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Night Owl's Shareware - PDSI-006 - Night Owl Corp (1990).iso
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1990-07-09
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DV Task Manager
DV Task Manager is intended to provide DESQview users running
real-time systems a powerful and consistent method of automating
DESQview window operations during unattended operations. Because DV
Task Manager requires the services of DVTXDI.COM, the following note
is of supreme importance:
*************** Important! Important! Important! *****************
You must be running DESQview version 2.26 or higher for this program to be
of value! (Meaning, in 2.25, it won't do anything).
**************************************************************************
Summary of Features:
* DV Task Manager runs comfortably in a non-swappable 30K DESQview
window and utilizes DESQview API functions to monitor the system
timer and schedule pending events.
* Any program for which the user has created a DESQview PIF (by
adding to the DESQview Open Window menu or otherwise), may be
run as an event.
* Events may be scheduled by time of day or by timed interval. Any
event may be 'masked off' for particular days of the week.
* Since the host DV version must be 2.26 or greater, events may be
run in the background and/or hidden.
* In addition to PIF style program initiation, an event may also
request windows be closed in a variety of ways.
DV Task Manager was written using Turbo Professional (Borland Intl).
DESQview interface functions are courtesy of Ralf Brown and his DVGLUE API
library. Credit also goes to Robert Jourdain for his C Express Programmer's
Library (1989, Simon & Schuster).
DESQview is a trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems.
DVTMAN.COM and all supporting materials are (c)1990 Michael D. Weaver.
All rights are reserved.
Disclaimer
This program is distributed AS IS - the author cannot accept for
responsibility for the use or abuse of the program resulting in the loss of
data or other imaginable damages. Though the author is dedicated to
DV Task Manager's correct operation and the support and implementation of
enhancements requested by registered users, he's not rich and cannot
therefore accept legal responsibility for the care and feeding of users' hard
drives and/or other equipment.
The user of this program, in that he is expected to be the operator
of an electronic bulletin board or other on-line, serious-use system, is
expected to be aware of the potential problems running an unattended system
entails. Above all, automation implemented through the use of this program
should be fully tested and monitored by the operator of the system prior
to allowing its operation in an unattended environment.
About Shareware
DV Task Manager is distributed as shareware. What this means is that
people who who find the program useful are encouraged to 'register' with the
author for a nominal fee, in this case, $25. Registration lets you feel good
and gets you a fresh copy of the latest release of without the timed delay at
program startup, and with an event maximum of 20 rather than three. The
$25 cost is for a single user license - businesses should inquire for
information on site licenses. All in all, if you use DESQview a lot, and you
like DV Task Manager a lot, you should register if only to encourage the
development of more DV-specific software in the future.
Registrations and all comments/inquiries should be addressed to:
Michael D. Weaver
Box 4323
Danville, VA 24540
Electronic contact addresses:
MCI Mail (MWEAVER)
FidoNET (Mike Weaver - 1:264/610)
Installation
1) Make sure that the target system is running DESQview version 2.26 or
higher. This is extremely important as DV Task Manager will otherwise
be useless.
2) Install DVTXDI.COM as a TSR prior to starting DESQview. This is best
accomplished in AUTOEXEC.BAT and may use a high-loading program such
as Quarterdeck's LOADHI.COM. For additional information on DVTXDI.COM,
please refer to the file DVTXDI.DOC included in this archive.
3) Place the files DVTMAN.COM and TM-PIF.DVP in an appropriate directory
on the system's hard drive. A good choice might be C:\DV\DVTMAN.
4) Use DESQview's Add a Program feature to install DV Task Manager
so that appears on DESQview's Open menu. Refer to DESQview documentation
on Add a Program if necessary.
5) If your DESQview system does not reside in one of the following
directories, you will need to further customize the PIF using Change
a Program:
C:\DV
D:\DV
E:\DV
6) DV Task Manager should now be available from the DV Open Menu.
IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT DV Task Manager ALWAYS BE STARTED AS THE
FIRST WINDOW IN ANY DV SYSTEM (if possible).
Command Line Options
DV Task Manager recognizes the following options on its command line:
DVP=d:\fspec\dirname - DESQview directory, or more specifically,
the directory where DV Task Manager may
find the PIFs it will need to initiate
events. Advanced users may wish to isolate
these PIFs in a special directory.
QUIET - Requests silent operation. Normally, DV
Task Manager will use beep sequences to
announce the initiation (or failed
initiation) of an event.
