|
|          GEO-NOTES for Windows 95
|
|---------------------------------------------- ----   -----    --- -    -
| version 1.0  November 1,1999
|
| by Walter Gamba (walter@yagga.net)
|
| SHAREWARE (30$, e-mail me for further infos)
|
| ENGLISH/ITALIAN/FRENCH version
| (to find italian & french version visit my site ..see last section of this file)
|
| this is the sole manual. No italian or french version: any help appreciated...
|
+----------------------------------------------  ------   --- -   -   -


WARNING: USERS OF PREVIOUS VERSION!!!!:
=======================================
THE FILE FORMAT HAS CHANGED: so backup you "geonotes.dat" file before running
release 1.0. This release automatically converts between the old file format
and the new one, but the conversion could not be thoroughly tested.
The program will detect old file version and prompt you to close geoNotes (so you
can backup the file) or keep on reading..


QUICK-START
===========
Double click the geoNotes icon and, since it is the first time, the main dialog 
is brought up automatically. To do this later, click with the right mouse button 
on the tray icon. 
Go to the NOTES tabbed-dialog and type your first note in the
edit-control in the bottom-right corner of the dialog. The ADD button will 
became enabled Push the ADD button, in the big list window you will notice
a new note added.
Then push the COLLAPSE button and the main dialog will disappear and the note 
will show up.



GENERAL INFO
============

WHAT'S NEW from last release:
-----------------------------
- generally improved interface 
- double click on the try icon opens an empty note on the desktop
- autosave (if your computer crashes frequently)
- now you can disable the splash screen at startup

WHAT CAN geoNotes DO ?
----------------------
This simple (and silly) utility enables you to:
-stick post-it like notes all over your desktop
-stick them to specific windows
-create post-it notes to remind you of important appointements
-create post-it notes to remind you to request the book you have
 lent 3 months ago to Bill or to remind you that's been 2 years
 since you borrowed that CD from George

HOW DOES IT WORKS (MADE SIMPLE)
-------------------------------
When first launched, geoNotes sits gently in your tray as a yellow 
post-it note. Bring geoNotes' main window up by RIGHT CLICKing on
this icon. You will be presented with the main window.
You can set your things up and then, by clicking on the COLLAPSE (or MINIMIZE) button,
hide the window, leave the post-it like icon in the Windows 95 tray area
and display any post-it notes.
To quickly bring up a new, empty note when geoNotes is minimized, DOUBLE
CLICK on the tray icon.


COMMAND LINE / NO SPLASH PANEL AT STARTUP option
------------------------------------------------ 
there is only one parameter that can be used on the command line. Simply invoke
geoNotes with the argument: "-nobanner" to launch the program without the banner.
See section on invoking on suggestion on how to achieve it within Windows95.


REMEMBER:
You can bring up the main window by _right_ clicking on the tray icon
You can show/hide post-it-s by _left_ clicking on the tray icon. The
icon will change accordingly.
A _double_click_ will bring up a new empty note on the screen.

SAVED DATA
----------
While notes are displayed, they can be edited on the fly.
Infos are stored in a file named "geonotes.dat" in the same directory where
the executable is. Deleting this file will result in the resetting of 
everything to its default and in the deleting of every note.



DESCRIPTION
===========

STARTING geoNotes
-----------------
When you double click geoNotes.exe, or when it is run, the program sits in your
tray area if it founds a geonotes.dat file, and shows any note as indicated in the file.
If is the first time you run geoNotes (or if it can't find the data file) the
program shows directly the main dialog.


COMMAND line options
--------------------

To launch the program with a command line option, you can't simply double click its icon.
You can open a DOS box, change directory to the one containing the geoNotes.exe, and type:
	
	c:\program files\geoNotes\> geoNotes.exe ..options...

