June 26, 2008
Time Clock MTS Version 2.0.3 Released
Just a minor release today. For some reason the default settings for report section templates we not being set. This is now fixed.
Posted by mnemtsas at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
June 19, 2008
Time Clock MTS Version 2.0.2 Released
I've just released Version 2.0.2 which contains a number of fixes to problems introduced by the last release plus adds one major new feature. Changes made include:
- A new security feature which allows you to use a camera attached to any Time Clock MTS computer to capture an image when users clock in or clock out. Administrators can then view the captured image associated with a clock in or out and verify that the correct person performed the action. This should allow you to stop buddy punching.
- A fix to the Version 2 database updates for SQL Server and MySQL that didn't work correctly.
- Fix to the last action display text to allow non English characters to be displayed.
Posted by mnemtsas at 6:57 AM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2008
Time Clock MTS Version 2.0.1 Released
Well Version 2.0.1 is out. I wont talk about it too much here right now. You can read about it on the Official Time Clock MTS Version 2 Release Page or take a look at the Release Notes. Over the course of the next week or so I'll cover one of the features of the new release in detail here each day, hopefully along with some explanatory screen shots.
A Note to Existing Time Clock MTS Users
If you're an existing Time Clock MTS user the software will not update itself to Version 2. Because a new registration key is required and not everyone is eligible for a free registration key I decided to make it a manual process. If you want to upgrade to Version 2 you'll need to download the admin program update installer and the client program update installer. Once you've downloaded these just run them on your installations of Time Clock MTS and it will update to Version 2.
Getting Version 2 Registration Keys
You can retrieve your own registration key for Version 2 of the software. You'll need to know your Version 1 registration key to get it. Don't worry too much if you cant pull your own registration key from our website, the database has a couple of holes in it that I am trying to fix up. Just send me an email with your current license details and if you're eligible I'll send you your Version 2 registration key ASAP.
Posted by mnemtsas at 7:55 PM | Comments (0)
Time Clock MTS Version 1.7.4 Released
Time Clock MTS Version 1.7.4 has been released. It has been released in update form only rather than as a full install. This is the last release of version 1 of Time Clock MTS. The only change to the software is a message informing users that it is the last release of Version 1 of the software and to upgrade to Version 2 you'll need to visit our website.
Posted by mnemtsas at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2008
Time Clock MTS Version 1.7.3 Released
Time Clock MTS Version 1.7.3 has been released containing a number of fixes to the recent problems we've been seeing with synching the internal clock with internet time servers.
- The Maryland NIST time servers have stopped supporting the older TIME protocol, and this was the cause of the recent problems Time Clock MTS had with syncing with these servers. We've changed the protocol used for these servers to the NIST format.
- Time between queries to NTP Servers has changed to 30 minutes to stop flooding the servers.
- Query time out has reduced to 10 seconds rather than the previous 1 minute, to stop the software locking up on startup for a minute.
- Internet Time Syncing is now turned off by default to prevent this sort of problem for people who are just trialing the software.
Posted by mnemtsas at 9:15 PM | Comments (0)
May 20, 2008
Time Clock MTS Version 1.7.2 Released
A couple of bugs fixed and some new features added today.
- A setting has been added to allow Time Clock MTS to check for a newer version on software startup. This setting is off by default but can be turned on via the Tools->Options->Interface Settings page. Note that you'll still need to update the software via the Tools->Check for Updates menu.
- When manually checking for updates and an update is available you'll now be able to view the release notes for the new version. In fact you'll be able to view the release notes for every version between the one you are currently running and the latest that is available from us.
- When Excel is not installed and you try to export a report to Excel the software explains that you need Excel to be installed. Formerly it gave a less than explanatory error message.
- Fix to both vacation accruals and sick time accruals. When the delay for an employee to start accruing set to accrue into the future the software calculated accrued sick time / vacation time incorrectly. This is now fixed.
Posted by mnemtsas at 6:05 PM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2008
Time Clock MTS Version 1.7.1 Released
Three new features added to the version released today.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 5, 2008
Time Clock MTS Version 1.7.0 Released
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 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.
- 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 list).
Posted by mnemtsas at 8:58 AM | Comments (0)
April 5, 2008
Time Clock MTS Version 1.6.5 Released
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 to the Edit Times screen from the View Information button on the main Time Clock MTS Screen. There's no apparent fix to this (it's a system error rather than a bug on my behalf) so I've removed the ability to navigate to the Edit Times screen from the View Information button. You'll have to get there via the Tools->Edit Times menu (which you could always do anyway).
Posted by mnemtsas at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2008
Microsoft Access Database Password Support
Version 1.6.2 of
Users finding and manipulating the back end database of Time Clock MTS has always been a problem. Time Clock MTS has always included a series of internal checks to try to detect this sort of manipulation, but of course no system is perfect. By including support for Access database passwords we have added one additional layer of security to ensure that your time and attendance information is accurate. Using a database password with a Microsoft Access database encrypts the data it contains and prevents non authorized access to the database when someone tries to open it with MS Access.
To setup Time Clock MTS to work with an Access database that is password protected follow these simple steps:
- Password protect your Access database using MS Access. How this is done depends largely on the version of MS Access that you have. Consult your MS Access help documentation for detailed instructions.
- Run the Time Clock MTS administrator program, the software will detect that the database back end is password protected and prompt you to enter the password.
- Once entered click OK and re-start the software as prompted. If you entered the information correctly then you'll connect directly to the database. If you didn't enter the password correctly you'll be prompted to enter it again.
- You'll need to repeat the password entry process for every client installation you have.
That's all there is to it. If you're wondering, the MS Access database password you enter into Time Clock MTS is stored locally on each computer (which is why you need to enter the password for every Time Clock MTS Client you have). The password itself is stored in an encrypted format for extra security.
Posted by mnemtsas at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)