MYDIARY FAQ ----------- P.J.Harrison April 2001 Q1. Distribution Permission. Q2. How/where do I install the files for MyDiary Application? Q3. What does the MyDiary application do? Q4. Associated Calendar only shows Easter Holiday? Q5. Can I look at the Message files using FileManager and a normal text editor like Notepad? Q6. Will there be any later versions developed and if so how can I get an update? ====================================================================== Q1. Distribution Permission. I now realise I should have your permission before giving copies to my rellies (with attribution, of course). May I? A1. By all means, but the software is "as is" and I cannot take any responsibility for "future support". I do not own a commercial software development licence for my Microsoft C++ compiler (the learning edition specifically forbids products being developed for commercial distribution and the like). So the program MAY NOT be distributed for any commercial use. I do not intend to provide any support for of the programs, or to release any updates beyond V1.6 dated April 2001. DISCLAIMER: The programs are not made available for commercial distribution and are intended for personal use only. I can take no responsibility for loss arising from their misuse or installation either through misunderstanding or mistake, nor give any guarantee about their integrity if they are obtained from other than my home site or directly from me. Q2. How/where do I install the files for MyDiary Application? A2. I don't know the expertise of the reader with windows so you may need to consult someone who has some expertise to interpret these instructions. There are three executable files to the application: MyDiary.exe, MyAlarm.exe and MyCalendar.exe - two bits to the reminder diary application and a very small calendar display with can be invoked from the diary and alarm program. They should be put somewhere on your executable path and shortcuts placed in your Programs->menu somewhere, or on the desktop or some button bar. Put a shortcut to the MyAlarm.exe program in the Start->Programs->startup group so it gets run every time you reboot or startup your system. You need to create a directory C:\MYDIARY before you run either program, as by default that is where they will look for and store the message files, which are simple text files named according to their "activation date". You need to run the MyDiary program first to create some messages and use filemanager just to check they are appearing in c:\mydiary. If you would like to store the messages in a different folder, then create shortcuts to the MyDiary.exe and MyAlarm.exe files and in the command line specify the directory you wish to use, for example on my system my shortcut commands look like: c:\utils\mydiary.exe d:\data\messages c:\utils\myalarm.exe d:\data\messages Of course you have to set both programs to look in the same place. As far as I know MyDiary, MyAlarm and MyCalendar do not clash with other MS Windows programs, but there is very little need to "leave it running" anyway - run the MyDiary when you need to add a message or look through them all. I rarely 'manually' run the MyAlarm program as it comes up (if there are any active messages to be displayed) when I startup my system each day. Q3. What does the MyDiary application do? A3. Just briefly, the MyDiary allows you to write and review messages - change their activation date, edit them, file them or delete them. You can "filter" the list of messages to just those that are active ("queued") or those that have been filed (now inactive) or all messages, and you can search within that set for a particular string. [Eg all gardening reminders on my system have word GARDEN in them]. The messages are presented in chronological order, according to the filter (and optionally the search string) you have selected. The MyAlarm program only displays those active or "queued" messages which have come to or past their activation date - you can file them or acknowledge them (advances activation date to next day), or requeue them for a week, month or year from the current date [unfortunately not from the originally queued date]. Most of the message "actions" (file, delete etc) can be activated using a keyboard key or one of the dialog box buttons. You can activate the MyAlarm program from MyDiary using the "!" key, the MyCalendar from both programs ("@" key) and help using the "?" key. I use the programs as my reminder system on my machine here at home all the time. I run MyDiary from the Start->Programs menu when I want to add a message to the system or review what is comming up ("Queued filter" which is the default when MyDiary is started). I almost never run the MyAlarm manually, seeing it only when there are active messages to be displayed on startup. Q4. Associated Program MyCalendar only shows Easter Holiday? Can I define other holidays in MyDiary which will then be highlighted in the MyCalendar program? A4. No - Christian Easter is the only holiday highlighting in the calendar. The separate program MYCALENDAR.EXE is just that - a standalone program and IS NOT LOGICALLY CONNECTED TO THE DIARY PROGRAM in any way, other than the mydiary and myalarm programs being able to launch the calendar. I did not attempt to put other holidays in mycalendar as they are usually either fixed and well known or local dates, whereas Easter is a moving feast but widely recognised so I thought it would be useful to include it as a one off - I was trying to keep the calendar as simple as possible. There is no way you can change the calendar program display except to "flip the monthly pages over". By the way, MyCalendar has days=date-date and date=date-days calculators in it too - see the help. I hooked MyCalendar up to the MyDiary programs as I found I was often putting in a diary entry for something and needed to look at a calendar. I have put an icon in my Start->Programs list for the MyCalendar prgram as well as MyDiary, as it is often generally useful. Really, the description of MyCalendar is nothing to do with this FAQ. Q5. Can I look at the Message files using FileManager and a normal text editor like Notepad? A5. Yes - the messages are each stored in a separate file which are by default in the c:\mydiary directory (unless you have set it up to use a different directory). The files are simply text files and may be viewed with Notepad or another text editor, though you may have to turn on 'word wrap' to bring 'long lines' into reasonable view. Use Explorer or another file manager to list the c:\mydiary directory, right click the file you wish to view, select "send to" and then Notepad. The files are named according to date so that they sort in ascending order (YYYYMMDD), with extension .Mnn or .Snn for Messages(active) or Stored(filed) respectively with the nn from 00 up to 99 for any single date. They can be copied, deleted, or backed up like any normal file. Q6. Will there be any later versions developed and if so how can I get an update? A6. There will be no further development, refinement or bug fixes undertaken for any of the MyDiary, MyAlarm or MyCalendar programs.