AutoLog maintenance recorder for the Pocket PC

AutoLog is an Automobile maintenance recorder for the PocketPC devices. It is designed for quick input and display of routine maintenance and repairs for multiple vehicles. The filtering capability makes it very easy to see when you made your last Oil Change, tune up, etc. You can also export the data into a text file for importing into MS-Excel if desired.

To install AutoLog, put your Pocket PC into the AutoSync cradle, and run the setup.exe executable (which was in the autolog.zip file) from your Desktop PC. The file "autolog.exe" will be installed in the \Program Files\ScaryBear Software\AutoLog directory on your Pocket PC device, as well as a few entries in your registry file. The database file created by AutoLog will also be stored in this same directory. A shortcut to the AutoLog executable will be created in the placed in your "Programs" screen.

Using AutoLog is very easy and intuitive. The main components to AutoLog are illustrated in Figure 1.

The "Vehicle Selection" dropdown box allows you to select a specific vehicle for entry display. The "Display Filter Selection" gives you the option of displaying certain routine maintenance items or repairs (e.g., Oil Changes, etc.). The "Entry Details Window" will display the details for a specific maintenance entry selected in the Entry Display List. And finally, the "Main Menu Bar" is where you can select different options for AutoLog.

To start, you first need to define a vehicle name by selecting the menu option "Options->Settings...", which will bring up the settings panel shown in Figure 2.

By tapping on the "New" button in the Vehicles box, you can define your vehicle databases. You can also rename and/or delete these vehicle databases by selecting a displayed vehicle in the listbox, and tapping on "Rename" and/or "Delete". The settings panel also allows you to specify a background color for the main entry display. By tapping on the "Choose..." button in the Background Color box, you will see the color picker dialogbox as shown in Figure 3.

Here you can select from 14 colors and vary the intensity of those colors by moving the slider control. Tap "OK" to save your color selection, and tap "OK" again to save the modified settings.

The "Backup Database to \My Documents" checkbox allows you to specify if you want a backup copy of your AutoLog database file to be saved in the \My Documents folder on your Pocket PC device. Usually, this folder is autosynced with your Desktop PC, so turning on this feature will allow you to backup your AutoLog database file to ensure no data loss if you are forced to do a hard-reset on your Pocket PC device.

Once you've created a vehicle database, you can begin entering maintenance entries. This is done by tapping on the "New" selection in the main menu bar. Doing so will bring up the input panel shown in Figure 4.

Here you can define the date for the entry by entering the date directly or using the date picker control. You can also define the mileage by tapping on a specific digit in the mileage box and using the up/down icons to adjust the value. For routine maintenance items, you can simply check off which you would like to include in this entry. If you need to enter a specific repair note or a maintenance item not listed as a routine item, change the dropdown list selection from "Routine Maintenance" to "Repairs", which will change the input panel to look like Figure 5.

Here you can write in a specific repair or maintenance note in the editbox below the "Repairs" dropdown list control. Note, you can switch back and forth between the "Routine Maintenance" and "Repairs" screen for a specific entry and have everything you entered and checked off included in this entry. Tap the "OK" button when finished.

NOTE: The AutoLog database remains open until you tap the "Exit" menu item to exit the program. If you do a soft-reset or hard-reset while the AutoLog app is running, all mileage entry changes made since the last time you exited the program will not be saved. The safest thing to do, is exit AutoLog when you have completed your mileage entry.

If you want to specify different labels for the routine maintenance checkboxes, you can do so by selecting "Options->Customize..." from the main menu. Doing so will bring up the panel displayed in Figure 6.

Note, that any changes to these labels will affect how information is displayed for ALL entries in your database. If you choose to change these labels, do so when you first start using AutoLog and don't change them in the future.

Going back to the main display screen, if you tap on a specific entry in the list you should see details regarding that entry displayed in the "Entry Details Window" as illustrated in Figure 7.

Both routine maintenance and repair items will be displayed in the details window. If you use the up/down scroll button on your PocketPC device, you can quickly scroll through the entries displayed. To modify or delete a specific entry, just tap-n-hold the stylus on a specific entry in the main display window and you should see a popup menu as shown in Figure 8.

If you select "Delete" from the popup menu, the entry you've selected will be permanently deleted from the vehicle database. If you select "Modify", you'll see the Input Panel (described previously) popup for you to make the appropriate changes.

If you would like to see your maintanence entries displayed in ascending order by date, you can reverse the display by tapping on the "Date" column header in the main display list. Doing so will reverse the listing (by date) as illustrated in Figure 9.

The filtering option is a very nice feature for AutoLog. By selecting a specific item in the filtering dropdown box (see Figure 10), you can have the main display only show the selected filtered item (Figure 11). This will allow you to quickly see when you did your last oil change, or when you last made a certain repair.

Figure 10 - Selecting a display filter

Figure 11 - Display showing a single filtered item

AutoLog also has the ability to export the data stored in the vehicle databases to a text file for importing into an MS-Excel spreadsheet. To export the entry data, select "Options->Export..." from the main menu bar. Doing so will bring up the Export dialogbox shown in Figure 12.

By default, the exported file will be called "autolog.txt" and will be written to the \My Documents directory on your PocketPC device, which should be autosynced to your Desktop PC.

The downloaded trial version of AutoLog is limited to 2 vehicles and 10 entries each. To have unlimited vehicle and entries, you will need to visit www.scarybearsoftware.com to purchase a full version of AutoLog. Once you made your purchase, you should receive a valid reg code which will turn the trial version of AutoLog into the full version (no restrictions). Selecting the "Options->About..." menu option will bring up the About screen shown in Figure 13. Here is where you would put your valid reg code to activate the full features of AutoLog.