These instructions describe the various features in Diabetes Pilot Desktop. Take a few minutes to look through the following pages to find out about the functions in the program and how to use them.
If you have questions that are not answered here, please visit our support center.
To install Diabetes Pilot on your Mac, follow the instructions on our website at:
www.diabetespilot.com/mac/download
Diabetes Pilot for Mac is licensed to track data for up to five different people (if you'd like to track data for more than five people, please contact us for more information).
The first time you start Diabetes Pilot, you'll need to create a new data file so that you can start tracking your data. Choose "File->New" from the menu to do this (or click the "Start with a new data file" button on the welcome screen.
If you're using Diabetes Pilot with an iPhone or iPod Touch:
You can create additional datasets in the future by repeating the steps above for each additional person that will be using Diabetes Pilot to track their data.
If you've created more than one data file, you can select which data you want to work with by using the "File->Open" or "File->Open Recent" menu.
In some cases, when you install Diabetes Pilot it will run in a time-limited free trial mode. The program is fully functional during this time, but will only operate for a limited number of days. The program will not operate after the trial period expires. Please purchase it before your trial period expires - your purchase helps support further development of the program.
If you purchased Diabetes Pilot at www.diabetespilot.com, you will have received a license key file via email. Follow the instructions in the email to use the license key file to unlock the program. (Just open the license key file or drop it on the Diabetes Pilot icon in the dock).
This section explains how to record your data in Diabetes Pilot for Mac. Diabetes Pilot can track your glucose, food, medication, exercise, and nearly any other type of information that you'd like to record.
Recording and Editing Data in the Details Window
To enter new data, go the the My Records page by clicking the My Records icon in the toolbar.
To record a new data item, click on one of the buttons at the bottom of the main screen:
For more information on entering the details of these items see Recording and Editing Data below.
To edit an existing item, click on the record. Clicking on the record will take you to the Details window for the record (see Recording and Editing Data below)
When you enter a new item change an existing one, it may or may not be immediately visible in the list on the main screen. The display in the My Records section depends on the filter settings that you have set - see Displaying Your Data for more information.
Your data is automatically saved when you exit Diabetes Pilot Desktop - there's no need to tell Diabetes Pilot to save your data.
Diabetes Pilot allows you to record information in as much or as little detail as you would like - it provides for both quick data entry as well as the ability to record additional details when needed.
When you create a new record, a detail window will appear. The date and time will be set to the current time. You can change the date and time if necessary by typing over the values or using the arrow controls located next to each entry. Then, enter the values for the item:
You can enter notes in the space provided. These notes will appear in the "My Records" list.
A category for each record can be also be selected. This category can be use to categorize records in any manner that is useful to you. You may want to use the category to identify records by time of day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc). The category list can be customized however you would like. To customize the category list, finish entering your record. Then, click on the small "Edit" button below the category list on the "My Records" window.
Click "OK" when you are done making your entry. The details window will close and your record will be added. Clicking on "Cancel" returns you to the previous screen without saving your changes.
When you add a food record, you can use the food database in Diabetes Pilot to record your meal details and add up the contents of the meal.
There are several ways to add foods to your meal record. To start, find a food that you'd like to add to the meal by using the food database on the right side of the window. See Using the Food Database for more information about the food database, finding foods, and adding new foods. After you've found the food that you want, add it to the meal record by dragging it to the "foods in this meal" grid.
After you've added to food to the Meal Details, edit the entry as necessary. Change the "Qty" column to reflect how many servings of that item you've eaten. The nutrition values shown in the grid reflect the "per serving" values (just like on a food label) - they are multiplied by the quantity you've entered and the meal totals are calculated accordingly. Double-click on the values to change them. When you're editing an item in the grid, you can also use the "tab" key to move through the grid. As you make changes to the Meal Details, the totals will be updated.
If you want to add a food that's not in the database, click the "Quick Add" button. A new item will be added to the grid. You can then edit it as necessary. If you'd like to save the new item in the database for future use, just drag it from the grid to the food database window.
If you want to quickly enter your own self-calculated carb total without bothering with entering individual foods, just click the "Quick Add" button to add a single item to the grid. Then, adjust the carb total as necessary.
