My Diary 5.01

Copyright (C) 2001-2007 Richard R. Sands
All Rights Reserved


Contents

MyDiary5.prc: My Diary 5.0 Application for Palm OS® Handhelds
MyDiary.htm: This file!

If you are upgrading My Diary 4.x to My Diary 5.x, see this section first: Upgrading to 5.x

The MyDiary4.prc application must be installed into the internal memory (not on a memory card).  MyDiary5 supports expanded memory cards for storage of the diary databases themselves.

NOTE: Do not use the Palm Launcher to delete My Diary 4.x from your Palm.  Use the MyDiary5's
[Tools / Delete My Diary 4x] menu command to ensure all templates, diaries, and skins remain on the device.

Shareware

This program is shareware. It's fully functional, however All Security Preferences are Disabled (Passwords, Cloaking, Memory Card(s) etc). The registered version enables the password and allows you to get free minor updates. See README.TXT for information on where to buy, the current price, and contact/support information.  As soon as I've received notification of the order, I'll send you the registration code.

NOTE: To operate MyDiary on a Palm Tungsten T|3, you need to have additional screen drivers supplied by Palm.  These drivers can be downloaded from www.SandsUSA.com/software/T3Screen.zip.

Overview

My Diary 5.0 is the premiere personal journal for the Palm OS® handheld. With it, you can keep a daily log of your moods and private thoughts. You can keep a journal of your vacations, your child's development, or even about your pets!   My Diary is password protected so only you can access it. For extra protection, you can keep it on a memory expansion card.  For the burning questions in your life, you can even ask My Diary questions and it will answer them - maybe!  And entering diaries entries is simplified with easy "fill in the blanks" picked from a list of templates. 

My Diary 5.0 supports multiple diaries, with multiple pages per diary.  It can store diaries on both internal and external memory expansion cards.  It  has a customizable diary cover, colors, and fonts.  The minimum Palm Operating System version is 3.5.  

An optional desktop component is available from www.SandsUSA.com as an additional purchase.  

Some of the new My Diary 5.x Features

  • All models of Palm devices from OS 3.5 through 5.x (Garnet) compatible
  • Sony compatible including CLIE and UX50
  • Standard, Sony, and Palm High-Density covers.
  • Sony and Palm wide/long screen sizes supported.
  • 5-Way Keypads and Sony Jog Dial support 
  • Palm OS 5.x extended memo size supported.
  • Multiple Diaries - keep a personal, work, travel, or even a pet diary!
  • Multiple diary pages per date!
  • Diaries may be stored in internal memory, expansion cards and/or an internal drive (if available).
  • Diary entries up to 16,000 characters (up from 4,000!)
  • Diary entries can be written with any Palm or FontBucket font.
  • Diary toolbar can be customized to the tools you want.
  • Larger full screen mode (tap home soft-key to return)
  • Export to eBook, memos, and send to email.
  • Entry List can be filtered by mood, or by a specific day.
  • Entry List can be shown most recent entry to oldest or reversed.
  • Entry List can be displayed with any Palm or FontBucket font.
  • Entry List supports optional alternating row colors
  • Entry List may have a mood/category column
  • Entry List may have year displayed or not.
  • Unlimited template database
  • Templates can be used once or made to be a default
  • Many bugs were fixed.

Plus many more - see the HISTORY.TXT file for a complete list of changes.

Starting My Diary

To start My Diary, DO NOT ENTER A PASSWORD and click on the "lock" in the middle right rectangle on the side of the My Diary cover. The password is available for registered users onlyThe cover screen has a menu available from where you can open other diaries or see the information about the diary that is waiting to be opened.

If you have registered, then you can use the [Preferences Menu / Security] tab to set your password.  The next time you start My Diary, you enter your password in the password text field, then tap the lock.  Each diary you create has it's own password so be sure to use the correct password.

Using Multiple Diaries

My Diary 5.0 supports more than one diary!  You can create as many as you need both on your handheld, internal drive (if present), and on your expansion card.  Each diary has it's own password, cover, colors, and font settings.  Use multiple diaries to help organize what you want to journal.  For instance, you can have a diary for personal use, a diary to track your pregnancy, one to track your kid's growth, and one for your family vacation journal.

