MacAT

The leading, automated task scheduling application for Macintosh server administrators

MacAT Overview

MacAT is a Windows AT/UNIX cron-like task scheduling application for Macintosh server administrators. It is a fat binary application that allows 37 of the most common MacOS tasks to be run once, hourly, daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly or yearly without user intervention.
 
 

History
v1.0
Released Jan. 1999.

v1.1
Released Feb 1999.
-Added a new task "Bring Application to Front";
-Added "Hourly" to the list of schedule selections;
-Faster keydown timer setting to improve trapping of keyboard/button selections in MacAT windows;
-Tightened the checking when not selecting a month & date for "Yearly" schedule tasks;
-Added an Easter Egg;
-Removed close box from main AT list to make it harder to accidentally close the Mac crontab file;
-Reduced RAM requirements to less than 2MB;
-Enabled more keyboard navigation controls (eg pressing the spacebar edits the currently selected AT job).

v2.0
-Added new task "Send eMail";
-Added eMail notification of task errors;
-Individual tasks can be turned on or off;
-Slightly widened the main task list to accommodate the extra task settings;
-Fixed a non-crashing bug where clicking the cancel button instead of selecting an application from the list of active applications failed to update the "Edit At Job" window;
-Added a self-closing notification alert. This alert automatically closes itself after several seconds to ensure that MacAT and the Macintosh server can continue unimpeded and is used extensively when SMTP processes fail. Note: eMail messages for failed task errors are not logged but rather a self-closing notification alert is posted. v3 may work around this annoyance.

v2.02
Released 11 Feb 1999.
-Removed the problem where the "Put Away" task was not working reliably (due to a bug in the development environment REALbasic).
-The problem was fixed by replacing the Unmount XCMD with one written by Apple in the late 1980's).

v2.1
Released 18 Feb 1999.
-Added "Append Text Document" feature to outgoing "Send eMail" tasks (for those who need their log files emailed to them). Please note that I haven't attempted to strip any high ASCII characters (those greater than 128) from the appended text files. This may or may not be friendly to your smtp server. Let me know if you have any text files that contain strange characters that have problems when sending.
-Removed the command key " Q" from the "Quit" menu Item.

v3.0
Released 3 March 1999.
-Added "Once" schedule.
-Added "Fortnightly" schedule. I believe that this schedule option is unique (on any platform) to MacAT.
-Added "Open Folder" task (used to activate Apple FolderAction Applescripts).
-Added "Hide Application" task.
-Added the ability to delete an individual tasks logs or all logs.
-Fixed crashing bug when "Put Away" task was performed repeatedly on a PPC. This bug appeared to be introduced by the Apple XCMD added in v2.0.2.
-Fixed cosmetic bug for "Yearly" tasked scheduled to run the first of the month.
-Note: "Send eMail" task does not work on old Macintosh's which do not have Open Transport installed.

v3.1
Released 10 March 1999.
-Appear to have finally fixed the "Put Away" task. This was accomplished after integrating a new plugin method, "FSPlugin" by Tim Spalone, instead of the previous unreliable XCMDs. Thanks to Mike Schon-Hegrad for beta testing the bugs out of this one.
-Added "Compress File", "Compress Folder" and "Uncompress File" tasks. These require the "Stuffit Engine" to be installed and configured.
-Fixed the visual bugs associated with the "Send email on failures" checkboxes.

v3.2
Released March 18 1999.
-Added a title field to each MacAT task. This field, if it contains any text, will be displayed on the main MacAT task list instead of the usual MacAT generated summary description line.
-Added more balloon help.
-Redesigned preferences window.
-Added Veronica to credits on "About MacAT..." page.
-Added sound notification for whenever any MacAT task fails. I don't want to add different sounds for individual tasks as that would be a little too much "featuritus".
-Started to add "Run missed AT tasks when MacAT starts up". I will try to complete for the next version.
-Added user definable font and fontsize for main AT task, log and history list boxes.

v3.5
Released 31 March 1999.
-Added "Hide main MacAT list window after launch" preference setting. When selected the main list will always be invisible after launching MacAT.
-Added new menu item ""Toggle AT list". Use this to show/hide the main MacAT list window.
-Added confirmation dialogs when closing or quitting MacAT (even with hidden main MacAT list windows). This warning dialog does not appear when quitting MacAT with a MacAT task. You can set MacAT to not ask for confirmation to quit in the preferences window.
-Added a "Run AT Task" menu. This allows you to run the selected task immediately from the main MacAT list window.
-Added an "Insert MacAT tag" feature for the send email task. Allows the insertion of the 'date' and 'chooser name' when the mail is ultimately sent. Let me know if you have more suggestions for this command.
-Added on-screen notification of missed tasks. At launch, MacAT scans through the list of AT tasks and checks the last execution date. Tasks that should have been run (but were missed as MacAT was not launched) are flagged as "missed". The server administrator can then determine if they should be performed 'by hand' (using the new "Run AT Task" menu). MacAT does not automatically run missed tasks in case the tasks really were meant to be skipped.
-Tidied up a lot of the internal menu handling logic and code.
-Added a preference setting to re-enable the command key "Q" for the "Quit" menu item.
-Changed the command key for the Edit Task button in the Edit task window from "T" to &quotE".

