Many people have responded to HandyShopper over E-mail, and the response has been overwhelmingly favorable (also, there were several good suggestions for v2.0, many of which I will probably implement). I received several offers to go commercial: HandyShopper will remain FREEWARE, since I am not interested in receiving any remuneration for it other than postcards (my wife says my office is too bare, so I'm going to hang up in my office the postcards I receive <grin>).

A big "Thank You" to everyone who has sent a postcard, you've sent some really great cards (and my list of desirable vacation spots is growing, too)! To the rest of you, any card is cool; my favorites are scenic views of whereever you are from (or someplace you've visited and really liked), or cards that are somehow unique.

Release Notes for v1.6, 03/30/99

• NEW: On OS 3.0 or higher, you can choose which font to use in the table view.
• NEW: Allows you to select "None" for the aisle (this shows up in the view as a blank, instead of "0").
• NEW: Maximum aisle has been raised from 99 to 200.
• NEW: Improved stability, and in a few minor places improved speed, too.
• NEW: Due to popular request, the Details page has been improved in several ways (including: it now has a Coupon checkbox, and the title shows the name of the item being edited).
• FIXED: v1.05 would crash if you tried to restore the Palm device after a Hard Reset. This was due to an inappropriate optimization setting I had turned on in the CodeWarrior compiler. This was not the same problem as the crash that was fixed in v1.02, but the symptoms were the same. Turning off the compiler option fixed the problem.
• FIXED: The Gremlins test tool pointed out several bugs in HandyShopper, all of which have been fixed. One of them was so difficult to track down that I decided to rewrite a large part of the table code. The new code is much more stable (I copied it directly from the source code for the Palm ToDo app, with only very minor modifications -- by the way, Palm officially states it is perfectly legal to reuse their source code in 3rd party apps as long as the app is written for the Palm Computing Platform).
• FIXED/NEW: In v1.05, writing graffiti to create a new item was upper-casing both the first and second characters. I fixed this, but then a user convinced me that it makes more sense for writing graffiti to automatically do the Lookup. So in v1.6, writing graffiti with nothing selected in the view now does the Lookup.
• FIXED: Upgrading from v1.04 accidentally reset the preferences.
• FIXED: The boldface fix in v1.05 was incorrect. It boldfaced any store that had any items, instead of any store that had needed items. The first time you run v1.6 it will automatically recalculate the boldfacing (and get it right this time).
• FIXED: Reinstalling a database was deleting all associations between items and stores. Oops, that is particularly embarrassing. Thanks to Finno Aglen for telling me about this! (Fixed by removing some out-of-date code that should have been removed in the original v1.0)

Release Notes for v1.05, 12/12/98

• NEW: IMPORT FROM MEMOPAD.
• NEW: EXPORT TO MEMOPAD supports memos up to 32kb. Also lets you optionally export the Quantity, Price, and Aisle fields.
• NEW: Create new items just by writing in the graffiti area, just like the built-in apps.
• NEW: If you assign HandyShopper to one of the four app buttons, then pressing that button while HS is already running cycles through the categories like the built-in apps do.
• FIXED: Switching to a different category in the main view didn't reset to the top of the list, so sometimes not all the items in that category appeared in the view.
• FIXED: The boldface store names could get out of sync. Now, the first time you run v1.05, it will recalculate the boldfacing. If they get out of sync again (not likely anymore, due to various fixes in v1.04), you can tell HS to recalculate the boldfacing by going to the Preferences form and tapping the Reset button -- this does not reset the Pilot, it only resets your preferences.
• FIXED: Tapping New, then immediately tapping the Up button would crash.
• FIXED: Descriptions more than 10 lines high resized the description field to 11 lines, which caused bad drawing (and some errors on the PalmOS Emulator).
• FIXED: Various forms could leak memory under certain conditions.
• FIXED: Using the Edit menu in the main view when no item was selected crashed.

Release Notes for v1.04

• FIXED: Down button with no items would crash.
• FIXED: The system Find command was finding private items even if they were hidden.
• FIXED: If the last item had more lines than were visible, the Down scroll button was not able to scroll it fully into view.
• NEW: Prices are right-justified.
• NEW: Up/Down buttons scroll by a page at a time.

Release Notes for v1.02

• FIXED: After a hard reset, trying to reinstall a backup copy of the HandyShopper database would crash.
• FIXED: Checking off an item when its name was blank deleted that item, plus the following item. If there were no more items, it would crash.
  
• HandyShopper 1.02 will now refuse to start on a PalmOS 1.x device (it has many crashes on OS 1.x devices because it uses several OS 2.x features).

