****************************Readme.txt************************************** Tray Temperature Ver 2.2a Copyright (c)1998 Future Business Solutions *Notice* In order to reduce download time, this zip file does not contain the VB5 runtime file msvbvm50.dll needed for this program. If your machine does not already have this file, it can be found at this URL: http://www.simtel.net/simtel.net/win95/dll.html *Notice* Table of Contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. What's New 2. Shareware Notice 3. Minimum System Requirements 4. Revision History 5. Frequently Asked Questions 6. Tips and Tricks 7. Note to Users 8. How to Purchase TrayTemp 9. How to Reach FBS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Note: The info listed in this readme.txt is the latest as of the release of this software, however always consult our web page for the absolute latest information available. 1. WHAT'S NEW ------------- As of TrayTemp version 2.0, FBS has teamed with The Weather Channel to bring the most comprehensive weather coverage to your desktop. Currently, TrayTemp 2.2 supports over 1450 US cities and over 250 international cities. Some new things to check out in this version are: -Dial up Networking users can now have TrayTemp update its forecast as soon as they establish their online connection or have it get the forecast at regular intervals as usual (This option is under the Advanced Settings) -Additional Domestic and International cities added -Ability to ‘Apply’ new configuration changes and see results immediately without having to click OK and come back in. -Forecasts are now completely in English or Metric units English = Fahrenheit, mph, inches/Hg Metric = Celsius, kph, hPa -Current conditions are now available in whole by clicking the main dialog 2. SHAREWARE NOTICE ------------------- This software is shareware and thus is for evaluation purposes only. See shareware agreement upon program startup for all details. It must be registered for permanent and continual use. This program uses the utmost in sophisticated technology to validate whether or not your shareware has been registered. If it is not, and you accept the agreement, then you are running the application as shareware, and should do so for no longer than 30 days. If you are registered, this software is no longer shareware and you should not get the license agreement when you start up. If this persists, please contact someone at FBS as soon as possible. Any attempt to try and tamper with this software is illegal and will probably render the software useless. 3. MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------------------ IBM 486 compatable computer Windows 95, NT - with a way to connect to the internet 4 Megs of RAM or more 3 Megs of HD space (Approx) 4. REVISION HISTORY ------------------- 7/1/98 Ver. 2.2 release *CHANGES* -Dial up Networking option added to Advanced Settings section -Additional Domestic and International cities added -Ability to ‘Apply’ new configuration changes and see results immediately -Forecasts are now completely in English or Metric units -Current conditions are now available in whole by clicking the main dialog 4/1/98 Ver. 2.1 maintenance release *CHANGES* -Smaller download file footprint -Works with new internet site 3/1/98 Ver. 2.0 released *CHANGES* -International cities now supported -Extended forecast option added -Fahrenheit or Celsius option added -More robust proxy support added -Favorites added 9/03/97 Ver1.2 released 8/20/97 Ver1.2 - 1.2 beta 2 released *CHANGES* -Program modified to operate properly under 'Large Fonts' or 'Small Fonts' 7/26/97 Ver1.1 released 7/21/97 Ver1.1 - 1.1 beta 2 released *CHANGES* -Support for proxy username and password have been added -Program no longer prompts for exit confirmation when unloaded by OS or menu. -More reliable display of 3 digit temperatures -More accurate retrieval of cities with hyphens in them -More verbose icon tooltext 6/24/97 Ver1.0 - released 5. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ----------------------------- TrayTemp General Questions Q: Do you accept Credit Cards? Q: When I click on the icon, nothing happens? Q: Why does the tooltip say "(My City) reached. Currently no forecast."? Q: Why does the tooltip say "Internet Error: 'Some error' - Weather server unreachable."? TrayTemp 2.0 specific Q: How do I configure TrayTemp to work with a proxy server? TrayTemp 1.0 specific Q: Why does the tooltip say "(My City) weather - Currently Unavailable"? Q: Why does the tooltip say 10 degrees when it's really over 100 degrees? A: Do you accept Credit Cards? YES. Currently, we accept Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and Discover. You can order online from the TrayTemp homepage and your registration number will be emailed to you promptly. A: When I click on the icon, nothing happens? The call that retrieves the weather will block on that thread, so if the tooltip says "Retrieving weather..." (or something to that effect depending on which version you are running) then that is what it is doing and you will have to wait until it is done to bring up the properties dialog. This can then be accomplished by either right clicking on the icon to get the menu choices or by double left clicking to bring up the properties dialog. If you are clicking on the icon and the tooltip is not as above and still nothing is happening, try changing your display settings to use small fonts instead of large fonts. This can be done by Right Clicking anywhere on your desktop, then Clicking on the 'Properties' item in the popup menu. Now, Click on the 'Settings' Tab. Then, Click on the font combo inside the 'Font Size' section and change it from Large Fonts to Small Fonts. It has not been confirmed yet why this works, but it has helped a number of our users. Fortunately, the configuration is pretty much a one time thing. You put in your city and off you go. The temperature tool tip shows up under the large font settings. So basically, you can go in and configure your city settings one time under 'Small Fonts' and then put your machine back to 'Large Fonts'. *Note - This only applies to users of TrayTemp 1.1 and below. * A: Why does the tooltip say "(My City) reached. Currently no forecast."