v3.5.1
Released 1 April 1999.
-Fixed a bug when email attachments could not be found.

v3.6
Released 12 April 1999.
-Added a blurb to outgoing eMail messages that should have had attachments but the attachment document could not be found.
-Fixed the over zealous 'missed' task notifications.
-Re-jigged the preferences screen.
-Added preferences setting to disable MacAT eMail vocabulary substitutions (sorry Matt H!).
-Added "IP Address" and "Internet Config: Name" to MacAT's eMail vocabulary.
-Finally enabled logging of "Send eMail" errors.
-Enabled a default button in the About MacAT window (for registered versions).
-Added more balloon help.
-Added a balloon help on/off button to the main MacAT list window.
-Fixed the Cancel button in the preference window so that it actually reverse any preferences changes.
-Added Internet Config support, namely the From: eMail address and SMTP server names are automatically detected.

v3.7
Released 21 April 1999.
-Added the "Send Ping" task. This simply opens and closes a connection to a port on an IP server. Handy if you just want to keep an internet connection from automatically closing due to inactivity.
-Added "Every X mins" schedule. This allows a task to be scheduled to run every 1-2147483646 minutes (While this upper number is possible, it is equivalent to running a job approx, every 4083 years and MacAT is limited to work until only 2039).
-eMail and ping commands are only logged once instead of the previous way were the task was always logged and errors, if any, where subsequently logged again later.
-Enabled a single launch only, debug preference setting. Don't use this under normal circumstances.
-Fixed a "Send eMail" bug that has been lurking since v3.2.
-By default, "Insert MacAT tag" is now turned off for new MacAT users as this feature has been causing some crashing problems with some computers.

v4.0
Released 10 May 1999.
-PowerPC only release as 68k version has some problems.
-Deleting a folder alias now only deletes the alias (with previous versions of MacAT, the "Delete Folder" task would resolve the alias and delete the folder the alias was pointing to. I thought it was too dangerous to leave it this way).
-Added the "Binhex File" task.
-Added the "Move File" task. The destination folder must be on the same volume.
-Added the "Show URL" task. Uses the appropriate application (based on the user's Internet Config settings) to go to the URL (web address, ftp address, etc.) specified.
-Added the "After MacAT Startup" schedule. This allows you to nominate the number of minutes after the MacAT crontab file is opened before the task is to be performed.
-Added ascending and descending sorting buttons to the "Task", "Task History" and "MacAT History" lists. Note, it is still not possible to sort the "Schedule" column in any direction.
-Copying to the clipboard has been enabled in the "Task History" and "MacAT log" lists for those who want to export this information to other programmes.
-Added two disclosure triangles to hide/show sections of the MacAT window. The size of the main window is not saved with the crontab file but is rather saved in the preferences file. You need to open and save the preferences to save the current window height.
-Added a purchase MacAT reminder to all eMail sent from unregistered copies of MacAT
-Added separators instead of blank lines in task popup menu.
-Added a web payment URL link to the "About MacAT..." window and registration window.
-Upgraded FileCopy XCMD to v4.0. This enables a "Cancel" button in the copying dialog box.
-Upgraded FolderCopy XCMD to v3.4. This enables a "Cancel" button in the copying dialog box.
-Removed "StuffPlug" (a third party REALbasic plugin) and replaced it with yet another brilliant XCMD "FullStuff" from Rinaldi.
-Also removed "Gestalt Plugin 1.1 (PPC)" and "FreeMem-PPC" plugins in yet another attempt to get 68k to work again.
-Fixed bug with erroneous eMail logs after eMail was successfully sent.
-The default button on the "Startup Window" is now the "Open" button.
-MacAT now monitors the remaining memory allocated to MacAT. If the remaining free memory falls below 30k then MacAT automatically quits. In the past, the Macintosh would potentially hang.
-Added "Don't display full path names (just file names)" in lists and "Don't display full paths (when successful)" preferences where the former refers to list views and the latter to logs.

v4.0.1
Released 24 May 1999.
-Upgraded the FullStuff XCMD to fix random crashes when Stuffit Engine is not installed.
-Fixed a small bug with preferences and the main window not being open.
-Added "Disable Internet Config" as it may have been affecting MS Internet Explorer's ability to download cookies.
-Ascending and descending buttons now immediately sort (the highlighted list column) when clicked.
-Appear to have fixed a bug were tasks could be lost when columns where sorted descendingly. Fixed by turning off international sorting in the FullSort XCMD. This change shouldn't affect the English centric MacAT.
-MacAT version number is now automatically detected.