Release Notes for v1.01

• FIXED: Using the DOWN button could crash.
• FIXED: The Details form could sometimes crash on the Palm3, but not on the Palm2.
• FIXED: In the Stores form, using the Edit menu caused a crash.
• FIXED: Prices did not respect the system number format preference. (an oversight; I meant to hook that up before releasing 1.0)
• FIXED: Lookup worked in reverse order.
• FIXED: Holding the DOWN button when already at the end of the list made the list flicker.

More information on the bugs and their respective fixes can be found near the beginning of the Shop.C source file.

HandyShopper is free for anyone to use. No one may sell it, lease it, rent it, or otherwise charge or collect fees for it.

Please feel free to send a postcard to:

Disclaimer: By using HandyShopper, you agree that in no way can I be held responsible for anything bad (or good) that happens as a result of using (or abusing) HandyShopper. When you use it, you do so at your own risk. It works great for me, but your mileage may vary.

HandyShopper helps keep track of your shopping list(s) for you.

You can add into HandyShopper all the things you commonly shop for, and just check off which ones you need to buy, then go shopping and check them off your list as you buy them. Couldn't be simpler!

First, make sure the "Need" tab at the top is highlighted in black.

Tap the New button to add new items to your list. You'll notice a checkbox appears on the left, with a dotted underline next to it (this is where you enter a description of the item, for instance "Batteries - AAA").

Add as many items as you wish. When you go shopping, HandyShopper shows your list of items you need (notice the tab at the top which says Need; this tab should be selected, or black).

As you purchase items on your list, check them off. They will disappear from your list. The item is not necessarily deleted from your list, though; if an item is marked as One Time Only then it is deleted when you check it off, otherwise it is merely filtered from the Need view, since it is no longer needed.

Next time you need to go shopping, select the All tab and the items you've gone shopping for before will be listed. Just mark which items you need this time (tap the box to the left of the item so it gets a checkmark in it). Now select the Need tab to show your shopping list, and you're ready to go!

For more information, and to make use of HandyShopper's other useful features, see HandyShopper's Features and How to Use Them.

For instance, you can have up to 15 stores, and mark an item as being available in any or all of those stores. As you might expect, you can see your entire shopping list, or you can limit it to one store at a time. You can categorize items, too (for instance, I have a Wife Gift Ideas category, and a Groceries category). Just like the PalmPilot's To Do List and Memo List, you can see all items at once, or just one category at a time. And much more!

To change various settings (such as which columns are displayed, and other settings) you can tap the Menu circle next to the graffiti area, and choose Options and then Preferences.

Figure 1

"i" — You can tap the "i" in the top left corner to display some quick reminders on how to use HandyShopper.

All / Need / C — These three tabs filter which items are displayed. When All is selected, all items are listed. When Need is selected, only items that are marked as needed are displayed (this is your list of needed items that you intend to purchase). When C is selected, only items that are needed and for which you have coupons are listed. To mark down that you need to buy a particular item, select All and find the item in the list (you can use the lookup feature, described below). Once you've found the item, check the box to the left of the item. This puts the item on your shopping list. When the Need tab is selected and you use the New button (described below) to add a new item to the list, the new item is automatically marked as needed.

Categories — in the top right corner is a dropdown list where you can select a category to show. This works just like the category dropdown in the PalmPilot's built-in Address Book, Memo Pad, and To Do List.

Stores — Just below the All/Need/C tabs is the Stores dropdown. Many items on a shopping list may be available at more than one store. HandyShopper therefore allows you to have up to 15 stores, and you can check off the stores at which each item is available. To see all the items on your shopping list, select All Stores from the Stores dropdown. Or, you can select a specific store; then only the items which are available at that store are listed. If a store has one or more items which you currently need, the store's name is shown in bold in the list of stores. Any store which doesn't have items you need is shown in normal type.

Figure 2

The Columns — There are several optional columns that can be displayed (you can turn them on or off by choosing Options/Preferences from the menu). Figure 2 shows all seven columns turned on. From left to right, the columns are Need, Name, Quantity, Coupon, Aisle, Category, and Price.

• Need checkbox — when the All tab is selected, this box can be checked to put it on your list of needed items. When the Need or C tabs are selected, checking this box indicates you have purchased the item and the item is removed from the list (the item is still in the All list, in case you need it again later - note: if you mark the item as One Time Only then it really does get deleted from your list).
• Name field — here you can enter a description of the item (for example, "Batteries").
• Quantity — tap here to note how many of this item you need (for an 8-pack of AAA batteries you would set the quantity to "1". If you need two packs, you would set the quantity to "2").
• Coupon checkbox — check this box if you have a coupon for the item. You can select the C tab to list the items you need buy and have coupons for.
• Aisle — tap here to note the aisle where this item can be found. You can sort your list by aisle number to help make your shopping trip take less time.
• Category — tap here to set the category for the item.
• Price field — here you can enter the price for one item (for instance, an 8-pack of batteries is one item and probably costs $5.99). When you tap the $ button, HandyShopper will multiply the quantity and price and show you the total cost of the items on your list.

