Program written by Jeff Nagle. Manual written by Tony Magnusson. CATCH©me does two things: 1. It lets you know the time and date without getting in your way. 2. It will ring an alarm, alerting you of anything from corporate commitments to what day Saturday Night Live comes on. The Task: How does one write a program that tells you the time regardless of the application you are using? The Answer: Make the program "stay on top". A good example of this is the Microsoft clock which has the ability to "stay on top". The only drawback to this approach is when it is covering up something you want to access. You know how annoying it is when you are always having to drag the clock around. Now, imagine a little square, without a program name or a title or even buttons. A square that only tells you the time and date. If it is covering up something all you have to do is touch it with your pointing device (mouse, etc.) and it "flies" away to some other location on your screen. You can never "catch" CATCH©me. The bottom line is this: suppose CATCH©me is located over something you'd like to use, in whatever program you're working on. Move your mouse as you normally would toward the intended area. As soon as the mouse pointer is over the CATCH©me display it will move away allowing you to use whatever it was covering up. In addition to this, you can set an alarm and note. But how does one tell a program what to do when you can't "catch it"? What you do is hold down either the right mouse button or the Shift key and drag the mouse pointer over the time display. CATCH©me will stay in place and pop up the SetAlarm screen for you to set the alarm and note. Click Okay when you're done. CATCH©me supports the date and time formats available in the International dialog box time located in the Control Panel. For instance, you can control whether the time is displayed in a 12 or 24 hour format using this dialog box. The time is displayed in hours and minutes. There are a couple of reasons why the seconds are not shown. First, one of the design goals is to display only what absolutely must be shown. Most people don't work by the second, except maybe lawyers. I have yet to hear someone say "I'll call you at ten seconds past eight thirty." The second reason is to reduce CATCH©me's impact on system performance as it is constantly running in the background. Since just the hours and minutes are shown the system clock needs to be checked only every 30 seconds in order to update the time display and check the alarm(s). If seconds were displayed the system clock would have to be checked at least once every second. This change from checking 2 times per minute to checking 60 times per minute represents an increase in required processor time of 3000%. If you would like to have the seconds displayed please let me know. If enough people request it I will make it an option in the next version. INSTALLATION Installation is the very easy. The files VBRUN300.DLL and COMMDLG.DLL are needed for CATCH©me to start. Both these files should be located in the Windows\System directory. During installation about 150K worth of files will be copied to your Windows directory. This will be reduced to 0K after installation. The CATCH©me directory will take about 215K of disk space. No modifications are made to either the WIN.INI or SYSTEM.INI files unless you choose to have the WIN.INI file modified as described below in the section dealing with how to add CATCH©me to the "run=" line. If, after installation, any of the support files in the CATCH©me program directory are also in the Windows\System directory then you should put the latest version in the Windows\System directory and delete the version in the CATCH©me program directory. CATCHME.EXE Program file that gets copied to the program directory CATCHME.INI Support file that gets copied to the program directory CMCONFIG.EXE Program file that gets copied to the program directory CMDIALOG.VBX Support file that gets copied to the program directory INSTSCRL.VBX Support file that gets copied to the program directory THREED.VBX Support file that gets copied to the program directory SETUPKIT.DL_ A file that's used for setup that stays on the floppy SETUP.EXE A file that's used for setup that stays on the floppy CMSETUP.EX_ A file that's used for setup that stays on the floppy VER.DL_ A file that's used for setup that stays on the floppy STARTUP.INI A file that's used for setup that stays on the floppy SETUP.LST A file that's used for setup that stays on the floppy MANUAL.TXT This file, gets copied to the program directory Experienced computer users -- CATCH©me follows standard Windows Setup procedure. Run the Setup.Exe program and follow instructions. Some of the files are compressed so you must run SetUp in order to decompress these files. To just copy them to the desired directories will not work. Setup will copy the new files into a specified directory. You can then delete or move the original files as desired. The less experienced user -- I'm assuming that you've just got done extracting the "holding file" (the ZIP file) for all the CATCH©me files. You must run SETUP.EXE because some of the files you unzipped are still in a compressed form. Before you run SETUP you need to decide where you want the program files located. Most of the files CATCH©me requires will be installed in it's own directory. I have a directory called C:\UTIL where I keep all my handy little programs like CATCH©me. Each program has its own subdirectory. My "path" would look like "C:\UTIL\CATCHME". There are two ways to run Setup, here's how: 1. From the File Manager select the directory the CATCH©me files