Abitus
The shareware Relational PIM for Windows
Flexible Address Book with phone dialer and phone log history.
General Database with 99 user-definable fields.
Hypertext navigation between records.
Try it for free!
Abitus is a Relational PIM with flexible Address Book, phone dialer, phone log history and General
Database with 99 user-definable fields.
Address Book features:
- Holds thousands of entries.
- 1 predefined data-entry Form with useful fields.
- 20 user-definable Forms, each with 20 user-definable fields.
- Freely, randomly, you can add up to 99 user-definable fields to any record.
- Forms allow links between Records for hypertext capability
Contact features:
- Creates and saves notes for phone dialogs.
- Keeps call history records for every interlocutor storing comments, date, time and duration for
every dialog.
- Automatically launches the Calendar for appointments.
- Works with tone or pulse phones.
- Auto-redials busy numbers.
- Receives parameters for dialing time and time between redials.
General Database features:
- Predefined data-entry Forms for Persons, Collections, Inventories.
- 40 user-definable Forms, each with 20 user-definable fields.
- Uses any Form or Record as Template for new Forms.
- Holds Link Fields for hypertext capability.
- Makes Backups.
- Imports .DBF files.
Hypertext features:
- Makes meaningful links between records to navigate between Records as Web pages.
- Jumps through record links giving you a multidimensional database.
Businessmen keep information on clients, doctors on patients, principals on teachers, teachers on
students, students on matters. Lawyers keep opinions, notes with references. Customer services
keep Questions and Answers...
If you are a professional, a business person or run a house hold, there are tons of information to
keep:
- Names and addresses.
- Contracts, contract clauses or contractual terms.
- Technical terms referenced and explained.
- Policies, practices, slogans, concepts.
- Letters, reports, newspaper articles.
- Customer records.
- Lists of clients, products, prices.
- Inventories.
- Membership lists.
- Random ideas.
If you put all this information into a file cabinet or a desk drawer, you can't find it quickly.
Some times you can't find it at all!
Abitus is a flexible container made to keep all your important information.
Information is useful only if you can find it when you need it.
Abitus will store all your data, access it, edit it, import text to it, export it, print it out and link it.
Abitus permits users to create records as short as a few words or as long as 99 fields in a flexible
manner. A record can have a few words of information up to Megabytes of data.
Don't accept Information Managers with fixed fields. With Abitus you can define your own fields.
Unlike other structured Address Book/PIM programs Abitus is not limited to fields determined by
the software authors. Now, you can define fields for any property you need. More phones,
addresses, fax, spouse name, URL, notes, etc. You can add up to 99 fields.
You can use the predefined data-entry Forms as templates to create up to 40 data-entry Forms.
Make your own data-entry Forms mixing predefined and user-defined fields in any combination to
keep records about contacts, customers, partners, companies, employees, friends, family,
products, parts, books, CDs, movies, recipes, or any collection. Make records for your house, car,
computer...well, 40 different data-entry Forms gives you 40 record types.
Abitus allows you to make meaningful Links between records.
Meaningful Links add knowledge to Records by expressing real relations between real people,
entities, events or things.
Easily, make links expressing professional or personal relations, ownership, relationships, cross-
references...
Link your personal record with contact's records, contact's records with company's records, your
computer's record with the dealer's record, with the service's record.
Link teachers with classes,
news with sources, ideas with authors, any record with any records.
Your database will express all the useful relations that you need remember.
Links become hypertext functions to find and navigate your data by double clicking.
Never again will you be looking all over for important data. Clear away the pieces of information
scattered all over the place. Clean up your desk and your mind and see how your productivity
grows.
If information is vital and quick access is the key to success then Abitus is for you!
- From the Program Manager, click File and select Run.
- In the run dialog box, type the name and directory of the Install program. For example:
- If you have the program in drive A: type a:install.
- If you have the program in a directory, e.g., C:\TEMP\ type c:\temp\install
- Follow the on-screen prompts of the installation program.
Install will now install all the necessary files onto your system. That is all.
To run Abitus, double click on the Abitus icon in Program Manager.
After starting up Abitus, you can view additional help by selecting Help from the menu.
