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RMRNotes has a rather interesting background. While developing my early programs (S5BANK and RMRTASK) I found I needed a quick 'jotter' program just to hold small notes and I wanted to be able to group them together under individual program headings. I also wanted a simple ToDo program that I could bring straight up, without having to go into Agenda and change views. I tried some of the programs that were already available, but as usual, none of them really suited my own personal way of working. I then realised that RMRTask and it's 'Extended Text' facility actually gave me most of what I needed, but was much too complicated. So over a weekend I stripped out 70% of the code, simplified what was left, enhanced the extended text mode, and so RMRNotes was born.
Since then, of course, it has gone through a number of changes and enhancements, following suggestions from users, and has become the best selling 'Jotter' program for the EPOC Series of computers. It might be worth adding at this point that although I do tend to add most user requests to my programs, in RMRNotes I have consciously refused to implement some requests as they involved putting back some of the elements of RMRTask that I had originally removed. The end result would have been that there would have been no difference between the programs and I was determined that RMRNotes would always remain a simple program. However, if a user requests a simple option change, I will usually try and add it and ensure it can be amended through the Preferences menu. A classic example of this is the option to start-up in a blank note, which is not in the default setting but can be switched on from the Preferences menu.
The other thing that has happened during the evolution was a change from using the old 16-bit data storage method to the new 32-bit EPOC Database Management System (DBMS). The main benefit of this change was to remove the limitation of having a maximum number of notes and categories, and to allow unlimited numbers. Unfortunately it had two negative side-effects, the first was that sorting by description had to be removed as it slowed the program down so much as to make it unusable, and the second was the ability to leave the highlight on a note after it was updated, if the sort mode selected meant the note moved. A number of users complained this was actually a retrograde step, and I have to admit I felt some sympathy with this viewpoint. One limitation that still remains is the 1000 character limit on a note, as this has to be specially coded. Although I still get occasional requests for longer notes, I have never envisaged the program as a Word replacement, so I shall probably leave it.
Anyway, enough of the background, let's look at how I have the program setup for my method of usage. I have split the notes into 3 Groups : Personal, Work and Programming, I actually find I don't tend to have more than 10 notes in each Group, which means I have actually run the program unregistered for the last 6 months. What slightly concerns me is that I hadn't actually noticed, so maybe I need to increase the 'nag' level !!
As far as the Preferences are concerned It probably won't surprise anyone to be told that I rarely change a default, as they tend to be the settings I want to use. So I maintain the date and font settings and also have bullets selected so I can see which notes are empty. As well as jotting notes I tend to use the program as a ToDo manager as well, so this gives me a visual indication of outstanding tasks. I don't tend to use numbers or priorities so these are switched out, and I only use the categories option in the Programming group, allocating one category per program.
Talking about numbers, that is another thing I sometimes wish I hadn't included as I seem to spend all my time explaining to people why the numbers don't scroll up with the notes. The only reason for the numbers was to give the user another way of quickly selecting an entry by pressing a number key. As such, having a number greater than 9 was pointless so I decided to make the number relate to the line rather than the note. Seemed logical to me at the time !
As before, all the other options in the Settings Preference are not tagged as they were enhancements requested by users that I personally didn't want. When it comes to Key Actions I have the Hot Key defined as I very rarely shut the program down (which is why I hadn't realised it was unregistered) and all the selections are set to "Update Note", I hardly ever use the "View Note" option and am quite content to always view it in update mode.
Looking at the options under the 'File' menu I must say I never use the Password option in any of my programs. This option was originally added to S5Bank as a logical enhancement, and having written the code I have since re-used it again in all the programs as it takes little or no effort to include it.
The "Move Group" option deserves a bit of an explanation. One aspect of EPOC that most users do not seem aware of is that tapping on the Extras Bar actually sends a special message to the Operating System. This message is "Please run the program and automatically load the last file used", All EPOC programs tend to keep details of the last used file in an INI file, but if users manually move the 'last-used' file to a different folder from within the System screen then the program gets totally confused. So this option is provided so that a user can move the file and keep the program informed at the same time. For reference, if you do get into that situation the solution is to start the program by tapping a Group file instead of the Extras Bar. That will refresh the INI file.
Looking at the Edit Menu, I should mention the Cut, Copy & Paste commands, which actually do not work in the Main screen. I needed some way of telling users that the 3 options were actually available inside a note, but as this Edit Window function is provided by the Operating System you cannot use the Menu if a note is displayed. Leaving these commands in the main screen menu and putting up a message if they were pressed, seemed a logical way to do it. Worth pointing out as well at this stage that this use of an Operating System function to display the note also means I can never incorporate bold, underline, fonts or any other attribute that users often request.
And seeing the "Clear Tags" option reminds me that you shouldn't forget the "Tags". Because they are produced by pressing <Shift+Up/Down Arrow> rather than a menu option, many users are unaware of their existence (they are mentioned in the Help file but no-one ever reads that !) Once set they enable you to do block deletes, copying or moving. Similarly, using the left/right arrow keys to move between groups often come as a surprise to people who haven't read the Help file.
As with all my programs I have provided a simple to use Backup and Restore option. I have yet to meet a user who has had a problem who has used this option. Sometimes I despair !
Looking at the Tools menu I see that I tend to have the sort option set to 'date', and actually put false dates in to get the order I want. That is not an ideal solution and one of these days I will probably add an option to have no sorting and the ability to just alter the position of notes. Like the Password option, I never use the Export function either. I hardly ever use a PC, and have written all the RMR programs specifically to enable me to operate my life from the Series 5 without the need for a desktop, so the Export option tends to be redundant. But I know that many people need this facility so it always goes in to most of my programs. I occasionally use the filter option, but don't tend to have enough notes to really need that facility. Again, I seem to spend a lot of time explaining to people who ask for a 'Find' option that the 'Filter' option does exactly the same but is more flexible. Maybe I should have called it 'Find' in the first place to avoid the question.
So that completes a run through of the program and how I use it. I hope it describes all the functions and perhaps explains some of the logical processes that went into designing the program.
Al Richey