HandyShopper for Windows Mobile

History of Changes

v3.0.5 - build 4325 - July 25, 2008

The default action for pressing the center d-pad button now checks off the highlighted item. There is a new "Hold center button to check item" option in the View tab of the Options dialog (not all devices support press+hold) to get the previous behavior where pressing the center button shows the Details dialog and press+hold checks off the highlighted item.

v3.0.4 - build 4313 - July 13, 2008

Theme Page - The Options dialog has a new Theme page. A few existing settings have been moved there, and also some new settings have been added:
- Font - The new Edit Selected Font... button lets you configure the selected font. Each of the five fonts can be customized to your liking. For example you might make one font be a large narrow font, and make another be a tiny bold font, or etc. Any font installed on the device can be used.
- Color/Style - Previously you could only choose between thin Today Theme style gradient strips, or wide Row Color gradient bars. Now you can separately choose Today Theme or Custom color, and thin or wide gradient style. Also the custom color chooser now supports the direction pad.
- Use old style toolbars - On WM5 and higher devices there is an option to use the old style toolbars. The old style toolbars take fewer taps for some actions, but make other actions inaccessible without a stylus. For now old style toolbars are still used by default so that the All/Need indicator is visible to help new users discover the two views (longer term the goal is for the old style toolbars to be off by default so that all actions are accessible without a stylus).
Details - The Details dialog has been revamped. The Item and More pages have been combined into a single page with a scrollable table of fields (similar to Pocket Outlook). This finally lets you edit multi-line Description and Custom Text fields in the Details dialog. It also finally lets the Details dialog support landscape orientation and square screen devices.
Fixes:
The iLauncher workaround has been removed: it had the nasty side effect of changing the application name shown in task managers and the Memory|Running Programs control panel. If you want to use iLauncher and you also want to see the database name in the title bar, then you'll need to work with the iLauncher support folks to get a fix made in iLauncher.
Various fixes and enhancements to the WM5 hardware navigation support.
The OK button now properly dismisses popup edit windows on WM2003 devices.
The calculator panel was slow, and the slowness became especially apparent when moving up/down between fields in the new Details dialog. Now the calculator doesn't look quite as pretty, but it is very fast.
And various minor fixes, cosmetic and otherwise.

v3.0.3 - build 4208 - June 8, 2008

Import - If a file name is entered without a path, the Import command looks for the file in the \My Documents folder on the device.
Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.0 Touch Screen Phones - A number of improvements targetting these devices.
- Uses softkey toolbars in all screens.
- Shows/hides the Lookup edit box when showing/hiding the soft input panel. This allows T9 style input panels to work properly.
- All controls now show when they are navigated to, making it easier to navigate using a direction pad or keyboard.
- The softkeys in the Find screen work more naturally now (the right softkey is "Go" when you have entered a new lookup string, or is "Next" if a search is in progress).
- The calculator buttons are larger now and easier to press with fingertips. The "MR" button now lights up to indicate when the calculator has a number in its memory. The operator buttons (add, subtract, multiply, divide) now light up to indicate the operation that will be performed.
- The Options and Total screens now show scrollbars when the controls don't all fit on the screen.
- Most screens now make edit controls wider in landscape orientation.
- The up/down buttons on direction pads now work normally in the Notes field in the Details screen, to allow navigating between controls properly.
- Added an Attach Note (or Edit Note) command on the context menu in the list view.
HS3Convert - Added a -X flag (uppercase X) to prefix all text strings in a .CSV file with a single quote character. This enables some spreadsheet programs such as Excel to recognize the cells as text, instead of sometimes mistakenly treating them as formulas.
Dialog boxes with help text now have a (?) icon in the upper right corner. The databases view and list view both have help text but they don't have a (?) shortcut; instead you must use Start->Help as usual.
Fixes:
Worked around a problem in some Today Themes that didn't properly set two gradient colors for the list view.
Fixed private records visibility - changing the default setting (Hide/Mask/Show) didn't take effect until after exiting and restarting HandyShopper.
Fixed line ending problems in HS3Convert (Palm OS and Windows represent the end of a line of text differently).
And various minor fixes, cosmetic and otherwise.

v3.0.2 - build 4026 - April 26, 2008

Import - The Import command now supports both Unicode TXT files and normal TXT files.
Fixes:
Renaming a PDB database accidentally truncated the file, effectively removing all the records. This has been fixed.

v3.0.1 - build 4020 - April 20, 2008

Fixes:

HS3Convert was only outputting the first digit for per-store prices.

v3.0 - build 3930 - March 30, 2008

Installer -- Installation is easy now with the new installer.
Categories -- Now supports up to 100 user-defined categories.
Multiline Descriptions -- The list view now uses multiple lines to show an item when the Description or Custom Text fields contain more text than can fit in one line.
Lookup tool -- Now you can turn off the category and store filter when using the Lookup tool.
Copy Database -- The Copy command works now in the list of databases, and lets you make a copy of the selected database.
Windows Mobile 5.0 -- For best fit with the new Windows Mobile 5.0 look, HandyShopper uses softkey toolbars in most screens when running on Windows Mobile 5.0 and higher.
Storage Cards -- To make it easier to share a storage card between a Palm OS device and a Windows Mobile device, HandyShopper now also finds databases in the \PALM\Launcher folder on a storage card.
And numerous other minor improvements, cosmetic and otherwise.
Fixes:
HS3 and HS3Convert could skew column widths slightly under certain conditions.
HS3Convert had trouble with store names if the -i flag was not used.
Resizing columns had a math error and could go narrower than intended.
The Find command in the databases list could return incorrect matches in some PDB databases.
Mistaken error when trying to create the first category in a database that has no categories yet.
Sorting by category behaved unpredictably due to a data size/alignment bug.
Fixed bug that prevented the database from being sorted when selecting a store in a database that uses per-store prices/aisles.
Reinstalling on Windows Mobile 5.0 now remembers the global preferences (such as whether to use the Today Theme colors, whether to use in-cell editing, and which database was most recently opened).
And numerous minor fixes, cosmetic and otherwise.

