MobileWrite 3.5 User Guide

Documentation updated on September 26, 2005

 

Introduction

Using MobileWrite, it is easy to enter text and data, in to your favorite Palm OS applications such as Address, Memo Pad, Date Book etc. Text and data can be entered by simply writing on the screen of your handheld, instead of using a keyboard. This software recognizes regular printed letters and Graffiti letters, numbers, symbols, and accented letters used in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and other European languages

System Requirements

Installation

Important Installation Notes:

Quick installation:

Manual installation (If Quick installation did not work):

Removal

MobileWrite can be removed from your handheld like any other application. First, deselect the Enable checkbox on the main screen of MobileWrite. From the launcher screen, press or select the menu button. Under the "App" menu, select the Delete submenu. Then select MobileWrite from the list, and press the Delete button.

If your handheld is running Palm OS Version 3.5 - 4.x, the Enable Checkbox in MobileWrite MUST be deselected. If it is enabled, it can not be deleted.

After Installation

Run MobileWrite on your handheld, and press the Enable checkbox. After Enabling, handwriting recognition will be available in other programs. Press the Help button for important tips, then press the Tutorial button to try the characters. The "Show" button in the Tutorial shows all the supported characters through animation. The buttons below each letter will animate only that letter. The online help only lists the important tips, refer to this manual for detailed information.

To enter data into Address, Memo Pad, Date Book, and other applications, simply write letters on the screen, instead of using the keyboard.

Purchase/Registration

MobileWrite has a 15 day evaluation period, after this period, the software will stop working. To continue using this software after the evaluation period, it must be purchased. After purchasing this software, a registration code (also called a Serial Number) will be emailed to you. Enter this registration code in the Register screen to unlock this application.

You will be asked your HotSync user ID (Palm ID) during the purchase, in order to calculate the registration code. This ID is a name you gave to your handheld when it was first setup. The easiest way to locate this ID, is to look on the Registration screen of MobileWrite. The ID is case sensitive, so it must be entered exactly as shown. If you do not provide your correct ID, the registration code will not unlock this application.

There is no need to download another version for registration, however, you may want to check for updates of this product.

Options On the Main Screen

Enable MobileWrite Checkbox - This checkbox must be enabled to use MobileWrite to enter data in other applications.

Enable After Reset - If this is set to "Yes", MobileWrite will be automatically enabled after a system reset. If it is set to "Ask", a popup window will be displayed after a reset. If too many resets are performed, one after another in a short period of time, MobileWrite will not re-enable itself automatically.

Change Mode - This pops up the "Where To Write" screen. Three modes are available, Word, Graffiti 2, and Graffiti 1.

Write on screen Checkbox - If this option is selected, the strokes drawn on the screen will be recognized.

Write in Input Box Checkbox - Some PDAs and Smartphones have a Graffiti input box below the screen. If this checkbox is selected, the strokes in this box will also be recognized. However, writing in the Graffiti input area is not recommended, since there is no visual feedback from the ink, which is needed for multi-stroke letters. Write on the screen instead.

Show Ink Checkboxes- There are two checkboxes. One turns on/off the temporary trail of ink from the stylus on the screen, the other one is for the strokes drawn in the Graffiti Input Box.

Show Alternates checkbox - Allows alternate letters to be displayed in the upper left corner, described below.

Int'l Letters checkbox - Enables/disables the International letters. Turning off the International letters, will slightly improve the speed and accuracy. If they are not needed, it is better to disable them.

Your writing speed slider - Your Writing Speed slider is used to adjust the time limit for completing multi-stroke characters. If more time is needed, move the slider to the left. To write faster, move it to the right.

Modes

Advantages of using Word Mode

Advantages of using Graffiti 2 Mode

Advantages of using Graffiti 1 Mode

Using the Word Mode

Using the Graffiti 2 Mode

Using the Graffiti 1 Mode

Punctuation and Gestures may be written anywhere in all three modes.

 

Supported Characters

All the supported characters and commands can be viewed in the Tutorial screen by pressing the "Show" button. Individual characters can be viewed by pressing the button below each character. The circular heavy dots indicate the start of a stroke. Notice the number of strokes required for each character and the direction of travel.

Using MobileWrite

To begin, tap on the Enable checkbox. MobileWrite runs in the background, and handwriting recognition will be available for use within other applications. To start entering text, set the focus in the field, where text is to be entered, by tapping on it. When the focus in on a field, a blinking cursor is visible inside the field.

