NistClock - by Don Cross

Screen shot of GuiNistClock.exe
Screen shot of GuiNistClock.exe running in expanded mode. The ... to the right of the display can be clicked on to toggle between this view and a more compact display.

Introduction

This is C# code I wrote in August 2008 for retrieving accurate date and time from NIST time servers using the Daytime Protocol (RFC-867).

This code requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.

I updated this code in February 2009 to split out the NistClock class into its own class library called Nist.dll, and made both the original console mode app and a new GUI app call into it.

Also in the February 2009 update, thanks to Marcel Meuwissen, I corrected two issues:

The NistClock.exe program can synchronize your system date and time to the NIST time server when you pass the sync parameter on the command line. Use the read parameter to read NIST time without adjusting your local system time. Run the program with no command-line parameters to get usage help.

The GuiNistClock.exe program is a Windows GUI that automatically synchronizes your system time with the NIST atomic clock once an hour, and displays the current date and time.

Nist.dll is a class library that contains class NistClock, and is required for both of the above 2 programs.

I originally wrote NistClock.exe to help measure the drift rate of my home-made digital clock.

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