Mr. Wolf

Mr.Wolf has evolved from YoctoFacts/yfacts, and is still a
time synchronisation commodity for AmigaOS.

In most cases it should be a drop-in replacement but 

It now features custom code for SNTP synchronisation, but
can still use the OS libraries if preferred.

It is recommended to use the built-in client as it is designed
to play nicely with the NTP pool (ntppool.org).


WORKBENCH USAGE
===============

Double-clicking Mr.Wolf's icon will load it into memory and add it to
the list of running commodities.  Whilst Mr.Wolf is running, it will
periodically synchronise the time in the background.

This is the recommended way to use Mr.Wolf.  Add it to WBStartup to
keep your clock synchronised permanently.

Tooltypes
---------

MODE
Synchronsation module to use, either:
  SNTP - built-in SNTP client (default)
  LIBRARY - use timesync.library

TZMODE
Timezone module to use, currently only one is available:
  LIBRARY - use timezone.library

SERVER
Name of the NTP server to synchronise with.  If not specified, will
default to the below, according to MODE:
  SNTP - pool.ntp.org
  LIBRARY - As set in Time Prefs

IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO LOOK AT NTPPOOL.ORG AND
SET THE SERVER TO A LOCAL POOL IF USING SNTP MODE.


PORT
Port number to connect to (default NTP port 123)

SAVE=BATTCLOCK|SYSTEM
Specifies to set the system and/or hardware clock time.

POLL=n
The interval in minutes to synchronise with the server.  Mr.Wolf will
attempt to synchronise on startup and then at every n minutes
thereafter.  Setting POLL=0 will cause Mr.Wolf to quit once the
initial startup synchronisation has successfully completed.
(default 720 - please set this to SENSIBLE values to reduce load on
the server.  A few hours is sensible, a few minutes is not!)

WARN=n
If yfacts fails to synchronise, it will enter "panic mode" and attempt
to synchronise once a minute.  When the number of panic attempts
reaches this warning value, a requester will appear.  Setting WARN=-1
will disable all warnings. (default=30)

DELAY=n
Delays the first sync by n seconds.  Sometimes useful to ensure the
network is fully initialised.

Usage
-----

Mr.Wolf has no GUI and can only be controlled through Commodites Exchange.
Clicking Remove will quit Mr.Wolf.  Attempting to run Mr.Wolf twice will
also quit it.
The Active/Inactive cycle gadget will stop Mr.Wolf from synchronising.
Note that when re-enabled, Mr.Wolf will attempt an immediate
synchronisation.


CLI USAGE
=========

From the Shell, Mr.Wolf will synchronise the clock and exit.  In this
environment, it is comparable to the OS-provided "date" command with
an optional built-in "setclock save".

Mr.Wolf SERVER,PORT/N,USE/S,SAVE/S,QUIET/S

SERVER is the name of the NTP server to use
PORT is the TCP port to use (defaults to 123)
USE will cause Mr.Wolf to set the current system time
SAVE will cause Mr.Wolf to save the time to the hardware clock
  (NB: SAVE does not imply USE!)
QUIET suppresses all output

Note that not specifying either USE or SAVE will connect and retrieve
the time but not do anything useful or interesting.

Currently it is not possible to set the sync module through the
command line, it always uses the built-in SNTP client.

Example:
Mr.Wolf USE SAVE
Will synchronise with the default server, and set the system and
hardware clocks.


HISTORY
=======

2.2 (24.02.2023)
* Fixed a bug where Mr.Wolf would wait 15 minutes in certain
  circumstances (DELAY etc)

2.1 (02.02.2022)
* Renamed to Mr.Wolf
* New built-in SNTP client

Ancient history - YoctoFacts
1.5 (16.03.2013) added DELAY tooltype
1.4 (08.02.2013) default server etc set to that in Time Prefs
1.3 (08.02.2013) add panic mode for more rapid attempts when a sync fails
1.2 (06.02.2013) fix timezone offset
1.1 (05.02.2013) first release


FUTURE
======
The intention is to make this compatible with OS3, but there is some
work to do around timezones.


CONTACT
=======

Chris Young <chris()unsatisfactorysoftware.co.uk>
http://www.unsatisfactorysoftware.co.uk

Often emails to that address end up in SPAM, it is better to raise an
issue at https://github.com/chris-y/MrWolf


DISCLAIMER
==========

All use of this software is at your own risk.  It comes with no
warranty either expressed or implied.  The author will take no
responsibility for loss of data incurred directly or indirectly as a
result of using this software.