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Other links:
Pilot-Link

Features include:
- Editable, searchable notes
- Spell checking
- Visual/Audio alarms
- Email notes
- Import/Export notes with Pilot features
- Calendaring
- Sync, backup, restore
- Install, delete, fetch Pilot db's & files
- Notes exchange between XNotes, Address Manager, and Todo Manager.

XNotesPlus: Users Guide - Using the Main Window

  1. Quick Start Guide
  2. Package contents: What does this package include?
  3. Configuration: How do I configure it?
  4. Starting the program: How do I start XNotesPlus?
  5. Up and Running: What do I do after the program starts?



Quick Start Guide

You've just installed XNotesPlus. Now what do you do? Simple - just type "xnotes+" from any terminal window command line. This works as long as you installed the binary in a directory listed in your PATH environment variable.

The main window is a small, square window with the words "XNotesPlus" printed in it three times. Move your mouse over that window and hold down the right mouse button (you need three mouse buttons or a two button mouse that simulates three buttons to use XNotesPlus properly). A menu appears. This is the main menu. Options available include those for creating new XNotes (the yellow sticky note windows), managing those notes, opening the Address Manager, Todo Manager, Calendar and Pilot Tool.

Need a new XNote? Left mouse click inside the main window and, holding that button down, drag the mouse out of the window. This is called "tearing off a note." The XNote has a menu bar which allows setting alarms (left most circle on the menu bar) as well as menus for opening, importing, printing, spell checking and hiding notes. Play with it. You won't break anything. If you do, just reinstall. Hey, you're just starting out and reinstalling is pretty simple.

Changes to your XNotes are automatically updated every hour. You can change the period of autosaving by editing the XNotesPlus.cfg file. Updates to your Address Manager, Todo Manager or Calendar databases happen on a more frequent basis.

When you're ready, you can type Ctrl-Q in any XNote window or select the Quit option from the main menu. Modified XNotes get saved then too.

One trick: if you use multiple desktops, such as those provided by the Desk Guides in GNOME and KDE, you can drag XNotes to different desktops and leave them there. Their position is saved relative to the main window, so whenever you start XNotesPlus up again, just start it from the same desktop and your XNotes will show up right where you left them last. Note: This works well in GNOME 1.4 but doesn't work with the default window managers in GNOME 2.x. I'm working on a way to get around this problem.



Package Contents

The default XNotesPlus installation directory is $HOME/.xnotesplus, where $HOME is your login directory. On Linux systems this is usually /home/<your userid>. The actual directory used can be set using command line options. Additionally, the graphical installer allows installation of necessary components into the directory of choice.

The installation directory is used by XNotesPlus to store memos, address information, todo lists, temporary files, sound files, external programs and anything else it might require. The access permissions for all files and directories contained in the installation directory are set to prevent others from accessing your private information.

Note:  XNotesPlus is not designed for multiple users to share data. While anyone can use a common xnotes+ binary, all users must have their own copies of the files installed in the installation directory or XNotesPlus will not function correctly.

Once installed, the top level directory structure will look like this:
$ ls ~/.xnotesplus/

audio-d docs-d note1 XNotesPlus.cfg XNotesPlus.rc.themed
bin help-d pilot XNotesPlus.rc xnprojects-gtk
COPYING History themes XNotesPlus.rc.standard xpm-d

These directories and files are defined as follows:

