Icada Software Limited

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Disclaimer: This software has been written and compiled by Icada Software Limited with the best intentions and is free from viruses and other malware. However no responsibility is accepted for any loss or damage to hardware, software or data, brought about directly or indirectly by the use of this software. The user uses this software entirely at their own risk.

This Windows application, written in C++, reads the UTC standard time from the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Internet Time Service and displays it along with the time from the PC's system clock. The user may select UTC or Local Time to be displayed and clicking the Sync. System Clock check box will set the system clock to that of the NIST clock. Synchronising of the system clock is only possible if the NIST time has been read with no error.
The program also gives a range of status indications. An "LED" labelled Rx to the left of the NIST Time shows green if the time displayed is valid, and red if there is an error in the reading. Likewise the Sever Health "LED" indicates the condition of the NIST server:
Green = OK,
Yellow = up to 5 seconds error,
Orange = may be more than 5 seconds error,
Red = not working.

The number of leap seconds added or subtracted at the end of the month is also indicated as None, +1 or -1.
The IP (129.6.15.28) and TCP Port (13) currently used to communicate with NIST is also shown, see later. The state of connection to the Internet is shown, either as modem, LAN, or proxy server, along with the timezone indicating the local offset from GMT (as read from your PC settings) and the presence of DST (or BST - British Summer Time).
If there is a lack of connection to the NIST server, the time and date is shown as a series of question marks, however if a connection is made and then lost, the clock will take the last NIST reading and update this in a free-running mode every second until the next valid time is received. During this period of disconnection the Rx LED will be red.

Note: The program will accept several switches in its command line, these are:
/m (run minimised as an icon)
/s (set system time and exit once set)
/u (set to UTC)
/ip=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (sets IP to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx)
/port=xx (sets TCP port to xx)

To pass the parameters in the command line, make a shortcut to Nclock.exe and edit the Target line to contain the parameters required, e.g. C:\WINDOWS\NClock.exe /m /s
The /m and /s switches allow the user to run the program minimised when the PC is started. There must of course be a connection to the Internet established before this program is run.

The /ip and /port switches allow the user to change these parameters to fit a proxy server. For example, if running on a remote PC connected to the Internet through Proxy Plus, the IP may be set to 192.168.000.001 (the IP of the PC connected to the Internet) and the Port should be set to 4513.
A Mapped Link should then be established in Proxy Plus [Proxies/Mapped Links] thus:
Type = TCP
Proxy Port = 4513
Target Host = 129.6.15.28:13

The application is available in two forms, one for the desktop PC and one for the Pocket PC. The desktop PC executable file should be placed in a directory of your choice, and a shortcut can be created if desired. The Pocket PC version should be placed in a directory of your choice using Microsoft's ActiveSync program and a shortcut created in the Windows\Start Menu\Programs directory of the Pocket PC using File Explorer's Edit|Paste Shortcut feature.

Desktop PC version HP iPAQ Pocket PC version
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Updated 22nd. August 2005 Go back