pnotes.net

IContents

I

© 2013 Andrey Gruber

Table of ContentsPart I Introduction 3

................................................................................................................................... 41 Installation

................................................................................................................................... 42 Uninstallation

................................................................................................................................... 53 Getting Started

Part II Note 6

................................................................................................................................... 101 How to (note)

.......................................................................................................................................................... 11Send note to another computer

.......................................................................................................................................................... 13Post note's content on social network

.......................................................................................................................................................... 14Insert post from social network into note

.......................................................................................................................................................... 16Pin/unpin note to/from window

.......................................................................................................................................................... 17Adjust note's appearance

.......................................................................................................................................................... 18Adjust note's schedule

.......................................................................................................................................................... 25Work w ith tags

.......................................................................................................................................................... 26Work w ith linked notes

.......................................................................................................................................................... 27Insert images

................................................................................................................................... 282 Note groups

Part III Preferences 28

................................................................................................................................... 291 General settings

................................................................................................................................... 332 Schedule

................................................................................................................................... 343 Appearance

................................................................................................................................... 374 Behavior

.......................................................................................................................................................... 39How to (Behavior)

......................................................................................................................................................... 39Manage hot keys

......................................................................................................................................... 40Forbidden hot key

......................................................................................................................................................... 41Hide/show menus

................................................................................................................................... 435 Network

................................................................................................................................... 476 Protection

.......................................................................................................................................................... 48How to (Protection)

......................................................................................................................................................... 49Create, modify or remove program passw ord

Part IV PNotes.NET Control Panel 50

................................................................................................................................... 531 Preview pane

................................................................................................................................... 532 How to (Control Panel)

.......................................................................................................................................................... 53Change group's settings

.......................................................................................................................................................... 54Hide/show columns in list view

Part V Backup 55

Part VI Synchronization 56

Part VII Import from previous edition 56

PNotes.NET (version 1.1)II


Part VIII Diary 58

Part IX Docking 58

Part X Search 59

Part XI Show/hide options 62

Part XII Spell checking 63

Part XIII Command line 64

Part XIV Plugins development 65

Part XV Credits 72

Index 0

Introduction 3


1 Introduction

Managing your day-to-day life is not an easy job to do. There are so many things to do -

housekeeping, shopping, children... and what about your cousin's birthday which you always forget orimportant ’phone numbers? Undoubtedly your working place is covered with dusty yellow (or blue orpink) sticky notes. If so - PNotes.NET is right for you. Throw the physical stickies away and replacethem with virtual ones on your desktop.

Here are some PNotes features:· Ease of use - no installation, just unpack the downloaded archive to any location and run PNotes.

exe. · Portability - PNotes does not require installation, it can be started from any drive (fixed or flash) and

leaves no traces on host computer after finishing.· Scheduling - use various schedule types to be reminded about significant events by many different

ways. Using this feature you may just hide notes and don't worry, you'll be notified in time.· Posting notes on social networks - easily post your notes on Facebook or Twitter using PNotes

plugins (more social network may be added soon).· Getting posts from social networks - easily insert text of your posts on social networks into notes.· Speaking notes - instead of sound files you may force the notes to speak with you reading their text

aloud - isn't it a cool feature?· Notes' exchange over local network - keep in touch with your colleagues and friends. · Overdue notes tracking - stay alerted even with overdue reminders.· Tags - add any number of predefined tags to each note for further searching and sorting.· Password protection - prevents unauthorized access to program.· Encryption - allows all your notes to be stored as encrypted files, so nobody could read their content,

even in case you lose your USB stick.· Password protection for single note/group - protect your notes even more strongly.· Synchronization - local or on-line via synchronization plugins - always stay synchronized.· Ability to pin notes to selected window - all you need appears in time.· PNotes.NET Control Panel - this is your central command post. All management is put into effect

here.· Groups - divide notes into groups of your choice, create new groups and subgroups, control all by

mouse click or drag-and-drop.· Diary group - special group of notes with its own settings, which allows you to maintain diary-like

set.· Formatting - format and design each note as you wish, using all the advantages of rich text

formatting.· Skins - there is a variety of skins for PNotes but if you wish, you can run the program in skinless

mode, in which case you can stretch notes to any reasonable size.· Transparency - you can set notes’ transparency level from opaque to fully transparent. If you enable

this feature each note can have its own transparency level.· Images - you can add images to notes, making them more expressive.· Smilies - besides image files, the set of predefined smilies is at your disposal. · Docking - dock your notes to any side of the screen, forcing them always to be straightened and look

like a panel.· Searching - search for (or replace) text fragments in all notes, including hidden or in each separate

note, or find notes with specified title, or notes modified within specified interval.· Quick search in web - select any word or phrase in note and search for it in web using you preferred

search provider.· Favorites - access intensively used notes by a single click.· Custom fonts - use your custom fonts which are not installed on current machine.

PNotes.NET (version 1.1)4


· E-mailing - send notes via e-mail as mail body text or as attachment to any target with PNotesrunning and open attached note on target machine.

· Recycle Bin - you decide how you want to delete the unneeded note: completely or send it toRecycle Bin with ability to restore it later.

· Backing up - you decide whether to make backup copies for changed notes and what is thedeepness of backup levels. Also you can manually make a full backup copy of all notes (and restorefrom it of course).

· Export and import options - export to MS Outlook notes and import from previous versions.· Internationalization - PNotes is fully Unicode supported and translated into many languages.· Other features - of course there are many other unmentioned features in program, but I suggest you

to discover them by yourself, these are delights of any new program, aren't they?

I hope you will enjoy using PNotes as much as I enjoyed creating it!

1.1 Installation

Installation from installer packageProceed accordingly to installer instructions.

Preconditions:1. Installer will check whether you have .NET framework 4 Client Profile or higher and Microsoft

Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable installed and will prompt to install missing components.

Installation from ZIP archiveJust place PNotes.NET folder wheresoever you want on your hard disk or flash drive. It is absolutelyportable application, which does not require any additional settings in registry and does not leave behindany traces in registry as well.

Preconditions:1. .NET framework 4 Client Profile or higher (Windows 8 comes with version 4.5 pre-installed).

ZIP archive contains Web Installer of .NET 4 Client Profile (if it does not, the installer can bedownloaded for free at: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=17113).Once installed the file may be safely deleted. Full Installer can be downloaded for free at: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24872

2. Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable. ZIP archive DOES NOT contain Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package due to its huge size (there is no Web installer for it). It can bedownloaded here for free: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=8328

Tip: if you are on Windows Vista or Windows 7 under restricted account - install program into root folder("C:\"), instead of "C:\Program Files" (x32 system) or "C:\Program Files (x86)" (x64 system) in order toavoid UAC conflicts.

1.2 Uninstallation

Uninstallation of program installed from ZIP archiveRemove PNotes.NET folder.

Uninstallation of program installed from another installersProceed accordingly to uninstaller instructions.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=17113

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24872

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24872

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=8328

Introduction 5


1.3 Getting Started

When you start PNotes.NET it places itself into system tray and allows you to interact with it either by

right-click on its icon and choosing one of context menu items, or by using your own hot keys.

Available context menu commands are:· New Note - creates new note.· New Note In Group - creates new note in specified group.· Load Notes - loads notes from .pnote files.· New Note From Clipboard - creates new note and pastes clipboard's content into it.· Diary - shows list of Diary "pages".· Preferences - brings up Preferences dialog.



