Copyright: Copyright \251 1991-4 Perpetual Motion Software


Contents for Alarm Help
Alarm Help Contents

Procedures

Create an Alarm

Modify an Alarm

Delete an Alarm

Features

Message or Program

Time

Snooze Interval

Sound

Repeat Sound Until Acknowledged

Setting an Alarm for a Specific Date

Setting an Alarm to Repeat

Defined Terms

Glossary


Setting an Alarm for a Specific Date

This is the most simple form of alarm -- you specify the day, month, and year on which you want the alarm's message to be displayed.  You use the calendar control to specify a date.

Mouse

Select a date by clicking on the date itself.  Click the "<<" button to display the previous month; click the ">>" button to display the next month.

Keyboard

Use the left/right arrow keys to select the previous/next date.

Use the Up/Down arrow keys to select the date in the previous/next week.

Use the Page Up/Down keys to display the previous/next months.

Use the Home/End keys to display January/December of the currently displayed year.

Use the 17 keys to toggle the weekdays between set and not set.

(There is no keyboard interface for setting the weeks of the month.)

Make sure that the number of times to repeat the alarm is set to 1 (which it is by default).  Also make certain that the checkboxes to the right of the calendar are all unchecked.

For example, you specify 16 December 1994 and the application will display the alarm's message on that date at the time you specify.

See also how to set an alarm to repeat.


Setting an Alarm to Repeat

First, select the first date on which you want the alarm to go off.  (See setting an alarm for a specific date.)

If you want the alarm to go off only on specific weekdays, select the weekdays that you want by clicking on each one with the mouse (or by pressing the 1-7 keys on the keyboard).  (If no weekdays are specified, the alarm is allowed to go off on any weekday.)

If you want the alarm to go off only on a specific week (or weeks) of the month, select the corresponding checkbox(es) to the right of the calendar.  You can select the first, second, third, and/or fourth weeks of the month (e.g., Every second Tuesday of the month).

Next, specify the repeat interval, the number of hours, days, weeks, or months that you want to pass between each alarm message.  (e.g., "Every 2 Weeks," or "Every 1 Month").

N.B.: When you specify a repeat interval, you must specify how many times you want the alarm to repeat.  This can be either forever or a specific number of times (e.g., 5 times).  If you enter 0 for the number of times, the alarm will never go off.

Example 1: The 15th of Every Month

In the calendar control, select the 15th of the first month you want the alarm to go off.

To have this alarm go off on every 15th, select the "forever" radio button.  To have this alarm go off only on the next 5 "15th"s and then stop, enter "5" in the "time(s)" control.

Example 2: Every other Wednesday

In the calendar control, select the date of the first Wednesday on which you want the alarm to go off.

Select the Wednesday ("W") square in the calendar to indicate that the alarm is only to go off on Wednesday.

Enter "2" in the "Every" control and select "Weeks" in the combobox.

To have this alarm go off on every Wednesday, select the "forever" radio button.  To have this alarm go off only on the next 3 "Wednesday"s, enter "3" in the "time(s)" control.

Example 3: Friday the 13th

In the calendar control, select the 13th of the next month with a Friday that falls on the 13th.

Select the Friday ("F") square in the calendar to indicate that the alarm is only to go off on Friday.

Enter "1" in the "Every" control and select "Months" in the combobox.  Since you have specified a weekday (in this case, Friday), the alarm will not actually go off in every month -- because the 13th does not fall on Friday every month.  But you must specify how often the alarm is "try" to go off.

To have this alarm go off on every Friday the 13th, select the "forever" radio button.  To have this alarm go off 10 times, enter "10" in the "time(s)" control.

Example 4: Second Thursday of Every Other Month

In the calendar control, select the date that is a Thursday and occurs on the second week of the month (any date).

Select the second checkbox to the right of the calendar control.

N.B.  It is important that you select the correct checkbox.  There are times when there may not be a Monday in the first week of the month.  In this case, you will select the date that is the first Monday of the month and the first (top) checkbox.

Select the Thursday (T) square in the calendar to indicate that the alarm is only to off on Thursday.

Enter "2" in the "Every" control and select "Months" in the combobox.


Time

The time field accepts both 12-hour and 24-hour time in the "hh:mm" or "hhmm" format.  If the hour portion is zero or greater than 12, the AM/PM indicator is ignored and 24-hour time is assumed (i.e., that it is PM).


Snooze Interval

This field allows you to set the snooze interval.  When an alarm goes off, you are asked whether or not you want to snooze for this many minutes (i.e., to have the message appear again after the specified interval has passed).

If you set the interval to zero, you will not be asked if you want to snooze.


Sound

Press the Select Sound button to choose a sound file that will be played when the alarm goes off.  If you do not select a sound file (or if Microsoft Windows is unable to play the sound file), the default beep will be used.

N.B.: This button is enabled even if your system does not support sound.

If you want to have a default directory when you select a sound, enter the path to that directory in the Working Directory field of Program Managers Properties dialog box for the Alarm icon.

For example:

The Alarm application is located in the c:\pms directory and the users sounds are located in c:\sounds.


Sound Until Acknowledged
Repeat Sound Until Acknowledged

When this option is checked, any alarm that has a sound file associated with it will repeat that sound until the user acknowledges the alarm (by pressing a button on the event dialog box).

The sound will not repeat if the user has chosen the alarm to execute an application or if there is no sound associated with the alarm.


Create an Alarm

To set a new alarm, select New from the Alarm menu.  An alarm must have a name, a message, a time, and a date (Please see Setting an Alarm for a Specific Date and Setting an Alarm to Repeat).

The alarm's date and time information are displayed according to the time and short date formats that you set in the Windows Control Panel's International section.


Modify an Alarm

To change an existing alarm, highlight the alarm in the listbox that you want to change and select Open from the Alarm menu or press the Enter key.


Delete an Alarm

To delete an alarm, highlight the alarm in the listbox that you want to delete and select Delete from the Alarm menu or press the Delete key.  (This key may be marked Del on your keyboard.)


Defined Terms

Name

Message or Program

Time

Snooze Interval

Sound


Name

Each alarm must have a unique name.  The name is used in the main listbox.


Message or Program

This field is either a message or an application command line.  If the first word of the field is a valid filename, Alarm will execute the command line when the alarm is activated.  If the first word is not a file, Alarm will display the message when the alarm is activated.  (A word is defined as the characters preceding the first space in the message.)

By creating a macro (using the Windows Recorder) and then invoking it with the command line, practically anything can be done at a preset time.  For example, create a macro (with the hotkey Control+P) which executes an application, opens a document, and prints it.  Save the macro in the file: print.rec.  Create an alarm with the command line "recorder.exe -h ^P print.rec".