Nokia 9XXX User Manual

Plan for Nokia 9XXX
User Guide

Plan User Manual

Version 3.00
Copyright © Twiddlebit Software 2004
All rights reserved.
Some of the names used within this manual and displayed by the software are registered

trademarks. Such names are acknowledged as trademarks even though they have not been
marked with the ® symbol.

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Plan User Manual

INTRODUCTION

About this manual

This manual describes how to use the Twiddlebit Plan project planning tool. This manual is
specific to Plan running on the Nokia Series 9XXX Communicator (9210, 9210i, 9300 or

9500).
The section “Project planning” describes key concepts used throughout this manual and

should be read before the rest of the manual. Plan is easy to use, provided that the
fundamental concepts are understood. This manual should be sufficient in order to use Plan,
however if you are unfamiliar with project planning in general then you may wish to read one
of the many books available on the subject.

The “Fast start tutorial” section describes the main features of Plan and provides a quick
method of getting up to speed with Plan. The rest of the manual contains detailed information
on all of the features of Plan.

Screenshots shown within this manual are from Plan running on a Nokia 9500.

What is Plan?

Plan is a project planning tool designed for use on a range of handheld and desktop
computers. It allows an initial project plan to be created and refined and subsequently, when
the project is underway, provides facilities for tracking progress.

A project consists of a set of resources, (individuals/groups) who are assigned to specific
tasks within the project. The project is split into a number of separate tasks. Each task has a
start and end date, an amount of work, and a number of assigned resources. Dependencies
may be set between tasks, indicating that a task cannot start until another finishes. In this way
if one task is updated within Plan, any tasks dependent upon it will be recalculated
automatically.

Plan on a Nokia Communicator may be used as a stand-alone project planning tool or may be
used in conjunction with PC based project planning tools such as Twiddlebit Plan for
Windows or Microsoft Project. When used with a desktop version of Plan, Plan for the
Communicator provides an ideal means of transporting project plans out of the office. A
project plan may be transferred from Plan for Windows on a PC to Plan on the
Communicator and readily updated “on the move”. The project may subsequently be
transferred back to the PC upon return to the office.

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Plan User Manual

Installation

Plan may be supplied in various forms:

1. Pre-installed on an MMC.

In this case simply insert the MMC into the Communicator and Plan should appear as a new
application. It will appear as an icon either in the Extras or Desk group.

2. As a SIS file.

Use the standard mechanism for installing the SIS file, i.e. one of the following techniques:

• With the Communicator connected to your PC, use the software provided you’re your
Communicator to install the SIS file, e.g. double click on the SIS file from Windows
Explorer to start the install process.

• Transfer the SIS file to your Communicator and double click on it from the file
manager to start the installation.

If updating a previous installation of Plan then simply install the new version as normal – the
previous version will be detected and removed without removing any created project plans.

3. As a ZIP file for use with a Nokia 9210/9210i.

Within the ZIP file you will find a readme file, another ZIP file and a SIS file.
Install Plan onto the Communicator using the SIS file, as described in 2 above.
Within the ZIP file there is also a Microsoft Project to Plan converter for use with the Nokia

9210/9210i. This is supplied as a setup.exe program which is contained within the
PlanCnv.zip. Running the setup.exe will install an additional software component on your PC
into the "PC Suite 2.11 for Nokia Communicator" product supplied with a Nokia 9210/9210i
Communicator.

With this converter installed you can drag Microsoft Project files to your 9210/9210i
Communicator using Windows Explorer and they will be converted into Plan format
automatically. Please note the following points concerning the use of this optional PC based
converter:

• You must have the Nokia PC Suite 2.11 installed on your PC. It will not work with
other versions of the Nokia PC Suite, such as the version compatible with the Nokia
9300 or 9500. If you have a 9300 or 9500 check out the Twiddlebit “Plan for
Windows” which is the desktop PC version of Plan.

• MPP, MPD and MPX files can be copied and converted by dragging them to your
Communicator using Windows Explorer. For MPX files you will need to select to
convert them into Plan format rather than Word format.

• You cannot convert Plan files to Microsoft Project format by dragging Plan files from
your Communicator back to your PC. You must use the "Save as MPX" option within
Plan instead, and then copy the MPX file to your PC.

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Plan User Manual

Purchase Options

Plan is shareware, which means that if you continue to use it you should register with
Twiddlebit. The software may be freely distributed provided all files in the package are
included. The freely available trial version is fully functional but will be limited in one of two
ways:

1. A maximum of 10 tasks may be entered until the software is registered by entering a
special code via the register menu option.

2. If the version of Plan provided is integrated with the Openbit License Manager then it
will be either time limited or may only be run a given number of times.

When you purchase a license the software will be fully enabled. This will remove any limit
applying to the unregistered version.

Purchase via the Internet

If you have access to the Internet then the fastest and easiest method to register is via a credit
card, online. To do this, follow the links from the purchase section of the Twiddlebit web
site:

http://www.twiddlebit.com

Purchase via voice call

Credit card orders can also be taken by telephone as follows. Within the USA:

• Call: 1-877-REGSOFT (734-7638)

• Fax: [phone]

Elsewhere:

•

Call: (USA code) 770-319-2718

• Fax: [phone] (or 0870-132-2485 if within UK)

When registering using RegSoft by phone or fax you MUST quote the RegSoft Product ID
shown below:

Plan for Nokia 9XXX RegSoft Product ID: 40941

Purchase via Openbit License Manager

If the version of Plan provided is integrated with the Openbit License manager an initial
warning will be displayed when you start Plan for the first time. This will indicate the
software is operating in trial mode and will indicate the terms of the trial (time limited or a
limit as to how many times the application may be started). When the trial period is over you
will be prompted to purchase a license.

