Command Format
Clout uses a command format that is split into three sections separated by semi-colons (;). Here's a sample command to set an Appointment for next Tuesday from 10:15am to 11:00am; the subject of the appointment is 'Meet with Jack' and the body of the appointment record (which is optional) is 'Talk about Project X'.
The sections are:
If you want to learn about creating commands in the software, we suggest that you try the Command Wizard.
The Control Section
The control section is the part of the command which tells Clout what you want to do; create an Appointment, Task, Journal or Note. You can also control several other aspects of the way that each of those records can be created, for example, you can set the start and end times of an Appointment, set the date for it, and so on.
In fact, most of the Command Wizard dialog is about the Control Section!
The Subject Section
Every Outlook record that Clout can create has a 'Subject' field (except for Notes, see below) that is what gets shown to you when you view an Appointment in calendar view, or a Journal in the Journal view. You put the Subject you want your record to have in the Subject section of the Clout command - easy! If you're creating an appointment with a colleague, you might want your subject to be 'Meet with Jack' ... or perhaps you want to remind yourself of a TV show so you might want the subject to be 'Heroes on Sci-Fi'.
Clout treats the Subject section as optional; if you don't put it in, it won't complain. But be warned! If you do not later enter a subject field in the dialog that pops up after you enter the Clout command, your record will show up without a title! In other words, we recommend that you enter the Subject in your Clout command.
The Body Section
Every Outlook record that Clout can create has a 'Body' field (except for Notes, see below) that is where you can put additional information about the record. You will only see the Body field of any record if you double-click on one to 'open' it when you will be shown the record in it's specific dialog. Clout treats the Body section as optional.
Special Rules for Notes
Notes are the exception to the rule that all the supported record types have a Subject and a Body. However, we have made Notes behave as if they have a Subject and a Body. When you are creating a note with Clout, anything you enter in the Subject section will be put on the first line of the Note, and anything you put in the Body section will be placed on following lines of the Note.
Also, we've set up the default behaviour for Notes to be that after inputting a Note, it closes automatically. You can change this setting in the Options dialog box.