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 iSBiSTER International

1314 Cardigan Street, Garland, Texas 75040

Time and Chaos v3.04 Help File

Welcome to iSBiSTER's Time and Chaos v3.04

On-Line Registration

Licensing and Registration

New Features in version 3.04

Special Notice

Setup and Installation

Using the Appointment Book

Using the Todo List

Using the Telephone Book

Common Questions and Answers


Welcome to Time & Chaos
Welcome to iSBiSTER's Time and Chaos v3.0

Time and Chaos is intended to be an alternative to the abundant supply of overly complex Personal Information Manager's (PIM's).  Having adopted the use of Microsoft Windows several years ago; I left the world of VANILLA DOS behind.  I never want to see a black and white screen with a C:> ever again!....AND I hate leaving my Windows world to fall back a decade to use inconsistent DOS Applications.

I have purchased 3 major highly rated, very high priced PIM's; I am still frustrated with their over engineered complexity for my requirements.  I need a Calendar, a TODO list and a Telephone Book AND I need them shown to me in an obvious intuitive manner.

Further...I don't sit in front of my PC all day - so, I need the ability to print my calendars to take them with me.

I don't think that my requirements are that unique.  Many of you obviously agree from all of the correspondence that we have received.  I thank you for the insight..the idea's..even the complaints!  It has helped tremendously.  Please keep these cards and letters coming.

iSBiSTER International can be reached either by mail or CompuServe Mail or our local BBS:

CompuServe ID: 74017,3424

iSBiSTER International's BBS (214)530-2762

iSBiSTER International

1314 Cardigan Street

Garland, Texas 75040

Please Drop us your comments.  I will gladly take your suggestions into consideration for future enhancements.  Please register your software $24.95 U.S.


Registering On-Line
On-Line Registration

Registering On-Line

Effective July 15, 1992 you can now register Time & Chaos electronically.  This should significantly relieve the frustrations of mail registration for our customers.

Electronic orders may be placed with CompuServe Information Services and billed directly to your credit card for your convenience.  Just type GO SWREG and request Time & Chaos, our SWREG ID is 49

We receive confirmation of your order within a couple of hours  and will forward your letter of authorization, your official diskette AND your security ID by Mail immediately.  I will also CIS mail to you your ID so that you can gain immediate relief from the NAG screens should you be over your 21 day evaluation period.

I hope you find this service easy to use and of benefit to you.  I applaud CompuServe for it's innovation in this area.


Licensing and Registration

Time and Chaos is not public domain software, nor is it free software. The use of TIME and CHAOS is subject to the following terms and conditions:  Non-Licensed users are granted a limited license to use Time and Chaos on a 21 day trial basis for the purposes of determining whether Time and Chaos is suitable for their needs. The use of Time and Chaos, except for an initial 21-day trial, requires registration.  The use of unlicensed copies of Time and Chaos by any person or business is strictly prohibited.  Registration entitles you to use Time & Chaos on a single machine. We will provide you will the security code to remove the "Nag Screens" and mail you a Registration Certificate to PROVE to your corporate auditors that you are a good citizen, as well as our official diskette containing the latest version!

In order to register you must send $24.95 U.S Currency to:

iSBiSTER International

1314 Cardigan Street

Garland, Texas 75040

Check or Money Orders Only Please. Residents of Texas add 8.25% Sales Tax ($27.01) in total. We do not accept credit card orders except through CompuServe Information Services.  At iSBiSTER we also do business on a handshake, meaning that if you call our BBS or leave me a CIS E-Mail message with your Name, Telephone Number AND YOUR PROMISE THAT YOUR CHECK IS IN THE MAIL; WE WILL ADVANCE TO YOU YOUR SECURITY CODE USUALLY WITHIN A FEW HOURS.  This way, you get immediate relief from the NAG screens!  If you are a CompuServe Subscriber, you can register on-line (go swreg) - see registering on-line in this help file.  Orders from outside the United States must be accompanied by an International Money Order, or a check in $U.S. Funds drawn on an American Banking Institution.  We are unable to process checks drawn on foreign banks.  As a last resort, many of our international customers have successfully sent cash well hidden inside a piece of paper and we certainly welcome pounds sterling.  We will continue to strive to improve the ease in registering.

