Psion 3a Series User manual

User Guide
S E R I E S f>CL
NOTE: If magnetic materials are placed close
to the underside of the Series 3a they may be
affected by the speaker magnet. For this reason
it is best not to keep your Series 3a in the same
pocket as credit cards and/or travel passes with
magnetic strips.
WARNING: This equipment has been certified to comply with the
limits for a Class B computing device, pursuant to Subpart J of Part 15
of FCC Rules. See the instructions overleaf if interference to Radio or
Television is suspected.

© Copyright Psion PLC 1991-1993
All rights reserved. This manual and the programs referred to herein are copyrighted
works of Psion PLC, London, England. Reproduction in whole or in part, including
utilisation in machines capable of reproduction or retrieval, without the express written
permission of Psion PLC is prohibited. Reverse engineering is also prohibited.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice.
Psion and the Psion logo are registered trademarks, and Psion Series 3a. Series 3, SSD
and Solid State Disk are trademarks of Psion PLC.
Psion PLC acknowledges that some names referred to are registered trademarks.
vl.O Jul 93
English
Part no. 6103-0044-01

FCC Information for the USA
Radio and Television Interference
This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and if not used properly —
that is, in strict accordance with the instructions in this manual - may cause interference
to Radio and Television reception.
It has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B computing device
in accordance with the specifications in Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC Rules. These are
designed to provide reasonable protection against such interference in a residential
installation. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a
particular installation. If this equipment does cause interference to Radio or Television
reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, try to correct
the interference by one or more of the following measures:
• Reposition the Radio or TV antenna
• Relocate the Series 3a Computer with respect to the Radio or TV
• Move the Series 3a Computer farther away from the Radio or TV
• If you are using the Series 3a Computer with a Mains Adapter, plug it into an outlet
which is on a different circuit from that of the Radio or TV.
If necessary, consult an authorised Psion dealer or an experienced radioAelevision
technician for additional suggestions.
Important
This equipment was tested for FCC compliance under conditions that included the use
of shielded cables and connectors between it and the peripherals. It is important that
you use shielded cables and connectors to reduce the possibility of causing Radio and
Television interference. Shielded cables, suitable for the Series 3a Computer range,
can be obtained from an authorised Psion Dealer.
If the user modifies the Series 3a Computer or its Expansion Modules in any way, and
these modifications are not approved, by Psion, the FCC may withdraw the user's right
to operate the equipment.
The following booklet prepared by the Federal Communications Commission may be
of help: "How to Identify and Resolve Radio-TV Interference Problems". This booklet
is available from the US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 Stock No
004-000-00345-4.

Table of Contents
1 Getting started 1
Where things are 2
Powering the SERIES 3a 2
Fitting the batteries - the first time 3
Screen and keyboard 5
Setting the Home City and Time 7
Moving the cursor and editing text 11
Help information 12
Notes on menus and dialogs 12
How information is stored 15
Displaying a status window 16
Changing the batteries 17
2 World 21
Changing the displayed city or country 23
Summer times 24
Adding and changing information 25
3 The Calculator 27
Calculator memories 32
Percentages 33
Very large and very small numbers 33
Decimal places and number formats 34
Other functions 35
Using your own OPL procedures 36
4 Time and alarms 37
Alarms 39
5 The Database 43
The structure of a database 44
Typing in entries 45
Finding an entry 47
Changing the way an entry is displayed 50
Managing your entries 51
Labels 52
Database files 53
Customising the • list 56

6 The Agenda
57
Day entries - appointments and notes 59
Birthdays and other anniversaries 62
To-do lists and other lists 64
Alarms in the Agenda 67
Changing an entry 69
Memos 70
Repeating an entry 72
The Week view 74
The List view 75
The Year view 76
Managing your Agenda 78
Defaults for new entries 79
Display functions 80
Entry management functions 81
Agenda files 83
Customising your Agenda 85
Example setups 87
Other editing features 88
Using the To-do view as a document manager 89
More about repeating entries 89
Basic use 92
Editing text 92
Using Bold, Italic and Underlined text 97
The saved file on the disk 97
Working with document files 98
Altering a paragraph's appearance 101
Example uses of the Word Processor 106
Advanced use 112
Paragraph styles 112
Managing styles 113
Managing emphases 116
Advanced editing 119
Outlining 121
Template files 123
Other file formats 125
Plain text files 125
Editing Rich Text Format (RTF) files 126
7 The Word Processor.
91