To use these features, open My Diary 5.0 to the cover screen, tap the menu soft-key, and choose the [Diary / Open Diary] menu option.  A dialog will display with a list of your diaries.  You can view the diaries on your device by selecting one of the memory buttons: Internal, Card, or Drive

New: This will prompt for a diary name and create a new, empty, diary.
Rename: Allows you to rename an existing diary.
Delete:  Allows you to delete an existing diary.
Move: This will move a handheld to your expansion card, or move the expansion card diary to your handheld.
Open: This button must be used to select the active diary and return to the cover.
V.4.0:  Allows MyDiary 4.x diaries to be opened and converted (copied first) into 5.x

Editing and Moving Around My Diary

Like the standard Palm OS® Memo Pad application, when you start My Diary you can just start typing into the current day's diary page.  While editing, you can use the [Edit Menu] to perform the standard edit commands: Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Select All, Keyboard, and Graffiti Help.

You can also move to other diary dates by tapping on the diary date selector near the title-bar.  The earliest date is Jan. 1, 1904.   In addition, My Diary has a [Goto Menu] that provides several ways of navigating through the pages.  You can go to the: First Page, Previous Page, Next Page, and Last Page.  These commands skip all diary dates that do not have entries.   In addition, you can choose Today's Page to return to the current page instantly.

You can also move through the diary irregardless of if there's a page or not with the: Next Day and Previous Day commands.

The Left/Right keys of the 5-way navigator move to the previous/next date.   NOTE: The hard keys Up and Down may be assigned to scroll a long diary entry up or down through the text, or be set to navigate to the previous and next entries. 

You may have multiple pages per date.  Each page has the time of the diary entry next to the date.  Tap on the time to change the time for that page.  Use the [Diary / New Page] menu item to create a new page for today's date with the current time.  It is ok to have two pages with the same date and time.

To see a list of all diary entries, tap on the [Goto Menu / List Page] menu item or tap the Select button of the 5-way navigator.  This will change your current diary edit view into the diary list view. When on the list view, you can scroll through the entries, and tap one to edit it (if editing old entries is allowed - see Preferences).  The List view also provides purging old entries and exporting old entries to an eBook (DOC formatted file).

Sony CLIE™ Users

On the List Page, the Sony Jog Dial will scroll the list up or down.  You can press the Jog Dial Button to select an entry to be edited or viewed.  On some models, the Jog Back button will return you to the Cover Screen.

On the diary edit page, the Sony Jog Dial will scroll the text up or down.  If you push the Jog Dial Button, you will return to the List Page.  On some models, the Jog Back button will return you to the Cover Screen.  The Sony Jog Dial follows the same preferences as the hard keys on the General Preferences tab.

Editing Your Moods

Every diary page has a category drop-down list.  In the past, this has been used as a "mood indicator" for your diary entry.  You can use this for any kind of diary entry categorizing, and when you're on the List Page, you can filter your diary entries by this value.  You can define as many as 15 moods each up to 15 characters in length. Since moods and categories are the same, the category options apply: ie. when you rename a mood, all entries with that mood are renamed.

Full Screen Editing

You can edit your Diary page in Full Screen mode!  When you use the [Goto / Full Screen] menu option, the title bar and mood menu are removed and the diary editor is sized to take up the whole screen.  The full screen mode gives you approx. 40% more editing room.  The standard Edit menu is still available by tapping on the Menu soft-key.  To return to normal mode, tap the Home Soft-key button or use the menu.

Creating and Using Templates

Templates are pre-written diary pages that change be picked when you start editing.   You can have an unlimited number of these templates defined.  These templates can be simple such as "Dear Diary," or they can be complex:

Dear Diary,
Today I was at school.
My favorite class was OOO.
I hung out with OOO.
After school, I OOO.
This evening I watched OOO on TV.

In the above case, you can double-tap the "OOO" entries and fill them in with what you actually did.

To create a template:

  1. You first write what you want the template to look like on a new diary entry.
  2. Tap the [Diary Menu / Save As Template] menu item.
  3. Give the template a name.  This name can be up to 30 characters in length.  If the name already exists, then you will be prompted to overwrite it or cancel.

To use a template:

  1. Tap the [Edit Menu / Choose Template] menu item or click on the last toolbar button.
  2. A dialog will display all of your template titles.
  3. Choose the template and tap OK.

To delete a template

  1. In the [Edit Menu / Choose Template] dialog, high-light the template you want to delete.
  2. Tap the [Delete] button.

