Documentation to Counter Ver. 1.0 By L. D. Math July, 1991 Silicon Laboratories, Seattle, WA. **************Disclaimer and Legal Mumbo Jumbo:******************* Counter is FREE. It may be sold if you can find somebody naive enough to buy it, but no payment is required or requested. If you think that Counter is so great that you can't sleep at night without sending me some money, then feel free; my address is: L. D. Math, 2936 NE 178th St., Seattle, WA. 98155-4023 $5.00 would be plenty. Counter is not guaranteed in any way, shape, or form. You use Counter at your own risk, regardless of any possible consequences that may occur before, during or after it's use. I will not be held liable for any damages that result from using Counter. My Own Two Cent's Worth: Counter has been tested pretty well before it was released. No known "bugs" or "undocumented program features" exist as of this release. That doesn't mean there aren't any, just that there are none that I know of. Counter uses approved programming techniques and does not fool around with your system hardware at all. Counter simply reads a seconds register and does a quickie-calculation to see how much time is left. Counter does not write to your hard drive, nor does it alter any data or system parameters. Nonetheless, I won't be responsible if you misuse it and somehow cause the Earth to split in half. **********Overview: Counter is a handy little Visual Basic program that will countdown to a time you specify and then sound an alarm. Counter is useful for those long up/download sessions. After your file transfer has begun, simply note how long it will take, and set Counter for a few minutes less. As your file transfer nears the end, Counter will time-out and give you a few moments notice so you can prepare for the end of the transfer. Counter may also be used for any other application that you see fit. **********Requirements: Any AT or better capable of running Windows 3.0 in Standard or Enhanced mode, about 20K of disk space and the VBRUN100.DLL file, available on most Public Domain BBS's for free. **********Controls: "START" Button Starts Counter if a time has been input. Activated (optionally) by the when Counter is paused. Changes to "CONTINUE" when Counter is paused. "STOP" Button Pauses Counter. Activated (optionally) by the when counting. Changes the "START" button into a "CONTINUE" button. "CLEAR" Button Clears any remaining time in Counter and resets to 00:00:00. Also stops the alarm sound when it is going off. "QUIT" Button Quits Counter after first confirming that you really want to quit. HOUR, MINUTE and SECOND Controls Located beneath the Time Display, these are used to enter or change the counter time. Maximum = 23:59:59. These allow for fast, easy setup of the time value. May be changed when Counter is paused or stopped. Menu Bar: "About" Shows info on Counter. "Exit" Quits Counter *NOW*, doesn't pester you by asking if you're sure. **********Features: Once Counter is started, it may be toggled on and off (paused) with the . When the alarm sounds, it may be silenced with the or by the CLEAR button. When Counter is minimized to an icon, it displays the time remaining in the icon caption. Counter uses only one timer function in the operating system, so it won't load down your system with a lot of extra overhead. Counter uses the bare minimum of system resources. Counter will keep correct time even if it can't read the system clock for extended periods of time. If Counter is minimized, Counter will return to it's normal size when the alarm goes off. **********Etcetera The Up/Down Time Set controls seem to work upside down, but that's function of Visual Basic, not wierd programming on my part. When I figure out how to correct it, I'll put it in ver. 1.1. Actually, I should claim this is a program feature, in that it puts the "UP" buttons (which you are more likely to use than the "DOWN" buttons) closer to the START/STOP buttons. But I won't. The numbers Counter uses may look blocky, depending upon your system. A version that allows you to pick your own font may follow this release. Future versions of Counter will probably include the ability to time an event and perhaps run a program or a sound file you provide. Sound support for Visual Basic is bleak at the moment, but this is expected to improve before long. If you have an idea for something you would like to see in Counter, write me and let me know. If it's reasonable, I'll try to put it in. If you find a bug in Counter, write me and describe the problem. I will fix the bug (or die trying) and send you back an updated version. Please try and include as much information about the problem as you can. (e.g. "When I count past midnight, Counter makes the Earth split in half, and Counter also loses several seconds.") *************************************************************************** Counter is Copyright (c) 1991 by L.D. Math. Counter may not be modified or altered without permission. The source code for Counter is available for one dollar from the address above.