8 The Spreadsheet 127
Quick start for experienced spreadsheet users 128
What are spreadsheets and worksheets? 130
Moving around and entering data 132
Types of data - text, number, formula 132
Editing data in cells 133
Formulae 133
Cell ranges 135
Functions in formulae 136
More ways to move around 136
Operators 137
Error messages when entering data 138
Deleting and moving data 138
Relative and absolute references 139
Recalculation 140
Circular references - the indicator 141
Moving data with 'Bring' 141
The file saved on the disk 142
Opening or closing a gap 143
The display of data 144
More operations on the worksheet 147
More operations on data 149
Graphs 150
Adding a new range to the current graph 151
Adding text to a graph 151
Changing the graph type 153
Other display options 154
Multiple graphs 155
Entering a database 156
Tables 159
Date and time functions 160
Financial functions 161
Mathematical and logical functions 164
Range functions 166
String functions 167
Statistical and database functions 169
Worksheet size 170

9 The sound recorder 171
10 Dialling 175
Setting up for dialling 176
Dialling from a Database or Agenda file 179
11 Printing 181
Setting up the connection 182
Choosing the printer driver 183
Choosing the font 184
Character sets 184
Setting the page layout 185
Printing from the Word Processor 187
Printing from the Agenda 190
Printing from the Database 192
Printing from the Spreadsheet 193
Advanced worksheet printing 194
Print preview 195
Other printing information 196
12 Open files 197
Internal memory and open files 198
Why open more than one file? 198
Exiting open files 200
13 Moving information with 'Bring' 201
How 'Bring' options work 202
Alternatives to 'Bring' 203
14 Files and disks 205
Solid State Disks 206
Understanding files and disks 208
File lists in the System screen 208
File management 209
Using disks 210
Advanced use of Files and disks 213
Directories and file extensions 213
The file selector 214
File specifications 216
Copying a disk 218
Other advanced options 219

15 Security and backups 221
Passwords 222
Setting the system password 222
Passwords on Spreadsheet / Word Processor files 223
Precautionary measures 224
Backups 225
Incremental backup 226
16 The System screen 227
Icons in the System screen 228
New applications 228
Rearranging and grouping icons 229
Customising the System screen 234
System-wide settings 234
17 Troubleshooting 237
General problems 238
'Memory full', 'No system memory' or 'Disk full' 239
Everyday use 240
The built-in applications 242
Resetting the SERIES 3a 244
A Character set 245
B Specification 249
C For Series 3 users 251
General changes 252
The built-in applications 253
D Serial 3 Link 257
Remote Link 258
The Comms application 258
The Script application 259

Getting started
You should read this chapter first. It shows you how to start using
your Series 3a. It also describes basic information on operating the
Series 3a, which you need to know before you read the other
chapters in this manual. Wherever there are things for you to do,
the instruction(s) are indicated with numbers. Extra notes, which
you may find useful, are indicated with a car symbol.
The different applications - Agenda. Database and so on - are
described from chapter 2 onwards. The simpler applications are
described first. Each chapter begins with the important
information you will need for everyday use, before covering more
detailed information. You can read as much as you like of these
chapters, and read them in any order.
The second half of the manual covers more general topics,
including printing, tone dialling and security.
If you have any problems, try looking up suitable entries in the
index, or refer to the 'Troubleshooting' chapter.
(Experienced Series 3 users may wish instead to read Appendix C,
which lists the main differences between the two computers. 3 Link
users should read Appendix D also.)
1: Getting started 1

Where things are
screen
application
buttons
reset hole
expansion -
socket
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!••••••••••[
]••[ ]••[
mains power
light
I
mains socket
Powering the SERIES 3a
The Series 3a is powered by two ordinary AA batteries. It is best to use alkaline
batteries - they should last for several months of normal use.
A backup battery is also supplied with your Series 3a. This has the sole job of
preserving your information when the time comes for you to replace the main batteries.
A mains adaptor for the Series 3a is also available. This may be useful if you use your
Series 3a heavily in one particular location.
Don't worry about leaving your Series 3a turned on by mistake, as it will turn itself off
after a few minutes to conserve power.
2 1: Getting started

