The One-Year Appointment Book Generator
Created by David Alderoty, © 2011
You can contact the author by email David@TechForText.com, or
left click on these words for a website communication form.
The One-Year Appointment Book Generator is free software, in the form of an Excel, or OpenOffice Calc template, for generating a limitless number of one-year appointment books. The One-Year Appointment Book Generator never expires, in the way that conventional calendars and appointment books do at the end of the year. That is each time a new appointment book is generated, a current set of dates are calculated, based on a start date entered by the user.
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Section 1) Description of this Software: The One‑Year Appointment Book Generator
Section 2) Instructions for Downloading the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator
Section 3) The download links for the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator
Section 4) BRIEF INSTRUCTIONS for the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator
Section 5) DETAILED Instructions for the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator
Section 6) Interesting Technical Note
Section 7) A Simplified Description of How this Software was Created
Section 8) Formulas Displayed in a Replica of the Software
Section 9) A Design Concept to Maximizing User‑Friendliness
Section 10) Services Offered by the Author David Alderoty
Section 1) Description of this Software: The One‑Year Appointment Book Generator
The software generates appointment books in the electronic format, with *368 sequentially dated pages. I created this software in the form of a reusable Excel template. I am also providing it in the form of an OpenOffice Calc template, for people that do not have Microsoft Excel. This software also requires Microsoft windows. You can obtain the One-Year Appointment Book Generator, without charge, with the download links at the end of the introductory section, several paragraphs below.
*Note, the three dates beyond a 365-day year, is a safety margin, such as if there is a delay in generating a new appointment book, when the old one is about to expire.
The One‑Year Appointment Book Generator can produce a limitless number of appointment books, and it does not expire, in the way that conventional calendars, and appointment books do, at the end of the year. This is because, when the software generates an appointment book, it calculates a current set of 368 consecutive dates, with a start date entered by the user. However, the individual appointment books generated by the software do expire, but the One-Year Appointment Book Generator does not expire.
Each of the 368 pages in the appointment book has twenty-five rows, representing 30-minute time intervals for scheduling appointments. The software calculates the time intervals from the beginning of the workday. The user enters the time the workday starts.
The 368 pages are in a vertical configuration, as seen on the computer screen. Thus, the user scrolls down or up to go from one date to another, such as to schedule appointments, or to examine notes from prior meetings. To prevent confusion from scrolling from one page to another, the software highlights the upper left corner of the page with the current date in pink. The pink color moves to the following date, at 12 AM, when the new day officially starts. (The software can do this because it automatically accesses the date from the timing mechanism on your computer, and compares it with all the dates in the appointment book.)
There are three headings on each page of an appointment book, with three column headings, which are Name of Client, Contact Information, and Miscellaneous Info. The twenty-five rows on each page of the appointment book increase in height to accommodate several lines of text, such as for the client's name, contact information, and for describing the purpose or outcome of an appointment.
The layout of the appointment book is suitable for a service provider or businessperson who schedules several appointments throughout the working day. However, the user can change the headings in one central location on all of the 368 pages. Thus, the appointment books generated by the software may be useful for a day planner, a diary, a business journal, depending on the headings entered by the user.
The One‑Year Appointment Book Generator is very easy to use, but to generate an appointment book it is necessary to carry out a few simple steps, such as entering a start date, the time you start your workday, and saving the results with an appropriate filename. Thus, it is necessary to read the instructions in section 2 (for downloading) and section 3 (for using).
Section 2) Instructions for Downloading the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator
To download the One-Year Appointment Book Generator, simply use the same method you always use for downloading and saving a file from the Internet. However, you must be able to locate the file after downloading it.
If you are not familiar with downloading files, ask someone who can help you, or try the steps listed below. If you are using Microsoft's Internet Explorer, the following steps will be easier, because Internet Explorer provides the functionality needed to direct the location of a download. If you are using a browser that does not provide this functionality, download Internet Explorer from Microsoft. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/home If the above link is outdated, left click on the following Google search link:
Google search[Internet Explorer download]
Step 1) Left click with the mouse on a blue download link, for the One-Year Appointment Book Generator, and a dialog box will open, with an option to save the file. Note, after left clicking on a blue link, it can take anywhere from a couple of seconds to OVER two minutes before the file opens, or before the download is completed.
Step 2) Save the file on the Windows Desktop or in the Documents Folder, or anywhere else on your computer, where you can easily locate the file’s icon.
