CSS, which stands for Communication Services Summary, is a program to help you monitor your approximate online time and charges with services like CompuServe, Delphi, GEnie, and The Source. It was originally written in November 1980 in Applesoft BASIC for use on my Apple II Plus. Since purchasing a Macintosh in 1984, there have been two versions of CSS in Microsoft BASIC. The first was just the same old Applesoft program ported to Microsoft BASIC 1.0 and the second, a total rewrite to add the Mac-like features offered in Microsoft BASIC 2.0. However, I always felt that having to load an 80+K interpreter was a real pain so I learned the C programming language and using Consulair Mac C, developed my first stand-alone Macintosh application, CSS.
CSS version 1.1 is free to distribute as long as the documentation is included with any copies of the program given out, uploaded to, or downloaded from any electronic services or bulletin boards. User modified versions of CSS or the documentation may not be distributed.
What's new?
--------------
There are two major differences in version 1.1 from 1.0. There are now four services in the Service menu and a configure option has been added so that you no longer need to use a resource editor to configure the program for rate changes or different services. See the Configure section for more information. The fonts used have also changed; you no longer need to have Monaco 12 point installed in your System file. The very random bomb on startup has been fixed.
IMPORTANT: the data file from version 1.0 is not compatible with CSS version 1.1. In fact, a different data file name is used. If you have previously used 1.0, start up CSS 1.0 from its icon and write down the various duration totals (in hours) for each of the services. Multiply each by 60 to get the total number of minutes for each rate period/Baud for each service. Quit from CSS 1.0 and start CSS 1.1, select the services from the menu (to get familiar with the changes) and enter the total durations as required. You now have updated data for version 1.1. Sorry for any confusion this may cause.
How to use CSS
--------------
A Summary Screen appears when the program is started. Totals reflect the last and current month based on the "Last on:" date. A service will show values for a last month of December and a current month of February if no updates were made for January. If the data file does not exist, the totals will be zero. The fonts used by CSS 1.1 are the standard System fonts: Chicago 12 point, Geneva 12 point, and Monaco 9 point. Be certain the System file you use with CSS has these fonts installed.
Menus:
About CSS...
--------------
Author credits, electronic mail IDs, copyright notices, and some brief help information. Standard desk accessories are usable from within CSS but must be closed before you can continue with CSS.
Quit
--------------
Returns you to the Finder. Saves are done automatically.
Edit
--------------
This menu is for use with desk accessories only. It is dim while CSS is active. When a desk accessory is active, CSS menus are dim and the Edit menu is enabled.
Service
--------------
Selecting a service name displays the update dialog and a window of detailed information for that service. Any enabled menu item can be selected including Quit or switching to another service while this display is showing. Use the Tab key to move from one edit field to the next. The current date from the system clock is already entered for you but you can change it. CSS expects the short date format to be American (MM-DD-YYYY) and not foreign (DD-MM-YYYY). The 'Save' button will be enabled once you start typing or change the Baud. When 'Save' is clicked on, the data entered is checked for proper format and value, and if correct, the service data and the service information window are updated. If an error is found, an ALERT box will appear stating the error and the edit field with the incorrect data will be selected. 'Clear' removes any entered data and resets the dialog box. 'Done' redisplays the Summary Screen with any saved updates, ignoring any updates not saved. If no data exists for a service, the "Last On:" information will reflect this and the Baud defaults to 1200. Once you have entered data, the Baud will always default to the last saved rate for that service.
If you make an error in an entry and wish to remove the duration from the totals, enter the same date, time, and duration, but enter the duration as negative (i.e., -60). This will subtract the incorrect entry and reset the totals to what they were before you made the error.
Do not attempt to make changes to the last month information. All entered data is assumed to be for the current month. Entering a date for last month will cause the current month's data to roll to last month, replacing the previous last month's data.
Configure
---------------
Service information (name, rates, and start time of day/evening periods) is maintained in the CSS application and can be easily changed by using the 'Modify a Service' option in the Configure menu. When you select this option a Configure CSS dialog box will be displayed. For version 1.1 you can only modify existing service information. You can dismiss the dialog box with the 'Done' button which ignores any changes not saved. You can view and change the information for a service by selecting that service from the Service menu. In fact, until you select a service, your keystrokes are not accepted and the dialog box will blink at you. Once you have selected a service, use the Tab key to move from edit field to edit field. You can change any of the displayed information including the service name. Use normal Macintosh editing techniques. Once you start typing, the 'Save' button is enabled and when it is pressed, some error checking is done on the entries. If an error is found, an ALERT box will appear and the field with the error will be selected. You can use 'Clear' to reset the dialog box to empty. Just as with the update dialog box, you can select each of the services without dismissing the configure dialog box. This makes it easy to browse through the settings.
