Contents

The following Help Topics are available:

Introduction

Basic Concept

Message Pad Overview

Message Note Overview

How To...

Create And Send A Message

Check For Incoming Messages

Commands

Message Menu Commands

Options Menu Commands

Toolbar Commands

Other Facilities

Status Bar

For Help on Help, Press F1


Basic Concept

Message is an electronic post note system and is used to send a message to another user on the message system on a network. It consists of two parts. The main part is the Message Pad  which is used to set up a message to be sent to the recipient. The other part is the Message Note  and is used to display incoming messages on the screen.

The message pad is used to create and send a message to the another user on the system. It is useful if you wish to post a message to another user, and unlike a mail system where the mail is stored until it is read, the message will be read and displayed on the recipient's screen. For example, if you took a telephone message for someone, instead of having to physically leave the message on the recipient's desk, you can create and send the message to that person via this application.

The application will constantly check the message queue for any incoming messages and if any messages are found, they are automatically displayed on the screen as message notes for you to see. When you have finished reading a message, you can close it, print it on the printer, or set an alarm to display the message at some time in the future ( if you set the alarm, you should not close the message, but minimise it instead).

You can also send a message to yourself and then use the alarm as a reminder.


Message Pad Overview

The Message Pad is used to create and send a message to another user on the system. It is designed to simplify the creation and sending of a message, mimics the paper equivalent. Click on the screen to pop up help for the individual parts of the pad.


Message Note Overview

The application Message Pad checks the message queue regularly for incoming message. If a message is received, it is read and the message is displayed as a Message Note on the screen. The note will be permanently displayed on the screen until you close it. You can also print the note. In addition, you can set an alarm on the note, to remind you of the message some set time in the future.

Click on the screen buttons to pop up help.


Create And Send A Message

To create a message

1. Click the New Message button  on toolbar or Message/New Message on the menu to clear the message pad ready for a new message

2. Select the message type by clicking one of the radio buttons in Select Message .

3. Click in the "To"   field on the pad to display the users list, click and select the user (recipient) you wish to send the message to.

4. Click in the "From"  field and enter the sender (your name) of the message.

5. Click and enter the telephone number in the "Tel"  field.

6. Click and enter the extension number in the "Ext"  field.

7. The date  and time  fields should already be set to the current data and time when you set New Message. If you wish to change them, click in the fields to set the date and time, or alternatively click the Date/Time  button on the toolbar.

8. If this an Telephone message, click and enter the name of person who took the message in the Taken By  field.

9. Click into the message box  and enter the message to wish to send to the recipient.

10. Once you have completed creating up your message you can then send the message to recipient as addressed in the To field. To send the message click the Send Message  button on the toolbar or select Message/Send Message from the menu.

The status line on the status bar will inform you whether the message is sent successfully or an error has occurred.

You can send a message to yourself if you specify yourself in the To field as the recipient of the message.


Check For Incoming Messages

Message send to you from other users on the system as stored in the message queue. A timer is set to poll the queue for any incoming message at regular intervals. If a message is found then the message is read and displayed on a Message Note.

In addition, you can explicitly check the message queue for incoming messages by

1. Click the Message/Get Messages  from the menu. All the messages that are in the queue are read and display.

To set the timer interval to poll the message queue

1. Select Options/Check Message . A dialogue box will appear showing the current timer setting.

2. Change the time, in minutes, and click "Set", which will set the timer interval. The timer interval will be set permanently and will be used next time you start the application.


Messge Menu Commands
Message Menu Commands

New Message

Tear off (clear) the current message on the pad to set up a New Message.

Send Message

Send the current message on the pad to the recipient as specified in the "To:" field. You can send a message to yourself by setting the recipient as yourself. The status bar informs you whether the message is successfully sent or not.

Get Messages

This explicitly asks the application to check the message queue for incoming messages. If incoming message are found the message are read and displayed on a Message Note.

However, incoming messages are automatically checked at regular interval. The interval is as defined in Check Message.

Current Time/Date

Update the Date and Time fields on the message pad with the current system date and time.

Activate WhereIs

This activates the Where Is application. If the application is already loaded then focus will be set to Where Is, otherwise it will start up the application.

Exit

Exit from Message.


Options Menu Commands

Received Message

When a message has been received you can select to display the message or start up the message in iconised (minimised) form. You can also set beep on to beep when a message is received. When this is selected a dialogue box appears which allows you to set these options. Set the options and click "set" to set them permanently.

Check Message

The message queue is regularly checked for incoming message, this option is use to set  how often the queue is checked. When this is selected a dialogue box appears which allows you to change the timer interval. To set a new time interval, change the time and click on "set" to set the new timer permanently. The new timer will be used new time you start the application.

Poll New Users

While the application is running, new users may be added to the system. Select this command to poll for any new users. This is only required to poll for new users while the application is running, all users on the system will be read when the application starts up.


Toolbar Commands

The toolbar is use for the frequently used commands. All commands on the toolbar are also available on the menu commands. In addition, your user name is also displayed here. The sequence of toolbar commands are:-

New Message

Send Message

Activate WhereIs

Current Date/Time


Status Bar

The status bar is used to display system messages and other system information. It is section into three parts.

Status Line

Current System Date.

Current System Clock.


Toolbar New Message

Tear off (clear) the current message on the pad to set up a New Message.


Toolbar Send Message

Send the current message on the pad to the recipient as specified in the "To:" field. To send a message to yourself, enter you user name as the recipient.


Toolbar Activate WhereIs

This button activates the Where Is application. If the application is already loaded then focus will be set to Where Is, otherwise it will start up the application.


Toolbar Date/Time

Update the Date and Time fields on the message pad with the current system date and time.


Toolbar User Name

Your User Name is currently displayed on the toolbar.


Select Message

Click on one of the radio buttons to select the type of message you wish to send. The selection is reflected in the Message Title.


Message Title

This is the title of the message you wish to send. Use Select  Message to change the message title.


To (Recipient)

Select and display the name of the recipient of the message you wish to send. The application holds the name of all the users on the system. Click here to see the list of users and select the name of the recipient.


From (Sender)

This is used to enter the name of the sender of the message, it will be yourself, or the name of the caller for a telephone message.


Telephone

The telephone number of sender, or the caller for a telephone message.


Extension

The extension number of the sender; or the caller for a telephone message.


Message Date

The date the message is created and sent.


Message Time

The time the message is created and sent.


Taken By

This appears only when you have selected the "Telephone" message. It is to inform the recipient who took the telephone message.


Message
Message Box

The message box is use to input the message that you wish to send to the recipient.


Status Bar Status Line

This is used to display any status information such as Send OK, Send error etc.


Status Bar Date

This displays the current system date.


Status Bar Time

This displays the current system time.


Message Note Close

Once you have finished reading the message. You can close the message to discard it.


Message Note Print

You can obtain a printed copy of the message by sending to the print.


Message Note Set Alarm

You can set an alarm on the message so that it will remind you of the message some set time in the future. It would be extremely useful if you wish to set a reminder for yourself, by sending a message to yourself, and then set to the alarm to remind you.

Note: If you set the alarm, you should minimise the message and NOT close it.