The files in this directory may be used to build a program to access the ACTS system. If you are going to run the program in a Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 environment then you should use program winacts.exe. The corresponding program for a 32-bit environment (Windows NT) is winacts-32bit.exe. Both of these programs are ready to run as is. Both programs should work under Windows 95, but only the 32-bit version will be able to set the clock on an NT system. The files may be copied (using binary/image mode) to any directory and installed using the standard Windows procedure (using the File Manager New Program command). Note that the 32-bit version also requires the 4 dll files in this directory. Once it is installed, either program may be run at any time by clicking on its icon as with any Windows program. There are a number of help boxes that explain the various options, including selecting the COM port and speed and whether the program is to dial once or dial repeatedly at an interval that you can select. If you add the word "Once" to the command line (without the quotes and in any combination of upper- and lower-case letters) then the program will call the ACTS server once each time it is started, set the local clock and exit after the clock has been set. Click on "HELP | Getting Started" for more information. If you are going to run the program in DOS on an IBM-PC (or compatible machine), then you should copy files nistimed.exe, nistimeb.exe and makcfg.exe to the target directory on your PC. These files must be copied in binary/image mode. After you have coped the files, change to that directory and run makcfg. If you are going to use directory time on disk c:, for example, then >c: >cd \time >makcfg This will create a file named nistime.cfg based on your answers to a series of questions. You should rename either nistimed.exe or nistimeb.exe as nistime.exe: rename nistimeb.exe nistime.exe or rename nistimed.exe nistime.exe We suggest using nistimed.exe first if you are in doubt about which one to use and if your hardware is fully IBM-PC compatible. The differences between these two files are discussed in the file nistime.des. You may then run the program by typing: >nistime For more detailed information and other installation options, examine or print files NISTIME.INT, NISTIME.FMT and NISTIME.DES, which are located in this directory. The complete source code is in this directory if you wish to rebuild the program. First you should edit nistime.h following the comments in that file. You can then make both nistime and makcfg using the makefile in this directory. You can also use this source code to build a version that will run in many standard UNIX environments. See file nistime.h for details. The FORTRAN source code for a VAX/VMS version of this program is in directory vax. This code can also be modified to run in other environments as described in the comments in the program text. Program PCTIME is a second program that can be used to get the time from the ACTS system in a DOS environment. It will display time information in several formats, including the current time in all of the US time zones and in many major US cities. To use the program, copy file pctime.exe in binary/image mode and start the program by typing the command pctime . The capabilities of the program are outlined in various menu and help screens; additional information can be found in the text file pctime.doc which is also in this directory. Note that the source code for PCTIME is not available and that the version in this directory will only work on IBM-PCs and compatibles. Although both PCTIME and NISTIMED/B are designed to work in a pure DOS environment, they may work in a DOS shell of Windows or another operating system (such as OS/2). This mode of operation does not work in all configurations, and you should run them in "pure" DOS if possible. Questions or comments may be directed to: ACTS Software Time and Frequency Division/847 NIST 325 Broadway Boulder, Colorado 80303 e-mail: time@time.nist.gov