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DeskAlarm

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Bit Choreography

DeskAlarm 3.03 User Manual

Table Of Contents

Table Of Contents
Introduction
What's New
How It Works
System Requirements
Installation Upgrading and Uninstalling
Using DeskAlarm
Registering
Contact Information
Version Info and History
About Bit Choreography
License Agreement
Credits

Introduction

DeskAlarm is a compact PC application that means you never have to miss an appointment or event again. DeskAlarm seamlessly integrates into Palm Desktop displaying all your Palm Datebook alarms and due To Do items on your PC. Residing as an inconspicuous icon on the tooltray it alerts you of impending events whether or not Palm Desktop is loaded. 

DeskAlarm also provides the Palm Desktop with another missing function, Autosave thus helping to eliminate unnecessary data loss.

DeskAlarm works all all version of Palm Desktop starting with 2.1 providing alarms missing in Palm Desktop 2.1 and 3.0 and improving on the alarm feature that comes with Palm Desktop 4.0,providing many more options and features like a snooze function and customizable alarm sounds.

 What's New

This section introduces the new features in DeskAlarm

New in version 3.0

  • DeskAlarm now provides Alarms for To Do Items.  A To Do Alarm alarm will  sound when a incomplete To Do item comes due and as a repeated reminder for uncompleted To Do items.  You can configure this feature to sound the alarms at the time you like and as often as you like.  To Do Alarms can be filtered by category and priority.
  • Tip Of the Day.  DeskAlarm now shows a Tip of the day when it is started.  

New in version 2.6

  • DeskAlarm now has an option to display all the alarms that were missed while it was not running.  This feature is disabled by default, to enable it check the "Display alarms missed while DeskAlarm was off" check box on the "Alarm settings tab in the DeskAlarm Properties dialog.
  • DeskAlarm now detects when the Palm Datebook has become corrupt.  While corrupt datebooks are caused by problems with Palm Desktop, in some cases they would cause previous versions of DeskAlarm to crash.  They can still cause Palm Desktop or HotSync to crash so a warning is displayed when a corrupt datebook is detected. 

New in version 2.5

  • Support for multiple users!  You can select as many users as you wish to display alarms for.  You can change your selected users form the DeskAlarm Properties "Palm Desktop" Tab.
  • Online context sensitive help, You can now press the F1 key anywhere in DeskAlarm to receive help.
  • Support for displaying the text of Private alarms with full password protection.
  • Improved network support. Users who keep their Palm Desktop data over a non Microsoft network will now be able to use DeskAlarm.
  • A number of minor bug fixes.

New in version 2.1

  • A reminder feature like the one on the Palm Datebook application has been added.  You can choose to have the alarm dialog  repeatedly play a sound until you dismiss it or snooze it. 
  • You now have an option to for Palm Desktop to open when you double click on the tray icon instead of the Properties dialog.  This can provide quick and convenient access to the Palm Desktop application.

New in version 2.0

  • Alarms can now be snoozed!  When an alarm pops up you can choose to snooze it for any period of time.   
  • DeskAlarm now comes with an install/uninstall program.
  • You can  launches Palm Desktop form DeskAlarm's tray icon and directly from the alarm dialog.  Making rescheduling appointments a lot more convenient.
  • Alarm Dialogs are set to stay on top of all other windows until snoozed closed or   minimized.  This should help prevent alarms from being missed.
  • The tool tip you get when the mouse cursor is over the DeskAlarm tray icon now shows the time of the next Alarm or Snooze.
  • The about box now displays the next known alarm and if there is one, and the next snooze if there is one.
  • Added an advanced tab to the properties dialog.  The registered user only options have been moved to there.
  • Enhanced Datebk3 compatibly.
  • For alarms that have notes attached there is now an option to display the note as well as the alarm text.
  • Last but not least found and fixed a few bugs that caused alarms to display at the wrong time.

For more information please refer to the rest of the manual.

How It Works

The DeskAlarm application sits on your system tray and waits for the time of an alarm set in your Datebook, for a To Do item to come due or the reconfigured reminder time to elapse for an overdue To Do item. When its time a message box will pop up to display the alarm.

DeskAlarm gets its information from the files that are saved to disk during a HotSync. These files are also used by Palm Desktop and get updated every time you HotSync. If you use the Palm Desktop application they are also updated when you select "save all" from the menu or tool bar and when you exit Palm Desktop (you do not get prompted).

