PICTURE CLOCK

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INTRODUCTION

An overall description of Picture Clock and Requirements

USING PICTURE CLOCK

A detailed description of Picture Clock functions and capabilities

REGISTRATION AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT

How to contact the author and receive a registration serial number


INTRODUCTION

Picture Clock is a versatile clock program for Microsoft Windows environment. It has many of the features found in the clock program that is packaged with Windows, and adds many features of its own. Some of the features are:

o Ability to load a BMP file into the background of the clock

o Customization of colors and view options

o Multi-event alarm with sound file association

Picture Clock is shareware, which means that it is supported through user contribution. A user of Picture Clock is granted a temporary license to evaluate the program for a period of no later than 30 days on a single computer. After this period,  a small fee of $10 US is requested for registering the program (please see Registration and Technincal Support). Upon receipt of the fee, a registration serial number will be mailed to the user which allows the disabling of the splash dialog as the program is started. Using Picture Clock beyond the 30 days without registrating is a violation of US Copyright laws.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

o 386 or faster system

o 4MB ram or more

o sound card with digital recording and playback capability

Picture Clock requires an amount of memory proportional to the size of the image file and the size of the image on the desktop. To reduce the amount of memory use, several options are available:

o Load a smaller BMP file (smaller picture size or lesser color depth)

o Reduce the size of the clock window on the desk top

o Use the No File command to use Picture Clock without a BMP file

Picture Clock requires the file CTL3DV2.DLL which is included in the distributed file. This file must reside in the WINDOWS/SYSTEM directory for Picture Clock to operate properly. CTL3DV2.DLL is a 3D style interface dynamic link library created by Microsoft to allow Windows programs to use 3D style controls. Copy CTL3DV2.DLL to the WINDOWS/SYSTEM directory ONLY if there is not CTL3DV2.DLL or the date of the included file is later than the version in the WINDOWS/SYSTEM directory.

To use the alarm feature, Picture Clock requires a sound card that plays WAV files. The alarm is only an audio alarm in ver.1.0. Future version will have a visual que.

DISCLAIMER

DC Engineering provides no warrantees (either implied or otherwise) for Picture Clock. In using Picture Clock, the user acknowledges the assumption of all responsibilities for any damanges or loss of work caused by Picture Clock. Picture Clock is offered AS-IS, no guarantees for bug fixed versions are made.

A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

The inspiration for Picture Clock came after scanning a picture of my wife and daughter (shown in the splash dialog), and having no place to put it on my desktop (the wall paper was occupied!). Since I always have CLOCK.EXE running, I thought it would be interesting to write a program which would load their picture as the back drop. To enhance the idea, I would record the voices of my wife and daughter to play the clock chimes. You can easily expand on this idea to put a shuttle picture with the blast off sounds for chimes, favorite politician/personality with his quote of the century, or your favorite vacation photo. For registered users without scanners, I am offering to scan one picture (with my 256-color hand scanner) for placement in Picture Clock (see Registration and Technincal Support).

I started Picture Clock as a small project to learn programming in C++ and Windows. Needless to say, I grew a little fond of my little clock program and expanded it over a few months. As a mechanical design engineer in the aerospace industry, I have hardly got the background for a real programming project. Yet I felt this program had enough quality to investigate offering registration through the shareware concept. I am hoping that hundreds of hours of coding and money invested will be offset by some registration and feedback.

Picture Clock was written entirely in Borland C++ 4.5 with OWL 2.5. One of the many complaints I have read from Borland C++ users (and Windows programmers in general), is the lack of examples on how to implement some of the more interesting tricks capable under Windows. As you may have noticed, Picture Clock has a small collection of these tricks that most beginning (and some intermediate) OWL 2.5 programmers would find intriguing. To help those with strong curiosities, I am offering the source code (all 40+ pages of it) for a small fee ($10 US) in addition to the regular registration fee. If you consider an engineering wage at approximately $100/hr (includes overhead and G&A),  the amount I am requesting for registration and source code equates to 12 minutes! I could spend that time just cutting and pasting 40 pages of code, much less thinking about how to actually program the feature.

Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation

Borland C++ 4.5 and OWL 2.5 is a trademark of Borland International


USING PICTURE CLOCK

To use Picture Clock, just double click on PCLOCK.EXE in File Manager where PCLOCK.EXE can be found. To put Picture Clock in a program group, open the desired program group in Program Manager. Find PCLOCK.EXE in File Manager. Drag and drop PCLOCK.EXE into the desired program group. Use File Properties in Program Manager to rename the program.

Picture Clock recognizes the International Settings under the control panel. If the short time format is changed, Picture Clock will automatically adjust to reflect the changes. These changes are also made in the Alarm Dialog Box.

USING ALARM DIALOG BOX

USING CUSTOMIZE DIALOG BOX

COMMANDS AND OPTIONS


USING ALARM DIALOG BOX

The alarm dialog box has two functions: To set the chimes for the program and to set the alarm events for the program.

To set the chimes, simply click on the left list box of the event desired (i.e. Every Hour, Every Minute, Every Second) and click on the right list box for the sound file desired. Use the Enable Event check box to activate the given chime.

To set the alarm, expand the dialog box by clicking on the ALARM >> button. In the edit box labeled Alarm Message, type in a text description of the alarm. Click on the SET ALARM button to make room for an alarm. Set the time for the event by clicking on the appropriate field and using the arrows or by typing the time in by hand. Associate a sound file for the event by clicking on the right list box for the desired sound file.

The  TEST button can be used to listen to a selected sound file.

The RECORD button can be used to launch Sound Recorder for recording messages.

The DELETE  ALARM button can be used to delete a selected alarm.

Note: All sound files chosen for events must reside in the same directory with Picture Clock or the program will be unable to locate the sound files.


USING CUSTOMIZE DIALOG BOX

The Customize Dialog Box serves to modify the visual features of Picture Clock. To change the colors, click on the appropriate radio button and click the SET COLORS >> button. A color dialog box will appear, allowing color selection (The color for the digital clock is set by HOUR COLOR radio button). The digital clock font can be selected in a similar manner. The View Options allow enabling or disabling of items in the caption bar or enabling or disabling of showing clock face or the second hand.


COMMANDS AND OPTIONS

The following is a description of the commands available in the Picture Clock menu

FILE

NO FILE

Removes the background BMP file, and fills the window with the color set under Border Color in the Customize Dialog Box.

OPEN

Activates the Open File dialog box which lets the user select the BMP file to load. Only BMP file with 256 or less color depth will load into Picture Clock. Higher color resolution is not supported in this version.

EDIT

PASTE

If the clipboard is full, this command is enabled. The image in the clipboard is copied to the background. Note that this image is NOT saved when the user exits Picture Clock.

OPTION

ANALOG

Places clock in analog clock mode. Use Customize Dialog Box to modify hand colors or showing of second hand.

DIGITAL

Places clock in digital clock mode. Use Customize Dialog Box to modify colors or showing of seconds. Changing hour color changes text color.

MAX

Resizes clock window to BMP original size (has performance benefits).

NO TITLE

Removes caption and menu area to show a borderless window. A quick way to return to caption mode is double clicking on the window. The window can be moved by clicking and holding down the right mouse button over the window. The window can be closed (and have the position and settings saved) by pressing Shift+F4.

ALWAYS ON TOP

Places clock window above all windows.

VISUAL

See USING CUSTOMIZE DIALOG BOX

ALARM

See USING ALARM DIALOG BOX

ICON CLOCK

Uses a transparent icon version of the clock instead of the minimized BMP file. This option is for those that have trouble seeing the time through the BMP file.

FORCE PALETTE

A Windows program can have only one palette active at any given time. If FORCE PALETTE is off, the BMP file will find the closest matching color with the system palette. If FORCE PALETTE is on, the BMP file will force its color onto the screen. By forcing its colors onto the screen, the true color of the BMP file will be seen. However, other applications, especially those that have their own hi-color BMP files (like paint programs) will have their colors distorted to match those of the BMP file loaded in the clock program.