· Control Panel - brings up PNotes.NET Control Panel window.· Hot Keys Management - brings up hot keys management dialog· Menus Management - brings up menus management dialog· Show/Hide - shows/hides notes by several criterions.· Save All - saves all notes.· Backup/Synchronization - allows to perform full backup, restore from full backup, synchronize

notes locally or via synchronization plugins and import notes and settings from previous version ofprogram.

· Reload All - reloads all currently visible notes· Docking (all notes) - allows you to dock all visible notes to any side of screen or undock them.· Switch On (All Notes) - applies high priority, read-only mode, complete mark, roll status and

always-on-top status to all notes.· Switch Off (All Notes) - removes high priority, read-only mode, complete mark, roll status and

always-on-top status to all notes.· Search - allows to choose one of search options: Search In Notes, Search by Tags, Search By

Date.· Favorites - shows your favorites notes.· Lock Program - so-called "boss-key", allows you to hide all program windows quickly by one

click or one hot-key pressing (recommended). To use this function you should protect the programwith password.

· Run - runs external program.· Help - brings up help window or redirects you to online help page, accordingly to your settings.· About - brings up about dialog.· Support PNotes Project - Thankfulness is not a sin :)· PNotes Homepage - navigates to pnotes.sourceforge.net· Exit - ends program.

2 Note

It is clear that note is a basic element of PNotes. Depending on your choice, made on Appearance pageof Preferences dialog, it can be skinnable or skinless.Each note consists of three areas: header, text area and footer.

Header of note includes note's caption and two command buttons, which allow you to hide or delete

http://pnotes.sourceforge.net

Note 7


current note.In case of skinnable note notifications marks will appear elsewhere on note (depending on note's skin)

, if note has been changed, scheduled, locked, has a high priority, marked ascomplete task, password-protected, pinned to other window or has been sent/received. For skinless

notes these notification will be displayed at note's footer .All these icons are clickable, i.e. click on some of them will toggle current state (e.g. high priority orpinned status), or show schedule dialog, or save changed note etc.

Text area is an area you type your text in. Right mouse button click somewhere in text area will showcontext menu for note's text operations:

Menu item Shortcut Description

Undo Ctrl+Z Undoes last text operation

Redo Ctrl+Y Redoes last text operation

Cut Ctrl+X Cuts selected text

Copy Ctrl+C Copies selected text

Paste Ctrl+VPastes text from clipboardinto note

Copy As Plain TextCopies selected textdiscarding any formatting

Paste As Plain TextPastes text from clipboardinto note discarding anyformatting

Format ---Opens submenu with textformatting options, identicalto note's toolbar

Insert ---Opens submenu which allowyou to insert pictures,smilies and date/time stamp

Spell Checking ---

Opens submenu which allowyou to set spell checkingpreferences and adddictionaries

Find Ctrl+F Brings up Find dialog

Find Next F3Finds next occurrence of textfragment

Replace Ctrl+H Brings up Replace dialog

Search Selected With:Performs web search forselected text using specifiedsearch provider

Post Selected On:Posts selected text on one ofavailable social networks

Insert Post From:Replaces selected text bypost from one of availablesocial networks

Select All Ctrl+ASelects all text in note's textarea



Footer of note (usually, but not necessary, it may be any other part of note's surface) includes toolbar(visible only on active note) and, in case of skinless note, sizing grip, allows you to resize the note.Note's toolbar includes 12 buttons (explained in table below) and gives youunrestricted formatting abilities.

Button Shortcut Description

FontApplies specified font toselected text

Font SizeApplies specified font size toselected text

Font ColorApplies specified font color toselected text

Bold Ctrl+BApplies bold font style toselected text

Italic Ctrl+IApplies italic font style toselected text

Underscore Ctrl+UApplies underscore font styleto selected text

StrikethroughApplies strikethrough fontstyle to selected text

HighlightHighlights selected text withspecified color

Align Left Ctrl+L Aligns selected text left

Center Ctrl+E Centralize selected text

Align Right Ctrl+R Aligns selected text right

Bullets/NumberingApplies bullets/numberingstyle to selected text

Footer of note (usually, but not necessary, it may be any other part of note's surface) includes toolbar(visible only on active note) and, in case of skinless note, sizing grip, allows you to resize the note.Note's toolbar includes 12 buttons (explained in table below) and gives youunrestricted formatting abilities.

Button Shortcut Description

FontApplies specified font toselected text

Font SizeApplies specified font size toselected text

Font ColorApplies specified font color toselected text

Bold Ctrl+BApplies bold font style toselected text

Italic Ctrl+IApplies italic font style toselected text

Underscore Ctrl+UApplies underscore font styleto selected text

Strikethrough Applies strikethrough font

Note 9


style to selected text

HighlightHighlights selected text withspecified color

Align Left Ctrl+L Aligns selected text left

Center Ctrl+E Centralize selected text

Align Right Ctrl+R Aligns selected text right

Bullets/NumberingApplies bullets/numberingstyle to selected text

Right mouse button click anywhere on note's area, exclude text area, will show note's context menuwith items described in table below (you may assign hot key to each command at Behavior page):

Menu item Shortcut Description

Save Ctrl+S Saves current note

Rename/Change Group ---Renames current note and/orchanges its group

Save As Text File ---Saves current note as simpletext file

Restore From Backup ---Restores current note frombackup copy

Duplicate Note --- Duplicates current note

Print Ctrl+P Prints content of current note

Adjust Appearance ---Brings up the dialog foradjusting note's appearance

Adjust Schedule ---Brings up the dialog foradjusting note's schedule

Hide --- Hides current note

Delete ---

Deletes current note(choosing this command withleft Shift button pressed willdelete the note completely,otherwise the note will besent to Recycle Bin)

Dock ---Opens submenu withdocking options

Send As Text ---Sends current note's contentvia email

Send As Attachment ---

Sends current note via emailas attachment (MS Outlookusers - Outlook tries to treatreceived .pnote file as RTFfile and even changes itsextension to .rtf. Just savethe received file as .pnoteand continue to work with it)

Send In ZIP ArchiveSends current note in ZIParchive



Send Via Network ---

Opens submenu whichallows to send current noteto single contact or multiplecontacts, single group ofcontacts or multiple groups,as well as create newcontact and/or group ofcontacts

ReplyReplies current note, if it hasbeen previously received

Post Entire Note On:Posts entire note on one ofavailable social networks

Replace Note Text By PostFrom:

Replaces entire note's textby post from one of availablesocial networks

Export To MS Office As:Exports content of currentnote to MS Office (currentlyNotes only)

Tags --- Brings up Tags dialog

Linked Notes

Opens list of notes linked tocurrent one and submenu which allows to managethem

Add To Favorites (RemoveFrom Favorites)

---Adds/Removes current noteto favorites

On Top --- Makes note topmost window

Toggle High Priority --- Toggles note's priority status

Toggle Protection Mode ---Toggles note's protectionmode

Set (Remove) note Password --- Sets/removes note password

Mark As Complete --- Marks note as complete task

Roll/Unroll ---

Rolls/unrolls skinless note toits caption size (appropriateoption should be allowed on "Behavior" page ofPreferences dialog)

Pin To Window ---Pins or unpins note to/fromspecified window

2.1 How to (note)

How to: send note to another computerHow to: post note's content on social networkInsert post from social network into noteHow to: pin/unpin note to/from windowHow to: adjust note's appearanceHow to: adjust note's scheduleHow to: work with tagsHow to: work with linked notes

Note 11


How to: insert images

2.1.1 Send note to another computer

First of all you should add at least one contact and (optional) contacts' group on "Network" page atPreferences dialog.