audio-d Audio files used for note alarms. You can add any audio files you like here. Audio alarms are not currently used for Calendar Manager appointments.
bin External programs included with XNotesPlus, such as the PalmOS synchronizing tools. Nothing need be added to this directory by users.
COPYING License information for XNotesPlus
docs-d Various documentation other than online help files.
History The history of changes for XNotesPlus (hackers call this the ChangeLog, though in this case that isn't exactly correct).
note1 Example note file. All note files are regular text files that use the naming scheme of "note" followed by a number. While you can rename these files after exiting XNotesPlus if you'd like, there isn't a need to do so. Certainly you should not rename them while XNotesPlus is running.
pilot PalmOS database files. These should not be manually modified by the user.
themes, XNotesPlus.rc, XNotesPlus.rc.standard, XNotesPlus.rc.themed Theme information. XNotesPlus.rc is the default theme for XNotesPlus. It can point to XNotesPlus.rc.themed or XNotesPlus.rc.standard. XNotesPlus.rc.themed points to themes/XNotesPlus.rc.themed. If you change themes, modify XNotesPlus.rc. Don't change the other theme files! Other themes should not be placed in the themes directory.
XNotesPlus.cfg Configuration file for XNotesPlus. This file describes all of the runtime configurable options for XNotesPlus. The file is heavily commented and should be edited by the user to modify XNotesPlus behaviour. Future versions of XNotesPlus will provide a built in configuration tool.
xnprojects-gtk Project configuration information for XNotes. While this file can be modified manually, users should use the Projects Tool to make changes to the way projects are displayed.
xpm-d Some run time images. Don't modify this directory or its files.


Configuration

The XNotesPlus.cfg file provides a means for specifying various configurable options for XNotesPlus without having to specify them on the command line. The configuration file is well commented and should be self explanatory. Note that since this file exists and options are not commented out, these are the defaults normally used. However, even if these options were commented out, the values set initially in this file are the built in defaults.

 
 # Default configuration file for GTK version of XNotesPlus
 # Should be placed in your $HOME/.xnotesplus directory or set XPCONFIGFILE
 # to specify where to find it.
 #
 # This file uses name:value pairs to establish the configuration parameters
 # for XNotesPlus.  The names are case insensitive, but the values are not.
 # This file overrides the program defaults, but values here can be
 # overridden by command line options.
 #
 # Lines beginning with a # are ignored.  Leading white space is ignored.
 # Blank lines are ignored.  No spaces are allowed between the colon (:)
 # and values.  In other words:
 # name: value -- invalid
 # name:value  -- valid
 #
 # Note: GTK doesn't have a resource parser like Xt/Motif, thus the need
 # for this file to accompany the gtkrc file.
 # 
 # The latest version of XNotesPlus can always be found at the download site: 
 # 
 # http://www.graphics-muse.org/xnotes/download.html
 #
 
 ### If NoAudio = "no" then use audio alarms; otherwise don't use audio alarms
 NoAudio:No
 AudioCmd:play -v %d -d /dev/audio %s
 
 ### Do you want to automatically save modified XNotes?  If so, how often
 ### should automatic saves occur (in seconds)?
 AutoSave:On
 SaveInterval:3600
 
 ### Save on Exit - YES causes modified (but not yet saved) xnotes to 
 ### automatically be saved when you exit the program.
 SaveExit:Yes
 
 ### Alarm - if ON, allows the use of alarms with xnotes. Not much reason to
 ### turn this off, really.  You don't *have* to use it, but with it turned
 ### off you don't even get that option.
 Alarms:On
 
 ### Notice - If set to OFF then you won't get the dialog that says which
 ### features are disabled when you start XNotesPlus.
 Notice:Off
 
 ### Default state for XNotesPlus tooltips.  If set to ON, tooltips are on.
 ### Otherwise they are set to off.
 ToolTips:On
 
 ### What command should be used to print from XNotesPlus?
 PrintCmd:lpr %s
 
 ### What command should be used to email xnotes from XNotesPlus?
 EmailCmd:mail -s"%s" %s
 # EmailAddr:
 
 ### What command should be used to insert calendars into xnotes from 
 ### XNotesPlus?
 CalenderCmd:cal
 
 ### What ispell-compatible command should we use to do spell checking?
 ### If this command is not found, then spell checking for Xnotes is disabled.
 SpellCmd:aspell
 
 ### What browser should we use to display help files?
 ### If this command is not found, then online help for Xnotes is disabled.
 Browser:netscape
 
 ### Where is the GTKRC file we should use by default?
 GtkRC:XNotesPlus.rc.themed
 
 ###
 ### Change the following to your home directory if you want.  You don't
 ### need to, however, as XNotesPlus should figure this out on it's own.
 ###
 ### HomeDir:/home/mjhammel
 
 ###
 ### The following items should not be changed.
 ###
 NoteDir:.xnotesplus
 TmpDir:/tmp
 XPMDir:xpm-d
 PilotDir:pilot
 AudioDir:audio-d
 AddrDir:addresses
 
 
Command line options

There are many options available to XNotesPlus from the command line. In fact, all of the options available from the XNotesPlus.cfg file are also available from the command line, plus a few extras.

