Pooter4
Copyright (C) 2002 to 2006 David Matthews
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.
dmatthewsATinboxDOTlv
David Matthews 11 Reginald Grove, York YO23 1LN, UK.
Pooter uses and bundles the Simple Look and Feel (http://www.desnoix.com/guillaume/slaf/) and the JGoodies Looks (http://www.jgoodies.com/).
Slaf is used when Pooter is run on a Gnu\Linux system; it is also released under the GPL license. JGoodies is used when running on a Windows system; it is released under the BSD open source license. Pooter has taken its icons from the KDE project (http://www.kde.org/), which is also GPL and its window icon, which is free of copyright, from http://www.authorama.com/diary-of-a-nobody-1.html.
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About Pooter |
Pooter4 is cross platform PIM (Personal Information Management) software with calendar, contacts, diary and notes modules. It has been completely rewritten, compared to earlier versions, with a reworked interface and much new functionality. It allows you to choose which email client, word processor, browser and sms program you wish it to cooperate with and it is written in the Java programming language. As such it needs a java runtime from 1.4.2 on although version 1.5 (now described as 5.0) is recommended. It has been tested on GNU/Linux, and Windows(98 and 2000). It would not be difficult to port it to any other Java-enabled system.
A single installation on multiuser systems such as GNU/Linux and Windows2000/XP, can be configured for either private or shared data. It can also be configured so that a user can access data over a network.
The preference section explains how to do this and how to configure Pooter to get the most from it. It should be read carefully in conjunction with the sections on individual modules.
All data is stored either as vCards or in xml or html format files, so there is no lock in. If you are upgrading from an earlier version of Pooter you should read the relevant section; be warned that there is some incompatibility with data produced by earlier versions.
You must have a java runtime environment installed before you start; this is free (of charge) from http://java.sun.com/. At time of writing the latest version is JDK 5.0; you do not need a version for developing software (J2SE), nor one that bundles netbeans, but do get the correct version for your operating system.
Pooter is packed for distribution in two different ways. The installPooter-4.x.x.java can be used on Gnu\Linux or Windows; click on it in Windows 2000 and XP (not 9x) or run java -jar <installer.jar> in Gnu\Linux and Windows 9x using a terminal emulator or MSDOS command window.
The Slackware package should be installed using the normal tools on a Slackware system. It can be installed on a rpm or deb based system simply by putting it in the root directory ( ie "/" not "/root" ) and as root, doing tar zxvf pooter-x.x.x-noarch-xdcm.tgz. On any system other than Slackware, the pooter.sh script in /usr/bin will need editing to specify the path to java.
Although the two distros have identical source code, they were compiled to java class files with different versions of the java compiler. The installer jar was compiled with a 1.4 javac and the slackware package with 1.5 / 5.0. This means that the slackware package needs a 1.5 / 5.0 java runtime, but the installer jar will work with any java platform from 1.4.2 on. Nevertheless, I still recommend you use a 1.5 / 5.0 runtime for best performance.
Older versions use the same format for storing contacts so Pooter4 will read these without difficulty. It will also read old diary entries, but do not be tempted to edit these with coloured fonts and images. This will not work and your old entries may be lost. This is because older versions created plain text files as opposed to HTML files(web-style pages), which are used now.
The new calendar module is incompatible with older versions, as will the data of the notes module be, when it is implemented in version 4.1.
This is free software, but it has been extensively tested and it is believed to be stable, usable and useful. If any problems are experienced I will try to help. However as you will see from the warranty notice in 'COPYING' and the info reached from the programs Help menu, it comes with no guarantee or warranty of any kind; you use it entirely at your own risk. I recommend making regular backup copies of the vCard and calendar.xml files and any files you create in the Diary-keeping module. The application stores these in the Diary sub-directory. By default these files are located in ~/.pooter on Gnu\Linux and C:\My Documents\Pooter on Windows, although you may choose to have them elsewhere, even on another networked machine.
