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Text File | 1993-02-21 | 36KB | 649 lines

TIMEZ - A PROGRAM TO TRACK WORLD TIME 1. What is TimeZ?/Requirements/Setup 2. Main Screen 3. Entering New Time Zones 4. Showing a Time Zone 5. Editing a Time Zone 6. Listing all Time Zones 7. Printing all Time Zones 8. The Master Clock 9. Setting your Clock 10. The idxreb utility 11. Registration Information 12. Program Updates 1. What is TimeZ? TimeZ is a program for use by people who NEED to know what time it is elsewhere in the world. By entering the proper data into TimeZ, you can see the current time in any of up to 54 places at once, and an infinite number of places in total. By entering the correct data about a place, specifically about whether Daylight Savings is observed there, and if so, when, TimeZ will adjust for Daylight Savings in your time zone and those of the other places. Changes in a place's DST status is constantly checked, so updates are immediate. For people who do not necessarily require that they know the time in many places, TimeZ can still be of interest. During any military operation, like Desert Storm or Restore Hope, did you ever wonder the time in the place where the troops were? To find out, just add Iraq or Somalia to the Master Clock. Included with TimeZ is a data file with its companion index files. In these files are over 250 entries to get you started. Or you can start from scratch, whichever works best for you. I have tried to make TimeZ simple to use. It does not use any graphics - just text for a straight forward readout of the current time. No three- letter abbreviations or ANSI-character maps of the world. I hope you find TimeZ enjoyable. Requirements The requirements of TimeZ are rather simple. An IBM PC compatible with at least 128K RAM, a color monitor (CGA or better), and a disk of some sort (hard or floppy) to store the data on. The size of the data file depends on how many entries you make, but even with hundreds of entries, TimeZ would still run off of a 360K floppy. The DOS/Windows utility SmartDrv or some other disk cache utility is suggested for best performance. TimeZ uses four files. The TimeZ executable (TimeZ.EXE), the data file (TZ.DAT), a names index file (TZ.IDX), and a sounds-like index (TZSZ.IDX). Setup Before using TimeZ, you should set the DOS environment variable TZ. If you do not set TZ, DOS will assume that you are in the Pacific Standard Time time zone. Here's what you need to do to set your TZ variable: Determine your time zone name. For example, the U.S. has six main time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska-Hawaii, and Bering. Canada uses these and three others: Newfoundland, Atlantic, and Yukon, with Yukon being the same as Pacific. Next, determine if you observe Daylight Savings Time in your area. Most of the U.S. and Canada does, with Arizona, Hawaii, and parts of Indiana being notable exceptions. Next, determine how far ahead of Greenwich Mean Time your location is. Greenwich, England, and the Prime Meridian which passes through Greenwich, is the starting point for all world time. Most atlases or almanacs will help you determine this. For example, the Eastern time zone is five hours ahead of Greenwich. Lastly, make up a string of characters to represent your time zone. The string must be at least four characters long. The first three characters represent the time zone. The next characters determine the time difference in hours from Greenwich. The last three characters are used only if Daylight Savings is observed where you are. Here are examples of the TZ string: NST3.5NDT Newfoundland AST4ADT Canadian Maritimes EST5EDT Eastern Time Zone EST5 Parts of Indiana CST6CDT Central Time Zone MST7MDT Mountain Time Zone MST7 Arizona PST8PDT Pacific Time Zone YST8 Parts of the Yukon HDT9HST Alaska-Hawaii Time Zone HDT9 Hawaii BDT10BST The Aleutians Finally, set the TZ variable equal to your time zone string. Use the DOS Set command to do this. For example: C:\> set TZ=EST5EDT <ENTER> For best results, the following line should be set in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: set TZ=EST5EDT Consult your DOS manual for details about the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. 