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DonationCoder.com Software => Older DC Contests and Challenges => N.A.N.Y. 2012 => Topic started by: anandcoral on November 07, 2011, 12:22 PM

Title: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on November 07, 2011, 12:22 PM

NANY 2012 (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?board=304.0) Entry Information

Application Name	Tell When Done
Version	1.6.0
Short Description	Watches a program window, which is doing some process, and tells when it has done it's processing. Effectively freeing the user to do another job in another window, without worrying about it.
Supported OSes	WinXp and above
Web Page	https://sites.google.com/site/tellwhendone/
Download Link	https://sites.google.com/site/tellwhendone/home/download
Author	Anand K Gupta

Description
Many a times I run a program which does some process and displays a report/log etc. This program just shows a spinner/marquee which means I may have to wait 1/10/30 etc. minutes depending on the process. It also happens that I need to take next step after it has completed the process. Some programs do show some notification alert if it is in the background but many do not.

Now while watching the spinner, I feel like having a quick look at my Twitter stream/ Facebook notification/ New unread mail etc. So I just switch to another window do the look and switch back to find that the process is still going on.

I do this switching and at one time get so engrossed in reading new mail and its link that I forget when 20 minutes has gone by. I suddenly realize and switch back to find the program has done it's processing long time back.

Enough. I am the master of the computer and not the other way around. I want all programs to tell me when it has done it's process, so that I can concentrate on useful work instead of looking at a spinner.

Tell When Done is born.

Pressing Win+t (changeable) hotkey on the program which is doing some process, activates it to watch it and tell me when it has done the process. The notification is displayed above all windows so that I can not miss it.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Release: Tell When Done
Post by: Ath on November 07, 2011, 01:18 PM

That's quite useful :Thmbsup:

I have a lot of tasks just like that, and waiting for them to finish, twiddling my thumbs, is quite annoying. I'll try TellWhenDone and report my findings here.

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Release: Tell When Done
Post by: ewemoa on November 07, 2011, 03:28 PM

This sounds great!

Any chance of recording and reporting the total time related to observing the processing?

On a tangential note, I didn't find a checksum on the download page (e.g. MD5, SHA1, etc.).  Is there something there?

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Release: Tell When Done
Post by: Ath on November 07, 2011, 03:37 PM

I'm curious how the activity is measured.
Is it based on CPU load or something else? as I use quite some Client/Server apps, where the load is on the server (ofcourse) so the client isn't very busy, but I still have to wait for it to finish. And there also isn't a wait cursor in all cases.

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on November 07, 2011, 08:35 PM

@ewemoa, I will put the checksum on the website next time, also will change the App to report the total time, thanks.

@Ath, it is based on CPU load, as that is the only measurement for all process in general. I will like to hear how it works in client/server setup.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Release: Tell When Done
Post by: ewemoa on November 07, 2011, 11:53 PM

Thanks for the response!  Looking forward to the updates :)

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Release: Tell When Done
Post by: Ath on November 10, 2011, 10:05 AM

As I expected, testing 'reveals' that Tell When Done isn't going to work on Client/Server applications. The client isn't busy enough, while waiting for the server to complete, to trick TWD into thinking it's still busy :huh:

Q: Would it be possible to add a/some test(s) for alternate waiting methods, like a wait/busy cursor being active, or some control (avi, gauge) or window being shown (depending on the exe-name), to let TWD know it's still busy? Ofcourse I'll assist in testing 8)

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on November 11, 2011, 12:59 AM

Thanks @Ath for the feedback.

Adding some alternate method is good suggestion and I will try to implement it. "Window title shown" is easier alternate and I will first try on it.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Release: Tell When Done
Post by: skwire on December 25, 2011, 04:44 PM

More ghacks.net love.   :D 

http://www.ghacks.net/2011/12/25/tell-when-done-monitors-processing-windows-automatically/

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on December 26, 2011, 02:03 AM

Thanks skwire and also thanks to DC that Ghacks found this one useful, though I still have some ironing on it to do.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Release: Tell When Done
Post by: mouser on December 29, 2011, 05:03 PM

Big write up with suggestions for how to improve the program on dottech.org today:

http://dottech.org/freeware-reviews/25720/be-notified-when-programs-are-done-processing-with-tell-when-done/

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on December 30, 2011, 01:01 AM

Ahh my.. I am overwhelmed by the writer's and commentators points. What more a developer will want.

