PocketDoan v1.2.0

A meditation timer for the PalmOS®.
By Joseph H. Stadolnik III
Copyright © 2003, All Rights Reserved
jstadolnik@hotmail.com

Introduction

What is a doan you may ask?  In Zen practice it is the title for the bell ringer.  A doan is responsible for ringing the bells at the beginning and end of a meditation.  PocketDoan essentially takes on the doan role.  It is a general purpose multi-stage meditation timer for the PalmOS® suitable for both individual and group sessions.  Like a traditional doan it informs the user(s) when to begin and end a session.  Even though doan is Zen Buddhist term, this application has no particular tie to Zen practice.  PocketDoan is quite flexible and can adapted to suit many styles of meditation.

Features

Manual

Requirements

A device running PalmOS® version 3.0 or higher.  To take full advantage of the PocketDoan's capabilities a device supporting vibration and LED alarms is recommended, though not required.

Installation

There are two instantation options:
1) PocketDoan_full.prc (208k, which contains OS5 enhanced sounds), or
2) PocketDoan_lite (32k, which lacks the OS5 enhanced sounds). 

Install one of these two PocketDoan .prc files onto your device as you would any other PalmOS® application.

Note, the enhanced audio facilities should work on the following OS5 devices: Zire71, T|T, T|T2, T|T3, T|C, T|E, Treo600, Tapwave Zodiac, Garmin iQue 3600, and the Sony UX series.  Enhanced sound is not supported on Sony NX or NZ, or Zire21 devices.

Editing a Session

From the starting screen select the edit button.  A number of additional buttons will appear as follows (from left to right):

Each interval takes up one line on the edit screen.  A line consist of five columns as follows (from left to right):

A session will start with the top interval and work down to the bottom one. 

Entering a grafitti return stroke will either move the cursor to the next interval or create new interval if last interval is selected.

Starting a Session

From the starting screen (the one with both edit and start buttons at the bottom) the following actions can be taken to start a meditation session:

Peeking at a Running Session

When a session is running the auto-off timer may expire and power off the device.  PocketDoan will wake up the device at the appropriate time.  However, you can peek at the progress of the current interval by pressing any of the application hardkeys.  Pressing any of the application hardkeys again will turn the device back off.

A padlock symbol in the upper right hand corner indicates that the current interval is about to end (or a minder alert is about to occur).  When this symbol is present the hardkeys are disabled (locked), pushing them will not turn off the device until the current interval (or minder) has ended. 

WARNING: Do not use the power button to turn off the device when the lock symbol is present.  Doing so will artificially lengthen the current interval by up to one minute.

Pausing a Session

When a session is running either the initial delay counter or a progress wheel will be seen.  To stop or pause a running session do the following:

A paused dialog will then appear.  The session progress will be suspended until one of the two buttons is selected.  The session continue yes/no buttons can be selected as follows:

Preferences

From the menu panel there is a preferences option.  Selecting it opens the preferences screen which has the following options:

Tips

Release History

11/24/2003
v1.2.0
New .wav file alerts (chimes, 3 bells, gong, cricket, & dove) for OS5 devices with enhanced sound support.  Tweaked the Tone, Rise, and Fall alerts.  Holding the delete (trash can) button for 0.7 second or longer pops the "Clear All" dialog.  Numerous minor updates.
11/7/2003
v1.1.0
Added high resolution icons.  Added default interval duration and alert configurability to preferences screen.  Hardkey disable & start only modes now effect 5-way & jog dial presses (useful for preventing accidental button presses from interrupting a session).  Fixed crash bug which could occur if PocketDoan was launched from a VSF card.  App now about 5k smaller.
10/18/2003 v1.0.0 Initial release

Known Limitations/Issues/Bugs

Contact

Direct feedback (suggestions, impressions, bugs, etc.) to jstadolnik@hotmail.com.  If you enjoy this application I'd love to hear from you.

Legal Statement

PocketDoan comes with no warranty of any kind.  As such I cannot be held liable for any data loss or damage to a system resulting from the use of this software.

PocketDoan is freeware and may not be sold for any monetary value.  This software may be freely distributed, however this documentation must always be included with the distribution and this documentation cannot be modified.