ABS
User Manual
v. 1.0
5/14/02
Team 5 Software
Table of Contents
Section 1 – Introduction
1.0 System Overview
Page 2
Page 2
Section 2 - How to Get Started
2.0 How to Get Started
2.1 Running the System
Page 3
Page 3
Page 3
Section 3 - User Interface
3.0 User Interface
Page 3
Page 3
Section 4 – User Options
4.0 User Options
4.1 Create a New Appointment
4.2 View Appointments
4.3 View Other’s Appointments
4.4 Edit an Existing Appointment
4.5 Delete an Existing Appointment
4.6 Check for User Availability
4.7 Print Appointments to a File
4.8 Print Other’s Appointments to a File
4.9 Exit
Page 4
Page 4
Page 4
Page 9
Page 12
Page 16
Page 21
Page 23
Page 25
Page 28
Page 31
Section 5 - Errors and Failures
5.0 Errors and Failures
Page 31
Page 31
Section 6 - Glossary
6.0 Glossary
Page 32
Page 32
Section 7 - Appendices
7.0 Appendices
7.1 Appendix A – Read Me First
7.2 Appendix B – Installation Instructions
7.3 Appendix C – Administrator Manual
Page 34
Page 34
Page 34
Page 35
Page 36
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1.0
System Overview
System Overview
The Appointment Book Software provides users with the all the functionalities
need to manage an Appointment Book. Functions such as create an appointment, edit an
appointment, view an appointment and delete an appointment. It also comes with added
features such as availability, view other’s appointment and print other’s appointment.
These added features would help the user schedule better appointments. The ABS created
by Team 5 Software was built with the user in mind, allowing for prompts at every
junction to enable the user to better use of the software.
The Appointment Software is user friendly. The software allows the user create as
many appointments as the user wants to. During the create process fields such as access
level and repetition level enable the user clarify and manage his/her appointments better.
This may also help to locate dates when colleagues might be available for an
appointment, especially when used in conjunction with availability. The availability
function is an important tool that ABS provides, the user can now schedule appointments
with other participants while having there best interest in mind. This function would
check availability of the user’s selected colleagues and gives ranges of time when all are
available for an appointment. The edit an appointment function allows the user to make
changes to every field in the appointment book except the repetition level. Changes made
are updated after confirmation from the user has been received. The view appointment
allows the user to view appointments daily, weekly or monthly. The view functions is as
descriptive as the create function, the appointment fields would all be displayed and each
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entry shown. Other functionalities within the software are fully described in detail in
section 4 of this manual.
2.0
How to Get Started
ABS should be installed by the system administrator preferably in the Root
directory using the installation instructions provided. Resource allocations should
also be done at this point so that the user can have adequate space to manage the
software. An environment variable called (USER) must be set to hold your Linux
user-name (set up by default in most distributions). Make sure this is the case
otherwise your appointments would not be stored. The first time you create an
appointment, a file named <user-name>.abs will be created in the directory where
the abs binary is. This is where your appointment information is stored. The user
is expected not to corrupt this file.
Upon proper installation and execution of the software the user should be able to
proceed with managing his/her appointment book. The menu option and built in
prompts should provide adequate information to perform all needed tasks. If
performing a task is found difficulty see the User Interface (section 3) and User
Options (Section 4).
Administrator see Appendix C (Administrator Manual)
2.1 Running the System
See the Read Me First document in Appendix A to make sure you have all
necessary materials for ABS. Once you are sure you have all materials outlined
in Appendix A, see the Installation Instructions in Appendix B. At the end of the
Installation instructions, you are informed how to run ABS.
3.0
User Interface
The system is menu driven. Below the menu is a prompt “>” that signals the
program is ready to receive input. To properly use the menu, select
a valid choice (when applicable) or enter a valid response (when applicable). Once
you have entered an appropriate response at the prompt, press return.
In the case of invalid input, unless otherwise noted, the system will respond by
informing you of the error in your input, then re-prompt you for your input.
Notes:
 If the limit on text fields is exceeded, all extra characters are truncated.
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4.0
All times are in military format.
You should not run concurrent processes of ABS
The escape sequence ctl^B <enter> returns you to the main menu.
o It acts like a cancel button. Any action that should have affected the
appointment after the escape sequence was entered will not occur.
User Options
Main Menu
The Main Menu prompt, from here, by selecting a valid option, the corresponding
task is executed. (Valid selections include 1 - 9 inclusive.)
4.1
Create a New Appointment
4.1.1 Start Date
The Enter Date prompt within the Create A New Appointment option, from here, by
entering a valid date in the format month/day/year, the date field of the current
appointment is set. (Valid dates depend on three fields: month, day, and year. Valid
months include 1 - 12 inclusive. Valid days, however, depend on both the month and the
year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4
4.1.2 Access Level
The Enter Access Level prompt within the Create A New Appointment option, from
here, by selecting a valid option, the corresponding access level is set in the access level
field of the current appointment. (Valid responses include “public” or “private” the
default is public. Therefore, if an invalid response is entered, the Access Level is
assumed to be public.)
 The Public Access Level allows colleagues to view and print the current
appointment.