While the XNotesPlus.cfg file can be used to change behaviours, if you change installation directories then XNotesPlus won't be able to find the configuration file and will use its defaults. The way to get around this issue is to use a command line option to tell XNotesPlus where its installation directory is. The command

      % xnotes+ --notedir .xnotes-other
 

would tell XNotesPlus to use $HOME/.xnotes-other as its installation directory. If you use an absolute path for --notedir, then that path (without $HOME) will be used. In this way you can install into whatever directory you'd like and configure using the default XNotesPlus.cfg file.

The other command line options available are as follows:

-c Turns on compatibility mode for extremely old versions of XNotesPlus. Not needed if you aren't trying to load XPostitPlus notes. It's doubtful anyone needs to use this option anymore.
--sv Enables the Save on Exit option. When specified, XNotesPlus will attempt to save any notes that have been modified but not yet saved before exiting.
--ns Disables the Auto Save option. When specified XNotesPlus will not automatically save modified XNotes on a periodic basis. By default, XNotesPlus will automatically save XNotes once an hour.
--na Disables alarms. By default, all XNotes can have their own alarms set. If this option is specified, XNotes can't set alarms.
--nn Disables display of the opening dialog which shows which features have been disabled. If some features cannot be used because an external program cannot be found or some other reason, this dialog will tell the user which features have been disabled. This option prevents this dialog from being displayed.
--help, -? or -h Displays the command line options and other information users need to get started.
--geometry WxH Sets the geometry of the Plaid (ie main) window. This value is honored for resizing the window smaller than the default xpm-d/xnotes.xpm image, but will not size the window larger than that. If you want a larger main window, change the xnotes.xpm file.
--ao offset The offset is specified in pixels and is used to determine the X and Y offsets from an anchor note for a note being cascaded. The default value is 15 pixels.
--printcmd cmd This must be a quoted command string that can be used as the format string to sprintf(). It must include "%s" for the temporary file name used when printing a note. The buffer created with sprintf(), this option value, and the temporary file name is passed to the system() call to print the note. By default, the printcmd value is ``lpr %s''.

Starting with XNotesPlus 3.6, you can now optionally compile the program to make use of your existing CUPS based printing configuration. If you use this option, the print command configuration options are ignored and CUPS is used directly.