It is like an energy boost to me. Thank you mouser for the link.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on January 01, 2012, 01:06 PM

I have updated the version and made as final release the original post.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: Tinman57 on January 08, 2012, 07:32 PM

  What would really be great is if it had an alarm so you know when it's done while in another room (or not looking at the monitor).

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: Curt on January 09, 2012, 01:18 PM

 What would really be great is if it had an alarm so you know when it's done while in another room (or not looking at the monitor).

-Tinman57 (January 08, 2012, 07:32 PM)

I have the exact same request; play a tune when done :-)

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on January 10, 2012, 10:33 AM

Hi Tinman57 and Curt, I had more plans for TWD along with the sound option. But it looks like this is a basic feature and should have been from the initial release.

I have found two sound (mp3 files) which I will include in next release, hope fully this week end. One is of short length and the other is a bit longer, so that one does not miss it from next room :)

It will also be possible to play you choice mp3, wav etc. file, instead.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on January 10, 2012, 08:19 PM

Version 1.6.0 uploaded.

Changes,
- Plays a sound when watched program has done its process.
- Sound file can be defined in Settings.

Its a great feeling to see satisfied users.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: ewemoa on July 10, 2012, 01:57 AM

I will put the checksum on the website next time

-anandcoral (November 07, 2011, 08:35 PM)

Thanks for doing this.

I just downloaded the zip file for 1.6.0, and computed some checksums for it.  Unfortunately, what I got:

MD5: 5816907e299cc6798c2a2df83322f404
SHA1: fcda32396572c0f009c21e4db399de90fb29be24

differs from what I see at the Download section (https://sites.google.com/site/tellwhendone/home/download):

MD5: B730B35429820D191F1E76CFB5367E6C
SHA1: CFE68189D4DD9C53899958C316F27C2E235A7FF2

Any ideas as to why there appears to be a discrepancy?

I decided to check for 1.5.0 as well and also ended up with different results:

MD5: 9daa9a8098c53dcde3a3915d4f799d96
SHA1: fe9f4d664920504ed0cc59bbfe68c8ea6d6755ec

What I see at the site is:

MD5: 92075C9913F83A09E3F6148D0073AAA1
SHA1: 0886E3D2B6619DD2B9A83B7DAF20F15B52F51700

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on July 10, 2012, 11:05 AM

Hi ewemoa,

Thanks for your feedback.

I downloaded the "Tell When Done.exe" from the zip file of version 1.6.0 (Google sites, opened the zip file in web and allowed me to download just the exe :) ).

Ran again HashMyFiles v1.72 (from http://www.nirsoft.net). It gave same result. The full text is as below,

==================================================
Filename          : Tell When Done.exe
MD5               : B730B35429820D191F1E76CFB5367E6C
SHA1              : CFE68189D4DD9C53899958C316F27C2E235A7FF2
CRC32             : C3F79B42
Full Path         : Tell When Done.exe
Modified Time     : 7/10/2012 9:23:40 PM
Created Time      : 7/10/2012 9:23:37 PM
File Size         : 454,863
File Version      : 1, 0, 48, 05
Product Version   : 1, 0, 48, 05
Identical         :
Extension         : exe
File Attributes   : A
==================================================
(Please ignore the version number shown above)

I am running WinXp 32 bits.

Can you please check it with Nirsoft exe ? if you are using a different one, please tell me the name. Also please tell your Os version and 32/64, though this should not be the problem.

Please revert back.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: ewemoa on July 11, 2012, 03:21 AM

I have an idea about what may be going on.  I am computing the checksums for the zip files.  From your post it looks like your computations are for the exe files.  A test here appears to be consistent with this view.

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on July 11, 2012, 05:12 AM

Yes, the checksum is for the exe, as the values are also in the hash.txt file in the zip file, for anytime reference by the user.

I will mention so on the website, to clear any misunderstanding in future.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: Ath on July 11, 2012, 05:22 AM

Yes, the checksum is for the exe, as the values are also in the hash.txt file in the zip file, for anytime reference by the user.

I will mention so on the website, to clear any misunderstanding in future.

Regards,

Anand

-anandcoral (July 11, 2012, 05:12 AM)

It would be more helpful to (also) publish the md5/sha hashes for the zipfile, as I'd be (theoretically) able to replace the exe, update the txt file with new hashes and publish a new zip-file...

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on July 11, 2012, 07:58 AM

Good idea, thanks Ath.

So the website will have the hash for zip file and also the exe ; and mention so.

