Find shareware or freeware Timetable maker - for Win 98 or EPOC PDA
may be even as a simple add on to MS Excel. i want to be able to
easily create a grid like schedule page from info i enter in a form
like interface. ie a simple but smart looking eg like  a school
timetable scheduler maybe
I want the shareware to actually "schedule" eg if i tell it i need a
space for 2 hours of activity X say, each week then it finds a space.
Equally if i schedule certain specific time slots for activities it
keeps a total of how many hours for that activity per week say.
I am mainly interested in something very easy to use and with nice
printable output.  The scheduling does not need to be sophisticated
nor span a whole year (14 days is fine) but i want it to enable me to
plan out a 14 day period of activity time-blocks that i tell it and
show it to me visually in a simple grid so ideally i can see the whole
14 days on screen at once.
I think a school timetable scheduler might work or perhaps an MS Excel
add in or MS Projectlike thing or something (but must be easy)
I would like this to run on my win98 pc OR my EPOC PDA (PSion5mx)
NOTE
Mentor for EPOC is similar to what i want but way too sophisticated
and hard to use. The busy view in Psion agenda is similar to the
visual look except it spans a month and the timeblocks don't clearly
show the activity they relate to unless you mouse over each one. I
want to be able to instantly read what i am meant to be doing in each
timeblock, just like a schoolkid would.

Hi,

I did a search on Downloads.com for the phrase "school timetable" and
found the following five software --- luckily, all are either free or
'free to try'.  Here's the list:

aSc TimeTables 2002
[Create scheduling timetables for school use]
http://download.com.com/3000-2051-7690509.html?tag=lst-0-1

Timetab 1.2
[Automatically create software for schools]
http://download.com.com/3000-2124-4720543.html?tag=lst-0-2

Turbo Timetabler 4.0
[Organize a professional timetable for your school with this program]
http://download.com.com/3000-2124-4152930.html?tag=lst-0-3

Timetab LITE 1.2
[Create school time tables and curriculums]
http://download.com.com/3000-2051-4540485.html?tag=lst-0-4

Lantiv Timetabler 2002 5.0
[Use the intelligent automatic timetabling algorithm for efficient
timetable construction]
http://download.com.com/3000-2051-10116210.html?tag=lst-0-5

I have not tried any of these, but I have read the descriptions on
these and I am sure you should find at least one of these suitable for
your needs.

If this answer does not meet your needs, please request clarification
before rating it, and I'll be happy to look into this further.  Thanks
for using Google Answers.

Regards,
gopalkamat-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by onetwothreefour-ga on 26 Jul 2002 02:20 PDT

Not quite the answer i wanted . Reasoning:
a) I could have done that search myself in two mins
b) I wanted a little investigation really - no way you can tell from
the descriptions, if these will do what i asked.
c) I clicked on two of these links and one of them came up as no
longer available. I didn't bother the rest
d) you did not give info on prices or features - I know its on the
site but if i am paying for research (albeit small) I would like to be
presented with a comparison of the suggested products eg by
price/type/feature.
e) you are only giving one site basically
I am not sure how much time you spent on this but it feels like about
5 mins.
I was after a little more considered investigation (else i would have
done it myself). What i am buying here is your time i hope :-)
Did you look at any of the epoc things i mentioned to see what i mean
?
want to try again ?

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Clarification of Answer by gopalkamat-ga on 26 Jul 2002 05:47 PDT

Hi,

You did not ask for a comparison of products by price/feature.  You
have asked for a software -- free or shareware that performs all the
activities mentioned.  I will go ahead and try out these softwares and
come back with a match for your needs.

Since you have basically asked to just find the software/shareware
that does what you need, I will give you the same.  Please allow for a
couple of days for this.

If you need further research and time investment from a Google
Researcher, I believe such a question should carry a price of over $5.

Thanks and let me know if you have any questions.

