Introduction

InGOT balance is a small utility for displaying a users inGOT balance.  Designed for Novell environments, the utility reads the currently logged in user's balance from the Novell Directory Service (NDS).  The inGOT system stores each user's balance in a nominated NDS field, by default the 'Postal Code' field.  Other systems that store user balances in a NDS user object field can also be displayed by inGOT balance utility, for example the PCounter balance.

Screen Shots

1) System Tray

A users balance details appear when the mouse hovers over the icon…

The inGOT balance icon is shown on the far right.

The green dollar sign changes to yellow when any balance drops below a pre-configured threshold and changes to red when any balance goes negative.

2) Main Form

It is also possible to open up the inGOT balance form, which looks like this…

The inGOT Balance & PCounter Balance labels are configurable. Balances turn yellow/red in a similar way to the system tray icon.

Additional balances may also be included on this form.

Main functionality

• It runs as a System Tray application
• It is able to read multiple balance details (inGOT, PCounter or any other selected NDS field value)
• Balances 'pop-up' when the mouse hovers over the system tray icon.
• The system tray icon changes colour depending on the balance (Red, Yellow & Green)
• It is possible to open the utility form, to see more comprehensive details about the user.
• It scans the NDS fields for the logged in user
• It scans balances every 60 seconds by default (this is configurable)
• NDS field configuration details are stored in an INI file (for ease of deployment)
• NDS field details are not able to be changed via the utility (to discourage tampering)
• Other details are stored in the registry.

Syntax of INI file

The inGOTBalance.INI file provides the detail on what inGOT balance should display. The file begins with the line:

[inGOTBalance]

Subsequent lines must consist of a parameter name followed by an “=” followed by a parameter value. For example:

inGOT Balance=Postal Code

InGOT can be configured to store the user’s balance into the Postal Code field of the NDS.  For example, it is stored in the following format:

$4.77 on 28/11/2002 05:02 PM

The inGOTBalance utility reads the balance from this field and displays it either on the form or when hovered over in the system tray.  The utility can also read any other NDS field, including the Accouting field used by Pcounter. Pcounter stores the balance in cents (i.e. no period), inGOTBalance is aware of this and will display it correctly.

The INI rules are:

• The parameter name before the = will be displayed as the balance title.
• If the syntax before the = has the word 'inGOT' in it, inGOTBalance will read the first word in the corresponding NDS field (e.g. Postal Code), which should be the inGOT balance amount, and display it.
• If the syntax before the = has the word 'PCounter' in it, inGOTBalance will read the amount in the corresponding NDS field (e.g. Accounting), divides the number by 100 and display it.
• If the syntax before the = contains neither word then inGOTBalance simply displays whatever is in the corresponding field.

Command-Line parameters

InGOTBalance will support two command-line parameters.

• "/show" - inGOTBalance loads as normal (i.e. in the System Tray) but will start with the form open.
• "/nosystray" - inGOTBalance will start with the form open but will not load into the System Tray.
• "/nocurrency" - inGOTBalance will display the users balance as a whole number without the currency symbol (e.g. $23.45 will be displayed as 2,345).
  
  (The Command-Line parameters are not case-sensitive)
  

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