Alpha 3 - April 3, 2005

Calculator -- The calculator input panel works with in-cell editing.
D-pad -- Press and hold the d-pad button to check off the selected item. Due to hardware and OEM issues, this only works on some devices.
Storage Cards -- HandyShopper now detects any storage cards, including built-in storage cards (not just cards with certain common names). The database context menu includes a command to move the selected database to/from a storage card.
Stores -- Filter by multiple stores at the same time by selecting the 'Multiple...' entry in the stores list.
Search All Databases -- Search all HandyShopper databases for a word or phrase. Tap the new Find toolbar button in the list of databases, enter some text to search for, and tap the curved green arrow button to start the search.
Per-Store Prices -- When per-store prices are enabled, the Stores tab in the Details dialog now shows an extra Unfiled row which shows the normal (non-per-store) price. This entry is shown for convenience, and to help reduce confusion about "where did my prices go?" when initially turning on per-store prices. There isn't a checkbox for the Unfiled store because an item is automatically Unfiled when it is not associated with any stores.
Import and Export -- Import and export lists of items in text files.
And numerous other minor improvements, cosmetic and otherwise.
Also see the Known Issues section.
Fixes:
Fixed dismissing in-cell editing via the Cancel button or menu commands; previously it could mistakenly discard the changed text, or possibly even crash.
Fixed the Quantity column's context menu.
Fixed the initial focus in the Details dialog.
Fixed how Edit commands are enabled when an edit control has the focus.
Fixed how the Stores and Categories header buttons are sized on VGA devices (when one or both are too wide to fit without being truncated).
Fixed potential problem sorting by text fields, where items could get sorted wrong.
Fixed potential problem where store names could get sorted wrong and result in a corrupted store list. The corruption is automatically repaired, too.
Fixed bug in the needed-item counts in the Stores popup list, where deleting a store could throw off the counts.
Fixed creating a new database so that it prompts before overwriting an existing database by the same name.
Fixed renaming a category when the database is sorted by category; now it resorts the list.
And numerous minor fixes, cosmetic and otherwise.

Alpha 2 - January 6, 2005

VGA -- High resolution is fully supported. Landscape is partially supported (see Known Issues).
Colors -- Row background colors can follow the Today Theme, or can be specified explicitly (use the Options command on the Tools menu, and go to the Database tab).
Categories -- Filter by multiple categories at the same time by selecting the 'Multiple...' entry in the categories list.
Private Items -- Private items are supported in the same way as they are on Palm OS devices (it's just a casual deterrent, not a security feature; for example there is no encryption). Use the Security command on the Tools menu to hide private items and/or set a password for showing them.
Copy Item To -- Copy an item to another database by choosing the Copy Item To command from the context menu.
And numerous other minor improvements, cosmetic and otherwise.
Also see the Known Issues section.
Fixes:
Fixed the .cab file to refuse to install on PPC 2002 and earlier (since the app wouldn't run anyway; see Known Issues).
Fixed sorting by Aisle (the bug was inherited from HS2; now it is fixed in both places).
Fixed redrawing the Stores list in the Details dialog when editing prices results in a new lowest price.
Fixed Undo after an item is deleted due to having no Description text.

Alpha 1 - August 30, 2004

Has feature parity with the basic shopping list features from HandyShopper for the Palm OS, but it does not yet include all features.
Lookup tool -- Filters the list by what you write, showing all matching items from the selected Store and Category (it looks for matching words in the Description, Note, or Custom Text fields).
Quick pane -- Tap the 'up/down arrows' toolbar button to get to the one-handed shopping mode with a big 'check off' button; shows some details about the selected item, tapping an item only selects it (tap the Details button separately to open the item).
Columns -- Choose which fields to show in the list view (use the Options command on the Tools menu); each field is shown in a column, and most columns can be resized by dragging the column divider at the top of the list view.
Sorting -- Sort the list by up to three fields, optionally use different sort orders for the Need and All views.
Stores -- Have up to 100 stores in your list; each item can be associated with multiple stores (i.e. the stores where the item is available for purchase).
Categories -- Have up to 15 categories in your list; each item can be associated one category (this limitation is a carry-over from the Palm OS version of HandyShopper, and will be broadened later).
Purge items -- The Purge Items command on the Tools menu helps you purge items in bulk based on certain criteria.
Reset items -- The Reset Items command on the Tools menu helps you reset the checkboxes for items in bulk based on certain criteria.
Best Buy -- The Best Buy command on the Tools menu helps you compare brand A versus brand B to see details about how their prices differ.
Checkout -- When you've finished shopping at one store, use the Checkout command on the Tools menu to reset the checked off items so they no longer appear in the Need view (also deletes checked off items marked as 'Autodelete').
Total -- Use the Total command on the Tools menu to total up the Price * Quantity of the items in your list.
Multiple databases -- Create and use as many databases as you like, for keeping lists of different things.
Calculator -- When editing number fields, HandyShopper shows a special calculator input panel by default (tap the SIP toolbar button to toggle between the calculator and the normal input panel).
Also see the Known Issues section.