If you use Palm Desktop the AutoSave feature is necessary to ensure all alarms you enter get displayed and to prevent data loss on the event of power loss or a crash. AutoSave is fully configurable and is strongly recommended if you normally leave Palm Desktop running.

In addition DeskAlarm allows you to snooze your alarms.  Note that snoozed alarm are stored internally to DeskAlarm and will not appear on your Palm Organizer or Palm Desktop.

System Requirements

DeskAlarm is designed for all Windows 95/98/2000/ME and for NT4 and has been tested on all these systems. You must have Palm Desktop 2.1 or higher installed before you run DeskAlarm. It has been NOT been tested on Palm Desktop 2.0 and probably will not work with 2.0! The latest version of Palm Desktop is available as a free upgrade from the Palm web site.

Installing or upgrading DeskAlarm

If you are upgrading from a previous version of DeskAlarm first please make sure it is not running. To install or upgrade DeskAlarm simply run the installation program.  The DeskAlarm install program will walk you through the installation.   Obviously if you want alarms to be displayed DeskAlarm must be running so it is a good idea to let the installation program add DeskAlarm to your startup group.

The first time you run DeskAlarm it will prompt you to select the users whose alarms should be displayed.  You can change this at a later time from the DeskAlarm properties dialog.

That’s it you are ready to go.

Trouble shooting:

If you have trouble installing DeskAlarm please check the FAQ if you don't find the answer there please feel free to contact us at info@deskalarm.com.

Uninstalling DeskAlarm

You can uninstall DeskAlarm from the Control Panel Add/Remove Applications window. Activate the Control Panel, double click Add/Remove Programs, and double click on the DeskAlarm list box entry.

Using DeskAlarm

Once it has been installed and is running DeskAlarm will reside on the system tray and pop up alarms as they come due. Place your mouse cursor over the tray icon for information on the next alarm or snooze that is due.  More information on the next alarm and next snooze is available in the About box. Your data on Palm Desktop will also be safer with DeskAlarm forcing Palm Desktop to save its data at a given interval.  DeskAlarm is fully customizable and has a number of advanced features like an option to "Snooze" alarms for a delayed reminder and more.  Refer to the rest of the manual to see all that DeskAlarm can do for you.  Or just start enjoying DeskAlarm and come back to this later. 

The Alarm Dialog

When an alarm or snoozed alarm come due the alarm dialog will pop up displaying the text of the alarm do at that time.  The first time this dialog appears it will show 3 buttons:

  • "OK"
    Click this to dismiss the alarm and never hear about it again.
  • "Snooze for XX Hr/Min"
    Click this to snooze alarm for XX Hr/Min where XX is the default snooze time set in the properties dialog.  Once snoozed and alarm will appear again after the snooze time is up.  Snooze time is counted from when you click the snooze button.   Please note that snoozes are internal to DeskAlarm they are saved when you close DeskAlarm but will not appear on you Palm Organizer or in Palm Desktop.
  • "More >>"
    Click this to expand the dialog to see more options.

In the expanded mode you will have a few more options:

  • The "More >>" button now is a "Less <<" button
    Click this to return the Alarm Dialog to its Compact mode
  • "Reschedule"
    Click this to open Palm Desktop and dismiss the alarm.  This gives you an easy way to reschedule your alarm
  • "Snooze Time"
    Here you can specify any snooze time for this alarm.  Enter a snooze time in either Minutes or Hours and then click the "Snooze" button.

DeskAlarm remembers the whether you left the Alarm dialog in Expanded or compact mode so next time it will appear in the same mode

Private alarms

If the alarm being displayed is a private alarm the text for the alarm will not be displayed, instead you will see a "Show Private Alarm" button.  The first time you click this button you will be prompted for you password, this is the same password you use on you Palm Organizer.  If you do not wish to be prompted for a password in the future simply check the "Remember password" checkbox. 

DeskAlarm doesn't really store you password at all.  Instead DeskAlarm remembers which users entered a correct password and then asked to have it remembered,  so you don't have to worry about it being unsafe to enter you password or to have DeskAlarm remember it.  You can make DeskAlarm "Forget" all the passwords from the DeskAlarm properties advanced Tab.  

Additional functions

Right click the DeskAlarm tray Icon to get a menu that will let you configure DeskAlarm, Launch Palm Desktop or Quit DeskAlarm.

