File-Ex Help Contents
Delayer (tm) for Windows          Help Contents

Using the Delayer program

  Installation

  Overview and Functions

  Removing Delayer

  Technical Support

Shareware Information

  Making Copies for Friends -- (Please Do!)

  Distribution by Vendors, BBS's, etc.

  Purchasing Delayer

  How to Contact Cottonwood Software


Installation

Simply copy all files to a directory of your choice, if not already done.

(The only files required are DELAYER.EXE and DELAYER.HLP.)

To use Delayer, create an icon in the desired group or folder, and add the appropriate command line parameters.  See Overview and Functions for details.


Making a Copy of Delayer

Shareware works best when you 'share' it with other people!  If you like this program, we would appreciate it if you spread it around.  Give copies to friends and co-workers, or even upload it to your favorite BBS.

Simply make a copy of all files that were in the distribution ZIP, directory, or disk (depending on how you received it).


Distribution by Vendors, BBS's, etc.

Commercial vendors please refer to the vendinfo.diz file for complete details.  If this file is not present, please contact Cottonwood Software for a replacement copy.


Purchasing Delayer

Delayer is "Freeware", so no purchase is necessary.

If you find this program useful, please visit our web site and try some of our other programs!

Point your Web browser to http://www.cottonwoodsw.com


Technical Support and Contact Info
Technical Support and Company Contact Information

We will gladly answer any questions and help you with Delayer problems within reasonable limits (considering that this is a free program).

Any suggestions, comments, support questions and bug reports are welcome and encouraged!

For support, contact Cottonwood Software by phone, fax, mail, or E-mail.  (E-mail is preferred, and will get a fast response.)

 Mail:	Cottonwood Software

P.O. Box 6546

Leawood, KS 66206-0546

 Phone:	(913) 663-3022

 FAX:	(913) 663-3747

 CompuServe:	75264,1630

 America Online:  CottonwdSW

 Internet:	info@cottonwoodsw.com

 WW Web:	http://www.cottonwoodsw.com

The Cottonwood Software Home Page on the World Wide Web

Visit our home page for information about all of our programs.  You can download the latest versions from there, view online documentation for all of our software, send us E-mail, and even order our software on-line with a major credit card.  It also has links to other worthwhile shareware pages, like the ASP and STAR home pages.

Point your browser to:   http://www.cottonwoodsw.com


Troubleshooting

Delayer checks for obvious problems in the command line and during execution, but we probably didn't think of everything.

Most problems will probably be due to command line syntax errors, so please read the Overview section closely.  Problems with crashes or non-operation will most likely be a result of Windows memory or resource problems.

If you encounter any other problems, please contact us for support.


Removing Delayer

To remove Delayer, simply delete all of the files in the Delayer directory where you installed it, and delete any Program Manager icons (or Windows 95 menu & folder shortcut links)  that refer to it.


Delayer Overview

How it Works

How to Use Delayer

Delayer program (command line) functions

Menu functions (and how to stop Delayer)

Stopping Delayer


How to Use Delayer

To use Delayer, you must create an icon in a Program Manager group (Windows 3.1x) or a shortcut in a Start Menu/Desktop folder (Windows 95, NT 4.0).  It is completely driven by command line arguments supplied in the Properties dialog when adding the icon.

Windows 3.1 or Windows NT 3.x:

Use File/New in Program Manager to add a Program Item to a group.  Use Browse (if necessary) to put the Delayer program in the Command Line box, and then edit the Command Line to add the path to the program to be executed by Delayer, and the delay time.

Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.x:

In the desired folder (or on the desktop), right-click and select New/Shortcut. Use Browse (if necessary) to put the Delayer program in the Command Line box, and then edit the Command Line to add the path to the program to be executed by Delayer, and the delay time.

Please refer to your Windows documentation for more information on adding icons to groups or folders.

See Delayer program (command line) functions for more information.


How Delayer Works

Delayer simply reads the command line arguments given to it for the program to be executed and delay time, sits in the background until the time is up, and then executes the program.  It then closes itself (unless the Repeat option is specified).

There are two options:

Repeat - will repeat the delay and execute the program again, until stopped.

Hide icon - will hide the Delayer icon, so you don't even know it's running.  (This also means you can't access Delayer)

WARNING!  If both Repeat and Hide options are specified, then the only way to stop execution is to reboot Windows!

Note: Any number of Delayer tasks can be running at the same time (for different programs, for instance.)


Delayer Program Functions
Delayer Program (Command Line) Functions

Delayer is controlled by command line arguments, which are placed in the "Command Line" box of the program icon's properties box.  (In Windows 95 / NT 4.0 properties boxes, this is the "Target" box of the Shortcut link.)  Typically this edit box will include the Delayer program path, followed by the path to the program to be executed (in quotes), and the number of seconds to delay.  Note that the program to be executed can also include its own arguments.

Example:

C:\DELAYER\DELAYER.EXE "C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE README.TXT" /D20

This will open Notepad (which will open the Readme.txt file) after 20 seconds.

The command line arguments are detailed below.  Note that they can be in any order.

Program Path

This item is required, and must be enclosed in double-quotes. (")

The complete path to the program is usually specified (though not necessary for programs in the same directory as Delayer, or in the Windows directory).

Any arguments to the program you wish to execute may also be included, and must be inside the quotes.  (If that program requires arguments within quotes, this will not work.)

Delay Time

This item is required.

This argument must starts with /D (or /d), and is specified in seconds.  The value can range anywhere from 0 (for practically no delay) to 2073600 (24 days!). Do not include commas or punctuation in the number.  Only whole numbers are allowed (no decimals or fractions).

Hide Icon

If you wish to hide the Delay icon, add /H (or /h) to the command line.  There will be no evidence that the program is running (until the delay is done of course).

Note that there is no way to stop Delayer if you hide the icon, except by closing Windows!

Repeat

If you wish to repeat the program every so often, instead of just run it once, then add /R (or /r) to the command line.  After the initial delay is finished and the program executed, the delay will start again.


Delayer Menu Functions

After Delayer is started, a few functions can be accessed from its system menu.  (Unless the icon is hidden, in which case there's no access to them.)

In Windows 3.x or NT 3.x, click on the Delayer icon to get the system menu.

In Windows 95 or NT 4.x, right-click on the Delayer taskbar icon to get the system menu.

Note: if you double-click on the icon in Windows 3.1, or left-click in Windows 95, then you will get the About dialog automatically.

Menu functions:

About

This simply opens a dialog with program information, the status of the program being delayed (with an option to abort execution), and command line syntax information.

Pressing the Abort Execution button will immediately close Delayer and prevent execution of the delayed program.

Note that the displayed status for time remaining is only accurate to 10 second intervals.

Help

This will open the Delayer help file (obviously).

Close

This is actually one of the standard system menu options, but it also serves to abort execution (since it closes the Delayer program).


Stopping Delayer

Stopping Delayer

If the icon is not hidden (/H option not used), then you can stop the count-down and close Delayer by either selecting Close from the icon's system menu, or by pressing the  Abort Execution button in the About dialog (see Menu Functions).

If the icon is hidden, then there is no way to stop it under Windows 3.x.  Under Windows 95 or NT 4.0, you can still stop it by opening the Task list (Ctrl-Alt-Del), selecting the Delayer task, and pressing the End Task button.