--emailcmd cmd The "Email" option from the notes menu will pop up a window prompting for an email address. The --emailcmd command line option can be set to your systems mailer command. The mailer must accept the text of the mail via standard input (actually as a pipe from "cat tmpfile"). "cmd" must be a Unix style command in printf() format. See the section on Configuring the mailer.
--emailaddr address Use the specified address as the default address to display in the Email dialog window. This can be overridden by typing in a new address or using the Address Manager to find another email address.
--spellchecker cmd By default, XNotesPlus will use aspell, an ispell compatible spell checking utility found on many Linux distributions. If aspell is not installed locally, you can use ispell instead by using this command line option. If neither aspell nor ispell (or the compatible spell checker you specify) can be found, then spell checking is disabled for individual xnotes.
--calendarcmd cmd This is the command used to produce a calendar for the current month. On most Unix systems this will be ``cal'', which is the default. The output from this command is redirected to a temporary file and then inserted into a note at the current cursor location.
--homedir path Specifies the base directory from which the File Selection Window will look for files and directories. If not specified then the environment variable HOME is used. If this is not set either, then the File Selection Window uses the root (/) directory as its start point.
--xpmdir dir Where XNotesPlus bitmaps can be found. This is normally a subdirectory under the ``notedir'' directory.
--audiocmd cmd Command to run audio files (use %s for audio file).
--audiodir dir Where audio files are stored. This is normally a subdirectory under the ``notedir'' directory.
--noaudio Disable audio for alarms.
--addrdir dir Where address files are stored. Not currently used.
--pilotdir dir Directory to save PalmPilot backups to. This is normally a subdirectory under the ``notedir'' directory.
--defaults This option allows you to view the configuration XNotesPlus will use based on your other command line options and the configuration file, if found. The program will show the configuration and then exit.
--notips Disable the Tool Tips. This can be turned on and off at run time. This option can be used to set the initial state of the Tool Tips.
--notedir <dir> This options tells XNotesPlus where to find its run time files, XNotes, configuration files and anything else it will use. This directory is also where data files are to be stored. If the directory specfied includes an absolute path (the directory name begins with a "/"), XNotesPlus will use that directory. If the path is not an absolute path name, XNotesPlus will prepend the users HOME directory to the path.
--interval <seconds> This option sets the number of seconds for XNotesPlus to wait before checking if any XNotes have been modified. If any modified notes are found, they are then saved.
--version Displays the current version of xnotes+.
Deprecated options
These options are still available, but are no longer used by XNotesPlus.
--sb Managed scrollbars in older versions.
--bs Set the maximum size for XNotes in previous versions. There is no limit on the amount of data an XNote can hold in the current version.
--nw pixels Depricated - no longer used in XNotesPlus.
--install Depricated - no longer used in XNotesPlus.
--icalcmd Used when XNotesPlus used the external "ical" program for calendar appointment support. Removed starting with v3.6.
--icalfile Used when XNotesPlus used the external "ical" program for calendar appointment support. Removed starting with v3.6.

Precedence

Command line options override all other options for XNotesPlus. The XNotesPlus.cfg file is next used. If that file is not found, or options in it are commented out, XNotesPlus uses its built in defaults. The built in defaults match the default XNotesPlus.cfg file settings.



Starting the program

Simply type xnotes+ from the command line. No other arguments are required, though you may want to review the command line options later when you get more familiar with the program.



Up and Running

XNotesPlus uses several windows to manage XNotes and access other features. These include the Plaid Window, the XNotes windows, the Address Manager and Address Editor, along with the Print Envelopes window, the Todo List window, the Calendar Manager and the PalmPilot Interface window, the Projects windows, the Alarm window and file selection windows, and various other dialogs for text input and ordinary messages.


The Main Window

The Plaid Window is the small window that opens when you start the program. It is a relatively small window whose maximum size is fixed (it can be made smaller using window manager controls, if desired). XNotesPlus allows four operations to be performed from its Plaid Window. Clicking (ie pressing and then releasing) the left mouse button in the plaid window will cause all XNotes on the screen to be raised to the top - that is, they rise above all other windows on the display. Pressing the middle mouse button in the plaid window will cause all XNotes notes on the screen to be lowered to the bottom of all other windows. Pressing the right mouse button in the plaid window opens the xnotes+ main menu. Finally, pressing the left mouse button down, holding it there, and dragging it out of the Plaid Window will open a new note window. This is called "tearing off" a new note. Once the note is opened you can release the mouse button.

Users with 2 button mice will need to check with the X Server documentation as to how a 3 button mouse can be emulated and how the 2 buttons will be mapped to match a 3 button mouse.

The Main Menu

The xnotes+ main menu provides the following selections:

Create Notes

A submenu of different note sizes you can pick from to create new notes.

Raise All Notes

Raise all XNotes to the top of all other windows. This is equivalent to pressing the left mouse button in the plaid window.

Lower All Notes

Lower all XNotes so they are below all other windows. This is equivalent to pressing the middle mouse button in the plaid window.

Save All Notes

Save all XNotes to disk. The directory used is specified either with --notedir or the NoteDir option in the XNotesPlus.cfg configuration file. Notes are saved only if they have been modified since since the last time there were saved.

Unhide All Notes

All notes that have been hidden will be made visible.