in. Double click on the Setup.Exe file. 2. Click the File Menu item either in File Manager OR in Program Manager. Choose the "run" command and type in the path to where Setup.Exe is located, i.e., C:\DOWNLOAD\Setup.Exe. Click "Okay". By default, CATCH©me will set itself up in a directory called C:\CATCHME. You can modify this simply by changing the dialog box to say whatever you like. As I mentioned earlier, I changed mine to say C:\UTIL\CATCHME. If you have not already created this directory it will be created for you. Next, Setup will want to know how you plan to start CATCH©me. There are three ways that all work equally well. From an icon in a Program Group -- This means that CATCH©me appears like every other program in Windows, as in icon in a Program Group. To run CATCH©me, you double click on the icon and the program runs. Setup will give you the option to have CATCH©me installed in a new Program Group for itself, or to be part of an existing group. Setup will present you with a list of all the Program Manager Groups that you have on your Desktop. Choose the "New Group" selection or any other group you wish from the list box. Don't select either of the check boxes in the lower left. From the Startup Group(requires Windows 3.1 or above) -- This group is like any other Program Manager group in that it appears on the Desktop like all the others but it has a special purpose. Every time that you start Windows any programs whose icons are located in this group will start automatically without you having to do anything. It is common to run utility programs such as CATCH©me from the Startup Group. When you install CATCH©me you will be asked to pick a Program Manager Group you'd like CATCH©me to be installed in. Choose a Program Manager group in the list box for the support files and the CM configuration program. Click the check box in the lower left check box that says "Put in StartUp Group". After installation CATCH©me will be run upon startup and you can access the other programs thru their icons located in the Program Manager group you selected from the list box. This is the recommended way to start CATCH©me automatically. From Win.Ini -- Running a program from Win.Ini is virtually the same as utilizing the Startup Group. You can place a program's name and path on the "run=" line and Windows will start that program whenever Windows is started. When you install CATCH©me by running Setup, you will be asked what Program Manager Group you'd like CATCH©me to be installed in. After making your selection click the check box in the lower left that says "Modify Win.Ini File". After installation the CATCH©me files will be installed in the Program Manager group selected from the list box and CATCH©me will be run automatically when you start Windows. Once you have finished the installation you can click on the CATCH©me icon to start the program. If you then copy the original unzipped files to a floppy you will have created a program disk that you can use if you ever need to reinstall the program. If your floppy disk is in drive "A:" you can reinstall the program by running "A:\SETUP.EXE" . The original unzipped files can then be erased so that you end up with the working files in the CATCH©me directory you selected in SETUP and a program disk. Manual Installation -- If for some reason you wish to manually install CATCH©me this is how to do it. Decide where you will put the files. Then copy all the files that the list above says will be copied into the program directory. Using NotePad or another ASCII text editor you must change a line in the Catchme.Ini file. Under the "[Alarms]" section the line "Alarm0=1" should be changed to "Alarm0=0". All that's left is to add the Catchme.Exe and Cmconfig.Exe programs to a program group. The only side effect of manual installation is that the first time you run CATCH©me you will see two registration reminder messages within five minutes. This only happens once, the very first time. THE ALARM AND NOTE At any time while entering the alarm or note you can use keystrokes to simulate clicking on two command buttons. Pressing the Enter key is the same as clicking the "Okay" button and pressing the Escape(ESC) key is the same as clicking the "Cancel" button. Setting: The shareware version of CATCH©me can set one alarm and keep one note of up to 20 characters in length. You can open the SetAlarm dialog box by holding the right mouse button or Shift key down and dragging the mouse pointer over the CATCH©me display. First set the date. Next comes the time. There are shortcut keys for the ":" keystroke. The "+" or "-" keys will result in the ":" character. If you enter "1+20" for the time you will see "1:20" displayed. The option buttons next to the time entry field control whether the time is A.M. or P.M.. After inputting the note, if any, click "Okay" and the alarm is set. You will notice the character separating the time and date in the CATCH©me display has changed to a "+". Whenever the alarm is set the "+" will be present. If you clicked "Okay" and either the alarm date or alarm time was blank the alarm will not be set and the cursor will move to the blank field. To exit without setting an alarm click the "Cancel" button. Changing: Open the SetAlarm dialog box as described above. Make the desired changes. Click "Okay" and the new settings will replace the old ones. Clearing: Open the SetAlarm dialog box as described above. Click the "Delete" button. The previous alarm and note will be cleared. Canceling Erroneous Input: If you find that you have changed the alarm settings in error you can cancel the current input by clicking the "Cancel" button. The alarm