Calendar Master

Copyright 1993 by Tom Hudgins

Practical Programs

14722 Fawnglen Circle

Chino Hills, CA 91709-3403

(909) 597-8802

Overview

What does Calendar Master do?

Using Calendar Master

Getting Started

Viewing a Particular Month

Entering/Modifying Events

Entering/Modifying Normal Events

Entering/Modifying General Events

Entering/Modifying Anniversary Events

Entering/Modifying Recurring Events

Printing Calendars

Saving Calendar Master Information

Opening Calendar Master Files

Deleting Event Information

Exiting the Program

Registration of the program


What does Calendar Master do?

Calendar Master is designed to replace the use of purchased calendars.  These calendars are the ones you buy and hang on your refrigerator or office wall, and then start writing in appointments, birthdays, and anniversaries.  (If you don't use hardcopy calendars, you probably don't need this program).  Some of the problems with this method is that each year, you have to re-enter birthdays and anniversaries, repeating appointments have to be repeatedly entered, and the calendars frequently get cluttered with scribbles and you run out of room.

Calendar Master lets you enter appointments (called events in Calendar Master), both one time and recurring, as well as yearly repeating events such as birthdays and anniversaries, and then print out a calendar with those items printed in the various days.  The idea is that you would enter all the birthdays, anniversaries, or appointments you want to remember.  You would then print out calendars for the current month as well as the next couple of months.  You then use the calendars as you normally would by writing in new appointments on the appropriate days.  Periodically, you would fire up Calendar Master, enter the changes to the calendars that you have made by hand, and then print out the next appropriate set of calendars and start over.

As you can tell, this scheme is best suited for a situation where you don't have your computer on all the time or you want to make calendars for someone who doesn't have a computer (and access to a PIM).

Calendar Master is not a PIM.  It will not remember addresses, phone numbers, or remind you to pay your bills.  It will print a calendar from any month along with any other information you enter into it.


Getting Started

To run the program, use the Windows File Manager to open the directory where Calendar Master was installed.  Double click on the program name (CALMAST.EXE).

There are lots of other ways to run Windows programs.  Please see your Windows documentation for information on how to create Program Groups and Items.

After the introductory screen you will be presented with the Calendar Display.  This is the main window of Calendar Master.  From here you can navigate to various months, open the Event Editor, open and save Calendar Master information files, print calendars, and exit the program.


Viewing a Particular Month

To view a specific month in the Calendar Display, you use the navigation buttons on the left side of the window.  The month being displayed is shown between the scroll buttons.  The inner scroll buttons change the month (the left button changes to the previous month and the right button changes to the next month).  The outer scroll buttons change the year.  You can drag the slider left or right to display previous or future months.  If you click in the area between the slider and the buttons, you will jump ahead or back by 3 months.  The additional buttons below the scroll buttons allow you to quickly display the current month (based on the system clock) or hop directly to a specific month in the currently displayed year.

If you have event information entered into Calendar Master, the number of events (both Normal/General and Anniversary events) for each day will be displayed on the calendar.


Entering Events

Events are added or modified by navigating to the desired month in the Calendar Display and then clicking on the day that corresponds to the event you want to add or modify.  This will bring up the Event Editor where you can enter the time and text of the event or select an existing event and modify its parameters.

You can enter Normal events, General events, Anniversary events, or Recurring events.


Entering/Modifying Normal Events

To enter a Normal event, click in the Time box in the Event Editor.  Type in the time of the event in either 24 Hr or am/pm format.  The following are valid times;

	This:		Means This:
	01:30		1:30 in the morning
	3:30 p		3:30 in the afternoon
	22:45		10:45 in the evening
	8:30 am		8:30 in the morning
After entering the time, press the TAB key or click in the Event box and type in the text of the event.  You can make the event a Recurring or Anniversary event by clicking the corresponding option button.  Note that the time will be ignored in an Anniversary event.  If you need the time field, make a Normal Recurring event.

When finished entering the event text, press Return, click the Add button, or press Alt + a.  The event will be added to the Event list at the top of the display.

To delete an existing event, select the event from the Event list.  The event information will be displayed in the Edit area.  Note that the Add button will change to Update and the Delete button will become enabled.  Click the Delete button or press Alt + d.

To modify an existing event, select the event from the Event list.  The event information will be displayed in the Edit area.  You can change the time, text, or type of the event in the same manner as is done for adding events.  When finished modifying the event, press Return, click the Update button, or press Alt + u.

To change the day displayed in the Event Editor, click the scroll buttons or drag the slider at the top of the display.  These buttons change the display to either the next day (the right button) or the previous day (the left button).

When you are finished entering/modifying events, click the Close button at the top right of the display or press Alt + c.


