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1994-03-19
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CLKSYNCH Version 2.01 March 18, 1994
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT (C) 1988, 1994 by Steven Ryckman
All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents
Chapt Description Page
----- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----
I Copyright Notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
II Limited License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
III Disclaimer of Warranty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
IV Trademarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
V Shareware Notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
VI Product Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
VII Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
VIII System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
IX Starting CLKSYNCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
X Command Line Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
XI Daylight Savings Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
XII The Status Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
XIII The Scroll-Lock Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
XIV Help Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
XV Pick-List Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
XVI Warning Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
XVII The Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
XVIII Synchronize Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
XIX Configure CLKSYNCH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
XX Mono/Color Toggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
XXI Quit CLKSYNCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
XXII Non-conforming Modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
XXIII Dedication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
XXIV Author's Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
- 1 -
Chapter I - COPYRIGHT NOTICE --------------------------------------------------
The CLKSYNCH program and all supporting utility programs and documentation
are Copyrighted (C) 1994 by Steven Ryckman. This software and accompanying
documentation are protected by United States Copyright law and also by
International Treaty provisions. The CLKSYNCH computer program and this
documentation may not be reproduced, copied, disclosed, or transferred in any
form (machine-readable or photo-copy included), except as provided here under
"Limited License", without the express prior written approval of the author.
Chapter II - LIMITED LICENSE --------------------------------------------------
You are hereby granted a limited license to use this software for evaluation
purposes for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days. If you continue to use
this software (and/or it's supporting programs and documentation) after the
thirty (30) day evaluation period, you must register the software with the
author, Steven Ryckman.
Using this software after the thirty (30) day evaluation period, without
purchasing a registration for the software from the author, is a violation
of the terms of this limited license.
Licensee shall not use, copy, rent, lease, sell, modify, decompile,
disassemble, reverse engineer, or transfer the licensed program except
as provided in this limited license or the shareware notice chapters
of this documentation. Any such unauthorized use shall result in
immediate and automatic termination of this license.
Chapter III - DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY ------------------------------------------
Steven Ryckman makes no warranty of any kind, express or implied, including,
without limitation, any warranties of performance, merchantability and/or
fitness for a particular purpose. This software and accompanying documentation
are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. The entire risk as to
results and performance is assumed by you.
Steven Ryckman shall not be liable for any damages, whether direct, indirect,
consequential or incidental arising from a failure of the CLKSYNCH programs to
operate in the manner desired by the user. Nor shall Steven Ryckman be liable
for any data, property or other damages which may be caused directly or
indirectly by use of or inability to use the software, even if Steven Ryckman
has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall the
liability for any damages exceed the price paid for the license to use the
software, regardless of the form and/or extent of the claim. By using the
software you agree to this.
The author further reserves the right to revise or alter the contents of this
documentation or the CLKSYNCH software package from time to time without
notifying any person or group of such changes or alterations.
The Limited License and Disclaimer of Warranty shall be construed, interpreted
and governed by the laws of the State of Illinois.
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Chapter IV - TRADEMARKS -------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft, Windows and MS-DOS are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. IBM
and OS/2 are registered trademarks of IBM Corporation. Other trademarked
names may appear in this manual. The author states that he is using the
trademarked names only for editorial purposes, and to the benefit of the
trademark owner, with no intention of infringing upon any trademark.
Chapter V - SHAREWARE NOTICE --------------------------------------------------
Shareware allows prospective software customers to "try before you buy".
Because a program is labeled as "Shareware" does not give anyone permission
to use the program beyond the terms of the limited license nor to make
any modifications to the software. Shareware programs are protected by
the same copyright laws which protect commercially distributed software.
By distributing software through Shareware methods, the cost of the software
to you, the end user, is much less. As an author of a Shareware program, we
do not have to spend money on flashy packaging, advertising and distribution.
If the people that use the programs do not register them however, Shareware
WILL die. If the authors of Shareware programs, like myself, do not receive
registrations from the users of our software we can't justify spending the
time to write the programs you want. If you like a Shareware program, then
take the time to register it and show the author your appreciation.
You may distribute the CLKSYNCH package in an un-registered (Shareware)
form as long as the .ZIP file contains all and only the original files
placed in it by the author. These files include: CLKSYNCH.EXE,
CLKSYNCH.DOC, CLKSYNCH.CFG, READ.ME, REGISTER.FRM, REGME.EXE, REGME.DOC
and the description file FILE_ID.DIZ.
No renumeration may be accepted for CLKSYNCH except by the author. The
only exceptions to this are for distribution channels which charge strictly
for the media on which the CLKSYNCH package is contained. This includes
access fees for BBS's and disk fees for "disk of the month" and similar
groups. The fee for distribution of CLKSYNCH may not exceed US $ 5.00.