Setting Your Preferences

Your preferences for My Diary 5.0 and for your individual diaries can be accessed through the [Tools / Preferences] menu.  Once you enter preferences, there are two lines of buttons at the top of the screen where each button sets the preferences for that button's topic.  Some of the preferences are My Diary 5.0 specific and some are specific to the active diary.  Following is a list of preference topics and which preferences they provide.

General Preferences

Lock Old Entries: This will make all entries before today read-only so you cannot accidentally edit them.  A small lock image will appear in the lower right-hand corner.  If you do want to temporarily edit an old entry, then use the Diary Menu's Unlock This Page command. 
Use Diary Templates: If checked, then it will use the "Active Template" for all new diary entries.
Hard Keys: The "Scroll Text" option will make the Sony Jog Dial or the Hard Up/Down keys to scroll a long diary entry.   The "Entries" option will use those keys to navigate to the next or previous entries.
Startup: Sets the start up view: Auto, Diary, or List. Select Auto if you want to return to the last view you were on, Diary to always start on today's diary entry, and List to always start on the list view.

Security Preferences (Registered Owners Only)

Encrypt This Diary:

This mode prevents the casual person snooping around on your desktop computer from seeing the contents of you diary entries by looking at your diary databases with notepad or a "hex editor".  This mode uses slightly more memory during My Diary 5.0 operation and is a bit slower when you have full pages, but is worth it if you really want your diary to be private.
Auto-End Diary: Automatically ends the My Diary program when your handheld goes to sleep or is "just turned off."  This way, if someone picks up your handheld and turns it on,  they will not be able to browse your diary entries.
Mask Password: When checked, this will display little squares instead of your real password.
Password On Cover: When checked, this will place the password prompt on your diary - but only if the cover you have chosen supports a place for it.
Allow Global Find: When checked, the Global Find will include My Diary in the search for your text.  When unchecked, the Global Find ignores My Diary.   Regardless of the state, you will always be able to use Global Find while running My Diary.
Change Password:

Passwords are used at two different times: First, when you start My Diary, it will ask for your password on the Cover Page.  Second, if you are not running My Diary and have used Global Find, then in order to see the found pages you will be prompted for a password.

Tap the (Change Password) button to activate the password editor.   This password is not the same one used by your Palm.  Most of the time it's somewhat a pain to have a password assigned to your Palm, but it's always better to have a password on My Diary.

Fonts Preferences

Each diary in My Diary 5.0 supports a custom font on the diary entry and list screens with the add-on font manager from Hands High Software called FontBucket.  FontBucket supports both standard and high-density fonts.  It has a Windows™ utility that will legally convert your favorite fonts from your system into a Palm OS Font for use with any application that uses FontBucket.  And FontBucket's high-density fonts look great on the Palm Tungsten|T and Zire71!  (NOTE: At this time, hi-res fonts on Sony's are not supported.)

FontBucket is freeware and can be downloaded from http://www.handshigh.com/fontbucket.   You can also download Custom Fonts from their site!

Colors: You can set the color of your diary editor entries: You may set the background, foreground, and the color of the underlines.  If you don't want underlines, set the color to the same as your background color.  Three buttons control this feature and when tapped, display a color selector appropriate to the handheld you have.  As you choose colors, you'll see the preview in the Sample text.
Select Font: If you have FontBucket installed, this will display all the custom and built-in fonts you have installed.  If you do not use FontBucket, then the standard built-in fonts will be displayed.  As you choose the font, you'll see the preview in the Sample text. 
Sample: This will preview the total combination of the colors and font you have selected.

List Preferences

The list page shows all your diary entries as a list.  There are three columns: The Date of the entry, the mood/category of the entry, and the first few words/line of the actual diary entry itself.  If you scroll and tap on an entry, you will go to that entry.

Show Moods in List: When checked, this will display the category (mood) of each entry in the list..
List in Ascending Order: When checked, this will show the entries from the oldest down to the newest (at the bottom).  Unchecked, it will show the latest entries at the top.
Date Format: You can set the date to be displayed in the Index List as just a Date, a Date and Time, a short date (mm/dd), and a short date and time.  When you filter the index to a day view, the date is displayed in the title-bar, and only the time is displayed in the first column.
Alternate Row Colors: When checked, this will draw a background color on every other row.
Colors: If the Alternate Row Colors is checked, then the color selected here will show in the list.
Select Font: This allows you to choose the font to draw the list in.  If you have FontBucket, then you'll have a much larger set of fonts to choose from.

