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
- Single and multi-stage meditation sessions.
- Each stage can be assigned a unique time duration and alert.
- All stages can be viewed and configured from a single edit
screen.
- Large screen buttons for stylus-free (finger) starting and
stopping of sessions.
- Analog progress wheel.
- Various audio (notes, bells, gongs, etc), vibration, and LED
alerts.
- Five volume levels (including "off" and "whisper" modes).
- Device can turn off during a session to conserve batteries.
- Stages can be set to block upon completion requiring user input
to move to the next stage.
- Support for 5-way navigator and jog dial controls.
- Freeware.
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):
- Done: Return to the start
screen.
- New: Insert a new
interval after the current selected position. A maximum of 10
intervals are allowed.
- Up Arrow: Move the
selected interval up. Hold this button to move rapidly.
- Down Arrow: Move the
selected interval down. Hold this button to move rapidly.
- Copy: Duplicates the
currently selected interval.
- Trash Can: Delete the
currently selected interval. Holding and releasing this button
will pop a "clear all" dialog.
Each interval takes up one line on the edit screen. A line
consist of five columns as follows (from left to right):
- Interval duration (in minutes):
Tap to change.
- Session text: This
editable text will be shown on the running screen. Entering a
return character will move the selection to the next interval. If
selection is at the last interval a new one will be created.
- Alert type: The
type of alert to play when the interval is complete. Tap to
change. Note: Tone, Rise, and Fall types are audio alerts; Chime,
Bell#1, Bell#2, Bell#3, Gong, Cricket, and Dove are all enhanced sounds
(.wav files); VibeS
(soft vibe), Vibe (normal vibe), and VibeL (long vibe) are vibration
alerts; while LED12 (12 blinks in 5 seconds), LED24 (24 blinks), LED48
(48 blinks), and LED1 (1 big blink) are LED alerts.
- Initial delay (in seconds):
The number of seconds to wait before starting the interval. Tap
to change.
- Blocking Indicator: Tap
to change the blocking/non-blocking status. If enabled (arrow
pointing to
a vertical line), a stop/continue dialog will pop when the interval is
complete. The session will be paused until the user makes a
selection. The non-blocking mode is indicated by an arrow
pointing through
a vertical line.
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:
- Tap or touch the large gray circle in the center of the screen.
- Tap the start button in the lower right hand corner.
- Press down 5-way navigator or jog dial control (if available).
- Press any of the application hardkeys. The Hardkey Mode
must be set to either "Start Only" or "Start & Pause" in the
preferences for this to work.
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:
- Tap or touch the screen.
- Press 5-way navigator or jog dial control (if available).
The Hardkey mode must be set to "Normal"
or "Start & Pause" in the
preferences for this to work.
- Hold down any of the application hardkeys for 2 seconds.
The Hardkey Mode must be set to "Start
& Pause" in the preferences
for this to work.
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:
- Tapping or touching them.
- 5-way navigator. Left=No (stop session), Right=Yes
(continue session).
- Press the application hardkeys. Left buttons=No (stop
session), Right buttons=Yes (continue session). The Hardkey Mode
must be set to "Start & Pause"
mode in the preferences for this to work.
Preferences
From the menu panel there is a preferences option. Selecting
it opens the preferences screen which has the following options:
- Volume level (for audio alerts).
5 levels: off, whisper, low, medium,
and high.
- Default Duration.
Sets the default duration when adding new items on the edit screen.
- Default Alert. Sets
the default alert type when adding new items on the edit screen.
- Minder interval.
During an interval, PocketDoan can be configured to issue a lesser
alert every quarter way through or at a fixed time interval. The
diamond option here indicates "alert every quarter way through an
interval". The fixed time intervals are in minutes.
- Minder Alert. Use this
option to select the kind of minder alert to occur.
- Alert after delay.
When selected the minder alert will trigger whenever an initial delay
countdown has elapsed.
- Confirm deletes.
When selected, a confirm dialog opens whenever a interval delete is
attempted.
- Hardkey Mode.
Controls how the application hardkeys, 5-way navigator, and jog dial
controls behave. Four options
available:
- Normal -
Application
keys launch thier
apps as usual. 5-way & jog dial controls can be used to start
& pause a session.
- Disable - All
application key, 5-way, and jog dial presses are ignored.
Useful for preventing accidental button triggers from disrupting a
session.
- Start Only -
Application keys can
be used to start a session. 5-way & jog dials can be used to
start and pause a session).
- Start
& Pause - Application keys can be used to both start and
pause a session -
hold for 2 seconds to pop the pause dialog. 5-way & jog
dials can be used to start and pause a session.
- Auto-Off Mode. Sets
the Auto-off timer mode. Three options are available:
- Default - Uses system
preferences.
- 10 seconds - Useful
for conserving batteries.
- Never - Will not power
off until the
whole session is finished.
Tips
- The VibeS (soft vibration) alert is well suited for group
meditations where being discrete is critical. I find the Vibe and
VibeL alerts to be a little too noisy. Typically I will load up a
session with all VibeS alerts, put my PDA in my pocket, and let the
vibrations tell me when to ring the "real" bell.
- To conserve battery power, enable the 10 second Auto-Off timer
mode and use a minder interval of either none or at least 2 minutes
(both selectable from the preferences screen).
- To prevent accidental hardkey presses from starting
or halting a meditation session while your PDA is in your pocket, set
the Hardkey Mode in the preferences to "disable".
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
- Currently only one session is supported.
- There is a maximum limit of 10 intervals per session.
- PocketDoan may not operate correctly when launched from storage
memory (SD card, Memory Stick, CF card, etc.). An application
must be located in main memory for it to intercept alarms on the
PalmOS®. PocketDoan uses alarms. If it is launched from a
memory card and you exit during a running session, PockDoan will no
longer be in main memory, and it will not be able to issue interval end
or session end alerts. To avoid this potential issue it is best
to not run
PocketDoan from storage memory.
- The drawing of the progress wheel looks strange on Handera
devices.
- The initial delay count can be a little choppy.
- The PalmOS can only wake-up a device at the beginning of each
minute. To provide accurate timing, PocketDoan will wake up the
device at the start of a minute in which an interval ends. The
application hardkey buttons are then frozen and will remain so until
the current stage ends. A lock symbol will appear in the upper
right hand corner to indicate when the hardkeys are locked-out.
Powering off the device or switching applications when the lock symbol
is present will cause the duration of the current interval to be
lengthened by up to a minute.
- Vibration and LED alerts will do nothing on devices which do not
support them.
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.