You can achieve this also by creating a shortcut. 
1) browse to the folder containing geoNtoes.exe.
2) Right click on it and choose "Copy"
3) Right click on the destination folder (e.g. c:\windows\startup) and choose "Create shortcut"
4) Right click on the freshly created shortcut icon, and chose "Properties"
5) On the properties panel, chose the "Link" tab
6) In this panel, locate the "Destination/Source/Link" input box 
	(the first input field, counting from top)
7) modify the line by adding at the end a space followed by the options.
	e.g. c:\utilities\software\geonotes.exe -nobanner	
8) Click OK and try the shortcut by double clicking it	
	
actually, the only option is:

-nobanner
	disables splash screen at startup



THE geoPost mini windows
------------------------
geoPost windows are small windows always on top of other windows.
-if you attach them to a particular application, they appear on top of only that
 application's main window, and if that window is sent behind other windows, the
 post-it will follow.
-You can edit only simple notes geoPosts.
-You can scroll them (even if they don't display a scroll bar) by placing the
 caret in the note and moving it up and down (or by clicking and dragging
 the mouse cursor)
-The mini caption bar has two buttons: 
	-SHRINK/EXPAND (shrink the window leaving only the caption bar/restore)
	-DISABLE [x]   (disable geoPost window: close windows, and has same effect as
					if you'd dis-enabled the post-it from the main dialog)


THE geoNotes MAIN WINDOW
------------------------
It is composed by five dialogs, accessed via a tab control, and two
buttons:
COLLAPSE hides the windows and displays geoPosts mini-window, if any and if at least one
		 is enabled. Leaves only the tray icon. 
CLOSE	 shuts down the program, saving info for the next time


THE geoNotes TRAY ICON
----------------------
The tray icon has three functions:
LEFT_CLICK	toggles between hiding and showing notes. This effects doesn't modify the 
            enable status of any geoPost window. It is only a quick way to get rid
            of all those miniwindows without having to disable them one by one.

RIGHT_CLICK if the main dialog is hidden, brins it up, and temporarily hides geoPost windows.
            when you COLLAPSE the main dialog, geoPost windows will become visible again.			

DOUBLE_CLICK this will display notes (if they are invisible) and create a new, empty note on the
             desktop. It is equivalent to right click, create a new empty (just one space)
             note, ADD it in the Notes dialog, and then minimize the main dialog.

common to every DIALOG
----------------------
in every note-related tabbed dialog you will find a similar
layout of controls:

-an EDIT control in the bottom-right of the dialog
	here you introduce, modify and see the actual note text.
-three buttons
	ADD	add the note you have edited
	REMOVE	remove the selected note
	NEW	de-selects any note, reset the edit control and related
		controls so you can enter a new note		
		
	Buttons will be enabled if there is relevant data that applies to the button function:
	if no note is selected, the remove button will not be enabled because there is nothing
	to remove.		
			
-a "list" with the notes. 
	By clicking on the note's icon you can enable/disable
	the corresponding note. You select the note/reminder/lending by clicking on the data
	and NOT on the icon.

of course the behaviour of such buttons will vary slightly from dialog
to dialog, for example in the calendar dialog the new button will also
reset the calendar to the current month and year.



the NOTES dialog
----------------
Allows you to edit simple post-it like notes that usually will
float above all other windows.

 LIST
As in most of the following dialog, the upper part of the area displays
a list of available notes with an associated icon showing if that particular
note is to be displayed or not. By left-clicking on the icon you can
toggle the display status on or off (enable/disable the geoPost window).
A note with the display status turned off (disabled) will never appear on your 
desktop, regardless of other conditions.

 EDIT CONTROL
In the lower right corner of the dialog there is an edit control: use it
to write text for a new note, or to look at the full content of a note (remember, only
the first line of a note is displayed in the list box above),

 BUTTONS
 
-ADD a note: first press the NEW button (to clear the input box), then write
	the note in the edit box, then press the ADD button.
	This button will be enabled if, and only if, there is some text in the edit
	control in the lower right corner.
	
