Features (Note:
InfoHandler
special terms are written in this
font)
- InfoBases - the databases of InfoHandler
- manage items containing info (called
InfoItems
- see below),
- manage Categories
(see below),
- store general file info like author, topic, and comment,
- store the names and formats of the
InfoTimes
(see below),
- remember used folders, the layout of its windows, print options,
search patterns and much more,
- can be password-protected for access by multiple users,
- Each InfoBase
is viewed in its own window (the
InfoBaseWindow ).
- Many InfoBases
can be loaded at the same time - their windows being arranged in a
common frame window.
- For each loaded InfoBase you can open several
InfoBaseWindows
side by side.
- The layout of an InfoBaseWindow can be adjusted in many ways to the
requirements of the InfoBase and the current task.
- You move, copy, or merge InfoItems between
InfoBases
by "drag & drop".
- All changes are constantly saved automatically.
- InfoItems - the records of an InfoBase
- are identified by an internal ID and a title (InfoTitle)
of unlimited length,
- store time stamps for the first creation and last modification,
- have Categories
(see below) assigned to it - manually, by simple selecting them from
several lists - or automatically, by searching the
InfoText
(see below) and InfoTitle
and optionally also linked files, or by setting up a View with a
CategoryFilter
that controls the assignment,
- can contain extensive and rich formatted text (InfoText
- see below),
- can contain two free changeable and universally usable time stamps (InfoTimes
- see below),
- can contain links to other
InfoItems and global objects,
- can be 'owned' by an individual user in a multi-user set-up,
- Categories - categorize the Info
- are assigned to the InfoItems like 'key-words' - we call this 'categorizing
the Info
';
- are the basic means for the easy retrieval of relevant information;
- are managed in CategoryGroups for each
InfoBase
;
- can be arranged hierarchically;
- can have slaves that are assigned to
InfoItems
automatically if one of their masters is assigned;
- are defined on the fly as required;
- are named by character strings containing any characters (even
blanks) and can be renamed any time;
- can be combined logically into queries onto the
InfoBase
by simply selecting them in several lists, such controlling the
displayed choice of InfoItems ;
- are created automatically when
InfoItems
are copied to another InfoBase ;
- can have synonyms assigned that are used together with the name for
automatic categorization (auto-categorization);
- can be restricted to numbers and then used for calculation of
statistics like means and sums for selected
InfoItems;
- InfoText - the 'rich' text of the Info
- can be as voluminous as you want;
- can be formatted "richly", that is with enhanced font and paragraph
styles;
- can be initialized automatically when creating new
InfoItems
;
- can contain TextFields (see below);
- can contain embedded links to external objects;
- can contain embedded links to other
InfoItems
;
- can contain embedded or linked OLE objects;
- can be used for automatic categorization (auto-categorization);
- is only loaded into memory when needed.
- Important parts can be highlighted in three different colors.
- The InfoText
editor
- can display a ruler bar and show the text in three different
wrap modes;
- allows for virtually unlimited undo and redo;
- can be set for automatic URL (web link) detection.
- InfoTextFields - embedded in the InfoText
- Simple application: all what is included between '{' and '}', or '['
and ']',or '<' and'>' is a
TextField, with some subtle (but important and
customizable) differences between these three variants.
- You can jump from field to field using the keyboard or buttons on
the tool bar.
- You can select the content of a
TextField
by jumping to it or by clicking with the mouse.
- If the field identifies an object that can be "opened" (eg a file
path or an e-mail address) you can open it from within
InfoHandler.
- InfoTime1 and InfoTime2 - two optional, freely
usable time stamps for InfoItems
- Store date and time in the range from year 1601 to 9999. Resolution
external up to the minute - internal keeping milliseconds.
- Use them as the publication date of periodicals, as historic dates,
as the date of an appointment or a birthday, or as the date of last
accessing an external object - just a few examples.
- Name them as you like.
- Set their formats as you prefer it and take your choice of seeing
only the year, year and month, year, month, and day, or all of those
plus hour and minute.
- Use them for filtering the displayed
InfoItems
.
- Use them for representing a time span.
- Use some special features when using ithem for appointments or
anniversaries.
- InfoLinks - link the InfoItems with files,
folders, Internet pages, Outlook contacts, and e-mail addresses
- can be created by dragging icons from other sources onto the
InfoBaseWindow.
- As a side effect new InfoItems may be created by this process.
- Create documents (objects of local applications) from within
InfoHandler
and then manage these documents using the created links.
- Move, rename, or delete linked documents (files) from within
InfoHandler
.
- Open linked objects by (single) clicking on the icons in the
InfoList.
- Linked files can be included in the automatic categorizing process
(auto-categorization).
- Alarms - remind you of dates and other things
- To every InfoItem
you may link one or more alarms (InfoAlarms
).
- There are also 'free' alarms, not referring to any Item, that can be
used as a general reminder for any purpose.
- An alarm sounds precisely to the minute and may carry a lengthy
message. You wouldn't miss it. One click with your mouse lets you go to
the linked InfoItem
.
- The number of active alarms is not limited.
- Alarms can be saved and exported to other computers.
- InfoList - displays the InfoItems of an InfoBase
- Select one of two alternative views, the non-hierarchical
TableView
or the CategoryTreeView
that shows Categories
and InfoItems
as trees. (Of course you can also see both kinds of views simultaneously
- in two different windows.)