 The Private Access Level does not allow colleagues to view and print the
current appointment.
4.1.3 Start Time
The Enter Start Time prompt within the Create A New Appointment option, from
here, by entering a valid start time in the format hours:minutes, the start time field of the
current appointment is set. (Valid Start Times must have the minutes field divisible by 5
and the minutes must be from 00 - 55 inclusive. Valid hours include 0 - 23 inclusive.)
4.1.4 End Time
The Enter End Time prompt within the Create A New Appointment option, from
here, by entering a valid end time in the format hours:minutes, the end time field of the
current appointment is set. . (Valid Start Times must have the minutes field divisible by
5 and the minutes must be from 05 - 55 - 00 inclusive. Valid hours include 0 - 24
inclusive. One other aspect to keep in mind is the fact that an End Time must occur after
the Start Time)
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4.1.5 Appointment Name
The Enter Appointment Name prompt within the Create A New Appointment option,
from here, by entering a valid appointment name, the appointment name field of the
current appointment is set. (Valid Appointment Names may contain up to a total of 1 80 characters inclusive.)
4.1.6 Participant(s)
The Enter Participant(s) prompt within the Create A New Appointment option, from
here, by entering valid participant(s), the participant(s) field of the current appointment is
set. (Valid Participant(s) may contain up to a total of 1 - 80 characters inclusive [this
includes commas]. If there is only one participant, then no comma is necessary. One
other aspect to keep in mind is that the Primary ABS User is assumed to be a participant.
Therefore, it is unnecessary to include him/her as a participant.)
Notes:
 A participant’s name may not include a comma.
4.1.7 Location
The Enter Location prompt within the Create A New Appointment option, from here,
by entering valid location, the location field of the current appointment is set. (Valid
Locations may contain up to a total of 1 - 80 characters inclusive.)
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4.1.8 Description
The Enter Description prompt within the Create A New Appointment option, from
here, by entering valid description, the description field of the current appointment is set.
(Valid Descriptions may contain up to a total of 1 - 80 characters inclusive.)
4.1.9 Repetition Level
The Enter Repetition Level prompt within the Create A New Appointment option,
from here, by selecting a valid option, the corresponding repetition level is set in the
repetition level field of the current appointment. (Valid selections include “N”, “D”,
“W”, “M”, or “Y”.)
 The None Level (N) means this is the only appointment.
 The Daily Level (D) means this appointment occurs daily up until the
boundary.
 The Weekly Level (W) means this appointment occurs weekly up until the
boundary.
 The Monthly Level (M) means this appointment occurs monthly up until the
boundary.
 The Yearly Level (Y) means this appointment occurs yearly up until the
boundary.
4.1.9.1 Ending Bound of the Repetition
The Enter Boundary of the Repetition prompt within the Repetition Level part of the
Create A New Appointment option, from here, by entering a valid date in the format
month/date/year, the ending bound of the repetition is set. (Valid Ending Bounds of the
Repetition depend on three fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12
inclusive. Valid days, however, depend on both the month and the year. If the Repetition
Level selected is NONE, it is assumed that the Start Date is the ending bound. One other
aspect to keep in mind is that the Ending Bounds of the Repetition should occur after the
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Start Date of the Appointment, if this is not the case, it is assumed that the Start Date is
the ending bound.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
Notes:
 The bounds of the repetition are inclusive.
4.1.10 Confirmation
The Confirmation prompt within the Create A New Appointment option, from here,
by selecting a valid option, the corresponding save is executed. (Valid responses include
“Y”, “y”, “Yes”, “YES”, “N”, “n”, “No”, or “NO”.)
 Yes - saves the current appointment.
 No – does not save the current appointment.
4.1.11 Conflict
Notes:
 If this appointment is a string, this prompt is displayed for every conflict
detected.
 The date the conflict was detected on will be displayed.
The Conflict prompt within the Create A New Appointment option, from here, by
selecting a valid option, the corresponding save is executed. (Valid responses include
“Y”, “y”, “Yes”, “YES”, “N”, “n”, “No”, or “NO”.)
 Yes - saves the current appointment.
8
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4.2
No – does not save the current appointment.
o If this is part of a string, the subsequent appointments will be saved.
However, all previous ones will be.
View Appointments
Notes:
 All appointments are displayed, this includes private appointments.
 If no appointments exist, you will be eternally informed that no appointments
exist until such time as you choose the exit option from the sub-menu.
4.2.1 View Date
The Enter View Date prompt within the View Appointments option, from here, by
entering a valid date in the format month/date/year, the date that was entered will be the
one displayed, once the rest of the necessary prompts have been successfully answered.
(Valid dates depend on three fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12
inclusive. Valid days, however, depend on both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.2.2 View Type
The Enter View Type prompt within the View Appointments option, from here, by
selecting a valid option, the corresponding view will be used to display the selected
appointment. (Valid selections include 1 - 3 inclusive.)
 Day View (1) allows the viewing of all fields of the day’s appointments.
 Week View (2) allows the viewing of where appointments occur within the
week.
 Month View (3) allows the viewing of where appointments occur within the
month.
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4.2.3.1 Day View Menu
Notes:
 The appointment is printed out in day view.
