Installation
It is necessary to first install the Palm Desktop software. This software is distributed with the Palm Pilots. Palm Timesheets needs to link up with the Palm Desktop software so that the HotSync manager can find the Palm Timesheets conduit when you do a hotsync. If you are installing Palm Timesheets on Windows NT or Windows 2000 Professional you will need to log on as Supervisor, or have supervisor priveledges.
Palm Timesheets is distributed on either a floppy disk or a CD Rom. After you have installed the Palm Desktop software you can run Setup.Exe on the Palm Timesheets distribution disk. This executes an InstallShield file which then installs Palm Timesheets. The registry settings made by the installation will take effect the next time you restart your computer.
Customizing Your Installation.
When the InstallShield is finished, use Windows Explorer to go to the directory in which you installed Palm Timesheets. If you selected the default directory during the InstallShield, this would be C:\Program Files\C.A. Ltd.\bin. Then run the file called SetupTSV2_2.Exe. In the window which is displayed, set your timesheet week begin day and timesheet week begin hour. Set the title of the main screen to your company name. Select the number of timesheet weeks of data to keep on your hard drive. If this number is 8, for example, Palm Timesheets will keep the last 8 weeks of timesheet data. Select the title you want displayed on the Palm Pilot - you are allowed 8 characters for this name because of space limitations on the Palm Pilot screen. Select the type of time you want displayed- normal such as 01:00PM or military such as 13:00.
Initialize Your Palm Desktop Directory
Your Palm Pilot needs a program. This program is called PalmTSV2.1.PRC and is located in the \bin directory described above. Copy this to your Palm\AddOn directory. If you installed the Palm Desktop program in C:\Palm, this directory would be C:\Palm\AddOn. This is where the HotSync manager gets the program to download to the Palm Pilot during a hotsync. Start the Palm Desktop program, and click the Install button. Create some foreman names, and for each one click the ADD button. Select the Palm Pilot program - PalmTSV2.1- and add it to each foreman's profile.
Start Your Palm Pilot
First, make sure that the battery in your new Palm Pilot is charged up, the cradle is plugged into the correct serial port on your computer, and the green power light on the cradle is on. The correct serial port is the one you selected when you installed the Palm Desktop software.
Then do a hard reset to your Palm
Pilot. How to do this is described in your Palm Pilot manual but it may
be difficult to follow so we are providing more detail here.
The Palm Pilot power switch is
the little green switch on the upper right corner. There is a small hole
located near the Serial Number on the back of the Palm Pilot.Get a paper
clip and bend it so that you can poke the end of it into the hole.
Then perform the following sequence:
Hold down the power switch. Poke the end of the paper clip into the hole
and hold down the reset switch which is inside. While holding the
switch down, release the power switch. Then release the reset switch and
remove the paper clip. The screen will inform you to push the top of the
scroll button on the Palm Pilot to do a hard reset. This is the large black
button in the center of the bottom of your Palm Pilot. After you do this,
the Palm Pilot screen will ask you to poke it in a few places - it does
this so that it can accurately calibrate its screen
Doing the first HotSync.
With your Palm Pilot in its cradle
and the cradle plugged into the correct serial port on your computer, push
the HotSync button on the Palm Pilot cradle. This is the large circular
button on the bottom of the cradle. The HotSync manage will ask you for
the user's name to use. In this case it is one of the foreman names that
you entered into the Palm Desktop. Select the one you want to use and the
hotsync will continue. It will load the Palm Timesheets program into the
Palm Pilot during this hotsync. However you must have added this program
to the selected foreman's user profile as explained above. This is where
the HotSync manager gets it from.
When the hotsync has completed,
you should see the Palm Timesheets icon on the Palm Pilot. This is a small
clock.
Two HotSync operations are required
the first time, one to download the Palm Pilot program, and one to connect
to your timesheets database in your computer. After this, only one hotsync
operation is required to both upload the data from the Palm Pilot, and
to download the new Company timesheet data into the Palm Pilot.
Push the hotsync button again.
This time the Palm Pilot will connect through the Palm Timesheet's conduit
to your Palm Timesheets database in your computer.
Start the Palm Timesheets Windows Program
Click on PalmTSV2.1 icon which was placed on your desktop by the Installshield. The Windows program will start and initialize the Foreman list, Worker list, and Job list. It places one entry into each list. The Foreman list will contain a foreman called 'Office'. This foreman can override any field foreman as is sometimes necessary. The Worker list contains a worker called 'NoWorker'. After a hotsync, the Palm Pilot comes up showing this worker name. This is a control to make sure that a foreman selects a worker before assigning a job. If he does not, then jobs which are assigned to NoWorker can be easily transferred by the Office to the correct worker. The Job list contains a job called 'Unassigned'. This is the default job. It means 'no job' .
Click on the FRM button to show the foreman list. This list should contain the Office foreman name and the one that you specified above during the first hotsync.
Initial Testing:
Add some jobs and workers in the
Windows program, and assign these to some timeslots in the timesheet for
each worker. Do the same on the Palm Pilot. Then do another hotsync. You
should see that the Windows timesheets contain all the assignments that
you made in the Windows program plus all the assignments which you made
in the Palm Pilot. You should also see that the Palm Pilot also contains
all of the assignments.
Congratulations, you have just
joined your Palm Pilot database with your computer database for the first
time!