‘Timer recording’ dialog

To program a new timer recording :

1. Check whether the time and date displayed at the top of the dialog are correct; if not - use standard Windows tools to make necessary adjustments. If you are a frequent traveler remember that the time shown on your watch may not be consistent with the local time.

2. Click the New button. The current date and hour will appear in the Start time and End time control panels.

3. Set the desired start time of the timer recording using the scroll buttons situated in the Start time control panel.

4. Set the desired end time of the timer recording using the scroll buttons situated in the End time control panel. The length of the recording (the difference between it's end time and start time) is displayed in the brackets next to the end hour.

5. Use the Settings control panel to fix the recording details. The Recording mode listbox allows you to choose among several recording modes (once, daily, weekly, monthly or Mon-Fri). The File button can be used to set three record parameters (sampling frequency, number of channels and sampling resolution) and to choose the name and location of the file where the music data will be saved. Finally, the Info button allows you to enter a description of the timer recording, a part of which entitled 'headline' (up to 16 characters) is displayed on the list next to the timing details.

6. Press the Set button to add a new timer recording to the list (all activated timer recordings are distinguished with red indicators).

7. Press the OK button to close the Timer recording dialog but do not exit the program (see Notice 1 below).

To modify an existing timer recording (i.e., the one already shown on the list) click the corresponding item and proceed exactly as described above. Finally, to remove any item from the list select it and click the Remove button.

You can disable (temporarily cancel) a timer recording by selecting it and pressing the Disable button (the corresponding indicator will turn gray; the Disable button will turn into the Enable button). To reactivate the disabled timer recording click the corresponding line on the list and press the Enable button (you can still use the Set button to modify the disabled item). The enable/disable function can be used, for example, to temporarily block periodic timer recordings, i.e., those performed in the daily, weekly, monthly or Mon-Fri mode.

Each time the Timer recording dialog is evoked all periodic timer recordings are scrutinized to determine the time of the next recording session due. To sort timer recordings 'by start time' press the Sort list button. If the Auto sort box is checked sorting will be performed automatically each time the Timer recording dialog is opened.

When a nonperiodic timer recording session (the one performed in the once mode) is complete the corresponding item is assigned a done status and displayed with a 'tick' mark next to it. To remove such item from the list select it and click the Remove button. If you check the Auto remove checkbox all nonperiodic timer recordings will be automatically removed from the list when done (naturally, the created wave files will NOT be deleted).

When you close the Timer recording dialog the entire list is saved on the disk.

When recording starts a timer recording progress/info window is displayed showing the basic recording details (file name, headline, start time, end time) and percentage of the work done. You can stop recording at any time by pressing the Cancel button.

NOTICE 1

You can program any number of timer recordings for any number of days in advance. You should be aware, however, that to make timer recording possible your computer MUST be switched on during the time scheduled for recording with DART CD-Recorder Basic OPEN (possibly minimized) and NOT busy (no dialog can be open including the Timer recording dialog). If any of the conditions mentioned above is not fulfilled the timer recording is cancelled and the status of the corresponding item on the list is changed to failed. If the Auto remove option is not switched on all such recordings will be shown on the list with the 'cross' sign next to them.

NOTICE 2

DART CD-Recorder Basic will not allow you to program conflicting timer recordings, i.e., those with overlapping recording times. Some conflicts may be not obvious at the first glance, e.g. the daily [22:00 - 23:00] timer recording conflicts with the monthly [22:30 - 23:30] one in the sense that at some point in the future both requests would have to be served simultaneously.

Similarly, you will not be allowed to put on the list nonperiodic recordings for which the end time is smaller than the current time, i.e., the ones that are already overdue at the time of setting. The last constraint is not imposed on periodic recordings. However, the corresponding start time and end time details may change so as to match the nearest recording time due when you press the Enable or Set button. The analogous recalculation is made for all periodic timer recordings each time you open the Timer recording dialog.

NOTICE 3

A unique soundfile name proposed by DART CD-Recorder Basic is based on the start time of the recording and allows for a pretty straightforward file identification (for example, the file D12021998H0312.wav can be easily recognized as the recording made on February 12, 1998 at 3:12 in the morning). You can change this name but when you do it for a periodic timer recording a new material will always overwrite the material recorded during the previous session (which may be convenient if you are short of the disk space).