 Then the following prompt is printed.
The Day View Menu prompt within the View Appointments option, from here, by
selecting a valid option, the corresponding task will be executed. (Valid selections
include 1 - 5 inclusive.)
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Change View Date (1) allows a new date to be selected.
Change View Type (2) allows a new view type to be selected.
Move Forward displays (3) the next day’s appointments in Day View.
Move Backwards displays (4) the previous day’s appointments in Day View.
Exit (5) returns the user to the Main Menu.
4.2.3.2 Week View Menu
Notes:
 The appointment is printed out in week view.
 Then the following prompt is printed.
The Week View Menu prompt within the View Appointments option, from here, by
selecting a valid option, the corresponding task will be executed. (Valid selections
include 1 - 6 inclusive.)
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4.2.3.2.5
Change View Date (1) allows a new date to be selected.
Change View Type (2) allows a new view type to be selected.
Move Forward (3) displays the next week’s appointments in Week View.
Move Backwards (4) displays the previous week’s appointments in Week
View.
Choose Date (5) allows the chosen day to be displayed in Day View.
Exit (6) returns the user to the Main Menu.
Choose Date
The Choose Day prompt within the Week View Menu part of the View Appointments
option, by entering a valid date in the format month/date/year, the corresponding day’s
appointments will be viewed in Day View. (Valid dates depend on three fields: month,
day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12 inclusive. Valid days, however, depend on
both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive
are not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.2.3.3 Month View Menu
Notes:
 The appointment is printed out in month view.
 Then the following prompt is printed.
The Month View Menu prompt within the View Appointments option, from here, by
selecting a valid option, the corresponding task will be executed. (Valid selections
include 1 - 6 inclusive.)
 Change View Date (1) allows a new date to be selected.
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4.2.3.3.5
Change View Type (2) allows a new view type to be selected.
Move Forward (3) displays the next week’s appointments in Month View.
Move Backwards (4) displays the previous week’s appointments in Month
View.
Choose Date (5) allows the chosen day to be displayed in Day View.
Exit (6) returns the user to the Main Menu.
Choose Date
The Choose Day prompt within the Month View Menu part of the View
Appointments option, by entering a valid date in the format month/date/year, the
corresponding day’s appointments will be viewed in Day View. (Valid dates depend on
three fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12 inclusive. Valid days,
however, depend on both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.3
View Other’s Appointments
Notes:
 Only the colleague’s public appointments are displayed.
 If no appointments exist or if only private appointments exist, you will be
eternally informed that no appointments exist until such time as you choose
the exit option from the sub-menu.
4.3.1 Get Colleague’s Filename
The Get Colleague’s Filename prompt within the View Other’s Appointments option,
by entering a valid filename, the corresponding file’s contents will be used for the
subsequent viewing operations. (Valid External Appointment Filenames may contain up
to a total of 4 - 80 characters inclusive [this includes the necessary .abs extension] Also
note that Team 5 does not guarantee the validity of .abs files created by other means than
ABS) The user should note that only the colleague’s public appointments may be
viewed.
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4.3.2 View Date
The Enter View Date prompt within the View Appointments option, from here, by
entering a valid date in the format month/date/year, the date that was entered will be the
one displayed, once the rest of the necessary prompts have been successfully answered.
(Valid dates depend on three fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12
inclusive. Valid days, however, depend on both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.3.3 View Type
The Enter View Type prompt within the View Other’s Appointments option, from
here, by selecting a valid option, the corresponding view will be used to display the
selected appointment. (Valid selections include 1 - 3 inclusive.)
 Day View (1) allows the viewing of all fields of the day’s appointments.
 Week View (2) allows the viewing of where appointments occur within the
week.
 Month View (3) allows the viewing of where appointments occur within the
month.
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4.3.4.1 Day View Menu
Notes:
 The appointment is printed out in day view.
 Then the following prompt is printed.
The Day View Menu prompt within the View Other’s Appointments option, from
here, by selecting a valid option, the corresponding task will be executed. (Valid
selections include 1 - 5 inclusive.)
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


Change View Date (1) allows a new date to be selected.
Change View Type (2) allows a new view type to be selected.
Move Forward (3) displays the next day’s appointments in Day View.
Move Backwards (4) displays the previous day’s appointments in Day View.
Exit (5) returns the user to the Main Menu.
4.3.4.2 Week View Menu
Notes:
 The appointment is printed out in week view.
 Then the following prompt is printed.
The Week View Menu prompt within the View Other’s Appointments option, from
here, by selecting a valid option, the corresponding task will be executed. (Valid
selections include 1 - 6 inclusive.)
 Change View Date (1) allows a new date to be selected.
 Change View Type (2) allows a new view type to be selected.
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4.3.4.2.5
Move Forward (3) displays the next week’s appointments in Week View.
Move Backwards (4) displays the previous week’s appointments in Week
View.
Choose Date (5) allows the chosen day to be displayed in Day View.
Exit (6) returns the user to the Main Menu.