New — Tap the New button to add items to your list. When the All tab is selected, new items are added to your master list, but are not marked as currently needed (this is the best way to enter a store's stock into HandyShopper for future use). When the All tab is selected, you can put an item on your "current shopping list" by checking the box to the its left. When the Need or C tab is selected, new items are automatically marked as needed (the checkbox to the left will be empty when the Need tab is selected; check the box when you've purchased the item and the item will disappear from the list).

Details — This button pops up the Details dialog, where you can mark at which stores the item is available, set the category, and mark the item as One Time Only, or Private.

Lookup (L: ...........) — Tap here and enter text to look up. The first item that matches what you enter here will be highlighted.

Setting up Stores — You can have up to 15 stores. The list of stores can be customized by choosing Options/Edit Stores from the menu.

Other Preferences — The other settings for HandyShopper can be changed by choosing Options/Preferences from the menu.

• Show Quantity, Coupon, Aisle, Category, Price — check or uncheck these to control which columns are shown in the views.
• New items are "One Time Only" — this controls whether new items default to being "one time only". An item that is "one time only" automatically gets deleted when you check it off in the Need view. Normally items disappear from the view, but do not get deleted (they can be seen again by changing to the All view).
• Automatically reset quantities — when this is checked, HandyShopper will reset the quantity field to 0 when an item is checked off in the Need view, or will set the quantity to 1 when an item is checked in the All view.
• Round prices to whole numbers — when prices are displayed in the view, this option will round them to the nearest whole dollar amount. The prices are stored as the exact amount, but are rounded in the display.
• Font — this lets you select which font to use in the views. This option only appears on devices with PalmOS 3.0 or higher.
• Reset button — this resets the boldfacing of the store names in the view. In the Stores dropdown, any store with Needed items is supposed to be shown in boldface. If the stores do not appear to be correctly boldfaced, tap this Reset button to recalculate which stores should be boldfaced.

Exporting to MemoPad:

1. Tap the Menu area next to the graffiti area.
2. Select "Options", then "Export to MemoPad..."
3. Check the optional fields that you wish to include in the exported list.
4. Tap the "Export" button.

1. Tap the Menu area next to the graffiti area.
2. Select "Options", then "Import from MemoPad..."
3. Select the memo from which to import the list.
4. Tap the "Import" button.

Memo Format for Importing

Format 1: Bullet Marks

1. Each item begins with a bullet mark, which is either a dash ('-') or the bullet character (the graffiti stroke is backslash, dot), followed by a space.
2. Next comes the Quantity, which is a number followed by '@'. (This field is optional; if you omit it, the quantity is set to 0).
3. Next is the Price, which may or may not begin with a '$'. (This field is optional; if you omit it, the price is set to $0).
4. Next is the Aisle, which must be 'a:' followed by a number (for instance, 'a:3' means aisle 3). (This field is optional; if you omit it, the aisle is set to 1).
5. Anything following the above fields is put into the Name field. Line breaks are considered to be part of the Name field, unless they are immediately followed by a bullet character (or dash).

Format 2: No Bullet Marks

Known Limitations

• If you export a list, make some changes, and import it again, the imported items are ADDED to your list. This means that you will now have duplicate copies of each item that you exported and then imported. You can use the "Purge for Import..." command to delete all the items from the current view, and then import the list. Note, the "current view" is filtered to show only All, Needed, or Coupon items from the current store and current category.
• You can put bullet characters in the description of an item. But if you export the list, and then import it again, the bullet characters may be interpreted as new items instead of as part of the description. To avoid this, make sure that the bullet character does not immediately follow a line break.
• Not all fields can be exported. Only the Quantity, Price, Aisle, and Description can be exported. There is currently no way to export which stores an item is associated with.

I am no longer including the source code for HandyShopper. However, it is still freely available. If you want it, just e-mail me and ask for it (I will e-mail you a .ZIP file containing the full source, which may or may not compile for you depending on what tools you have available).

When I was starting to program for the PalmPilot, it seemed the big question on the newsgroups was "how do I program tables?". It's very hard to find good source code for programming tables. I've done lots of interesting stuff with tables, and my code is not entirely uncommented, so maybe you'll find it useful.

HandyShopper was originally created using the Win32 GCC 0.50 PalmPilot SDK (but its makefile is intended for use with the NMake from Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0 or higher). I now use CodeWarrior R5 to compile it, but I still use PilRC to compile the resources, and I use the RCPalm post-linker (which I wrote) to link the resources into the .PRC file.

If you find the source code helpful, I'd like to know! Please mail me a postcard. Alternatively you can email me, but remember to send that postcard!