iSBiSTER INTERNATIONAL does not warrant that Time and Chaos software will meet your requirements or that the operation of the software will be uninterrupted or error free.  Nor do we offer any Warranties or Guarantees of any kind.  You are free to use Time and Chaos in any way you see fit,  but AT YOUR OWN RISK!

iSBiSTER INTERNATIONAL is not responsible for any problems or damage caused by the software or that may result from using the licensed software; whether licensed or not. This includes, but is not limited to, computer hardware, computer software, operating systems, and any computer or computing accessories. End user agrees to hold iSBiSTER INTERNATIONAL and/or any persons associated with the creation of this software harmless for any problems arising from the use of the software.

I regret having to place such a disclaimer in a piece of software.  I have made every effort to make this software product as efficient and accurate as possible; however, in a world full of frivolous and ridiculous law suits, I have no alternative.

Never-the-less I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE SOFTWARE and find it productive!


New Features in v3.04
What's New in v3.04

International Support

New options under Setup Preferences that allow for 12 or 24 hour clock, and an option for European Orientation that changes dates from mm/dd/yy to dd/mm/yy.  The phone book fields also change State to County, Title to Position, Zip to Postal etc.

Sorted Fonts

The Font Choices within Setup Preferences are now sorted alphabetically

Ability to Move Telephone Numbers between White and Yellow Pages

A new button has been implemented on the main screen, phone book section to move the selected telephone contact to either the white or yellow pages.  You can alternately click the right mouse button instead of clicking the Move button.

Letter Writer

A button has been added to the telephone entry screen, "Letter".  It automatically envokes MS Write, Dates and Addresses a letter.  Alternately, you can now create a series of standard letters in MS Write Format.  Time & Chaos will add the header information for you.

Month Preview

Has been significantly improved.  Preview now allows you to "Click" on any date to see your day in greater detail, further, allows you to edit appointments directly.

Group Delete

Finally, you can now Group Delete Appointments and Day Titles that you have scheduled as recurring.  Go to the first appointment, set your repeat options as were set initially, and click Delete.

Copy an Address

From the Telephone Entry Screen, a new drop down menu has been added to copy either the business or residential name and address to the ClipBoard for pasting into other applications.

Color Coding with the Todo List

Rather eye catching isn't it?  A very heavily requested addition!

Notes Attached Indicator

A new Icon is automatically attached to the Daily Appointment List on the main screen if you have notes attached to the appointment.

Clock Icon and Screen Saver Support

We have removed the Time Display from the Icon when Time & Chaos is minimized. It seems it was interfering with the MS Windows Screen Saver.  Screen Savers now work when minimized.

Attach Random Notes to a Day

On the main screen another new button has been added to the appointment display. Notes will let you added General Comments and Notes for that Day.  Should notes be attached the Notes Button will display in red.

New Time Controls

We have changed the controls for setting Time.  Now we have the Time displayed with a scroll bar on each side.  The Left scroll bar increments the time in 30 minute increments while the right increments in 1 minute intervals.


Special Notice

Special Thanks!

I would like to extend my appreciation to Sam, Don and Tony, the folks at "SOFTWARE SOURCE" who created VB/ISAM. VBISAM is the database that Time & Chaos is built upon. It IS an outstanding product, very small, very easy to use and very fast.  The support we have received from Software Source is first rate, and they are just great folks.

The VBISAMMX.DLL file that we distribute with Time & Chaos is licensed for use only with Time & Chaos, and for no other purpose (including further copying). Should you wish to create your own software that uses  ISAMMX.DLL you must license it directly from Software Source.

Software Source may be contacted in the U.S. at (510) 623-7854

I highly recommend it!


Setup and Installation

MS Windows 3.0 or later is required, as is the VBRUN100.DLL module. (If you do not have this module, it is available from many sources. There is no additional charge. It is available on our BBS and on most on-line services)

SHARE.EXE IS NO LONGER REQUIRED!!

For you convenience, we have included an installation utility with our software.  Double Click on INSTALL.EXE from the file manager - the rest is automatic.