In case of new contact you have to specify contact name and computer name or IP address of contact's

computer. If you don't know computer name you may click on search button and choose one ofcomputers available on your local network:

Various sending option are located under "Send Via Network" menu item of note's context menu:



You may either choose one of contacts from available groups, or one of contacts which do not belong toany group, or add new contact, or add new group.If you want to send note to several contacts, choose "Select Contacts" item and then check desiredcontacts in dialog which appears and click "OK":

If you want to send note to several groups, choose "Select Groups Of Contacts" item and then checkdesired groups and click "OK":

Note 13


You may also choose not to show contacts in context menu by checking "Do not show contacts incontext menu" option on "Network" page at Preferences dialog.In this case only multiple choice options - "Select Contacts" and "Select Groups Of Contacts" - will beshown.

2.1.2 Post note's content on social network

If you want to post entire note on one of available social networks, select "Post Entire Note On:" menuitem of note's context menu and choose the network you want to post on:

If you want to post only part of note, select desired part of text, right click on note's edit area andchoose the network you want to post on under "Post Selected On:" menu item of context menu:



2.1.3 Insert post from social network into note

If you want to replace entire note's content with post from one of available social networks, select "Replace Note Text By Post From:" menu item of note's context menu and choose the network youwant to import posts from:

Note 15


The following dialog with available posts will appear (the count of posts viewed may be set on "Network"page at Preferences dialog):

Choose desired post and click "OK".

If you want to insert into note's content post from one of available social networks, select "Insert PostFrom:" menu item of note's edit area context menu and choose the network you want to import postsfrom:



2.1.4 Pin/unpin note to/from window

Choose "Pin To Window" menu item from note's context menu.In dialog box that appears choose one of available windows.

Note 17


Once pinned, the note will appear when a window it's pinned to becomes visible or is restored from taskbar. If the window is closed or minimized the pinned note will disappear.To unpin choose "Unpin" menu item from note's context menu.

2.1.5 Adjust note's appearance

Choose "Adjust Appearance" menu item from note's context menu.This will bring up appearance dialog. By default note inherits appearance properties from its group(background color, skin etc) or from global settings (e.g. transparency level).At this dialog you can specify appearance properties for separate note.



Clocking on "Standard view" button will roll back appearance properties of current note to their defaultvalues (based on note's group and global settings).

2.1.6 Adjust note's schedule

Choose "Adjust Schedule" menu item from note's context menu.This will bring up a dialog with various schedule options:

1. Schedule type "Once at": the note will be alerted only once at specified date and time.

Note 19


2. Schedule type "Every day at": the note will be alerted every day at specified time.



3. Schedule type "Repeat every": the note will be alerted every [amount of selected years, months,weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds], starting either from selected date/time or program start.

Note 21


4. Schedule type "Weekly on": the note will be alerted every selected weekday at specified time.



5. Schedule type "After": the note will be alerted after [amount of selected years, months, weeks, days,hours, minutes and seconds], starting either from selected date/time or program start.

Note 23


6. Schedule type "Monthly (exact date)": the note will be alerted every month at specified date and time



7. Schedule type "Monthly (day of week)": the note will be alerted every month at weekday with specifiedordinal number and selected time.

Note 25


Common options for all schedule types are:· Do not track the overdue note - if selected, the note won't be included in checking for overdue notes

on program start.· Stop alert/notification after - sets amount of seconds after which sound alert and visual notification

should be stopped for alerted note.· Sound alert - sets the type of sound alert. If set to "Text", the alerted note will "speak" its text.

Default voice, its volume and speed may be set on "Schedule" page at Preferences dialog.· Repeat in loop - if selected, sound alert of alerted note will be played in loop until you stop it by

clicking elsewhere on note.· Run external program after notification - you can choose to run of external programs added on

"General" page at Preferences dialog.· Hide note until notification - a note will be shown only at scheduled moment

2.1.7 Work with tags

Choose "Tags" menu item from note's context menu.Note's Tags dialog allows you to assign tags (from available tags defined at "General settings" page) to



note and simplify further searching and sorting.

2.1.8 Work with linked notes

Choose "Linked Notes" menu item from note's context menu.Linked notes dialog allows you to add/remove links to another notes. Using these links makes it easierto find and show notes.

Once added, linked note can be easily accessed from note's menu:

Note 27


2.1.9 Insert images

Images make your note more expressive, aren't they?You may insert any image file to note either by choosing "Insert"-->"Insert picture" menu item, or bysimple drag-&-drop operation, or by copying and pasting desired image.In addition you may use one of 121 built-in smilies.



2.2 Note groups

Each note belongs to its own group.When program starts for the first time there is only one group - "General". Every new note is created inthis group by default.You may add, modify or remove groups at PNotes.NET Control Panel. Each group may have its ownsettings, including icon, background and caption font color (for skinless notes), skin (for skinnable notes)and font.

Any note created in specific group or transferred to it inherits group settings. You may change note'sgroup either by simple drag-n-drop on PNotes.NET Control Panel or by using note's "Rename/ChangeGroup" menu and choosing desired group.

If any group is selected on PNotes.NET Control Panel, then new note will be created in this group,although you may always change the group when you save note.

You may set group's password on PNotes.NET Control Panel. This will keep all notes from groupprotected from unauthorized view.

3 Preferences

Preferences dialog allows you to set various program options. Some of them can be overridden on note'sAdjust dialog, while others remain common for program in whole.This dialog consists of several pages:

Pages Description

General settings All settings which do not belong to above categories

Schedule Everything related to scheduling (date formats, sounds etc)

Appearance Everything related to notes' and groups' appearance

Behavior Everything related to program's behavior

Network Everything related to network operations

Protection Everything related to password, encryption and backing up

"Default preferences" button will restore default program preferences.No changes are applied until you click "Save" or "Apply" button.