Abitus is an easy way to keep track of any information and using it is the best way to find out what
the program does and how it best suits your needs. Below are all the instructions for every
function.
Adding Records
Abitus works on the paradigm of records and fields. A record is a description of something and
fields are the properties describing it, for example, Name, Phone, Type, Size, Location, etc.
At each record, the column at the left is for the names of the fields. The wider column on the right
is for the text (content) of each field.
Each record can contain up to 99 fields, each field can be up to 3000 characters long, and you
can have as many records as will fit onto your hard disk.
Adding Records by Form (the fast way to add records)
If you are repeatedly adding a particular type of records, the better way is using a data-entry Form.
To add a Record using the Person Form:
- Open the Person Form choosing Form from the Open menu.
- Click on the Person Form and click on the OK button.
- Fill in the wanted fields and then click on the OK button. That's all.
When you click on the Add Record button the current data-entry Form will be opened. Next time
you need the Person Form, only click on the Add Record button.
To make a new form see Adding Forms.
Adding Records Field by Field (the free way to add records)
Use this option to enter atypical records, without data entry forms.
- From the Add menu, choose Record Field by Field.
- Fill in the left box with the Field's name. For example, First Name.
- Press Tab key.
- Fill in the right box with the Field's content. For example, John.
- Click on OK button or press Control-Enter keys.
- Repeat the above steps to add as many fields as you like.
Adding Fields
When you need to add information to a particular record (Address, Phone, Color, etc.) feel free to
make any number or type of fields.
To add a Field to the current Record:
- Click on Add Field button.
- Fill in the left box with the Field's name. For example, Color.
- Press Tab key.
- Fill in the right box with the Field's content. For example, Blue.
- Click on OK button or press Control-Enter keys.
- You can add more fields or exit clicking on OK or Cancel buttons or pressing Control-Enter or
Escape keys.
Adding Links
A Link is a connection between two records that permits jumps between Records by double
clicking.
A Fast Link is described simply as...a Link.
A Meaningful Link permits to describe with a word the Relation expressed by the Link. For
example, Father, Author, Teacher, Dealer, Reference, etc.
To add a Fast Link:
- Click on Fast Link button.
- Fill in the right Box with the Field's content of the Record to link.
- Click on OK button.
- You can add more Links or exit clicking on OK or Cancel buttons or pressing Control-Enter or Escape keys.
To add a Meaningful Link:
- From the Add menu, choose Field or Link.
- Fill in the left Box with a word representing the Relation. For example, Boss.
- Fill in the right Box with a Field's content of the Record to link. For example, Jones.
- Click on Link button.
- Click on OK button.
- You can add more Links or exit clicking on OK or Cancel buttons or pressing Control-Enter or Escape keys.
Adding Forms
To store frequently entered records, make a special Entry Form for them.
- From the Add menu, choose Form.
- Select a template for the new Form. The template can be an existing Form, the current Record or an empty Form.
- Click on OK button.
- Fill in the first right box with the name for the new Form. For example, Company Form.
- Press Tab key.
- At any left box you can add, edit or delete a Field's name. For example, Last Name, Address, Fax, Color.
- At any right box you can:
- to leave it empty to be filled at data entry time or
- to fill in its content, to be stored automatically at data entry time.
- If you put a colon ( : ) at the beginning of the Field's content the Field will be considered as a Link.
- Click on OK button to save the new data-entry Form.
Adding Incoming-call Records
When you receive a phone call and need to register the dialog:
- From the Add menu, choose Incoming call Record.
- Fill in the "Dialog with:" Box with the first name or last name of the calling person.
- Use the next box to describe or comment the dialog.
- If you make an appointment press the Appointment button.
The call log will be appended to the call history of that person.
Adding Databases
To import records from a Xbase database (.DBF) to Abitus:
- From the Add menu, choose Database.
- Select the wanted database from the dialog box and click on OK button.
That's all. The database will be appended to Abitus files.
Configuring the Modem
If your modem is on other port than COM2 choose Modem from the Configure menu and select
the right port.
Editing
To edit any Field:
- Click on it and then choose Edit from the Edit Menu.
- Modify the text on the opened box and click on OK button.
Making Calls
- Type in the name or last name of the person or entity to call and press Enter.
- The record will be showed.