Hidden Notes

Pops up a scrolled list of all notes that are currently hidden. The list contains the names of the notes so it is wise to give a note a meaningful name (using the Name option from the pull-down menu of each note) before it is hidden. If no notes are hidden then a message is displayed stating this fact. See the section on Hidden Notes.

Find A Note

If you "lose" a note and want to bring it up at the cursor, select ``Find A Note'' from the xnotes+ main menu. A pop up list of all notes will be presented. Select the note you want and if it will pop up at the cursor. Selecting a note from the list will also close this dialog window. The ``Cancel'' button will close the dialog if no note is selected. Find a Note differs from Hidden Notes in that the former will allow you to bring any note - hidden or not - to the cursor location.

Cascade Notes

Each note can be ``anchored''. If one or more notes are anchored and the "Cascade" option is chosen from the xnotes+ main menu, then all the visible notes are cascaded onto the anchored notes. An attempt is made to distribute all visible notes evenly amongst all the anchored notes. Each note also has an "unanchor" option as well. Only one of "anchor" or "unanchor" is sensitive for any given note. Hidden notes are not affected by the cascade feature. The default offset for cascaded notes (from the anchored note) is 15 pixels. This can be changed with the -ao option. See the section on Cascading Notes.

Projects

The Projects dialog. This allows you to define projects and assign them colors. All XNotes can be assigned to any project. Once assigned, they take on the color of that project so they become easier to associate with one another. This feature is discussed in more detail in the section titled Projects.

Address Manager

This option opens the Address Manager dialog. From here, you can access all your PalmOS Address database entries, using much the same format used on your PDA. Additionally, you can filter the list of addresses shown for the specified category using the ``Filter On...'' and ``Filter'' text entry fields. From the Address Manager, you can also call up the Print Envelopes dialog, which allows you to print simple envelopes using the currently selected address from the Address Manager. You can also edit any address entry. See the section on Using the Address Manager and Address Editor.

Calendar Tool

This feature will launch the builtin calendaring tool, Calendar Manager, This feature is new as of v3.6 and synchronizes the same way as the other PalmOS related features in XNotesPlus. See the section on Using the Calendar Manager.

Todo List

This option opens the Todo List window. Here you can view and edit Todo list entries, convert Todo notes into XNotes or import an XNote as a Todo note. Using the Todo Manager.

Pilot Tool

The Pilot Tool dialog allows you a set of features to manage your Palm Pilot. These features are discussed in the section on Using the Pilot Tool.

Enable/Disable Tool Tips

By default, tool tips are enabled. These are the small windows that pop open when you place the mouse over certain buttons, lists, or other window components. Currently, tool tips are available in places where the use of a button or list might not be obvious. Once you've learned to use these features you can disable the tool tips. This menu option will turn tool tips on or off while the program runs, but you can also specify the initial state of the tool tips with either a command line option or in the XNotesPlus.cfg config file.

Exit

Exit xnotes+. If the --sv command line option was given all XNotes will be saved to disk first. Otherwise you will be prompted to save any notes that have recently been modified and not yet saved.

The Create Notes Submenu

This menu provides you the choice of creating a number of different sized notes. The size of the notes, specified in inches, is actually fairly accurate, although probably not exact. XNote windows may or may not need to be positioned using the window manager. This depends on the window manager you are using and the use of dynamic placement features within that window manager. If possible (and/or necessary), you should turn dynamic window placement off for XNotes so that the notes will pop up in their old spots.

The default size for a note created by dragging the mouse, left button down, out of the Plaid Window is 3x3.

Create 1.5x2 Note

Create a new XNote, 1.5 inches tall by 2 inches wide.

Create 2x3 Note

Create a new XNote, 2 inches tall by 3 inches wide.

Create 3x3 Note

Create a new XNote, 3 inches square.

Create 3x4 Note

Create a new XNote, 3 inches tall by 4 inches wide.

Create 3x5 Note

Create a new XNote, 3 inches tall by 5 inches wide.

Create 4x6 Note

Create a new XNote, 4 inches tall by 6 inches wide.



Michael J. Hammel
2004/02/27
webmaster@graphics-muse.com
http://www.graphics-muse.com