Choose Date
The Choose Day prompt within the Week View Menu part of the View Other’s
Appointments option, by entering a valid date in the format month/date/year, the
corresponding day’s appointments will be viewed in Day View. (Valid dates depend on
three fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12 inclusive. Valid days,
however, depend on both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.3.4.3 Month View Menu
Notes:
 The appointment is printed out in month view.
 Then the following prompt is printed.
The Month View Menu prompt within the View Other’s Appointments option, from
here, by selecting a valid option, the corresponding task will be executed. (Valid
selections include 1 - 6 inclusive.)
 Change View Date (1) allows a new date to be selected.
 Change View Type (2) allows a new view type to be selected.
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4.3.4.3.5
Move Forward (3) displays the next week’s appointments in Month View.
Move Backwards (4) displays the previous week’s appointments in Month
View.
Choose Date (5) allows the chosen day to be displayed in Day View.
Exit (6) returns the user to the Main Menu.
Choose Date
The Choose Day prompt within the Month View Menu part of the View Other’s
Appointments option, by entering a valid date in the format month/date/year, the
corresponding day’s appointments will be viewed in Day View. (Valid dates depend on
three fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12 inclusive. Valid days,
however, depend on both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.4
Edit an Existing Appointment
Notes:
 An appointment must exist in order to be edited.
 When selecting an appointment to edit, not all fields are displayed.
o Therefore, it is your responsibility to use view to make sure you
intimately familiar with the appointment you wish to edit before
executing the edit option from the main menu.
 Editing an appointment overwrites the edited appointment.
4.4.1 Choose Date
The Enter Date prompt within the Edit An Existing Appointment option, from here,
by entering a valid date in the format month/date/year, the date that was entered will be
the one edited, once the rest of the necessary prompts have been successfully answered.
(Valid dates depend on three fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12
inclusive. Valid days, however, depend on both the month and the year.)
16
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.4.2 Select Appointment
The Enter Appointment prompt within the Edit An Existing Appointment option,
from here, by selecting a valid appointment, corresponding appointment will be the one
that’s field will be edited. (Valid selections include 1 - N inclusive, where N is the
number of appointments on that day.)
4.4.3 Field to be Edited
The Enter Field prompt within the Edit An Existing Appointment option, from here,
by selecting a valid appointment field, corresponding appointment field will be the one
that’s will be edited. (Valid selections include 1 - 8 inclusive.)
4.4.4 Edit Rest of String
Notes:
 This prompt will only occur if the appointment is part of a string.
 This prompt will not occur if the selected field to be edited was the date.
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The Edit Rest of String option, from here, by selecting a valid option, the
corresponding course of editing the rest of the string is taken. (Valid responses include
“Y”, “y”, “Yes”, “YES”, “N”, “n”, “No”, or “NO”.)
 Yes – will edit the current appointment as well as all of the successive
appointments.
 No – will only edit the current appointment.
4.4.5.1 Edit Date
Notes:
 No two appointments in the same string can be edited to be on the same day.
o By choosing to do so you will break the string of appointments. This
option “allowed” but not supported or recommended by Team 5
Software. It will result in side effects that Team 5 Software is not
responsible for and the use will find unacceptable.
The Edit Date prompt within the Edit an Existing Appointment option, from here, by
entering a valid date in the format month/day/year, the date field of the current
appointment is set. (Valid dates depend on three fields: month, day, and year. Valid
months include 1 - 12 inclusive. Valid days, however, depend on both the month and the
year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.4.5.2 Edit Access Level
The Edit Access Level prompt within the Edit an Existing Appointment option, from
here, by selecting a valid option, the corresponding access level is set in the access level
field of the current appointment. (Valid responses include “public” or “private” the
default is public. Therefore, if an invalid response is entered, the Access Level is
assumed to be public)
 The Public Access Level allows colleagues to view and print the current
appointment.
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The Private Access Level does not allow colleagues to view and print the
current appointment.
4.4.5.3 Edit Start Time
The Edit Start Time prompt within the Edit an Existing Appointment option, from
here, by entering a valid start time in the format hours:minutes, the start time field of the
current appointment is set. (Valid Start Times must have the minutes field divisible by 5
and the minutes must be from 00 - 55 inclusive. Valid hours include 0 - 23 inclusive.)
4.4.5.4 Edit End Time
The Edit End Time prompt within the Edit an Existing Appointment option, from
here, by entering a valid end time in the format hours:minutes, the end time field of the
current appointment is set. . (Valid Start Times must have the minutes field divisible by
5 and the minutes must be from 05 - 55 - 00 inclusive. Valid hours include 0 - 24
inclusive. One other aspect to keep in mind is the fact that an End Time must occur after
the Start Time)
4.4.5.5 Edit Appointment Name
The Edit Appointment Name prompt within the Edit an Existing Appointment option,
from here, by entering a valid appointment name, the appointment name field of the
current appointment is set. (Valid Appointment Names may contain up to a total of 1 80 characters inclusive.)
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4.4.5.6 Edit Participant(s)
The Edit Participant(s) prompt within the Edit an Existing Appointment option, from
here, by entering valid participant(s), the participant(s) field of the current appointment is
set. (Valid Participant(s) may contain up to a total of 1 - 80 characters inclusive [this
includes commas]. If there is only one participant, then no comma is necessary. One
other aspect to keep in mind is that the Primary ABS User is assumed to be a participant.
