NETTIMER.TXT Net Timer Plus 95 © Written by Robert L. Johnson version 02.0 (zip file NETTMR20.ZIP) FIRST RELEASE STILL TESTING! PLEASE SEND ME ANY ERRORS YOU FIND! 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 95 © 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 the Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking. 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 95 © helps me avoid going over my "free" hours. At a preset number of minutes before the "free" hours are up, Net Timer Plus 95 © will alert you. Beyond this basic functionality, it gives you 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 VB40032.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) Run the setup program 4) Create a woking Dial-Up Networking icon called "Internet". It is a must that the name is Internet and that no other Dial-Up Networking icon start with an "I". 3) Run Net Timer Plus 95 © click the Start button. That's it! The Net Timer Plus 95 © is ready to run. You can now use Net Timer Plus 95 © to start and stop your Dial-Up Network session. You must start Net Timer Plus 95 © before starting a dial-up session. The easiest thing to do is use the "Start" button, but if Net Timer Plus 95 © is running it will start timeing anytime the Internet connection is started. To end a session, you can click the "Stop" button or click Disconnect in the "Connected to Internet" window. Note: Net Timer Plus 95 © needs to know the location of various programs so it will be able to start them. Net Timer Plus 95 © 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 95 ©. 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 NETTMR20.ZIP: NETTIMER.EXE NETTIMER.TXT ---- files from MS VB4 ---- a whole mess of files here, one day I'll figure out why so many! ... 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 95 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 95 © 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 95 © window to be the top most window. When unchecked, it behaves like a normal window. [Start] Will initiate the Dial-Up Networking connection of the Internet icon. If Dial-Up Networking is not running it will be started. When you are logged in the Session Time will start. [Stop] Will initiate the Dial-Up Networking disconnect. 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) [Expand]/[Shrink] Will expand the Net Timer Plus 95 © window, allowing you access to the other controls. or Will shrink the Net Timer Plus 95 © window, so it is not in the way. In 800x600 mode it just fits next to the Netscape© "N". [Help] Will display this 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 95 ©. 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 95 © 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 95 ©. 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 95 © 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 95 ©. 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 95 © 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 95 ©. 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 95 © 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 95 ©. 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 95 © 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. 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 95 © 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 Connect When checked, the Min Connect check box will indicate that Net Timer Plus 95 © should minimize the "Connected to Internet" window when a connection is made. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Revisions: version 02.0 Redone under 32-bit Visual Basic version 4. Size of distribution very large. Works with Windows 95 Dial-Up Networking rather than Trumpet Winsock as did version 1.