If you installed from the installer jar, you should have desktop shortcuts. Pooter can also be started using the pooter.sh script on Gnu\Linux (this should be run from your home directory), or by copying the Pooter.bat batch file to My Documents in Windows and clicking it. On Gnu\Linux, look for the shortcuts in a Dektop directory if you don't use KDE.
Shortcuts can be made manually in Windows as follows:-
Right click the Pooter.bat file/create shortcut
Drag the shortcut to the desktop
Right click this desktop link/Properties/Program (or ShortCut)Tab
Edit the working directory to %HOMEPATH%\My Documents
Select run minimised
Check Close on exit (only on Win 9x)
Click Change icon and browse to the icons sub-directory where you installed
Pooter
Click All file types and select the Pooter.bmp bitmap file
Click OK/Apply/Ok
In Gnu\Linux the method varies with your desktop system (kde, gnome, windowmaker etc), but it should start the pooter.sh script, which will either be in /usr/local/bin, /usr/bin, or your home directory. You can use <Pooter installation directory>/icons/Pooter.png as an icon.
Pooter is easy to use. Many operations can be done from the toolbar as well as the menu system and there is inline context sensitive help availabe from 
the help button.
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Preferences |
If you opened this manual from the Preferences window, you can close it with the same toggle button. Note that where there is a change button, you can browse to the resource, rather than enter it manually. If you wish, all fields can be left blank and Pooter will use default values where it needs them. The Windows commands suggested below may not be the correct ones for your system. Restart for changes to take effect.
Enter a directory location where Pooter should look for and store its data. If you use the change button, open the directory where you want to place the data directory and enter a name for it (eg .pooter or Pooter). Be sure that you have read/write access to the directory; Pooter will not override file permissions.
Default Module box allows you to select which module Pooter should start with
Enter the command that will start a word processor eg C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Winword.exe.. If you have a letter template you can add this to the command eg in Linux /usr/bin/soffice /home/david/LetterTemplate.odt.
If you are using a web site, enter the web address the browser should use and select the Use browser button or box. If you have dedicated sms program, enter the command to start it and deselect Use browser.
Enter the command that will start your email program, eg C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimnword.exe. If you are using Windows the program will probably not accept a email address as a switch; deselect the start with message button or box. GNU/Linux users should select this to have a new message window open automatically.
Enter the command that will start your browser eg C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IExplore.exe.
You can enter anything you like here or nothing; this is the header that the Calendar module will use for appointments. If you enter a time or number, Pooter will try to guess what you want for second and subsequent entries.
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The Calendar module |
The module starts with a calendar of the current month displayed on the left with the current day emphasized with a heavier font. On the right is the full date and any entries already made for this day. If there are any entries, the day in the calendar display will be red rather than black. You can change to a different month or year by clicking the back/forward arrow buttons and a different day in the month by clicking a day in the calendar display. You can quickly return to the current day by clicking the Today button.
To make a new entry click to the correct day and click the New button. Write your appointment just above the horizontal line. You can also edit the appointment heading if you wish, see the preference section for further details about this.
When done click the save button; if this is the first entry for that day you will see the day in the calendar display turn red. You can enter as many seperate appointments as you like for each day.
If you foul up, you can click the cancel button if you have not saved the entry; you can also just click to another date without saving.
The delete button will remove all entries for the current day.
The edit button allows you to remove or edit a single entry; you need to save again to make the changes permanent.
All these operations are also available from the Actions menu.
You can search your existing entries to quickly find the date of an appointment. Enter a search phrase in the Find box; its case insensitive and will return all matches, just keep pressing the search button to see them all.
What about birthdays and other entries you would like to appear every year? Click to any year for which there are no one off appointments on the day, push the recur button (on Windows systems this will be a check box, rather than a button) before the new button and enter the reminder. You will notice that no appointment heading appears and that the text is blue rather than black. Save the entry as usual and it will now appear on this day every year.
As you might guess, you can delete recuring entries by pushing the recur button (or checking the box) before clicking delete. What about entering and deleting one-offs for days which have a recurring entry?
