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(This is a text-only version of the Clocker user manual.)
Clocker
version 2.3
WinnoVation
Innovation through Windows...
(C) Copyright 1993-1994
Winnovation
PO Box 271071
Ft. Collins, CO 80527-1071
USA
Telephone: (303) 226-8682
FAX: (303) 226-8682
E-mail: CompuServe: 71774,605
Internet: 71774.605@compuserve.com
Introduction
------------
Clocker is an event-scheduler program, which will
execute pre-determined events at a specific time.
Clocker is extremely useful for running unattended
backups, running after-hours processes such as faxing
or file transfers while telephone rates are lower, and
many other things -- limited only by your imagination!
Clocker can also pop up user-defined reminder messages,
so it also functions as an alarm clock.
Clocker also has the powerful capability for group
scheduling on a network. The system administrator can
place a group schedule on a shared disk, and each
machine running Clocker on the network will optionally
read this file, in addition to its private schedule
file. This group schedule is also automatically
refreshed, so the administrator can make a change once
and every machine using that group schedule will be
automatically updated to reflect the changes.
Clocker will also not clutter your desktop. Many
people already run the Windows Clock, and Clocker looks
very similar to the Windows Clock when iconized.
Clocker also includes an Always On Top feature for
those who wish to always have a visible clock on their
desktop. Alternatively, Clocker can run completely
hidden from the user.
Note that Clocker requires Windows 3.1.
Packing List
------------
Your package should include the following:
This manual
Distribution disk
License statement
The following files should be present on the
distribution disk:
CLOCKER.EXE Clocker executable file
CLOCKER.HLP Clocker Help file
CLOCKER.TXT Documentation text file
CTL3D.DLL Library for 3D controls
EXAMPLES.TXT Description of examples
EXAMPLE*.* Examples to use with Clocker
If any files are missing, please contact Winnovation.
Upgrading from a Previous Version
---------------------------------
Clocker 2.3 is downward-compatible with versions 2.0
and higher of Clocker. It can read .CLK files created
with these previous versions without any problems.
Note, however, that files saved with version 2.3 cannot
be read by previous versions.
Installation
------------
If your disk came with a SETUP or INSTALL program,
simply run that program. To do this, select Run...
from the File menu in Program Manager, and type
a:\setup or a:\install (change the drive letter if
necessary).
If you did not receive an installation program with
your copy of Clocker, you can install it using the
following instructions. First, make sure that no other
copies of Clocker are currently running. Then simply
copy all of the files from the distribution disk to a
directory such as C:\CLOCKER. Note that Clocker does
not need to have its own directory. Also move the file
CTL3D.DLL to your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. You may
need to close other applications to perform this copy,
if the file is in use.
After the files are copied, add Clocker to a Program
Manager group. To run Clocker every time you start
Windows, find CLOCKER.EXE with the File Manager and
drag it to the Startup group in the Program Manager.
See your Windows manual if you are unsure how to do
this.
Registration
------------
When Clocker is first started, you will see a
registration reminder screen. Click the Register...
button and you will see the following registration
screen:
Enter your name exactly as shown on your license
statement, and your serial number and registration code
(also found on the license statement).
Getting Started
---------------
After starting Clocker, you will see a screen similar
to the following:
The current time is shown on the status bar at the
bottom of the screen, along with the date. The
remainder of the status bar will give information about
group and supervisor modes, as well as information
about menu options as you select them. "UNREGISTERED
EVALUATION COPY" will be displayed if your copy is not
yet registered. The large empty area in the center is
where the list of events will be.
Each item that you enter into the Clocker schedule is
called an event. A reminder of an important meeting or
a backup program running are both examples of events
you might want to schedule. To add an event, select
Add Item from the Options pull-down menu, or click the
Add button. You will then be prompted with the
following screen:
By filling in the various fields of this box, you
specify the event you wish to schedule. For a full
description of the fields in this form, please refer to
the reference section of this manual.
The date field is the date that the event is to be
executed, and the time is the time of day it will be
executed. If the Repeat box is checked, the event will
execute repeatedly at the specified interval, until the
specified end time.
The second section are the repeat options. One Day
Only means exactly that - the event will only execute
on the specified date. Daily/Weekly means that the
event will execute on each of the selected days.
