The Download Cost™ DA is presently a simple little utility. You supply the connection cost in $/Hour--$5 for Genie™ for example--,the download rate in Bytes/Hour--which you have to determine for your particular download settings--,and the File size in Bytes. The DA then computes the download time in minutes and seconds and the download cost.
The DA will actually compute the missing value if you supply any three of the main values--Cost,Rate,Size,Cost/Hour. There is a certain amount of round off error however. The final values are only good to a few % and will be effected by host system loading etc.
The effective rate for Genie™ at 1200 baud using XMODEM 1k blocks seems to be around 360k bytes/sec. While I haven't yet conducted a study I think that this value is a function of your computer type,baud rate(obvious),communication protocol,level of loading of multiuser host systems like Genie™,and quality of communication link--lots of noise will cause resending of blocks which will reduce effective throughput. The best way to find out what your effective rate is is to use the Timing option. Enter the size of the file--the bigger a download you use the more accurate the results will be--and get ready to download. As soon as you start the download click on the "Start Timing" button. It will change to "Stop Timing" and the word Timing will appear in the Min. and Sec. windows. When the download is finished click on the "Stop Timing" button. The elapsed time will be shown in the Min. and Sec. fields and the effective download rate will be shown in the download rate field in bytes/hour.
Errors:
If you supply less than 3 of the 4 values you will get an alert message. The values must be >0 and the fields must not be empty.
If you get a value like "NAN" or "INF" you've probably managed to enter a 0 without the program catching it. A possible occurance is when using the timer. If you start and stop timing in less than 1 second the program will try to compute the effective bandwidth by dividing by 0. Just restart the timer or reinsert your best value for the bandwidth to continue. Worst case just close and open the DA.
The Future:
I plan to add table of connection cost and effective rates that the user can select from the menu. I also plan to add a limited cost accounting system so you know how much you've spent on telecomm in a given month. If I ever do these and if you send your $5 for this you can get the upgrades off of a BBS for free. The registration charge will go up if I do incorporate these features. If you're a shareware author I'll take your stuff in barter--program for program no $5 discounts.
This program should not be distributed by for profit companies without the expressed written permission of T.Trinko.
This program is provided as is with no warrenties implied or otherwise. The user assumes all liabilities associated with the use of this software. T.Trinko has no responsibility for anything this program does adversely or otherwise. Use at your own risk. I've used it with no problems but nothing is for sure in the software world so always backup your files and always work with copies.