Step 3) After you downloaded the file, you must locate the file's icon on your computer.
The Excel version
of the file's icon looks like this: 
on
most computers. The icon for the OpenOffice
Calc version looks similar to the above, except it is
different in color. The icons can be bigger or smaller than the above,
because the way icons are displayed are determined by your computer settings.
However, no matter how the icons appear, they will have the words: Appointment-Book.
Note you cannot generate appointment books unless you can left click on the file’s icon. If you cannot find the One-Year Appointment Book Generator’s icon, try downloading it again to another location on your computer, or use the following alternative method:
Alternatively, you can download One-Year Appointment Book Generator in a zipped folder, by left clicking on link that contains the words: zipped folder. With this method, you can see the icon as soon as you click on the browsers Open button. Then you can transfer the icon to any location you find convenient on your computer, with the windows cut and paste mechanism.
If you still cannot locate the file, left click on the Google search link, for information on downloading files:
Google Search:[How to download files from the Internet]
Step 4) The file's icon can be moved after downloading to any location on your computer, with the windows cut and paste function. You should move the icon to a location on your computer where you can easily find it, when you want to generate an appointment book. For most people, the best place to store these files is in the Documents Folder (also called the My Documents in some versions of Windows).
Section 3) The download links for the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator
You can download the One-Year Appointment Book Generator in a zipped folder, or without any folder, as indicated on the links. The two download options will circumvent difficulties that result from the limitations of certain browsers. If your browser is unable to download one of the files without a folder, try the zipped folder option, and vice versa. Before attempting to use a file it should be removed from the zipped folder. As explained above, it might be easier to find the location of the file's icon if it is downloaded in the zipped folder.
Keep in mind that the following downloads require Microsoft Windows, as well as the spreadsheet software indicated on the links.
If you want the above in a zipped folder, left click on these words.
If you want the above in a zipped folder, left click on these words.
Note, if you do not have Microsoft Excel on your computer, download the One-Year Appointment Book Generator in the OpenOffice Calc format. However, you must first obtain the FREE OpenOffice.org software package, which provides almost the same functionality as Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Access. The OpenOffice.org software package is open-source, and you can obtain it without charge from the following website: www.OpenOffice.org
Section 4) BRIEF INSTRUCTIONS for the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator
I am summarizing the instructions in a brief format in this section. If you want, detailed instructions read section 5, and if you want technical information on how I created this software, read section 6.
To generate an appointment book, left click on the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator’s icon, two or more times, until the software opens. When the software opens, you will see a control panel, framed in red, with yellow sections and five white input boxes. Enter the information indicated on the control panel. This involves the following steps:
In the control panel of the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator, there is a white input box on the upper left with a sample start date of 1/1/1901. *Delete the sample date (1/1/1901), and enter the start date you want for your appointment book. You must enter your start date in the same format as the sample date: Month/Day/Year.
*Note, before you enter or delete numbers or text, in the appointment book, you must first left click with the mouse on the relevant input box or cell.
The remaining four input boxes on the control panel of the Appointment Book, contain default settings that you DO NOT HAVE TO CHANGE, unless you prefer alternatives for the following: Start time of the workday DEFAULT 9:00 AM, and DEFAULT Column headings: Name of Client, Contact Information, and Miscellaneous Info
After completing the above, save the Appointment Book with a convenient filename, such as the start date written with dashes, such as 4-12-2011, or 4-12-11-AptBook, or start date and your name. To avoid technical problems, the filename should not be excessively long.
When the above steps are completed, you have generated an Appointment Book. The above steps do not change the template, that contains the software for the One-Year Appointment Book Generator, and it is available to create as many appointment books as you want, at any point in time.
Note, any time you enter or delete data in the Appointment Book, such as scheduling or canceling an appointment, or entering notes, you must use the save function available in Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc.
Before closing the Appointment Book, you should scroll to the page that corresponds to the current date, which is highlighted in pink on the upper left corner of the page. Then save the appointment book as indicated above. This records the page location. For example, let us assume that when you save the appointment book you see the date: 5/1/2011. When you reopen the appointment book at a later point in time, it will open to the page with the date: 5/1/2011. This is very convenient when you are dealing with 368 pages.
Section 5) DETAILED Instructions for the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator
The following instructions contain more detail than the above, and it is in a step‑by‑step format.
