NET-TIME Version 2.00 á Copyright (C), 1993, G.W. Mays 3314 Prince George San Antonio, Texas 78230 WHAT IS NET-TIME? NET-TIME is a package of programs which allow systems on your network to remain synchronized with respect to date and time. One system is used to continuously broadcast the date and time. Other systems may then receive these broadcasts. The programs which provide this service are DOS TSR's, typically less than 2K bytes in size. There is support for NetBIOS based networks as well as Novell Netware. SHAREWARE NOTICE NET-TIME is a "Shareware" product. It is the copyrighted work of G.W. Mays. It is not free; nor is it in the public domain. All rights to this product are retained by its author. You are free to try NET-TIME for 30 days in order to ascertain whether or not its functions are valuable to you and whether or not it performs to your satisfaction. After 30 days, you are expected to either register and pay for NET-TIME, or, discontinue your use of NET-TIME. Shareware authors trust in your integrity. Please don't let us down. You are encouraged to further disseminate NET-TIME to other interested parties. However, you must pass along the complete product. Please do not break the package into pieces. You may not sell this program to others. However, organizations that specialize in the distribution of shareware are allowed to charge a small fee for their efforts provided that the product fully retains its identity and integrity, and that their customers are made to understand the shareware nature of the contents. REGISTRATION Register your use of NET-TIME by printing out a copy of the ORDER.TXT file provided with the package (COPY ORDER.TXT PRN). Fill it out, make your check payable to G.W. Mays. Mail it to the address which appears at the top of the form. In return, you will receive a copy of the most recent version of the NET-TIME software and evaluation copies of RightTime (from Air Systems Technologies) and TimeSet (from Life Sciences Software). In addition, your name will be added to our mailing list so that you may be informed of any noteworthy changes and additions to NET-TIME. Favorable upgrade pricing for future versions of NET-TIME will be afforded to registered users. Your registration also entitles you to technical support. DISCLAIMER No software product is infalible. NET-TIME is no exception. Hence, we will not be responsible for damages that might result, either directly or indirectly, from the use of NET-TIME. We assume no responsibility for consequential damages arising from the use of our product. In addition, we disclaim, to the largest extent possible, any warranties of merchantability or suitability for a particular purpose. INSTALLATION NET-TIME is generally installed in its own subdirectory on your hard disk. Create a suitably named subdirectory to contain NET-TIME. Copy the "NETIMxxx.EXE" file to that subdirectory. Place youreself in that subdir- ectory, and execute it. The components of the NET-TIME product should "explode". Example: C: MD \NETTIME COPY A:\NETIMxxx.EXE C:\NETTIME CD \NETTIME NETIMxxx Examine the READ.ME file. It contains information pertinent to your use of NET-TIME. Changes to the documentation that are "late breaking" in nature, appear here. HOW TO USE Usually, NET-TIME is implemented with a single system on your network that is considered to be the "MASTER TIME STANDARD". That system should use the appropriate NET-TIME program to broadcast the date and time to the rest of your network. Other systems on your network which require coordin- ated date and time, should use the appropriate NET-TIME program to keep the system clock synchronized with the broadcaster. The NET-TIME program which is appropriate for your use depends upon the network operating system you employ. If your network is Novell, you will probably want to use the IPX versions of the NET-TIME programs. If your network is NetBIOS-based, then the NETBIOS versions of the the NET-TIME programs are in order. Programs: TIMESNDN Broadcast time via NetBIOS TIMERCVN Receive NetBIOS time broadcasts TIMESNDI Broadcast time via IPX TIMERCVI Receive IPX time broadcasts The NET-TIME programs are TSR's. Program sizes are various, but are typically less than 2K bytes when resident. All may be loaded high if your system supports the capability. Remember that NET-TIME requires the services provided by your network operating system; so be sure to load IPX (for Novell) or NetBIOS before NET-TIME. CONFIGURATION NET-TIME comes with a configuration utility named TIMECFG. Place yourself in the directory into which you installed NET-TIME and execute TIMECFG. Alter configuration values to suit your needs. Note that the default values will probably work in most circumstances. NET-TIME system parameters that are under your control are... NETBIOS NAME OF BROADCASTER. This is the NetBIOS name of the broadcast program. It may be 1 to 16 characters in length and should not contain embedded blanks. See the "gory" details of your NetBIOS to determine any restrictions that may apply. The default is "TIMESERVER". NETBIOS NAME OF RECEIVERS. This is the NetBIOS name of the programs which receive the broadcasts. The default is "TIMECLIENT". See the notes above. BROADCAST INTERVAL. This is the time interval between Date/Time broadcasts expressed in "ticks". There are 18.2 ticks per second. The default is 182 which translates to 10 seconds. IPX SOCKET. This is the IPX socket number expressed in hexadecimal. DO NOT BYTE-REVERSE THIS VALUE. Simply enter the socket number you wish to use; NET-TIME will perform the translation to non-Intel format as needed by IPX. (Sockets serve to identify the process which is using IPX services). The default is (hex) 4949. TIMECFG modifies the .COM files directly. By default, TIMECFG will look for the NET-TIME programs in the current directory. If the environment variable "NETTIME" is defined, it is assumed to specify the path to the NET-TIME programs. USE WITH OTHER PROGRAMS Providing a single source for network date and time is a double-edged sword. While it is provides uniformity and is relatively fault-tolerent, this source will also proliferate bad information to all of its clients if it comes from a tainted or questionable origin. We suggest that you employ the services of RightTime, from Air System Technoligies of Dallas, Texas, and TimeSet, from Life Sciences Software of Stanwood, Washington. Both are valuable products in their own right. Working together, and in conjunction with NET-TIME, you can expect a highly accurate and reliable network time source. RightTime is a software product which adaptively regulates the accuracy of the clock within the PC you use to broadcast the date and time. Without RightTime, PC's tend to "drift" slightly each day with respect to their timekeeping. TimeSet is a software product which automates access to dial-up time sources such as NIST in Boulder, Colorado, and the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. This simplifies the process of obtaining and setting accurate time on your PC. Both products are available on better bulletin boards everywhere. If you have difficulty locating either of them from your usual sources, try the Air System Technologies BBS at (213) 869-2780.