Preferences 29


3.1 General settings

Preferences 31


Following options can be set on this page:· Language - select desired UI language in combo box (all translations should be in "lang" subdirectory

of program working directory; alternatively their location can be set via command line) (default value isEnglish)

· Startup optionsØRun on system start - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)Ø Show Control Panel on program start - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default

value is False)ØAlways show notes marked as "High Priority" on program start - check/uncheck

appropriate check box (default value is False)ØCheck for new version on program start - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default

value is False)· Appearance

ØHide note's toolbar - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)ØUse custom fonts - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)Ø Show scroll bar - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)



ØHide "Delete" button - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)vChange appearance of "Hide" button to "Delete" button - check/uncheck

appropriate check box (default value is False)ØHide "Hide" button - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)

· Default width and height of skinless notes (default value is 256x256)· Size of skinless notes toolbar's buttons - (default value is Normal - 12x12)· Common settings of note's edit area:

ØBullets indent (default value is 400)Ø Left margin width (default value is 4)Ø Spell checker underlining color - select desired wavy underlining color for spell checking

(default value is Red)· Saving/Deletion

Ø Save all on program exit - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is True)ØConfirm saving - check/uncheck appropriate check box.You will be prompted to save

unsaved notes when program exits (default value is True)ØConfirmation before deletion - check/uncheck appropriate check box. You will be

prompted to confirm deletion of note (default value is True)ØNo confirmation while hiding notes - check/uncheck appropriate check box. You won't be

prompted to save newly created notes when hide them - instead they will be saved withdefault name (timestamp) (default value is False)ØAutosave every (minutes) - check/uncheck appropriate check box and set desired interval

in appropriate field (default value is False and 5 minutes)ØDelete note from Recycle Bin after selected period (days) - select desired period in

appropriate combo box (the following option will be enabled if you choose any period except"(Never)") (default value is (Never))

vWarn when note is deleted automatically from Recycle Bin - check/uncheckappropriate check box (default value is False)

· Date/time formatsØDate/time format - format used for long date/time presentation (default value is "dd MM

yyyy HH:mm:ss")Ø Time format - format used for time presentation (default value is "HH:mm")

· Search providers - specify which search providers will be used for web search of selected note's text· External programs - add, modify or remove links to external programs which you want to run· Predefined tags - add, modify or remove predefined tags

Preferences 33


3.2 Schedule

Following options can be set on this page:· Allow sound alert - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is True)· Track overdue reminders - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)· Enable visual notification - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is True)· Move notes to the center of screen - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is True)· Text-to-speech settings - select preferable default voice from available voices and listen sample text· Voice settings - volume, speed and pitch



3.3 Appearance

Preferences 35




Following options can be set on this page:· Notes look, either skinnable or skinless - select appropriate radio button· Settings of groups appearance:

ØCommon group fontØCommon group background color (in skinless mode)ØCommon group caption font (in skinless mode)ØCommon group skin (in skinnable mode)ØAdditional setting of Diary group:

vWhether to add weekday name to note's name - check/uncheck appropriatecheck box (default value is False)vFull weekday name - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is

False)vAdd weekday name at the end of note's name - check/uncheck appropriate

Preferences 37


check box (default value is False)vDo not show diary "pages" from previous dates in "Diary" menu - check/

uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)vAscending sort of pages in "Diary" menu (starting from earliest) - check/

uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)vNumber of diary "pages" shown in "Diary" menu - select desired value in

appropriate field (default value is 7)vDate format using for naming of notes belong to "Diary" group - select desired

format in appropriate combo box (default value is "MMMM dd, yyyy", e.g. "March17, 2013")

ØAdditional settings of skinless docked notes:vWidth and height of skinless docked notes - default value is 256x256

3.4 Behavior



Following options can be set on this page:· Hot keys settings· Menus visibility· Some common settings of skinless notes:

ØUse random background color - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value isFalse). If set to True, it overrides group settings

v Invert text color - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False). Ifset to True, then text color of newly created note will be set to color opposite tobackground color, overriding group settings.

ØRoll/Unroll note by double click on caption - check/uncheck appropriate check box(default value is False)

vFit to caption when rolled - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default valueis False). If set to True, then width of note in rolled state will be adjustedaccordingly to its caption text

· MiscellaneousØNew note always on top - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False). If

set to True, then newly created note is positioned over all other windowsØRelational notes positioning - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is

Preferences 39


False). If set to True, then notes positions are stored accordingly to screen resolution. Thatallows to notes to be shown at the same position on systems with different screen resolutionØ Show separate notes under each group in Show/Hide menus - check/uncheck

appropriate check box (default value is False). By default only groups names are shown. Ifthis option is set to True, then notes names are shown under their groups an you can show/hide them separatelyØHide notes marked as "Completed" - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value

is False). If set to True, then note will immediately disappear if it has been marked as"Completed"Ø Show big icons on PNotes.NET Control Panel toolbar - check/uncheck appropriate

check box (default value is False)ØDo not show notes in the list of opened windows (Alt+Tab) - check/uncheck appropriate

check box (default value is False). If set to True, then notes won't be shown when you pressAlt+Tab. This setting effects only newly created notes.ØKeep notes visible when hovering over "Show Desktop" button - check/uncheck

appropriate check box (default value is False). Available for Windows Vista and aboveØAction after double click on system tray icon - select desired action in appropriate combo

box (default value is New Note)ØAction after single click on system tray icon - select desired action in appropriate combo

box (default value is (No Action))ØUse following as default name of new notes - select desired value in appropriate combo

box (default value is First characters of note)Ø Length of note's text used as default name for new note - select desired value in

appropriate combo box (default value is 128)Ø Length of note's text shown in "Content" column at Control Panel - select desired

value in appropriate combo box (default value is 24)ØAction after click on "Pin" icon - select desired value in appropriate combo box (default

value is Unpin)· Effects

ØHide notes fluently - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False). If setto True, then notes will vanish fluently when you hide themØ Play sound when hide notes - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is

False). If set to True, then every time you hide a note it will play special "hide" soundØ Transparency level - set desired transparency level using track bar. This level is applied on

all notes. To set transparency level to separate note use its Adjust Appearance dialogØControls style - select desired style from list. Selected style will be applied to all list boxes,

combo boxes tree views etc

3.4.1 How to (Behavior)

How to: manage hot keysHow to: hide/show menus

3.4.1.1 Manage hot keys

Right click on program icon in system notification area and choose "Preferences" menu item from

context menu or click on button on PNotes.NET Control Panel.

When "Preferences" dialog appears, choose "Behavior" page.

Click on "Hot keys management" button. This will bring up hot keys management dialog:



Each tab on dialog represents its own menu:· Main menu - appears after right click on program icon in system notification area.· Note - appears after right click on note (excluding edit area).· Edit area - appears after right click on note's edit area.· Groups - represents Show/Hide options for groups.

When you click on Add/Modify buttons the following dialog box appears:

Enter desired hot key (e.g. Ctrl+Shift+H, F10, Shift+F9 etc) in the text box (do not type "Ctrl" or anyother text, just press on desired keys combination) and press OK. Take into account that there is anumber of forbidden combinations listed here.

3.4.1.1.1 Forbidden hot key

As a result of assigning hot keys to program some useable accelerators from other programs maybecome not available, because PNotes.NET will hook all keys combination defined as hot keys.Therefore, there are a number of keys combination forbidden by default for using as hot keys:

· Ctrl+S

Preferences 41


· Ctrl+C· Ctrl+V· Ctrl+X· Ctrl+Z· Ctrl+Y· Ctrl+A· Ctrl+F· Ctrl+P· Ctrl+O· Ctrl+G· Ctrl+B· Ctrl+I· Ctrl+K· Ctrl+L· Ctrl+E· Ctrl+R· Ctrl+U· F1· F3· F5

In addition, any combination of Shift button with letter is forbidden as well.Other keys combination are available, but use them carefully in order not to damage other programs.

3.4.1.2 Hide/show menus



When "Preferences" dialog appears, choose "Behavior" page.

Click on "Menus management" button. This will bring up menus management dialog:



Each tab on dialog represents its own menu:· Main menu - appears after right click on program icon in system notification area.· Note - appears after right click on note (excluding edit area).· Edit area - appears after right click on note's edit area.· Control Panel - appears after right click on notes' list on PNotes.NET Control Panel.