Fitting the batteries - the first time
You can fit the main batteries and the backup battery in any order.
Fitting the main batteries
1. Make sure that the Series 3a is closed, then turn it over.
2. Unclip the main battery cover at the top and fit the main batteries. Be sure to insert
them the right way round, as marked on the case. (Note: one battery has its
positive end on a "pushable" contact.)
]'C
main batteries
/
3. Replace the main battery cover.
Fitting the backup battery
1. You will see two doors on the underside of the Series 3a which swing open; the
backup battery fits under the door on the left. Open the left-hand door:
2. The backup battery slides in from left to right. Insert it with the flat side, usually
marked with a + symbol, facing upwards.
3. Close the door again, and turn the Series 3a over.
1: Getting started 3

Turning On
The ON key, also marked 'Esc', is at the top left of the keyboard.
It is referred to as either 'Esc' or 'ON/Esc'.
1. Press the ON/Esc key.
The Series 3a starts by displaying an introductory/copyright
screen. If this does not happen, check that you have inserted
the main batteries correctly.
You will now see the System screen, which initially looks like this:
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ON/Esc key
Turning Off
1. Hold down the Psion key, marked s , at the bottom left of the
keyboard. While holding it down, press the OFF/1 key (next to
ON/Esc).
The Psion key (the - symbol is part of the Psion logo) does
nothing on its own. It is used in conjunction with other keys
for extra characters and special functions. Such keypresses are
usually
written with a dash joining the keynames, such as
Psion-1 for the OFF keypress.
Other notes
• You can use the standard mains adaptor for the Series 3a at any time.
• 'Changing the batteries' is described towards the end of this chapter.
•
JJ Jl
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PSION-1
=OFF key
4 1: Getting started

Screen and keyboard
The screen
To change the screen contrast:
• Hold down the Psion key, and while doing so, press the >
(Contrast +) key or the < (Contrast -) key, until you 're happy
with the screen contrast.
If you ever need to clean the screen, use a dry cloth.
Keypresses
The Series 3a keyboard is similar to that of a typewriter or desktop computer.
If you hold down either Shift key you get the symbols above the
numbers on the number keys, and the alphabetic keys produce
upper case (capital) letters -
A instead of a , and so on.
Most keys "auto-repeat" (keep producing keypresses) if you hold
them down.
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contrast keys
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•••••••••••••
Shift keys
The • (diamond) key
Most of the applications have different screens or views. You can
move between these screens or views by pressing the • key. You
will see this referred to in the chapters which follow.
••••••••••••••
I ••••••••••••!•
i ••••••••••••LI
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••• !••••
Diamond key
Keyboard markings
The yellow markings above certain keys are extra characters which the key can produce
(or special functions the key can perform). To get one of these characters or functions,
hold the Psion key down while pressing the key. For example, Psion-6 gives the @
character.
!£§=• Although the ON key is also marked in yellow for consistency, you don't need to use
the Psion key when turning the Series 3a on.
The application button pad
The touchpad of eight latge buttons between the screen and keyboard allows you to
move between the different applications on your Series 3a - the Database, Word
Processor and so on. For example, if you want to check your daily agenda, press the
Agenda button; you can then look at your agenda, or enter new appointments.
• System takes you to the System screen - the screen shown when you first turned the
Series 3a on. The System screen displays an icon (picture) for each application on
the application button pad, and for some built-in applications which do not have
their own application buttons. There are more icons than can be shown on the screen
1: Getting started 5

at one time. You can press the -> and <- arrow keys to move between the icons on the
screen.
• Data takes you to the Database, which you can use as a phone/address book.
• Word takes you to the Word Processor, which you can use for typing notes, letters,
memos and so on.
• Agenda takes you to the Agenda, which you can use as a diary/appointment
manager.
• Time takes you to the screen where everything to do with time is managed,
including alarms.
• World takes you to a screen that displays various information, including dialling
codes, for hundreds of cities and countries.
• Calc takes you to a programmable scientific calculator.
• Sheet takes you to the Spreadsheet where you can enter your own worksheets full of
calculations.
[£g= The Program and Record applications do not have application buttons. You can
access them from their icons on the System screen. You can use 'Program' to write
your own programs in the OPL language to add new features to your Series 3a. See
the Programming manual for
more details of OPL. You can ase "Record" to record
your own alarm sounds and voice messages. 'Record' is described in a later chapter
of this manual.
You can turn on the Series 3a by pressing any application button. You are then
taken to the relevant application.
You may wish to practise using the application buttons and special functions for keys
by trying the following example:
1. Press the Word button to move to the Word Processor.
2. Type some text.
3. Press Psion-^ to use the special function for the • key - the
Caps Lock keypress. Type some more text. As you can see the
alphabetic keys are now producing upper case letters on their
own. Press Psion-^ again to revert to lower case letters.
4. Press the System button to return to the System screen.
pgf" You don't have to finish with one application before
moving to another. As in the above example, you can press the Word button and
begin typing some text, then press the System button to move back to the System
screen, and then press Word again to continue with your document.
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Caps Lock
6 1: Getting started

