FIGURE B

The new Split Window view gives you a configurable pane for displaying more than just calendar information.

By default, items from the To Do List appear in the Split-Window pane, but you can also view your Address Book or Memo Pad records there as well. A Recent Items folder pops up a dialog containing recently-accessed addresses or memos, depending on which list is being viewed.

So many options
More significant are the options for controlling which specific records are displayed, as shown in Figure C.

FIGURE C

There are plenty of new options to control what appears in the Split Window pane.

The Find/Filter Text option
The Find/Filter Text option lets you specify text, like "PalmPower" for example, and displays only the records in the chosen list that include that text. This feature is especially handy for people with lots of records who don't want to exit their calendar to use the Palm unit's Find feature. My only wish for future improvement would be the ability to view found records from multiple lists, such as any "PalmPower" addresses along with memos that also contain that text.

The Select Category command
Another great selection tool is the Select Category command. Although the Palm OS currently lets you view only the records from a single category, this command allows you to choose multiple categories for display in the Split Window view. On my Palm V, for example, I'm able to list the To Do items for categories I've set up for my main clients. I can then view only the tasks needed for a day devoted to two or three clients' work.

The Preferences option
The Preferences option includes controls for how tightly the text appears in the Split Window view; whether it appears at the top or bottom of the screen; and also a checkbox for giving DateBk4 control over the application buttons on the case. This way, pressing the Address Book button brings up your contacts within the windowpane instead of switching to the full application.

The missing link
Although the built-in applications have shared the same memory space since the first Palm device, they may as well be on separate devices. Unlike most desktop PIMs (Personal Information Managers), you can't link records from different applications. An example of this would be being able to create an appointment like "Coffee with Kim" and then access both Kim's contact information plus a memo about what needs to be discussed at the meeting.

Now you can. With the new Link Item feature, a record can have multiple referenced records accessible at a single tap. As long as you're using DateBk4 to view data from all of the built-in applications, feel free to link at will. If you prefer to use the other applications on their own, linked records will have attached notes that contain a brief amount of code that DateBk4 uses to specify the links.

Unfortunately, at least in the beta version I installed, there doesn't seem to be an easy way to remove links, but deleting the note attachments from within the other applications works around this.