AutoRun

Overview

AutoRun is a program to start (and stop) other
programs.  Whenever the Psion is switched on,
Autorun will read a control file and perform
the defined actions.  These may depend on the
day and time, and sophisticated rules can be
built up to tailor the 


Installation

The following files should be copied onto your
system :

\opo\autorun.opo
\dat\autorun.dbf   [can be placed in \opd instead]
\txt\autorun.txt   [this file, optional]

Data and program files can be placed on any disk.

For a full installation, with PsiWin just drag
the whole directory structure across to the
root directory of the psion, or you can use
PsiZip to extract all files from the zip file
in the root directory.

Startup Autorun using the Run-OPL icon.


Upgrading from previous versions

If you have AutoRun 1.03, you can either replace
the autorun.dbf file, or manually edit your
existing one.  In the latter case, you'll need
to add a single line (with label LastRun) between
the existing alias and notes fields.  You will
also have to edit any record with notes, to add
a corresponding empty line at that point
within the data.

From versions prior to 1.03 it is best to start
from scratch.

The file m:\opd\autorun.dat is no longer used
and may be deleted.


Control File Format

The control file is a simply a data file (ie a
file which can be editted using data).  This file
(autorun.dbf) may be located in either /dat/ or
/opd/ on any drive.  The former allows you to edit
it from the system screen, the latter hides it -
autorun itself can be used to edit it.


The control file fields :

Name: Name of the process to be started.
  This should be capitalised (ie all but initial
  letter in lower case) to ensure any assigned
  hot-keys work (to switch to that application.)

Program: Full path of program to execute.
  This field may contain variables as
  documented below.

Filename: Full path of the datafile to load.
  This field may contain variables as
  documented below.

There can be multiple records with the same Name
and Program, and different Filenames to allow
you to load different files for editting.  AutoRun
will recognise which ones are already running and
which one are not.

Action:
  Start - Start a process on power-up (in
          the background)
  Stop  - Stop a process if it is running
          Beware when stopping processes that
          they are killed - and this should
          only be used if you are confident that
          there will be no data loss.
  Fore  - Start (if not already) and put it
          in the foreground.
  Auto  - This will start the process if the
          current time falls within the time field
          definition (see below).  Otherwise, if
          the process is running it will be
          stopped. Note the warning given in the
          Stop action, above.

It only makes sense to have one entry with a Fore
action (if any) at any particular time.  You could
have, for instance, different fore actions for
night and day.  The Auto action enables you to
consolidate mutiple start and stop actions
in required in previous versions of AutoRun.

When: (this deals with days only, not times)
  Always   - Every time Psion is powered up
             In fact this is the default, and
             can be left blank.
  Work     - on a work day (as defined in Time)
  Not Work - not on a work day
  Mon,Tue..- on these days only. (Cannot be
             mixed with 'Work' and 'Not Work'.)
  Once     - Just once on the chosen days. 'Once'
             may be specified along side any other
             'when' option.
  Never    - To disable an entry.

Times: hh:mm-hh:mm
  The record is valid only between the specified
  times - which must be in the format above.
  One of the times may also be omitted
  (eg "-20:30" means before 2030).  If this field
  is blank, the record is active at all times
  of the day.

  For Auto records, the Start action is performed
  if the current time falls within the times
  specified, and the Stop action is performed
  outside those times.

Alias:
  Permits alias information to be supplied to
  the program - useful for all sorts of reasons.
  eg J is used to tell data to use the Jotter
  format on a 3c.


Variables

The Program and Filename fields permit variables
(or "macroes") to be used, which are automatically
expanded by Autorun. This allows you to execute
different programs each day, for instance, with
a single AutoRun definition record ... or to
execute a program with different filenames. (eg
a different timesheet each week.)

Valid macroes are as follows :
  %yr - 4 digit year
  %yy - 2 digit year
  %mm - 2 digit month
  %dd - 2 digit day of month
  %hh - 2 digit hour
  %ii - 2 digit minute
  %ss - 2 digit second
  %mn - 3 char month
  %dw - 1 digit day of week
  %dy - 3 char day of week
  %wk - 2 digit week of year

See the supplied data file for examples of valid
entries.


Advanced Uses of AutoRun:

It is possible to perform more elaborate
processing to select filenames, for instance,
by invoking a wrapper program, which in turn
starts the required OPO, OPA or APP with the
appropriate parameters.  An example piece of
OPL source is included, ARLAUNCH, which does
just that.  Further notes are included within
that example code.

Beware, however, that the name specified in
the control file should correspond to the name
of the real process, not the wrapper, if
AutoRun is to successfully recognise that the
program is already running.


Registration

Autorun is shareware.  If you like it, and find
it useful, please send a donation of any
amount you feel fit to the address below.

Thanks for supporting the product :

Mike Smith
118 Leake Road
Gotham
Nottingham
NG11 0JN

mike@boink.demon.co.uk
http://www.boink.demon.co.uk/