Therefore, it is unnecessary to include him/her as a participant.)
Notes:
 A participant’s name may not include a comma.
 The edited participants field overwrites all previous participants.
4.4.5.7 Edit Location
The Edit Location option, from here, by entering valid location, the location field of
the current appointment is set. (Valid Locations may contain up to a total of 1 - 80
characters inclusive.)
4.4.5.8 Edit Description
The Edit Description option, from here, by entering valid description, the description
field of the current appointment is set. (Valid Descriptions may contain up to a total of 1
- 80 characters inclusive.)
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4.4.6 Confirmation
Notes:
 The confirmation prompt would correspond to the field to be edited.
The Confirmation prompt within the Edit An Existing Appointment option, from
here, by selecting a valid option, the corresponding save is executed. (Valid responses
include “Y”, “y”, “Yes”, “YES”, “N”, “n”, “No”, or “NO”.)
 Yes - saves the edit to the current appointment.
 No – does not save edit to the current appointment.
4.4.7 Conflict
Notes:
 If this appointment is a string, this prompt is displayed for every conflict
detected.
 The date the conflict was detected on will be displayed.
The Conflict prompt within the Edit An Existing Appointment option, from here, by
selecting a valid option, the corresponding save is executed. (Valid responses include
“Y”, “y”, “Yes”, “YES”, “N”, “n”, “No”, or “NO”.)
 Yes - saves the edit to the current appointment.
 No – does not save edit to the current appointment.
o If this is part of a string, the subsequent appointments will be saved.
However, all previous ones will be.
4.5
Delete an Existing Appointment
Notes:
 An appointment must exist in order to be deleted.
 When selecting an appointment to delete, not all fields are displayed.
o Therefore, it is your responsibility to use view to make sure you
intimately familiar with the appointment you wish to delete before
executing the delete option from the main menu.
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4.5.1 Choose Date
The Enter Date prompt within the Delete An Existing Appointment option, from here,
by entering a valid date in the format month/date/year, the date that was entered will be
the one edited, once the rest of the necessary prompts have been successfully answered.
(Valid dates depend on three fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12
inclusive. Valid days, however, depend on both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.5.2 Select Appointment
The Enter Appointment prompt within the Delete An Existing Appointment option,
from here, by selecting a valid appointment, corresponding appointment will be the one
that’s field will be edited. (Valid selections include 1 - N inclusive, where N is the
number of appointments on that day.)
4.5.6 Confirmation
The Confirmation prompt within the Delete An Existing Appointment option, from
here, by selecting a valid option, the corresponding save is executed. (Valid responses
include “Y”, “y”, “Yes”, “YES”, “N”, “n”, “No”, or “NO”.)
 Yes - saves the deletion to the current day’s appointments.
 No – does not save the deletion to the current day’s appointments.
22
4.5.7 Delete Rest of String
Notes:
 This prompt will only occur if the appointment is part of a string.
The Delete Rest of String option, from here, by selecting a valid option, the
corresponding course of deleting the rest of the string is taken. (Valid responses include
“Y”, “y”, “Yes”, “YES”, “N”, “n”, “No”, or “NO”.)
 Yes – will delete the current appointment as well as all of the successive
appointments.
 No – will only delete the current appointment.
4.6 Check For User Availability
Notes:
 Other appointment books must be present in the ABS execution directory for
the function to open files and compare free times.
4.6.1 Other User Names
The Get Colleague’s Filename prompt within the Availability option, by entering a
valid filename, the corresponding file’s contents will be used for the subsequent viewing
operations. (Valid External Appointment Filenames may contain up to a total of 1 - 76
characters inclusive. Also note that Team 5 does not guarantee the validity of .abs files
created by other means than ABS). The user should note that all of the colleague’s
appointments are used in this option, even those that may not be viewed.
Notes:
 You can enter up to 6 other user names to check free time against.
 Enter in only the username, such as martha, without the .abs file extension (if
the file was called martha.abs).
 When you are done entering in names and they have not yet reached the last
entry, you may press ctrl^e <enter> to denote that you are done entering
names to the system.
23
4.6.2 Start Date
The Enter Start Date prompt within the Availability option, from here, by entering a
valid date in the format month/day/year, the date field to begin testing for free time is set.
(Valid dates depend on three fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12
inclusive. Valid days, however, depend on both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.6.3 End Date
Notes:
 The end date must occur after the start date.
 The end date is inclusive.
The Enter End Date prompt within the Availability option, from here, by entering a
valid date in the format month/day/year, the date field to test up to is set. (Valid dates
depend on three fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12 inclusive.
Valid days, however, depend on both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
24
4.6.4 Output
The participants, dates and available meeting times are then displayed in
accordance to the information you entered.
4.7
Print Appointments
Notes:
 If no appointments exist, you will be printing an empty file.
 If you print to a file that already exists, the output is appended to the file.
Otherwise, a new file is created that contains the output.
4.7
Print Appointments
Notes:
 If no appointments exist, you will be printing an empty file.
 If you print to a file that already exists, the output is appended to the file.
