Creation

Creating a diary in Q++ is simple. Simply (re-)use an existing diary file in QuarkXPress format, replace the variable textual elements by tokens, import it into Q++, and use it in a visually created Script.

Customization

If you have created a standard diary in Q++, it is very simple to make a customized version of this diary where, for example, you modify the starting and ending dates of the diary, add a "notes" page at the end of each month, add or remove holidays, and even change the language.

Updating

In most cases, if a diary for 2006 exists in Q++, generating the same diary for 2007 takes less than 5 minutes.

Localization

This is not the same as translation, although localization can include some translation. For example a German diary may be localized for Austria, where the holidays are different, and some month names are different (although German is spoken in both countries).

Templates

Q++ Studio uses your own QuarkXPress 2-page sample layouts as input and, from these, generates complete diaries as QuarkXPress files (versions 4-5-6 of QuarkXPress are supported).

Data

Q++ Studio is installed with a sample database of translations which contains translations of the terms found in dated diary pages (i.e. Monday->Sunday, January->December, Week, ...) for about 25 languages and idioms. If there are terms missing from the supplied translations, you can easily add your own translations, or modify existing ones. Although there are additional complexities as one uses languages further and further away from Europe, these have over the years been identified and overcome, and Q++ has been used successfully with all the languages listed above.

The Q++ Studio sample database also includes legal holidays in all 194 countries and 48 semi-autonomous territories of the world. Q++ users are free to use these holidays "as is", or Q++ also gives you all the tools to modify and expand this list (changing the names of some holidays, adding or removing some of the holidays, adding new countries, ...). This database is made up of rules (such as : Good Friday = 2 days before Easter) so, in principle, you can use the current database, and Q++, to immediately calculate world holidays for the next 100 or 200 years. However, in real life, the rules for celebrating holidays do change; some are added, some are removed, some are renamed, ... Therefore, the rules that are contained in this sample database are reviewed from A-Z every summer and a new updated version of this database is usually available for proofing in late August, and a final version available at the end of September. This new sample database can then be imported into your Q++ system automatically. During the year, if we find any errors, we of course advise our users immediately, and propose an appropriate patch.

Q++ Studio also automatically calculates and inserts into diaries astronomical information such as sunrise/sunsets, moon phases, moonrise/moonset, equinoxes, solstices, zodiac signs, seasons, and most information that can be found in ephemerides. Our calculations are based on the DE406 numerical integration package of the NASA-JPL and agrees to within seconds with online resources such as the JPL or the USNO.

Scripts

Diaries are represented by Scripts which is a set of rules that describes a diary as a selection of one or more Templates with various Data sets (languages, holidays, ...), as well as rules for the way the data is displayed within the templates (eg. holidays appear in red, special kerning for numbers from 10 to 19, ...). Once a script is built, it is easy to adapt it to another language or to change it to generate a diary for the following year.