You can also save and recall entire meals, so that you don't need to re-enter details for meals that you frequently eat.
To save a meal for future use:
To recall a previously saved meal:
Many of the food descriptions are abbreviated. This helps Diabetes Pilot Desktop work with the handheld version of Diabetes Pilot and allows the food descriptions to fit in the available screen space. You can get a list of the abbreviations here.
You can delete your records if necessary.
To delete an individual record:
To delete a group of records by date:
This section explains how to control the display of your data in Diabetes Pilot for Mac. Diabetes Pilot provides several different filtering options for displaying your data. This allows you to focus on the information that is important to you at a particular moment, without being distracted by other data that you may have recorded.
The display filter control is located on both the My Records page and on the Reports page. On the My Records page, the filter controls which records are displayed in the record grid. On the Reports page, the filter controls which records are included in the report that you generate. Records can be filtered by type, category, and date:
To control which dates are displayed, select an item from the list labeled "Display these dates".
To control which record types are displayed, check the boxes next to the types you wish to display in the box labeled "Display these record types"
To control which record types are displayed, check the boxes next to the categories you wish to display in the box labeled "Display these categories". Note that you may need to use the scroll bar along the right side of the box to access all of the categories in the list.
A record must match all of the filter criteria to be displayed.
Click on the "Show All Records" to allow all of the records to be shown. If you're having trouble finding a record that you think should appear in the list, click this button so that all of the records are displayed - this may help you locate what you're looking for.
Use the "All" or "None" buttons in each section to select or deselect all of the items in a section. This provides a convenient starting point for when you want to display just a few records.
If you've selected more records that can fit on a single screen, a scrollbar will be visible along the right side of the record list. Slide the bar up and down or tap on the bar's arrows to scroll the list and view all of the records.
You can change the way that records are sorted on the My Records page. To resort your records, click on the heading of the column that you would like to sort by. For example, if you wanted to sort your records by type, click on the word "Type" that is at the top of the type column. To sort by time, click on the "Time" heading. You can sort your data by any of the columns. To reverse the sort order, click on the column heading a second time.
This section explains how to use the Diabetes Pilot Desktop food database. The food database provides reference information on thousands of foods. You can add your own foods to the database and customize it to meet your needs.
The food database can be accessed in two different ways:
You can locate foods in the food database in several different ways:
Option 1: Browse through the foods by category.
To browse through the foods by category, click on the "All Foods" button near the top of the listings. This displays an organized listing of the foods and groups. You can browse through the groups or see a food's information by by clicking on the items - it works similar to the MacOS Finder.
Option 2: Search for foods by name.
To search for foods by name, type a word or phrase in the search box. The food database will be searched for what you enter. Any food or group containing your search will be displayed in the search box. You will usually have better results with the search feature if you enter just a few letters of a food name - this way, the food will appear in the results even if it is named a bit differently than you'd expect.
This is a usually the fastest way to find a food.
Option 3: Display a list of the foods you have marked as favorites.
To do this, click on the "Favorites" button near the top of the window. A list of the foods that you've marked as favorites will be displayed. To select a food, click on it in the list.
See Marking Foods as Favorites for more information.
To add a new food or group to the food database, click the "All Foods" button so that you can see the whole food database. Start by browsing to the location where you would like the new item added (see Finding Foods above). Select the group in which you would like to add the new item.
To add a new group, tap on the "New Group" button, enter a name for the new group, and press the enter key.
To add a new food, tap on the "New Food" button, enter a name for the new food, and press the enter key. Then, fill out the "Food Information" located on the right side of the screen, and click the "Done" button.
When a food is marked as a favorite, it will appear in the "Favorites" list. To mark a food as a favorite:
To remove a food from the favorites list, select it and uncheck the "Favorite" checkbox. The food will be removed from the favorites list.
Several functions are available to help you organize and customize the food database.
To delete a food or group from the database:
To move an item to another category:
To edit the name or data associated with a food or group:
Diabetes Pilot allows you to set several different options in the program. These options can customize the behavior of Diabetes Pilot to your needs and help save you time while entering data.
