LOGGING USAGE TIME FOR ASFA CDROM

                       Peter Brueggeman
         Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library

At the 1988 IAMSLIC meeting, while presenting the 1987 usage
data for ASFA CDROM at the Scripps Library, I described a way
to capture the date and time that ASFA CDROM searchers enter
and exit the ASFA CDROM search software.  That timestamping
method was machine-specific in that it utilized the
clock/calendar resident in your ASFA CDROM microcomputer
(contact me if you want more information).  A more powerful
timestamping method that will also deliver the elapsed time
of the ASFA session uses Norton Utilities (NU).  NU is a
useful collection of utility software one of which is called
TIMEMARK.  NU is a very commonly owned software and you
should be able to find an owner in your institution if you do
not own it.  All you need is one little software from it
called TM.EXE.  Simply copy the TM software into your \CSA
directory.  You must create a batch file that runs TIMEMARK
before and after loading the ASFA CDROM search software.  A
sample batch file follows that will run from the \CSA
directory.  The \CSA directory is where your ASFA CDROM
software is probably located on your hard disk; it was
created while installing the ASFA CDROM software.

       ECHO OFF
       ECHO ************************ >> C:\ASFALOG
       TM START /L >> C:\ASFALOG
       CCA.EXE
       TM STOP /L >> C:\ASFALOG
       ECHO ! >> C:\ASFALOG
       ECHO ************************ >> C:\ASFALOG

The batch file may have to be modified to suit your hard disk
directory structure.  The first ECHO command avoids a screen
display of what follows; it is unnecessary for ASFA CDROM
searchers to see what you are up to.  The second ECHO command
puts a line of asterisks into a file called ASFALOG.  ASFALOG
will be the written record of usage of your ASFA CDROM
system; however it will only be recording when someone enters
and exits the ASFA CDROM search software.  If the ASFA CDROM
searcher does not exit from the main "work environment" menu
when finished searching ASFA, then you will not capture the
true length of time that the ASFA CDROM system was in use.

If the ASFALOG does not already exist, then it will be
created by the ECHO command.  If it does exist, the two
"greater than" symbols ensure that information is appended to
the ASFALOG file rather than overwriting it.  The line of
asterisks that are echoed into ASFALOG serves to
differentiate one ASFA session from another.  The TM command
starts the timer and writes the current date/time into the
ASFALOG file.  The next line, CCA.EXE, loads up the ASFA
search software.  When the ASFA CDROM searcher exits the ASFA
search software from the main "work environment" menu, the
next TM command stops the timer and writes the exit date/time
and the elapsed time into the ASFALOG file.  The next ECHO
command writes an exclamation point into the ASFALOG file; it
appears after the elapsed time in ASFALOG.   The "ECHO !"
command is necessary so that the next line of asterisks
ECHOed into ASFALOG is written on a new line.  The last ECHO
puts a line of asterisks into ASFALOG to signify that a
session ended.  This sequence of commands will create a log
file that looks like the following:

************************
11:22 am, Tuesday, January 10, 1989 11:44 am, Tuesday, January 10, 1989
22 minutes, 40 seconds !
************************
************************
11:45 am, Tuesday, January 10, 1989 11:54 am, Tuesday, January 10, 1989
8 minutes, 34 seconds !
************************
************************
12:01 pm, Tuesday, January 10, 1989 1:07 pm, Tuesday, January 10, 1989
1 hour, 5 minutes, 32 seconds !
************************
************************
3:04 pm, Tuesday, January 10, 1989 3:25 pm, Tuesday, January 10, 1989
21 minutes, 13 seconds !
************************

You may also find other of the Norton Utilities helpful.
Norton Utilities is a highly regarded software and you should
browse through the manual.  SD "SpeedDisk" can be used to
compact the data on the microcomputer's hard disk.  SpeedDisk
fills in the empty spots left by deleted files and reorders
the data on the hard disk so that each software's program and
data is contiguous on the hard disk.  The result is faster
execution of software.  FA "FileAttribute" can be used to
make many (but not all) of the software on the ASFA
microcomputer's hard disk unerasable.  Thus ASFA CDROM users
cannot inadvertantly erase software on your hard disk when
they are using the ASFA search software's DOS command.