-REMOVE a note: select it in the list, then press the button
-PIN-POINT a note to a window: quite an experiment. Select a note
	in the list, then press the button, then left-click over a visible window
	to which you want to attach a post-it. The selected note will stick
	to this window as a child, i.e. that note won't be always on top
	but instead will be at the same level of the attached-to window.
   The small text box on the right of the button shows which window (if any)
	the selected note is attached to.
   WARNING: strange things may happen if you stick a note to a window and then you
   close the same window. As a fix-up, try to stick the same note
   to the desktop
-UPDATE the LIST: since you can edit notes while they are floating around, use
	this button to update the list (which shows only the first line of the note)
	to the actual text displayed in each note.


the LENDINGS dialog
-------------------
This dialog allows you to track  things you have lent or borrowed. For
each object you can record the date of the lending, the person involved,
how many days after the lending you want the note to appear in order to
remind you of the object, and whether you want a sound when the notes appear
on your desktop.

 LIST
The upper part of the dialog displays a list of borrowings/lendings. You
can switch between them with the tab over the list. Every object has an
associated icon, over which you can left-click to toggle the lending note on or
off (enable/disable). A note turned off won't show up even if the time has come.
As you select a lending/borrowing, the controls below will reflect the data
of the selected item:

 EDIT CONTROLS
 
-(LENT) OBJECT: this edit control allows you to write the description of the object
 you have lent/borrowed, and to view the full description of such an object 
-PERSON: this combo box allows you to set the person you have borrowed from/lent to.
 The combo box keep track of every name you have inserted so far.
-DATE: set the date of the lending/borrowing
-DAYS AFTER: how many days after the date you have set should geoNotes warn you
 of the item?
-SOUND: when the geoPost window will appear to remind you of a lending/borrowing, should
 geoNotes play a sound?. If checked, the sound is the wav file set in the Options dialog.

 BUTTONS
-ADD a lending/borrowing: Use the NEW button to clear the fields, then fill
 in the person, the description of the object, the date, set the number of
 days after which you want to be reminded and if you want the sound. then
 press the ADD button
-REMOVE a note: select a note in the list and press the button
-NEW: clear the controls, ready to input a new lending


the REMINDERS dialog
--------------------
this dialog is used to set reminders, that is to associate some event with
a specific date. Then, a certain number of day before that date a note shows
up reminding you of that specific event. As usual, you can associate also
a sound with the note.

 CALENDAR
The upper part of the dialog displays a calendar. You can browse through the
calendar by changing the month and the year. Every date can have an
associated icon, meaning something is recorded for that date, which you can
left-click over to toggle the reminder note on or off (enable/disable it). 
To select a date click on the day number, not on the note icon.
A note turned off won't show up even if the time has come.
The edit controls below shows the status of the remindable date you are editing,
or of the important date you have selected.

 EDIT CONTROLS
 
-REMINDABLE DATE: Here describe what will happen/should have happened/happened on the
 selected date.
-DAYS BEFORE: how many days before the date you have set should geoNotes warn you
 of the important thing you have to remember?
-SOUND: when the geoPost window will appear to remind you of a date, should
 geoNotes play a sound?. If checked, the sound is the wav file set in the Options dialog.

 BUTTONS
-ADD a reminder. Use the NEW button to clear the fields, then select a date,
 fill in the edit box, set the number of days before which you want to be
 reminded and if you want the sound. then press the ADD button
-REMOVE a note: select a note in the calendar and press the button.
-NEW note: resets the calendar on the current month, clears the input boxes
 so you can enter a new note


the OPTIONS dialog
------------------
This still crude dialog allows you to:

-set appearance of a geoPost miniWindow:
	-set the color of the miniWindow title bar. You can use Windows predefined title 
	bar color, or you can chose a custom one. You can chose a custom one only if the
	"Use Windows Default color" is not checked.
	-set FONT, TEXT COLOR and BACKGROUND COLOR of every geoNotes text

-set defaults:
    set the default values for newly created reminders. You can always change
    these numbers/options while you are adding a new note.
    