To set general program preferences, select "Preferences..." from the "Diabetes Pilot" menu. The "General" preferences tab allows you to set several options that determine how Diabetes Pilot works:
Diabetes Pilot allows you to categorize your records however you would like. Many people like to use these categories to group their records by time of day. However, you can change the category names to anything that you'd like.
To edit the category list:
Because you can use any categories name you want, Diabetes Pilot does not automatically know how to order the categories in reports. You need to tell Diabetes Pilot the order that you'd like the categories to appear.
To change the order of the categories in reports:
The reporting features in Diabetes Pilot allow you to review and analyze your data, send it to your doctor, archive it for safekeeping, and transfer it to other programs.
To access the reporting features, click the "Reports" icon on the toolbar.
Creating a report in Diabetes Pilot is an easy three step process:
Step 1: Choose a Report
Select the report you would like to create from the list near the upper left corner of the Diabetes Pilot window. There are several reports to choose from:
Step 2: Choose Records
Next, choose the records that you would like in the report using the filter controls (see Display Filters for more information). Or, click the "Show All Records" button to include all of your records.
Note that if your filters do not allow any records to be selected, the report will be blank - if this happens, change the filter settings to select the dates, categories, and record types that you want to include.
Also, note that some filter settings may not apply to certain types of reports and will be ignored. For example, the "Recent Glucose Averages" report will always show your recent averages (and ignore the date filter) and the "Medication Totals" report will always show medication records (ignoring the record type filter).
The filter controls provide for numerous report possibilities. For example, if you want a listing of your blood pressure readings, create a "Record Listing" report and select only the "BP" record type.
Step 3: Create the Report
Click the "Create Report" button to create the report. Your records will be processed and the report will be displayed in a few moments.
Viewing the Report
In addition to viewing your reports on-screen in Diabetes Pilot, there are various ways to use your reports outside of the program. First, create a report. Then:
Printing a Report
Saving a Report as a PDF
Saving your report as a PDF allows it to be read without needing Diabetes Pilot
Emailing a Report
This allows you to email your report to your doctor or whomever you choose. The report is send as a PDF, which allows the recipient to read it without needing Diabetes Pilot themselves.
If you have an iOS device, Diabetes Pilot for Mac can sync with the Diabetes Pilot app on your device - use your handheld to record data while you're on the go, then synchronize it to Diabetes Pilot for later reporting and analysis.
The Diabetes Pilot iPhone and iPad apps are separate products and sold separately from Diabetes Pilot for Mac. They are available through the iTunes App Store.
There are several ways to transfer data from your iOS device:
This feature lets you transfer your record data and food database between your desktop computer and your handheld.
To use the WiFi sync, you will need your computer and your handheld connected to the same network.
To start, make sure that both devices are connected to your network:
Then, start the sync on your handheld and computer:
The WiFi sync described above is generally the best choice for transferring your data. However, you can also transfer your records from your handheld via email to a computer with Diabetes Pilot Desktop. This can be useful for a variety of purposes: sending your data to a doctor's office that has Diabetes Pilot Desktop, a child sending data to a parent, sending data to yourself for later analysis, transferring your data when the WiFi connection described above isn't practical, and many other situations.
If your Diabetes Pilot data is important to you, you should make a backup of it periodically. This is important to protect against hardware failure, mistakes, or other issues. You can use a backup system such as Apple's Time Machine to back up your data file. Diabetes Pilot also provides its own options for making a backup copy of your data.