Monthly will execute the event every month, on the day
specified by the date at the top.
The next section is the event to be executed. There
are three categories of events: a command line, a
message, or other. If a program is to be run, the
Command Line button should be selected. If a reminder
message should pop up, the Message button should be
selected. If the system should be rebooted, Windows
stopped or restarted, a program run outside of Windows,
or a program closed, the Other button should be
selected. The area below the buttons is for the actual
command line, message, or program name if applicable.
If a Command Line has been selected, a working
directory can also be specified for the program. In
many cases this will not be necessary, but some
programs require that they are executed from a specific
directory.
The last section is the display options, which are
available only for Command Lines. You can choose to
display the program you are running either in a normal
window, iconized, or hidden.
Pressing the Test button will execute the event
immediately. This is useful to verify that the event
was set up correctly. Note that testing is not
available for some of the "Other" options.
After the event has been set up and OK is pressed, the
event is entered and will execute at the specified
time.
To edit an item after it has been entered, you can
select Edit Item from the Options Menu, you can click
the Edit button, or you can simply double-click the
item in the list. Similarly, to delete an item, simply
select it and choose Delete Item from the Options menu
or click the Delete button (or press the delete key).
In the Settings menu, you can select the font to be
used, toggle display of the date in the icon caption,
toggle display of the icon, and a few other options.
See the reference section of this manual for further
details.
The Help menu provides on-line help for Clocker.
Private and Group Scheduling
----------------------------
Clocker supports two different kinds of schedules:
private schedules and group schedules. Private
schedules are schedules which are unique to one machine
or user, and they run only on that one machine. Group
schedules are shared between many users. Note that
Clocker can use both kinds of schedules simultaneously.
Private Schedules
-----------------
Private schedules are schedules which are unique to one
machine. Private schedules will usually be the only
ones used by a stand-alone machine.
Group Schedules
---------------
Group schedules are designed to be shared between many
users. These schedules are usually placed on a shared
network disk, and all of the machines on the network
running Clocker will share this common schedule.
Normally, the system administrator will set up the
group schedule. These group schedules are also
password protected, for security reasons -- notably, so
only the system administrator can change the group
schedule.
Group schedules can be used for anything from broadcast
meeting reminders to sophisticated network backup
management. If Clocker is combined with a Windows
batch language, such as WinBatch from Wilson
WindowWare, the flexibility is endless.
---------
Reference
---------
Command Line
------------
The command line for Clocker is:
clocker [privatefile] [groupfile]
where privatefile is the name of a private schedule
file and groupfile is a group schedule file. One or
both of these options can be specified. If both are
specified, order is not important -- Clocker will auto-
detect the file types. Note that private and group
schedule files are not interchangeable.
Creating an Event
-----------------
To create a new event, choose Add Item from the Options
menu or click the Add button. The following is a
description of the fields within the Edit Schedule Item
dialog:
Date - this is the date when the event is scheduled to
occur. The date must be specified in MM/DD/YY format.
Time - this is the time of day when the event is
scheduled to happen. The date may be specified in 12-
or 24-hr time. For 24-hr time, specify the time in the
form HH:MM. For 12-hr, use the form HH:MMa or HH:MMp.
The following are examples of how to correctly specify
the time:
8:00, 8:00a, 1:45p, 17:12.
If the time is edited later, it will be displayed in
either 12- or 24-hr format, depending on what the
setting is in the International section of the Windows
control panel. The default is 12-hr time.
Repeat - this flag causes the event to repeat multiple
times on the day(s) it runs. To use the repeat option,
check the Repeat box, and then fill in the interval and
the end time in the boxes to the right of the Repeat
box. The event will then execute every [interval]
minutes from [start time] until [end time], where start
time is the time entered at the top of the form.
For example, if you wanted an event to execute every
hour from 9:00am to 5:00pm, you would enter 9:00a as
the start time, 60 as the interval, and 5:00p as the
end time.
One Day Only - this means that the event will only
execute on the specified date. This selection, as well
as the repeat daily/weekly and repeat monthly
selections, can be combined with the Repeat option
described above.