Setting the Home City and Time
There are two things you should set before you enter any of your information:
your home city, and the current time. You have to set these before you can make
effective use of world dialling, alarms, the Agenda and so on.
In setting these, you will see how some important keys work, and how things are
displayed on the screen.
Setting the home city
You should set vour home city before you set the current time. The home city
affects the current time displayed by the Series 3a clock because the Series 3a knows
about time zones.
You can set the home city with either the World application or the Time application.
1. Press ON/Esc, if necessary, to turn the Series 3a on.
2. Press the Time button to move to the Time application. The 'Time screen' initially
looks something like this:
No alarm set
No alarm set
No alarm set
No alarm set
No alarm set
No alarm set
Home: London Inner, United Kingdom
|[ Fri 23 Jul 1
The central area of the screen shows any alarms that have been set
on your Series 3a. There are six lines for alarm details. Initially,
they all say 'No alarm set'. Your current home city is shown on
the top line.
3. Press the Menu key.
The screen will now look like this:
••••••••••••a
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Menu key
'"r
"
Si ininirr times «S
Home city «H
Start of week -B
Workdays *41
Formats *<F
no aiarm set
Si ininirr times «S
Home city «H
Start of week -B
Workdays *41
Formats *<F
no aiarm set
Si ininirr times «S
Home city «H
Start of week -B
Workdays *41
Formats *<F
no aiarm set
Si ininirr times «S
Home city «H
Start of week -B
Workdays *41
Formats *<F
no aiarm set
3:01:42 pm
A menu has appeared on top of the previous display. The top line,
'Settings', is the title of this menu. (To the right of 'Settings' is the
word 'Alarm'. This is the title of a second menu, which allows
you to manage the alarms).
Each line below the menu title is a separate option. There is
currently a highlight on the first option on the 'Settings' menu.
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arrow keys
1: Getting started 7

You can move the highlight up and down the menu with the ti keys, and between the
different menus with the <—»keys.
4. Move the highlight onto the 'Home city' option on the 'Settings' menu, and press the
Enter key.
Enter is the "do it" key. Whenever you want to perform a
highlighted option, press Enter. You also use it like the
Carriage Return on typewriters when you want to start typing
a new line.
The Time screen now looks something like this:
••••••••••••a
•
••••: 1
I ILUJLXJUOUULIDCJ
! !••••
Enter key
Home: London Inner, United Kingdom
3:01:53 pm
•
No alarm set
/i 11
Set home city
If 1
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IKltTl *• London Inner •
•Country United Kingdom
J 3 )
-
No alarm set
T"—f
' [ Frl 23 Jul |
A dialog is now displayed on the screen. Dialogs appear whenever the Series 3a has to
ask you for information. Most dialogs have a title at the top - in this case it is 'Set home
city' - and a number of lines in which you enter infonnation. The Ti keys move the
cursor from line to line.
This dialog has two lines: 'City'and 'Country'. The 'City' line iscurrendy highlighted
and the name of a city or area is shown. There is a flashing cursor on its first letter; you
can now type the name of a new home city.
Sometimes, as in this case, information in one line of a dialog affects the information
displayed in other lines. The reason is usually obvious - in this dialog as the 'City' line
changes, the 'Country' line changes as well.
5. Type in the name of your city, or the one nearest to you. As you press each key, the
cursor moves to die right and the Series 3a tries to find a city to match the letters
you've typed. Stop typing as soon as it has found the correct city.
[Eg3 Because the Series 3a also stores dialling codes, some cities may be named a little
strangely - London Inner and London Outer, for example.
If you make a mistake while ty ping in the city name, you can
use the Delete key to delete the last letter typed, moving the
cursor back to the left. (The Series 3a again shows the first city
which matches the letters to the left of the cursor.)
If at any point the Series 3a can't find a city to match the
letters you've typed, it will beep. If you're sure you have spelt the city correctly, the
Series 3a doesn't know about that city. If this is the case you will need to press Delete a
few times to remove the letters you typed and then type in a different city name. Once
you are used to the Series 3a, you can move to the World applicadon and add your own
city, then move back to Time to set it as your home city (described under "Adding or
Changing Information' in the 'World' chapter).
6. When the city you want is displayed, press Enter and it will be set as your home
city. You will now be able to use the World application to find dialling codes for
other cities around the world. When you have set the current time, you can also use
the World application to find the times in other cities.
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Delete key
8 1: Getting started

