A Check List™ 2.3 User Guide

Preface

This document describes the features of A Check List™ 2.3, a checklist application offered by Golden Trout Software™, LLC for the iPhone and iPod touch. Although the app is designed to be as intuitive as possible, we provide a manual so users can learn the interface quickly. Prior users of A Check List™ should read this manual to learn about all the new features.

This app used to be known as NList™, but we have renamed it to be consistent with the sales name on Apple's store.

This document has been formatted for viewing on the iPhone and iPod touch.

Go to http://www.goldentroutsoftware.com to learn more about our company and the other products we offer.

CSV Text Import Format

What's New

A Check List™ 2.3
requires iOS 3.0+

A Check List™ was completely re-written from the ground up at version 2.0. List data is now stored using Apple's Core Data framework. This makes it easier for us to add features and provide updates. Of course, we have added many new features to go along with this change.

Version 2.1 was a bugfix release.

Version 2.2 adds bugfixes and a few new features. You are now allowed to change the auto-capitalization behavior on list and item names. CSV import now accepts text with less than 4 columns of data. Most importantly, there is now an easy backup by e-mail feature, accessible from the Functions pane on the Lists screen. (There are also a number of minor changes that we have identified where appropriate in this document).

Version 2.3 contains bugfixes for CSV import and saving of lists and items with question marks and asterisks present in their names. Also, the due date on/off switch now turns itself on when you choose a date. Furthermore, we have added high resolution images for the iPhone 4 (which the iPad should be able to take advantage of), and we have added support for multitasking under iOS 4. In doing this, we have tried to maintain backwards compatibility with devices running iOS 3.0+ and the iPad. There are no new features in this update.

Features

Unlimited number of lists and items
Notes for lists and items
Due dates for lists and items
Each checklist displays the number of unchecked items remaining
Lists and items turn red when due dates have passed
Display the notes or due date below items or lists by preference
Detail view for lists and items so you can easily read long names and notes
"Save +" button to quickly add many items to a list
Import of lists by clicking a link in e-mail
Import of lists from clipboard text
Export of lists by e-mail and clipboard
Automatic and manual sorting of lists and items
Landscape and portrait keyboards for editing; lockable into either mode, or use autorotate
Settings to control how unfinished items are added to the application icon badge
Convenience functions for handling check-marks and deleting items
Automatically move (un)checked items to the bottom of a list by preference
Choose between a yellow or a white theme
A Check List™ remembers which screen you were on so you do not lose edits because of a phone call
Backup your lists by e-mail

Please e-mail bug reports, comments, and feature requests to nlist@goldentroutsoftware.com

The Lists Screen

The Lists screen shows you all of the checklists you have made. No lists will appear until you create one by tapping the + button. Once you have made a list, you will see its name, along with a number in parenthesis to the left. This represents the number of unfinished items in that list. It will not be shown if there are no unfinished items. The list name will be shown in red if a list is due or contains unchecked items that are due. Tap on the list to view the items it contains.

If the list has notes, the first few words will be displayed below the name of the list in green. If you chose to display due dates instead of notes in Settings, then the due date will be shown instead of notes when one is present.

You can tap the blue button to the right of each list to display a detail view. From there, you can easily read all of the notes, or view the full name of the list if it was cut off on the Lists screen.

Along the bottom of the screen, you will find the Edit, Sort, and Functions buttons. Use the Edit button to switch the Lists screen into editing mode. This allows you to delete lists, as well as re-order them the way you like. The Sort button gives you access to several automatic sorting options. The lists will be constantly sorted by the chosen option until you manually re-order them again. The Functions button gives you the option of e-mailing one or more checklists, backing up your lists, or pasting one checklist into the app from your clipboard.

If you choose to e-mail checklists, you will be shown a new screen that lets you select which lists to e-mail by tapping on them. Tapping the Continue button will generate e-mail text and open the standard editor. Once you press Send, the e-mail will be queued in your outbox. To make sure it goes out, you may need to quit A Check List™ and open the Mail application.

Backing up your lists will generate an e-mail with a single link that you can tap to import your lists again, just in case something happens to the app. This backup feature is not automated. Every time you make an important change to your lists, you should send yourself a backup e-mail.

For paste to work, your clipboard must contain specially formatted text. You can use the paste function to import lists created on your computer. See below for the format specification. Paste also serves as a way to quickly duplicate lists. To duplicate a list, first copy it to the clipboard from that list's screen, then paste it.

Lists can be deleted in two ways. First, you can tap the Edit button. This places a red circle with a white line through the middle, to the left of every list. Tapping that circle will reveal the delete button, which you can tap to delete the list. The second way to show the delete button is to swipe your finger along the name of the list rapidly.

