 __    __                  __________
|  \  /  |                |___    ___|
 \  \/  / ________   ____  ___|  ||_|_________   ___
  >    < |  _   _ \ / _  |<  _|  | _|  _   _  \ / _ \
 /  /\  \| / | | \ | <_| |_> \|  || | / | | \  |  __/
|__/  \__|_| |_| |_|\__,_|___/|__||_|_| |_|  |_|\___| Version 0.3

This text is best viewed at a wrap width of 77 columns. For interactive
contents, do a 'List of Found' search for '==='.

_____________________________________________________________________________

=== 1 == Introduction ==

XmasTime is a very small BASIC utility I wrote for the festive season,
although it will in fact work all year round.  It displays the number of days
left until the next Christmas, not to mention a variety of seasonal (and not
always polite) messages as the day gets closer.  It is fully leap-year
compliant, just in case you should have your computer's internal clock set to
the year 2100.

_____________________________________________________________________________

=== 2 == Possible compatibility issues ==

To determine the date, XmasTime relies on the format of the variable TIME$,
the contents of which can be displayed by typing *Time at the command line.
If your display does not look something like this:

Sun,03 Dec 2006.14:17:56

then XmasTime will not work on your computer.  (Only the first 15 digits are
important - the rest can be safely ignored.)  I don't know if there is any
variation in this display between RISC OS 3.7 (what I'm running) and RISC OS
4/5/6 (what most people are running).  If so, please inform me.

_____________________________________________________________________________

=== 3 == Installation ==

XmasTime will work fully from any read-only medium, and does not rely on
anything being in a particular place.  Because of this, you can move it into
your !Boot.Library directory.  If you do this, you can run it by typing
'XmasTime' (not case sensitive) at the command line.

My preferred method of using this program is to set it to run on startup.
To do this, simply insert the phrase 'XmasTime' (carefully making sure you
have a copy of the program in !Boot.Library first) anywhere in your
!Boot.Choices.Boot.PreDesktop file, but preferably at the beginning. The
time, followed by the phrase 'Only xxx days till Christmas!' will then be
displayed every time you start up the computer.

_____________________________________________________________________________

=== 4 == Disabling pre-December countdowns ==

If you don't want a constant reminder of how many hundreds of days there are
till Christmas, and you only want to feel festive when the day is reasonably
close, there is a way of only running the countdown part in December.

After the line reading 'month$=MID$(TIME$,8,3)', copy and paste the
following:

IF month$<>"Dec" PRINT:END

Once you have done this, any attempt to run the program will merely produce
the time.

_____________________________________________________________________________

=== 5 == Version history ==

=== Version 0.1 == 1st December 2006 ==

   First version.

=== Version 0.2 == 24th December 2006 ==

   Now displays a selection of festive messages if you run it close enough
    to Christmas.  Yes, I play too much Zangband. :->
   Replaced long-winded IF...THEN structures with a CASE condition.

=== Version 0.3 == 1st March 2008 ==

   Fixed a little whoopsie in my leap-year mathematics which prevented them
    working until the year 2400 at least!  For future reference, AND has
    priority over OR.

_____________________________________________________________________________

=== 6 == The boring bits ==

=== 6.1 == Credits ==

Written during the course of the evening of December 1st 2006 by Martin
Bazley.  That would seem to be that.

=== 6.2 == Legal stuff ==

XmasTime is completely free software.  You may distribute, hack, improve,
copy and otherwise mutilate it in any way you please, but do NOT release
anything incorporating any part of this program without giving me any credit
and/or without my permission.

You use this program at your own risk, and I will not accept liabilities for
any damage resulting from use/misuse of this program.  If you're going to
burn XmasTime to CD and then poke yourself in the eye with it, that's your
problem, not mine.

If you're going to review or mirror this program, I'd appreciate knowing
about it!  (Especially if you're going to give it a good review. :-> )

=== 6.3 == Contact ==

Should you wish to complain about this program, I can be reached at:

 mailto:martin@bazleyfamily.co.uk

Or, if you don't have a computer (loser!), you can use snail mail:

 Martin Bazley
 Flat 8
 349 North End Road
 Fulham
 London
 SW6 1NN
 ENGLAND

If I seem slow in replying, don't worry, it's not your ISP mucking up.  I can
only check these addresses on alternate weekends.

_____________________________________________________________________________
Martin Bazley
1st March 2008

=== End