Assistance!

===========



This shareware utility adds a pop up menu to your Assist button.  The Newton's Intelligent Assistant is a powerful feature, but folks rarely seem to use it.  It can be maddening to use.  What with either writing something on the Notepad, correcting it, selecting it and THEN tapping Assist, it can get a bit tedious to use.



Assistance! to the rescue.  Once installed, Assistance! adds a pop-up menu to your Newton's built-in Assist button.  Now, instead of tapping Assist, please, a choice and THEN tapping please, you just tap Assistance!, tap a selection and it executes!   If you have text selected before tapping Assistance!, that text will be added to the chosen command.  So the next time you see a phone number or name somewhere, select it and tap Assistance!->Call.  It will set it up for you.



Please note!  Assistance! only uses the top portion of your Assist button.  If you'd like to continue to use the Assistant in the regular Newton fashion, simply click on the lower portion of the Assist button.  



Assistance! is for anyone who wants their Newton to behave like it should.  No more endless tapping, scribbling and selecting!  Now you just tap and select, that's it!





Version History

===============



.9 09/22/94



Rolled function provided by my notifAssist function into Assistance!  Now you get two functions in one app.  The new function allows you to tap the Assist button when a Reminder notify is visible.   If you add an entry to your date book like Call Bill, when the reminder appears, just tap the Assist button.  Assistance will now take that text and process it using the Assistant.  It will only process text than begins with a valid Assistant verb that appears in the Assistance! menu.



.8 Was not released in wide distribution.



.7 06/15/94

Version .6 broke more than it fixed.  Sorry about posting it.  

This revision now properly supports selecting text or taking the last written and recognized text.  It determines it on the fly.  It will always take the most recent user text.



.6  06/15/94

Discussions with David Dunham (thanks!) led to using the selection differently within the program.  It doesn't appear any different, but it supports a feature I didn't know the Newton had.



Anything you write can be captured by Assistance!  This does not require you to select it first.  Go ahead, write something and tap Assitance! It will take that recognized text and use it!  This is how the Assist has always behaved, I just never used it.



Enjoy!



.5 06/14/94

Not released to public.



.4  06/08/94

Added the ability to pass the current selection to Assistance!  Try it, select a phone number and then tap Assitance! and call.  It will pass the selected text after the chosen Assist action.



.3  06/08/94

Small bug fix to demo for opening after expiration date



.2  06/08/94

Never released to public



.1  06/07/94

First release to the public.



Disclaimer

==========



This product is currently in beta test.  It's not known to have any bugs or

defects that would impair the use of your Newton.  However, it is possible

something unforseen could go wrong.  We cannot be held responsible for any loss

of info or the usage of your Newton.  Please back up your Newton before

installing this package!



There is a licensing agreement present with this package in the disk file

"License.txt".  You must read this document before using and installing this

package.





Shareware 

==========



This package is $15 ShareWare.  If you use this a couple of times, like it and

encourage a friend to use it, that's a fair statement to it's value.  Send the

fee.



Please note that this is a demo version of this package and it will expire 30 days after you install it.  This version will totally expire on 12/31/95 and will not let you

install or use it after that date.



Registered users receive an unlimited version.



Please print out the disk file "Register.txt" included with this package.



It contains the necessary information for you to complete.  It will also help us

keep accurate records of all registered users.  You do want your updates, don't

you?



Be SURE to include your e-mail information!  You won't get updates without it!





A note to Compuserve Users

==========================



You can register this package via Compuserve.  Use the GO SWREG command.  You can search for my products using my CIS address: 75604,2775.  When you use this method, payment for the prodcut is automatically added to your CIS bill.  I receive notification that you've paid and a registered copy will be sent to you via e-mail.



The Compuserve SWREG ID for this package is: 3828





How to contact the author 

=========================



Bill Kearney can be reached as follows:



Internet:   wkearney@access.digex.net (preferred mail box) 

Telephone:  (410)-235-4574



or good old US Mail at:



Bill Kearney 

The Novanto Group 

P.O.Box 201 

Lutherville, MD 21093-0201





A note from the author 

======================



If you've got criticisms or suggestions about my products, I welcome feedback. 

Bugs reports are also needed.  If you like it, but don't want to cough up a few

bucks, at least send me a e-mail message saying you've seen it and like it.  I

promise not to harass you too much!



Thanks for your time and enjoy Assistance!



Credits and applause go out to:



Larry Slack

David Dunham

Greg Christie - You really should try his Chron app, it's great for delayed actions.

Gilbert Green at Cornell

Hardy Macia - it was his idea for notifAssist, I wrote it while on eWorld.



Thanks for the feedback, guys!