Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop)

Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) is distributed as 3 separate installers (one for Windows, one for Mac OS 9.x, and one for Mac OS X). Select and download the appropriate installer for your computer.

Double-click the installer. It is recommended that you accept all default settings in the installer. Once the installation is complete, it is recommended that you restart your computer.

Running Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) for the first time:

After restarting your computer, launch Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) either by double-clicking the main application, or (on Windows) finding the shortcut to it on your desktop or on the menu bar of the Palm Desktop software.

When you run Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) for the first time you will be presented with various prompts:

Choose to “Create New” database. This will setup the data file that Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) will use.
A warning will notify you that you need to “download” the data from your Palm first, in order to setup proper date formats. Click OK.
A registration prompt: If you have already purchased Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop), enter your Palm HotSync ID, numeric registration code, and email address. If you don’t register, you will be limited to 20 “trial” sessions.

Your First “Synchronization”

Once you are at the main screen, you should download the data that already exists in your Palm version of Teacher’s P.E.T. (Note: Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) requires Teacher’s P.E.T. (Palm) version 3.2 or higher to be already installed and setup before using the desktop.)

Click “Synchronize” to get to the following screen…

“Synch Path”

Before you can perform an “Import from PDA” synchronization (which will copy the data out of Teacher’s P.E.T. (Palm), you need to establish the location where Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) can read/write that data. This is known as your “HotSync Directory” or “Sync Path”. The location of this path varies by user, so you will have to locate it manually, or click the “Help” icon to have it search for you.

The usual locations for your HotSync Directory is as follows, where *Username* is the Palm Hotsync ID of your device:

Windows

C:\Program Files\Palm\*Username*\ , or

C:\Palm\*Username*\ , or

C:\Program Files\Handspring\*Username*\

Macintosh OS 9.x

Macintosh HD: Applications (OS 9): Palm: Users: *Username*:

Macintosh OS 10

Documents : Palm: Users: *Username*:

Once you select a location, Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) will test the location and make sure it is valid. If it is, it will create a folder within it called “TPET” and use that folder to store its own transfer files. This process only needs to be done one, as on each subsequent use, Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) will remember this selection.

Importing Data from your PDA:

To “download” the data from your Teacher’s P.E.T. (Palm) version, click the “Import from PDA” button. Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) will setup the transfer. Then place your PDA in its synchronization cradle, and press the “Hotsync” button on the cradle. Wait for the HotSync process to complete before pressing the “Done” button on Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop). The “status” line on your screen will show you any messages related to the transfer. When it reads “Complete”, press the “Done” button.

Any data that you had already setup in your Teacher’s P.E.T. (Palm) version should now be shown in Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop).

If the data did not transfer:

Please visit our web site to view frequently asked questions (FAQs) about troubleshooting synchronization problems. If the problems persist, use the support form on our web site to request further instructions for your particular situation.

http://www.coffeepotsoftware.com/?page=support.htm

Using Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop)

Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) was designed for ease of use, and has near screen-for-screen fidelity with Teacher’s P.E.T. (Palm). For general use, please refer to the manual for Teacher’s P.E.T. (Palm). The unique highlights of Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) will be covered in the following pages.

Other sources of Help and Support:

The users of Teacher’s P.E.T. are a wonderful community of educator from around the world. An active user-focused web “forum” is available at http://www.coffeepotsoftware.com. New users are encouraged to join and benefit from the expertise that is available from the many long-time Teacher’s P.E.T. users.

Feedback and Technical Support:

For feedback about this, or other Coffee Pot Software products, please email us at: tim@coffeepotsoftware.com

For technical support or registration issues, use the web-based support request form available online at: http://www.coffeepotsoftware.com/?page=support_request

Please be as thorough as possible when filing a request, as more information will lead to faster resolution of your issue.

Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) Features:

Desktop Interface: Although the general screen layout is very similar to Teacher’s P.E.T. (Palm), the “real-estate” provided by the larger screen has made it possible to enhance some functionality. On most screens, where records are shown in a listbox, clicking on the list will let you edit the contents without jumping to another screen. Other benefits include support for keyboard shortcuts (arrow keys, tab key, etc) for faster data entry.
Desktop Speed: Because of the faster processing power available in a desktop computer, marks and other calculations can be done “on the fly”, so that no manual running of a recalculation process is necessary.
Reporting: Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) takes advantage of the printing capabilities of a desktop computer. This is done through a new customizable report writer developed specifically for Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop). It can be accessed on most data screens by selecting an option from the “Print” button. Reports can be either batch printed individual reports (one for each student in a class) or “Class” reports (one summary for the entire class). Selecting either one brings you to the Custom Print dialog…
This window allows you to customize the report that will be generated. Special “tags” are used to merge data from your report with data from the Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) database when you print. For example: the <<Teacher_Name>> text shown above will be replaced by the name your entered in the “Settings” area of Teacher’s P.E.T.. Numerous tags are available to customize the report. In addition to this, you may type your own messages into the widow.
Email: Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) can be used to email reports to any address specified for a student/parent using the same report writer that is used for printing. Your email server settings need to be configured on the “Settings” screen of Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) in order to use this. For help with the setting you need to use, contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or network administrator.
Synchronize: The most important feature of Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) is that it can transfer data back to Teacher’s P.E.T. (Palm). To do this, access the “Synchronize” screen and select “Export to PDA”, then place your PDA in its synchronization cradle, and press the “Hotsync” button on the cradle. Wait for the HotSync process to complete before pressing the “Done” button on Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop).
Import students lists: Teacher’s P.E.T. (Desktop) can lists of students into a class (to avoid having to retype lists of names). The data must be in a “CSV” (comma separated values) format with the following layout:
”Name”, “StudentID”, “Email”, “Notes”