Regards,
gopalkamat-ga

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Clarification of Answer by gopalkamat-ga on 26 Jul 2002 11:36 PDT

Hi,

I took a look at Mentor and saw that its a time/task/life management
aka Personal Information Management (PIM) software.  And the list of
softwares I provided earlier were School Timetabling softwares, which
are different than PIMs.  Sorry about the error, but your question
mentioned both the Mentor and School Timetablers.

I did review a few (four to be precise) Time/Task/Life management
softwares for the PC, but found them all similar to and dislike to the
Mentor application in several ways.  Obviously, none of them would be
exactly similar to the Mentor or else those would not have different
names. :-)

Okay, so Wulisoft has a PC emulator for the EPOC that can run the
Mentor application, that's if you want to run Mentor on your PC.  Now
as for different software, there are several good ones that come close
to the functionality of the Mentor:

Microsoft Outlook 2000
Have you tried this one at all ?  Outlook is an excellent time/task
management software for your PC thats easy to use and gives you a
weekly, or a monthly view of your calendar as well as the events on
it.

Task-Plus Professional
http://www.contactplus.com/products/taskpro/taskpro.htm
This gives you 12-month views of your calender

It's tough to come up with a piece of software thats exactly tailored
to your needs, but these come close.  There's several other PIMs out
there, if you're willing to spend some time on these.  I wish I could
invest more time on this question for the cost you've given to it.

Please feel free to let me know if this answer still does not satisfy
your needs, and I'll be happy to help you more.

Thanks,
gopalkamat-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by onetwothreefour-ga on 30 Jul 2002 14:28 PDT

Still disappointed with your answer
1. MS Outlook doesn't do what i want - i feel you have completely
missed the point of google answers if you suggest something that
obvious.
2. I have downloaded one of the ones you originally suggested and it
is not easy to use - one of my main criteria.(TImetab) I have to start
entering all sorts of stuff about school grades and teachers and so
on.
3. You are missing the point regarding EPOC. I don't need an emulator
i have EPOC on my Psion and would run it there if it is an EPOC prog.
IF it is a PC prog i would run it on my PC. I gave the EPOC option to
widen possible solutions (and research) but you don't seem to have
understood that.
4. I do NOT need a PIM. I just want the small selection of features i
described. Yes , these sometimes might appear in a PIM, but i have not
seen the exact features i describe in any PIM apart from perhaps
Mentor. (even that i am not certain does it). I am not asking you to
find a PIM as this would be overcomplex.
I am asking you to find something which adds up some hours and prints
a grid and can seek free-slots in a given period.
I thought that a timetabling prog might do this and that a researcher
could find one that was adaptable to this instance and simple to use
5. Taskpro is nothing at all like what i need.

Conclusion - I don't think our communication styles match on this. I
would like to decline your answer.
Maybe i didn't give enough money on this but i thought it would be
simple and all previous questions i have asked have been answered
satisfactorily. However those have been experienced well-rated
researchers.
I don't wish to be nasty and i see you have now spent some time on it
but I don't want to continue with your response and i am going to
investigate how to cancel it. If i am forced by google to accept it
then i am afraid i will have to rate it poorly. I don't have the time
to give you further explanations . I think my first two were good and
spending any more time on this defeats the object of posting on google
answers ie for someone other than ME to spend time looking into it
sorry but i just don't feel we are "clicking" on this
sorry if your efforts were in vain.

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Request for Answer Clarification by onetwothreefour-ga on 30 Jul 2002 14:32 PDT

Another point i would make is that i set a low fee for this because i
was not in a rush for an answer. If i had needed it urgently then i
would have doubled the fee. However this fact is not obvious from the
way the google system works

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Clarification of Answer by gopalkamat-ga on 31 Jul 2002 05:42 PDT

Thanks for the clarification.  I hope Google Answers grants you a
refund.  Best luck!

Regards,
gopalkamat-ga

Did not really get what i was after - see question for explanations.