	-how-many-days-before number of days for the reminders dialog
	-how-many-days-after number of days for the lending/borrowing dialog
	-whether you want sound to be associated with a note showing up
	
-choose among fixed and resizable post-it windows & a scroll  bar
	-Fixed size: The geoPost window has a fixed size, whose dimension is given by a
	height expressed in number of lines of text, see below.
	-Minimum size: geoPost windows shrink and expand to accommodate all the text 
	displayed.
	-If you have decided to have a fixed size, you can choose also to have a scroll 
	bar displayed. Even if you don't have  one displayed text can be scrolled using 
	the cursor
	-If you have decided to have a fixed size, here you can set default geoPost 
	miniWindow height expressed in number of lines of text displayed

-Choose which .WAV file to associate with a new note showing up, i.e. when the time 
	has come to remind you of an important date, and if you have enabled the sound 
	option for that particular geoPost.

-Autosave options
	-Enable autosave: to enable autosaving of data every n minutes
	-Input box where to set the interval between saves, in minutes
	-Save data: if you want to save the geonotes.dat file in a given moment.



COMMON PROBLEMS
===============
-If you can't do anything: i.e. the ADD button is disabled everywhere, try to read the manual and
 to write something in the edit box of each page. The edit box is located in the lower right
 corner of every dialog

-if you can't save data between sessions check if the file "geonotes.dat" is read-only.
 If it is unchecked the read-only check button in the properties of the file.
 Or delete the geonotes.dat file. 
 This problem arises if you found geoNotes on a CD ROM with a pre set geonotes.dat file.

- I DO NOT support it under Window98 or WindowsNT. I'm sorry. It is reported that strange behaviour 
 can happen under those Operating Systems. Unfortunately I do not plan to install one of those to test,
 recompile and run geoNotes.


BUGS and TO-DOs
===============
-enable sizable geoPost windows

-Add a button to stick a geoPost window on the desktop (thus sending it in the back of any other window)

-Add multiple items for a single day in the calendar section

-Add time for reminders??

-add multiple data files, so to share reminders dates with friends (?)



REVISION HIST
=============

v 0.9666 the first release
v 0.9667 on shut-down of Win95 it didn't save data. Fixed
			minor changes in infoz strings (translated to italian in It. ver.)
v 0.9668	now asks confirm when pressing the EXIT button
v 0.9669 corrected minor bugs and fixed graphics consistency
			added info of which window notes are pinned to
         now size of post-its allows for 4 rows of text (according
         to the selected font)
			options for note size and scroll-bar
v 0.9700 now geoNotes starts minimized in the tray
v 0.9701 big bug gone!
   ---end of file version 01

v 0.9800 added (still beta) sound option & config
	reorganized localized (specific language) code
	now it remembers when one sets the Resizable option
	'close' button and 'x' mini-button on title bar have same behavior
    ---begin of file version 02

v 0.9900 new French version
	correct behavior when you change infos in calendar/lendings dialogs
	added support for data file version
v 0.9900B (very beta)
	multithreaded version, should be lighter and not slow down cpu
  ---end of file version 02

v 0.9999R
	corrected 100% CPU usage bug. Rewritten data modules.
	corrected other minor bugs
	changed interface
	added mini title with micro buttons for geoPost mini windows
   ---start of file version 03
v 0.9999R1
	corrected a bug with certain simple notes of exactly 40 chars
   ---start of file version 04
v 0.9999R2
	corrected bugs that displayed 0x0 geoPost windows
	corrected minor bugs
	added minimum size option for geoPost windows
   ---start of file version 05
v 1.0
	corrected minor quirks
	disabling of startup splash screen
	notes can hold up to 1000 characters
	double click on the tray icon creates an empty note
	autosave function enables
	   

+-------------------------------------------------+
|                                                 |
|                     INFOZ                       |
+-------------------------------------------------+
|                                                 |
|This program was written by:                     | 
|                                                 |                   
|                  Walter Gamba                   |
|                    Torino                       |                         
|                     ITALY                       |                        
|          mailto:walter@yagga.net                |            
|    http://www.yagga.net/walter                  |                   
|                                                 |                   
|     French transation by Jean Pierre Bay        |
+-------------------------------------------------+
|
| it is SHAREWARE, that is, if you can stand to use 
| it for more than a few days, a fee is due: 30$.
| Please write me at the above address to obtain informations
| on how to register.
|
|        HAVE FUN and HAIL ERIS!
|

|
|

|