- To specify other than the first phone number, click on it.
- Click on the Dial button.
- Press the pick up button when your call is answered.
- The notepad will be ready.
- If you make an appointment press the Appointment button.
Viewing Information
There are two basic ways to view the stored information, by Record or List of Records.
Viewing a Record
You can view a record by simply typing the content of one of its fields, for example, John, and then
pressing Enter.
You can view a record by double clicking on it where the record is referenced with a Link. (As web pages)
The record will be showed as a List of Fields.
The column at the left is for the names of the fields. The wider column on the right is for the text
(content) of each field.
Viewing Lists of Records
To View Lists by Field:
By double clicking on a Field you will get the list of all the Records with this Field. For example, if
you click on the Field "First Name" you will get the List of all the records containing a First Name, if you click on the Field's
content "John" you will get the List of all the "John" records.
By double clicking on any record in a List you will get that record in a Record View.
To view the List of all the records having a Link to the current Record:
- Click on List Links button.
To view the List of all the records on the database:
- From the View menu, List of all the Records.
Viewing Calls histories
To view the Dialog history of one person:
- Type in the name or last name of the person or entity and press Enter to view the Record.
- The record will be showed.
- Double click on the content of the Field "Dialog history".
- The Dialog history record will be showed.
- The Dialog history record contains links to each individual dialog log.
- To view any dialog log, double click on it.
- Each dialog log stores Category (Incoming-Outgoing), Date, Time, Duration, Note and a link to
the interlocutor's record.
Thanks to Kagi Company, you can register Abitus by E-mail, Phone, Fax or On-line (WWW).
Kagi is an Internet based mail order sales company that specializes in the sale of software. They
accept credit cards, cash from many countries, US checks and First Virtual payments. Kagi
handles all aspects of paying for and registering Abitus. So, paying for Abitus is fairly simple.
To register On-line at the Kagi's Secure Web site, simply click here!
To register by phone, dial...
To register by other means, open the Register option within Abitus:
You will be prompted to enter your name, your email address, and the number and type of user
licenses you need.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS, select the Postcard Receipt option and enter your COMPLETE postal address, so that Kagi can inform you of your registration code to enter your name as licensed user.
The program will make an encrypted form with your confidential data.
If paying with Credit Card or First Virtual, you can email or fax the form to Kagi.
Payments sent via email are processed within 3 to 4 days. Payments sent via fax take up to 10 days.
You can pay with a wide variety of cash from different countries but at present if you pay via check,
it must be a check drawn in US Dollars.
Payments send via postal mail take time to reach Kagi and then up to 10 days for processing.
If you are paying with Cash or USD Check you should print the data using the Register option and
send it to the address shown on the form, which is:
Kagi
1442-A Walnut Street #392-MN
Berkeley, California 94709-1405
USA
One $15 single-user registered copy of Abitus may be dedicated to a single person or to a single
computer.
One $300 site license covers a single organization for an area of up to one hundred miles (160
km) in radius.
One $1900 world-wide license covers everyone in a single organization.
By using or distributing the Shareware Version of Abitus you agree to the following terms and
conditions. The copyright holder retains all rights except as expressly provided in this
Agreement. You are licensed to use Abitus for evaluation purposes without charge for a period of
30 days. You are licensed to make as many copies of Abitus and documentation as you wish,
give exact copies to anyone, and distribute Abitus and documentation in its unmodified form via
any means. You are prohibited from charging, or requesting donations, for any such copies,
however made. Exceptionally, disk vendors may charge a fee, not exceeding US $10, for media
and duplication. You are prohibited from distributing Abitus and/or documentation with other
products (commercial or otherwise) without prior written permission. You may not sub license,
assign, transfer, loan, rent or lease Abitus. Abitus may not be reverse-engineered,
disassembled, or otherwise inspected for procedures and/or methods or contents of coding; or
modified in any way. Abitus is provided AS IS without any warranty, expressed or implied,
including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The
person using Abitus bears all risk as to the quality and performance of Abitus. The author and its
suppliers will not be liable for any damages, direct or consequential, incurred through the use of
Abitus. If you do not agree with these terms and conditions, do not use or distribute Abitus.
© 1997 Sergio Montabone N.