Pathagoras Users' Guide, Part 1, Introduction

HOME--------FEATURES--------FAQs--------DOWNLOADS---------CONTACT INFO>>>

PATHAGORAS^™ Users' Guide, Part I

Comments would be greatly appreciated to improve the usefulness of the text below and of the program.

Introduction, General Information and Program Design
For the 'down and dirty' stuff, check out the QuickStart Guide.

PATHAGORAS is an add-in program for Microsoft Word^®.
All modules are written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).
PATHAGORAS comprises several separate modules. Collectively, they dramatically
improve the speed and accuracy of document creation, storage and retrieval without the necessity of complex fields and coding and formulae.

(Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher, is the namesake of this program. Its intended pronunciation is therefore 'Pa-THAG-oras.' Literary license has been taken with the spelling of his name to reflect the 'path' aspects of the program's navigational features.)

This is the PATHAGORAS menu bar. It will appear on your Word toolbar after
the program has been installed. If you do not see all four elements,
move the toolbar to a different location until you can..

NOTE: Pathagoras runs from within Word. It has no 'stand-alone' capacity. You cannot call Pathagoras from your desktop, nor will you see an icon there for the program. When you are in Word, Pathagoras is automatically running.

As you are reading about a feature, you may wish to click the appropriate icon
to display the specific screen to more fully understand the program.
You may wish to print these instructions for a reference as you are learning the program.
.

The 30-second Tutorial

At the head of most pages within this extensive Users' Guide is a box similar to this one. Each presents the 'down and dirty' steps needed to accomplish the end-result which is the subject of the page. If you just want to know the what's, and not the why's, this instruction should be sufficient. Read the remainder of the Guide for more detailed information.
The time assigned to the title (e.g., '30-second Tutorial,' '1 minute Tutorial,' etc.) is the approximate amount of time it should take to accomplish the minimal steps.

PATHAGORAS is a collection of several distinct MSWord modules. All work together seamlessly to make 'processing words' in Microsoft Word97, 2000, XP and 2003 a less challenging and a hopefully more enjoyable task. Among PATHAGORAS many features are

enhanced document management tools. These appear in the form of easy to use disk navigation techniques (including the ability to directly jump from one document folder to another without traditional 'click up, down and across' techniques);

extensive enhancements to Word's native techniques for saving and moving, copying and deleting new or existing documents;

incredibly simple document assembly capabilities. This include tools which make it easy to build documents from boilerplate clauses; tools that make it easy to create and add text to any number of boilerplate libraries; and tools that make it easy to pre-position variables so that they can be quickly and easily replaced with personal data at the 'personalize' stage of the document assembly process;

'plain-vanilla' paragraph numbering to replace the native, and sometimes unpredictable, system that is Word's default; and

a myriad of other helpful tools which made processing words a less tedious task.

Program setup is simple: It will take under 5 minutes to download and install. Upon installation, you can immediately begin to use PATHAGORAS' 'PATHSMART' and 'SAVESMART' features. You just have to associate a document folder (or 'path') with a number and a nickname. Pathagoras will hold you by the hand while you do so. Thereafter, you will be able to quickly display folders, and open, save, copy and move documents, with reference only to that number.

You can also immediately use PATHAGORAS' GotForms? module. If your current document (one that you have created or one that you downloaded from a forms library) has its variables denoted by brackets, braces, parentheses or even simple underlines, PATHAGORAS' allows you to instantly begin replacing those variables with personal data.

PATHAGORAS offers a very easy, very quick and very powerful document assembly module. When called upon, PATHAGORAS reads the names of every document in the requested document folder or glossary. It then displays a listing of each term name on a “CheckBox” screen. There, you can ‘check off’ the desired clauses needed for the specific client and project. Press the <Assemble> button and the document is built before your eyes. Using PATHAGORAS' Instant Database or GotForms?, personal data can be quickly substituted for any variables that have been placed throughout the document.

Other modules of the PATHAGORAS suite provide an elegance and ease in document assembly and file management not available in any other single program.