Menu Options:

  • Properties
    Allows you configure DeskAlarm
  • Open Palm Desktop
    DeskAlarm will try to start the Palm Desktop program.
  • Help
    Display DeskAlarm's online Help.
  • About DeskAlarm
    Pop up Information about DeskAlarm and display the next alarm and snooze that is due.  This is also where you can choose to register DeskAlarm.
  • Quit DeskAlarm
    Quit DeskAlarm Completely Alarms will no longer be displayed.  Snoozes if any will be saved and displayed when you next run DeskAlarm

Properties

When you select Properties from the menu you will see a tabbed dialog box from which you can configure DeskAlarm

Alarm Sounds tab

Here you can choose the sound DeskAlarm plays for an alarm, How many times to repeat the alarm if to acknowledged and the repeat frequency. 

Alarms Sound - Choose between none, the system default sound. And a sound file (which you will need to select). Any standard sound file (*.wav) can be used.  You probably have loads of them installed on your system. Once you have selected a sound file click the test button to check that everything is working .  The "get sounds" link leads you to the web site where you can download sounds to use for your alarm sound.
Remind Me -

Choose how many times you want the alarm sound to repeat.  If you have selected to use silent alarms the dialog will be restored if it is minimized and flash.

Alarms will repeat until the "OK" or "Snooze" buttons are pressed.  Or the repeat count is passed.
Play Every - Select the frequency for repeated reminders.

Alarm Settings tab

Here you can choose the size of the Dialog that pops up on an alarm, the default time alarms will be snoozed for and whether notes attached to alarms should be displayed

Alarm Dialog Size - Select between normal,big and big and bold.
Default Snooze Time - Select many minutes or hours you want alarms to be snoozed for by default.   Every time an alarm or snooze alarm is displayed this will be the initial value offered by DeskAlarm to snooze it for.
Display Alarm notes - When checked alarms that have notes will be displayed with the text of the note in addition to the text of the Datebook entry.
Display alarms missed while DeskAlarm was off When checked alarms that come due while DeskAlarm is not running will be displayed the next time DeskAlarm is run.

Palm Desktop tab

Here you customize the way the auto save feature works and select which users DeskAlarm will monitor.

Auto Save-  Choose to Enable or Disable the Auto Save feature.  
If Auto Save is enabled you have 2 additional settings:
Every X minutes- Select the interval in which Palm Desktop should be forced to save.
Disable auto save while working in Palm Desktop- If checked as long as Palm Desktop is the window you are working in (the foreground application) Auto Save will be disabled.  This will prevent fields you are working on from flashing and closing while you are working on them. As soon as you are not working in Palm Desktop Auto Save will function normally (once it's not the foreground application).
Note that AutoSave only works for the users who are being monitored.  (See bellow).
Display Alarm For - Select the users  whose alarms should be processed by DeskAlarm for this list.   Users whose name are checked will be monitored for new alarms.  And Auto Save will be active for them if its enabled.

To Do Alarms

Alarms:
At- Specify what time you want To Do Alarms and reminders to be displayed.  
Sound Alarm When a To Do item comes due - Check this to indicate you want an Alarms to sound when To Do items not marked as completed come due.  Also set how many days in advance you want alarms to sound.
Show reminder about overdue items - Check this to indicate you want to be reminded of overdue To Do items that are not marked completed.  Please set the repeat frequency you would like.
Filtering:
Alarm only if priority is at least - Select the lowest priority that you want alarms to sound for.  Select 5 if you want alarms to sound for items of all priorities. 
Categories to display alarms for - Select the categories you want alarms to sound for.  Note only categories defined for users selected in the Palm Desktop Tab appear here.

 

Advanced

This tab also contains advanced options and options available only to registered users. Registered users can choose not to display the flash screen that comes up when you start DeskAlarm and to hide the system tray Icon.

Double Click on Tray Icon opens Palm Desktop- If this is checked then when you double click on the DeskAlarm tray icon Palm Desktop will open.  If it left unchecked then the Properties dialog will open (the default).
Forget All Passwords Click this to cause DeskAlarm to forget the passwords of all users who chose to have DeskAlarm remember a password when prompted for one before displaying a private Alarm.
Registered User Options:
No Splash Screen - If this box is checked the DeskAlarm will start quietly with out displaying the opening dialog.
Hide Tray Icon - If this box is checked the Tray Icon will no longer show.  This allows DeskAlarm to run completely invisibly until there is an alarm.  Note that once you select this and hit ok, you can no longer access the properties dialog from the Tray Icon.  To access the properties dialog simply click on the DeskAlarm Icon in the start menu.