settings will then be the same as before you had opened the SetAlarm dialog box. Clicking this button is also the way to exit if you don't wish to set an alarm. Closing the Program There are no standard control buttons on the CATCH©me display. In the SetAlarm dialog box there is a "Close" button that shuts down CATCH©me. There's no real reason to ever close CATCH©me unless it gets in the way for some reason. You can also use Windows Task Manager(Ctrl-Esc or double click on the Desktop) to close CATCH©me or any other application. HOW TO USE THE CATCH©me CONFIGURATION PROGRAM CATCH©me Config is a separate program (the other CATCH©me icon) that allows you to set the colors, font and size of CATCH©me. Simply double click on this icon to configure CATCH©me anytime. It doesn't matter if CATCH©me is running or not. Features: RGB Color slide bars -- The colors that your computer can display are made up of three values. They are: [R]ed, [G]reen, [B]lue. You can use the slide bars or text boxes to set a value for how much of a base color (R,G,or B) that you want in the color you are trying to make. Once you define a value between 0-255 for the [R], [G], and [B] you have a color. For instance, the values [R]255 [G]255 [B]255 will give you white. The RGB values effect the border and background colors only and they must be "tested" in the test display or they will not be saved. Border and Background buttons -- These buttons control whether you are setting the RGB value for the border or the background. The active button has a yellow background. In order for these colors to be put into effect you must click the Test Color button. Test Color button -- Click the Test Color button to see what the RGB colors you've chosen look like in the test CATCH©me display. The colors in the test display are those that will be set. Font button -- Click on this button to select the font, font size, or font color that CATCH©me displays. You can use any font and size that you have on your system. CATCH©me ignores the underline and strikethrough settings. Some advice and guidelines are in order; if you select a proportionally spaced font, the size of CATCH©me will change with it. Complicated fonts usually will not look good, CATCH©me is simply too small. Certain other non-standard fonts also don't really work all that well with CATCH©me. MS Sans Serif, Times New Roman or Arial are all good fonts to start with. Also, experiment with making fonts bold and/or italic. Sizing radio buttons -- Three choices appear, choose the size appropriate for the font size that you plan to use. Month Display -- The month can be displayed either as a three character abbreviation or as a number. In the shareware version the month can only be displayed as a three character abreviation. Okay and Cancel -- Click Okay to approve the configuration as shown in the test CATCH©me display. The border and background color information will be taken from the test display only. In the Shareware version the new background color will take effect the next time the color changes from white(see below). Click Cancel to cancel any changes made. REGISTRATION In the shareware version of CATCH©me the background color will alternate between the color set in CMConfig and white. Approximately twice as much time will be spent with a white background as is spent with the background being the color you set. Unless, of course, you wish white to be your background color, in which case it would be displayed all the time. You can register CATCH©me for $15.00 with us here at Awake Technologies. The registered version of CATCH©me includes these additional features: 1. Five Alarms instead of only one 2. Each Alarm has its Own Note of Up To 60 characters 3. Intelligent Time and Date Input Boxes 4. Can display month as number or three character abbreviation 5. CATCH©me background color stays as set 6. A Button for Running CMconfig from the Set Alarm Window 7. A Printed Manual 8. An Original Program Disk in Your Choice of Size With Intelligent Time and Date Input Boxes you can make entries in the form you would use if you were talking to a person instead of a computer. These shortcuts make it faster and more logical to input dates and times than any similar product available today. The program will convert the entries into the date and time formats based on the setting in the International dialog box. Send your check or money order to: JTN 547 W. Rialto Fresno, CA 93705 Make Check Payable to: Jeff Nagle Please indicate your disk size(3.5 or 5.25) You can also register using the Shareware Registration service(GO SWREG) available on Compuserve. The registration ID is 1107. The cost is $16.95. The additional cost will pay most of the fee that Compuserve charges me when this service is used. CUSTOMER SUPPORT CATCH©me comes with free customer support for a period of one year. We offer support by means of phone, fax or Compuserve mail. Below are the particulars: Awake Tech Support: (619)233-9338 Awake Fax: (619)549-4510 Jeff Nagle, programmer: CIS:71204,2712 This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals(ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI USA 49442-9427, FAX 616-788-2765, or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536 LEGAL Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights. CATCH©me is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share the shareware version with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. For commercial users a Site-License is required if you use the registered version of CATCH©me on more than one computer. CATCH©me is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of CATCH©me.