Step 1) To open the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator left click on its icon RAPIDLY TWO OR MORE times, until it opens. The icon looks similar to the tiny picture, below this paragraph, in the center. The picture you see is the Excel version, but the OpenOffice Calc version is similar in size and shape. The actual icons will have the words Appointment‑Book, and it might be smaller or larger on your computer, then the picture presented below.
Step 2) When, you have successfully opened the one-year appointment book generator, scroll down a few pages, and examine its layout. The first page contains the control panel for the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator, which has five white input boxes. Displayed below, is a life-size picture of the control panel. After examining the picture below, go to step 3.
Step 3) You must enter a start date for your Appointment Book. In the control panel, in the white input box on the upper left, you will see a temporary date 1/1/1901, which is provided for illustration purposes. Left click on this white box with the mouse, and delete the temporary date. Then, enter the start date that you prefer for your appointment book. The date you enter must be in the same format as the temporary date (1/1/1901), which is Month/Day/Year. If a different format is used, the software will not be able to calculate the dates. After completing this step, the software calculates 368 consecutive dates, and displays the dates on 368 pages.
Note, before you enter or delete numbers or text anywhere in the Appointment book, you must first left click with the mouse on the relevant input box or cell.
Step 4) Enter the typical time you start your workday. However, if you start your workday at the default setting of 9:00 AM, skip this step. If this is not the case, go to the control panel, and you will see a white input box, on the upper right, with the time 9:00 AM. Left click on the 9:00 AM, and delete it. Then enter the time that you usually start your workday, in the same format as the above.
Note about entering time in the control panel. There must be a colon between the hours and minutes. Do not use semicolons or commas. Do not use periods on the AM or PM, and there must be one space between the time and the AM or PM. For example, 7:30AM is INCORRECT, the correct format is 7:30 AM. If you use a slightly different format from the above, the software will usually reject the time you tried to enter, and it will display error messages. In some cases, the software will correct the format. For example, if you enter 7:00 am or 7 am the software might correct this to 7:00 AM. Some people may have to tries several times before they succeed in entering the time in the required format. This should not be much of a problem because this step is only required once a year, if you are creating one appointment book for yourself.
Step 5) Optional, you can change the column headings. On every page of the appointment book, there are three columns for entering data, with the headings: Name of Client, Contact Information, and Miscellaneous Info. If you want to change, the headings go to the Control Panel for the Appointment Book, and you will see three white boxes, with the above headings. Then delete the headings you want to replace, and enter the headings you prefer. When this is done the headings on all 368 pages will change.
Step 6) Save the Appointment Book with a new file name. Using the conventional Excel controls, (or OpenOffice Calc controls) you must save the appointment book with the new file name. (You can also save the appointment book by pressing the s key, while holding down the Ctrl key.) The best file name for your appointment book is probably the start date, written with dashes, such as 4-1-2011, or AptBook-4-1-2011.
Note, if you have completed the above steps, you succeeded in generating a one-year appointment book. Read the remaining instructions, so you will know how to use your appointment book.
Step 7) Optional you can generate additional Appointment Books. You can repeat the above steps to generate as many appointment books as you need, such as for everybody in your office, or for every employee in your organization, or even for all your customers. However, you should use a new file name for every appointment book you generate, unless you are certain that the appointment books will not be used on the same computer. If two appointment books are used on the same computer, and a happen to be on the same directory, one appointment book will overwrite the other. To create an adequate number of filenames, you can use the date and name of the individual who will receive the appointment book, such as: David-4-1-2011.
Step 8) You can schedule appointments with the time markings on each row. That is each page in this appointment book has twenty-five rows. The top row has the time the workday started, which is followed by thirty minute time periods, such as 9:00 AM, 9:30 AM, 10:00 AM, 10:30 AM, 11:00 AM, etc. To schedule an appointment, scroll to the page that corresponds to the date of the appointment. Then enter the client's name and contact information on the row that corresponds to the scheduled appointment time. Optional, you can also enter the goals, potential problems, or necessary preparation associated with the appointment, on the heading: Miscellaneous Info.
Step 9) You can enter detailed information about each appointment. This is possible, because the rows in this appointment book will automatically increase in height when you enter text. If you cannot see all of the text that you entered in a row, left click on it, with the mouse.
Step 10) Save the appointment book, to retain changes. Whenever you enter or delete anything in the appointment book, you should save it. In addition, before you close your appointment book, you should scroll to the page with the current date, which has its upper left corner highlighted in pink by the software. Then save the appointment book, to mark the position of the current date and related page. When you reopen the appointment book, it will open to the same date and page that it displayed when you closed it. For example, let us assume that you saved and closed the appointment book, while it was displaying the date Friday, April 28. When you open the appointment book again, it will open to the page with the date Friday, April 28. This is very convenient when you are dealing with 368 pages.
