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readme.txt
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1996-10-31
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********************************************************
* ***
* This is readme.txt for PM Timer version: 1.11 ***
* ***
*********************************************************
********************************************************
What is it?
===========
PM Timer/2 is an online phone costs calculation program for OS/2 Presentation
Manager. It gets rid of the hassle of having to use a different logfile for
every communications program you use, not to mention the programs that don't
even keep a logfile (think about Dial Other Internet Providers in the OS/2 Warp
bonuspak).
PM Timer - when used in the right manner - logs all your outgoing calls in one
single logfile and calculates the phone costs made in a specified period of
time on your demand.
PM Timer will monitor the serial port to which your modem is connected and
detect any connections you make with your modem.
Furthermore, if desired you can run PM Timer unattended from batchfiles using
commandline parameters.
And, with PM Timer running you'll always keep track of your online (surfing)
time, even if the PM Timer window is invisble. PM Timer places a small clock
that displays the online time in the currently active Presentation Manager
window's titlebar.
Installation
============
I recommend you to install PM Timer in its own directory. Installation is
simply a matter of copying all the files from the PM Timer archive to an
empty directory. In case you want to be able to start the program from other
directories you have to make sure that the file IOPL.DLL is located in a
directory in your LIBPATH statement in config.sys. Also make sure you have
IOPL=YES in your config.sys.
NOTE: If you install PM Timer into the same directory as a previous version,
make sure you delete the pmtimer.ini if it exists.
The main idea is to start PM Timer together with your communications program
from a batchfile (.CMD). That is the way I use it myself.
You can also put PM Timer in your startup folder and let it startup minimized
with the /h commandline parameter.
personally I prefer the first method, because that way you can setup different
startup parameters (i.e. local/non local call hide/not hide) for the different
communication programs you use.
If you use the first method, simply create a batchfile in your communication
program's directory that looks like this:
@ECHO OFF
START X:\PATH\PMTIMER [/L /H]
COMPROG.EXE
X:\PATH\PMTIMER /Q
Where: * X:\PATH\ is the drive and directory where you keep PM Timer files.
* COMPROG.EXE is the executable file which starts your communication
program.
* /L commandline parameter (optional)
If specified, PM Timer will startup in Local mode. Meaning that the
costs for Local calls you specified in the settings notebook will be
used for calculations.
You can also change this 'on the fly' while PM Timer is running (and
not counting) by checking/unchecking the Local call checkbutton in
the main window.
* /H commandline parameter (optional)
If specified, PM Timer will startup invisble. You can make it visible
by doubleclicking its entry in the window list.
* /Q commandline parameter (optional)
Well, it's kind of optional. In the example above it is required.
If PM Timer is started with this option specified it will try and
find an already running copy of itself in memory and correctly
terminate it. (Same effect as choosing Close from the system menu
or hitting ALT-F4.)
* Parameters are case-insensitive and can be stacked on the commandline.
(e.g. You may use /lh intead of /L /H);
Next I will discuss some of the PM Timer menu options you'll find in the main
window's system menu.
Settings...
===========
This will bring up the settings notebook which is pretty much self explanatory
and has 'fly-over-help' all over the place.
Just make sure that - on the hardware settings page - you select the comport
where your modem can be found and specify an accurate value in the seconds-
to-carrier field. (That's the number of seconds between the time you actually
connect and the time that the program detects a carrier.)
Also on the general page you have to indicate if you're going to be using a
Dutch or "Other" telephone costs calculation scheme. This may seem somewhat odd
because the "Other" scheme could be used in stead of the Dutch scheme.
The reason for the special Dutch scheme being in there is that the initial
release of PM Timer (v.0.90) was Dutch-only and I didn't feel like taking the
existing code out.
Having this said, I guess it will be clear that you only have to fill out the
costs-settings page(s) of the scheme you selected on the first page.
The already filled in defaults (Including the "Other" pages) are settings for
the Dutch telecom costs system. So if you live in Holland, it won't make a
difference if you select Dutch or Other on the general settings page.
If your not from Holland, these default settings and the fly-over help should
get you started adjusting the values for your area.
Calculate...
============
The calculation dialog is also very much self self explanatory. Fill in a
start and end date for the period over which you want to calculate your phone
costs. The Costs field will be update on the fly as you adjust the spinbuttons.
The defaults for both from and to date fields are the current date, just press
Calc and your phone costs for today will be calculated.
Calculation is done by reading values directly from the ASCII logfile created
by PM Timer. So I would not advice you to manually edit that file, unless you
really know what you're doing. Results could be unpredictable if the program
finds stuff in the logfile that doesn't belong there.
NOTE: The currency symbol in the costs field and the date fields are country
dependant. So if you don't see the costs displayed in your own currency
it's because you're COUNTRY= line in config.sys doesn't reflect the
country you live in.
Log window
==========
This is just there for your convenience. It displays the logfile in a separate
scrollable window.
Product information
===================
Displays a dialog with some program info and how to contact me. Please feel
free to click a round a bit in this dialog. :)
Note about the timer-display
============================
Sometimes it may seem as if the timer skips a second. This is normal behaviour.
PM Timer internaly uses the hardware IRQ0 timer interrupt to keep track of your
online time. This way the timer always runs independent of system load.
However the timer-display *update* does run on a simple OS/2 internal timer and
thus is dependent on system load.
The reason that PM Timer does not simply take timestamps from the system clock,
is that I (and mayby you and a lot of other people) use programs that synchro-
nize your PC's systemtime with an Internet timeserver while online.
With the current implementation of PM Timer, this doesn't effect timings at all.
Please send any bug reports and/or suggestions
to enhance the program to the author:
Jeffrey Habets
snailmail: Generaal Eisenhowerstraat 41
6224 XH Maastricht / Netherlands
e-mail: jhabets@pi.net
http: www.pi.net/~jhabets
FidoNet: 2:284/312.3
Reported bugs will be fixed as soon as possible if necessary. I can't make any
promises on implementing enhancements to the program though. I also have my
final exams to think about this year.
At the moment this program is released as freeware. Despite that, I would like
to hear from you if you intent on using PM Timer on a regular basis. (e-mail
is fine, but I also would appreciate a nice postcard of your home town. And of
course I am not exactly *forbidding* you to send me any money. ;-)
That way I can keep track on the number of people that use PM Timer and in
what countries they live. This will help me to decide on future releases for
the program.
Copyright and Warranty
======================
PM Timer/2 en all files that come with it in the archive may only be spread in
unmodified form with or without the author's permission. If you decide to spread
the program on a certain media (say disk or CD) you are only allowed to charge
minimal fees to cover expenses.
In any other case the author's written permission is needed.
PM Timer comes without any kind of warranty. The only thing I can guarantee is
that the program uses harddisk space, RAM and CPU-time.
The author assumes no responsibility for any damage or loss of data arising
from the use or inability to use this program.