insf If you travel, you should change the 'Home city' to your current location. The
current time will change automatically, and international dialling codes will then be
given based on your new location.
Setting the time and date
Experienced computer users- select the 'Time and date' option on the 'Settings'
menu in the Time application to set the time and date for the Series 3a.
New computer users may wish to use the following step-by-step instructions to set the
time and date:
1. Press the Time button, if necessary, to go to the Time application.
2. Press the Menu key and select the 'Time and date' option on the 'Settings' menu
(move the highlight onto 'Time and date', and press Enter). A dialog will appear, like
this:
Home: London Inner. United Kingdom
No alarm set
No alarm set
3:82:09 pm
II
•J < y
| Fri 23 Jul |
3. Press i to move the highlight to the 'Date' line.
4. Type the correct day, month and year, in numbers. The highlight will move
automatically. You can move the highlight manually to the next part of the date by
pressing -• (or the Space key), if the day or month is only one digit.
035= If you type in incorrect or unsuitable numbers, the day and month numbers are
corrected to the largest values allowed. For example, if you typed 88888888 the
numbers would be corrected to 31st December 2049 (the last date allowed by the
Series 3a).
5. Press T to move to the 'Time' line. The time is shown as hours, minutes and seconds.
The highlight moves onto the hours.
6. Type the time, in the same way as the date. For example, to set the time to twenty five
minutes past nine in the morning you would type: 0 9 2 5 0 0. For "am-pm"
clocks you can press A or P to change between "am" and "pm".
|Eg* In "am-pm" format, midnight is written with a 12 , not 00 . For example, half past
midnight is 12:30 ram.
7. Press Enter and the time and date are set.
The Series 3a is accurate to within a few seconds a week. Use the 'Time and Date'
option again if you ever need to correct the time.
Changing the way time and date is displayed
If you're used to menus and dialogs on other computers: use the 'Formats' option
on the 'Settings' menu in Time - perhaps by pressing its hot-key Psion-F - to set the
time and date formats you prefer.
If you are unsure of menus and dialogs: follow the instructions below. Even if you
do not wish to change the date and time formats, the example shows you more
about menus and dialogs along the way.
1: Getting started 9

Changing the time and date formats:
1. Press the Time button, if necessary, to move to the Time application.
2. Select the 'Formats' menu option on the 'Settings' menu - either press the Menu key
and select it as you have selected options from menus before, or press Psion-F. The
keypress Psion-F is the hot-key for the 'Formats' option.
Egf Every option on a menu ends with
u
(tfie Psion key symbol), or Shift-v followed by
a letter. These are the hot-keys - shortcuts for selecting the options. Hot-keys can be
used with or without the menu on the screen -you would normally use them without
displaying the menu as it is quicker.
While you're learning to use the Series 3a, you'll find it easiest to use the Menu key
to find the option you want, but you'll soon start to remember the hot-keys of the
options you use most.
The 'Set date and time formats' dialog will appear. It looks like this:
Home: London Inner. United Kingdom
Set date and time formats
• Day month year*
tor /
am-pm
tor :
•Date separa
•Time format
/Time separa
• Day month year*
tor /
am-pm
tor :
3:02:16 pm
3. The highlight is initially on the 'Date format' line. If you press the <- and -» keys you
will see the setting on the line change. Leave it set to your preferred date format.
Whenever you see little arrows around a setting in a dialog, you can use«—> to
change it.
4. Press i to move to the 'Date separator' line. If you wish to change it, just type the
character that you want to use as the date separator, for when dates are displayed in
dialogs.
5. Press the i key to move to the 'Time format' line. You can set this line to either
'24 hour' or 'am-pm'. Leave it set to your preferred format.
6. Press the I key to move to the 'Time separator' line. If you wish to change the
character used to separate the numbers for times, just type a new character.
7. Press Enter, to say you have finished.
If you bring up a menu or dialog which you didn't want, you
can remove it by pressing the Esc ("Escape") key. The Esc key
performs the opposite action to the Enter key, as it will almost
always gel you out of anything - it means "no, forget this
thing I've just chosen". Here, you would use it to make the
menu go away.
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Esc key
10 1: Getting started