Licenses may be purchased be selecting the appropriate options in the Openbit License
manager which appears when you start the application. Payment options may include:

• payment via your phone bill,

• payment via a credit card,

• an option to enter a license key.

Follow the prompts to select the appropriate payment method and price.

Purchase via post

If you wish to register by post, then you can send a cheque for £15 (must be from a UK bank)
made payable to "Twiddlebit Software" to:

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Plan User Manual

Twiddlebit Software,
23 Worcester Avenue,
Hardwick,
Cambridgeshire. CB3 7XG.
U.K.

We cannot accept non-UK cheques at the above address. If necessary, we can accept cash via
post (£15 or US$25). When registering via post it is important to state the following:

• Which product you are registering, i.e. “Plan for Nokia 9XXX”.

• If you have an e-mail address please quote this in order to receive the registration

code via e-mail more quickly.

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Plan User Manual

PROJECT PLANNING

Fundamental concepts

Plan allows a project plan to be constructed from individual task components. Task and
resource details are entered into the application along with dependencies between tasks. The
application will then calculate the schedule for each task and the project as a whole.

Each task within a project plan has the following key values:

•

start date and time,

• end date and time,

• the amount of work required to complete the task,

•

a number of assigned resources working at a given rate.

A number of resources may be assigned with given work rates to each task. The resource
work hours, holiday information and work rates are then taken into consideration when
calculating task values, such as end dates.

An “Input” option for each task (which appears under the “Details” tab when editing each
task) allows control over which of the above values are entered manually and which are
calculated by Plan. This field can take one of 3 values:

• “Work & rates”. Here you enter the work and resource rates and Plan calculates the
start/end date.

• “Rates & dates”. Here you enter the start and end along with resource work rates and
Plan calculates the work required by each resource and the task as a whole.

•

“Work & dates”. Here you enter the start and end along with the work each resource
performs on the task and Plan calculates the work rate for each resource.

When considering which of the above options to select for a task, it is often associated with
the stage the task is at:

•

For planned tasks you usually can estimate the work and rates and want Plan to
calculate the end date (use the “Work & rates” option).

• For tasks nearing completion it is sometimes easier to estimate when the task will
finish, so you enter the rates and dates and get Plan to calculate the work (use the
“Rates & dates” option).

• For tasks which are completed, you know when the task started and finished and can
sometime enter the total work (from timesheets), so Plan will calculate the average
resource work rates (use the “Work & dates” option).

In addition to the above, constraints can be set for each task:

• Known start/end dates can be input manually (via the “Constraint” option under the
“Details” tab when editing a task). The start or end can be constrained in various ways
– fixed absolutely or set to be before or after a given date.

• A number of dependencies can be defined upon other tasks, e.g. a task must start after
another task finishes.

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Plan User Manual

Example

Consider a task which is estimated to take two man days to complete, (one man day being the
time between the start and end of a normal working day, set to 8.0 hours in this particular
example). A resource is assigned to the task where the resource has the following attributes:

• Works from 8:00am until 5:00pm with an hour for lunch at noon.

•

Works a standard week starting on Monday and ending on Friday.

The task start day is set to a Monday at 9:00am and the work set to two days. Plan calculates
the end of the task to be 5:00pm on Tuesday. Assume now that the resource is only available
to work on the task at a rate of 50% rather than 100%. Plan would now indicate the end of the
task to be Thursday at 5:00pm. Assume also that the resource takes one day holiday on
Tuesday. Plan would calculate the end to be Friday at 5:00pm. Suppose that the task is
completed and actually finished at 5:00pm on Wednesday rather than 5:00pm on Friday. Plan
will allow the end time to be set to the actual end time and will then calculate the work given
the start, end and resource details to be one man day rather than two.

Plan works internally down to an accuracy of one minute.

Calculation of task dates

The start of any task is controlled either by dependencies defined on earlier tasks, constraints
on the start/end date, or a combination of the two.

Dependencies may be set between tasks so that the start of one task depends upon the end of
another. If the first task is delayed the second will also be delayed. Dependencies may be set
for a number of reasons, such as:

•

If one task cannot logically start until another task finishes. For example, in a software
development project the development may be dependent upon the requirements phase.

• Resource limitations may impose dependencies, for example if two tasks need to be
carried out by one person, and the person works on the tasks sequentially, then a
dependency should be set between the tasks.

When creating a task a constraint on the start date may be set to indicate either that the task
should start on the specified date or cannot start before the given date. If no dependencies
have been defined then the given date will be used as the start date for the task. If the task has
one or more dependencies upon earlier tasks then the latest date will be used as the task start
date, taking into consideration all the dependencies and the specified start on/after date.

The plan has a “Calculate from start/end date” associated with it, which is set via the “Plan >
Calculation/Storage…” menu option. The default is that a project start date is entered and
tasks will be calculated from this date forwards in time to determine the project end date.
Alternatively a project target end date can entered and Plan will calculate back in time to
determine when the tasks need to start in order to meet the target end date.

Tasks have various start/end date fields:

• Start/end. The calculated start/end dates.

• Early start/end. The earliest date the task can be started/finished.

•

Late start/end. The latest date the task starts/finishes in order not to delay the project.

• Saved start/end. You can take a copy of the start/end date values for later reference
(termed a “baseline”). This is usually used to record the initially estimated plan so that
you can compare the actual start/end dates as they are determined.

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