Remove selection from appropriate menu item in order to hide it or select an item in order to show it.

Note: if you choose hide/show Control Panel menus corresponding toolbar buttons will be hidden/shownas well.

Preferences 43


3.5 Network

Preferences 45


Following options can be set on this page:· Notes exchange

Ø Enable exchange - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)Ø Save notes before sending - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)ØDo not show notification when new note arrives - check/uncheck appropriate check box

(default value is False)vShow received note after click on notification message - check/uncheck

appropriate check box (default value is False)vShow "Incoming" group after click on notification message - check/uncheck

appropriate check box (default value is False)ØDo not play sound when new note arrives - check/uncheck appropriate check box

(default value is False)ØDo not show notification when note is sending - check/uncheck appropriate check box

(default value is False)Ø Show note after receiving - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)ØHide note after sending - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False)ØDo not show contacts in context menu - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default

value is False). If set to True, then no contacts name are show under "Send Via Network"menu. By default contacts names are shown along with contacts groups names

· Contacts detailsØ List of contacts groupsØ List of contactsØ Exchange port - required (default value is 27951)

· Social networksØ List of social network pluginsØCount of posts to receive - the limit of messages/statuses you'll get for choice when insert

message/status from one of available social network into note. Select desired value inappropriate combo box (default value is 20)Ø Plugin's removal - removes selected plugin's directory. Requires program restart.ØChecking for updates/new plugins - click on "Check for updates/new plugins" button. If

there is an update for some plugin or new plugin, the following dialog will appear:



After downloading you'll be prompted to restart the program (you may restart later, if you want,but all updates will be applied only after restart).

· SynchronizationØ List of available synchronization pluginsØ Include notes from Recycle Bin in synchronization - check/uncheck appropriate check

box (default value is False)Ø Synchronize notes on program start - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value

is False). Be careful when check this option - synchronization may take a long amount oftime.Ø Save notes before synchronization - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value

is False)Ø Plugin's removal - removes selected plugin's directory. Requires program restart.ØChecking for updates/new plugins - same as for social networks

Preferences 47


3.6 Protection



Following options can be set on this page:· Program password (creation, changing and removing)· Options only available if program password has been set

Ø Store notes as encrypted files - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value isFalse)ØHide icon from system tray if program is locked - check/uncheck appropriate check box

(default value is False). Setting this option to True requires a hot key to be set on "LockProgram" item of main program menu

· BackupØBackup notes before saving - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False

). If set to True, then before any save operation backup copy of note will be stored (i.e. in itscurrent state, before saving). You may always restore note from these saved copiesØBackup deepness (amount of copies for each note) - select desired amount in

appropriate field (default value is 3). This option is only available if you choose to backupnotes before savingØ Silent full backup - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False). If set to

True, then full backup will be created in "backup" directory using default name withoutprompting to choose directory and file name (default value is False)ØAutomatic full backup settings - set days of week and time to perform automatic full

backup· Miscellaneous

ØDo not show note's content at Control Panel if note or its group is passwordprotected - check/uncheck appropriate check box (default value is False). If set to True,then stars '*' will be shown at PNotes.NET Control Panel's "Content" column for passwordprotected notes/groups

· Local synchronizationØ Include notes from Recycle Bin in local synchronizationØ List of computers to automatically synchronize with, if program is started from USB

drive

3.6.1 How to (Protection)

How to: create, modify or remove program password

Preferences 49


3.6.1.1 Create, modify or remove program password



When "Preferences" dialog appears, choose "Protection" page. The same actions may beperformed by choosing "Password" button on PNotes.NET Control Panel toolbar.

In order to create password, click on "Create password" button. Enter your password in dialog box andconfirm it.

In order to modify password, click on "Modify password" button. Enter old password, new password andconfirm new password.

In order to remove password, click on "Remove password" button. Enter your password and click "OK".



4 PNotes.NET Control Panel

This is your central command point.On the left side of window there is a tree of notes' groups. The most upper node of tree is called "AllGroups" and cannot be removed or modified. If this node is selected, all notes from all groups (exceptdeleted notes from Recycle Bin) are shown in the list on the right side of window.If no groups has been created before - the default one, "General", will be created at program start and allnotes will belong to this group.Next to "All Groups" there are six additional items:"Recycle Bin", "Diary", "Search results", "Backup", "Favorites" and "Incoming". These items, like "AllGroups", cannot be removed or modified.

The toolbar of groups' tree deals with groups and itsactions are described in table below:

Button

Action

Creates new top-level group (group located under "All Groups").

Creates new subgroup in selected group.

Modifies selected group settings (name, icon, colors, fonts etc).

Deletes selected group. All notes belong to selected group and all it's subgroups will bedeleted as well. You cannot delete the "General" group because it is required for normalprogram behavior - but you can change it's name instead.

Shows all notes from selected group.

Shows all notes from selected group, include subgroups.

Hides all notes from selected group.

Hides all notes from selected group, include subgroups.

Sets password for selected group.

Removes password for selected group.

This toolbar has corresponding context menu with the same buttons, appears after right mouse buttonclick on the groups' tree.You can drag any group (except "All Groups") to new location within tree and assign it a new parentgroup.Dragging any note to "Recycle Bin" will remove it, dragging any note from "Recycle Bin" to anothergroup will restore it to this group."Search results" shows all notes found with quick search."Backup" shows all backup copies and allows to restore them."Diary" includes all notes belong to Diary. They cannot be dragged onto any other group except"Recycle Bin" and notes from other groups cannot be dragged onto it."Favorites" shows all your favorites notes."Incoming" shows all notes received from other users via local network.

On the right side of window there is a list of notes belong to selected group or all notes if "All Groups" isselected. The list will show number of columns, depending on group selected in groups' tree.

PNotes.NET Control Panel 51


Meaning of each column is self-explanatory. Some columns headers contain icon instead of text. Themeaning of these columns is as follows:

Icon Description

High priority status.

Completed note.

Locked note.

Note's group or note protected by password.

Note is pinned to some window.

Favorite note.

Sent, received or sent/received note.

Right click on columns header will allow you to hide/show columns, except the very first one: "NoteName".

Each note is presented in list with appropriate icon. Meaning of icons is described in table below:

Icon Description

Unchanged note.

Changed note.

Scheduled note.

Scheduled and changed note.

New (unsaved) note.

New (unsaved) changed note.

New (unsaved) and scheduled note.

New (unsaved), scheduled and changed note.

(*)Icons in table refer to visible notes. Invisible notes are presented with the same icons, but in different

color -

The main toolbar:

located at the top of window allows perform various operations with notes, as described in table below:

Button

Action

Creates new note. If "All Groups" is selected, the new note is being created in default"General" group, otherwise it is being created in selected group.

Loads note from .pnote file.

Creates new note from clipboard content.

Duplicates selected note.

Shows list of Diary "pages".



Button

Action

Saves selected note.

Saves selected note with new name.

Saves selected note as text file.

Restores note from backup copy.

Prints note's content.

Shows adjust options.

Deletes selected note.

Saves all notes.

Shows synchronization/backup options.

Shows placement/visibility options.

Sends content of selected note via email.

Sends selected notes via email as attachment.

Sends selected notes via email as zip archive.

Shows various exchange options.

Shows Tags dialog for selected note and Show/Hide by tags submenus.

Sets note's marks: priority, protected mode, complete task.