Entering/Modifying General Events

To enter a General event, click in the Event box in the Event Editor and type in the text of the event.  Don't enter a time in the Time box.  You can make the event a Recurring or Anniversary event by clicking the corresponding option button.

When finished entering the event text, press Return, click the Add button, or press Alt + a.  The event will be added to the Event list at the top of the display.

To delete an existing event, select the event from the Event list.  The event information will be displayed in the Edit area.  Note that the Add button will change to Update and the Delete button will become enabled.  Click the Delete button or press Alt + d.

To modify an existing event, select the event from the Event list.  The event information will be displayed in the Edit area.  You can change the time, text, or type of the event in the same manner as done for adding events.  When finished modifying the event, press Return, click the Update button, or press Alt + u.

To change the day displayed in the Event Editor, click the scroll buttons or drag the slider at the top of the display.  These buttons change the display to either the next day (the right button) or the previous day (the left button).

When you are finished entering/modifying events, click the Close button at the top right of the display or press Alt + c.


Entering/Modifying Anniversary Events

To enter an Anniversary event, click in the Event box in the Event Editor and type in the text of the event.  The Time box is ignored for an Anniversary Event.  You can make the event a Recurring or Normal event by clicking the corresponding option button.

When finished entering the event text, click the Anniversary option button or press Alt + v.  Then press Return, click the Add button, or press Alt + a.  The event will be added to the Event list at the top of the display.  Anniversary events are displayed in the Event list with an "A" preceding the text of the event.

To delete an existing event, select the event from the Event list.  The event information will be displayed in the Edit area.  Note that the Add button will change to Update and the Delete button will become enabled.  Click the Delete button or press Alt + d.

To modify an existing event, select the event from the Event list.  The event information will be displayed in the Edit area.  You can change the time, text, or type of the event in the same manner as done for adding events.  When finished modifying the event, press Return, click the Update button, or press Alt + u.

To change the day displayed in the Event Editor, click the scroll buttons or drag the slider at the top of the display.  These buttons change the display to either the next day (the right button) or the previous day (the left button).

When you are finished entering/modifying events, click the Close button at the top right of the display or press Alt + c.


Entering/Modifying Recurring Events

To enter a Normal Recurring event, click in the Time box in the Event Editor.  Type in the time of the event in either 24 Hr or am/pm format.  The following are valid times;

	This:		Means This:
	01:30		1:30 in the morning
	3:30 p		3:30 in the afternoon
	22:45		10:45 in the evening
	8:30 am		8:30 in the morning
If you want to enter a General Recurring event, don't enter a time in the Time box.  Note; you can't enter a Recurring Anniversary event.

Press the TAB key or click in the Event box and type in the text of the event.

When finished entering the event text, click the Recurring... option button or press Alt + r.  This will display the Recurring Event dialog.  This dialog allows you to specify the parameters of the recurring event.  When finished specifying the information in the Recurring Event dialog, press Return, click the Add button, or press Alt + a.  The event will be added to the Event list at the top of the display.  Recurring events are displayed in the Event list with an "R" preceding the text of the event.

To delete an existing event, select the event from the Event list.  The event information will be displayed in the Edit area.  Note that the Add button will change to Update and the Delete button will become enabled.  Click the Delete button or press Alt + d.  The Delete Recurring Event dialog will be displayed.  This will allow you to delete various subsets of the recurring event.

To modify an existing event, select the event from the Event list.  The event Information will be displayed in the Edit area.  You can change the time, text, or type of the event in the same manner as done for adding events.  If you change a recurring event to either a Normal/General event or an Anniversary event, a message will be displayed explaining that only the current event (of the recurring series) will be changed.  If this is what you want then select OK in the message dialog.  If instead, you want to change the entire series of recurring events to one Normal or Anniversary event, then select Cancel in the message dialog and then select the Delete button in the Event Editor and delete 'All but this event' and then re-select the event and change the type.

When finished modifying the event, press Return, click the Update button, or press Alt + r.

To change the day displayed in the Event Editor, click the scroll buttons or drag the slider at the top of the display.  These buttons change the display to either the next day (the right button) or the previous day (the left button).

When you are finished entering/modifying events, click the Close button at the top right of the display.


Printing Calendars

To print a calendar, use the navigation buttons to display the desired month (see Viewing a Particular Month).  If you have saved information into a Calendar Master file and you haven't loaded it yet, you may want to load the file now.

Ensure that your printer is on and then either click the print button [image] on the Toolbar or choose Print or Print... from the File menu.  Print... brings up a dialog box that allows you to change certain printer parameters.  Note, you can only print one month at a time.  After you have selected print, a percentage complete bar will appear to show printing progress.