Entering a period or a Dot - When writing on the screen, a period or a dot is only recognized if it is written immediately following another character. This restriction enables taps on the screen to select buttons, checkboxes etc. Alternate ways of writing the period and the colon are available, see the Punctuation Tutorial screen.

Turning MobileWrite On or Off - MobileWrite automatically turns on when there is a text field or a table present on a screen. MobileWrite may not be able to detect every type of a text field or a table. In this case, it will not turn on automatically and you will have to force it to turn on. You may also encounter a screen, which has a text field and a graphics area. Before you can draw in the graphics area, MobileWrite will have to be temporarily turned off. Two methods are available to turn MobileWrite on or off, they are described below.

Temporarily turning the recognition on/off - If MobileWrite does not turn on in an application or if you need to turn it off temporarily, press the stylus in the corner of the screen. If the selected "Method" is "Draw line from corner", then draw a small line away from the corner, in any direction. An On or Off message will be displayed. It resets when the current program exits.

Turning the recognition on/off for an application - To always have MobileWrite either on or off in an application, the Application properties screen should be used. This screen is accessible from the On/Off screen by pressing on the "Application Properties" button.

Entering a shortcut - Shortcuts are useful for entering a lot of repetitive information on your Palm handheld. For example, a shortcut called "is" can be setup with "Inkmark Software" as the text, to make it easy to enter this company name repeatedly. To use, first enter the ShCut stroke, then the name of the shortcut. This stroke is displayed in the Tutorial on the Gestures screen. Shortcuts can be added/edited/viewed in the "Prefs" Palm OS program, on most handhelds. Some smartphones, do not support the shortcut feature in the Prefs program.

Entering a Palm OS Command - There are one letter commands, written next to the menu items on the pulldown menus of many applications. This program however, does not have any, but many others do. To execute one of these commands using those letters, draw the Command stroke and then write the one letter command. On most PDAs, a toolbar is popped up after the Command stroke is drawn, in this case, instead of entering the one letter command, the command can be selected from the toolbar.

Replacing a letter with an alternate - Alternate letters are displayed in the upper left corner. These letters will only appear if there are alternate characters to display. This feature makes it easier for the writer to complete an entire word and correct any problems later, instead of inspecting each letter as it is written. To make a change to a previously entered letter, first move the cursor behind the letter that needs a change. Then select one of the alternate letters in the upper left corner by tapping on it. Tap on the first letter to toggle upper/lower case. Tap on the second to replace with a close match. This is limited to the last 10 letters entered.

Highlighting Text - To highlight a section of text in an input field, hold the stylus down for 1 second (until a clicking sound is heard) and then drag it over the text. To highlight a word, double tap on top of it. To highlight a sentence, triple tap on top of it. The highlighted text has a different background color than the regular text.

Cut/Copy/Paste - These strokes are displayed on the Gestures screen in the tutorial. Before using the Cut or Copy strokes, the text must be highlighted as described above.

Writing accented letters - Accents are added to the previous letter if written immediately (within 1 second) after entering the letter. The accents must be written in the same area as the Symbols and Numbers, this area depends on the options selected on the "Where To Write" screen. See above. The Palm OS Keyboard popup shows which letters can take accents.

Troubleshooting and Frequently Asked Questions

MobileWrite does not work in ANY application

The trail of ink on the screen is not smooth

MobileWrite does not work in ONE of my applications, but works in the others

Sometimes, a trail of ink is not displayed, or it is a different color or thickness, and the letter is not recognized

How to improve the accuracy

It is difficult to press buttons using the stylus, when MobileWrite is enabled.

Are there any known problems with any type of software ?

Alternate letters do not show in one of my applications, but works in the others

Recognized characters are totally wrong

Handheld occasionally resets

Can't enter a period or a dot

Can't enter the letter "i"

Can't enter the letter "t" or "f" in Graffiti 2 mode.

Can't enter a Tab or Enter (New Line) in the Tutorial

A particular character is not recognized

It is difficult to enter data in small popup windows

 

Recent History

Version 3.5 - 9/26/2005

Version 3.5 - 8/19/2005

Version 3.4.3 - 1/21/2005

Version 3.4.2 - 12/30/2004

Version 3.4 - 12/13/2004

Version 3.3.1 - 9/12/2004

Version 3.3 - 7/26/2004

 

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