Registering

DeskAlarm is shareware that if you like it you are expected to pay for it! You may evaluate DeskAlarm for a period of 31 days and then you must pay for registration if you wish to continue using it

If you like DeskAlarm you please register. I worked very hard to create DeskAlarm, trying to make it useful and very simple to use. Please help prove that creating shareware is worth the effort. This will also help further the development of DeskAlarm.

To register DeskAlarm online please go to:
http://www.deskalarm.com/registering_desk_alarm.htm 

This is also the place to go for more registration information including how to register by fax or phone.

One you register. You will receive a registration code that will allow you to continue using DeskAlarm beyond the 31-days evaluation period, as well as give allowing you to use the registered user options.  Simply click the register button in the about box and enter the code you received.

Registered users will get all minor upgrades and at least 1 major upgrade free. Support can only be guaranteed for registered users.

Contact Information

Feel free to contact me with any problem, questions or requests you may have concerning DeskAlarm. Please note that I can only promise support for registered users but I will try to relate to any feedback I get.

Joey Edelstein
Bit Choreography

Email: info@deskalarm.com
Web: http://www.deskalarm.com

Version Info and History

This section presents the changes made in each public release of DeskAlarm it is mostly of interest to more technical users who want full details on the changes that were made.

Version 3.03

No longer creates debug log that was appearing on some users desktop 

Version 3.02

Fixed so Autosave works with Palm Desktop 4.1

All new features in this release are covered in the What's New Section.

Version 3.0

All new features in this release are covered in the What's New Section.

Version 2.6

All new features in this release are covered in the What's New Section.

Version 2.52

This is a maintenance release.  The following issues were addressed:

  • Users who have not set a password will not be prompted for one when they click the Show Private Alarm button in the alarm dialog that comes up for an alarm marked private.
  • DeskAlarm can now detect if Palm Desktop has open dialogs when it is about to AutoSave.  If so it will show a warning but will not try to save avoiding the annoying warning from Palm Desktop itself (the "can't HotSync when dialog is open message").
  • In version 2.5 if DeskAlarm tried to AutoSave while a HotSync was in progress it would show a warning even if Palm Desktop was not open.  This has been fixed.
  • A minor correction was made to the registration module to allow some users that were having trouble registering to do so.  This will have no affect on registered users.

Version 2.5

See  the What's New Section for new features bellow are some more technical details and information on a bug fix.

  • DeskAlarm did not correctly detect that an HotSync was in progress.  If AutoSave was triggered during HotSync it was possible that could occur.  DeskAlarm now correctly detects this situation.
  • Settings are now saved as soon as you close the properties dialog and not only on program exit.
  • The format of the snooze data file as changed and it has been moved from: <palmDir>\<UserDir>\snoozes.das to <palmDir>\snoozes.das. 
    Old snooze files (version 2.0 - 2.1 are moved by the installer and converted the first time version 2.5 is run.
  • Missed snooze alarms are now displayed one at a time instead of lumped together in  one dialog.  User is prompted before they are displayed.
  • A help item was added the tray icon menu and the menu items have been rearanged.  

Version 2.1

See  the What's New Section for new features bellow are some more technical details and information on a bug fix.

  • The reminder feature will enables the Alarm dialog to flash and play a sound   repeatedly until the "OK" or Snooze buttons are pressed.  The number of repetitions and frequency can be set in the Properties dialog.  The first time an alarm is shown it just pops up and play its sound like in previous version, unless you selected not to play a sound in which case the alarm dialog will also flash.  When an alarm is repeated the dialog is restored if it was minimized and will flash for a few seconds as well as playing its sound.
  • There was a bug in the AutoSave feature introduced in version 2.01 that under some circumstance caused DeskAlarm to ignore the frequency set for AutoSave and to trigger AutoSave every minute.  This has been fixed in this version.

Version 2.01

This is a Bug-Fix version.  The following issues were addressed:

  • DeskAlarm would occasionally crash when run at startup usually after the system was shut down improperly.  This has been fixed.
  • When a dialog is open in Palm Desktop and DeskAlarm caused it to AutoSave Palm Desktop would crash.   DeskAlarm now will no longer AutoSave if Palm Desktop has a dialog open.