The user paying this fee must specifically be notified that the fee they
are paying is for access to the Shareware version of the program and
in no way constitues a registration of the software with the author.
See the file REGISTER.FRM for order/registration information.
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Chapter VI - PRODUCT OVERVIEW -------------------------------------------------
CLKSYNCH is a utility program which will "synchronize" the time on your
computer with the time from one of two services which run on an atomic
clock. CLKSYNCH does this by using your modem to call theirs, then with
the configuration information you provide ahead of time, set the time on
your computer to the correct local time.
CLKSYNCH was written using Microsoft's PDS 7.1 (Professional Development
System) with several add-on libraries and in-house functions. The entire
"user-interface" structure, help screens, pick-lists and communication
routines are original as created by the author, Steven Ryckman.
Chapter VII - TECHNICAL SUPPORT -----------------------------------------------
CLKSYNCH was written so that most anything you'd need to know about it
could be obtained while running the program itself. There really should
be no need to contact me with questions or to even read this documentation
file, but it is provided for reference and goes into more detail on certain
areas than could be done in the on-line facilities. Should you experience
a problem with CLKSYNCH or have a question not answered elsewhere here,
see the contact information section of the REGISTER.FRM file.
Chapter VIII - SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS --------------------------------------------
CLKSYNCH is a real-mode DOS program. This means that it should work under
any operating system which supports real-mode DOS programs. CLKSYNCH has
been tested under MS-DOS 5.0, DESQVIEW 386, WINDOWS 3.1, OS/2 2.1 and the
PC-MOS operating system. CLKSYNCH requires between 320kb and 512kb of
memory to run properly depending on the operating system it is being run
under and the configuration settings. CLKSYNCH is NOT a multi-user program
however and when run under a multi-tasking environment such as DESQVIEW
or OS/2 only one copy should be run at a time or errors may result.
Due to time limitations, version 2.01 of CLKSYNCH is only slightly aware
of these multi-user environments in that it will surrender processor time
but does not handle file locking at this time. The "hooks" for a true
multi-user program have been written into CLKSYNCH and will be implemented
in the next version of CLKSYNCH.
Chapter IX - STARTING CLKSYNCH ------------------------------------------------
CKLSYNCH is run from a prompt simply by typing in CLKSYNCH while in the
directory in which it and it's files are stored. The file CLKSYNCH.CFG
**MUST** exist in the current directory for CLKSYNCH to function properly.
If you are running CLKSYNCH from a multi-tasking environment such as
DESQVIEW, WINDOWS or OS/2, specify CLKSYNCH.EXE as the program to run
and be sure to allocate approximately 500kb of memory. When CLKSYNCH starts
it will attempt to determine the operating system it is running under and
allocate memory, access the modem and release processor time differantly
depending on which operating system is it's host.
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Chapter X - COMMAND LINE OPTIONS ----------------------------------------------
There are only two command line options available when running CLKSYNCH,
they are:
/BATch - Upon starting, go directly to synchronize then
exit when done. (For un-attended synchronizations
for BBS' etcetera.)
/NOClock - Do not display the clock in the upper right corner
of screen. (For saving modem overhead when running
CLKSYNCH from remote system.)
/CDignore - Ignore the status of the Carrier Detect pin from
the modem. (Some modems due not return the true
CD state. See chapter XXII for more information
on dealing with this type of modem.)
/DEBUG - Display information on Host O/S tests. Usually
only used if a problem is encountered.
Chapter XI - DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME --------------------------------------------
In many areas around the world, twice a year people move the time on their
clocks ahead or behind one hour. This was started to allow more daylight
during the winter months when children are traveling home from school but
the hours of daylight are shorter. Although this is a fairly standard
practice, there are some areas across North America and the world which do
not make this adjustment each year. For this reason, CLKSYNCH asks if you
observe daylight savings time in the configuration screen. If this field
is answered Y then CLKSYNCH will determine your offset from GMT, taking into
account the Daylight Savings Time adjustment.
Currently, Daylight Savings Time starts the last Sunday of October at 2am
(clocks are moved back to 1am) and ends on the first Sunday of April at
1am (clocks are moved ahead to 2am). This is the formula that CLKSYNCH
uses in determining whether we are currently in Daylight Savings Time
or not. I was unable to find out how long this has been practiced but
if this formula should change a new version of CLKSYNCH will be released.
Chapter XII - THE STATUS LINE -------------------------------------------------
The last line of the screen is typically called the status line. On this
line, CLKSYNCH will display various notes to you about it's status. This
may include a brief description of the data entry field the cursor is
currently located at, a registration message or the status of the synch-
ronize function (dialing modem, etcetera) during the course of the program.
On this line as well, in the lower right portion of the screen, three other
messages may appear, these are <F1>=HELP, <F2>=PICKLIST and "i".