Section 6) Interesting Technical Note
As explained in the previous paragraphs, the One-Year Appointment Book Generator does NOT expire, for all practical purposes. However, technically speaking the Excel version can only calculate dates that are in an eight‑thousand one‑hundred year range, from January 1, 1900 12:00 AM to December 31, 9999 11:59:59 PM. This means that the Excel version of the software will expire in a little less than eight thousand years from now.
If you are interested in experimenting, enter 1/1/9999 as a start date in the Excel version. When this is done the last three dates in the Appointment Book, (January 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of the year 10,000) will NOT be calculated, because they are beyond the upper limits of the software. If you enter a start date that is earlier than 1/1/1900, none of the dates will be calculated, because the start date is outside of the lower limits of this software.
Interestingly, the OpenOffice Calc version of the One-Year Appointment Book Generator, can calculate dates in a wider range than the Excel version, from January 1, 100, (the year one hundred) to January 1, 10001 (the year ten thousand and one). However, it can only calculate to January 1, 10001, if you enter 12/31/9999 as a start date. If you enter a start date beyond the above, OpenOffice Calc will not calculate any dates.
Section 7) A Simplified Description of How this Software was Created
NOT: The following is a greatly simplified description of SOME of the principles I used to design and build the One-Year Appointment Book Generator. It is NOT instructions on how to create similar software. However, if you are an expert in the technical aspects of spreadsheets, you might be able to figure out how to create a similar device, after reading the following paragraphs.
I created the One-Year Appointment Book Generator from a conventional spreadsheet, using Microsoft Excel 2010. I altered the graphics of the spreadsheet to the configuration needed for an appointment book. To calculate the dates, I devised a sequential set of 368 formulas, which add one to the value calculated by the previous formula in the sequence. This can simply be represented as PREVIOUS DATE PLUS ONE equals THE FOLLOWING DATE. For example, if the previous date was 1/1/2011 the addition of one day will result in 1/2/2011.
I used cell designations to create the actual set of formulas, described above. For example, if we assume that the start date is in cell F50. The sequence can be represented as F50, followed by F50+1 in cell F60, F60+1 in cell F70, F70+1 in cell F80, F80+1 in cell F90, F90+1 in cell F100, etc. The actual sequence is a little more complicated than this example, but the principle is identical.
Before I continue, it is necessary to explain a little about the timing mechanism and related formatting code used in Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice Calc. Microsoft Excel, and OpenOffice Calc, calculate and measure time in days and fractions of a day. For example, calculations and time measurements involving milliseconds, seconds, minutes, and hours are carried out in fractions of a day. Calculations and time measurements involving weeks, months, and years are carried out in days.
However, with appropriate formatting code time and dates are displayed in customary units. For example, I am writing this paragraph on Monday, April 4, 2011, 1:52 AM. Microsoft Excel, displayed this time and date in the above configuration, when I applied the following formatting code: dddd, mmmm d yyyy, h:mm AM/PM. However, Excel internally interprets Monday, April 4, 2011, 1:52 AM, in terms of the number of days and fractions of a day, from January 1, 1900, 12:00 AM, which is: 40637.0778771991 days. The number 40637 represents the date 4/4/2011 and the decimal 0.0778771991 represents the 1:52 AM. The numbers that Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc, uses for measuring and calculating time are concealed from the user, to prevent confusion. However, when cells are formatted with the number code, such as 0.000000000000 the numbers that Excel uses for measuring and calculating time and dates become visible.