Version 2.0

This is a major revision many new features were added.  Most are covered in the What's New Section.  Bellow is some additional technical information:

  • The Alarm dialog and all the DeskAlarm dialogs will stay on top of other windows.   This should prevent them from "getting lost" under other windows
  • While the "About Box" or the "Properties dialog" are displayed the menu options to display them and to quit DeskAlarm are disabled.  This should prevent various conflicts and problems that  could arise from them.
  • The whole Alarm Dialog has been redesigned .  The title of the Alarm Dialog now reflects whether it is showing an alarm or a snooze Alarm.
  • When a user registers the "No Splash screen" option gets set by default.
  • For computers with Power Management, DeskAlarm now detects when the computer is powered up after being suspended and refreshes alarm data.
  • Enhanced Datebk3 compatibility.  Datebk3 stores special data in Datebook entries on Jan. 1 2020.  if no alarms were set DeskAlarm used to display these.  To prevent this DeskAlarm now only displays alarms up to 31 Dec. 2019.
  • DeskAlarm should now work correctly even if there is a TZ environment variable set.
  • Fixed a bug that caused alarms that were set far in the future to pop up early.
  • Fixed a number of bugs in the Palm Conduit SDK that caused alarms to appear at the wrong times.

Version 1.02

Another minor bug fix version.  There is not need to upgrade to this version from version 1.0 unless you are having problems registering your copy of DeskAlarm.
Issues addressed:
Corrected another minor registration problem.

Version 1.01

Minor bug fix version.  There is not need to upgrade to this version from version 1.0 unless you are having problems registering your copy of DeskAlarm.
Issues addressed:
Corrected a registration problem some registered users reported.  Also fixed a problem where the first time DeskAlarm was run it would display an incorrect number of days left in evaluation.

Version 1.0

This is the official version 1 release.  added all the features that were missing in Beta 1 and an option to control the size of the alarm pop up.
There are have been some reports of problems with a crash during auto save and of some alarms coming up at the wrong time.  Both seem to be rare and I couldn't reproduce them .  Changes were made to the code to help prevent these problems please report any problems you have.

Version 1.0 Beta 1

This is the first public beta release of DeskAlarm.  There are no know bugs at release time. 
Features left to implement:

  • Registration.
  • Option for no Splash screen.
  • Option to hide Tray Icon.

About Bit Choreography

Bit Choreography is Joey Edelstein. There is no more to it.

License Agreement

You should carefully read the following terms and conditions before using the DeskAlarm software. Your use of this software indicates your acceptance of this license agreement and warranty.

Evaluation and Registration

This is not free software. Subject to the terms below, you are hereby licensed to use this software for evaluation purposes without charge for a period of 31 days. If you use this software after the 31-day evaluation period a registration fee is required. Payments can be done at PalmGear H.Q. when payment is received you will be sent the means to register your copy of the program.

Governing Law

This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Israel.

 

Warranty Disclaimer

THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OR MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED.

 

Distribution of Evaluation Version

You are hereby licensed to make as many copies of the evaluation version of this software and documentation as you wish; give exact copies of the original evaluation version to anyone; and distribute the evaluation version of the software and documentation in its unmodified form via electronic means. There is no charge for any of the above.

You are specifically prohibited from charging, or requesting donations, for any such copies, however made; and from distributing the software and/or documentation with other products (commercial or otherwise) without prior written permission.

Copyright ¸ 1998-2000,2001 Bit Choreography – Joey Edelstein

 

Credits

Developing this application was made much easier do to the following recourses:

From Microsoft Systems Journal:

  • CTrayIcon Copyright 1996 Microsoft Systems Journal. Written by Paul DiLascia.

From codeguru ( http://www.codeguru.com )

  • CHyperLink and code for expanding dialog Copyright (C) 1997, 1998 Chris Maunder (chrismaunder@codeguru.com)
  • CsingleInstanceApp Copyright (C) 1997, 1998 Giancarlo Iovino (giancarlo@saria.com).

This product includes software developed by 3Com and its contributors. They require that I include the following:

Copyright (c) 1998
3Com/Palm Computing Division. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

  1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
  2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution
  3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software must display the following acknowledgement:
    This product includes software developed by 3Com and its contributors.
  4. Neither 3Com nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE 3COM AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS''AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL 3COM OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY,OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.