You might suppose that you save the entry with the normal New/Save proceedure, it seems to go ok, but when you click back to the date you see you just added to the existing recuring entry. The correct proceedure is to first delete the recurring entry, but without pressing the recur button. Although it will appear it has been deleted, this is not the case. Now make your one-off entry as normal, click back to the day and you will see the recuring entry is restored.
Deletion of one-offs from a day that also has a recurring entry is rather more straightforward. Click the delete button without pressing the recur button; again the recurring entry will seem to disappear, but will not actually go permanently. Do not worry that the red day display does not reappear after clicking different days, as it will do so after you click a month or year button.
Finally don't worry if you mess up your recurring appointments by mistake as you can always press recur before doing the Edit/Save routine.
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The Contacts module |
The module presents a list of contacts; click on a contact name to have their recorded details displayed. Provided you have configured Pooter to do so you can now start external programs to message this contact by letter, sms and email. See the preference section for help with this. You can also use the Communicate menu to start these programs. Also note that in many cases, adddress, mobile number and email address will be available on the system clipboard after you start your programs from Pooter.
Enter new contacts by clicking the new button then entering details in the relevant fields; you must include a firstname and surname, but other fields can be left blank as necessary. Click the save button to complete the entry.
You can click the cancel button rather than before saving, or simply clicking to another contact will have the same effect. The edit and delete buttons should need no explanation. All of these actions are also available from the Actions menu.
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The Diary module |
On the left of the screen you see a tree representation of your diary or journal entries. Any years you have entries for will be visible and the months of the latest year and the actual day entry of the latest month will be visible.
If you click on other older years and months, the tree will open to reveal all the entries you have made. If you wish, you can close parts of the tree by clicking on the box at the side of the months and years. By clicking on a day, you can display the entries you made on the right of the screen.
To make a new entry, click New; this causes the Edit and Style menus to become active. The Edit menu gives access to cut, copy and paste operations and also allows you to insert an image, but see below for problems on Windows system.
At present it is only possible to insert one image per entry and this must be done before any text is inserted, although it is possible to reposition the image with cut and paste operations. The image must be in JPEG, GIF or PNG format; Pooter will not work with Windows BMP images. Select landscape, portrait or passport to suit the image you wish to insert and select it in the file chooser. Sometimes with particularly detailed images, the operation appears to be unsuccessful and a broken image icon appears; worry not, after saving and viewing, the image will probably be there. Note that if you move or delete the image after creating your entry, it will no longer be visible in the entry; this is a feature of HTML, not a limitation in Pooter.
The Style menu allows you to choose font faces, sizes, font families and colours; note that the faces (Bold, Italic and Underline) are toggles.
Save you entry when done with the save button.
If you foul up, use the cancel button and start again
Alternatively, if you don't like an entry you saved, you can edit it. Note that you are not limited to making entries on the same day; you can also edit the date both while editing and making new entries. You must enter the date in a format Pooter understands, which should be obvious. In fact its very good at correcting spelling mistakes, so long as you get the first three letters of the month right. If you enter a date in a way it cannot accept, this will be made obvious, but Pooter will allow a nonsense date such as 32 Jan.
The alternative to editing a entry is to delete it and start again.
Unfortunately on Windows systems, there are at present further limitations with images as the Diary module is unable to display them! Using an external browser does provide a solution of sorts, but even then there are limitations.
Firstly if image is stored in a location with a long path such as C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\My Pictures\ this is not correctly written to the HTML file. I have successfully created pages with images stored in D:\PhotoAlbum\; at the moment I'm afraid its a case of suck-it-and-see. Secondly pages created with Pooter that can be correctly displayed by Internet Explorer, cannot be displayed by Firefox.
This is lamentable and I hope improvements can be made in future versions. If you have experience of java programming on windows and can help, I'd be pleased to hear from you. It should be made clear that these problems are absent in Gnu\Linux, although you may view the pages with a browser if you wish.
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The Notes module |