Cookie Master Readme File
Current Version: 0.82
February 23, 2006
Contents
1. What is Cookie Master
a. What does it do?
b. Why did I write this program?
2. How do I make Cookie Master work
a. Setting up the program
3. This distribution (Version 0.82)
a. File list
b. What upgrades will I be making?
4. How was this developed
a. Tools I used in developing this
5. Support
a. What if I have problems?
6. Versions
a. CookieMaster Version/Upgrade History
7. Registering and paying for CookieMaster
a. Why register?
b. What's this pay? I thought this was free!
1. What is Cookie Master?
a. What does Cookie Master do?
Cookie Master randomizes between several 'fortune cookies' and writes them to a file at preset intervals. In more computerese terms, it's a 'Signature Generation Program'.
b. Why did I write this program
Like many other developers, I wrote this utility because none of the other programs of this type fit my exact problem. Some of the things that I needed to have in my program were:
1. Generates several signature files with a header and the random tagline. I use MS Outlook as my mail client. As such, It allows me to send mail in three different formats (Rich Text, HTML, or plain text). I normally use plain text, but when I receive a mail with HTML or RTF, it wouldn't use the signature I had the tagline on (my plain text one)
2. Has to be able to handle multiline tags (many programs handle only 1 line tags...)
3. Could handle many, many taglines (I have over 90,000!!!!).
4. Free would be nice... :)Many programs out there could do one or the other, but I was demanding. I wanted something to do exactly what I wanted!
2. How do I make Cookie Master work?
a. Setting up the program
Unzip the files to a directory. At this point, CookieMaster should be able to just run. When the program starts, it will throw out a few 'error' messages and ask to be configured. In the beginning, you'll be just generating your signatures using my sample taglines and template files, but that's easily changed.
Generate your own text file with your taglines is easy. Before each tag, you need to put a line with '<tag>' on it, and after each tag, you need to put a line with '</tag>' on it (nothing else on the line, but a carriage return!!) It's simple, just check out the sample file, and you can create your own. If you like, you can add/delete/edit your cookies right in the CookieMaster console!
When you run the program, you will see the icon in the task bar (comic bubble with a question mark in it...) Just double click on it to change your options.
When the dialog comes up, you can select the interval (in seconds) and the tag file, change templates, edit cookies, and even enable/disable CookieMaster. Hit the CLOSE button and it goes back to work!
To define some 'templates' for Cookie Master to use, click the TEMPLATES button and a listbox will come up. It should be empty. Click the ADD button. Give your template a name. Point it to a 'template' file (I've included 3 of them.... I'll describe them below) and a destination file (that your mail program reads your signature from) If you click the 'Enable Template' box, the new template files will be written when the taglines changes.
A template file can be any text, RTF, or HTML file. Just make your signature look like you want it to, then put '%QUOTE' where you want the tagline to go.
I've include template.txt, template.rtf, and template.html for you to check out. Bye default, they will generate files in the CookieMaster directory. You can make as many templates as you want, and they will all be changes when the tagline changes. (HINT: Use Wordpad to edit RTF templates. The RTF is much more concise than MS Word!)
In my case, I change the plain text, RTF, and HTML signatures that OUTLOOK uses. You can have more or less depending on your needs.
3. This Distribution (Version 0.82)
a. File list in this ZIP file
CookieMaster.exe ...... The Executable File
readme.html ........... This File
tags.txt .............. Sample Tag File
template.txt .......... Sample plain text template file
template.html ......... Sample HTML template file
template.rtf .......... Sample RTF template file
CMTemps.tem .......... Template information file
b. What upgrades will I be making?
I'm planning a change that has all the configuration in a single XML file. This way it will be more easy to move the configuration.
I'd like to make a bunch of changes to this. I'd like to add functions import quotes from databases.
This is just the first version, and I will be making changes as needed. I'm accepting any and all suggestions that you may have.
When I get this completely stable and I'm satisfied, I'll label it 1.0 and make the source code available.
4. How was this developed?
a. Tools I used in developing this
I used lots of different things developing this. I used code from www.codeproject.com . Most notably code to read the registry and code to make the tray icons. I've left the copyrights in the code, as I'm required to.
I used Visual Studio 6.0 (C++) and MFC in this project.
I've tested this on Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP platform, although I see no reason why it shouldn't run flawlessly on Win95 or Win98.
5. Support
a. What if I have problems or suggestions about Cookie Master?
If you have problems or suggestions with Cookie Master, you can email me at dan@ebji.org and I will respond as soon as I can.
Check my website at www.ebji.org/akeem for updates.
Some or all of my taglines (90,000+) are available upon request, but the size is prohibitive. Contact me if you want to arrange to get some or all of them.
6. Versions
a. CookieMaster Version/Upgrade History
Version 0.82: There was an error when the program was first installed that complained that the registry was not set up, then the program would stop running. On the first run, the program now sets the registry to default values.
Version 0.81: Added a checkbox to randomize what the next quote would be. Previously, it was always randomized. Now, you can either randomize, or it will run the list sequentially (keeping track of the last quote...)
Version 0.8: Added a checkbox to mark a template as HTML (for formatting). Also added ability to manage tags in the CookieMaster Console.
Version 0.7: Had to fix a couple of bugs. The edit template dialog wasn't holding data and was crashing. Seems to work OK now.
Version 0.6: Had to fix several things. Of these were setup. Out of the ZIP file, the setup was not smooth, and it didn't run as the documentation described. Making an install/uninstall program (and distributed EXE) fixed that. Also added error messages to aid in troubleshooting the problems that arise.
Version 0.5: Original version.
7. Registering CookieMaster
a. Why register?
If you go to http://www.ebji.org/akeem/regcm.html and register, I will notify you of updates, new programs/projects I create, and generally be nicer to you. It helps if I can see what my target audience is. Thanks!
b. What's this pay? I thought this was free!
Well, I do program for a living. I'm asking for a $20 (US) donation if you use CookieMaster. If you don't pay for it, what am I going to do? Simple, Nothing! That's right, nothing! The program won't cripple itself, there's no hidden features, and there's no real benefit other than the fact that you'll keep me motivated to continue working on it. However, I will be willing to share my 90,000+ tagfile and the source code to CookieMaster to people who do pay. Really don't want to pay? No problem. Drop me a line and tell me if you like it.