v4.0.2
Released 31 May 1999.
-Remove File" and "Remove Folder" tasks can now delete locked files.

v4.5
Released 22 June 1999.
-Added the "Set" Task. A set is a named collection of tasks that are processed sequentially.
-Added the "Move Folder" task.
-Added the "Move Folder to Trash" task.
-Added the "Empty Trash" task.
-Checkboxes to delete logs now work again.
-Might have implemented a workaround for a bug in the FullSort XCMD which resulted in disappearing tasks (and corrupted crontab files) after descending list sorts.
-Fixed the visual bug where a double quote was surrounding the 'Zone' information in the schedule list for Mount Tasks
-Fixed the bug introduced in v4.0.2 where the Rename Folder task may have been deleting the folder.
-If a text file is opened which contains invalid AT tasks then the default action is to quit MacAT without saving any changes.
-Fixed a display bug when displaying shortnames in the main MacAT lists. The complete path is now displayed even when the file can't be found.
-Moved the progress bar displaying the status of the running task slightly up, allowing the addition of a small descriptive task text line.
-If a corrupted AT is found when opening a crontab file, MacAT now asks if it should quit immediately or continue opening the file.
-Re-enabled the debug checkbox again so that the free memory remaining is again displayed.
-Restored the previous CopyFolder XCMD as the newer one was causing problems. The only disadvantage is that the "Cancel" button has been removed when copying..
-Reinstated the previous RemoveFolder XCMD as well as the newer one. I have seen folders that just will not be deleted by either XCMD so I add the "Move Folder to Trash" as an alternative to delete.
-A progress bar displaying the status of saving the file is now shown.

v4.6
Released 1 July 1999.
-Re-enabled descending sorting on the Status and Task colums in the man MacAT task list.
-Added "Eject Removeable Disk" task. This task will physically eject the floppy or cdrom disk from the computer (Sorry zip disks don't eject.)
-Added the "Sleep" task. This will put the computer to sleep if the computer can be put to sleep.

v4.6.1
Released 2 July 1999.
-Fixed the "Restart" task so that it could be edited again.

v4.7
Released 9 August 1999.
-Added "Stop" and "Skip" task buttons to the set running dialog box.

v4.8
Released 25 August 1999.
-Added new task, "Speak Text".
-Fixed unnecessary 'missed' notification log for new weekly tasks.
-Registered versions of MacAT no longer append an email signature to outgoing email messages.
-Added "Computer Name" to MacAT Vocabulary. (Chooser Name now comes from a System resource and not XCMD).
-Fixed "Once" and "Fortnightly" International date problems.

v4.9
NOT Released September 1999.
-Development computer stolen just before release :-(

v5.0
Released January 2000 (Australia Day 2000 Release)
- Solid over-haul, accompanied by a file format change and a re-worked cron engine. Be careful...
- Task list scan time has dropped from approx 20-30ms to 1-2ms - i.e. scan times have been reduced to about 5% of previous versions.
- Added "Perform FileMaker Script" task. Direct AppleEvent mechanism to run any FileMaker Pro script.
- Added "Close FileMaker DB" task.
- Added "Mount AppleShareIP Volume" task. Mount Volumes via IP instead of via AppleTalk.
- Added "Touch File" task. This task will change the modification date of the selected file to the time that the task was run.
- Added "Ethernet Address" to MacAT Vocabulary. Allows the ethernet address to be inserted into scheduled email messages. MacAT vocabulary eMail additions can now be added to the eMail subject line.
- Added "Show Dialog" task. This dialog automatically closes after 5 seconds and could be used for user feedback.
- Upgraded CopyFolder XCMD to v3.4.
- Improved 'wizard' help added when creating new tasks
- Now the next task is predicted rather than just todays next task and the time remaining before execution is displayed.
- NOTE. Tasks scheduled to run each month should not be scheduled on dates 29, 30, and 31. The task run date will be incorrect on some months of the year, so don't do it. For example, a monthly task that is scheduled to run on the 31 of each month will not run in September (as it only has only 30 days) but the task will actually run on the 1st of the October. This an other anomalies means that you shouldn't schedule monthly task to be run on the 29, 30 and 31 dates. One day I'll add wizard warnings when such tasks are being prepared.
- Re-worked the "Set" task. Tasks can now be part of multiple Sets.
- Disabled most of the old listbox sorting routines as well as the missed task check routines. I'll try to re-enable them in a future update.
- Removed On/Off popup menu. As 'Off' is really just another schedule, it is now under the schedule popup.
- Tasks now display their next run time in the edit task dialog.
- Fixed midnight repeating bug with "After MacAT Startup" schedule.
- Fixed bug where "Every X Mins" tasks fired to often.
- Pasting in an invalid MacAT task string from the clipboard, now displays an error message.