The name, notes, and due date of a list can be edited after creation by tapping the edit button and then tapping the list you want to change. This will reveal the list editor with the list's information already filled out for you.

The Settings Screen

The Settings screen allows you to configure several options that affect the way A Check List™ behaves. It can be accessed by pressing the Settings button from the Lists screen.

You can choose to show due dates instead of notes below list or item names. You can also lock the editing keyboard in either landscape or portrait mode, as well as enable autorotation. As of version 2.2, we have added an option to change the way list/item names are automatically capitalized in an editor. You can choose between words, sentences, and no auto-capitalization.

You can configure the number that appears in the upper right of A Check List™'s icon to represent the total number of unfinished items, or to just show the number of lists with unfinished items.

A Check List™ supports a yellow and a white theme. If you decide to change the theme, make sure to restart A Check List™ so all the changes can take effect.

Use the Done button to exit the Settings screen.

The Checklist Screen

When you tap on a list, the Checklist screen will open. The name of the list is shown centered at the top, between the Lists and + buttons. Tap the Lists button to go back to viewing all of your checklists. The + button will open the item editor so you can create new items for the open list.

Items show notes and due dates just like lists, but they also have a checkmark which you can toggle by tapping on the item. If an item is unchecked and due, its name will be shown in red.

The rest of the Checklist screen behaves similar to the Lists screen, with a few noteable differences. The Functions button allows you to (un)check all the items in the list, toggle all checkmarks, and delete the checked items. You can also copy the checklist to the clipboard. The copied data is in CSV format so you can paste it into another application or e-mail. In addition, this format is the same as that accepted by the Paste function on the Lists screen, so you can use it as a way to quickly duplicate lists.

The Options button opens up another screen which allows you to configure how the list's items are added to the application badge (icon), and whether or not items are automatically moved to the bottom of a list when their checkmark changes. As of version 2.2, when you choose to have items automatically moved to the bottom of a list when checked, unchecking an item will cause it to move to the top.

The Editing Screens

Both the List and Item Editors function in the same manner. For the purposes of this section, we will refer to both lists and items as "objects". If you opened an editor by tapping a + button, a new object will be created if you choose to save your edits. If you are editing a specific object, any changes will be saved to that object instead.

The Save button will write out your changes and close the editor screen. The "Save +" button will write your changes, clear all of the fields, and make the editor ready to create a new object. Use it to add multiple items to a list quickly. The Cancel button will take you back to the previous screen.

There is also a button labeled Due Dates. Tapping it will open the due date chooser. Spin the wheels to choose a due date for the object. You can enable or disable due dates for that object by toggling the on/off switch at the top of the chooser. Pressing Done will return you to the List or Item Editor. Due date changes will not actually be committed until you save the object.

If you prefer to use a landscape keyboard, you can rotate your device on its side while in an Editor. There is a setting to lock the interface in portrait or landscape mode if you don't want to wait for the rotation.

The due date chooser only shows a portrait view, but you can access it from either editor orientation.

CSV Text Import Format

CSV stands for Comma-Separated-Value. You can find references to it on Wikipedia. A Check List™ uses 4 columns to represent list data. The first row defines the list information. The remaining rows describe the items.

All data should be individually encased in double-quotes, without spaces between the quotes and separating commas. Double-quotes in your text must be escaped with another double quote placed right next to it.

Here is an example of an acceptable CSV string:
"listname","","8/5/09"," "
"item1","0","","notes"
"item2 ""quotes""","1","8/4/09 7:30 PM"," "

The first column contains the name of the list or item. The second column contains a 1 if the item is checked, or a 0 if it is unchecked. The second column on the first row should be left empty. The third column contains the due date, which takes the format "Month/Day/Year Time". Time is optional, but must be given in 12 hour format, followed by am or pm. If time is not specified, A Check List™ will assume midnight. The fourth column contains the notes for the list or item. Notice that empty notes are represented with a space. This is because many CSV applications ignore an empty string after the last comma. A Check List™ does not require the space to successfully import a list.

The easiest way to import a list from your computer is to place the CSV text directly into an e-mail. You can copy that e-mail text from the Mail program on your device, and then paste it into A Check List™.

As of version 2.2, we allow users to import CSV data with fewer than 4 columns. If a row does not have all 4 columns, A Check List™ will set appropriate defaults for the missing columns. You cannot however just skip a column, so if you need to add notes, you also have to put in the preceding columns.

A list can be easily specified in the following form:
"listname"
"item1"
"item2"

In the above format, the list/items would have no due dates or notes, and all of the items would be unchecked.