NETTIMER.TXT Net Timer Plus © Written by Robert L. Johnson version 01.2 (zip file NETTMR12.ZIP) This file has the following sections: Introduction Installation Disclaimer Registration Instructions (In a help file in future version) (read if having trouble) Revisions _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Introduction: This software is SHAREWARE. You may distribute it freely as long as the program code or any of my material is not modified in any way and this file accompanies all distributions. You may use this program for a 30 day trial period. After 30 days, if you continue to use it, you should register it. (*****see below*****) Net Timer Plus © is a timer written by me, Robert L. Johnson, as an aid to keep track of the time spent on-line. Currently, it is only designed to work with Trumpet Winsock version 2.0. The main purpose behind this program is the way my access provider charges for time. I get a set number of hours "free" and after that there is a charge for each additional hour. Net Timer Plus © helps me avoid going over my "free" hours. At a preset number of minutes before the "free" hours are up, Net Timer Plus © will alert you. Beyond this basic functionality, the ability to start your most used web tools and review individual session times just makes life a little easier. Anyway, I thought this program was kind of nice so I decided to release it as shareware and see if anybody else would appreciate and use it. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Installation: THIS PROGRAM REQUIRES VBRUN300.DLL to be available in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. This file is available from many on-line sources. Installation is fairly simple: 1) Expand the zip file. (probably already done) 2) Copy/move ALL Net Timer Plus © files into the Trumpet Winsock directory. The program will not run unless in the same directory as the winsock. You can move the CMDIALOG.VBX and MSAFINX.DLL files to the Windows\SYSTEM directory if you want. 3) Create an icon for Net Timer Plus © (NETTIMER.EXE) in the desired program group. You can either: a) drag the NETTIMER.EXE file from File Mangaer to a Program Manager group. or b) In Program Manager do New and Program Item under the File menu. 4) Run Net Timer Plus © Running the first time will create a NETTIMER.INI file in the Windows directory and add the following lines to the end of the Trumpet Winsock script files. (the path will match the location that Net Timer Plus © is installed) LOGIN.CMD # # signal Net Timer start of session # EXEC "C:\NET\WINSOCK\ntstart.exe" BYE.CMD # # signal Net Timer end of session # EXEC "C:\NET\WINSOCK\ntstop.exe" The original files will be saved as LOGIN.NTB and BYE.NTB respectively. That's it! The Net Timer Plus © is ready to run. Now you can either use Net Timer Plus © to start and stop your Trumpet Winsock session, or you can issue the LOGIN and BYE scripts and Net Timer Plus © will start and stop timing as you login and logoff. Note: Net Timer Plus © needs to know the location of various programs so it will be able to start them. In version 1.10 you no longer need to change the NETTIMER.INI file. Net Timer Plus © will allow you to browse for the path and file name of these files. The file you looking for is the program with .EXE extension for the file name. The following lines will be inserted in the NETTIMER.INI file after you browse for a program in Net Timer Plus ©. The www line is the path and executable name of your web viewer/browser. The websites line is the path and executable name of WebSites © database program. The ftp line is the path and executable name of your ftp program. The telnet line is the path and executable name of your telnet program. The email line is the path and executable name of your email program. Example: [nettools] www=C:\NET\NETSCAPE\NETSCAPE.EXE websites=C:\NET\WEBSITES\WEBSITES.EXE ftp=C:\NET\WSAPPS\WSFTP\WS_FTP.EXE telnet=C:\NET\TRUMPET\TRMPTEL.EXE The following files were distributed in NETTMR12.ZIP: NETTIMER.EXE NTSTART.EXE NTSTOP.EXE NETTIMER.TXT CMDIALOG.VBX (common dialog from MS) MSAFINX.DLL (date manipulation from MS) Any files other than these have been added after the fact. This should not be a problem but I just thought I would list those that I included. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ DISCLAIMER: THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS ASSUMED BY YOU, AND THE AUTHOR ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR APPLICATION OF OR ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN THE SOFTWARE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE, EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE LIKELIHOOD OF SUCH DAMAGES OCCURRING. THE AUTHOR SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS, DAMAGES OR COSTS, ARISING OUT OF, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOST PROFITS OR REVENUE, LOSS OF USE OF THE SOFTWARE, LOSS OF DATA OR EQUIPMENT, THE COSTS OF RECOVERING SOFTWARE, DATA OR EQUIPMENT, THE COST OF SUBSTITUTE SOFTWARE OR DATA, CLAIMS BY THIRD PARTIES, OR OTHER SIMILAR COSTS. IN OTHER WORDS, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Registration: Registration is very simple. I will keep a confidential list of all people who register, but since I have not included any timed nag screens. I don't feel it nesassary to send you back a registration code. The software you are using is fully enabled, so ease your conscience and register now. Send your name and address along with a few dollars ($$$) to: Robert Johnson Net Timer Plus 4629 Fuhrer St. NE Salem, OR 97305 If you have any comments or suggestions I am very interested. e-mail rlj@chemek.cc.or.us _______________________________________________________________________________________________ I hope you enjoy this and remember, shareware is based on trust. If you continue to use this program please register. This price is very reasonable, just a few dollars. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Instructions: Net Timer Plus © is very straightforward to use. It works much like a TV remote control. An explanation of what each of the controls does is explained below: Session Time Displays the time used for the current/last on-line session. This time will restart when a new on-line session is started. Month Time Displays the time used for the current month. This is used to notify you when you are approaching your monthly "free" time limit. (see times below) Time Of Day Displays the current time of day. On Top When checked, the On Top check box will force the Net Timer Plus © window to be the top most window. When unchecked, it behaves like a normal window. [Start] Will initiate the Trumpet Winsock Login under the Dialer menu. If Trumpet Winsock is not running it will be started. When you are logged in the Session Time will start. [Stop] Will initiate the Trumpet Winsock Bye under the Dialer menu. When you are logged out the Session Time will stop. Each session date and the time you were on is recorded in case you are interested later. (see S Info) NOTE: If you experience trouble where Net Timer Plus © does not stop timing the session when you select Stop or execute the Bye command under the Dialler menu, it probably because the BYE.CMD script is aborting and not signaling a stop to Net Timer Plus ©. If this happens go into Edit Scripts under the Dialler menu in Trumpet Winsock, edit the BYE.CMD script, and move the following section to the top of the script file. # # signal Net Timer end of session # EXEC "C:\NET\WINSOCK\ntstop.exe" I haven't figured out why Trumpet Winsock sometimes aborts the BYE.CMD script, if you know, please let me know. [Expand]/[Shrink] Will expand the Net Timer Plus © window, allowing you access to the other controls. or Will shrink the Net Timer Plus © window, so it is not in the way. In 800x600 mode it just fits next to the Netscape© "N". [Help] Will display the file in Notepad. (Help file in later version) [About] Will display the about dialog box. [Sites] Will allow you to start the WebSites © database from Net Timer Plus ©. You must have a [nettools] section in the NETTIMER.INI in the Windows directory as described in the installation section above. The first time you click the Sites button Net Timer Plus © will ask if you want to browse for the program. Answer YES and then locate the WEBSITES.EXE file on your drive. WebSites © is another program I wrote to keep track of and categorize web page locations and descriptions. It can print reports, generate HTML pages of links, start locations using your web browser, and other things. Point your web browser at HTTP://libmail.chemek.cc.or.us/~tjohnson/rljhome.html to read about it and download a copy. [Times] Will allow you to set the time settings, alarm minutes, free hours, and backup interval. Each of these are described below. While setting times, all other controls are disabled until the time button is clicked again. [WWW] Will allow you to start your web browser from Net Timer Plus ©. You must have a [nettools] section in the NETTIMER.INI in the Windows directory as described in the installation section above. The first time you click the WWW button Net Timer Plus © will ask if you want to browse for the program. Answer YES and then locate the .EXE file for your browser on your drive. [E-mail] Will allow you to start your e-mail program from Net Timer Plus ©. You must have a [nettools] section in the NETTIMER.INI in the Windows directory as described in the installation section above. The first time you click the E-mail button Net Timer Plus © will ask if you want to browse for the program. Answer YES and then locate the .EXE file for your e-mail program on your drive. [S Info] Will display the session information from the NTSESION.DAT file. The date, along with the time spent on-line for each session, will be displayed. You can delete the NTSESION.DAT file to clear old sessions you are no longer interested in. NOTE: DO NOT DELETE THE NTPERIOD.DAT FILE OR MONTHLY TIME INFORMATION WILL BE LOST! [FTP] Will allow you to start your ftp program from Net Timer Plus ©. You must have a [nettools] section in the NETTIMER.INI in the Windows directory as described in the installation section above. The first time you click the FTP button Net Timer Plus © will ask if you want to browse for the program. Answer YES and then locate the .EXE file for your ftp program on your drive. [Telnet] Will allow you to start your telnet program from Net Timer Plus ©. You must have a [nettools] section in the NETTIMER.INI in the Windows directory as described in the installation section above. The first time you click the Telnet button Net Timer Plus © will ask if you want to browse for the program. Answer YES and then locate the .EXE file for your telnet program on your drive. Session Information (S Info) Displays the session information when the [S Info] button is clicked. You can change the session information display (days or months) by right clicking in the Session Information box. You can also delete old session information by right clicking and selecting Delete Info. This will remove only the individual session times not the Month Time used to keep track of total time spent on-line. Alarm Minutes Displays/sets the alarm minutes when the [Times] button is clicked. When your monthly time is this number of minutes away from the free hours time, you will be notified with a message. (No alarm if set to 0) Free Hours Displays/sets the free hours when [Times] is clicked. This is the number of hours your on-line service allows you "free" before you are charged an additional hourly charge. (No alarm if set to 0.) This could also be used if your provider charges you on an incremental scale, ie, $1 for first 10 hours, then $3 for every hour after that. You can set the free hours setting for the 10 hours to inform you your lesser-charged time is almost up. Backup Interval Displays/sets the backup interval when [Times] is clicked. Since Net Timer Plus © does not constantly record the session time to disk, some time may be lost if your computer "locks up." The backup interval will protect you from losing a large amount of time. At each backup interval, the current monthly time will be saved to avoid loss of time information. This time cannot be set to less than 2. Min Winsock When checked, the Min Winsock check box will indicate that Net Timer Plus © should minimize the Winsock window when a connection is made. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Revisions: version 01.0 None version 01.1 Modified to browse for net tools when there is no entry or entry is invalid in the NETTIMER.INI file for the given tool. Added check box to minimize the Winsock window when a connection is made. version 01.2 Modified session information to allow to switch listing by session or by month with the right mouse button. version 01.21 Modified session information right click to allow you to delete the session information. Extended the Free Hours box to allow for 3 digits. Will not attempt to start Trumpet it TCPMAN.EXE is not in same directory.