Topics

1

Post New Requests Here / IDEA - A different type of computer timer

« on: January 14, 2008, 07:37 AM »

I have an idea for a hardware/software unit which I can't find on the market anywhere. Although donation coder is a software development forum I thought that someone might like to pick it up.

I often leave my computer running on "autopilot", performing various downloads, recording audio or video items off-air via a TV tuner card for timeshifting and so on.

I prefer not to leave my computer on all the time as this wastes energy, so I get it to switch itself on from cold using the BIOS timer and switch itself off again using a software shutdown utility.

Unfortunately the BIOS timer is limited to either a single event on a specified day or the same time every day.

I'd like to be able to get the computer to switch itself on from cold at different times on different days, or even at different times during the same day.

So the idea is to build a small timer module to fit into a spare 3.5 or 5.25 inch drivebay. (ideally a 3.5 inch version as this could be fitted into either)
It would be wired into the motherboard in place of the normal on-off switch. (most motherboards seem to connect to the power switch with a simple 2-pin connector)
The unit would include a normal on-off switch for non-timer use.
The unit should be programmable to switch the computer on (i.e. electronically press the on switch) at a number of preset dates and times. (a two week 8 event timer would be the bare minimum but as memory is cheap these days a 256 event 1 year timer or better would be ideal).
There would be no need for the unit to switch the computer off. There are loads of freeware timer and shut down software products available which could do that. (if the unit were to switch off the computer by electronically hitting the power switch it would cause all sorts of potential data corruption problems)
If the user makes a mistake and programs the unit to switch the PC on when it is already on, then it should not have any effect at the programmed time (pressing the on switch on a PC which is already running would probably switch the machine of, make it hibernate, reboot or similar)
A very desirable enhancement would be to link the unit to the computer, probably via USB, and to provide a windows program to set the timer. If this also included a simple shutdown program the whole thing would be self-contained. (date, on time, off time, specific days, every day, weekdays only etc)

So, any takers?

2

Post New Requests Here / IDEA - Update on RRunner

« on: January 14, 2008, 07:27 AM »

Hi,

I while ago I needed a program to run another program at a random time within a set time period.

The application was a type of training exercise where I wanted a program to run a set of events at a random time.

PhilKC responded and produced a very useful utility named RRunner which works very well.

I now need a slightly more sophisticated version:

When the program starts, or is running and reaches a preset start time, it should wait a random length of time (up to some preset limit), select a random program from a specified folder and run it. It should then wait another random length of time (up to some preset limit), select another program at random from a specified folder and run it.
This should continue until either a preset end time occurs or the program is closed.

The idea being that each of the programs in the specified folder will result in a different set of events occuring. These will appear at random throughout the specified period.

Added desirable functions would be the ability to run the program from either a Windows interface or from the command line (with switches for the start time, end time, folder and time limit for delays) and also the ability to have more than one version of the programme running at the same time to have different time periods, delays and folders.

Thanks in advance

- Tony

3

Post New Requests Here / Clipboard type programme to collect together snippets of text

« on: April 19, 2007, 08:21 AM »

Hi,

I'm looking for a simple clipboard programme for capturing multiple items of plain text such as web site URLs and so on to a single text file.

There are lots of programmes available which extend the standard windows clipboard but all of the examples I've seen save each item to a separate clipboard.

Each time I copy a piece of text to this clipboard it should be added to the end of the list without deleting the existing contents.

Once I've added all of the items I need, I want to be able to paste the whole list to a text editor for sorting.

It doesn't necessarily have to use Ctrl-c 0r Ctrl-x to add items to the clipboard. In fact it might be better if it used other keys so that the standard cut and past functions will still work as normal

Any suggestions for existing software or a custom bit of coding would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Tony

4

Finished Programs / DONE: Program to identify and delete empty folders in a tree

« on: December 08, 2005, 06:39 AM »

I've been looking for a simple way to seek out and delete empty folders within a folder tree but there doesn't appear to be any suitable software on the web.

The user would give the program the identity of a folder and the program would present a list of all empty sub-folders in the tree leading from the given folder. The user could then select folders to delete.

Does anybody know of a suitable program out there or feel like coding one?

5

Post New Requests Here / IDEA - a simple way to batch rearrange blocks of text within filenames

« on: November 25, 2005, 06:46 AM »

Hi

I'm looking for a simple way to rearrange blocks of text within filenames as a batch process.

The reason is that I enjoy listening to old US radio adventure and scifi series from the 1940s and 50s, such as Suspense, Escape and DimensionX. A lot of shows are in circulation but the file naming style varies - for example showname-date-episodenumber-episodetitle.mp3 or showname-episodenumber-date-episodetitle and so on. I'd like to be able to get a consistent set of names to help identify duplicates etc.

The program would need to take a filename of the form AxBxCxDxE.*, where A,B,C,D and E are blocks of text of at least one character, and x represents a spacer character which could be any valid character for XP filenames. It would then rearrange the name to, for example BxExDxCxA.*, or whatever sequence was required, and repeat the process for all of the files in a specified folder.

I imagine the interface would be a window with three boxes - one box to specify the folder containing the files to me renamed (ideally with the usual browse button), one box to specify the spacer character and one box to list the required sequence of text block in the new file names.

An alternative would be a command line program where the command would look something like:
c:\path\program c:\folder x 53214
where the files are located in c:\folder, the spacer character is x and the rename process would be AxBxCxDxE.* changed to ExCxBxAxD.*

Ideally the program should handle filenames with up to 9 blocks of text

I've searched the net for a suitable program but only found one which claimed to be able to do it. Unfortunately it had vast numbers of options (total overkill for this application), had a confusing interface and was very poorly documented. As a result I never managed to get it to work properly

A simple solution would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Tony

6

Finished Programs / DONE: Timer to run app at random time within a given period each day

« on: November 24, 2005, 03:13 AM »

Hi,

This is the first time I've used this forum (recommended by a Lockergnome forum user), so here goes.....

I'm looking for a way to run a program at a random time within a given period each day. I've searched the web but I can't find anything suitable

The user would supply the time of the start of the period, the time of the end of the period and the path/name of the program to rum.
So for example, if the start time was 1am and the end time was 5am, the "timer" software would run the given programme once a day, at some random time between 1 and 5am, with the time that the program runs being different each day

It doesn't need a fancy interface - just a functional program which isn't user hostile.

Also, the definition of "random" is fairly loose. I gather that Excel uses a formula like
random_number=fractional part of (9821 * r + 0.211327),
where r = the previous random number
The results of this are random enough for most everyday purposes.

Any programmers feel like taking up the idea?

Thanks in advance

Tony