Repeat Daily/Weekly - When this option is selected, the
days of the week section is enabled. By selecting
certain days of the week, you specify which days the
event should execute on.
Repeat Monthly - This option executes the event each
month on the specified date. For example, if the date
is set to 3/12/92, then the event will execute on the
12th of each month. Note that no warning is given if
the date is not valid for every month - for example, if
the specified date is 3/31/92, then the event will
never execute in February since February only has 28
(or 29) days.
Command Line - If this option is selected, then the
text entry field below it will hold the command line to
be run. Include any command line options for the
program you are executing. Note that file associations
set up with the Windows File Manager are fully
supported.
Message - If this option is selected, then the text
entry field below it will contain a message to be
printed to the screen at the specified time. There
will also be a beep to accompany this message.
Other - If you select the Other option, you will be
able to choose between several special actions
available in Clocker. Note that the 'Test' function is
not available for some of these options. The following
functions are available:
Exit Windows: This option will exit Windows. Note
that this is a "friendly" exit - if any applications
have unsaved data, Windows will not terminate until
the user is prompted to save the data. The Test
function is disabled for this option.
Restart Windows: This option will cause Windows to
be restarted. Note that this is a "friendly"
restart - if any applications have unsaved data,
Windows will not be restarted until the user is
prompted to save the data. The Test function is
disabled for this option.
Reboot System: This option will cause the system to
be rebooted. Note that this is a "friendly" reboot
- if any applications have unsaved data, the system
will not be rebooted until the user is prompted to
save the data. The Test function is disabled for
this option.
Exit, Run, Restart: This option will exit Windows,
run the specified program, and then restart Windows.
This is useful for things like a disk optimizer, or
anything else which must run outside of Windows.
Note that the only programs which can be run using
this option are .COM and .EXE files - batch files
(.BAT) are not allowed. Also, the full path must be
specified to the file you wish to execute (for
example, C:\DOS\EDIT.COM) - your path will not be
searched for the file. The Test function is
disabled for this option.
Close Application: This option will close the
specified application. You need to enter the name
of the program. This is NOT the file name - it is
the name of the program, as shown on the title bar
of the window when it is running. You only need to
enter the first few characters of the name - for
example, if you enter Calc, then Calculator will
match. You should, however, be as specific as
possible - if you enter Cal, then both Calendar and
Calculator will match (in this case, the shortest
name will be selected, which is Calendar). Note
that this termination is "friendly" - if the
application has unsaved data, you will be prompted
to save your data before the application is closed.
Kill Application: This option will close the
specified application, with "extreme prejudice".
The name of the application should be specified as
in the above case. The application will NOT prompt
for unsaved data before terminating. Warning: use
this function sparingly, and as a last resort.
Resources in use by the application will not be
freed when it is terminated.
Browse - If the Command Line option is selected,
pressing this button will allow you to browse through
files to select the one you want.
Specify Working Directory - This option allows you to
specify the working directory for the program you wish
to run. In many cases this is not necessary, but some
programs require that they are run from a certain
directory. This option is only available if a command
line has been specified.
Normal - This option causes the program to run in a
normal window. This option is only available if a
command line is specified.
Iconized - This option causes the program to run as an
icon. Be sure to have a valid .PIF file with
Background Execution enabled to run DOS programs
iconized. This option is only available for command
lines.
Hidden - Select this option if you want to run a
program hidden. Be careful with this option, as you
will not be able to give user input to the program.
Also be sure to have a valid .PIF file with Background
Execution enabled to run DOS programs hidden. This
option is also only available for command lines.
Test - This button will execute the event you have
entered immediately. This is useful to verify that it
was entered correctly. Note that testing is not
available for some events selected with the "Other"
option.
Editing an Event
----------------
To edit an event, select Edit Item from the Options
menu, click the Edit button, or simply double-click on
the item you wish to edit. The fields for editing are
the same as those used for adding a new item.
Deleting an Event
-----------------
To delete an event, select it and choose Delete Item
from the Options menu, or click the Delete button. If
you are deleting a private schedule item, you can just
press the delete key.