Adds/removes selected note to/from favorites.

Shows external program menu.

Empties Recycle Bin.

Restores selected note from Recycle Bin.

Shows/hides preview pane.

Shows preview pane background color options.

Switches between horizontal and vertical direction of preview pane.

Shows/hides groups' tree view.

Resets columns width and visibility.

Shows hot keys dialog.

Shows menus management dialog.

Shows program Preferences dialog.

Shows password management options.

Shows search options.

Performs quick search in notes.

Shows program help.

Navigates to PNotes.NET PayPal page.

This toolbar has corresponding context menu with the same buttons, appears after right mouse buttonclick on the notes' list.



You may choose one of two types of toolbar buttons - small or big by selecting the appropriate value onBehavior page of Preferences dialog.

4.1 Preview pane

The preview pane located on PNotes.NET Control Panel allows you to preview contents of notes withoutopening them.

You may hide or show the pane using "Preview" toolbar button or corresponding menu command.If you use skinless notes, the background color of preview pane will change accordingly to note'sbackground color, unless you specify another one and choose the option to use user defined color (by

clicking on "Preview Window Background Settings" toolbar button or corresponding menu command).If your notes are skinnable, the default background color of preview pane will be system windowsbackground color, unless you choose your own one (by clicking on "Preview Window Background

Settings" toolbar button or corresponding menu command).You also may switch between horizontal and vertical (on the right side) preview pane location by clicking

on "Preview Window On The Right" toolbar button or corresponding menu command.

4.2 How to (Control Panel)

How to: change group's settingsHow to: hide/show columns in list view

4.2.1 Change group's settings

Any group except "All groups" is customizable. Select desired group and click on "Edit group" toolbarbutton (or choose a corresponding menu item from context menu).This will bring up group's edit dialog:



At this dialog you can change group's name (not in case of "General" group), icon, default font of notesbelong to group (will be applied to newly created notes).Also you may change skinless/skinnable properties which will be applied immediately to all group'snotes.In order to reset custom settings - press "Standard view" button. All settings will return to their defaultvalues.

4.2.2 Hide/show columns in list view

In order to show/hide columns in PNotes.NET Control Panel list view right click elsewhere on columnheader and check/uncheck desired column:



You may always reset columns visibility and width by click on "Reset Columns Width/Visibility" button(or corresponding menu item from context menu).

5 Backup

There are two different types of backup actions available in PNotes.NET, which often confuses noviceusers. So, let's consider them one by one.

· "On-the-fly" backup.Ø If you choose to enable "Backup notes before saving" option at "Protection" page of

Preferences dialog, then each time you save changes, made to your note (but before thesave operation occurs) the copy of note will be saved in "backup" directory as separate fileunder name composed of note's ID and ordinal number and ".pnxb" extension, e.g."121229010256598_1.pnxb". Next time you save this note the copy of it's current state willbe saved with next ordinal number, i.e. "121229010256598_2.pnxb". And so on until the limitof backup copies is reached. The limit of backup copies (also named "Backup deepness")may be set at "Protection" page using "Backup deepness (amount of copies for each note)"field. The default value of backup deepness is 3. Ø Backup copies are stored by FIFO (First In First Out) concept, i.e. if backup deepness is set,

say, to 3, and you are saving note for the fourth time, the first copy will be replaced bysecond one, the second copy will be replaced by third one and current note's state will besaved as third copy. Ø In order to restore note from backup click "Restore From Backup" item on note's context



menu and choose one of available backups. Also you can see all backups under "Backup"group at PNotes.NET Control Panel and restore them by double click.

· Full backup.Ø Full backup is a copy of all existing notes' files and notes' database saved as ZIP archive.

You may do it manually by choosing "Create Full Backup" item under "Backup/Synchronization" menu of program's main context menu. To restore notes from full backup,choose "Restore From Full Backup" item under "Backup/Synchronization" menu of program'smain context menu.Ø If "Silent full backup" option at "Protection" page of Preferences dialog is enabled, then

manual full backup will be created in "backup" directory using default name without promptingto choose directory and file name. Otherwise you will be prompted to choose directory andfile name each time you create full backup.Ø You may also specify days of week and time to perform full backup automatically.

6 Synchronization

There are two types of synchronization available in PNotes.NET: local and online.

1. To synchronize notes locally Right click on program icon in system notification area and choose"Backup/Synchronization"-->"Manually Local Synchronization" menu item from context menu. Youwill be prompted to select notes data directory and (optional) separate directory of program database.Another way to synchronize notes locally is to allow automatic synchronization with host computerwhen program is started from USB drive. You may add computers and other synchronization detailson "Protection" page at Preferences dialog.

2. Online synchronization is available if you have any synchronization plugin installed. Initially programships without plugins, you may download them by click on "Search for updates/new plugins" buttonon either Synchronization or "Social networks" tab of "Network" page at Preferences dialog. Chooseone or more of available plugins on Synchronization tab and apply your settings. Once added, theplugin will appear under "Backup/Synchronization" menu item of main context menu. Click on plugin'smenu and follow service provider instructions. You may also to set up the program to synchronizeonline on start - just take into consideration, that synchronization process can drag on for a long time,depending on your internet connection speed and service provider capabilities.

7 Import from previous edition

To import notes and/or settings from previous edition of program - PNotes - choose appropriatecommand under Backup/Synchronization menu item of main context menu.

Choosing "Import Notes From PNotes" will bring up following dialog:

Import from previous edition 57


You have to specify location of notes files. Optionally, you may specify location of notes DB file (the onewith *.pnid extension). Usually it is located with notes, in the same directory. If you want to import notesgroups, you have to choose notes initialization (notes.ini) file. Take into consideration that groupshierarchy and icons will not be preserved, because old settings are not compatible with new ones.You may also decide whether you want to import deleted notes from Recycle Bin or not (default is not).

Choosing "Import Settings From PNotes" will bring up following dialog:



The only thing you have to specify is notes initialization (notes.ini) file.

8 Diary

Diary is an exclusive feature of PNotes.NET. Strictly speaking this is ordinary notes, but joined intospecial group "Diary". You may consider them as diary pages. Just like with real diary, you may writedown today's events, then skip a couple of days and return to diary again.When you click on "Today" item under "Diary" menu item of main context menu - new diary "page" oftoday will be created or existing "page" of today will be showed.

The name of Diary "page" is always the date it has been created, although format of this date can be changed at "Diary" section of "Appearance" page at Preferences dialog.Also at that section you may set various "Diary" properties.Diary "page" behaves like any other note with some restrictions:1. It can not be renamed2. It can not be associated with group other than "Diary"3. It can not be added to FavoritesLook of Diary group (background color, fonts, skin etc) may be customized at "Diary" section of"Appearance" page at Preferences dialog.

9 Docking

One yet interesting PNotes.NET feature is ability to dock notes to any side of desktop, making themlook like task bar.In order to dock all visible notes choose one of available docking modes under "Docking (All Notes)"

Docking 59


menu item at main context menu.In order to dock/undock separate note choose one of available docking modes under "Dock" menu itemof note's context menu.Here you can see notes docked to the bottom side of desktop:

Background color, fonts, skin and size of docked notes can be set at "Docking" section of "Appearance"page at Preferences dialog.

