Graffiti Reference Card  (250-3116)   Hints and Tips   Faxback Doc. # 14967

The following are tips and considerations to keep in mind when writing
with Graffiti:

Accuracy improves when you draw larger characters.  You should draw strokes
that nearly fill the Writing Area of the Graffiti Window.

Do not write on a slant.  Vertical strokes must be parallel to the sides
of the Graffiti Window.

When the Num or Caps Lock buttons are activated, you can still write
punctuation characters.

You can position the Graffiti Window wherever is most convenient on the
PDA screen.

Strokes can be made completely outside the Graffiti Window, and still be
recognized.  There is one major drawback to drawing the strokes outside
the Graffiti Window; the Punctuation Shift is not available.  When drawing
outside the Graffiti Window, making a back-and-forth stroke from the right
simulates the function of a tap in the Graffiti Window.

The Reset stroke is used to reset the state of all Shifts.  When you make
the Reset stroke, you will be returned to the lower case alphabet.

Tips for Remembering Letters

You may think that some of the character shapes do not closely resemble
the regular alphabet.  The Graffiti stroke shapes are designed for speed
and accuracy.  Some stroke shapes are actually portions of letters.

Graffiti Menu Button

The Graffiti menu button enables you to activate a QWERTY keyboard, or to
hide the buttons that normally appear in the Graffiti Window.

To activate the keyboard:

1.  Tap on the Graffiti menu button.  The Graffiti menu appears.

2.  Tap on the keyboard menu selection.  The Graffiti Keyboard window will
    appear.

3.  With the Graffiti keyboard window on the screen, tap on the keys to
    enter text on the PDA.  To enter numbers and punctuation, tap on the
    button labeled 123.

Hide Buttons

As an option, you may hide the buttons that appear in the Graffiti Window.

To hide the buttons in the Graffiti Window:

1.  Tap on the Graffiti menu button.  The Graffiti menu appears.

2.  Tap on the Hide Buttons selection.  The buttons in the Graffiti Window
    will close and give you a larger Writing Area.

3.  To show the buttons again in the Graffiti Window, tap on the Graffiti
    menu button, and then again on the Hide Buttons selection.

Resizing the Graffiti Window

To change the size of the Graffiti Window:

Tap and hold on any corner of the Graffiti Window, and hold down until the
border of the window turns black.  Then drag to resize the Graffiti
Window.

Using a ShortCut

Graffiti includes these pre-defined ShortCuts:

        Entry                            ShortCut

      Date stamp                            ds
      Time stamp                            ts
      Date/time stamp                      dts
      Meeting                               me
      Breakfast                             br
      Lunch                                 lu
      Dinner                                di

To use a ShortCut:

1.  Draw the ShortCut stroke, and Graffiti will respond with the ShortCut
    symbol.

2.  Write the characters that activate the ShortCut.

Assigning a ShortCut

To assign a ShortCut:

1.  Draw the ShortCut stroke.  The ShortCut symbol will appear to show
    that you are in ShortCut mode.

2.  Draw the stroke for the left curly-bracket ( { ).  The ShortCut symbol
    will be replaced by the left curly-bracket to show that you are
    defining a ShortCut.

3.  Draw the characters you want to use to activate the ShortCut.  You may
    use up to eight characters.  The characters may be upper- or
    lower-case, and ShortCuts are case-sensitive.

4.  Draw the stroke for a colon ( : ).

5.  Write the text that you want associated with the ShortCut.  You may
    write up to 250 characters, and may include any characters, numbers,
    or carriage returns.

6.  Draw the stroke for a right curly-bracket ( } ).

This completes the ShortCut.  After a moment, the ShortCut text will
replace the strokes you just entered.  This indicates that your ShortCut
was entered successfully.

IMPORTANT:  When assigning a ShortCut, keep in mind that each ShortCut
            name must be unique, and cannot be a part of a ShortCut with
            a longer name.  For example, if you create a ShortCut named
            "dt", you will no longer be able to use the built-in date-time
            stamp ShortCut "dts".

TIP:  You can assign a space to the end of a ShortCut.  This makes it easy
      and natural to continue entering text after activating the ShortCut.

Reset Stroke

If you make a mistake while creating or using a ShortCut, you can exit the
ShortCut mode by using the Reset stroke.

The Reset stroke will return you to the lower case alphabet mode in the
Graffiti Window.  The Reset stroke can also be used to exit Punctuation
Shift, Caps Lock, Number Lock or Extended Shift modes.

Changing a ShortCut

If you want to change a ShortCut, simply reassign it.  Repeat steps #1
through #4 of the procedure to create a ShortCut, and then enter the
different text you want associated with the ShortCut.

Displaying a List of ShortCuts

To display a list of all ShortCuts:

1.  Draw the ShortCut Stroke.

2.  Draw the strokes for {:}.  A list of all the pre-defined ShortCut
    names, as well as those you have defined will appear on the screen.

Deleting a ShortCut

To delete a ShortCut that you have defined:

1.  Draw the ShortCut stroke.

2.  Draw the stroke for the left curly-bracket ( { ).

3.  Draw the characters for the ShortCut that you want to delete.

4.  Draw the stroke for a colon ( : ).

5.  Draw the stroke for a right curly-bracket ( } ).

The ShortCut is removed form the list of available ShortCuts.


(TE/all-04/26/95)