What to Doª
ToDo enhancement for Newton 2.0
by Dan Rowley <dan@newts.com>
Copyright 1996, Innovative Computer Solutions

Version: 1.0
Released: 10/20/96

***What is What to Do?
	
What to Do is an enhancement for the built-in ToDo manager which provides several powerful new features:
	*) The ability to add notes to a ToDo item.
	*) The ability to add several ToDo items in succession, without having to wade through the "new" menu every time.
	*) The ability to quickly add ToDo items, without having to launch the Dates app first, either by interpreting selected text, or by entering data into a quick data entry slip.


***ABOUT SHAREWARE

What to Do is SHAREWARE.  You have fourteen days to try What to Do and determine if it's right for you.  If you want to keep it, you need to register it.  The registration fee is $15.  Upgrades to new versions of What to Do are free to registered users.  You can register What to Do several ways-

	1 - Via the Kagi Shareware registration service - you can register online by visiting our web site at <http://www.newts.com/>.
	2 - On Compuserve via SWREG (GO SWREG), #12938.
	3 - By sending a check for $15 to Innovative Computer Solutions at 23005 North 21st Way; Phoenix, Arizona 85024-7513.

	When we receive your registration, we will send you a code to unlock your copy of What to Do.  To unlock your copy of What to Do, tap the "Register" button on the What to Do prefs screen and enter your name and registration code.


***Installing What to Do

Install What to Do as you would any other Newton software, by downloading it to your device using the Newton Backup Utility, Newton Package Installer, X-Port, or other package installation utility.  Before using What to Do, you should launch the application (by tapping on the icon in the extras drawer) to set your preferences.


***What to Do preferences

What to Do has three major preference settings:

INSTALL STATUS BAR BUTTON - Installs a quick-access button on the status bar of your backdrop application.  If you are using NewtCase Desktop, then this button would appear on your floating button palette.

HOT ZONE LOCATION - In lieu of (or in addition to) a status bar quick-access button you can also install a small 5-by-5 pixel hot zone in one corner of the visible area of your Newton's screen.  The hot zone will appear as a small 5-by-5 white square in the chosen corner.  The hot zone has the same effect as the status bar button, but can be more convenient because it's always available.  Note that the "LOWER RIGHT" and "LOWER LEFT" settings place the hot zone in the corner of the VISIBLE screen area, just ABOVE the silk-screened (permanent) buttons, NOT in the corner of the physical screen.

ALLOW LARGER NOTES - By default, your ToDo notes are stored in the same soup entry as the actual ToDo items.  If you generally take small and/or few notes this setting will be fine for you.  This is because the Newton stores all ToDo items for a single day (and *ALL* repeating ToDos) in a single soup entry.  If you take large and/or many notes, this entry can become very large, possibly overflowing available heap memory (this is less of a problem on the MP130 than it is on the MP120).  If you need to take larger notes, you can enable the "ALLOW LARGER NOTES" pref, which will force What to Do to store each of your notes in its own soup entry.  Although this permits much larger notes, these notes do not get deleted when you delete the associated ToDo item.  If you use this setting, you will need to periodically purge "orphaned" ToDo notes by using the "Purge Orphan Notes" option in the What to Do prefs.


***What to Do ToDo enhancements

What to Do makes two major enhancements to the built-in ToDo application.  First, it adds a new button to the ToDo entry slip which allows the addition/editing of notes.  Notes are associated with a single ToDo, and are shared among all instances of a repeating ToDo.  Second, it adds a "new ToDo" button to the ToDo entry slip, which allows you to post the current ToDo item, and open a new slip so you can immediately enter another new ToDo.  This allows you to enter multiple ToDos in succession without wading through the "new" menu every time.

***What to Do Quick-Access menu

The What to Do Quick-Access menu is accessed via either the Status Bar button or a corner Hot Zone.  The Quick-Access menu has four options:

MAKE TODO FROM SELECTION - Takes the currently selected text, and posts it as a new ToDo item.  If the ToDo is successfully posted, the text will be unhilited.  If What to Do finds a date in the selected text, the ToDo will be posted on that day.  A date must be at least three characters long, and must contain either the slash "/" or dash "-" character (9-6, for example would be september 6th).  If no date is found, today's date will be used.

NEW QUICK TODO - Opens a mini ToDo-entry slip which allows very fast entry of multiple ToDos.  You can specify the ToDo text, due date, and priority, and post as many ToDos as you wish before closing the Quick ToDo slip.  If you have selected text before choosing NEW QUICK TODO, the ToDo-entry slip will be populated with the selected information.

NEW FULL TODO - Opens the Dates app (if it's not already open), and opens a blank ToDo entry page.  If you have selected text before choosing NEW FULL TODO, the ToDo-entry page will be populated with the selected information.

PREFS - Opens the What to Do prefs screen.


***Other features

The (i)nfo menu in What to Do prefs has two options:

ABOUT - opens the about box.

PURGE ALL TODO NOTES - Erases all ToDo notes.

What to Do prefs has one additional button, PURGE ORPHAN NOTES, which is used to round up and delete all ToDo notes which cannot be matched to ToDo items.  This button is only necessary when you have selected "Allow Larger Notes", and you have deleted some ToDo item(s).



KNOWN ISSUES WITH VERSION of What to Do

*) WTD currently does not work with Dates as the backdrop application


Version History

Changes since 0.9b5:
No hard-coded expiration date.  Now expires after 14-days.

Changes since 0.9b4:
Fixed a problem with losing notes when moving Todos with the drag-and-drop method.  Expiration date extended to 10/31/96.

Changes since 0.9b1:
	1) NEW FEATURE: Configurable hotzone/Status bar button behavior.  Two new	prefs items allow you to change the behavior of the Hotzone and Status bar	button when you CLICK or CLICK AND HOLD on the button.  "Click and hold" is defined	as clicking and holding on the button/hotzone for a full second, until you hear	the second click.  The default behavior for CLICK is to bring up the menu of choices,	and the default for CLICK AND HOLD is to bring up the QUICK TODO slip.

	2) NEW FEATURE: What to Do now makes it easy for you to move Todos without	leaving your todo list in the Dates application.  Without WTD, moving a Todo is	a tedious process that has the side effect of moving you to the new date you	selected for your Todo.  WTD allows you to more easily change the date of a Todo	simply by allowing you to drag the Todo and drop it on the calendar in the upper	right-hand corner of the Dates screen.  When you do this, you will be presented 	with a picker that allows you to select the new date for the Todo.  The Todo will	be moved to the new date, without dragging you along with it.

	3) INTERFACE CHANGE: The informational paragraph for "allow longer notes" has	been moved to a seperate screen, accesible from the "About Longer Notes..." button.

	4) NEW BEHAVIOR: When you open a Quick ToDo slip when the Dates app is open,	the form now defaults to the currently selected date instead of "today's" date.

	5) NEW EXPIRATION DATE: The beta period has been extended to OCTOBER 15, 1996.

	6) BUG FIX: The "Quick ToDo" slip now operates correctly in landscape orientation.



***Legal Mumbo Jumbo

Newton, MessagePad, Connection Kit and Apple are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.  What to Do is a trademark of Innovative Computer Solutions.

In using this software, you understand and agree that this software is provided Òas isÓ without warranty of any kind.  The authors do not make any warranties, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to this software.

In no event shall the author be liable for any consequential, incidental, or special damages whatsoever (including without limitation, damages for loss of critical data, loss of profits, interruption of business and the like) arising out of the use or inability to use this software.

Have a nice day.  ;-)