v5.1
Released 28 February 2000.
- Added the ability to compile AppleScript code on-the-fly. The code can now be embedded in the crontab file.
- Fixed a bug where 'Once' only tasks scheduled to run at 12.00 pm actually tried to run 24 hours after the scheduled time.
- Upgraded RemoveFolder XCMD to v1.3, which allows folders containing locked files to be deleted.
- Compiled using REALbasic 2.1a27 - File size reduced to 2.2M.
- Upgraded the 'PPC Processes Plugin' to v1.2b1
- The number of seconds between processing tasks in a Set is now user-definable.

v5.2
Released 1 June 2000.
- Added "Open File With" Task. Allows files to be opened with alternative applications than would otherwise be the case.
- Fixed restart bug.
- Fixed copy/paste bug (?)
- Compiled using REALbasic 2.1.2 (Faster listboxes)
- Started FileMaker 5 compatibility testing (though FileMaker 5 is not yet supported)
- Implemented new Clock Timer engine.
- More debugging information supplied when in debug mode.

v5.3
Released 25 July 2000.
- FileMaker Pro 5 compatibility added. You now need to select either FMPro 5 or FMPro 3/4 from the preferences window, before creating new FileMaker Pro tasks. Old task will need to be re-created to use FMPro 5 as the old FMPro 4 codes are imbedded in the crontab file
-Long standing timer bug fixed.
-Old history removed as it was greater than 32k characters
-Price increased to $49


v5.3.1
Released 26 July 2000.
-Reverted to FullStuff 1.3 XCMD as both 2.0 and 2.1 are problematic.

v5.3.2
Released 2 August 2000.
-Maintenance release for MacSOS Register app.
-Compiled using REALbasic 3.0a3

v5.3.3
Released 15 August 2000.
-Reverted to FullStuff 1.3 XCMD (again).

v5.4
Released 28 September 2000.
-Re-implemented the On/Off checkbox.
-Added "Hide All Applications" task. Hides all applications except MacAT.
-You can now select multiple tasks from the main list and run them as a temporary set. In this version the order of operations is down the list box and not the selection order.
-Compiled using REALbasic 3.0a8.

v5.4.1
Released 29 September 2000.
-Oops. Fixed little "daily" bug introduced yesterday

v6.0
Released 28 April 2001.
-Added new task IF-THEN-ELSE. This allows for simple conditional branching of tasks when errors occur.
-Added new task "Download URL' Allows web pages to be downloaded to disk.

v6.1
Released 13 May 2002.
-Carbon version 'MacAT X 6.1' implemented (Not all tasks currently run under Carbon/MacOS X).
-Added "Perform Shell Command" task for MacOS X platform.
-Renamed MacOS 9 binary to be 'MacAT PPC 6.1'.
-Updated the registration button to display the correct price.
-Global exception error hander added. Note low-memory exceptions are still not trapped.
-The icon of the next task to run is now displayed on the main screen were appropriate (Set in the preferences dialog).
-Preferences Options spatially aligned.
-Added "Boot Volume Free Space" to eMail Vocabulary.
-Added new task Send TELNET. Sends a telnet command to a Solaris UNIX server.
-"Uncompress File" now decompresses BZip, UUEncode, tar, binhex, stuffit, Zip, AppleSingle, GZip and Lha (via FullStuff XCMD v2.4).
-The IF-THEN-ELSE task now displays the task name if appropriate.
-'Download URL' now uses proxy support (but not the proxyport just yet) from the Internet Config control panel. (Removed the IC XCMDs and replaced with InternetConfigObject from http://www.einhugur.com).
-Updated Mounting AppleShare over IP XCMD to version 1.1. This should fix problems mounting LINUX-Netatalk volumes under MacOS 9.
-Unlimited free upgrades have stopped with this version. Sorry. The volume of emails and over >40 upgrades has taken their toll.
-Most XCMDs removed and code changed to AppleEvents to become cross-platform compatible. eg FolderCopy, FileCopy.
-New progress dialog added.
-Transparency added to various pictures and icons.
-Date column now sorts chronologically again (Including taking into account the Time column).
-Possible fix for REALbasic '28 day timer not restarting' bug.
-Fraudulent or refunded registration codes now denied access (problems? email me at the address below)
-Clicking the log of the last task run on the main screen selects that task in the MacAT list.
-Added colour to the 'About MacAT' URL's.
-Removed registration number display from 'About MacAT' window.
-Updated the copyright information and plugin/XCMD author list.
-Now uses Carbon Declaration Library 1.5 instead of various non-carbon compatible plugins.
-MacOS X icon added
-Compiled with REALbasic 4.0.2.