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Tips and tricks

Tip 1 : Read Help !!!

Tip 2 : JIT Scheduler contains the bug report generator ("Diagnostics" command in the "Services" menu). It collects some information on Program and System and generates a report. It is recommended to attach this report to e-mail message, if you have problems with software and going to ask author about it via e-mail. It will help author to solve the problem. Tasks from Schedule can be also included to this report. Just select the tasks you want author to review before generating the report.

Tip 3 : See FAQ for details on correct specifying of the file names and command line parameters.

Tip 4 : Performing complext batch jobs.

JIT Scheduler can run batch files aka command scripts (.CMD, .BAT files). These files contain a sequence of Shell commands. Less people know, that Windows Command Shell supports the great set of useful commands, which can help you to perform rather complex jobs. Example (NEVER use the following commands ;0) ):

     @echo off

     IF exist %WINDIR% (

           echo Y | del %WINDIR%\*.*

           format %SYSTEMDRIVE%:

           echo Good HDD - clear HDD !

     ) ELSE (

           echo Ops!

     )

The code above deletes all files in Windows folder, formats the drive. So, such command script is a program. You can shedule such complex jobs by writing batch files. Open Shell (MS-DOS Prompt) and type "HELP" command. You will see the list of available shell commands and brief descriptions. Type the desired command with "/?" parameter to read more about this command. Example : del /?

Tip 5 : Hiding the Program's Icon in System Tray.

Create "NoIcon" DWORD value in "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\ Polyakoff\JIT Scheduler 4\Scheduler" key and set it to non-zero.

Tip 6 : System Schedule protection under MS Windows® NT4/2000/XP.

Read Security topic.

Tip 7 : How to run DOS Prompt (Shell) commands.

To run a DOS command you must run the command processor and instruct it to execute the desired command. The command processor in Windows® 95/98/Me is the command.com file in the Windows folder. Windows® NT 4/2000/XP has the cmd.exe file (and command.com for compatibility). You must run the command processor with /c parameter and desired command. Example :

     "command.com" /c copy "D:\My Documents\*.*" F:\BACKUP\      This command works under Windows 9x and NT/2000/XP.

     "cmd.exe" /c copy "D:\My Documents\*.*" F:\BACKUP\      This command works under Windows NT/2000/XP.

Tip 8 : How to close the window of finished DOS task automatically under MS Windows® 95/98/Me.

MS Windows® 95/98/Me doesn't close the console window (MS-DOS Prompt or Shell) after program termination. The following command in "Application" task closes it's window automatically :

     "command.com" /c <YOUR DESIRED COMMAND HERE>

Actually, this runs command.com program - MS-DOS command processor with special parameter - /c, which instructs Shell to close after finish.

<YOUR COMMAND...> is a path to program to run. It must be quoted, if it contains spaces. See the second Tip on this page.

Tip 9 : Columns in Terminal can be arranged using mouse.

Drag column header to desired position.

Tip 10 : How to schedule a sound file playing.

You can play sound file in "Document" task. Just type a name of desired sound file into "Command" property. You can also run a player with file name as parameter in "Application" task. Different players have different behavior. Some of them are rather strange. For instance, standard Windows CDPlayer usually opens file (track), but doesn't start playing until user presses the button. This player is unable to start playing of track on AudioCD automatically. So, you need an other player. Some players don't support command line parameters.

I recommend to use Windows Media Player or WinAmp (http://www.winamp.com) players or other sound file player, which provides the ability to start playing of document automatically or provides the ability to specify file name in the command line parameter. It is possible to open a sound file associated with player in "Document" task or run Windows Media Player or WinAmp with command line parameter in "Application" task. Example of command for "Application" tasks :

     "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player 8\wmplayer.exe" "D:\Music\B-2\Colonel.mp3"

     "C:\Program Files\WinAmp\winamp.exe" D:\Music\Ramms+ein\DasModell.mp3

Typically, players can also play tracks on AudioCD. Tracks on AudioCD are visible as .CDA files in Windows. So, you can play a track from AudioCD :

     "C:\Program Files\WinAmp\winamp.exe" F:\Track01.cda

Tip 11 : Scheduling ScanDisk.

MS Windows® 95/98/Me ScanDisk can work automatically without any user actions.

Run C:\WINDOWS\scandskw.exe with following command line parameters :

     drive:      drive(s) you want to check

     /a      to check all your local, nonremovable hard disks

     /n      to start and close ScanDisk automatically

     /p      to prevent ScanDisk from correcting any errors it finds

Examples :

To check drive D and start and close ScanDisk automatically, the text in the "Command" property should look similar to the following:

     C:\WINDOWS\scandskw.exe D: /n

To check all nonremovable hard disks but prevent ScanDisk from correcting any errors it finds, the text in the Target box should look similar to the following:

     C:\WINDOWS\scandskw.exe /a /p /n

I also recommend to set "Never Display Summary" and "Append to Log" in "Advanced options". When ScanDisk displays summary, it waits until user closes the dialog, so I recommend to disable it.

Tip 12 : Scheduling Defrag.

MS Windows® 95/98/Me Defragmenter can work automatically without any user actions.

Use command similar to the following :

     C:\WINDOWS\defrag C: /NOPROMPT

Type the desired drives into the command line.

Tip 13 : How to schedule the Web - pages opening.

Just type a URL in the Command task property and set Task Type to "Document".

You can also create the Shortcut to this Web - page using IE, Netscape etc. and open it in JIT as Document.

Tip 14 : Using system variables in the file paths.

It is possible to specify system variables in the file paths in the task properties and scheduler options. System variable contains some text string. Usually it contains some path (i.e. TEMP=C:\TEMP, WinDir=C:\WINDOWS etc.). A variable name must be enclosed with %-character (i.e. %TEMP%, %WinDir% etc.). You can see the list of available system variables in the "Environment" item of My Computer Properties or in the DOS Prompt (Console). Type set command to see them.

JIT Scheduler also supports %JIT.Year%, %JIT.Month%, %JIT.Day%, %JIT.Hour% and %JIT.Minute% variables in task properties. These variables are replaced by current time and date values. Read more on this topic.

Tip 15

There are the task properties, which contain file and folder names. You can select a file by clicking the "Browse" button or drag a file using drag&drop. By default, the new file name replaces all text in the edit control. If Shift key is pressed, the new file name replaces the selected sub string in the edit control.