^C^1THE REMINDER SYSTEM
^Cby
^CJim Mangham


  The REMINDER SYSTEM can help you remember important dates such as birthdays 
and anniversaries or help you keep track of appointments made months in 
advance.  Essentially, the program is a simple database -- tell the program 
which dates you want to remember and how often to be reminded of them.  Once 
the database is set up, it's simple to have the REMINDER SYSTEM print out the 
messages you wanted to read on that particular day. 

  As with any system of this type, however, taking advantage of the REMINDER 
SYSTEM's capabilities will take dedication on your part; to benefit from the 
program, use it regularly.  The author recommends running the REMINDER SYSTEM 
as part of your daily routine. 


An Overview
-----------

  The REMINDER SYSTEM is run from a main menu with options to: 

Add, Change, or Delete Reminders

Print Reminders

or, Quit.

Choose the first option to add and edit records in the database.  Choose the 
second option to make a printout of the the day's reminders.  Quit will 
return you to BIG BLUE DISK. 


Creating Reminders
------------------

  If you choose "Add, Change, Delete Reminders" from the main menu, the program
will display the "Reminder File Maintenance" menu, which has options to: 

Enter a New Record

Search for Existing Record

or, Return to the Main Menu

  If you choose "Enter a New Record,"  a calendar will be displayed on the 
screen.  To create a reminder, first mark the "target date," (a birthday or 
appointment, for example) on the calendar.  Keys on the numeric keypad are 
used to display the proper month and year: 

PgUp and PgDn -- change months

HOME and END -- change years

Once the month and year are correct, use the ARROW keys to highlight dates 
within the calendar.  Once the target date is highlighted, press ENTER to go a 
work screen where you enter the message that you want printed out for that 
particular day.  (The same procedure is used when you choose the "Search for 
Existing Record" option. When you select the target date, the program will 
display a work screen where you can edit the reminder or delete it all 
together.) 

  The program will ask you to enter up to three notes and the frequency (or how 
often) that you want the reminders printed.  (When the program asks you to 
enter the frequency, press "?" to see a list of possible timetables.) 


Editing Reminders
-----------------

  Once you have entered the information, a work screen will be displayed where 
you enter additional information or edit the information you have already 
entered.  This screen is also used to edit existing reminders.

  The first four lines of the work screen are used to display the three notes 
and the frequency of the reminders.  Below these lines, you can enter 
information that determines how far ahead of the target date the program 
begins printing the reminder.  For example, if you enter "5" on the line 
marked "Weeks Prior," the program will begin printing the reminder five weeks 
before the target date. 

  At the bottom of the work screen, commands used to edit information or to 
return to other reminders and menus are listed. 

S)earch for new target date --  press "S" to see another reminder. 

1-9 -- edit information displayed on the work screen. Press "1" to edit Line 
#1; press "2" to edit Line #2, etc. 

A)dd -- enter a new reminder.

R)eturn -- returns to the "Reminder File Maintenance" menu.

M)ore -- the information on each reminder takes up two screens.
Pressing "M" displays the second screen.

F)orward -- "F" scrolls forward through the reminders.

B)ack -- "B" scrolls backward through the reminders.

P)rint -- prints reminder.

D)elete -- deletes the current reminder.
  

Printing Reminders and Final Notes
----------------------------------

  Printing reminders is simple -- choose the print option from the main menu.  
You then have a choice of printing all of the reminders in the database, or 
only those set up to be printed on that day. 

  A final note:  The reminders created by the REMINDER SYSTEM are labeled with 
their target date.  Because there might be more than one reminder for a single 
target date, the program adds a unique three-digit suffix to the end of each 
target date.  If there are several reminders for a particular date, you can 
enter the suffix to go directly to the reminder you want to edit -- if you can 
remember it.  Otherwise, the program will display the first reminder that was 
entered for that target date. 


DISK FILES THIS PROGRAM USES:

^FREMINDER.EXE
^FBRUN20.EXE
^FRETURN.EXE
^FREMINDER.DAT
