo using either a “Long” format or a “Short” format depending on your needs.
The “Long” format allows you to pick and choose which pieces of information about your events you would like to see in
the memo such as whether to include an event’s associated note or not. Each event is written in a very readable format
with each field of information labeled. Use this format if you want to print out the memo or have the information in a readable document.
Example event in a memo exported in the long format Mickey Mouse
Category: Birthday Start Date: Sun 11/18/28 Next Date: Mon 11/18/02 Note: Call Minnie regarding party plans.
The “Short” format is less readable but can be re-imported into GreatDates by you or another user of GreatDates. For
example, if you wanted to share a list of work holidays with everyone in your department, you could create those
events within GreatDates (or directly in the memo as described above in the “Importing from Memo Pad” section), export
them to a memo and then e-mail the memo to everyone. They could then import that list into their copy of GreatDates.
Example event in a memo exported in the short format Mickey Mouse,,11/18/1928,Birthday
Exporting events to a memo is easy. Click on the “Export” tab. Use the category menu to display the desired events.
Use the “Mixed” category if you would like to see some but not all categories at once. Check the events you would like
to write out to the memo. Click the “all” or “none” button to speed the checking process. Click on the drop down menu that says “add to Date Book” and select “add to Memo”. Click “Do It”.
This brings up the “Export Memo” form. This is where you customize how your events are exported. First select the
name that you want to give to your memo. Choose something intuitive that describes the events to make it easier to
identify the contents of the memo in the future. You can then pick between the short and the long format. The short format is the default.
In the “Short” format, you can choose to export either the events’ “start date” or “next date”. To export “next date”,
click on the drop down menu that says “start date” and select “next date”. For example, this would be useful if you wanted to share a list of birthdays with others but didn’t want to hand out everyone’s age.
Check the “Long” box. This brings up the set of information you can export for each event. Check the box next to each field of information that you would like included.
After selecting and customizing your memo format, click “Export” and you’re done.
Sharing events with others ----------------------------------
There are two ways to share events with others. They are beaming single events to other GreatDates users and exporting your events to a Memo which you can either beam or mail to other users. Exporting events to a Memo is
discussed in the above section.
To beam a GreatDates event to another user, click on the event to see its event info. Click the menu on the “Event Info”
form, Select “Record”, Select “Beam Event to GreatDates”. Point your Palm device to another user with GreatDates on
their Palm device and proceed with the standard beaming process. The event will be created within their GreatDates “Unfiled” category.
Recovering GreatDates if your Palm device crashes
-------------------------------------------------------- Every time you perform a HotSync operation, your GreatDates data is automatically backed up (copied) onto your desktop system.
For a variety of reasons such as a dead battery or some sort of Palm OS corruption (not due to GreatDates of course), you might need to hard reset your Palm device. This means that your Palm device is restored to its factory or
out-of-the-box settings. All information and applications that were added since you’ve owned it, will no longer be on
your Palm device. If this happens, the next time you perform a HotSync operation after the reset, GreatDates along with
your other applications and their data will be copied back onto the device to what was present at the last HotSync. However, any data entered since the previous HotSync will be lost. HotSync frequently!
It is also possible to manually restore GreatDates only. You can do this by re-installing the archived copies of your
GreatDates information from your desktop. There are four files to re-install using the Palm Install Tool. These files can be
found in a folder on your desktop computer at a path similar to the following: “C:\Palm\YourUserName\Backup “. Note,
this path will depend on where you installed the main Palm directory on your desktop. The four files that need to be
restored are: GreatDates.prc, GreatDatesDB.pdb, gdCategoriesDB-####.pdb (the ‘#’ characters in the actual file name
will be numbers), and gdAlarmsDB-####.pdb (the ‘#’ characters in the actual file name will be numbers). Use the Palm Install Tool to add these four files. Then perform a HotSync. Enter your unlock key.
Additional information ----------------------------- Additional information can be found in the online FAQ at http://www.theripplefactory.com/greatdates_support.html
If you have other questions or suggestions, please contact us via e-mail at support@theripplefactory.com
For other great products from The Ripple Factory, please visit http://www.theripplefactory.com
Thank you for using GreatDates to help track the events in your life.
|