Skins Preferences

Each diary in My Diary 5.0 can have it's own cover with the default cover being the one supplied with My Diary.  You install additional covers in Cover Packs that contain 1 or more covers.  Covers come in B&W, gray scale, color, and High-Density.  View and download custom covers from the My Diary Cover Page.

Color Theme: You can choose from a standard OS color them or MyDiary purple and a few others to Black and White.   
Covers: This is the list of all Cover Skins you have installed on your handheld.  If you choose the (Delete Skin Pack) popup item, then a dialog will display allowing you to delete one of the cover skin packs you have installed.
Diary Subtitle: If you want a "subtitle" to display on your diary cover, then enter text here.  If you want no message to display, remove all the text.

Tools Preferences

Like covers, each diary can have it's own graphics for toolbars although the meaning of the toolbars is consistent across all your diaries.  Combined with the colors you choose for your diary, a very appealing diary can be created.  If you tap and hold the stylus on the tool button, a brief description of the tool will display at the top of the screen.  View and download custom toolbars from the My Diary Tools Page.

Tool Skins:  This is a list of all toolbar skins you've installed onto your handheld.    If you choose the (Delete Skin Pack) popup item, then a dialog will display allowing you to delete one of the toolbar skin packs you have installed.
Diary Toolbar: These are the tools you have selected to use on the Diary Entry Editor screen.  To choose a different tool, tap the current tool and choose the command you want to have available from the list of items.
List Toolbar: These are the tools you have selected to use on the Diary List screen.  To choose a different tool, tap the current tool and choose the command you want to have available from the list of items.

Memo Pad Integration

Every diary page can be exported to the Palm OS® MemoPad application.  You can essentially back up specific pages to Memo Pad and then HotSync them to your desktop.  These HotSync'd pages can then be printed, archived, or saved in another program.  You can then delete those pages from My Diary to save room periodically.  This option is only available for single entries from the Diary menu of the diary entry.

You can also import a memo into your current diary entry.  This is done by choosing the "Import from MemoPad" menu option and selecting the memo you want to import.  The selected memo will be inserted where your "insertion point" or cursor is located.  NOTE: Memos that are marked "Private" are excluded from the list and may not be imported.

Sending to Email

Every diary page can be sent to the PalmOne VersaMail application.  You will be prompted for an email address to send it to, the subject, and other email related

You can also import a memo into your current diary entry.  This is done by choosing the "Import from MemoPad" menu option and selecting the memo you want to import.  The selected memo will be inserted where your "insertion point" or cursor is located.  NOTE: Memos that are marked "Private" are excluded from the list and may not be imported.

Exporting To eBook

Available only on the List View, the "Export/Purge to eBook" menu command allows you to export old entries to an eBook and/or purge old entries from your diary.  eBooks are created on the device to in the industry standard "Doc" format and can be read by many readers both on your handheld and on your desktop.  The PalmReader™ is provided by Palm Inc. and is a very deluxe reader.  Other readers are available.

When you export or purge, all entries are exported based on their date.  The range of dates are "All" for all entries or older than 1 to 4 weeks.  When the Purge command is selected, then entries are deleted from your current diary database.

Using "Ask My Diary"

Need to know the future?  Well then, Ask My Diary.  Choose [Diary Menu / Ask My Diary...] and write in a question.  Use the "Ask My Diary" menu option or tap the (Ask My Diary) button to get your answer.

If you ask any questions starting with Who or What then you need to give My Diary some suggestions for answers.  You can enter up to four choices.  For instance, if you asked "Who will I marry?" and gave it four choices, My Diary may choose one of the four as your answer.  That is, if any of the choices actually is the answer!  And don't worry, it's just a game... isn't it?

The Palm Find and My Diary

When you have the Allow Global Find preference checked, the Global Find will include My Diary in the search for your text.  Otherwise the Global Find will not search My Diary. Regardless of the preference, you will always be able to use Global Find while running My Diary.

If you are not running My Diary and have used Global Find to show My Diary entries, then in order to see the found pages you will be prompted for the My Diary password.   This is to ensure that nobody snoops your diary.

NOTE: Regardless of if "Allow Global Find" is checked, if the diary is cloaked then the diary will not be searched.  This is for additional security and technical reasons.

