.KEYWORD student0600
.FLYINGHEAD COOL TOOLS FOR STUDENTS
.TITLE Developer One’s AccessPanel Platinum Edition and CodeWallet
.DEPT
.SUMMARY In the third and final article in a series, Windows CE Power contributing editor Dan Huber takes a look at helpful software for student users of Windows CE devices. But if you’re not a student, don’t despair. Read this series of articles anyway, because these fabulous products may help you too!
.AUTHOR Dan Huber
Some productivity-oriented software titles that come in handy for me as a student are available from Developer One. Previously in this series, I discussed Developer One’s ClassPro, an agenda/homework organizer, and their AutoGraph 1.5, a tool to graph spreadsheet data. This time, we’ll look at two more products from Developer One. First, I’ll introduce you to AccessPanel Platinum Edition, a multi-functional utility for your handheld computer. Then we’ll look at CodeWallet, a password-protected PIM (Personal Information Manager).
.H1 AccessPanel Platinum Edition
AccessPanel Platinum Edition is a utility that resides in the tray of your Palm-sized PC or H/PC. It shows up as a little lightning bolt icon in the tray, as shown in Figure A. Because of the great versatility of its functions, I like to call it a pocketknife for Windows CE.
.FIGPAIR A With AccessPanel Platinum Edition, your imagination is your only limit.
.H2 Capabilities
Among its many capabilities, it allows you to store pre-defined information in a library so it can be made available at a later time. This would be excellent for storing formulas and related information for science classes. It’s a great way to refresh your memory if you have lots of information to remember.
Another great feature is the ability to configure formats that act as templates. These templates can extract certain information from Windows CE’s Contacts program or perform other pre-defined functions. Then it will ready the material for copying to the clipboard. From there, you may then paste it into any application supporting a paste function. AccessPanel can also paste the time and date into other applications in multiple ways. This is great for logging events or creating reports in a few simple taps. In Figure B, you can see that I’ve prepared AccessPanel for another type of pasting operation.
.FIGPAIR B Here, AccessPanel is ready to paste the current date and time into Pocket Excel.
The AccessPanel utility also includes a built-in phone dialer that emits DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) tones through the speaker of your PDA that can dial a touch-tone phone for you. This feature supports calling cards as well.
To prevent you from losing vital timesaving formats, a backup and restore utility is built in, as well. This allows you to store a backup file of your formats somewhere safe.
There are too many uses for this tool to list them all, but I’m sure you’ll find it’ll come in handy for something. It’s such a versatile tool, about the only thing you can’t do is cut a tin can with it.
.H2 Further reading on AccessPanel
If you’re interested in reading any more of my thoughts on Developer One’s AccessPanel Platinum Edition, please view the June 1999 back issue of Windows CE Power Magazine for my article regarding ten must-have applications. It’s available at http://www.windowscepower.com/issues/issue199906/newuser001.html.
.H1 CodeWallet
Developer One kindly sent me the CodeWallet Plus Pack. This includes both a desktop and an H/PC version of CodeWallet. See Figure C for a screenshot of the CodeWallet Desktop.
.FIGPAIR C This is the colorful and visually appealing CodeWallet Desktop.
While you can’t yet use an integrated module to automatically synchronize your CodeWallet data, there is a way around that. All you need to do to synchronize your data between the CodeWallet software on your H/PC and PC is to create a DataCard file. You’ll use the DataCard file to initially store your data on one of your device’s synchronized file folders contained in ActiveSync. Just make sure that file synchronization is enabled and let ActiveSync take care of the rest from now on.
CodeWallet uses a high-contrast white-on-black user interface with colorful icons that lend themselves to simplifying the CodeWallet experience. Navigating is done via a combination of simple menus and folders. Maneuvering through either the CodeWallet H/PC application or the CodeWallet Desktop program is nearly identical, and you’ll have no difficulty moving back and forth, as you see in Figure D.
.FIGPAIR D The CodeWallet H/PC application is very similar in its interface to CodeWallet Desktop.
.H2 Uses for CodeWallet
CodeWallet has a variety of uses. You can store passwords, financial and insurance information, credit card numbers, and login information to Web sites. You can organize photographs that can be directly imported into CodeWallet and stored in the DataCard file (bitmaps only). You can also track personal information such as birthdays. The list goes on. Also, if you decide you need to keep your information confidential, there’s password protection to keep all your cards hidden from prying eyes.
.H2 Password protection
When you first start a new DataCard file, you’re immediately prompted for a password. This happens regardless of whether or not you’ll use password protection. If protection is set forth, your information will be encrypted with a 56-bit cipher strength.
Still worried about your information? Simply set CodeWallet to lock your DataCard after a set period of inactivity, or you can choose to have it lock your file and close CodeWallet. Either option requires password entry to regain access to folders you’ve secured, while non-secure folders are still accessible as usual. You can also manually engage a lock on your DataCard file from the Security menu at any time.
.H2 Other capabilities
If you store lots of cards in CodeWallet and need to enact a search for your card, a Find tool is included. Also, if you’re concerned with how many cards or folders you have in your DataCard file or want to know the memory consumption of your opened file (pictures obviously increase file size dramatically), a statistics option is available to help keep you informed. You may also export the text from your cards to a text file for viewing with any text viewer, once you’ve unlocked your secured cards with a password of course.
.H2 Other features
Finally, to make sure you’re getting all you want out of CodeWallet, you can choose your own custom background and foreground colors for cards, choose the display resolution to expand or contract the CodeWallet program window, and configure the toolbar to display the menus in the order you want, as well as where you want the toolbar to be displayed inside of CodeWallet.
.H2 Conclusion
CodeWallet is great for storing classroom notes, and you can use folders to organize them accordingly. You can even store your locker’s combination. As always, CodeWallet has just as many potential applications for non-students as well.
Plenty of help is given in the documentation, and tips are provided to help get you started quickly. CodeWallet is yet another very satisfying product from Developer One.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on Developer One’s products, visit http://www.developerone.com.
To read Dan’s article on the Developer One’s AccessPanel Platinum Edition in the June 1999 issue of Windows CE Power Magazine, go to http://www.windowscepower.com/issues/issue199906/newuser001.html.
To read Dan’s article on the Developer One’s ClassPro in the March 2000 issue of Windows CE Power Magazine, go to http://www.windowscepower.com/issues/issue200003/student001.html.
To read Dan’s article on the Developer One’s AutoGraph 1.5 in the April 2000 issue of Windows CE Power Magazine, go to http://www.windowscepower.com/issues/issue200004/student0400001.html.
.H1 Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO Dan Huber is a high school junior at Palmerton Area High School. He operates CEZone, a small and expanding Web site that covers all aspects of Windows CE, at http://members.xoom.com/CEZone, and he can be reached via email at wince@bigfoot.com.
