SETS.TXT ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ 12th SEPTEMBER 1999 SETS Version 1 INDEX -1- DISCLAIMER -2- INSTRUCTIONS -2.1- Introduction -2.1.1- Why use sets.exe? -2.2- What sets.exe does. -2.3- Getting Started -2.4- timeadj.exe -3- TO DO LIST -4- SHAREWARE -1- DISCLAIMER ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º º º I cannot make a warranty of any kind nor can I guarantee º º that sets.exe and timeadj.exe are completely bug free. º º º º You use sets.exe and timeadj.exe at your own risk. º º º º You make the choice whether to use these program or not, so º º by using the sets.exe and timeadj.exe programs you accept º º full responsibility for their use. º º º º As I have no control over how you use sets.exe and timeadj.exe,º º and because you use them at your own risk, º º I can accept no liability for any losses that may arise from º º the use of sets.exe and/or timeadj.exe. º º º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ -1- INSTRUCTIONS ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ -2.1- Introduction My old computer has always lost about 8.3 seconds per day. I imagine that it must have something to do with one of the cards, or the tower itself, as I have used three motherboards in it. To overcome this I wrote the original timeadj.exe in 1993. I tried using timeadj.exe during startup but the delays made it inaccurate. I used a productivity program to schedule it for a while but I do not like alarm messages popping up when I am concentrating so I used the program manually for a few years. Then I wrote the original to sets.exe so that I could start timeadj.exe every ten days and after the startup had finished. Sets.exe comes in handy for a program that, if you place it in the startup folder, does not always start as minimised even though you intend it to be minimised. -2.1.1 Why use sets.exe? If you use a productivity program (utility or scheduler) you normally have to either set the start up of a program to a specific time on a specific day or a specific time weekly or daily. If your computer is up and running then the program is started but if your computer is off then the program has been skipped. With this version of sets.exe you can schedule any program to start at startup, or a predetermined number of seconds after strartup, ranging from every startup up to 3.37E+38 days (the max float value - not that anyone would be interested in waiting that long). The float value allows part days to be used e.g. 1.0417 is approximately 1 day + 1hour. You may not want a productivity program running in the background all the time. Sets.exe runs at startup only. -2.2- What sets.exe does. I have a shadow of sets.exe in the startup folder. For each program in the file named setnames.dat. Sets.exe reads in the program to start data: program path + parameters days between starting (a decimal not an integer) seconds to delay before starting parameters to pass to the start command It then compares the number of days between starting to the difference between the time (in a file called settimes.dat) that the program was last started and the time sets.exe was started: If difference is greater than the days between starting then the program is started and and the time sets.exe started is substituted into settimes.dat The program is then started using the start command through go.cmd -2.3- Getting Started The setnames.dat file included contains the following: TIMEADJ.CMD 10 30 /MIN When the program is started settimes.dat is automatically generated with the time sets.exe started used for this entry. Explanation TIMEADJ.CMD I start timeadj.exe using TIMEADJ.CMD so that the session will automatically exit. If a program is not in the current directory then use a complete path eg E:\UTILITY\TIMEADJ.CMD 10 Do the adjustment on the first startup after 10 days. Note this can be a decimal eg 10.2345 Negative values for days are converted to 0. 30 Wait 30 seconds before starting TIMEADJ.CMD. This is a lot longer than I need but I know that timeadj.exe will get a clear run. Negative values for seconds are converted to 0. Seconds are integer values (not decimal); /MIN You can put any of the start command parameters here NOTE: The timeadj program will start minimised and requires you to switch to it on the first start to enter data. This can be avoided by starting timeadj.exe from the os2 command prompt for its first use. If you want to add another program just add the details TIMEADJ.CMD 10 30 /MIN E:\UTILITY\SOMEPROG.EXE 7 10 /WIN /MAX On the next starting of sets.exe the time sets.exe started will be placed in settimes.dat for this program. While you add programs to the end a time will be automatically entered for the program on the next start up. If a program is deleted then the settimes will need to be adjusted manually. If a program is deleted from the end the extra time will be ignored until you add a new program. The time will be used for the new program. If you remove a program from the middle and not the time then the wrong times will be used. -2.4- timeadj.exe On the first start of timeadj.exe it will prompt you for the adjustment. If your clock is loosing time then use a positive value and if it is gaining time use a negative value. It will not accept an adjustment value between -0.0001 and +0.0001 (i.e. less than 1 second adjustment every 27.4 years). The data is stored in a file called time.dat in the current directory. If you want to reset the delay then start timeadj.exe with any command line parameter. -3- TO DO LIST ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ Make a PM interface to add and delete the programs and the times in the dat files. Add an "after a spcific date and time" alternative. -4- SHAREWARE ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ If you choose to try sets.exe and timeadj.exe and intend to continue using one, or both, then the shareware price is $15 Australian to the copyright owner: R.McGuiness 51 Lord Street Sandy Bay Tasmania Australia 7005 Please send your name and address along with your payment so that you can be placed on a registered users list. If you register for one version of these programs then you are automatically registered for any future versions i.e. you can download future versions and and use them without registering again. Please supply an email address as registered users will be sent a PM interface to add and delete the programs and the times in the dat files when I have finished programming it. (I estimate that it will be January 2000 before I have time to finish it.) If you want a receipt then you need to send a self addressed envelope with return postage. This program is not disabled in any way. If you find any bugs or constructive comments then the following email address should be valid until the end of 2000. ramcg1@mugca.cc.monash.edu.au