Manual Installation

Create a unique subdirectory anywhere on your hard disk. (I use C:/TCHAOS).  Copy all Time and Chaos files into that subdirectory

TCHAOS.EXE

PSETUP.DLL

SS3D.VBX

SS3D2.VBX

VBISAMMX.DLL

VBRUN100.DLL (Should be placed in your WINDOWS subdirectory

TCHAOS.HLP

Double Click from File manager on TCHAOS.EXE

Upgrading From a Previous Version of Time and Chaos

If you are upgrading from a version 3.02 or earlier of Time and Chaos then you must also do the following:

*** Please be advised that in order to take advantage of the new TODO LINKING in this version that you must delete your TODO datafiles.

Please Delete 	TODOLIST.ISM

TODOLIST.ISF

TODOLIST.ISD

Yes this means losing some data, but it's only the TODO list.  I would suggest the following actions in order to avoid missing any action items.

Go to any date 5 years into the future, as this will insure that we are missing nothing.  Print out a list of your outstanding TODO items.  Delete the files as per above, or copy them to Floppy Disk.  Restart Time & Chaos.

Re-Enter the TODO items on your list.

Sorry about the inconvenience, but this was a greatly requested enhancement.  To be able to click on any contact in the telephone book and quickly gain a status report of all action items for that contact.  Particularly useful for Sales people and for tradesman who need to print out client status information.

** Should you not wish to delete your TODOLIST FILES, Time & Chaos will operate as usual, except that you will not be able to take advantage of the new Linking feature.**

More good news!  Time and Chaos no longer requires SHARE.EXE to be loaded in the config.sys file, or the autoexec.bat - now I know THAT'S GOOD NEWS!

I also would like to express our appreciation for all the orders and interest we have received for our product!  We are very appreciative of your support.    -- THANK YOU! --

Inside the Help file you will also find information regarding registration through COMPUSERVE INFORMATION SERVICE.  (go swreg) This allows us to accept credit cards and ease the delays in mail registrations.


Using the Appointment Book

How to set an appointment

Setting up new appointments is easy!  Select the date on the monthly calendar that you wish to schedule an appointment. You can now see in the Appointment List Box all of your appointments already scheduled for that day.  With your mouse, click on the ADD APPOINTMENT button below.  Doing this will call a dialog box for you to enter the particulars regarding your appointment.

With the APPOINTMENT ENTRY SCREEN now displayed, you may complete the details regarding your upcoming appointment.   The Slider Control (Top Left) will be displaying the date that you are scheduling, you are required to do nothing here (although you could change this date by clicking on the left or right arrows to move the appointment to another date).  The Description field is for you to enter a brief reminder representing your appointment.  With this version of Time & Chaos, I have allowed unlimited field lengths, so you will be able to virtually type forever.  HOWEVER, PLEASE KEEP YOUR APPOINTMENT DESCRIPTIONS BRIEF AS YOU MAY WISH TO PRINT A MONTHLY CALENDAR WHERE PRINT SPACE IS VERY LIMITED .

Enter both a START TIME and an END TIME for your appointment.  These slider controls are operated with your mouse.  CLICKING ON THE  RIGHT ARROWS WILL MOVE THE TIME IN MINUTES - CLICKING ON THE LEFT ARROWS WILL MOVE THE TIME IN 30 MINUTE INCREMENTS!  This approach to selecting a time allows fast scheduling for routine events while maintaining the flexibility that so many packages lack today - facilitating the scheduling at non-standard times such as 9:04am.  This can be particularly frustrating should you wish to record an airplane departure or arrival time within your calendars.

** You may not schedule 2 appointments with  exactly the same start time **

You may also choose to REPEAT your appointment on other dates. From the REPEAT combo box select either NONE - for a non-repeating event.  DAILY - to schedule each and every day from today.  WEEKLY - to schedule every 7 days or on same day each week.  MONTHLY - Same DATE each month. and YEARLY - Same DATE each Year.  REPEAT UNTIL allows you to set the length of the repeat period.

To the bottom, is a NOTES BUTTON this will invoke an editor of approximately 5K of space for you to jot notes regarding your appointment.  You can also use the CUT and PASTE options on this Appointment Entry Screen to move data between screens and other applications.  REMEMBER ANY INFORMATION THAT IS ENTERED IN THE NOTES FIELD CAN BE KEYWORD SEARCHED LATER.  For example, I often make notes in this field regarding such things as products that a person is interested in (ie. data communications).  Later, I can search on (data com) to list all the matching contacts.