2. Main Screen Assuming a data file already exists and is in the same directory as the TimeZ program, when starting TimeZ, your screen will look like this: +---------------------------+ TimeZ Version 1.0 +----------------------------+ | | | | | | | 1. Add New Place Entry | | 2. Scan Place Entries | | 3. Edit Existing Place Entry | | 4. List Place Entries | | 5. Print Place Entries | | 6. Master Clock | | 7. Set Local Date/Time | | 8. Quit | | | | Enter your choice: | | | | F2=Toggle 12/24 hour time | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Current local time: 00:00:00 | | Current GMT time..: 00:00:00 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ This screen shows the version number at the top, the main menu, a prompt explaining how to toggle the use of 12-hour time keeping or 24-hour time keeping, and a display of the current local and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The time displays are real-time and kept up to date as the program awaits input. If you started TimeZ and there was no data file in the same directory, you will see a box like this overlaid on the main menu screen: +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | TimeZ Directory: | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ In this box, you should type the name of the directory that the TimeZ data is in. If the TimeZ data files do not already exist (for example, you are creating a new database), then the name of the directory the files should be created in should be typed here. If no TimeZ data exists in the directory you type in, TimeZ will assume you wish to create a new database. This confirmation box will appear: +--------------------------------------+ | Data file does not exist. Create? Y | +--------------------------------------+ Note that the default answer is (Y)es. If you do not wish to create a new data file (for example, you mistyped the directory name), then type (N)o and press ENTER. You will be returned to the "TimeZ Directory" box. 3. Entering New Time Zones TimeZ requires a database of locations and their time zones to work most effectively. Without this database, all TimeZ can do is show you is the current local and GMT time. To enter this data, simply press 1 at the main menu. A screen that looks like this will appear: +----------------------+ Enter New Time Zone Record +------------------------+ | | | | | | | Place.....: | | Short Name: | | GMT Adjust: | | Daylight Savings Apply? (Y/N).: Y Starts: Ends: | | Master Clock Screen (A-Z, 0-9): A | | | | | | | | | | | | F9=Save and Return to Main Menu F10=Save and enter another | | ESC=Abort entry, Return to Main Menu | | | | Insert DST for: F1=USA F2=UK F3=Europe F4=Australia | | | | | | | | | | | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Each field is explained in turn: Place: This field is for the full name of a place. This place may be a city or a country or a state, province, or county. It is up to you. Obviously, if the place is a large geographic area, the entire area should be encompassed by the same time zone and Daylight Savings Time (DST) rules. The Place name can be up to 40 characters long. Short Name: The field should contain the short name of the place. The short name will be used on the Master Clock to conserve space. For example, if the Place is "Los Angeles, California", the Short Name may be "L.A., CA". The Short Name may be up to 10 characters long. GMT Adjust: Input the number of hours that the Place is from GMT. For example, the East Coast of the U.S. is five hours earlier than GMT. In this field, type -5. For another example, France is one hour later than GMT. You may type either 1 or +1 here. For places with odd GMT offsets, like Newfoundland's 3.5 hours earlier, decimal fractions are OK (-3.5, +4.75, etc). If you input nothing in this field, 0 will be assumed. Be sure to type the offset when the time zone you are entering is not in DST. Daylight Savings Apply? (Y/N): A Yes or No question, is DST observed in this place? Starts: If DST does apply, then enter here when it starts. The format of this entry is either: MMMDD or MMMmDDD. In both examples, the first three characters should be the month DST starts in. Choose from: JAN, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP, OCT, NOV, or DEC. In the first example (MMMDD), the fourth and fifth characters should be a valid date within that month. For example, if DST always starts on April 1st, input APR01. In the second example, the fourth character is a modifier. It can be one of the following: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, F, or L. The fifth through seventh characters should be an abbreviation for a day of the week. Use the following: SUN, MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT, or DAY. You may use "DAY" with the F and L modifiers only. Examples: APR1SUN: DST starts on the first Sunday in April SEPLMON: DST starts on the last Monday in September MAR2TUE: DST starts on the second Tuesday in March DEC31: DST starts on December 31st. Same as DECLDAY Ends: If DST does apply, then enter here when it ends. Use the same format as for "Starts". Master Clock Screen (A-Z, 0-9): Fill in any letter A through Z or number 0 through 9. This indicates the Master Clock screen that this entry will print on. Using Master Clock screens, you can group like entries or places of interest