<F1>=HELP will appear if the field or area of the program that the cursor
is currently at, has additional help available. <F2>=PICKLIST will be
displayed if the data entry field you are at has a "list" available for
you to make your selection from. "i" will be displayed if you are currently
in "insert" mode when entering keystrokes. If "i" is not displayed then
you are in "over-write" mode.
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Chapter XIII - THE SCROLL-LOCK LIGHT ------------------------------------------
One of the first things people tend to notice about CLKSYNCH when it's
running is it's control of the Scroll-Lock light on your keyboard. What
do they notice about it ? IT BLINKS !
While CLKSYNCH is running, approximately every 1.2 seconds it releases cpu
time to other programs that are running in a multi-tasking environment such
as DesqView or OS/2 or in a Dos environment, to TSR's. Many shareware as
well as commercial applications "sit still" at various places waiting for
user input or other things. What these programs are really doing is sitting
in a "tight loop" and hogging processor time.
In order to make it more visually noticable that CLKSYNCH isn't ever
"just waiting" and is always processing and releasing time, the Scroll-Lock
light changes from an on to off or vice-versa state each time the cpu
time is released for other applications, even if none are there to receive
the released time at that moment. So no, I'm not trying to make your
computer a disco light, just give you a visual method of seeing that
CLKSYNCH is still processing and releasing time.
One of the major reasons I chose to toggle a keyboard light instead
of displaying something on screen is that many users run CLKSYNCH over
modems on remote systems. Anything displayed on screen must be sent
across the modem connection and thus take phone-line time. By using the
Scroll-Lock light and the /NOCLOCK command line switch, the amount of
characters sent over the modem is greatly reduced.
Note: When running CLKSYNCH over a modem on a remote system, the Scroll-
Lock light on the "host" computer's keyboard will blink but the light
on the remote PC will not (with the current releases of remote software
like PCAnywhere, Doorway, etcetera anyways).
Chapter XIV - HELP WINDOWS ----------------------------------------------------
Throughout the program, pop-up help windows are available which are field
sensitive in their reply. If help is available for the field the cursor
is currently at, the status line will display the <F1>=HELP message.
Pressing <F1> while this message is displayed will bring a pop-up window
onto the screen with additional information for you to view. Once you are
done reading this, press any key to clear the window.
Chapter XV - PICK-LIST WINDOWS ------------------------------------------------
Throughout the program, pop-up pick-list windows are available at some
fields which provide a list of valid options for you to choose from. At
some fields, all available choices are displayed, while at other fields
only some of the more common ones are displayed. If a pick-list is
available for the field the cursor is currently at, the status line will
display the <F2>=PICKLIST message. Pressing <F2> while this message is
displayed will cause a pop-up window with a moving scroll-bar to appear.
- 6 -
Pressing the up and down arrow keys will move the scroll-bar through the
entries on the pick-list window. Pressing <HOME> will move the scroll-bar
to the first entry on the pick-list and pressing <END> will move it to
the last entry on the pick-list. Pressing <ENTER> while a pick-list is
displayed will cause the entry currently under the scroll-bar to be
entered into the field that you activated the pick-list from. Pressing
any other key besides those mentioned above will clear the window.
Chapter XVI - WARNING WINDOWS --------------------------------------------------
CLKSYNCH checks your input to the various questions in the configuration
screen and also checks many other things during the course of the program.
If an error in data or program execution is encountered then a warning
pop-up window will appear. Some warning windows simply need you to press
any key to clear the message from the screen. Other warning screens will
ask you to type a word to perform a particular action or just press <ENTER>
to abort the action, while others still will only clear with one word
entered. For instance, entering an invalid time zone offset will cause a
warning window which requires any key to be pressed to clear. Another
warning window will ask you to type SET to set the time or press <ENTER>
to not set the time depending on the time differance warning field.
Pressing <ESC> from the configuration screen will cause the third type
of warning window to appear. This window makes you type YES to clear
the window and reset any changes made in the configuration screen.
Warning windows always display a brief description of what they expect you
to do on the last line of the window.
Chapter XVII - THE MAIN MENU --------------------------------------------------
When CLKSYNCH first starts up, it briefly reads the CLKSYNCH.CFG file then
brings up the main menu. CLKSYNCH will try it's best to automatically
determine whether your computer is equipped with a monochrome or color
display and use colors or shading as appropriate. If it does not determine
properly (which can happen with certain video cards that return the wrong
answer when inquired upon), read the section titled MONO/COLOR TOGGLE
below for information on toggling the color attribute.
The main menu of CLKSYNCH looks similar to this:
C - Configure CLKSYNCH
S - Synchronize clock
M - Mono/Color toggle
Q - Quit CLKSYNCH
Each of these items is described in greater detail in the section for each
of them which follows. To select one of these choices, simply enter the
letter corresponding to the selection.