The zip file will have hash text for the exe, as usual. This to help if a user's machine gets infected, and he/she wants to verify the exe.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: ewemoa on July 11, 2012, 08:25 AM

So the website will have the hash for zip file and also the exe ; and mention so.

-anandcoral (July 11, 2012, 07:58 AM)

Thanks!

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: dr_andus on December 30, 2013, 10:15 AM

Hi Anand,

I was hoping to be able to use "Tell When Done" with ConnectedText (http://www.connectedtext.com/) (CT), but for some reason it doesn't work with it. Any idea why?

CT is a wiki that allows for inclusion or transclusion (including one page within another), and as I have some complex daisy-chains of inclusions, sometimes it takes 1 to 2 min for a page to process and be displayed (after clicking on a link). While that happens, CT simply says "not responding" (i.e. doesn't say anything), so being able to use "Tell When Done" would be great.

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on December 31, 2013, 01:34 AM

Hi dr_andus,

Sometimes the process on which you press hotkey for TWD, does not do any process, but call some other process. Since TWD watching the first process, it assumes that it is done. So may be CT is calling some other process, may be in it's own folder, to do the time consuming job. You can run some process viewer/explorer to check it.

I have plan to allow user to change or select the actual process which is doing the job. Hopefully will be able sit with it in next year.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: dr_andus on December 31, 2013, 06:37 AM

Hi Anand, thanks for your reply. I checked my process viewer, and it seems that a whole lot is going on while CT is processing. The processes that seem to be busy and involved are:

conntext.exe
sqlservr.exe
dwm.exe
csrss.exe

I presume it's the first two that are relevant? Maybe I need to ask the developer to find out which one is key here. In any case, I look forward to trying out your forthcoming version.

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: BONZ on April 13, 2015, 05:15 PM

IS THERE A WORKING DOWNLOAD LINK FOR THIS? GOOGLE DOES NOT WORK,    GRRR

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: mouser on April 13, 2015, 05:26 PM

Just confirming that the download links are giving 404 errors from google.  I'm sure anand will fix, stay tuned.

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: Ath on April 14, 2015, 01:33 AM

IS THERE A WORKING ...

-BONZ (April 13, 2015, 05:15 PM)

Bonz, could you please refrain from 'shouting' in the forum, ALL-CAPS is so 1980's :huh:
Your questions and remarks are welcome, of course.

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on April 14, 2015, 02:57 AM

Hi BONZ, please do not panic  :)

I checked and found the website and the download page is working https://sites.google.com/site/tellwhendone/home/download

I am also giving the direct zip file download link for version 1.6.0 https://sites.google.com/site/tellwhendone/home/download/TellWhenDone1.6.0.zip?attredirects=0&d=1

May be Google had some DOS problem, that time. Please check again. Thanks for your feedback.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: Curt on April 17, 2015, 12:21 PM

Anand, maybe you're not seeing it, as a guest would see it? As a guest I was thinking, the words "TellWhenDone1.6.0.zip (451k)" surely must give a file if clicked - but it was a dead end. Instead one has to press a microscopic and unnamed blue arrow situated far out in the margin. I expect more people than me don't understand or even notice that arrow.

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: mouser on April 17, 2015, 12:39 PM

As a guest I was thinking, the words "TellWhenDone1.6.0.zip (451k)" surely must give a file if clicked - but it was a dead end. Instead one has to press a microscopic and unnamed blue arrow situated far out in the margin.

Indeed i hadn't even realized what Curt was talking about until i went back to the page.  If you click on the filename link it leads to a new page and then a failed download.  but if you click on the tiny blue arrow at the far right margin it works.
Surely the links for the filenames are broken.

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on April 17, 2015, 01:08 PM

Thanks Curt and Mouser.

Yes, we geek sometime forget that for a normal user it may not be obvious.

I should have fixed it for Tell When Done download page, when I was fixing for Overlap Wallpaper download page. I promise to fix it soon and my other free apps download pages too.

My apologies to all who had to face the download problem.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2012 Pledge & Final Release: Tell When Done
Post by: anandcoral on April 18, 2015, 06:33 AM

Added 'download" buttons for at least the latest version on all the apps download pages.

What I have noted that, when I designed the websites in google site, it was very simple i.e. not very complex. People could easily download files and I could easily make changes. Slowly slowly many options have been added by google and the default download links layout has been drastically changed, confusing people.

The logic of download button I found at somewhere else on one of the google site recently and started using it whenever I updated my apps. So the older apps webpages remained without the button.

Afraid if google decides something against the google site and auto adds ads etc. to them.

Regards,

Anand