together for monitoring. Note that though you can only have a place assigned to one screen at a time, minor variations in the Place string will allow a seemingly similar entry to be in each of two screen. For example, "New York City 1" and "New York City 2". The following keys may be pressed on this screen: F1 will insert the United States DST start/end strings into the record F2 will insert the United Kingdom DST start/end strings into the record F3 will insert the European DST start/end strings into the record F4 will insert the Australian DST start/end strings into the record F9 saves the entry and return to main menu F10 saves the entry and gives the user a blank screen to begin a new entry ESC aborts the addition of the current entry and returns to the main menu ENTER, TAB, Down Arrow moves to the next field Shift-TAB, Up Arrow moves to the previous field Delete, Backspace, Insert, Home, and End for editing If you enter a Place that already exists (the Place name exactly matches a Place already in the data file), you will be given an error message and a chance to edit the entry. 4. Showing a Time Zone To display the time zone record for a place already entered, press 2 from the main menu. You will see a screen like this: +-----------------------| Scan For Time Zone Record |------------------------+ | | | | | | | Place.....: | | F2=Sounds-like search | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Enter the place to search for in the field. Press ENTER when done. TimeZ will search for the closest match to the string you have input. TimeZ will display the entry it finds, if any, and will prompt you to press any key to return to the main menu. If you do not know the exact spelling of a place, then you may press F2 instead of ENTER to begin the search. This will perform a "sounds-like" search instead of a straight string search. The sound seach uses English phonemes to store and search the place name. If using sound search, beware of this. An example of the difference: Assume there are two entries, Starksboro and Stratton. By typing "str" and pressing ENTER, you would display Stratton, the first match alphabetically. However, press F2 instead of ENTER will display Starksboro, the first phonetic match (vowels do not count). 5. Editing a Time Zone To edit a time zone already in the data file, press 3 at the main menu. You will see a screen similar to that shown in Chapter 4. Enter the name of the place you wish to edit in the Place field and press either ENTER or F2. If there is a match, you will see a screen like this: +-----------------------+ Edit Old Time Zone Record +------------------------+ | | | | | | | Place.....: Starksboro, Vermont | | Short Name: Starksboro | | GMT Adjust: -5 | | Daylight Savings Apply? (Y/N).: Y Starts: APR1SUN Ends: OCT3SUN | | Master Clock Screen (A-Z, 0-9): D | | | | | | | | | | | | F8=Save/Edit Next F9=Save/Return | | F10=Save/Edit Another ESC=Abort/Return | | | | Insert DST for: F1=USA F2=UK F3=Europe F4=Australia | | | | | | | | | | | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ This screen works in the same way as the Enter New Time Zone Record screen. All field descriptions are the same. The function keys that can be used on this screen are: F1 will insert the United States DST start/end strings into the record F2 will insert the United Kingdom DST start/end strings into the record F3 will insert the European DST start/end strings into the record F4 will insert the Australian DST start/end strings into the record F8 to Save the current entry and then edit the next entry F9 to Save the current entry and then return to the main menu F10 to Save the current entry and then search for another entry to edit ESC to Abort the changes to the current entry and return to the main menu ENTER, TAB, Down Arrow moves to the next field Shift-TAB, Up Arrow moves to the previous field Delete, Backspace, Insert, Home, and End for editing 6. Listing all Time Zones By pressing 4 at the main menu, you will see a screen similar to this one: +--------------------------| List Place Entries +----------------------------+ | | | City GMT Offset DST Master Screen | | ---------------------------------------- ---------- --- ------------- | | Adelaide, Australia +9.5 Y E | | Afghanistan 4.5 N A | | Alaska -9 Y A | | Albania +1 Y A | | Aleutian Islands, Alaska -10 Y A | | Algeria +1 N A | | Alma-Alta, Kazakstan +6 Y A | | American Samoa -11 N A | | Andorra +1 Y A | | Angola +1 N A | | Archangel, Russia +4 Y A | | Argentina -3 N A | | Arizona -7 N A | | Armenia +4 Y A | | Aruba -4 N A | | Austria +1 Y A | | Azores -1 Y A | | Bahamas -5 Y A | | | | Press ESC to quit, any other key to continue... | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ This shows a list of all entries in the Places database, listed