Event text will wrap to two lines when the calendar is printed.  Event text longer than two lines is clipped at the edge of the day cell on the printed calendar.  This limits the printable length of event text to around 50 characters depending on whether it is a Normal or General/Anniversary event.

Anniversary events are printed in bold one line below any other events.

(Note: If you have problems printing (out of memory), you may want to reduce the resolution of the printer via the File Print... menu selection (and subsequent dialog box)).


Saving Calendar Master Informatation
Saving Calendar Master Information

Once you have entered events into Calendar Master, you should save the information into a Calendar Master file.  These files can then be read back into Calendar Master for updating.  You can have multiple Calendar Master files which you can use for different purposes but only one Calendar Master file can be loaded at any one time.  Calendar Master files should have an extension of .CMS.

To save your event information into a file, click the save button [image] on the Toolbar or select Save from the File menu.  If you have not previously read in information from a Calendar Master file, you will be prompted for the directory and filename in which to store the event information.  If you have previously opened a Calendar Master file, then the current information will be saved back into that file.  If you want to change the name of the file the information is to be saved into, select Save As... from the File menu.

Calendar Master files are plain ASCII files which you can look at and edit in your favorite text editor.


Opening a Calendar Master File

If you have saved event information into a Calendar Master file, you can retrieve that information and add to it or update it.  You can have multiple Calendar Master files which you can use for different purposes but only one Calendar Master file can be loaded at any one time.  Calendar Master files should have an extension of .CMS.

To open a Calendar Master file, click the open button [image] on the Toolbar or choose Open from the File menu.  The File Open dialog box will appear where you can select the Calendar Master file you wish to open.  Opening a file will erase any information that is currently in Calendar Master.  You should save any event information you wish to keep before opening a new Calendar Master file.

You can also specify a file to open when you start the program.  If you specify the name of a Calendar Master file following the name of the program CALMAST.EXE when you start the program, the named Calendar Master file will be loaded.  The easiest way to do this is to setup a program item for Calendar Master in the Windows Program Manager.  See your Windows documentation for more detailed information.

Calendar Master files are plain ASCII files which you can look at and edit in your favorite text editor.


Deleting Event Information

You can delete event information in two ways.  The first way is to navigate to the appropriate month, open the Event Editor for the appropriate day, select the event and click Delete.  If the event is a Recurring event, the Delete Recurring Event dialog is displayed which allows you to select a subset of the Recurring events to delete.

This method is fine for deleting small numbers of events but can be cumbersome for deleting large numbers of events.

The way to delete large numbers of events is to select Delete Events... from the Edit menu.  This is useful for purging the Calendar Master file of old events (which will help performance).  Selecting Delete Events... from the Edit menu will bring up the Delete Events dialog.  Here, you can choose to delete all events before a certain date, all events after a certain date, or all events.  Note that this does not affect Anniversary events.  Select the desired delete method, the date if applicable, and then choose OK.

Of course, you must save the Calendar Master file for the changes to be permanent.


Exiting the Program

To exit the program, click on the Stop sign [image] on the Toolbar at the top of the Calendar Display.  You can also select Exit from the File menu.  If you have not saved any changes you have made to the information currently in Calendar Master, you will be asked whether you want to save the information.  If you choose Yes, the information will be saved in the currently open file or, if a file is not open, you will be prompted for a directory and filename.


Registration of the Program

Calendar Master is a shareware program.  This means that you can use it for a period of sixty days in order to evaluate it's usefulness to you.  After sixty days, you must either register the program or delete it from your system.

Registration is accomplished by sending $10.00 US., your name, address and any comments to the address shown below.

Upon registration, you will be granted a license to use the program and will be put on the mailing list for notification of upgrades and enhancements.


Event Types

Normal Events are events which have both event text and a time.

General Events are events which don't have a time associated with them.  For example, "Payday", "Pay Bills", or "School Pictures".

Anniversary Events are events that happen every year on the same date.  This would include birthdays, anniversaries, and some holidays.  Anniversary Events do not have a time associated with them.

Recurring Events are events which happen at a certain pattern like "every 3 days for 2 weeks" or "every month for 2 years".  Both Normal and General Events can be recurring.


A PIM is a Personal Information Manager.  This is a class of program which is used to keep track of information such as Names and Addresses, Phone Numbers, Appointments, and other miscellaneous information.


The Toolbar

The Toolbar is the row of buttons at the top of the Calendar Display.  These buttons are used as shortcuts for frequently used operations.

 This button is used to open an existing Calendar Master file.  The corresponding menu command is Open in the File menu.  All event information in Calendar Master will be cleared before opening the new file but you will be prompted to save any changes you have made before this happens.