If docked notes overflow the desktop area then, when you hover the last note, the semi-transparent arrowwill appear, allowing you to shift docked notes by click on it.

If you hide ore delete note while it is on the docked "bar", remained notes will shift into necessarydirection and hide resulting gap.

10 Search

There are several available search options in PNotes.NET:

Enhanced search dialog which includes additional options along with standard



Search criteria can be one of following:1. Match entire search string - the text/title of note should include entire search string2. Match every word in search string - the text/title of note should include every word from search string3. Match at least one word in search string - the text/title of note should include at least one word from

search string

Search scope can be one of following:1. Search in text - the search is performed in text of notes2. Search in titles - the search is performed in titles of notes3. Search in text and titles - the search is performed in both text and titles of notes

Results of search are shown in "Search results" tree view. Double click on note's name or one of itschild nodes will bring up the note, making it visible if needed

Search by tags dialog

Search 61


This dialog allows to search for notes with specified tags

Search by dates dialog



This dialog allows to search for notes changed/saved/sent/received/deleted within specified dates interval

11 Show/hide options

You may show/hide notes by various criterions, i.e. show/hide notes by groups, by tags, bring all notesto front etc.

By default, only groups' names are shown under "Show Groups" and "Hide Groups" items. If you set theoption "Show separate notes under each group in Show/Hide menus" to True, then notes' names will beshown under group name and you could show/hide separate note instead of entire group.

Using "Last Modified Notes" you may show notes modified within one of several predefined intervals:

Show/hide options 63


To find notes modified within other intervals use "Search By Date" option.

12 Spell checking

Spell checking is performed by using Hunspell library.All your dictionaries have to be in "dictionaries" folder in the program root folder. By default programships with English dictionary, but you may download additional dictionaries at Open Office site.These are files with .oxt extension, but you can open them with any zip archiver, because they areactually zip archives. Extract .aff and .dic files and put them into "dictionaries" folder.You may set spell checking to automatic mode by checking "Check Automatically" menu item.

In this case all typos will be underlined by wavy line (red by default, but you may change this color at"General settings" page of Preferences dialog). Right click on mistyped word will bring up context menuwith suggestions to fix it or add to custom dictionary. Custom dictionaries are stored in the samedirectory and under the same name as other dictionaries with ".custom" extension.

http://extensions.openoffice.org/en/dictionaries



If you choose to make spell checking by demand, then after click on "Check Now" menu item thefollowing dialog will appear.

13 Command line

There are several command line switches in PNotes.NET:

1. -x - will close running PNotes.NET instance2. -xs - will close running PNotes.NET instance saving all unsaved notes without prompt, if appropriate

option - "Save all on exit" - is selected on Preferences window (General settings page)3. -xn - will close running PNotes.NET instance without saving4. -c - will create new note5. -cr - will create new note from clipboard6. -cd - will create or show today's Diary note7. -cn - will create new note with text specified in second parameter8. -b - will create full backup file. Optional second parameter specifies the backup files directory. If

omitted, the backup will be created in default directory

Command line 65


9. -r - will reload all notes10.-nonetwork - will start PNotes.NET without support for notes exchange over local network11.-nosplash - prevents splash screen appearance on program start12.-conf, -config - allows to define a number of paths in following order:

12.1.Settings database directory path12.2.Data database directory path12.3.Skins files directory path12.4.Backup files directory path12.5.Language files directory path12.6.Sound files directory path12.7.Fonts files directory path12.8.Spell checker dictionaries files directory path12.9.Social networks plugins files directory path

In case of empty string the default path will be used. If there is no such directory, the new one willbe created.Usage:

13.-confnonetwork, -confignonetwork - the same as -conf or -config, but without network support

Usage:"C:\PNotes.NET\PNotes.NET.exe" -xs"C:\PNotes.NET\PNotes.NET.exe" -cn "This is the text of note""C:\PNotes.NET\PNotes.NET.exe" -b "C:\PnotesBackups""C:\PNotes.NET\PNotes.NET.exe" -conf "C:\Documents and Settings\Configuration""C:\PNotes.NET\PNotes.NET.exe" -conf "" "C:\Documents and Settings\PNotesData" "" "" "" "C:\Documents and Settings\PNotesFonts"

14 Plugins development

Plugins help to PNotes.NET to extend its functionality. Currently there are two types of plugins:1. Plugins which allow to post notes' content on various social networks and receive posts (statuses,

updates, twitts) from these networks with further inserting (replacing) their text into notes.2. Plugins which allow to synchronize notes with one of available network storage providers.

Plugins are developed with MEF - the Managed Extensibility Framework,which is a composition layer for.NET that improves the flexibility, maintainability and testability of large applications. MEF can be usedfor third-party plugin extensibility, or it can bring the benefits of a loosely-coupled plugin-like architectureto regular applications (see more details about MEF here).

Each plugin represents .NET code library (DLL), written in any .NET language (C#, VB.NET etc) for .NETFramework version less or equal to 4 Client Profile - just because PNotes.NET requires .NET 4 ClientProfile.You are responsible for processing authentication against network server and other plugin's logic, suchas posting messages and/or retrieving them etc.Take a look at existing plugins' code here in order to learn how different plugins process authenticationand other operations. You'll see that each one makes it by its own way.Also you may notice that each plugin has two XML files: [pluginname]config.xml and [pluginname]localizations.xml. In first file you store any information related to authentication - keys, secrets etc. Ofcourse, it's strongly recommended to store this data encrypted. Although it's up to you to choose the

http://mef.codeplex.com/

http://pnotes.sourceforge.net/index.php?page=5



way you will store this data. In second file you may store all string messages your plugin may to showto user, in different languages, allowing to users add their own translations. This file is optional and youmay prefer to do without it.There are some rules though that are shared for all plugins and have to be implemented. Any plugin, forexample, must implement IPostPlugin interface.

In this section we'll talk about social network plugin. Synchronization plugin is very similar instead of itsinner logic.Suppose you want to create a new plugin for, say, YourSpace network. Let's start a new Class Library project in Visual Studio. Name it accordingly to the network you want tointeract with, e.g. "pnyourspace" (this name must be unique among other plugins).By default Class1.cs file is created in your project. Rename the "Class1" to something more sensible, e.g. "PNYourSpace". This is the class that will interact with PNotes.NET main window, so it'srecommended to design it exactly as described below and leave all your own logic in another classesand forms.First of all, add reference to PluginsCore.dll. It can be downloaded here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pnotes/files/PNotes.NET/Plugins/PluginsCore_bin.zip/downloadOther reference you require is System.ComponentModel.Composition.There may be (and should be) other components to reference - such as libraries which works with OAuth2.0 authentication protocol. You may write your own library (just like I did for LinkedIn) or use existingone (Google is your best friend).Once you have added all needed references, be sure to add the following usings:

using System;using System.ComponentModel.Composition;using System.Reflection;using System.Windows.Forms;using PluginsCore;

PluginsCore.dll contains all needed classes and interfaces.While PNotes.NET main window implements IPluginsHost interface, which provides plugin with

required properties from PNotes.NET, the plugin have to implement IPostPlugin interface. So add the

following:

[Export(typeof(IPostPlugin))] // tells to MEF which type to exportpublic class PNYourSpace : IPostPlugin