Otherwise, a new file is created that contains the output.
4.7.1 Access Level
The Enter Access Level prompt within the Print Appointments option, from here, by
selecting a valid option, the corresponding access level’s appointments will be printed. .
(Valid responses include “public” or “all”.)
 The Public Access Level option allows only the public appointments to be
printed.
25

The All Access Level option allows both the public and the private
appointments to be printed.
4.7.2 Get Name of the File to Print to
The Get Name of the File to Print to prompt within the Print Appointments option, by
entering a valid filename, the corresponding file will be printed to using the subsequent
printing options. (Valid Names of Files to Print to may contain up to a total of 1 - 80
characters inclusive [this includes the necessary file extension] Also note that this file
cannot be used as a file for your colleagues to run with ABS.) The user should note that
if the entered file already exists, the appointment information is appended to this file.
Otherwise, a new file is created.
4.7.3 View Type
The Enter View Type prompt within the Print Appointments option, from here, by
selecting a valid option, the corresponding task will be executed. (Valid selections
include 1 - 3 inclusive.)
 Day View (1) prints the current day in day view format.
 Week View (2) prints the current week in week view format.
 Custom View (3) prints the appointments in day view from the start date to
the end date.
4.7.3.XChoose Date
The Enter Date prompt within the Print Appointments option, from here, by entering
a valid date in the format month/date/year, the date that was entered will be the one that
will have appointments printed from, once the rest of the necessary prompts have been
26
successfully answered. (Valid dates depend on three fields: month, day, and year. Valid
months include 1 - 12 inclusive. Valid days, however, depend on both the month and the
year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.7.3..3.1
Start Date
The Enter Start Date prompt within the Custom View part of the Print Appointments
option, from here, by entering a valid date in the format month/date/year, the
corresponding date will be the first printed in Day View. (Valid dates depend on three
fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12 inclusive. Valid days,
however, depend on both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.7.3..3.2
End Date
Notes:
 The end date must occur after the start date.
The Enter End Date prompt within the Custom View part of the Print Appointments
option, from here, by entering a valid date in the format month/date/year, the
corresponding date will be the last printed in Day View. (Valid dates depend on three
fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12 inclusive. Valid days,
however, depend on both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
27
4.7.4 Confirmation
The Confirmation prompt within the Print Appointments option, from here, by
selecting a valid option, the corresponding printing is executed.
 Yes – prints the selected appointments.
 No – does not print the selected appointments.
4.8
Print Other’s Appointments
Notes:
 Only the colleague’s public appointments are printed.
 If no appointments exist or if only private appointments exist, you will be
printing an empty file.
 If you print to a file that already exists, the output is appended to the file.
Otherwise, a new file is created that contains the output.
4.8.1 Get Colleague’s Filename
The Get Colleague’s Filename prompt within the Print Other’s Appointments option,
by entering a valid filename, the corresponding file’s contents will be used for the
subsequent viewing operations. (Valid External Appointment Filenames may contain up
to a total of 4 - 80 characters inclusive [this includes the necessary .abs extension] Also
note that Team 5 does not guarantee the validity of .abs files created by other means than
ABS) The user should note that only the colleague’s public appointments may be
printed.
4.8.2 Get Name of the File to Print to
The Get Name of the File to Print to prompt within the Print Other’s Appointments
option, by entering a valid filename, the corresponding file will be printed to using the
subsequent printing options. (Valid Names of Files to Print may contain up to a total of 1
- 80 characters inclusive [this includes the necessary file extension] Also note that this
28
file cannot be used as a file for your colleagues to run with ABS.) The user should note
that if the entered file already exists, the appointment information is appended to this file.
Otherwise, a new file is created.
4.8.3 View Type
The Enter View Type prompt within the Print Other’s Appointments option, from
here, by selecting a valid option, the corresponding task will be executed. (Valid
selections include 1 - 3 inclusive.)
 Day View (1) prints the current day in day view format.
 Week View (2) prints the current week in week view format.
 Custom View (3) prints the appointments in day view from the start date to
the end date.
4.8.3.XChoose Date
The Enter Date prompt within the Print Other’s Appointments option, from here, by
entering a valid date in the format month/date/year, the date that was entered will be the
one that will have appointments printed from, once the rest of the necessary prompts have
been successfully answered. (Valid dates depend on three fields: month, day, and year.
Valid months include 1 - 12 inclusive. Valid days, however, depend on both the month
and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
29
4.8.3..3.1
Start Date
The Enter Start Date prompt within the Custom View part of the Print Other’s
Appointments option, from here, by entering a valid date in the format month/date/year,
the corresponding date will be the first printed in Day View. (Valid dates depend on
three fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12 inclusive. Valid days,
however, depend on both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
4.8.3..3.2
End Date
Notes:
 The end date must occur after the start date.
The Enter End Date prompt within the Custom View part of the Print Other’s
Appointments option, from here, by entering a valid date in the format month/date/year,
the corresponding date will be the last printed in Day View. (Valid dates depend on three
fields: month, day, and year. Valid months include 1 - 12 inclusive. Valid days,
however, depend on both the month and the year.)