(Note: All of the options listed above can be accessed from the right mouse button click on the program window. A pop-up menu will appear with the options.)

HELP

CONTENTS

Activates this help file

ABOUT

Activates the registration dialog box. If a user has registered the software, the user name and the user registration number is entered here. If the information is entered correctly, the splash dialog will be disabled.

The following is a list of features not available through the menu structure

REPOSITIONING CLOCK FACE

To reposition the clock face, just left click on the face, hold down the mouse button, and drag the shape into the desired position. When the border hits the window edge, the size will change. To make the shape float, hold down the SHIFT key and repeat the above instructions. In this mode, the shape will not change with the window edge, and will contain the shape in the window. To center the clock face, double left button click on the face.


REGISTRATION AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT

REGISTRATION

Picture Clock is shareware. The shareware idea relies on the principles of try before buying concept. A user who wishes to try Picture Clock is given a limited license to use the program for a duration not to exceed 30 days from the first occurance of use. After this period, the user must register or discontinue using Picture Clock to conform to US Copyright laws.

Registration fee for Picture Clock is $10 US. Registering Picture Clock gives the user a serial number to disable the splash dialog at the beginning of the program execution. In addition, the user can receive technical support (see below). Site licensing is available at greatly reduced cost.

A registration fee accompanied by one 3x4 photo will have that photo scanned in 256 colors at 100 dpi resolution, in BMP format. This file and a registered version of Picture Clock will be mailed to the user via US mail in either 1.2MB or 1.44MB diskette, or E-mail per user request. For reasons of liability, all photos sent to DC Engineering will become the property of DC Engineering. DC Engineering will make every attempt to return the photo to the sender in the condition received. However, in anticipating situations beyond control, the above clause is stated. No pornographic or disturbing material will be accepted for scanning.

The source code for Picture Clock is offered for an additional fee. It will be understood by the user that the source code is the property of DC Engineering. The user is not given permission to distribute or post sections of the code to the general public. It is intended for reference and use by the user only.

WARRANTY

No Warranty of any kind is offered for Picture Clock. Any damages or loss of work resulting from the use of Picture Clock is assumed by the user.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Technical support is offered to registered users only. Technical support is provided via one of three ways:

E-Mail - The author can be reached via DCEngr@aol.com.

Electronic Bulletin Board System - The author operates The Inventors Workshop @ 805-968-5501. The latest version of Picture Clock can be found in the file systems.

US Mail - The address is listed in the REGISTER form. All letters should include a phone number that the user can be reached at.

Questions regarding installation and operation will answered. Questions regarding program code will be answered at best effort only!

(Note: Most problems with Picture Clock can be fixed by deleting the PCLOCK.INI file in the Windows directory. This will reset Picture Clock to default settings.)

A completed registration form must accompany the registration. If you have read all of the above, and agree to its terms, then click on REGISTER below.

REGISTER


REGISTRATION FORM

REGISTRATION FORM FOR PICTURE CLOCK

To print this form, use File Print Topic in the help file menu.

========================================================================

NAME (First and Last):_____________________________________________

COMPANY:_____________________________________________

STREET ADDRESS:_____________________________________________

CITY:_____________________________________________

STATE:_____________________________________________

COUNTRY:_____________________________________________

EVENING PHONE #:_____________________________________________

========================================================================

# Registrations of Picture Clock @ $10.00 US/registration  	______	 X $10.00

# Copies of Picture Clock source code @ $10.00 US/copy	______	 X $10.00

Total	______

California Residents add 7.75% tax	______

Shipping and Handling ($2.00 US or $7.00 OUTSIDE US)	______

Total Price	______

Diskette Format (choose one from below):

____ 1.2MB

____ 1.44MB

____ Email to address ______________________________

I Have read and agree to all terms regarding the registration of Picture Clock

signed, _________________________________

========================================================================

Send check or money order to:	Dan Chae

DC Engineering

PO BOX 2635

Goleta, CA. 93118