That's it - all done. Click the OK button - your appointment is scheduled.  Should an error occur here - it is probably due to attempting to schedule two appointments with the identical start time.  This is not allowed.

How to Edit an existing appointment

Double Clicking on any appointment listed in the Daily Appointment Listbox (Upper Right of the Main Screen) - will find this particular appointment in the database and recall it to the screen for your changes.

You can move the appointment by changing the date on the slider control (upper left).  Changes of any field information will be reflected immediately upon clicking the UPDATE button on the form.

How to Delete an appointment

Deletion of any appointment is handled via editing.  Double Click on any appointment listed in the Daily Appointment Listbox (Upper Right) - this will find this particular appointment in the database and recall it to the screen for your changes or DELETION.  Click the DELETE button on the form, you will be asked for confirmation - the appointment will be deleted. This version adds Group Deletion as well. Basically, you just reverse what you have done.  Double Click on the First Appointment in the series (as if you were going to edit it).  Enter the same repeat specifications (ie. daily),  Select the date in the future that you want to delete to.  Click on DELETE.  A dialog box will prompt you that you are attempting a GROUP DELETE.

Searching for your appointments

I am most excited about the new and very powerful keyword search consistently implemented throughout Time & Chaos v3.04. Only when you really start to use this feature creatively does the real power become unlocked.  We can now think of searching as a free form database running throughout.  Click search appointments from  the main screen.  This will reveal a simple dialog box requesting your keywords to search.  IF YOU LEAVE THE KEYWORDS BLANK IT WILL FIND ALL APPOINTMENTS.  If you use a keyword such as  "TOM"  A list of all appointments entered that refer to TOM will be selected.  Double Clicking on the resultant list will direct you to that appointment detail as entered.  Appointment Search actually checks both the Description Fields AND the

Notes field of each appointment you have entered for a keyword match.

How to set Day Titles

From the main screen clicking ADD DAYTITLE will bring about a dialog box for you to specify a Title for the day.  These are events that are not dependant to a particular time of day such as "MY BIRTHDAY" or "TRAVEL DAY" or "DETROIT" (if I plan to be in Detroit all day).  Also very useful for holidays of course.  Similarly, as with your appointments, you may specify a repeating DAY TITLE. You may also choose to REPEAT your DAY TITLE on other dates. From the REPEAT combo box select either NONE - for a non repeating Day Title.  DAILY - to repeat each and every day from today.  WEEKLY - to repeat every 7 days or on same day each week.  MONTHLY - same DATE each month and YEARLY - same DATE each year.  REPEAT UNTIL allows you to set the length of the repeat period.

Clicking OK will add you DAY TITLE to your agenda of that day.

Printing your calendar

Full printouts of your Calendar are possible from the top menu in both 8.5" x 11" (Senior) and  5.5" x  8.75" (Junior) sizes.

*Note: User's of HP Laserjet printers have automatic switching between portrait and landscape modes.  Other printers may require manually switching via the printer setup option under the file menu.

Print Monthly Calendar:  Prints the monthly calendar in landscape mode, both in Junior and Senior sizes, including all of your daily appointments.  That's a lot of data in a very small space.  For best results we recommend that you keep appointment descriptions brief.

How to Set Fonts for Calendar Printing

Printer Fonts are selected from the main menu.  Select FILE,  SETUP PREFERENCES.  A list of available fonts for your selection will appear.  Make your selection and click OK.  Some experimentation may be appropriate with various fonts to achieve the appearance that you desire.  Some Fonts are more scalable than others.  Windows 3.1 adds TRUETYPE scalable fonts, Arial or Times New Roman seem to work very well.

Previewing your calendar

Preview Monthly provides you with a view of your month at a glance.   This feature is most useful for a quick preview prior to printing. MS Windows Version 3.1 only.  Preview has been significantly improved.  Preview now allows you to "Click" on any date to see your day in greater detail, further, allows you to edit appointments directly.

