Copyright: Scheduler Help Copyright ® 1996 EmGee Software.


Table of Contents
Program Scheduler 1.2

Copyright © 1996 EmGee Software.

All Rights Reserved.

About Program Scheduler

Overview

Using Program Scheduler

Getting Started

Main Display

Editing Events

Program Event Log

Performance Notes

Miscellaneous

Version History

Acknowledgements

Registering Program Scheduler


Registration Information

Registration

Program Scheduler is distributed as shareware. If you use it you must purchase the registration key. To receive the registration key send $15 ($20 for international orders), your name, and complete address to:

Michael Gulley

P.O. Box 43

Letha, ID  83636

E-Mail Discount

You may take a $5 discount for e-mail delivery of the registration key. If you choose this method, please send your name and complete mailing address also.

Upon receipt of the registration fee, I will mail or e-mail you your registration key and instructions on it's use.

Benefits

Registration removes the exit nag screen, removes the delayed splash screens, and entitles you to free upgrades to all new versions of Program Scheduler if you download them yourself.

Source Code

The source code to Program Scheduler is available for $40 ($45 for international orders). This will include everything needed to reconstruct it with the exception of the registration verification module.


Version History

Program Scheduler 1.2

Added 5 more event tabs.

Added registration function.

Added hotkeys for editing events and viewing the log file.

Changed error handling. Program Scheduler now displays the event log if errors occur at startup.

Program Scheduler 1.1

Improved the code in several sub routines and functions.

Changed the font to Arial (smaller) to display the user's name in the about box. Now allows up to 45 characters in the name and organization fields.

Removed the tool tips and the graphical buttons from the main display.

Removed dbttip.vbx and threed.vbx from the project. In my opinion, the overhead from these controls outweighed any benefits.

Changed command line requirement to 'startup' anywhere on the command line.

Added every other day, week, and month to the scheduling options.

Added a check for the Program Scheduler 1.0 schedule.ini file.

Added version information to the EXE.

Program Scheduler 1.0

First publicly available version, released in April 1996.


Acknowledgements

MS-DOS, Windows, Windows 3.1, and Windows 95 are copyrights or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Special thanks goes to Elmer W. Allison for providing valuable feedback and suggestions.


Performance Notes

Operation

Program Scheduler's method of operation at startup is as follows:

1. It checks the date stored for all applications scheduled.

If the stored date is equal to or less than the current date then:.

•	The application is launched..

•	A new due date is stored.

If the stored date is greater than the current date then:.

•	Program Scheduler does not launch the associated application.

2. The time, date, launch events, and any errors are logged to Schedule.log.

3. If no errors ocurred then Program Scheduler terminates.

    If errors ocurred then Program Scheduler displays the event log.

Out Of Memory

Program Scheduler sometimes cannot launch a large application. I do not know the exact reason for this. If you read the history log and it says Out of memory: AppName, then Program Scheduler could not launch that application. I have 16 megabytes of RAM and I still get this error on certain applications.

Workaround:

Windows 95

Put 'Start ' in front of the command line, assuming you have 'start.exe' installed on your computer and in your path. Set the run style to minimized to avoid the DOS window that 'start' opens up. Start.exe ships with Windows 95 and is normally installed in the \WINDOWS\COMMMAND directory. Example: START C:\APPS\MYAPP.EXE.

or

Create a batch file that launches the problem application and add that batch file to Program Scheduler's events. Make sure the batch file properties are set to Minimize and Close On Exit, or you will get a DOS window when it is ran.

Windows 3.x

I know of no way around this problem should you encounter under Windows 3.x.

Event History

When the event history file Schedule.log reaches 30k bytes it is cleared and restarted.

This is done for two reasons:

1. I did not see any reason to have it grow any larger than that.

2. 30k bytes is nearly the limit for the text box used to display the log.

Date Format

The date format used by Program Scheduler is mm-dd-yyyy. With a little modification it could use any of several other formats, so if you need a different format please write and let me know, as I am considering adding options for the date format.


Getting Started

First, Program Scheduler and define the applications and how you would like to run them. Refer to Editing Events for help on setting up the applications.

Note: If you are upgrading from version 1.0, then you must reschedule any events you had in that version. To make Program Scheduler more flexible I had to drastically change the scheduling code - those changes did not allow for compatibility with version 1.0. If you have a version 1.0 INI file then you will be prompted with a message stating this.

Secondly, if the setup program did not add Program Scheduler to your startup group then you need to manually add it using the instructions given below if you are unfamiliar with adding a program to your startup group.

Windows 95 Users

Click on Start and select Settings, then Taskbar. Click on Start Menu Programs then click on Add. Select Browse, locate and double click on Schedule.exe. Edit the command line by adding a space and /startup on the end of it. Select Startup as the location for it and then give it a name.

Windows 3.x Users

Add Schedule.exe to your startup group. Edit the command line by adding a space and /startup on the end of it.

Startup Example: C:\APPS\SCHEDULE\SCHEDULE.EXE /startup.

The /startup on the end of the command line tells Program Scheduler to not load the main display form. This extra parameter should only be used on the startup copy of Program Scheduler.


Overview

Program Scheduler allows a user to to schedule up to 10 applications to run daily, weekly, monthly, every boot up, or 3 other variations of these. Program Scheduler does not stay memory resident, so it is geared toward the average user that turns their computer off each day. Operation is silent at startup and all events are logged for debugging purposes.

Copyright © 1996, EmGee Software.

All Rights Reserved.

Disclaimer of Warranty

THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE DISTRIBUTED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH PROGRAM SCHEDULER MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Good data processing procedure dictates that any program be thoroughly tested with non-critical data before relying on it.  The user must assume the entire risk of using the program.  ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF THE PURCHASE PRICE.


Editing Events

Description

Type in the description for the event here.

Command Line

Type in the command line for the event here or use the '...' browse button.

Run Style

Select a window style for the event.

Frequency

Select an event frequency.

Next Run

This shows the date the application will next be launched. It is not editable.

Command Buttons

Okay - Closes the editor and saves all events and settings.

Clear - Resets the current tab to it's default settings.

Cancel - Closes the editor and discards all changes.

Help - Brings up the help file to this topic.


Main Display

Scheduled

This is the date that the event will next occur. See Performance Notes for more information on Program Scheduler's method of operation.

Frequency

This shows the scheduling frequency for each event.

Boot Up launches the program everytime you boot.

Daily launches the program once a day.

E/O Day launches the program every other day.

Weekly launches the program every 7 days.

E/O Week launches the program every 14 days.

Monthly launches the program every 30 days.

E/O Month launches the program every 60 days.

Disabled disables the event.

Window

Shows the window state for each event.

Min. starts the application minimized.

Max. starts the application maximized.

Normal starts the application with it's default window state.

Description

Shows the description you typed in the Events Editor.


Event Log

This dialog shows the event history for Program Scheduler. All launches and any errors are logged to it, and it is displayed at startup if any errors occur.

When the event history file Schedule.log reaches 30k bytes it is cleared and restarted. Clicking 'Clear' on this dialog will clear and restart the log also.


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