Need a better Palm OS scheduling application than the Date Book? We've put two of the best alternatives - Datebk4 and ActionNames - head-to-head in the Date Book Derby!
One of the reasons Palm OS devices have been so successful is their built-in applications. Although minimalist in design, The built-in Date Book, Address book, ToDo list, and Memopad applications are fast, clean, consistent, and do what most people need of them. Still, some people need more than what the built-in applications can offer. For those people, there are a growing number of third party replacement applications available, and one of the most commonly replaced programs is the built-in Date Book. For this round-up I looked at two of the most popular Date Book replacement programs, Pimlico Software's DateBk4 v4.0d and Iambic Software's Action Names Date Book v4.61.
DateBk4
 | DateBk4's split screen, showing events on the top and ToDo items on the bottom
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DateBk4 v4.0d is written according to the "Kitchen Sink" philosophy of software design - that is, it includes the kitchen sink. Weighing in at a whopping 465 KB, it well earns all of that space. Fortunately, the program can be placed in Flash ROM, if your device supports it and has space. In theory it will run from an expansion card with a transparent loader, but it's not recommended as it can result in fatal crashes when an alarm tries to run. Although primarily a Date Book replacement, DateBk4 also offers integration with your Address book, ToDo list, and Memos.
The default screen for DateBk4 looks very similar to the day view of the built-in Date Book, and in fact many of the screens are very similar to the built-in application. From the main screen, you can create a new appointment, ToDo entry, or Memo. Creating a new address takes you directly to the default Address book but does not open a new entry. You can also create one of several new data types, including Calls, Floating Events, and Journal entries.
Floating events and Journals are actually special kinds of Events, either timed or untimed. Floating events are the strangest, acting as "super-ToDo" items. They become visible on a given date that you specify, and then automatically move to the next day if ignored until checked off as completed. A Call is actually a ToDo item. When you create a new Call, you select the address book entry you want to call and a new ToDo item gets created in the "Calls" category with the name "Call Name: Phone".
 | DateBk4 includes several record types, including the 4 basic types and some new ones
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You can view ToDo items inline with your events, or in split-screen mode. The split screen allows you to list address book entries, ToDo items, or memos either above or below events in a separate window. The integration with the Address book isn't complete, but you can edit your ToDo items and memos without leaving DateBk4. There is even a "Restore" feature for Memos if you want to cancel all of your changes, a very welcome improvement for anyone who has accidentally deleted half of their memo by accident.
You can set DateBk4 to show only records from certain categories in the other applications, although you cannot page through different categories the way you can with the built-in applications themselves. DateBk4 also adds categories to events, which you can use to differentiate your events from your spouse's or co-worker's events. You can then beam all of the events in your category to the other person while they beam all of theirs to you, overwriting their previous records. Although it seems a bit complicated, it is actually a very nice way to manage multiple people's schedules quickly and without data integrity problems.
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