Alerts & Setting Leadtime

As your appointments come due, Time & Chaos will alert you to them by providing a message box with the details.  As long as Time & Chaos is active, either maximized  or minimized as an icon, it is constantly checking for upcoming appointments.  Should Time & Chaos be minimized and you are working in another application, we will still warn you of your forthcoming appointment by showing through the active application that you are using.  The SETUP PREFERENCES MENU will allow you to specify, in minutes, the advance notice you require prior to notification by Time & Chaos, ie.10 minutes prior to my appointment.

Adding Day Notes

On the main screen a new button has been added to the appointment display. Notes will let you added General Comments and Notes for that Day.  Should notes be attached the Notes Button will display in red.


Using the Todo List

The objective of the Todo list is to prevent commitments that we make from falling through the cracks.  Further, an accurate list of the things that must be done can certainly minimize the stress in our lives by allowing us to focus on just the things that need doing today.  We call this JUST IN TIME WORRYING....

Todo items that are not completed will continue to appear on the todo list .. until they are done.  Further, items that need to be done, but not for a few days or weeks can be scheduled to appear any day into the future - and then continue to appear until they get accomplished.  Todo items marked "X" (Done) will always appear only on the date they were done.  The point of this is a checking system for you should your boss asks on what date a todo item was actually done.

How to add an item to your Todo List

From the main screen, click Add Todo Item.  This invokes a dialog box for your specific todo item.  Type in a brief description of your todo item and assign a priority to it.  A new priority category "P" (Pending) has been added.  Often when I am accountable for a todo item, I assign part of it to another person.  My part may be done - but I would like to see the results with my own eyes, before I consider it actually complete.  As with the appointment entry screen, there is plenty of room for any associated notes that you may wish to include with your todo item. This version of Time & Chaos allows you to LINK a todo item with a contact in the telephone book. Now when you are speaking with JOHN DOE on the telephone, you can click on his name in the telephone list and quickly see the status of all related todo items for JOHN DOE.  You can also print them to take with you to a meeting with Mr. Doe.

How to Edit a todo item

As with the Appointment book and the Phone Book, double clicking on any todo item in the list will invoke a dialog box with the information as you had entered it.  Make any changes you like, and/or DELETE as appropriate.

Searching your Todo List

Search will interrogate all past, present and future todo items for the keyword that you specify.  It will search freeform through both the Description field and the Notes field of each todo item.

How to print your Todo List

Full printouts of your Todo list  are possible from the top menu in both 8.5" x 11" (Senior) and  5.5" x  8.75" (Junior) sizes.  *Note: User's of HP Laserjet printers have automatic switching between portrait and landscape modes.  Other printers may require manually switching via the printer setup option under the file menu.

Print ToDo List:  Prints your todo list as of the date selected on the monthly calendar monthly. It prints in portrait mode, both in Junior and Senior sizes, including all of your todo items sorted by priority.  The purpose is to allow you to print a todo list for the day.

How to Set Fonts for TODO PRINTING

Printer Fonts are selected from the main menu.  Select FILE,  SETUP PREFERENCES.  A list of available fonts for your selection will appear.  Make your selection and click OK.  Some experimentation may be appropriate with various fonts to achieve the appearance that you desire.  Some Fonts are more scalable than others.  Windows 3.1 adds TRUETYPE scalable fonts, Arial or Times New Roman seem to work very well.


Using the Telephone Book

White pages and yellow pages

By popular demand, we now have two telephone books to use.  One perhaps for business  while another for personal, or one Internal, the other External telephone numbers.

How to Add a listing to your telephone book

Clicking on the ADD LISTING button will invoke a dialog box for you to complete.  The entry will be applied on the Telephone Book that is open at the time.  If you wish to add a listing to the Yellow Pages, switch to the Yellow Pages and then Click on ADD LISTING.

NAME AS LISTED is the field at the top of the ADD Telephone Listing Dialog Box.  This is intended to be FREE FORM.  For example, you may wish to enter JONES, TOM or ACME INCORPORATED.  All listings are alphabetical, and no two NAME AS LISTED fields may be exactly alike.  You may add JONES, TOM and JONES, SALLY but you cannot add another JONES, TOM.

It should be noted that the field sizes have the built-in flexibility to be virtually unlimited in length & content.  This is particularly useful for the inclusion of telephone extensions within the telephone number fields and extremely long international telephone numbers.

** Note: a feature allows you to change FAX and CAR labels to whatever you like. You may now change the FAX and CAR labels by editing them on the Telephone Data Entry Screen.