- In TableView
you can sort the InfoItems by title,
InfoTime,
creation or modification time, or one of the
Category
columns.
- In Tree View you can define new
Categories,
move Categories
between groups or other Categories , and do much more.
- You can set a filter for the displayed Items by using their assigned
Categories
.
- You can set a filter for the displayed Items by using their various
time stamps.
- Click on the title of an
InfoItem in the
InfoList
to 'activate' its Info
- displaying it at the InfoArea of the
InfoBaseWindow .
- Open linked objects by clicking on the icons on the
InfoList
.
- Select many InfoItems
in the InfoList
and then act upon them, e.g. move all files linked to the selected items
to a common folder or add, remove, or replace a
Category
for all the selected items.
- Move or copy InfoItems between
InfoBases by selecting them in the one
InfoList
and dragging/dropping them onto the other one.
- Full text search - supplements the information
retrieval with Category filters and time bounds
- Four different methods for finding text: Find next/previous
occurrence of selected InfoText, Find & Process in
InfoText,
Global Find and Replace in
InfoBases,
Search with Categories (using auto-categorization) and
CategoryFilters
for the InfoList
.
- Processing of found text includes Replace,
Format, Highlight, Count,
Delete Line , and more.
- Search/replace patterns are retained per InfoBase
for reusing them at a later time.
- Global Find and Replace optionally using regular expressions.
- Printing - make your choice
- Print all the data of an
InfoBase or any part of it. Select from many
options to define the choice of
InfoItems and their components to be printed.
- Print only the active
InfoText including embedded objects.
- Print the Categories
of one CategoryGroup,
optionally with assigned InfoItems and other attached data.
- Preview the print output on the screen.
- Aside from going directly to the printer you can export the print
output via an RTF (rich text format) file or the System Clipboard to
rework it with any word processor.
- Print options are separately set up and saved for each
InfoBase
.
- If you want to print some content of an
InfoBase
in tabular form pass a CSV file with selected data to a spreadsheet
program and let that do the rest.
- Drag & Drop - simplifies your work.
- Drag files and Internet links onto the
InfoList
to create and link new InfoItems .
- Drag files and Internet links onto the
Info of
an InfoItem
to assign or change the InfoLink .
- Drag files and Internet links onto the
InfoText
of an InfoItem
to create 'embedded links'.
- Drag email messages or news articles onto the
InfoList
to create new InfoItems
and initialize them from the content of the messages (works currently
only with MS Outlook and Outlook Express).
- Drag InfoItems
from one InfoList
onto another to move or copy them from one
InfoBase
to another one.
- Drag text from an external source onto the
InfoText
to insert the info.
- Drag text from an external source onto the
InfoList
to create a new InfoItem
initialized from the text.
- Drag an InfoItem
from an InfoList
onto the InfoText
of another InfoItem
in the same or another InfoBase to create an internal link between the
InfoItems
.
- Drag words from the InfoText onto a
CategoryList to create and assign new
Categories.
- Interoperability - exchange data with other
applications
- Connectivity to Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express.
You can drag E-mail messages and News articles onto an
InfoBaseWindow
and create InfoItems
initialized and auto-categorized from the messages. Or you can drag
Contacts onto an InfoBaseWindow and create
InfoItems
initialized from and hot-linked to the contacts.
- Import of Email messages from other mail clients (e.g. The Bat) via
MSG files.
- Data exchange with Lotus Agenda via Agendas '
structured (STF) files.
- Export InfoItems
to other applications viaCSV/TXT files.
- Import your information stored elsewhere via CSV files.
- Pocket InfoHandler - the Companion of InfoHandler
on your PDA
- Export all or part of an
InfoBase , including alarms, to your Pocket PC.
- Reimport changes you made on the PDA back to the PC.
- Online documentation and samples
- The online documentation contains more than 40,000 words in more
than 300 articles.
- Context sensitive help is provided for each object of the graphical
user interface including the dialog windows.
- 'Tip of the day' provides you with useful tips on starting
InfoHandler
.
- Suggestions for applying InfoHandler helps you to find possible
usage.
- Ten included sample InfoBases introduce to some of the possibilities.
- What else?
- Navigation between recently activated
InfoItems
by commands Next/Previous or selection from the
HistoryList
.
- The InfoBaseManager,
controlled from an icon in the system tray, organizes many
InfoBases
in a tree structure.
- The InfoShooter
lets you create new InfoItems on the fly from the Clipboard content without
activating the application window.
- The ViewManager
enables you to save and recall
Views of
InfoBaseWindows including layout and set
CategoryFilter
.
- The FormatManager
lets you store paragraph and character formatting under a name and reuse
it later as a macro while editing or automatically processing
InfoText
.
- Extensive possibilities for customizing the user interface and
functional behavior.
- One special toolbar to control formatting the
InfoText
and two freely customizable toolbars with a choice of 60+ buttons out of
the total of 100+ InfoHandler commands.
- Hot keys for many of the commands.
- Fast selection of different views. You can switch between three
states of an InfoBaseWindow: normal view, maximized
InfoText,
and maximized InfoList
.
- 'Intelligent' sorting.
InfoTitles and
Category
names with leading numbers are ordered 'as numbers', not just
'alphabetically' as usual (777 comes after 88, not purely alphabetically
before this - and there is more about this). Moreover, the ordering of
Categories
of a CategoryGroup
can be customized by the user.
- A popup-calendar for your convenience.