The set of formulas, I described two paragraphs above, calculate a simple mathematical sequence, by using a start date, which Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice Calc interpret as a number. The calculated sequence must be interpreted for the user, in terms of a series of dates, appropriate for an appointment book. To do this, I replaced Microsoft Excel's default formatting code, with the following custom code:
· dddd (in cells that display the weekday, such as Sunday)
· mmmm d (in cells that display month and date, such as January 1)
· yyyy (in cells that display the year, such as 2011)
The set of formulas explained above, calculate the date, but not the time of day. Thus, I created another set of formulas to calculate a sequence of time intervals from the start of the workday. On every page of the appointment book, there are twenty-five sequential half-hour time-periods, calculated from the start of the workday. The start time for the workday is entered in one central location, and it is used to calculate the time-periods on all 368 pages. To do this, I devised a sequential set of 25 formulas, and placed a set on each page. The formulas access the start time from the central location, and they increase it in the following sequence 0, 1/48th of a day, 2/48th of a day, 3/48th of a day, 4/48th of a day, continued to … 24/48th of a day. (As explained above, Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice Calc calculate time only in days, and fractions of a day.) The calculated results, from this set of formulas is displayed in conventional time format, with the following formatting code: [$-409]h:mm AM/PM;@
As explained above, this software calculates 368 dates, and twenty-five 30-minute time intervals, based on data entered by the user. This required 368 formulas to calculate the dates, and to calculate the time intervals twenty-five formulas are required for each date. This totals 9,568 formulas. This is not an error; the nine-thousand five hundred and sixty-eight is based on 368 X 25=9200 formulas for the time intervals plus 368 formulas to calculate the dates.
In addition to the above, there are three formulas on each page to access the headings (Name of Client, Contact Information, Miscellaneous Info) from the control panel of the appointment book. This is 368 X 3 = 1104 additional formulas. This totals to 9,568 + 1104 = 10672 formulas.
Note: There are approximately 368 formulas that are not included in the above calculations, because they are concealed from the user, and they simply assist in transmitting data from one section of the graphical interface of the appointment book to another.
Section 8) Formulas Displayed in a Replica of the Software
If you want to examine the actual formulas in the One-Year Appointment Book Generator, left click on one or more of the following links. This will display, a 368 page replica of the One-Year Appointment Book Generator, with the formulas displayed in their original location. All of the formats in this section were created from the original One-Year Appointment Book Generator, in the Excel format.
Note the following are not functioning software devices. They are essentially illustrations, with some explanatory text to show the formulas in the One-Year Appointment Book Generator. Thus, I am calling them Formula Illustrations of the One-Year Appointment Book Generator.
You can also download the above in a zipped folder, by left clicking on these words.
You can also download the above in a zipped folder, by left clicking on these words.
Section 9) A Design Concept to Maximize User‑Friendliness
I designed this website, and the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator in a way that would maximize efficiency and ease-of-use. The links contain precise wording, to prevent confusion, such as: If you want the One-Year Appointment Book Generator, in the Microsoft Excel format, left click on these words. I used large fonts the text, including the links. The paragraphs are relatively short with ample spacing between one paragraph and another.
Some of the material on this website is of a technical nature, and it requires a background in spreadsheets and programming concepts for an optimal level of comprehension. However, I structured each sentence with the goal of minimizing confusion, and maximizing comprehension, for users with varying levels of technical knowledge. In this regard, perfection is never possible, because users come from diverse technical, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. The reading habits of the user can also affect comprehension. For example, some users will skim read or speed read technical material in a way that interferes with comprehension.
Both the website and the One‑Year Appointment Book Generator have a very simple layout, consisting of one long page. With this layout, the user can navigate intuitively by scrolling down or up, from one section to another. This one page layout avoids the unnecessary complexity of pull-down menus, and links to go from one page to another. However, I provided hyperlinks, in the form of a table of contents as an alternative way of navigating the website.
Section 10) Services Offered by the Author David Alderoty
I design and build user-friendly software based calculation devices for arithmetic, accounting, currency exchange rates, algebra, trigonometry, correlations, calculus, and databases with built-in calculation devices. I also create attractive online calculation devices for websites. I generally make these devices in the Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice.org, and the JavaScript formats, but I can work with other spreadsheet formats besides the above. I also create web communication forms in the JavaScript format for your website. This includes forms with built-in calculation devices. For a list of websites with calculation devices that I created, left click on these words, or go to the following website: www.TechForText.com/Math
I write instructions for the devices I build. I can also write instructions for software and computer devices created by others. In addition, I can write advertising for your websites, products and services.
For a list of all the services I offer see www.TechForText.com For a list of all my websites see www.David100.com My resume is online at: www.David100.com/R
I can provide the services mentioned above on a fee-for-service basis, or possibly based on temporary or permanent employment. If you are interested in my services, and want additional contact information or more data on the services I offer, you can email me at David@TechForText.com or use a website communication form, by left clicking on these words.
My name is David Alderoty, and I am located in the USA, New York City. If you are a great distance from my locality or are in another country, this is not important. I can provide the above services worldwide, because the software and the writing services I offer can be delivered through the Internet to any locality, providing there are no governmental restrictions.