How to quick view a telephone entry

A Single Click on any telephone entry in the list box will place the appropriate telephone numbers in the spaces to the right.  If the Company Field was completed on data entry, it will be displayed atop, if not, the Name as Listed field will be repeated.

How to EDIT/delete a telephone entry

A double Click on any telephone entry in the list box will recall the appropriate  dialog box for editing.  You may either Edit as you wish or delete as necessary.Click on UPDATE to save the changes.

Searching your telephone book

There are two ways to search the telephone book.  The Quick Search - Click on any entry in the phone list and type the first letter of a name you want to find. The focus of the list will jump to that letter, if there is any.

The Keyword Search is exactly as the Appointment Search and the Todo Search.  However, it will search MOST FIELDS.  That is, for example, a keyword search on "214" will product a list of all those living in the Area Code 214 provided, of course, that I entered the area code with the telephone number.  Just as it would find 555-2140 or 2214 Oak Street.  It can also quickly provide a list of everyone in a certain city or state.  It will also search for keywords throughout the NOTES Field.

Envelope Printing

You can print envelopes directly from the telephone entry screen, by clicking on Print Envelope button.  From the Envelope Screen you can save the inside address from the CONTROL MENU.

Letter Writing

A button has been added to the telephone entry screen, "Letter".  It automatically envokes MS Write, Dates and Addresses a letter.  Alternately, you can now create a series of standard letters in MS Write Format.  Time & Chaos will add the header information for you.

Autodialer

Prior to using the Autodialer, you must setup the COM PORTS and any DIAL PREFIX as appropriate in the PREFERENCES SETUP MENU CHOICE.

As a telephone listing is selected from the listbox, the telephone numbers appear to the right of the list for that entry.  The buttons, that are labeled "BUSINESS", "HOME" etc. are actually autodial buttons.  Clicking on these labels will autodial the specified telephone number.


iSBiSTER
Who or What is iSBiSTER?


Common Questions
Common Questions and Answers

Q.  My Autodialer doesn't seem to work?  The modem lights flicker for a second then dies.  How come?

Time & Chaos is set up to work with Hayes Compatible Modems,  as such, the AT DT commands are issued within the code.  In other words, do not enter AT DT into the Dial Prefix of the Setup Preferences.  The Dial Prefix should be a digit such as a 9 for an outside line.

Q.  How do I delete a group of appointments or day titles that I have scheduled?

Basically, you just reverse what you have done.  Double Click on the First Appointment in the series (as if you were going to edit it).  Enter the same repeat specifications (ie. daily),  Select the date in the future that you want to delete to.  Click on DELETE.  A dialog box will prompt you that you are attempting a GROUP DELETE.

Q.  Can I register Time & Chaos with a credit card?

Only if you have access to compuserve information services.  We do not accept credit cards directly at this time.  International orders must be made by an international money order or a check drawn on a bank in the U.S.  As a last resort, you may send cash, either U.S. dollars or British Pounds Sterling Equivalent.

Q.  Is there a MULTIUSER LAN version of Time & Chaos?

Not at this time.  We are currently working on it.  Should you have an urgent requirement, please feel free to add your vote, by dropping us a note on our BBS.

Q. My Todo Linking with the Telephone Book does not seem to be working correctly?

If you have just upgraded from v3.02 or earlier then please be advised that in order to take advantage of the new TODO   LINKING in this version that you must delete your TODO datafiles.

Please Delete 	TODOLIST.ISM

TODOLIST.ISF

TODOLIST.ISD

Yes this means losing some data, but it's only the TODO list.  I would suggest the following actions in order to avoid missing any action items.

1. Go to any date 5 years into the future (this will insure that we are missing nothing)

2. Print out a list of your outstanding TODO items

3. Delete the files as per above, or copy them to Floppy Disk

4. Restart Time & Chaos

5. Re-Enter the TODO items on your list.

Sorry about the inconvenience, but this was a greatly requested enhancement.  To be able to click on any contact in the telephone book and quickly gain a status report of all action items for that contact.  Particularly useful for Sales people and for tradesman who need to print out client status information.  If you don't want to use this feature, just don't delete you TODO Files; every thing will work as usual - but Linking as described above will be unavailable.