Note: Dates other than those from 1 Jan 4713 BC to 31 Dec 4999 AD inclusive are
not guaranteed to work correctly. Years AD are entered as positive numbers, whereas
years BC are entered as negative numbers. There is no year 0 AD, it goes from 1 BC to 1
AD. Thus a year of 0 will be treated as 1 BC.
30
4.8.4 Confirmation
The Confirmation prompt within the Print Other’s Appointments option, from here,
by selecting a valid option, the corresponding printing is executed.
 Yes – prints the selected appointments.
 No – does not print the selected appointments.
4.9
Exit
The Confirmation prompt within the Exit option, from here, by selecting a valid
option, the corresponding option is executed. (Valid responses include “Y”, “y”, “Yes”,
“YES”, “N”, “n”, “No”, or “NO”.)


Yes – exits the ABS program.
No – does not exit the ABS program. Returns user to Main Menu.
5.0 Errors and Failures
Through Team 5’s testing ABS has not been found to behave erroneously.
Notes:
 Although no errors were discovered during the testing phase of ABS, all
situations were unwanted behavior (a deviation from the desired result could
change) may occur have been documented in section 4.0, User Options.
31
6.0
Glossary
ABS – Appointment Book Software, the acronym of our software product.
Access Level – The level of access for an appointment. An appointment can be
either public (see Public Access Level) or private (see Private Access Level).
Appointment – An appointment consists of Access Level, Start Time, End Time,
Appointment Name, Participants, Description, Location, and a Date. It may
reoccur on a daily, weekly, monthly, or annual basis, with given bounds on
these reoccurrences.
Appointment Name.
Day View – Mode of display which shows all fields for all Appointments on a
selected day.
D-Day – The day the final product demo day, which will be between May 6 and
May 17, 2002.
Description – The Appointment field which serves as a long text description of
the appointment.
End Time – The time when an Appointment ends. It must occur on a five
minute resolution between 0:05 and 24:00 on the same day as the Start Time.
Escape Sequence – The key sequence which may be entered at many prompts
throughout ABS that allows the user to return to the Main Menu and discard
any changes made during the current process. The escape sequence is <ctl> B
<enter>
Location – The Appointment field which holds the physical location of an
Appointment.
Main Menu – The menu from which all processes begin including Create A New
Appointment, View Appointments, View Other’s Appointments, Edit An Existing
Appointment, Delete An Existing Appointment, Check For User Availability, An
Existing Appointment, Print Appointments To A File, Print Other’s Appointments
To A File, Exit)
Month View – The mode of display which shows all days of a selected month
along with the number of appointments scheduled for each day. . It allows for
a user to access Day View for a more detailed view of a specific day.
Participants – The Appointment field that holds a comma delimited list of all
the people who will be at the given appointment. This field is used during the
check for availability.
Primary User – The user whose login name matches that stored in the internal
appointment book file in a specific copy of ABS. Only one primary ABS user is
allowed per Linux username. Only the primary user may create, delete, and
edit appointments, or check for availability.
Private Access Level – This Access Level allows the associated Appointment to
be viewed / printed only by the primary user.
Public Access Level - This Access Level allows the associated Appointment to
be viewed / printed by all users, not just the Primary User.
Repetition Level – The level to which appointments repeat either None, Daily,
Weekly, Monthly, Yearly)
32
Start Time - The time when an Appointment begins. It must occur on a five
minute resolution between 0:00 and 23:55 on the same day as the End Time.
String of Appointments – a series of appointments that are scheduled to
repeat on some Repetition Level.
Team 5 – A four member team dedicated to the cultivation of the perfect ABS
User – Anyone using ABS. This includes the Primary User as well as any other
users who access files which they cannot change, but may view.
View Type – The mode of display the user wishes to employ to see
appointments currently scheduled. One of either Day View, Week View, or
Month View.
View Type Menu – Menu which allows a user to select a View Type.
Week View – Mode of display which shows the Appointment Name, Start Time,
and End Time for all Appointments in a specific week, grouped by days. It
allows for a user to access Day View for a more detailed view of a specific day.
33
7.0 Appendices
7.1 Appendix A – “Read Me First”
Greeting Team-5 Customer,
Team-5 would like to thank you for purchasing Appointment Book Software
(ABS) and congratulate you on your choice of vendors. Clearly, you recognize
superior workmanship when you see it.
Before you build ABS, or even think of all the wonderful things you can do
with ABS, make sure you have the following files, or an archive containing them
(abs.tar.gz):
 AppExceptions.h
 Appointment.h
 Date.C
 LinkedList.cpp
 absAux.h
 AppTime.C
 AppointmentBook.C
 Date.h
 LinkedList.h
 AppTime.h
 AppointmentBook.h
 Delete.C
 Makefile
 dsexceptions.h
 Appointment.C
 Create.C
 Edit.C
 Others.C
 abs.xsd
 install
 Installation.txt
Also, make sure you have the user manual. Using ABS without reading
the Manual is done so at your own risk.
If you have all these source files, or an archive containing them
(abs.tar.gz) then continue on to the installation instructions. The installation
instructions can be found in the file Installation.txt.
