LetterDraw Documentation
Introduction
LetterDraw is a program for teaching children how to write the upper case letters, lower case letters, and numbers from 1 to 10. It animates the drawing of the letters and provides an optional template (dotted lines) for children to trace over.
Table of Contents
LetterDraw shows the letter or number on the left and has a drawing area on the right for the child to write in. Tap the on-screen buttons to go to other letters and numbers, press the down arrow key to move to the next letter, or tap on the silk screen menu button to bring up several options, including the ability to set user preferences or move to a specific letter or number. Tap on the Show Me to see an animation of the letter or number being drawn. Tap on the Try Again button to erase your writing and start again. Check the Dots box to see an outline of the letter or number or uncheck it for a blank writing area.
 |
Options Menu |
LetterDraw has only 1 menu (tap on the menu silk-screen icon just above the Datebook hardware button), an Options menu with the following choices:
- Preferences... - Displays the LetterDraw Preferences screen where you can set various user preferences. The Graffiti shortcut for this option is "/R".
- Go To Letter/Number... - Allows you to go directly to any upper case letter, lower case letter, or number. The Graffiti shortcut for this option is "/G".
- Registration... - Brings up the Registration screen. Unregistered copies of LetterDraw are restricted to the first 5 letters of the alphabet and the numbers 1 to 5. See the sections below on Paying for and Registering LetterDraw.
- Beam LetterDraw - Beams the LetterDraw application (LetterDraw.prc) to another Palm handheld device.
- Help... - Displays a very brief help screen.
- About LetterDraw... - Displays version and other information about LetterDraw. The Graffiti shortcut for this option is "/I".
 |
Preferences |
The Preferences options are:
- Sound - Sound can be set to Off (no sounds), On (medium volume), or System (respect the Game Sound volume level set in the Preferences application).
- Animation Speed - The speed at which LetterDraw draws letters and numbers can be set from Slowest to Fastest.
- Auto Animate - Animate the drawing of the letter when the model is first displayed. If unset, you can still tap on the Show Me button to show the animation at any time.
- Draw on Left - Swaps the drawing area from the right to the left.
On color devices, tap on the Set Colors button to set the colors used for the Model (the letter/number that LetterDraw writes), the Drawing (the letter/number that you write), or the Dots (the optional outline that LetterDraw writes).
LetterDraw is $5 shareware. All future upgrades are free.
See the Purchasing.html document or tap on the i (information) button on the LetterDraw Registration screen for details on how obtain a registration code.
Once you have your registration code, go back into LetterDraw and use the Registration menu option to bring up the Registration screen. Enter the code and click on the OK button. You should get a confirmation window indicating that you're all set. Thanks!
In the "Apps" folder, the file LetterDrawDoc.pdb is a Doc-formatted version of this file. This file can be installed on your PalmPilot for reference if you have any Doc reader installed. You can download the free PalmReader (http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/product/reader/browse/free).
In the "Docs" folder the following files can also be found:
- LetterDrawDoc.html - Documentation for LetterDraw readable in a web browser such as Netscape Communicator or Internet Explorer.
- LetterDrawDoc.txt - Documentation for LetterDraw readable in any text editor.
- VERSION.txt - Release history for LetterDraw.
Many thanks to:
- My son Kevin - for inspiring this program and for not destroying my Handspring Prism.
- My son David - for sleeping enough to let me write it.
- My wife Jade - for all her support during this (and all of my other programming endeavors).
LetterDraw Version 1.0.0, September 9, 2003
LetterDraw is Copyright (C)2003 by Robert Jen.
The latest version of LetterDraw and other PalmPilot and Macintosh software can be found at http://www.rjen.com (specifically http://www.rjen.com/Pilot/LetterDraw.html). Questions, comments, and any other email can be sent to the author Robert Jen at mailto:rjen@rjen.com. Your feedback is much appreciated.