Group Scheduling
----------------
Group scheduling works in the following way. Clocker
will read a group file, and store the events just like
a private schedule. The difference is that the group
file will be refreshed at regular intervals (default is
15 minutes). If the system administrator wants each
machine to run a backup at a given time, he/she should
create a group file with this event in it, and
configure all of the machines to read this file. After
they are configured, the group file can be modified and
the machines will automatically refresh themselves to
read the new data.
Creating and Editing Group Files
--------------------------------
This section is intended for network administrators, or
anyone who needs to make a central schedule for many
computers. Group files are password protected, as
unwanted changes to them could have significant effects
on the network.
To create a new group file, simply close any existing
group files and select Add Group Item from the Options
menu. Clocker will prompt for a password for this new
group file. This password will be stored with the file
when it is saved, and the password will be necessary to
edit the file at a later date. When the password has
been entered, the status line will display "SUPERVISOR"
to indicate Supervisor mode.
You must be in supervisor mode to edit a group file,
and you must know the password to get into supervisor
mode. To exit supervisor mode, you must save or close
the group file. Also, be aware that the group file
will not be refreshed from disk on the machine you are
working on while you are in supervisor mode.
After a password is entered, the standard add schedule
item dialog will be displayed. All of the fields are
identical to that of the private files. The entire
group schedule can be entered at this point.
After creating the schedule, save the group file in a
directory to which all Clocker users have read
permission.
To edit a group file, load the group file and select
Edit Group Item from the Options menu (or double-click
on the item you wish to edit). You will be prompted
for the password, and if you enter it correctly, you
will enter supervisor mode and can edit the schedule.
Remember, you will be in supervisor mode until the
group file is saved or closed.
Using a Group File
------------------
This section assumes that a group file has already been
created, and is on a readable drive.
To open a group file, choose Open Group from the File
menu, and select the group file you wish to use. When
this file is opened, Clocker will split its display
into two lists - the top will be the standard private
schedule, and the bottom will be the group schedule, as
shown below:
The status line will also indicate "GROUP" to indicate
Group mode. When group mode is enabled, all of the
group events are active and will execute at their event
time.
To close a group file, choose Close Group from the File
menu. This will erase all of the group events from
memory. To use the group schedule after this, you must
re-open the file.
If you do not wish to see the group events, but you
still want them to be active, toggle the Display Group
option in the Settings menu or click the Display Group
Schedule button at the top of the window. If the
option is off, the group schedule will not be
displayed, but it will still be active - "GROUP" will
still be on the status line.
Settings Menu
-------------
Icon Font - Selecting this option will allow you to
change the font used to display the time in the icon.
Note that it is possible to select a font too large to
fit in the given space. The font will be saved for
future sessions.
Hide Icon - If this option is checked, then Clocker
will be hidden when iconized. This option is
convenient if you already have a clock on your desktop,
but you want to use Clocker's scheduling features.
To make Clocker visible again, simply run Clocker
again. Two ways to do this are to double-click on
Clocker's icon in Program Manager (if there is one), or
to double-click on Clocker from the File Manager.
Doing this will activate the copy of Clocker which is
currently running.
Note: due to this feature, it is not possible to have
multiple instances of Clocker running.
Delete After Execute - this option is under the
Settings menu. If you select this item, any event
which is One Day Only and does not repeat will be
deleted after it executes. Note that this will modify
the data file, and when you exit Clocker you will be
prompted to save the file. This is normal - the file
really did change.
Note that this option is only available for private
schedules - it is not valid for group schedules.
Print Log - this option causes Clocker to print a log
file, which will be called CLOCKER.LOG and will be
placed in your Windows directory. The log will contain
an entry for every program which is executed, and will
have the date, time, and command line for the program.
If the program launch is unsuccessful, an error code
will be displayed. A program being closed or killed
will also create a log message.
No log entry is printed for messages displayed by
Clocker.
Display Date - this option is under the Settings menu.
Selecting it will make Clocker display the current date
as part of the icon title when iconized. This setting
will be saved for future sessions.
Display Group - if group mode is enabled, this option
toggles the display of the group schedule. Note that
if group mode is enabled, then the group schedule is
active regardless of the Display Group setting. You
can also click the Display Group Schedule button to
toggle this option.