? Sometimes TrayTemp reaches the weather server but there is no forecast currently available for that city. So this is what it will return. At this point you can check back later to see if a forecast is available or you can right click on the TrayTemp icon and choose the 'View extended forecast' option. This will launch your default browser and take you to the extended forecast page for that city at The Weather Channel (www.weather.com). If the 'No forecast' message persists, you might want to try another city that is nearby. Sometimes TrayTemp returns this message when you are configured to go through a proxy server and it is not working right. The way to check this is to try a whole bunch of different cities and if they all come back with no forecast, then it is probably the proxy server. In that case, refer to the TrayTemp 2.0 specific Question: How do I configure TrayTemp to work with a proxy server. A: Why does the tooltip say "Internet Error: 'Some error' - Weather server unreachable."? This means that TrayTemp experienced an error while trying to reach the weather server. An example of a possible error is: Request Timed out - This means it took the weather server longer than the configured timeout period to return the weather info to TrayTemp. This could mean that the server is really busy or it might mean the connection between you and the server is temporarily down. If you try a few times and you get the same thing, the internet is probably temporarily down. Simply wait a little and try again later. Either way, hopefully by providing you the actual error, you/we can solve any problems more efficiently. A: How do I configure TrayTemp to work with a proxy server? Simply bring up the properties dialog and click on the 'Advanced' button. Now, type the IP address of your proxy server into the proxy box. The easiest way to find this out is to ask your LAN administrator or check in the proxy section of your web browser and see if there is anything in there. Also, type in the port number into the port box if your proxy requires a specific port to be used. Then Click 'OK' and you're all set. You must close TrayTemp and restart it before the changes will take effect. If this seems over your head or you did it and it isn't working, don't hesitate to give us a call. A: Why does the tooltip say "(My City) weather - Currently Unavailable"? TrayTemp uses the internet to get its weather info and we all know how reliable the internet is, so if for any reason TrayTemp cannot reach the weather server at a particular time of day, it will return with "weather unavailable". You should just leave your retrieval interval alone and it will keep trying that often (every say 5 or 10 minutes). And when it can finally get through, you will see your weather. However, your particular office might require you to go through a proxy server in order to get to the internet. The easiest way to find this out is to ask your LAN administrator or check in the proxy section of your web browser and see if there is anything in there. To configure TrayTemp to use a proxy server, refer to the TrayTemp 2.0 specific Question: How do I configure TrayTemp to work with a proxy server. A: Why does the tooltip say 10 degrees when it's really over 100 degrees? TrayTemp was not parsing temperatures over 100 degrees properly. This was fixed in Version 1.1 . 6. TIPS AND TRICKS ------------------ A) How to discover the mysteriously amazing easter egg inside of TrayTemp Bring up the properties dialog and click on the 'About' button. This will bring up the About screen. If you click on the About screen, it will go away. However, if you click on the 'Start' button, it will reveal a secret start menu. Then double left click on the 'Run' item in the start menu. B) How to run multiple instances of TrayTemp to check more than one city at a time It is relatively simple to be able to monitor multiple cities at one time. Once you have registered the software, create another directory on your hard drive. For examples sake, let's call it c:\Program Files\TrayTemp2 . Next, copy all of the files that are in your current TrayTemp directory and paste them into this new TrayTemp2 directory. Now, you can run the new TrayTemp by double left clicking on the TrayTemp.exe in this new TrayTemp2 directory. To set up a shortcut to this file, left click once on the TrayTemp.exe in the TrayTemp2 directory so that it is highlighted. Next, right click on it once and choose copy. Now, right click once on your 'Start Menu' button. This should bring up a few options. We are looking for 'Explore'. Left click on that once. This should launch windows explorer and put you in the 'Start Menu' folder. Now, you should see your 'Programs' folder in the left hand pane of explorer. Expand that folder by left clicking once on the + sign before the name 'Programs' in the left pane. You should then be able to see the 'Startup' folder. Left click once on the 'Startup' folder in the left pane. You should be able to see any programs that are in your 'Startup' folder in the right hand pane. Now, right click once on any of the white space in the right hand pane (not on a file) and choose the 'Paste Shortcut' option. This should paste the shortcut to the TrayTemp.exe that we copied earlier. And now you are all set. This will launch your second TrayTemp also when you start windows. If you do not want it in your 'Startup' folder, simply follow the same directions but choose a different folder to paste the shortcut into instead of the 'Startup' folder. 7. NOTE TO USERS ---------------- FBS would like to thank all of the loyal users of TrayTemp and any of our potential new users for supporting the shareware concept. We have gotten a lot of good feedback from customers and hopefully some of that will be reflected in this version. If not, don't worry. There will be many versions to come. In just a short time, TrayTemp has become the number one weather program. It has been recognized by such places as Windows95.com, TUCOWS Software, and WUGNET. We have also recently teamed with The Weather Channel, the worlds premier weather provider, to bring the most accurate and latest weather info down to the pc desktop. Hopefully, as long as users keep the need and desire for shareware alive, vendors will continue to deliver solid and promising works of software. We are just proud to be a part of it, and you should be too. 8. HOW TO PURCHASE TRAYTEMP --------------------------- TrayTemp can be purchased online with Visa, Mastercard, Amex or Discover at: http://www.futuresolution.com/TrayTemp/TrayTemp.htm. Just click on the credit cards. Or just print out the order.txt and send it in along with a check for $9.95 US. 9. HOW TO REACH FBS ------------------- If you have any bugs to report, need support or just have general comments, you can contact us at: Phone: (703) 560 - 1445 Email: fbs@futuresolution.com Web: http://www.futuresolution.com * Our tech specialists are online the majority of the time, so you will probably get the best response time via email