alphabetically by Place name. The full Place name, the GMT offset, the DST flag, and the Master Clock screen are also shown. To get more detail about a Place, use the Scan Place Entries option (Chapter 2). As you search through the data file, one screen of data at a time will display. Press any key between data screens to proceed, or ESC at any time to return to the main menu. On the final List screen, any key will return you to the main menu. 7. Printing all Time Zones Pressing 5 at the main menu will bring you to this screen: +-----------------------------+ Print Entries +------------------------------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | About to print TimeZ entries. | | | | Press F1 for Short List, F2 for Long List | | Press ESC to abort printing | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Printing your entries is fairly simple. The report will always go to LPT1. DOS's Mode command can be used to change the actual i/o port of the LPT1 printer, if need be. There are two types of listing. The first, the Short List, is accessed by hitting F1 on this screen. The short list has one line of information for each place. It will show the Place Name, Place Short Name, Place GMT Offset, and Master Clock Screen. Pressing F2 will print the Long List. This list includes all of the above, plus DST Flag, Start and End of DST, and the Sound Meta for each Place. You may press ESC here to abort the print process. After you press F1 or F2, you will be prompted one last time before the actual printing. The Short/Long list prompt will be replaced with: Press F1 for normal print, F2 to print CR/LF Press F1 for normal printing (for example, Epson-compatible dot matrix printers) or F2 if CR/LF must be sent at the end of each line (for example, LaserJet and DeskJet printers). Experiment if you are not sure which to use. You may again press ESC on this screen if you decide not to print. While the printing is happening, a short message will flash on the screen: Printing. Press ESC to abort... Pressing ESC will stop the print job. However, your printer probably has a print buffer - if this is the case, then the job will not stop printing until the printer's buffer is empty. The output of the report will be similar to this: +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | TimeZ Entries Listing - Page 1 | | | | Place Short Name GMT Scn | | ---------------------------------------- ---------- ------- --- | | DST Start End Sound Meta | | --- ------- ------- ---------- | | | | Adelaide, Australia Adelaide +9.5 E | | Y OCTLMON MAR3SUN ADLDSTRL | | | | Afghanistan Afghanistn 4.5 A | | N AFNSTN | | | | . | | . | | . | | | | 266 entries printed | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ As mentioned, the Short List will not include the line that begins with "DST". Using the default program data file, the Short List will be about six pages. The Long List will be about 16 pages. When the job is complete, you will be returned to the main menu. If TimeZ detects an error on your printer while it is printing, you will see an appropriate error message. 8. Master Clock Pressing 6 at the main menu will bring you to the Master Clock. This is where you see the fruits of your labor, as it were. The Master Clock shows you the first 57 entries in each of up to 36 screen groups (see Chapter 3 for details about Master Clock screens). The Master Clock looks like this: +-----------------------------| Master Clock +-------------------------------+ | In Standard Time 08:09:12AM Sat In Daylight Saving | | | | Afghanistn 05:39PM Sat Baku Azerb 05:09PM Sat Burma 07:39PM Sat | | Alaska 04:09AM Sat Bangladesh 07:09PM Sat Burundi 03:09PM Sat | | Albania 02:09PM Sat Barbados 09:09AM Sat Calgary 06:09AM Sat | | Aleutians 03:09AM Sat Belgium 02:09PM Sat Cameroon 02:09PM Sat | | Algeria 02:09PM Sat Belize 07:09AM Sat Canary Is 01:09PM Sat | | Alma-Alta 07:09PM Sat Benin 02:09PM Sat Cape Verde 12:09PM Sat | | Am Samoa 02:09AM Sat Bermuda 09:09AM Sat Cayman Is 08:09AM Sat | | Andorra 02:09PM Sat Bhutan 07:09PM Sat C.A.R. 02:09PM Sat | | Angola 02:09PM Sat Boa Vista 10:09AM Sat Chad 02:09PM Sat | | Archangel 05:09PM Sat Boise, ID 06:09AM Sat Chicago 07:09AM Sat | | Argentina 10:09AM Sat Bolivia 09:09AM Sat Chile 08:09AM Sat | | Arizona 06:09AM Sat Bosnia-Her 02:09PM Sat Xmas Is 03:09AM Sat | | Armenia 05:09PM Sat Boston 08:09AM Sat Cocos Is 07:39PM Sat | | Aruba 09:09AM Sat Botswana 03:09PM Sat Colombia 08:09AM Sat | | Austria 02:09PM Sat Brasilia 11:09AM Sat Comoros 04:09PM Sat | | Azores 12:09PM Sat B Virgin 09:09AM Sat Congo 02:09PM Sat | | Bahamas 08:09AM Sat BrokenHill 11:39PM Sat Cook Is 04:09AM Sat | | Bahrain 04:09PM Sat Bulgaria 03:09PM Sat Costa Rica 07:09AM Sat | | Baja 06:09AM Sat Burkina Fa 01:09PM Sat Cote d'Iv 01:09PM Sat | | | | Showing