iTask is a flexible task manager that comes preinstalled on many different IPAQs (the h2200, h3800, h4150, h4350, h5100, h5400, h5500, rx3000, hx2000, hx4700  series Pocket PCs) .  iTask was developed by ThumbsUpSoft and privately branded for HP.  It can be customized for any user's specific needs, but unfortunately it is poorly documented, so many users are unaware of its uses and do not know how to configure it.  I wouldn't be surprised if it were one of the least used applications that comes preinstalled on these Pocket PCs.

iTask can be used to open applications, switch between open applications, or close applications, and it includes some other useful features, such as screen capture software. 

iTask Settings
You can customize iTask to handle the specific applications and frequently used tasks that you wish easy access to on your Pocket PC through the iTask Settings page.  To access this page tap Start > Settings > System > iTask.  You will see a screen like this one:

Tapping the down arrow to the right of the "Label," "Icon," "Menu Item," and "Replace With" options provide many different choices:

Label:  These are purely text labels and you can consider each label to be a classification type.  Here you will designate each iTask "button" you plan to use by the type of functions or applications you will gain access to when you tap it. 

Icon:  Here you assign an icon to each label or classification type.  The icon will be shown on the iTask buttons.  You have about 30 different icons to choose from. 

Default settings for Labels and their related Icons are:

Label	Icon
0:  IPAQ Wireless	IPAQ Wireless
1:  Application	Application
2:  iTask	iTask
3:  Backlight On/Off	Backlight On/Off
4:  Sound On/Off	Sound On/Off
5:  Screen Off	Screen Off
6:  Windows	Windows
7:  Contacts	Contacts
8:  Today	Today

Menu Item:  By tapping the down arrow to the right of Menu Item, you can configure up to 11 different menu items for each labeled button.  So, in total, you can configure iTask to run up to 99 different applications and/or functions.

Replace With:  Here is where you specify the specific application or function you wish iTask to perform for each Menu Item.  When you select a Menu Item and highlight this box, the screen will let you choose between Internal tasks, Programs, or Settings:

• Internal:  Tapping the plus sign to left of the Internal folder provides access to all the internal options that are available for iTask button assignment. I have never figured out how some of these options work, but many of these options are quite useful, such as the Capture and Delay Capture options.  I use these two options all the time to create screen prints on my hx2415.  The Capture and Delay Capture are the same, except the Delay Capture waits a few seconds before the capture command is carried out, so it allows me to navigate to a particular screen before the screen print is created.  Other internal options that are available include:  Backlight Off, Brightness, Cancel, Close All Tasks, Close Background Tasks, Close Foreground, Close iTask, Close This Task, Copy, Cut, Disconnect, Display Off, Find, Find Next, Help, Home, Landscape Toggle, Menu, Minimize, Mute, Next Task, OK, Paste, Run Command, Select All, Soft Reset, Today, Undo, Unit Off. (The soft reset option does not work on my hx2415).
• Programs:  Tapping the plus sign to the left of the Programs folder provides access to the applications that are installed on the Pocket PC.  You may not see all the applications you've installed to the Pocket PC because of an inherent limitation of the "behind the scenes" table that the Pocket PC references here.  More about that later…….
• Settings:  Tapping the plus sign to the left of the Settings folder provides access to options that you usually gain access to by tapping Start > Settings.  Settings include things such as About, Audio, Backlight, Beam, Bluetooth, BT Phone Manager, Buttons, Certificates, Clock & Alarms, Connections, Enroller, HP Asset Viewer, HP Profiles, HP Protect Tools, Input, IPAQ Wireless, iTask, LEAP, Memory, Menus, Network Cards, Owner Information, Power, Regional Settings, Remove Programs, Screen, SelfTest, Sounds & Notifications, Today.

Using iTask

When you press the iTask button on your Pocket PC, you will see 9 iTask buttons, each button will show the icon that relates to the corresponding label, configured as follows: 8 Today 7 Contacts 6 Windows 5 Screen Off 4 Sound On/Off 3 Backlight On/Off 2 iTask 1 Applications 0 IPAQ Wireless

The top portion of the menu shown in the screenshot above lists all tasks that are currently running on the Pocket PC.  For instance, the screenshot above shows that iTask Settings, Settings, Today, ActiveSync, Messaging, Total Commander, and Programs are running.  Tapping and holding the stylus any where in this portion of the screen returns three options:  Close This Task; Close All Tasks, Close Background Tasks.

If you tap one of the buttons in the lower portion of the menu, you can then select any of the Internal, Programs, or Setting options you programmed when you configured iTask.  Here, tapping the iTask button reveals several different Internal, Programs and Settings tasks that can be performed.

Behind the scenes
There are two files you should know about before you start working with iTask. 

• iTaskf.txt:  You will find this file in the Windows folder of your Pocket PC.   The iTaskf.txt file contains the list of applications you see when you select the "Replace With" option, and tap the plus sign to the right of the "Applications" folder. 
• iTaski.gif:  You will find this file in the Windows folder of your Pocket PC.  The iTaski.gif file contains different icons that will be displayed with the application name when you tap one of the nine iTask buttons. 

iTaskf.txt
If you have installed, deleted and installed applications, the iTaskf.txt file may not contain a complete and correct listing of the applications that are installed on your Pocket PC.  Instead you may find references to applications you deleted a long time ago.  This is because the iTaskf.txt file only includes a fixed number of placeholders for applications.  Whenever you delete applications, their references do not get removed from the file.  Over time, all available placeholders get filled and there are no available slots for newly installed applications.  This can be quite frustrating when you attempt to configure iTask for your own use because you'll find applications that you don't use and are no longer installed on the pocket pc and you won't see all the applications you might want to gain access to via iTask.

But you can edit the file to fix this problem.  Copy the iTaskf.txt file to your computer and use a text editor, like Notepad, to edit it.  When you open the file, you will see a list of applications in the following format:

Column1	Column2	Column3	Column4
100	006	Spb Time	"\IPAQ File Store\Spb Time\Spb Time.exe"

Column 1:  The first 3 digits, in this example 100, is a unique place setting for the Spb Time application,

Column 2:  The second 3 digits relates to the icon that is displayed in iTask for this application.  These digits refer to the icons placement in the iTaski.gif file.

Column 3:  The 3rd set of info (in this case Spb Time) is the name of the application, and

Column 4:  The 4th set of info is the complete path (within quotes) where the application's executable can be found (or some applications may be shown as aliases and look something like this - :MSPIE).  The iTaskf.txt also includes information about the Internal and Settings options, designated by "i:" and "c:cplmain.cpl", respectively.  Don't edit any of the Internal or Settings items.

In your text editor, you can change this information to match the applications you want to use in iTask. You cannot add any records to this file, but you can modify the records you see in this file.

iTaski.gif

If you copy the iTaski.gif file to your computer and open it up, you will see many different icons. These icons relate to the 3 digits referenced in the second column of iTaskf.txt file. Reference you see to 000 in the second column of information relates to the very first icon shown on the third row of this file. For instance, 037 relates to the Excel icon. (starting on the third row - where the icons are small - count from left to right, starting with 0). If you don't change the three digit code that relates to applications you've installed to the Pocket PC, the default icon, 006, is assigned as the icon for the applications. After you've modified your itaskf.txt file, copy it to your Windows folder (so it overwrites the file that is there) and then you should be able to select the applications you've installed to the Pocket PC when you set up iTask. Be sure to save a copy of your original iTaskf.txt file before you start editing it just in case ……