Time Clock Software Web Log

A weblog from the authors of Time Clock MTS, a cost effective time and attendance software solution


May 15, 2008

Time Clock MTS Version 1.7.1 Released

Three new features added to the version released today.

  1. A new setting has been added to allow all reports to display time activity in hours:minutes:seconds format as well as the old decimal hours format. You can turn this new method of report output on via the Tools->Options->Display Settings->Display Times As screen.
  2. A new setting has been added to vacation and sick time accruals. This new setting allows you to use the anniversary of an employee's hire date to reset the vacation or sick time accrual instead of the fiscal year. You can turn this new method of accrual calculation on via the Tools->Options->Sick Time/Vacation Accrual->Use Hire Date not Fiscal Year page.
  3. A check has been put in place to prevent a second instance of either the Administrator or Client software from running on the same computer.

Posted by mnemtsas at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2008

Setting Up Yearly Accruals

A user asked an interesting question last week, and one that had me stumped for just a few minutes. Can Time Clock MTS handle yearly accruals of Vacation and Sick Time? Yearly accruals work by crediting the employee with the full allocation of their sick or vacation time upon the anniversary of their employment or the start of the fiscal year. Typically this sort of accrual scheme will credit the employee with their full amount at the start of the yearly period and allow them to deplete it during the year. Here's how to set it up:

  1. Create a new accrual scheme called yearly accruals (or whatever you like).
  2. Set the accrual delay to zero to start accruing at hire date.
  3. Set the starting balance to the yearly allocation to allow accruals in advance or leave it at zero to not give them any accrual until 1 year of service.
  4. Set the accrual amount per unit to the yearly allocation and the accrual period to 12 months.
  5. Check the Use Hire Date not Fiscal Year checkbox to use the anniversary of hire to reset accruals (if you need them reset).

That's all there is to it. As always feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Posted by mnemtsas at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

May 7, 2008

Administrator Passwords

Time Clock MTS has two levels of user access. That of the normal user or employee who just needs to clock in or out, and that of the Administrator who needs to configure Time Clock MTS and run reports. To use Time Clock MTS as the adminstrator you need to log in as the Administrator using a password.

How Is the Administrator Password Set?
The administrator password is set by you when you first install and run the Time Clock MTS Administration program. The screenshot below shows where you enter the administrator password.

How do I log in as the Administrator?
By simply using the File->Log in as Administrator menu.

Can I Change the Administrator Password?
Yes you can change the administrator password any time you like. All you need to do is run the Time Clock MTS Administration program and log in as the administrator. Then go to the Tools->Options->System Options screen. For more help on this try taking a look at the System Options Help Topic.

I've Forgotten the Administrator Password What Do I Do?
You need to send us your Time Clock MTS database so we can reset it for you. There's detailed instructions on how to recover a forgotten Time Clock MTS Administrator password on our support forum.

Why Cant I Reset it From Within Time Clock MTS?
For security reasons. If there was some method within the software to reset the administrator password the unscrupulous people could do so to manipulate the software for fraudulent reasons.

Posted by mnemtsas at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)

May 5, 2008

Time Clock MTS Version 1.7.0 Released

A new version was released today containing three bug fixes.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 up.

Posted by mnemtsas at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)

April 30, 2008

Time Clock MTS Version 1.6.8 Released

Time Clock MTS Version 1.6.8 was released yesterday containing a few fixes and some performance updates.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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 list).

Posted by mnemtsas at 8:58 AM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2008

Time Clock MTS Configuration and Log File Directory Part 2

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.

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 problems.

Posted by mnemtsas at 9:12 AM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2008

Time Clock MTS Configuration and Log File Directory

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 Vista (All Versions)

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 the next entry I'll take a look at the files in this directory and run through what they are and what they are used for.

Posted by mnemtsas at 4:01 PM | Comments (0)