34
7.2 Appendix B – Installation Instructions
Team 5 Software
Appointment Book Software (ABS)
ABS Installation Instructions
----------------------------1) Copy the file abs.tar.gz from the ABS CD or other media which ABS was
delivered on, into the directory you wish to install it to.
2) Unzip and detar the files by entering:
gunzip abs.tar.gz
tar -xvf abs.tar
3) Enter the abs directory by entering:
cd abs
4) run the Install program by entering:
./install
5) ABS can now be run by entering the command:
abs
----------------------------------------------------------------"Waiting 8 minutes to build the Perfect ABS is just too long"
35
7.3 Appendix C – Administrator Manual
ABS
Administrator Manual
v. 1.0
Team 5 Software
36
Table of Contents
1.0 System Overview
Page 38
2.0 Administration
2.1 Technical Notes
2.2 ABS File Storage Format
2.3 Administrator Activities
Page 38
Page 38
Page 38
Page 39
3.0 Error Conditions
Page 40
37
1.0 System Overview
The ABS system was built to provide users with a convenient way of keeping
track of daily appointments, meetings, tasks, etc. It allows users to create, view, edit,
save, and delete appointments. For full user functionality, see User Manual.
Since the ABS system is personal software, the user of the ABS program shall
also be the administrator of the software. This means all administrative tasks, including
backups and appointment file cleaning, shall be performed by the primary user.
ABS runs one session at a time, thus it is not critical to have a 24 hour uptime.
Each session is run, tasks are performed and the data is saved.
2.0 Administration
2.1 Technical Notes
-ABS is only to be installed and ran on a Linux operating environment. Failure to do so
may cause the system not to function correctly.
-ABS is only to be installed and ran on an x86 compatible chip architecture. Failure to do
so may cause the system not to function correctly.
-The <username>.abs file is never to be manually edited, except in extreme cases!
Failure to follow this rule may cause the system not to function correctly.
-ABS must be installed on a system with a C++ compatible compiler and an installed
make utility.
2.2 ABS File Storage Format
Here is a sample file format with line descriptions:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Appointments>
<UniqueApps>1</UniqueApps>
<ap>
<apid>1</apid>
<aL>public</aL>
<sTime>10:00</sTime>
<eTime>10:30</eTime>
<Name>Test</Name>
<Par>Bill</Par>
<Par>Bob</Par>
<Des>Fun</Des>
<Loc>Room</Loc>
<Date>1/1/2003</Date>
<DateP>1/1/2003</DateP>
<DateN>1/1/2003</DateN>
<Rep>N</Rep>
</ap>
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
//
File header – Always present
Start of appointment block
# of unique appointments (strings count as one)
Start of an appointment description
Appointment ID number – should be unique
Access level
Appointment start time
Appointment end time
Appointment name
Appointment participants
The 2nd appointment participant
Appointment description
Appointment location
Date of appointment
Previous date
Next date
Repetition level
End appointment tag
38
</Appointments>
// End appointment block tag
All appointments should follow this format. All tags should appear as above and
have both open and closing tags.
This file description is provided only to give the administrator an idea of the
contents of the .abs file. If a major unanswerable appointment error occurs, the .abs file
may be viewed and checked for correctness against this template. Any editing is highly
discouraged and errors after editing the .abs file can not be accounted for.
2.3 Administrator Activities
Before the first time use of the ABS system, an environment variable USER must
be set to the user’s login name. To do so, type “setenv USER=<username>” where
<username> is the user’s login name.
All appointments are stored in a file located in the ABS execution directory called
<username>.abs where the <username> is the login name of the user. ABS has been
heavily tested for anomalous behavior, but periodic backups of the appointment file
should be made anyway. Team 5 Software recommends backing the appointment file up
every 2 weeks. To do so, simply copy the file to a .bak file. Example: cp username.abs
username.bak. This will place a backup file username.bak in the directory. If any file
recoveries are needed, simply rename username.bak to username.abs.
As a user and administrator of the system, you are responsible for keeping your
appointment book tidy. Deletion of old appointments and unused appointments is left up
to the discretion of the user/administrator.
3.0 Error Conditions
All error messages encountered in the ABS program give information on what the
cause of the error was. Great care was taken to either warn the user and continue on or
exit the system ‘gracefully’.
Upon Installation
-If environment produces an error of “make: command not found”, the make utility is not
installed as requested. Please install a make utility.
-If ABS fails to compile, one of the following may have occurred:
-You do not have a compiler installed or the compiler is not C++ compatible, as
required. Please install a C++ compatible compiler.
-You are not running on a Linux environment. Please only run ABS under Linux.
-You are not running an x86 compatible CPU. Please only run ABS on an x86
compatible CPU.
-You are missing library files for you C++ compiler. Make sure all standard files
are present in your compiler install.
-If ABS fails to run after compilation:
-You are not running on a Linux environment. Please only run ABS under Linux.
-You are not running an x86 compatible CPU. Please only run ABS on an x86
compatible CPU.
39
-Your USER variable is not set. Please set your environmental USER variable.
While Running
-If at any point you are given an “Invalid” something prompt, you have made an invalid
entry to the system. You will be given a chance to re enter the data.
40