The program is initially configured with the following rate structures:
Service Baud Day Evening
----------------------------------------
CompuServe 300 $12.75 $ 6.25
Day Start 0800 1200 $15.25 $12.75
Eve Start 1800 2400 $15.25 $12.75
Delphi 300 $17.40 $ 7.20
Day Start 0700 1200 $17.40 $ 7.20
Eve Start 1800 2400 $17.40 $ 7.20
GEnie 300 $35.00 $ 5.00
Day Start 0800 1200 $35.00 $ 5.00
Eve Start 1800 2400 $45.00 $15.00
Source 300 $21.60 $ 8.40
Day Start 0700 1200 $25.80 $10.80
Eve Start 1800 2400 $27.60 $12.00
To change the rates follow these simple instructions:
1. MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF CSS 1.1.
2. Open CSS 1.1 and select to 'Modify a Service'. Suppose you use Telenet to access CompuServe. Select CompuServe and you will see the current rates. For example, the edit field to the right of Day 300 Baud is shown as being 1275. This is $12.75, which is the standard hourly rate of $12.50 for day 300 Baud access plus a $.25/hr surcharge for the CompuServe Network. Since you use Telenet and not the CompuServe Network, you must change this to $22.50 ($12.50 plus $10.00 Telenet day surcharge). Using normal Macintosh editing techniques, replace the 1275 with 2250 (no dollar sign or decimal point). When you have entered all the correct rates, click the 'Save' button to save the changes or 'Clear' or 'Done' if you don't wish to save the changes. The rates the services charge are available from that service. Check the service's manual for the commands to use to see these rates.
3. Repeat this cycle for each of the services you wish to change. If you saved your changes to CSS, the new rates will be effective immediately. Note: new rates affect both the last and current month totals. When a service changes its rates and you change CSS, the last month totals will be incorrect for the first month.
4. You can also change the service name in case you don't use GEnie but do use some other service like GTE's Telemail. The Service menu entries are not automatically alphabetized so if this is important to you, you will have to do it manually. Note: the session information (total durations vs. Baud and last on date, time, and Baud) is saved in the order of the Service menu and is not identified by service name in the data file. If you have some data already entered for Source and then wish to change Source to Telemail and GEnie to Source, the original Source session data will appear for Telemail. To avoid this, I suggest you make changes to the Service names before adding sessions to the update dialog box.
5. If you are using HFS and lock the CSS 1.1 application from the Finder, the configuration will not be changeable. This provides a way to protect the configuration from inadvertent changes. You can experiment with different configurations and see the effects on the totals by clicking 'Save' after making configuration changes. These changes are not written to disk if the application is locked. You are not warned that the changes were not written so if you want to permanently save your changes be certain CSS is not locked. This works only under HFS; with MFS, changes are always written even when the application is locked.
Data File
--------------
The session data is saved in the file "CSS data" and contains the last and current month data and last on information. For CSS version 1.1, it is not a running log of sessions, but just the total durations for the last and current months for each time period and Baud. If you wish you can start CSS by double-clicking the data file from the Finder. If you are using HFS, both the application and the data file must be in the same folder. If you are using the older MFS, the data file will be created in the application's folder but can actually be in any folder as long as it is on the same volume as the application.
Language
--------------
CSS was developed using Mac C from Consulair Corp.
Known Bugs
--------------
The insertion point will stop blinking in the update dialog box edit fields when you click 'Save' or select another service from the menu.
Comments
--------------
CSS has been tested on a 128K Macintosh with the old 64K ROM, a Macintosh XL, and a 1MB Macintosh with the new 128K ROM.
The values displayed on the Summary Screen and the Update Window are limited to 999.99. You can actually exceed this number but the columns will not be lined up. But if your total monthly communications bill exceeds $1000.00 you probably will want your accountant to keep track of your expenses and don't need to use CSS!
I am planning to do a full-featured version of CSS that will allow full service and network configuring, adding and deleting services, running session logging, and report printing. Your comments and suggestions are welcome and may be incorporated into a new version. However, any updates to CSS are dependent on users letting me know that they are using CSS. If there is no feedback, I'll have to assume that no one is using CSS and therefore will not bother doing more versions. Please write me at:
CompuServe: 70307,243
Delphi: MWeasner
GEnie: MWeasner
Source: CL1312
Switcher
--------------
I have used CSS 1.1 with Switcher by using the normal 128K partition. Opening desk accessories in less than a 128K partition is not recommended while CSS is running.
Legal Info
--------------
This manual and the software described in it (CSS) are Copyrighted (C) 1987 by Michael L. Weasner with all rights reserved. Portions of CSS are Copyrighted (C) 1984 by Consulair Corp.
CSS version 1.1 is offered free and "as is". No warranties of any kind are made or implied by the distribution and use of CSS. The author assumes no responsibilities for any errors which may cause damage or loss of data. The information which CSS supplies to the user is strictly for guidance only and should not be construed to mean that service billing is necessarily incorrect.
You may use the software on any Macintosh computer owned or leased by you, and you may distribute copies of the software (through electronic or other means) as long as the following requirements are adhered to:
o You or your agent(s) receive no payment for CSS or the manual.
o The software, manual, and/or copyright notices are not modified.
o The software and the manual are included.
Apple, the Apple logo, Apple II Plus, and Applesoft are registered
trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
Macintosh is a trademark licensed to Apple Computer, Inc.
Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Mac C is a trademark of Consulair Corp.
CompuServe is a registered trademark of CompuServe Incorporated.
Delphi is a trademark of General Videotex Corporation.
GEnie is a trademark of General Electric Company, U.S.A.
The Source is a servicemark of Source Telecomputing Corporation, a
subsidiary of The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
