This is a small help file for Timer v1.27, which is best viewed in Notepad, with Word Wrap turned on (Edit, Word Wrap)

What's new in v1.27?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can now choose how long you are online before the 'beep' plays!
But wait!  More....Yes!

Instead of the old boring 'Beep', you can now choose whatever Sound File 
you want to play.  Record your own sound using sound Recorder, then have
it play after every five minutes!

A small bug where if an option was changed, the file would not be saved 
correctly, and thus some changes were lost, has also been fixed.

Due to popular demand, Timer does not shut down entirely when you Auto-Close, although in the future I intend to have an option on whether it actually 'closes' or not.

Overview
~~~~~~~~

This program was initially created for myself, because I was always losing
track of how long I had been online for, and had to manually calculate the
costs, or estimate them.

Timer eliminates all of these problems.

Features
~~~~~~~~
*  You can now define a connection time
*  A sound file will play for every <n> minutes online.
*  Automatic closure when the TCP/IP Stack manager is closed (optional)
*  Ability to change call charges
*  Ability to have discount rates (such as BT's Friends and Family)
*  Creation of details in a log file, called 'timer.log'
*  Ability to view and Purge the log file from within the program
*  Ongoing Total Costs kept, and can be viewed and cleared from within Timer
*  Ability to change the colours of the main Timer screen
*  Ability to define which TCP/IP Manager you use
*  Ability to decide whether or not the Timer 'beeps' when you are online
*  Automatic Startup!

Running under Windows '95
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Running under Windows 95 is a bit of a faff around.  To use it, select the
'TCP/IP Manager' (it's not actually!) "lights.exe" in your Windows/System 
directory.  

How do I auto Start in my Trumpet Winsock script?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you do not want to use the Auto-Start facility, and prefer to load Timer
automatically from your Trumpet Winsock script, the following command should
be used:

	exec "<path>online.exe"
e.g.	exec "c:\internet\timer\online.exe"

Troubleshooting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q. The Timer only loads up, the immediately closes again.
A. Timer v1.27 needs Trumpet Winsock (or your specified program to be 
   running, so when it is not found, the timer loads, and automatically       unloads.

Q. The Timer seems to just stop when I undergo some operation.
A. This is likely to be a bug which you have found, and you should report      what you did, and what happened, to Clyne McCarthy    (clyne@enterprise.net).

Q. Sometimes Timer will say I was online at Peak rates, when I wasn't.
A. This is caused bacause Timer automatically looks for a 24 hour clock, so    your system must be set as 24 hour clock.  In Windows 3.1, you can change    this in Control Panel, International.  Remember also to change the time    format to UK!

Q. Timer says it "cannot find a file, or one of it's components"
A. You need to find the VBRUN300.DLL.  One of the fastest places to get this    is: ftp://ftp.enterprise.net/pub/mirror/winsock-l/Misc_Utils/VBRun/vbrun300.exe
   If all else fails, email me (clyne@enterprise.net) and I will send you a    copy via email.

Getting the latest version
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can get the latest version of Timer by going to
http://homepages.enterprise.net/clyne/timer.html using your Web browser.

Alternatively, you can email clyne@enterprise.net, requesting the latest
version, and it will be emailed to you as soon as possible.

Mailing List
~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you would like to be added to a Mailing List (well, not REALLY a mailing list)  Lets say...if you want to be emailed when Timer is updated, changed etc. then goto the Timer Homepage (http://homepages.enterprise.net/clyne/timer.html) and fill in your details on the form, and Submit it.

If your web browser does not support Forms, or mail, then using your mail client, send a message to clyne@enterprise.net asking to be placed on the list.

Registering?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This program is Freeware, that means that you do not have to register it.
The only thing I ask is that whenever this file is uploaded to the Internet, or a BBS (Bulletin Board) the files remain intact as you received them, and my name be mentioned in the index file, or 'file_id.diz'.

I would also appreciate a simple email telling me that you use the program, and like it.  That's all I want!

What's next?
~~~~~~~~~~~~

An offline configuration manager.  It was brought to my attention by Steve Perry (zonic@enterprise.net) that if the Timer was set to Auto Close, then if you wanted to configure the Timer offline, you couldn't!

Hence, my latest project is to have an offline configuration manager to make all this possible!

However, a lot has gone on lately, and be on the lookout for these additional features:

*  Print facility in the Call Log
*  Save facility in the Call Log
*  Possibly an option to tell you when a specified "cash to spend"      limit is reached.
*  A real Help file, if I can.  I am researching into how easy the Help    language is to learn.  If anyone can help, PLEASE get in contact    with me.
*  a display telling you How Much the call has cost so far (will be    updated along with the online time)

Suggestions
~~~~~~~~~~~

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE email me suggestions of improvements for the online timer.  I am always looking for ways to improve Timer, and will ALMOST ALWAYS implement features, provided they are possible for me.

Getting in contact with the author
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you need to get in contact with me for any reason, be it commendation,
criticism, help, or the latest version, I can be reached at:

Internet:   clyne@enterprise.net
Fidonet:    2:259/95.8
Snail Mail: Clyne McCarthy
            Braal Road
            Halkirk
            Caithness
            Scotland
            KW12 6XB

Thank you for using Timer.
Clyne McCarthy