 This button is used to save the current Calendar Master information in the current file.  The corresponding menu command is Save in the File menu.  If there is no file currently open, you will be prompted for the name of the file to save into.

 This button is used to print the currently displayed Calendar Month.  The corresponding menu command is Print in the File menu.

 This button is used to exit Calendar Master.  You will be prompted to save any changes you have made to the file before the program exits.  The corresponding menu command is Exit in the File menu.

 This button is use to display Calendar Master Help.  The corresponding menu command is Contents... in the Help menu.  Remember, Help is available at all times by pressing F1.


Delete Events Dialog

The Delete Events Dialog is displayed by choosing Delete Events... from the Edit menu.  This dialog is used to delete ranges of Normal/General event information.  This does not delete Anniversary events.  Anniversary events can only be deleted using the Event Editor.  The Event Editor allows you to delete either one event at a time or subsets of Recurring events.

The Delete Events Dialog allows you to delete all events, all events before a given date, or all events after a given date.  If you choose to delete events before or after a date, the delete is not inclusive of the events on the given date (before or after, not on).

Note; you can also read the Calendar Master file into an ASCII editor (like Notepad) and use it to delete events from the file.


Recurring Event Dialog

The Recurring Event Dialog is displayed when you click on the Recurring... option button in the Event Editor.  This dialog allows you to set the parameters of a Recurring event.

There are two basic parameters of a Recurring event.  The first one is the frequency; "Every 3 Days", "Every 2 Months", or "Every 1 Year".  This parameter is set on the left side of the dialog.  Select the Every box and enter the frequency then click on the drop down button on the units list box immediately to the right and select the units.

The other parameter of a Recurring event is the duration; "Every 3 Days for 2 Weeks", or "Every 2 Months until 10/13/95".  This parameter is set on the right side of the dialog.  As hinted in the example, the duration can be either some number of units or an end date.  To set an end date, click the Until option button and then enter the end date in the Date box.  The end date means "up to and including this date".  Note that an occurrence of the Recurring event might not land on the end date.  Thus, if you specify "Every 2 Weeks until 10/13/95" and 10/13/95 is tomorrow, you will only get one event.

To make the duration some number of units, click the For option button, enter the number of units in the For box and then select the units from the drop down list to the right.

When you have specified the parameters, click the OK button.  If you change your mind and don't want to make a Recurring event, click Cancel.  The Recurring event doesn't actually get entered into the event list until you select Add or Update in the Event Editor.


Event Editor

The Event Editor is a dialog box that is used to enter and modify event information.  At the top of the display is the Day selector.  This shows the day being edited and allows you to change to the next day (right arrow) or the previous day(left arrow).  You can also drag the slider right or left to advance or go back up to 31 days.  If you click in the area of the scroll bar between the slider, the day will advance or go back by one week.  Also at the top is the Close button which closes the Event Editor.

Next is the Event List.  This is a scrollable list which shows the events for the current day.  You can select (click on) events in the Event List to modify or delete them.

At the bottom is the Event Edit area.  This is where you enter or modify event information.  Enter the time of the event in the Time box and the text of the event in the Event box.  You select the type of the event by clicking on the appropriate option button.  The buttons at the bottom allow you to Add a new event, Update a modified event, Delete an event, or Cancel adding a new event or modifications to an existing event.


Calendar Display

The Calendar Display is the main display window for Calendar Master.  This window shows the calendar of the currently selected month (and the number of events on each day), allows you to change the selected month, and allows you to load and save Calendar Master files, and exit the program.

To view a specific month in the Calendar Display, you use the navigation buttons on the left side of the window.  The month being displayed is shown between the scroll buttons.  The inner scroll buttons change the month (the left button changes to the previous month and the right button changes to the next month).  The outer scroll buttons change the year.  You can drag the slider left or right to display previous or future months.  If you click in the area between the slider and the buttons, you will jump ahead or back by 3 months.  The additional buttons below the scroll buttons allow you to quickly display the current month (based on the system clock) or hop directly to a specific month in the currently displayed year.

If you have event information entered into Calendar Master, the number of events (both Normal/General and Anniversary events) for each day will be displayed on the calendar.

To open the Event Editor, click on the desired day on the calendar.

The Toolbar or the menu bar can be used to print, load and save files, and exit the program.


Delete Recurring Event Dialog

This dialog box allows you to specify the subset of events of the selected Recurring event to delete.  You can choose to delete

Just the current event - no other events in the recurring series are changed.

All the events - all the events that match the selected event

All previous events - all the events that match the selected event that occur before the selected day.

All future events - all the events that match the selected event that occur after the selected day.

Select the option desired and then click OK to carry out the delete.  Cancel aborts the delete.