To make a backup copy of your data:
To restore your data from a backup copy:
Diabetes Pilot Desktop will occasionally make automatic backups of your data for you. This serves as a secondary backup, but it should not take the place of the regular backups described above. If you make a mistake with your data, you may wish to restore one of the automatic backups:
Some foods in the food database have abbreviated descriptions. Here is a list of of the abbreviations used:
All Purpose | ALLPURP |
Aluminum | AL |
And | & |
Apple | APPL |
Apples | APPLS |
Applesauce | APPLSAUC |
Approximate | APPROX |
Approximately | APPROX |
Arm and Blade | ARM&BLD |
Artificial | ART |
Ascorbic Acid | VIT C |
Aspartame | ASPRT |
Aspartame-sweetened | ASPRT-SWTND |
Babyfood | BABYFD |
Baked | BKD |
Barbequed | BBQ |
Based | BSD |
Beans | BNS |
Beef | BF |
Beverage | BEV |
Boiled | BLD |
Boneless | BNLESS |
Bottled | BTLD |
Bottom | BTTM |
Braised | BRSD |
Breakfast | BRKFST |
Broiled | BRLD |
Buttermilk | BTTRMLK |
Calcium | CA |
Calorie, calories | CAL |
Canned | CND |
Carbonated | CARB |
Center | CNTR |
Cereal | CRL |
Cheese | CHS |
Chicken | CHICK |
Chocolate | CHOC |
Choice | CHOIC |
Cholesterol | CHOL |
Cholesterol-free | CHOL-FREE |
Chopped | CHOPD |
Cinnamon | CINN |
Coated | COATD |
Coconut | COCNT |
Commercial | COMM |
Commercially | COMMLY |
Commodity | CMDTY |
Composite | COMP |
Concentrate | CONC |
Concentrated | CONCD |
Condensed | COND |
Condiment, condiments | CONDMNT |
Cooked | CKD |
Cottonseed | CTTNSD |
Cream | CRM |
Creamed | CRMD |
Dark | DK |
Decorticated | DECORT |
Dehydrated | DEHYD |
Dessert, desserts | DSSRT |
Diluted | DIL |
Domestic | DOM |
Drained | DRND |
Dressing | DRSNG |
Drink | DRK |
Drumstick | DRUMSTK |
English | ENG |
Enriched | ENR |
Equal | EQ |
Evaporated | EVAP |
Except | XCPT |
Extra | EX |
Flank steak | FLANKSTK |
Flavored | FLAV |
Flour | FLR |
Food | FD |
Fortified | FORT |
French fried | FRENCH FR |
French fries | FRENCH FR |
Fresh | FRSH |
Frosted | FRSTD |
Frosting | FRSTNG |
Frozen | FRZ |
Grades | GRDS |
Gram | GM |
Green | GRN |
Greens | GRNS |
Heated | HTD |
Heavy | HVY |
Hi-meat | HI-MT |
High | HI |
Hour | HR |
Hydrogenated | HYDR |
Imitation | IMITN |
Immature | IMMAT |
Imported | IMP |
Include, includes | INCL |
Including | INCL |
Infant formula | INF FORMULA |
Ingredient | ING |
Instant | INST |
Juice | JUC |
Junior | JR |
Kernels | KRNLS |
Large | LRG |
Lean | LN |
Lean only | LN |
Leavened | LVND |
Light | LT |
Liquid | LIQ |
Low | LO |
Low Fat | LOFAT |
Marshmallow | MARSHMLLW |
Mashed | MSHD |
Mayonnaise | MAYO |
Medium | MED |
Mesquite | MESQ |
Minutes | MIN |
Mixed | MXD |
Moisture | MOIST |
Natural | NAT |
New Zealand | NZ |
Nonfat Dry Milk | NFDM |
Nonfat Dry Milk Solids | NFDMS |
Nonfat Milk Solids | NFMS |
Noncarbonated | NONCARB |
Not Further Specified | NFS |
Nutrients | NUTR |
Nutrition | NUTR |
Ounce | OZ |
Pack | PK |
Par fried | PAR FR |
Parboiled | PARBLD |
Partial | PART |
Partially | PART |
Partially fried | PAR FR |
Pasteurized | PAST |
Peanut | PNUT |
Peanuts | PNUTS |
Phosphate | PO4 |
Phosphorus | P |
Pineapple | PNAPPL |
Plain | PLN |
Porterhouse | PRTRHS |
Potassium | K |
Powder | PDR |
Powdered | PDR |
Precooked | PRECKD |
Preheated | PREHTD |
Prepared | PREP |
Processed | PROC |
Product code | PROD CD |
Propionate | PROP |
Protein | PROT |
Pudding, puddings | PUDD |
Ready-to-bake | RTB |
Ready-to-cook | RTC |
Ready-to-drink | RTD |
Ready-to-eat | RTE |
Ready-to-feed | RTF |
Ready-to-heat | RTH |
Ready-to-serve | RTS |
Ready-to-use | RTU |
Reconstituted | RECON |
Reduced | RED |
Reduced-calorie | RED-CAL |
Refrigerated | REFR |