screen A. Press ESC to exit, or Screen key | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ The layout is pretty straight forward. There are three columns of 19 places each. Entries are filled in top to bottom, left to right (as you can see from the alphabetical order). Each place has the place's Short Name, current time in hours and minutes, and the current day for this place. The time will be in 12-hour or 24-hour display mode depending upon the toggle done at the main menu. Note that entries may not be in alphabetical order as they are retrieved in Place Name order, and Place Name can differ from Short Name. Press any key A-Z or 0-9 to see that Master Clock screen. The "A" screen is the default. Although you cannot see it here, all places are displayed in white, except those that are currently in DST. Those places are shown in grey. You will see the notation "*OVERFLOW*" if you have assigned more than 57 places to any one Master Clock screen. The top of the screen shows the current local time. Since seconds are the same across the board, seconds are shown only for the local time. Also at the top of the screen is a key, showing the "In Standard Time" in white, the "In Daylight Savings" in grey. When you are finished looking at the Master Clock, press the ESC key to return to the main menu. 10. The idxreb utility Should your index files ever be damaged, you can use the idxreb utility included with TimeZ to rebuild them. To do so, type: C:\> idxreb <ENTER> If the dat and idx files are not in the same directory as the idxreb program, then you will see: TimeZ Data file not in current path. Enter path for data file: Alternately, you may provide the pathname on the command line by typing (for example): C:\> idxreb \tzdata <ENTER> Enter the path of the directory the files are in (but not the filenames themselves). If the idx files exist in that directory, too, you will be given a chance to change your mind: One or more index files already exist. Do you wish to overwrite them? (Y to continue, any other to to abort): If you type Y and ENTER, or if there were no idx files in the directory, idxreb will rebuild the index files. This process should only take a few moments. 11. Registration TimeZ is shareware, and I retain all copyrights to the program. If you use and like TimeZ, I request that you donate $10 to continue to use it. If you do, and also send a diskette (5.25 or 3.5 Double or High density), I will include any new version of TimeZ, and its documentation. Please enclose an extra $1 to cover postage, and be sure to enclose your address. If you would like to register your copy of TimeZ and would like me to send you a diskette with the latest version of TimeZ on it, please send an extra $2 to cover postage and diskette costs. Please specify diskette size and density. Also see PRICE.LST for an invoice and other ordering info. The latest version of TimeZ can be downloaded from the IBMAPP forum on CompuServe or from America On-Line. CompuServe users: TimeZ may be registered via CompuServe's Shareware Registration Service (GO SWREG). Request to register program #609. Steve Mount RR 1 Box 320 Starksboro, VT 05487-9702 Contact me on CompuServe.....: 73720,3404 Contact me on America On-Line: Mountain Call for ordering/support...........: (802) 453-5273 I have fax capability at the above number for orders, but you must call me to have my fax set up before faxing (it is a card and shares the line with my answering machine). THE TIMEZ PROGRAM AND THIS MANUAL ARE COPYRIGHTED DOCUMENTS. THE OWNER OF THE COPYRIGHT GIVES OTHERS PERMISSION TO DISTRIBUTE UNALTERED COPIES OF THE PROGRAM AND DOCUMENTATION TO OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES. THIS PROGRAM IS NOT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. IF YOU USE TIMEZ, PLEASE PAY THE REGISTRATION FEE. IT WILL ENSURE CONTINUED GROWTH OF THE PROGRAM FOR ALL USERS. TIMEZ AND DOCUMENTATION COPYRIGHT ⌐ 1993 BY STEVE MOUNT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 12. Update Notes The following is a list of program changes that were a part of each new version: Version 1.01: - Fixed minor problem in Master Clock. When switching screens too quickly, portion of bottom of screen border was being erased. Version 1.1: - References to "Daylight Savings Time" changed to "Daylight Saving Time" - Short List added to Print Entries - Bug that prohibited entry of a MMMDD-type DST indicator (ex: APR01) quashed - Duplicate "Vancouver, British Columbia" removed from data file - Replaced seconds display at top of Master Clock screen with display of local time/day - Added ability to change current date/time (Set Local Date/Time) - Quashed bug that prevented F8 (Save, Edit Next) from working properly in Edit Entry after using F2 (sound search) - Numerous internal changes