Program Operation
DV Task Manager's user interface consists of a single DESQview windows that
the developer hopes will be easy to use and understand. Each 'event'
occupies a row, and the current event is displayed with fields unprotected
for input.
Entering an event:
The simplest way to enter an event for the first time is to
key the appropriate 'DVP keys' or 'Open Keys' into the first unprotected
field (??) and hit enter. The remaining fields will be primed with default
values. To make the event active, tab to the start time or interval
fields and key in the desired time.
Event Status:
Event status is shown at the start of each event line. The
next event scheduled will show an '*', and other pending events will
show a small dot. Events that have not been correctly entered will
show neither.
Event status is modified in real-time as events are initiated
and changes are made by the operator.
The appearance of a dot or asterisk DOES NOT ensure the event
will run correctly. No check is made to ensure that the requested PIF
is available - this is learned only on event initiation. In cases
where the special actions field (see section below) is the major purpose
of the event, the user can enter any invalid set of open keys and the
special actions will still take place.
When an event is run, DV Task Manager 'rings' the system bell.
One beep sounds if a PIF is found and started. Two beeps sound if the
event expires but a vaild PIF is not found. These beeps may be suppressed
with the QUIET command line option.
Modifying an existing event (selecting a new current):
Only one event (the 'current event') will have its fields
ready for input at any given time. Any other event (including the ??
event which indicates an available slot) may be made the current
event by moving the cursor, using arrows or the tab key, over the
DVP keys field for the event and tapping the SPACE BAR. All fields
may then be modified.
Deleting an event:
Typing '--' into the DVP keys field of an event will delete
that event from the display and DV Task Manager's event file.
Event Fields:
* Start hh:mm - The time of day the event is to occur. If the event
is initiated by interval, these fields will show the
time of the next expiration of the interval.
* Intervl hh:mm - The time in hours:minutes between iterations of the
event. The next scheduled expiration of the interval
is shown in the start hh:mm fields.
The first expiration is (re)calculated in the following
instances:
- When DV Task Manager initializes
- When the event is entered/modified
If nothing is entered into these fields they will show
**:** and the event is assumed to be based on the time
show in the start fields.
* SMTWTFS - This is the day-of-week mask for the event. Specific
days can be masked off by an N or - (minus) character.
If the event is interval based, the next expiration
will be resheduled to 00:00 on the first day for
which the event is again valid. Default is to run
event regardless of the day of the week.
* BG - Y or N. Specifies whether the event is to run in the
background. The default for this field is Y, but please
note: THE USER IS RESPONSIBLE for seeing that the
PIF will indeed run in the background (that it has,
for instance, RUNS IN BACKGROUND set to Y as shown on
Add/Change a Program).
* HD - Y or N. Specifies whether the event is to run 'hidden'.
Default is N. Care should be taken in testing events
for correct operation if this option is to be turned on.
* Alt Program - If anything is present on this line it will be placed
in the program field of the starting PIF. This option
is provided primarily to allow a single generic window
to be used to run a variety of batch files without having
to add each individually as separate DV windows. This
option is NOT RECOMMENDED for anyone unsure of what to
use it for and how it will work.
* Special... - Refer to the following page.
Special Actions field:
The Special Actions field provides a way of instructing DV Task Manager to
do things other than start events. These actions occur PRIOR TO an attempt
to start the PIF associated with the event, and may in fact purposefully
be associated with a PIF that does not exist (such as ** Open Keys). With
this release, the following special actions are available:
-+?? - where ?? indicates a specific set of open keys.
Action: ALL windows running in DESQview that were started by
?? open keys are closed prior to running the event.
-!?? - where ?? indicates a specific set of open keys.
Action: ALL windows running in DESQview EXCEPT those started by
?? open keys are closed prior to running the event.
The DV Task Manager window will not be affected.
-ALL - where ?? indicates a specific set of open keys.
Action: ALL windows running in DESQview are closed prior to
running the event.
The DV Task Manager window will not be affected.
NOTE!!! : Due to potential problems closing windows that are swapped to disk,
system lockups are possible if any of these commands are used to
close a window that is swapped to disk and cannot be remapped into
memory because a non-swappable window (such as DV Task Manager)
is in the way. For this reason, DV Task Manager should always be
started as the first window in the system.
THESE FEATURES ARE HERE LABELED "Use at your own risk!" THEY ARE INCLUDED
FOR THEIR POTENTIAL VALUE, AND SHOULD BE USED ONLY AFTER CAREFUL TESTING
BY THE SYSTEM OPERATOR.