Load Files on Startup - If this option is selected,
Clocker will start up with whatever files were open in
the last Clocker session. Both private and group
files, if they were previously open, will automatically
open when Clocker is started. Note that this option is
on by default.
Miscellaneous Options
---------------------
Icon Always On Top - this option is available from the
system menu of Clocker. Selecting this option will
cause Clocker to remain on top of all other windows.
This setting will be saved for future sessions.
12 and 24 hr Time Display - the time format is
retrieved from the Windows system settings. To change
this setting, look in the Windows control panel under
International.
3D Controls - To use 3D controls, Clocker requires
version 2.01 or later of ctl3d.dll. Clocker's
distribution includes version 2.01, and should work
correctly. However, other applications may install an
older version. If you get a warning message from
Clocker about an old version, copy the ctl3d.dll from
Clocker's distribution disk to your WINDOWS\SYSTEM
directory. Also ensure that no other copies of
ctl3d.dll are present on your disk you can use File
Manager to find all instances of the file).
Note that you may have to close other applications in
order to be able to copy ctl3d.dll to your
WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory if these other applications
are using the ctl3d.dll that is currently there.
To Disable 3d Controls:
-----------------------
To disable the 3D controls, create a [Settings] section
in the CLOCKER.INI file (which should be in your
Windows directory), if there is not one already. Add
the following line, under this section header:
Controls3D=NO
Note that ctl3d.dll is still required for running
Clocker, even if the 3d controls are disabled.
However, any version of ctl3d.dll will work in this
case.
Advanced Options
----------------
The following settings should not be necessary for
normal use of Clocker -- the defaults are adequate for
most purposes. Nevertheless, this information is being
made available for system administrators and advanced
users who want more flexible control over their Clocker
system.
Time Update Interval
This option changes the frequency with which Clocker
updates its internal time. The default is 5 seconds,
which should be adequate for most uses. However, with
this default, events executed and the time displayed by
Clocker could be up to 5 seconds late. To change this
value, create a [Settings] section in the CLOCKER.INI
file (which should be in your Windows directory), if
there is not one already. Add the following line, under
this section header:
TimeUpdateInterval=5
Instead of 5, enter the interval you want in seconds.
Note that the interval must be between 1 and 59
seconds. Smaller numbers will slightly increase
overhead, but this effect will probably not be
noticeable in most cases.
Group Refresh Rate
This option changes the frequency with which Clocker
refreshes the group file. The default is every 15
minutes, which should be adequate for most uses. To
change this value, create a [Settings] section in the
CLOCKER.INI file (which should be in your Windows
directory), if there is not one already. Add the
following line, under this section header:
GroupRefreshRate=15
Instead of 15, enter the refresh rate (in minutes) that
you want. The actual refresh times will be when
(minutes MOD interval) is zero -- for example, if the
GroupRefreshRate is 15 minutes, then refreshes will
take place at 0, 15, 30, and 45 minutes past the hour.
Note that smaller intervals can increase overhead, both
within Clocker and on the network (since all of the
machines will probably be accessing the file server
simultaneously).
Registration and Support Information
------------------------------------
Single copy Clocker registration is $24.95, payable in
US dollars. If used on a network, Clocker requires one
license for each machine it is running on. Site
license rates are as follows:
5 users $ 109.95
10 users $ 199.95
20 users $ 349.95
50 users $ 699.95
100 users $ 999.95
For over 100 users, please contact Winnovation for
pricing information.
To register additional copies, print out ORDERFRM.TXT
or the order form in the on-line help and mail the
completed form along with payment to:
Winnovation
Dept. C23
PO Box 271071
Ft. Collins, CO 80527-1071
USA
For faster processing, credit card orders can be FAXed
to the number listed below, or e-mailed to the e-mail
address below.
After your registration is processed, you will receive
a serial number/registration code combination, a
manual, and a disk for each copy you ordered. Site
licenses will receive only one code, manual, and disk,
with additional manual copies available for a nominal
charge. Registered users will be entitled to unlimited
support and free upgrades as they become available.
Support will be via telephone, E-mail and US mail.
Winnovation can be reached at:
Telephone: (303) 226-8682
FAX: (303) 226-8682
E-mail: CompuServe: 71774,605
Internet: 71774.605@compuserve.com