IPostPlugin interface contains 1 method, 9 properties and 3 events. So you have to implement them asshown below:

public string Name{ get { return "YourSpace"; }}

Here you return the name of your plugin, as it will be shown in PNotes.NET menus.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pnotes/files/PNotes.NET/Plugins/PluginsCore_bin.zip/download

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pnotes/files/PNotes.NET/Plugins/PluginsCore_bin.zip/download

Plugins development 67


public void Init(IPluginsHost host){ _Host = host; _MenuPostPartial = new ToolStripMenuItem(Name, Properties.Resources.myspc, menuClick); _MenuPostFull = new ToolStripMenuItem(Name, Properties.Resources.myspc, menuClick); _MenuGetPartial = new ToolStripMenuItem(Name, Properties.Resources.myspc, menuClick); _MenuGetFull = new ToolStripMenuItem(Name, Properties.Resources.myspc, menuClick);}

private void menuClick(object sender, EventArgs e){ var item = sender as ToolStripMenuItem; if (item == null) return; if (item.Equals(_MenuPostPartial)) { RichTextBox edit = _Host.ActiveTextBox; if (edit != null) { var result = YourSpacePost.Post(edit.SelectedText, _Host.ActiveCulture); if (PostPerformed != null) { PostPerformed(this, new PostPerformedEventArgs(result)); } } } else if (item.Equals(_MenuPostFull)) { RichTextBox edit = _Host.ActiveTextBox; if (edit != null) { var result = YourSpacePost.Post(edit.Text, _Host.ActiveCulture); if (PostPerformed != null) { PostPerformed(this, new PostPerformedEventArgs(result)); } } } else if (item.Equals(_MenuGetPartial)) { var details = YourSpacePost.Get(_Host.LimitToGet, _Host.ActiveCulture); if (GotPostsPartial != null) { GotPostsPartial(this, new GotPostsEventArgs(details)); } } else if (item.Equals(_MenuGetFull)) { var details = YourSpacePost.Get(_Host.LimitToGet, _Host.ActiveCulture); if (GotPostsFull != null) { GotPostsFull(this, new GotPostsEventArgs(details)); } }



}

Here you initialize your plugin, storing reference to host application main window and setting up plugin'smenus, which will be inserted in PNotes.NET note's menus. Properties.Resources.myspc

represents a small 16x16 image (most probably the social network logo) shown on menu item. Theimage should be stored as resource in your dll. In case you do not want to show any image, just send null instead.

menuClick is the name of procedure, which processes menus clicks.

Please, pay attention, that in case of _MenuPostPartial your plugin should post the selected text

of _Host.ActiveTextBox, while in case of _MenuPostFull it should post the text of entire note.

_MenuGetPartial and _MenuGetFull both make the same operation and distinguish is performed

in PNotes.NET accordingly to menu clicked. YourSpacePost is your own class, where you implement your inner logic. It may have another

methods' names than Post and Get, but return values of these methods have to be bool for Post

(success or failure of posting message) and List<PostDetails> for Get. PostDetails class is

defined in PluginsCore.dll._Host.ActiveTextBox is a text area of currently active PNotes.NET notes.

_Host.LimitToGet is a count of messages to retrieve from social network.

_Host.ActiveCulture is a culture currently selected in PNotes.NET as a culture of UI language. It is

used for searching localized string in possible localization file.

public string Author{ get { return "your_name_goes_here"; }}

public string Version{ get { return Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Version.ToString(); }}

public string ProductName{ get { var assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();

var customAttributes = assembly.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(AssemblyProductAttribute), false);return customAttributes.Length > 0 ? ((AssemblyProductAttribute)customAttributes[0]).Product : "";

}}

public string AdditionalInfo{ get { return "Uses YourSpace.NET library by J.J.Somebody (https://yourspacenet.com)"; }}

Here you return your name as author of plugin, plugin's version, plugin's product name (required forupdate process) and additional plugin's information.



public ToolStripMenuItem MenuPostPartial{ get { return _MenuPostPartial; }}

public ToolStripMenuItem MenuPostFull{ get { return _MenuPostFull; }}

public ToolStripMenuItem MenuGetPartial{ get { return _MenuGetPartial; }}

public ToolStripMenuItem MenuGetFull{ get { return _MenuGetFull; }}

Here you return plugin's menus.

public event EventHandler<GotPostsEventArgs> GotPostsPartial;public event EventHandler<GotPostsEventArgs> GotPostsFull;public event EventHandler<PostPerformedEventArgs> PostPerformed;

Here you define plugin's events. GotPostsEventArgs and PostPerformedEventArgs classes are

defined in PluginsCore.dll.

And here is the full example:



using System;using System.ComponentModel.Composition;using System.Reflection;using System.Windows.Forms;using PluginsCore;

namespace pnyourspace{ public class PNYourSpace : IPostPlugin { private IPluginsHost _Host; private ToolStripMenuItem _MenuPostPartial; private ToolStripMenuItem _MenuPostFull; private ToolStripMenuItem _MenuGetPartial; private ToolStripMenuItem _MenuGetFull;

#region IPostPlugin Members

public string Name { get { return "YourSpace"; } }

public void Init(IPluginsHost host) { _Host = host; _MenuPostPartial = new ToolStripMenuItem(Name, Properties.Resources.myspc, menuClick); _MenuPostFull = new ToolStripMenuItem(Name, Properties.Resources.myspc, menuClick); _MenuGetPartial = new ToolStripMenuItem(Name, Properties.Resources.myspc, menuClick); _MenuGetFull = new ToolStripMenuItem(Name, Properties.Resources.myspc, menuClick); }

private void menuClick(object sender, EventArgs e) { var item = sender as ToolStripMenuItem; if (item == null) return; if (item.Equals(_MenuPostPartial)) { RichTextBox edit = _Host.ActiveTextBox; if (edit != null) { var result = YourSpacePost.Post(edit.SelectedText, _Host.ActiveCulture); if (PostPerformed != null) { PostPerformed(this, new PostPerformedEventArgs(result)); } } } else if (item.Equals(_MenuPostFull)) { RichTextBox edit = _Host.ActiveTextBox; if (edit != null) {



public ToolStripMenuItem MenuPostPartial { get { return _MenuPostPartial; } }

public ToolStripMenuItem MenuPostFull { get { return _MenuPostFull; } }

public ToolStripMenuItem MenuGetPartial { get { return _MenuGetPartial; } }

public ToolStripMenuItem MenuGetFull { get { return _MenuGetFull; } }

public event EventHandler<GotPostsEventArgs> GotPostsPartial; public event EventHandler<GotPostsEventArgs> GotPostsFull; public event EventHandler<PostPerformedEventArgs> PostPerformed;

#endregion }}

15 Credits

My thanks and gratitude for great work to:

· Hwaci (Hipp, Wyrick & Company, Inc.) for SQLite database engine and System.Data.SQLite library.· Thomas Maierhofer for NHunspell spellchecking library.· Dino Chiesa for DotNetZip library.

To JetBrains for ReSharper - an outstanding tool, saved me a lot of time and learned me a lot of things.

To Sacha Barber for very helpful code snippets and examples.

Thanks to all over the world who tests, translates and simply uses the program.

http://www.sqlite.org/

http://system.data.sqlite.org/

http://www.maierhofer.de/en/

http://dotnetzip.codeplex.com/

http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper/

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/16113/Retreiving-a-list-of-network-computer-names-using

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