Getting Started Using PATHAGORAS

The sheer volume of material on the PATHAGORAS web site and in this Users' Guide will frighten many people into postponing installation and implementation of PATHAGORAS until "I have more time." Trust us, you will never have "more time." However, when you start using the 'easy' parts of PATHAGORAS following the steps outlined, the program will actually create the time you need to master its more complex aspects. We believe this to be true, and our customer's tell us it is true.

PATHAGORAS is sensitive to how a busy office operates. It was created in that environment, and was designed to be implemented in that environment. It was designed to be undertaken in phases, any one of which require very little time. After each phase is accomplished, the user will be able to perform time saving functions provided by the program.

PLEASE NOTE: it is not necessary to implement all or even most of this Guide or of any particular chapter in order to use and meaningfully benefit from PATHAGORAS. This e-Guide is lengthy because of the depth and breadth of the program, but not because of its complexity. Implement as much or as little of PATHAGORAS as you wish. Whatever step you have accomplished, PATHAGORAS will still help you in your productivity. Hopefully, when you see how simple and elegant the program really is, it will encourage you to take advantage of more of its features.

If you have not done so, please download and install PATHAGORAS right now!

Next, peruse the helpful Welcome and Introduction Page which will appear after the installation is complete. Perform a few of the exercises. Then map one or two SmartPaths on your own. (Mapping a SmartPath is the process of assigning a number and a nickname to a folder that contains some of your documents. It is a practically automatic process.) You are, as they say, now ready to roll. Navigate to and among the your favorite folders via the PathSmart screen. Recall documents. Use PATHAGORAS' powerful filtering tools to hone in on the document you really want. You will see that PATHAGORAS hasn't really changed the way you do most things. It just speeds them up.

Go back to work, and do more PATHAGORAS setup stuff later. But remember to use what you have done so far. The next time you need to recall a document from the folder you mapped as Path #8, just type the number "8" to your editing screen and press <Alt-G>.

If you don't change a single document or other setting, PATHAGORAS will improve your productivity from this point forward.

A little down the road, spend a bit more time moving and saving documents into more organized (topical) folders, and you will see even more benefits. Play with the 'filter' and automatic peelback features to improve your displays of documents. See how <Alt-G> can instantly open a document whose name and SmartPath location you already know (just type the SmartPath, a colon, and the name of the document followed by <Alt-G>. No matter how many mouse click it may have taken you before, PATHAGORAS can do it in none.

Still later, add simple variables to documents and save those documents for reuse. Variables in Pathagoras are created in plain text, and automatic variables are be created by putting [simple brackets] around a word or words of your choice. To complete a form document, recall it to the screen. Click <Alt-S> to tell PATHAGORAS to 'scan' for the bracketed variables. PATHAGORAS will quickly scan the document and display the terms it finds onto a form for you to provide the personal information you want in place of the variable.

Move as quickly or as slowly as you wish in implementing (or not implementing) the many features that come with PATHAGORAS. Whatever features you try, whatever steps you take, you will be ahead of the game. And if you decided never to use another feature of PATHAGORAS (an unlikely scenario), you will have still gained in productivity.

Certain style conventions have been adopted for this e-Guide:

(1) Bold text surrounded by brackets, e.g., <Button>, will represent a button or other object on the page under discussion which can be clicked to generate an action or display another screen.
(2) The titles of, or introduction to, Informational text will be bolded, but without brackets.

(3) "HINT:" will precede text that provides tricks or tips which will make Pathagoras more useful to you.

(4) Definitions of certain key terms will be set out in boxes so labeled.

Relocating the PATHAGORAS menu.

To move the PATHAGORAS menu, simply place your cursor at the left hand margin of the menu (next to the Runner icon), between the two vertical lines. Click and hold the left mouse button and drag the menu to the desired location. 'Drop' the menu at its new location by releasing the mouse button. The menu will appear at this location the next time you open Word.

Continue with Part 2 of Users' Guide ('PathSmart' module)
View Part 3 of Users' Guide ('SaveSmart' module)
View Part 4 of Users' Guide (Document Assembly module)
View Part 5 of Users' Guide (Glossary module)
View Part 6 of Users' Guide (Database Linking module)
View Part 7 of Users' Guide (Other Features)