Backing Up My Diary

Whenever you HotSync, you should see the following files backed up in the \Palm\<palm-name>\Backup folder:

  • MyDiary5.prc - This is the main program itself.
  • MD5_Personal.pdb - This is your "Personal" diary and is created by default.  You may have deleted or renamed it.
  • MyDiaryTplt5.pdb - This is the templates and moods database (both MyDiary 4.x and 5.x share this file).
  • MD5_xxxxx.pdb - Other diaries you may created (e.g. MD5_Vacation 2003.pdb)
  • MD4_yyyyy.prc - Skin files for both Covers and Toolbars.

Any eBooks you have created with the list's Export command will be named the name that you gave when creating the eBook with a file extension of .PDB.  For instance "My Diary.pdb" is the default name.

The Palm MemoPad™ exported diary entries are only available through the Palm Desktop™ or other sync'd databases such as Microsoft Outlook.

Your preferences are always backed up too. 

Upgrading From My Diary 4.x to My Diary 5.0.

First, backup your current MD4 diaries!  Before you upgrade, you should install My Diary 5.x and have any My Diary 4.x diarys installed on your device.  MD4 diary files always have a filename that starts with "MD4_" (e.g. "MD4_Personal").   When you upgrade, in order to save space, the databases are converted "in place" which means that once a diary is converted, it's no longer available in MD4.  Also, your MD4 template database will also be converted "in place".  Once you have converted your MD4 diaries and templates over to MD5, you can actually re-install the MD4 diaries and they can run fine side-by-side.  Lastly, there is no conversion from MD4 skins to MD5 - both versions use the same MD4 covers.  It is recommended at this time that you avoid the MD4 toolbar skins as they do not contain enough tools to satisfy MD5.

Steps to Convert My Diary 4.x to My Diary 5.x:

  1. Start My Diary 5.x  (this will actually automatically convert the template database to MD5).
  2. At the cover screen, tap the menu and select the [Diary / Open Diary] command.
  3. On the open diary dialog, checkmark the "V.4.0" checkbox.  This will display all your MD4 diaries.
  4. At this point, you can move or rename your diary files.
  5. Select a diary and tap the (Open) button.  This will display a diary conversion alert.

Repeat steps 2 through 5 for each diary you want to convert to My Diary 5.x.

Support and Contact Information

Please see the README.TXT for support/contact information.

End User License Agreement for My Diary.

This Sands USA. (Richard R. Sands dba Sands USA) End User License Agreement accompanies the My Diary product ("SOFTWARE"). The term "SOFTWARE" also shall include any upgrades, modified versions or updates of the SOFTWARE licensed to you by Sands USA. Please read this Agreement carefully. If you do not wish to accept this Agreement, you may not install the SOFTWARE on a Palm OS compatible device, simulator, emulator, or otherwise execute the SOFTWARE or make use of its content. Usage of this software implies consent to the terms of this Agreement.

1. USE OF THE SOFTWARE. YOU MAY install the SOFTWARE on Palm OS compatible devices.

If you purchase the SOFTWARE, you are granted the right to use the SOFTWARE on one Palm OS compatible device. If you do not purchase the SOFTWARE, you may use the software for evaluation as  by the original and unmodified SOFTWARE.  YOU AGREE NOT to use the software on more than one device without purchasing additional registration codes.  The registration codes are NOT to be given away or otherwise transferred with the sale of a device.

2. COPYRIGHT. The SOFTWARE is owned by Richard R. Sands ("Sands USA") and is licensed to you.  This Agreement does not grant you any intellectual property rights to the SOFTWARE.

3. NO WARRANTY. This SOFTWARE is being delivered to you AS IS, Sands USA makes no warranty as to its use or performance. Sands USA disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. Neither Sands USA nor anyone else who has been involved in the creation, production or delivery of this product assumes any liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of the SOFTWARE.

4. RESTRICTIONS. You agree not to modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise attempt to discover the source code of the SOFTWARE. YOU MAY NOT make or distribute copies of the SOFTWARE. YOU MAY NOT distribute modified versions of this SOFTWARE.  YOU MAY NOT USE REGISTRATION CODES created with "key generators". 

Richard R. Sands dba Sands USA
Copyright (C) 2001-2007, Sands USA

Palm, PalmOne, Zire, Tungsten, Treo, LifeDrive, Blazer, VersaMail, Addit, Handspring, stylizations and design marks associated with all the preceding, and trade dress associated with palmOne, Inc.’s products, are among the trademarks or registered trademarks owned by or exclusively licensed to palmOne, Inc. All other brand and product names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify products or services of, their respective owners.