Regular | REG |
Reheated | REHTD |
Replacement | REPLCMNT |
Restaurant-prepared | REST-PREP |
Retail | RTL |
Roast | RST |
Roasted | RSTD |
Round | RND |
Sandwich | SNDWCH |
Sauce | SAU |
Scalloped | SCALLPD |
Scrambled | SCRMBLD |
Seed | SD |
Select | SEL |
Shank and sirloin | SHK&SIRL |
Short | SHRT |
Shoulder | SHLDR |
Simmered | SIMMRD |
Skin | SKN |
Small | SML |
Sodium | NA |
Solids | SOL |
Solution | SOLN |
Soybean | SOYBN |
Special | SPL |
Species | SP |
Spread | SPRD |
Standard | STD |
Steamed | STMD |
Stewed | STWD |
Stick | STK |
Sticks | STKS |
Strained | STR |
Substitute | SUB |
Summer | SMMR |
Supplement | SUPP |
Sweet | SWT |
Sweetened | SWTND |
Sweetener | SWTNR |
Teaspoon | TSP |
Thousand | 1000 |
Toasted | TSTD |
Toddler | TODD |
Uncooked | UNCKD |
Uncreamed | UNCRMD |
Undiluted | UNDIL |
Unenriched | UNENR |
Unheated | UNHTD |
Unprepared | UNPREP |
Unspecified | UNSPEC |
Unsweetened | UNSWTND |
Variety, varieties | VAR |
Vegetable, vegetables | VEG |
Vitamin A | VIT A |
Vitamin C | VIT C |
Water | H20 |
Whitener | WHTNR |
Whole | WHL |
Winter | WNTR |
With | W/ |
Without | WO/ |
Yellow | YEL |
Diabetes Pilot provides several options for importing and exporting food and record data. This allows you to exchange information with sources such as spreadsheets, glucose meters, and other programs. This feature is intended for advanced users who are familar with the topics discussed below.
Glucose, meal, medication, exercise, and note record data can be imported from standard comma-separated (CSV) files. This format is supported by many databases, spreadsheets, and other programs. For more information on the basics of CSV files, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values or http://www.creativyst.com/Doc/Articles/CSV/CSV01.htm
The format of the input file is flexible - the columns can be in any order. A header row with the field names must be the first row in the CSV file. The following columns are available:
Field |
Required |
Description |
Time |
Yes |
Contains the record date and time. Most standard formats will be recognized. Optionally, a "Date" field can be included if you'd prefer to separate the date and time into two separate fields |
Type |
Yes |
Contains the record type. Must be one of: "Glucose", "Food", "Medication", "Exercise", or "Note". Importing blood pressure readings is currently not supported |
Value |
Yes |
The record value. For food records, the total carbohydrates for the meal (importing meal details is not currently supported) |
Label |
Yes, for medication and exercise records. Optional for glucose records |
For exercise and medications records, contains the type of exercise or medication. For glucose records, contains the units of the glucose reading and must be either "mg/dL" or "mmol/L". If this field is omitted, glucose readings will be imported using the default units. |
Note |
No |
Contains the record's notes. |
Category |
No |
Contains the record's category. If this column is not supplied, you'll be prompted for how to categorize the new records: The program can either import the records to the "unfiled" category or it can try to guess the category based on each record's time and the category patterns in your existing records. |
The following example shows one valid set of data for import:
Date,Time,Type,Value,Label,Note,Category
Before Dinner
1/2/2006,12:01,Glucose,125,mg/dL,test row 1,Lunch
1/2/2006,15:03,Glucose,222,mmol/L,test row 2,After Lunch
1/2/2006,15:03,Glucose,333,,test row 3,Unfiled
3/3/2006,15:03,Medication,32,Humalog,test row 4,After Lunch
4/7/2006,16:08,Exercise,23,Typing,test row 5,
To import record data: