Copyright: Copyright © 1996 J M Technical Services, UK.


Adding a Reminder

To add a reminder item to the schedule click Add, and use this dialog. Click on the picture of the dialog for an explanation of the different items.

Adding a Run Program item


Adding a Run Program item

To add a Run Program item to the schedule click Add, then select Run program from the Activity drop-down. Click on the picture of the dialog for an explanation of the different items.

Adding a Reminder


Automatic Time Update

If you have an Internet connection then you can use CALMon to set your system's clock using an Internet time server.

The Time Server setting must be set to the name of the Internet time server to be used. You can choose one from the drop-down list, or enter another name. Choose a time server local to you, to minimize the inaccuracy due to the delay in transmitting the time information over the Internet to you. The time server must provide the GMT time using the UDP protocol. (Your Internet access provider may be able to give you the names of other time servers that meet these criteria.)

The Window Title setting is only needed if you want to have CALMon automatically set your system's clock the first time you connect to the Internet after CALMon is started. You must have a registered copy of CALMon in order to use this facility. Non-registered users must initiate the process manually from the Settings / Time dialog.

The value of the setting must be the full title bar text of the dialog box that is displayed when you are connected to the Internet. Using Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking, If you have a dial-up connection called XXXX Internet then the title bar of the dialog displays the text "Connected to XXXX Internet" when connected. Note that when the dialog is minimized Windows changes the text to just "XXXX Internet." If you or your Internet software minimize this window when connected then you must choose the appropriate form of text so that CALMon can detect when your Internet connection is active. CALMon looks for a window with this text in its title bar once per minute.

While CALMon is obtaining the time, messages about the progress of the connection are displayed in the clock window in place of the date. The result (if the clock was slow, fast or correct, or if CALMon was unable to make a connection) is displayed for 20 seconds before being replaced by the normal date display.


CPU limit
This line shows the total time (and percentage of the time) that the CPU has been 100% utilized. If this figure is more than about 25% then it is possible that you would benefit from using a system with a faster processor. However, this information must be used with discretion. Some programs tend to use a lot of CPU because of the way they have been written and using a faster CPU would not improve performance. For example, your word processor may check spelling in the gaps between your typing, which will cause a high CPU utilization, but this will not slow down the overall performance of the system. Communications software may cause high CPU activity when downloading files, but performance is limited by the speed of your modem, not the speed of the CPU. The CPU utilisation indicator on CALMon's display will help you determine which programs use a lot of CPU time.


Changing a Reminder Item

To change a reminder item to the schedule click Change, and use this dialog. Click on the picture of the dialog for an explanation of the different items.

Changing a Run Program Item


Changing a Run Program item

To change a Run Program item click Change, then use this dialog. Click on the picture of the dialog for an explanation of the different items.

Changing a Reminder item


Configuring CALMon: Display

CALMon's Settings dialog can be used to set up your preferences for the program. Click on the tabs to see information about the settings available on that page of the dialog.

The Display Format setting lets you specify whether the time is displayed in 12-hour or 24-hour format.

The Hide Period setting lets you specify the period for which CALMon will hide if you click on the clock face. This allows you to see the part of the screen that is beneath it.


Configuring CALMon: Monitors

The Update Interval setting lets you choose how often the performance monitor gauges are to be updated.

The Disk Monitor setting lets you choose which disk drive is monitored by the disk space monitor. If you have more than one disk drive it is best to monitor the drive containing Windows' files and the swap file. On most systems this is the C: drive.


Configuring CALMon: Priority

The Run at Priority Level setting lets you determine the priority level at which CALMon runs. By default, CALMon runs at the idle priority level, which means that it takes CPU time only when the system would otherwise be idle. This means that CALMon has no effect at all on the performance of your system. On under-powered systems, the effect of this is that CALMon may seem to disappear sometimes, and it may be very slow to update. This can be avoided by setting the priority level to Normal, the same as other applications. CALMon typically takes less than 1% of CPU time anyway, so the effect on performance of choosing this option will not be great.


Configuring CALMon: Sounds

The Hourly Chime setting lets you specify how CALMon is to audibly notify you of the start of a new hour. You can choose to have no audible notification, have the PC beep, or play a wave (*.WAV) or Midi (*.MID) sound if the PC has a suitably configured sound card.

The Alarm Sound setting lets you specify how CALMon is to audibly notify you of a scheduled reminder. The range of options is the same as for the hourly chime.


Configuring CALMon: Task Bar

The Task Bar Icon setting lets you specify whether CALMon displays an icon in the Windows 95 Task Bar Notification Area. If this icon is present, you can click on it to hide and show CALMon. You can see the date and time by placing the pointer over the icon, and you can summon CALMon's popup menu by right-clicking on the icon.


Configuring CALMon: Time

The Set System Clock settings let you adjust the time on the system clock. You must still use the Control Panel Date/Time applet to change the date and time zone settings.

Set system clock (manual) lets you make manual adjustments to the clock setting.

Set system clock (Internet) sets the clock using a time server on the Internet when you press Set. The program must be properly configured before you can use this option. To configure the Internet access and time server settings press Configure.


Contents
CALMon 95 Help Contents

CALMon 95 is a clock, alarm, scheduler and performance monitor for Windows 95. It normally runs while the system is idle and so consumes next to no resources. It displays the date, time and four important performance indicators in real time. It can remind you of meetings and appointments, and run programs at specific times and on set dates.

The display

The popup menu

Configuring CALMon

Setting a Quick Reminder

Using the scheduler

Understanding the performance report


Setting a Quick Reminder

You can use the Quick Reminder option to set a reminder alarm for later in the day. Just set the time when you want the reminder to occur, and enter some text for the reminder itself.


The CALMon Display

The display shows the date, time and four gauges monitoring important indicators of system performance. Click on the image for more information about the display.

You can position the display where you want on the screen by dragging it with the mouse.

CALMon options are accessed from a pop-up menu which appears when you right-click on the clock face. If the clock is hidden, you can also access the menu by right-clicking on the task bar icon.

If the clock is set to stay on top of other applications, and it is obscuring something that you want to see, you can make it hide for a few seconds by clicking once on the clock face. The length of time that the clock stays hidden is set using the display settings.


The CALMon menu

CALMon's menu is accessed by right-clicking on the clock face, or on the task bar icon. Click on the menu for more information about that menu item.


Understanding the performance report

The performance report summarizes information collected about system performance during the whole time CALMon has been running. For more information about the information displayed click on the relevant line on the report shown above.


Using the Scheduler

You use the Scheduler to set reminders to occur on any day, or on a daily or weekly basis. You can also run programs at specific times and on specific days. To add a new item to the schedule click Add. To change the details of a scheduled item, select the item and click Change. To remove an item from the schedule select the item and click Delete.

The scheduler shows items listed in time order. Scheduled items can be one-off (One-shot) items, or may be repeated daily, weekly or on a set day of the week at a specific time. When an item is run, it is either removed from the schedule (in the case of a one-shot item) or its date is advanced to the next recurrence so that it is not run more than once. Note that if the computer is started up after a scheduled one-shot, daily or weekly item should have been run, then the item is run immediately. Only items marked to run on a specific day (Each Sun .. Each Sat) are run only on that day.

To reduce the system overhead, CALMon checks if items are due to be run when the minute changes. Scheduled items are not run while the scheduler dialog is open.


about
This option displays the About... box. You can enter your registration code from here.


activity
Specify whether the item is a reminder or a Run Program item


activity2
Specify whether the item is a reminder or a Run Program item


activity3
Specify whether the item is a reminder or a Run Program item


activity4
Specify whether the item is a reminder or a Run Program item


at time
Set the time at which the item is to be run


auto
If this item is checked, CALMon will attempt to update your system clock when you connect to the Internet. You must configure the program correctly before this option can be used. This option is enabled only in registered versions of the program.


calendar
Click on the date on which you want the item to be run


close
This option closes CALMon


connecttoweb
This option will connect you to J M Technical Services' WorldWide Web site, if you have a properly configured Internet connection


daily
Click this radio button to have the item run daily at the same time each day


date
The date is displayed using the long date format selected in Windows' Control Panel


dirbrowse
Browse for the starting directory to use


disk space
This indicator shows the percentage of disk space that is used on the monitored drive. If it increases to more than about 80% you should consider installing a larger hard drive. Note that Windows uses disk space for a number of things such as the swap file and temporary file storage, which vary dynamically. If disk space drops so low that Windows cannot expand the swap file or allocate space for temporary files you may experience all sorts of unexpected errors.


each day
Click one of these radio buttons to specify the day of the week on which the scheduled item is to be run


help
This option opens the help file


mem limit
This line shows the total amount of time (and percentage of the time) that the system memory has been heavily loaded. Heavy memory loading will degrade system performance by forcing program code to be swapped out to disk, and by reducing the amount of memory Windows can use for a disk cache. If this figure is more than 40% then your system might benefit from increasing the amount of installed RAM.

Heavy memory loading on its own will not necessarily degrade performance. However, if this causes a large number of page faults then extra RAM would almost certainly result in a more responsive system by reducing the amount of time spent swapping data to and from disk.


mthdown
Click here to go back one month


mthup
Click here to advance the calendar to the next month


on date
Check this radio button if the item is to be run only on the date shown on the calendar


page fault
A page fault occurs when Windows wants to access some data or program code which is not held in real memory (RAM.) Page faults slow down performance as the data must be loaded from disk.


params
Enter the command line parameters for the program, if any


perfmon
The performance monitors are updated at a frequency specified in Settings: by default every second. The DSK monitor shows the percentage of disk space used on the monitored drive. The CPU monitor shows the percentage of CPU utilization. The MEM monitor shows the percentage memory loading. The PF monitor shows the number of page faults.


progbrowse
Browse for the name of the program to run


progname
Enter the name of the program to run


running for
This line shows the total time that CALMon has been running.


s_date
This column shows the date on which an event is next due to run. If CALMon is not run on the date when a daily or weekly event is next due to run, it will be run at the first opportunity thereafter, at the specified time.


s_detail
This column shows information about the scheduled event: either the text of a reminder or the name, parameters, start directory and launch state of a program to be run.


s_time
This column shows the time at which an event is to occur. If CALMon is started after the time specified, the event is run at the next minute change.


s_type
This column shows the type of scheduled event. One-shot events are run once only, at the specified time and date. Daily and weekly events are run at daily or weekly intervals, on the specified date or as soon as possible thereafter. Events shown as Each <day> are run only on the specified day of the week.


startdir
Enter the starting directory for the program, if not the default


state
Specify the startup state (normal, minimized or maximized) for the program


stayontop
If this option is checked, CALMon will stay on top of other active applications


swap time
This figure is an estimate of the time spent swapping data between memory and disk, based on the number of page faults recorded. Like the memory loading figure, this is an indicator of whether a system has sufficient RAM or not. If the figure is more than about 20% you would probably experience an improvement in performance and productivity by installing more RAM.

Note that this figure will tend to be an over-estimate if the system is never heavily used. To get the most accurate reading, load a number of different applications and swap between them to deliberately cause a high memory loading and a lot of page faults so that CALMon can observe the system performing under stress.


text
Enter the text to appear in the reminder dialog


time
The local time is displayed as a seven segment digital readout in 12- or 24-hour format according to the option chosen in Settings.


today
Check this radio button if the item is to be run today only


weekly
Click this radio button to have the item run once per week at the same time