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Chapter XVIII - CONFIGURE CLKSYNCH --------------------------------------------
In order for CLKSYNCH to know how to function, you must provide it with some
basic information about where you are located at, where your modem is
connected to the computer and some other personal preferances you may have
about how CLKSYNCH will perform certain functions. Use the up and down
arrow keys to scroll through the differant fields. <F1>=HELP and
<F2>=PICKLIST will be displayed for those fields that have these optional
windows available for them. When entering data into a field, you may use
the left and right arrow keys to move the cursor, <HOME> & <END> to go to the
beginning or ending of the field or the <INSERT>, <BACKSPACE> and <DELETE>
keys to insert or erase characters. Pressing <ESC> at any time while in
the configuration screen will cause a warning that any changes made to the
screen will be lost. If you reply "YES" then changes will be lost and you
will be returned to the main menu. Once you have answered the last field,
an ANY CHANGES message will be displayed at the bottom. Answering "Y" will
allow further changes to this screen, "N" will save the changes and return
to the main menu and answering "Q" will abort any changes and return to
the main menu without warning you first.
See the on-line help for additional information about fields on this screen.
Chapter XIX - SYNCHRONIZE CLOCK -----------------------------------------------
This is the section of the program that actually calls the service(s)
specified in the configuration and checks/changes the time on your computer.
The status of the routine through all it's stages is displayed in the
status line. Pressing any key while this portion of the program is running
will cause CLKSYNCH to abort the synchronization and return to the menu.
Chapter XX - MONO/COLOR TOGGLE ------------------------------------------------
Should CLKSYNCH incorrectly determine whether your system is running with a
monochrome or color video display, selecting this menu item will toggle the
screen display between color or monochrome characteristics. Or if you are
just curious to see what it will look like on your lap-top with a mono-
chrome display, this will show you. This setting is only stored during the
current session of CLKSYNCH. Once CLKSYNCH ends, the next time it starts
it will re-read the video card in the computer regardless of the previous
setting you may have selected.
Chapter XXI - QUIT CLKSYNCH ---------------------------------------------------
As the name implies, this menu item closes all open files, the modem port
and de-allocates any resources CLKSYNCH may have acquired during it's
session and then ends. CLKSYNCH also restores your Caps-Lock, Num-Lock
and Scroll-Lock light's status to what they were upon entering CLKSYNCH.
- 8 -
Chapter XXII - NON-CONFORMING MODEMS ------------------------------------------
Although most modems claim "100% Hayes Compatible", in actuality most are
not. Since CLKSYNCH does not use the majority of the features available in
the modems this usually isn't a problem. For speed in detecting whether
the modem has secured a connection with the remote modem, CLKSYNCH monitors
a "pin" from the modem called "Carrier Detect". With properly designed
modems, this pin is "high" when your modem is connected to another modem and
"low" when it is not. But to save a few pennies, many modem manufacturers
do not design their modems to return the true Carrier state. With these
modems, CLKSYNCH must watch the verbal text from the modem to determine
whether the modem is connected or not. This is easy enough, but is much
slower than monitoring the CD pin's status. If when running CLKSYNCH, you
get a message telling you that "Carrier is already high" chances are that
your modem fits this catagory or there is a "Carrier Over-ride" setting on
the modem that needs to be changed. If you get this message and you don't
find a way to change the modem, try using the /CDignore command line switch
explained in Chapter X of this file.
Chapter XXIII - DEDICATION ----------------------------------------------------
No worthy program would be complete without a section dedicating the program
to those who helped, endured, tested, spell-checked and hated the program.
In all of the above catagories, my wife, Holly Ryckman. Who although still
sometimes believes that sometimes I spend more time with the computer than
her, understands my love for writing programs and tries to be as supportive
as possible. She is always amazed by the registrations from my programs
in the mail and I guess although skeptical, is proud that people care
enough about the programs I write that they not only send a check but a
note now and then saying how much one of my programs has made their life
soo much easier.
In the tested and spell-checked catagory, everyone who beta tested the
version 2.0b program, especially those who offered input on the user
interface and worked out the kinks in it. This goes especially to
Mike Henderson and Chris Coburn.
In the helped catagory, everyone who has registered any of my other
ShareWare utilities. After all, if you hadn't registered my programs
I would have given up on ShareWare and CLKSYNCH wouldn't have ever
been written.
Chapter XXIV - AUTHOR'S NOTE --------------------------------------------------
Version 2.01 of CLKSYNCH is basically a maintanence release. There were a
few "bugs" reported that have been taken care of in it. It is basically
the same program as version 2.00, but with the fixes in it.
Version 2.00 was released days before we relocated our family from Illinois
to Texas and although myself and several beta-testers thought we found all
the bugs, but evidentally we didn't.
I sincerely hope you enjoy using CLKSYNCH.
Steve Ryckman, Author
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