═══ 1. Extended Help ═══ Chron is an application that will dispatch a task at a given time and date. A task can be either a program to be executed or a message to be displayed. These tasks can be scheduled to run one time only, or on a daily, weekday, weekly, monthly or annual basis. The first time the program is started, you will be prompted for the fully qualified filespec that will be used to store the tasks when the program is exitted and restarted. There is no restriction on the filename as long as it is a valid FAT file name. It is assumed that this file does not exist. If there is a file that exists with that name, you will be asked to confirm the file name. The author's choice of a file name is CHRON.DAT. If you do not specify a fully qualified name, the program will automatically fully qualify it based on the current drive and directory. ═══ 2. Actions ═══ Once the program has been started and tasks have been added to the task list, you can manipulate those tasks. To manipulate the tasks, use the Edit menu item. To change the name of the file to which the task list is written, select the Database Name option. To exit the program, select the Exitoption. To display the version of the program, select the Aboutoption. ═══ 3. Edit Tasks ═══ An Edit Tasks selection will allow you to change an existing task. You can delete the task permanently from the task list by pressing the Delete button. You may change tasks by pressing the Change button. You may change the name of the task, text of the message, or the time at which the task is scheduled to run. In this release, you are not able to change the frequency at which the task is run. If you would like to make a copy of the task, press the Duplicate button. This will create a copy of the task, place it in the task list and put you in change mode on the task. ═══ 4. Database Name ═══ The Database Name menu item allows you to specify the name of the file into which the task list will be written. You may change the name of the file at any time. However, you must exit the program and restart it for the new database name to go into effect. You should fully qualify the name of the database file. If you do not, the program will fully qualify the name for you based on your current path setting. ═══ 5. Options ═══ The options allow for tailoring of the package to your tastes. Currently, there are two things that can be customized: the weekdays and whether the program beeps the speaker when a message is dispatched. The weekdays are customized by pressing the check boxes that correspond to your work week. This option is relevant only for those tasks that have been scheduled via the schedule weekday menu item. The initial default work week is Monday through Friday. You are required to select at least one day. You have the option of deciding whether the speaker beeps when a message is dispatched. To select speaker on, press the check box so that the X is displayed. To turn the speaker off, click the check box so that the box is empty. The initial default is off ═══ 6. Exit ═══ Selection of this option will cause the Chron program to terminate. ═══ 7. Schedule ═══ Once the program is started, you add tasks to be scheduled by selecting the "Schedule" menu item. When the dialogs have been completed, the task will be added to the task list and the database will be rewritten. ═══ 8. One Time ═══ A One Time selection will schedule the task to execute a single time. When that task has completed execution, it is removed from the task list permanently. ═══ 9. Daily ═══ A Daily selection will schedule the task to execute on a daily basis. When that task has completed execution, the next day is computed and the task is replaced in the task list, scheduled to be executed at the same time tomorrow. ═══ 10. Weekday ═══ A Weekday selection will schedule a task to execute on a weekday. A weekday defaults to Monday through Friday, but it can be changed by setting the options to choose a different work week arrangement. ═══ 11. Weekly ═══ A Weekly menu selection will schedule a task to execute on a certain day of the week. When that task has completed execution, the same time next week is computed, the task is replaced in the task list, scheduled to be executed at the same time next week. ═══ 12. Monthly ═══ A Monthly menu selection will schedule a task to execute on a certain day of the month. When that task has completed execution, the same time next month is computed, the task is replaced in the task list, and scheduled to be executed at the same time next month. The way in which next month is computed is a little complicated. There is a problem when trying to determine the day of the month. For example if you selected monthly execution to run on the 30th of the month starting September 30th, the program doesn't know if you want the next scheduled run to be on the 30th of October, or the 31st of October. In other words, the program can't determine if you want to schedule it for the 30th or for the last day of the month. This program assumes that if you scheduled a monthly task to execute within the last five days of the month that you are scheduling relative to the end of the month. In the above example, the program would assume you meant the last day of the month. ═══ 13. Yearly ═══ A Yearly menu selection will schedule a task to execute on a certain day of the year. When that task has completed execution, the same time next year is computed, the task is replaced in the task list, and scheduled to be executed at the same time next year. ═══ 14. Message Tasks ═══ Message tasks display a specified message at a specified time. To create a message task to be dispatched at a given time, select the schedule menu option and select a frequency at which you want that message displayed. Fill in the date and time on the dialog box and press the Message button. You will then be presented with a dialog that asks for the name of the task, and the message. When that date and time arrive, the message will be displayed on the Presentation Manager screen. Unless the One Time menu item was chosen, the time at which to display the message is computed and the message is added back to the task list. ═══ 15. Program Tasks ═══ Program tasks execute a specified program at a specified time. To create a program task to be dispatched at a given time, select the schedule menu option and select a frequency at which you want that program launched. Fill in the date and time on the dialog box and press the Program button. You will then be presented with a dialog that asks for the name of the task, the name of the program (with the .EXE or .COM extension), and optionally the parameters that would be typed on the command line if this program were launched from a full screen OS/2 session. You will also be asked to decide if you want to run the program as a Presentation Manager application, a windowed text application, or a full screen application. If you are unsure, select the option to Let the program decide. If you want to schedule a batch file (.CMD) to execute, you must specify the program as CMD.EXE with a parameter of /C followed by the name of the command file and the parameters associated with the batch file. When that date and time arrive, the message will be displayed on the Presentation Manager screen. Unless the One Time menu item was chosen, the time at which to display the message is computed and the message is added back to the task list. ═══ 16. Keys Help ═══ There are no special keys for this program. ═══ 17. Registration ═══ This is a Shareware program. If you like this program, and use it on a frequent basis, a registration fee is encouraged. The shareware charge is: o $15 for individuals. o $25 per copy for companies with 25 or less employees. o $40 per copy for companies with 26 or more employees. Site license agreements are available on a case by case basis. Please send any correspondence to: Gary Murphy 1022 N. Cooper Olathe, KS 66061 Prodigy: [VWSD07A] CIS: [73457,365] You are more likely to reach me on Prodigy than CIS, as I frequent that board more. Any comments, positive or negative, are welcomed. Enjoy.