by Mark Nemtsas | May 5, 2008 | New Releases, News
A new version was released today containing three bug fixes. The new NTP time code had a small bug in it where in some instances the time queried from the NTP server was not read properly and the old time was used instead leading to timing errors. Another fix was put in for the Error 6 : Overflow that some people had seen when their systems were running for a very long time. I suspect this is a limitation with a timer in MS Windows that takes effect after your system has been running for more than 47 days. Time Clock MTS determines your currency symbol ($ for example) and decimal symbol (. or ,) from some internal MS Windows settings. In some cases (for some reasons I’ve not been able to determine) these settings are not able to be read. This caused an error when saving Time Clock MTS settings. This has now been fixed... read more
by Mark Nemtsas | Apr 30, 2008 | New Releases, News
Time Clock MTS Version 1.6.8 was released yesterday containing a few fixes and some performance updates. The software now functions correctly with limited user accounts on Windows XP and Windows Vista. This was possible before but some directory permissions had to be set manually, the software installer now does this automatically. The Client software would not register itself properly when the trial period had expired. Again this could be worked around with some effort but now should just happen automatically. The method used to access internet time servers has changed. Some people were reporting that Time Clock MTS wouldn’t connect to the servers properly so the changes were made in and attempt to fix this up. I should emphasize that for the best level of security for your Time Clock Software that you should use the Internet Time Server option for determining clock in and out times. Some users were experiencing a slowdown when the employee list had more than 50 employees in it. Some time was spent speeding this up, you should see about a 30% speed increase (this same speed increase will be seen in other areas of the software that display the full employee... read more
by Mark Nemtsas | Apr 23, 2008 | Tips and Tricks, Using the Software
In Part 1 of this entry we had a look at the directory where Time Clock MTS stores all of it’s local configuration and logging information. Now we’ll take a quick look at the files in this location and what they are used for. clientlog.txt – contains all the logging information for the client version of Time Clock MTS log.txt – contains all of the user interface logging information for the administrator version of Time Clock MTS logdll.txt – contains all of the business logic logging for both the client and administrator versions timeclock.ini – contains all the local configuration options for both versions of the software timeclock.mdb – found in the Database sub directory this is the MS Access version of the Time Clock MTS database. If you cant see this file then it’s because it has been moved. Just a quick final tip. If you are having problems with Time Clock MTS and you’re emailing us about them it’s always a good idea to attach the log.txt and logdll.txt files to the email as they can contain a lot of useful information that helps us get to the bottom of your... read more
by Mark Nemtsas | Apr 16, 2008 | Tips and Tricks, Using the Software
Time Clock MTS stores all of its’ local configuration and log files in the common program data directory on the computer that it is installed on. It can be useful to know where this directory is for several reasons, you might want to move the Time Clock MTS database, you might want to copy the main configuration file to share it among other computers, or you may need to send the log files to us to help sort out problems you are having. The exact location of the directory depends entirely on the version of Windows that you happen to be running. To determine where your information is take a look at this list: Windows 10, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista c:\ProgramData\Time Clock MTS\ Windows XP / Windows 2003 Server / Windows 2000 C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Time Clock MTS Windows Me / Windows 98 SE C:\Windows\All Users\Application Data\Time Clock MTS\ Usually you can just navigate directly to this directory using Windows Explorer but in some cases Windows can be configured to hide system files and folders (of which this is one) by default. If this is the case then you’ll need to use Windows Explorer to change some settings to allow you to find this directory. You can learn how to do this on your version of Windows by taking a look here. In part 2 I’ll take a look at the files in this directory and run through what they are and what they are used... read more
by kathryn@timeclockmts.com | Apr 5, 2008 | New Releases
Just a minor release today. The single new feature is being able to use a custom NTP server from which Time Clock MTS can set it’s internal clock from. You might like to use this setting for the following reasons: Your network is not connected to the Internet and cannot access an external NTP server so you must use a NTP server on your network somewhere. Your network is firewalled and does not allow access to the port required for a query to an NTP server. This port is UDP port 123. If this is the case then you must use a NTP server on your network somewhere. You prefer to use a geographically closer NTP server than the default time servers available in Time Clock MTS. For a list of available public NTP servers try taking a look at the NTP Organization Home Page. A minor bug was fixed in this version, the report configuration screen would give an invalid property error when the next month button was pressed and then the this week button was pressed, but only when the current month had 30 days and the previous had 31. It was fairly obscure but thanks to one alert user who figured out exactly what was going on. Versions 1.6.3/1.6.4 were released recently in an effort to try to fix an error on the Edit Times Screen. Some users were reporting that the drop down menus on the Add Time and Delete Time buttons on the Edit Times screen were not working but I could not replicate this. It turned out the error only occurred when navigating... read more
by Mark Nemtsas | Mar 29, 2008 | New Features
The information in this old article is now superseded. If you want to learn how to setup the Time Clock MTS Network PLUS Edition with SQL Server you should read these instructions. Introduction Time Clock MTS is now ready to be tested using MS SQL Server as a database rather than the standard MS Access database. This will result in a program that is more responsive, more reliable, and able to cater for more client computers than ever before. If you are interested in taking part in this beta then all the usual disclaimers apply. The software *is* beta and the setup is reasonably complex at the moment. The setup will improve a lot when we get to the final release. Download and Install the BETA Verions of Time Clock MTS If you are a current user of Time Clock MTS then you will only need to download and install the update versions of the client and admin programs. If you’re new to Time Clock MTS or want to try a fresh install then you’ll need to download the full installation packages. Go to our Time Clock Downloads Page to download Time Clock MTS. Create Your SQL Server Database The first setup is to create your SQL Server database using the Time Clock MTS Access database as a template. You must have installed the admin version of Time Clock MTS first, and can use your existing populated timeclock.mdb file as a template. The best method of creating the SQL Server database is to use the built in database upsizing wizard within MS Access. You’ll need to do this in... read more
