Version 3.2.3 Released

Just a minor release today with one fix and one change. The fix applies to the “Least Quantity” rounding option on the Payroll Settings screen. Rounding was not correct for clock ins if the time was within 60 seconds of the lower rounding limit. The second change just involves a lot more data logging around the initial database connection period when the software is starting up. This is designed to help debug problems with database connections.

Version 3.2.2 Released

As I write this entry Time Clock MTS Version 3.2.2 is being uploaded to our web-servers. This minor release includes some fixes to the employee image capturing features of the software, a fix to some MySQL database creation code, and a fix to a problem that a recent Windows update caused in many programs (not just Time Clock MTS). Details of the fixes are below:

  • In cases where there was latency in database writes (especially when using SQL Server or MySQL) captured employee images could sometimes become mis-matched with the times they were associated with. This has now been resolved.
  • One user was reporting a case where the image capture directory could not be opened to view captured images. I’ve put in some extra logging to try to work out why this is happening.
  • An error was thrown by anyone upgrading to V3 of the software if they were using the MySQL backend. This has now been fixed.
  • Referenced the backwards compatible ADO type library rather than the ADO 2.5 type library. This is because our main build machine is now a Windows 7 x64 machine with SP1. This problem is documented in this Microsoft KB Article.

With direct reference to the last point this is a failing with Service Pack 1 of Windows 7 rather than anything to do with Time Clock MTS. If you install and run our software and receive the error “Error 430 : Class does not support Automation or does not support expected interface” please get in contact with us as soon as possible so we can get to the bottom of the problem.

User Question Answered – Administrator / Client Setup

I’ve just had an interesting question from a user who is looking to upgrade from the free version of Time Clock MTS to a one client commercial version. The user currently has the admin version of Time Clock MTS installed on a PC where his employees clock in and out and is also where he runs reports and configures the software. In his new setup he wants to use this computer as a client (for clock-in and clock-outs only) and use his own computer to administer the software. So there’s a little bit of work required to set this up and still keep the data from the free version. Let’s take at what needs to be done to share his data file and setup Time Clock MTS in the configuration he wants.

1. Prepare a location on your file server where your database will reside. Make sure that all computers that are going to connect to that database have full read/write permissions on the folder where the database is going to be stored.

2. Log into the admin software on the computer that will become the client and go to the Tools->Options->System Options page and move the database to your server by clicking the Move button.

3. Uninstall the admin software on the computer that will become the client

4. Install the Time Clock MTS client software (which can be downloaded from here) on the computer, you’ll find that it will connect automatically to your database you moved to your server. If it doesn’t just go through the first run wizard and you can connect to it that way.

5. Download and install the admin software on the computer that you want to become the administrator. Go through the process of entering a password and so on. Don’t worry too much, you’re not going to use the database created when you install the admin software on this computer.

6. Log into the newly installed admin software as the administrator and go to the Tools->Options->System Options page and connect to the database on your server using the Change button.

That’s all there is too it, a useful process to know if you’re looking to move your administrator software to a new computer!

Version 3.2.1 Released

I’ve just uploaded Version 3.2.1 of Time Clock MTS. This version contains a couple of new reports, some (hopefully) helpful new features, and some minor cosmetic fix ups to several screens. Details of the changes can be found below.

  • Added several tips focussed fields to the payroll information report section template.
  • Added some “OTHER” time classification fields to the accruals report section template.
  • Fixed up the TAB order on the bulk time entry screen, fixed some minor layout issues on the same screen too.
  • The time period on the Edit Times screen is now remembered.
  • Added the “Insert Missing Punch” button to the Edit Times screen. Allows you to insert a clock out and in into the middle of an existing clock in/out. That sentence is confusing enough to warrant a dedicated blog post on the topic. Stay tuned.
  • Changed the status message delay on the Keypad Interface to 10 seconds.
  • Fixed up some dodgy tooltip text on the Edit Employee screen.
  • Added the Time Off Report and the Simple Wages – Departmental Report.

Version 3.1.8 Released

I’ve just uploaded Version 3.1.8 of Time Clock MTS. This new version includes a couple of bug fixes, some new debug code to try to track down an issue a few users are having, and a couple of minor feature changes. The detailed changes can be found below:

  • A number of modifications have been made to the logging code including adding a time stamp to all log entries and logging the windows version (and service pack).
  • Users have been reporting an Error 52 (File not Found) when starting the software. Usually this is a permissions issue but it doesn’t seem to be this time. I’ve re-ordered the initialization code to try to catch where the error is happening and also put in some better error handling to at least give a more verbose message when the error fires.
  • Fixed a calculation error for salaried employees with a yearly salary period.
  • Fixed a problem with the Switch Jobs screen that could sometimes result in a clock out and clock in having exactly the same event time.
  • Employees clocked in with an OTHER time classification now have a purple status icon on the employee list screen (similar to those currently clocked in on vacation or sick time).
  • Automatic breaks are no longer applied to sick or vacation time.