Author Topic: T-Clock 2010 (download) (Read 1066163 times)

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #50 on:** March 26, 2010, 06:48 AM »

It seem almost poetic $:-\$ lyrical - Is there a tune that goes with it?

Nice to know somebody missed the font issue, I've got 50+ Emails from people that didn't. The new size 8 font is actually not bad now with 2 lines on the (default height) skinned XP taskbar ... But I wouldn't try it on 2k.

I've been thinking it might be nice to get folks to post a SS of their clock configuration - if a vague consensus of form can be found, I'll make it the (new) default.

Up Coming Stuff: I'm currently working on the (much needed) "live" timer countdown interface. The plan is to have a single location where a selectable group of active timers can be monitored. Also working on making the stopwatch controllable from the command prompt, so a script can start/stop/lap/reset the counter for execution time checking. Beyond that ... I'm running out of ideas, but am reviewing the emails I received over the years to see if there is anything else I can add (that won't junk-it-up). <- Hint...

) Next build will most likely be the first beta.

ewemoa · « **Reply #51 on:** March 26, 2010, 08:11 AM »

It seem almost poetic $:-\$ lyrical - Is there a tune that goes with it?
-Stoic Joker (March 26, 2010, 06:48 AM)

Good question

Up Coming Stuff: I'm currently working on the (much needed) "live" timer countdown interface. The plan is to have a single location where a selectable group of active timers can be monitored.

Sounds nice! Would a hotkey to toggle visibility make sense?

Also working on making the stopwatch controllable from the command prompt, so a script can start/stop/lap/reset the counter for execution time checking.

Mmmmm, command line access. More of that!

Beyond that ... I'm running out of ideas

How easy/likely is a non-registry-using (=> portable-friendly) version?

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #52 on:** March 26, 2010, 05:29 PM »

It seem almost poetic $:-\$ lyrical - Is there a tune that goes with it?
-Stoic Joker (March 26, 2010, 06:48 AM)
Good question

Up Coming Stuff: I'm currently working on the (much needed) "live" timer countdown interface. The plan is to have a single location where a selectable group of active timers can be monitored.
Sounds nice! Would a hotkey to toggle visibility make sense?
-ewemoa (March 26, 2010, 08:11 AM)

Hm... I'll look into it.

Also working on making the stopwatch controllable from the command prompt, so a script can start/stop/lap/reset the counter for execution time checking.
Mmmmm, command line access. More of that!

I've already got a few issues with the current CLI options, so what else I can do in that direction will depend on how well that turns out.

Beyond that ... I'm running out of ideas
How easy/likely is a non-registry-using (=> portable-friendly) version?

Inside Program Files (UAC/File Permissions/etc.) no. Outside Program Files .ini handling isn't really that difficult - So it sounds do-able.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #53 on:** March 27, 2010, 01:16 PM »

Okay, first beta of TC2010 now available.

Stopwatch can now can be controlled form the command line:

      /exit   : Exit T-Clock 2010
      /prop   : Open T-Clock 2010 Properties
      /start   : Start the Stopwatch Counter (open as/if needed)
      /stop   : Stop (pause really) the Stopwatch Counter
      /lap   : Record a (the current) Lap Time
      /reset   : Reset Stopwatch to 0 (stop as/if needed)

Timers Can now be viewed/monitored:
T-Clock 2010 (Timer Watch).jpg

Highlight a timer in ListView & hit Delete - To get Exit Options.

Note: Timer Watch will automatically close if last timer is removed, or if a Single watched timer Expires.

Feedback Appreciated.

ewemoa · « **Reply #54 on:** March 27, 2010, 04:12 PM »

Trying out the first beta of TC2010 (congratulations, btw

)

Stopwatch can now can be controlled form the command line:

    /exit   : Exit T-Clock 2010
...
    /stop   : Stop (pause really) the Stopwatch Counter
    /lap   : Record a (the current) Lap Time
    /reset   : Reset Stopwatch to 0 (stop as/if needed)
-Stoic Joker (March 27, 2010, 01:16 PM)

Woohoo! Mmm, command line options...Sorry, I'll try to contain myself.

The quoted 1 + 3 items appear to work as expected here.

/prop : Open T-Clock 2010 Properties
/start : Start the Stopwatch Counter (open as/if needed)

These made a corresponding dialog of T-Clock active -- which seems to make sense for /prop, but I'm not sure it does for /start. Do you get the same behavior?

Timers Can now be viewed/monitored:

Took me a bit to figure out how to make that window appear

Some observations:

I had a single timer visible in the Timer Watch dialog, stopped it from the Add/Edit dialog (so this is neither expiring nor plain removal from the dialog), and noticed that the Timer Watch dialog went away. Is that what happens there? Not sure what I think of that yet.

Highlight a timer in ListView & hit Delete - To get Exit Options.

This seemed to work for all three cases.

I started to wonder whether it might be useful to be able to start expired or stopped timers from the Timer Watch dialog -- and/or perhaps have some way to get the Add/Edit Timer dialog to appear via a hotkey or button press. Still at the wondering stage though.

Note: Timer Watch will automatically close if last timer is removed, or if a Single watched timer Expires.

I observed these two results too. I'm not sure what I think of the latter yet.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #55 on:** March 28, 2010, 09:11 AM »

Trying out the first beta of TC2010 (congratulations, btw )

Stopwatch can now can be controlled form the command line:

    /exit   : Exit T-Clock 2010
...
    /stop   : Stop (pause really) the Stopwatch Counter
    /lap   : Record a (the current) Lap Time
    /reset   : Reset Stopwatch to 0 (stop as/if needed)
-Stoic Joker (March 27, 2010, 01:16 PM)
Woohoo! Mmm, command line options...Sorry, I'll try to contain myself.

The quoted 1 + 3 items appear to work as expected here.

    /prop   : Open T-Clock 2010 Properties
    /start   : Start the Stopwatch Counter (open as/if needed)
These made a corresponding dialog of T-Clock active -- which seems to make sense for /prop, but I'm not sure it does for /start. Do you get the same behavior?
-ewemoa (March 27, 2010, 04:12 PM)

The /prop & /exit switches have always been in T-Clock, they're part of Kazubon's origional code. /stop, /lap, & /reset are all rather predictable as they assume (require) the stopwatch be running to effect their changes. /start however has a dual purpose (requirement) which will both start the counter and launch the stopwatch dialog window if it isn't already open. If the stopwatch window was already open, it would only start the counter in the pre-existing window.

Timers Can now be viewed/monitored:
Took me a bit to figure out how to make that window appear

Some observations:

I had a single timer visible in the Timer Watch dialog, stopped it from the Add/Edit dialog (so this is neither expiring nor plain removal from the dialog), and noticed that the Timer Watch dialog went away. Is that what happens there? Not sure what I think of that yet.

I guess it would seem a bit quirky at first glance - But the logic behind it is that if there is only one timer(/purpose for the window) running, and that timer is canceled, why make the user close two windows just to get rid of it. Hence the window's self terminating if un-needed behavior.

...And yes, I do need to flush out the help file a bit in that department.

Highlight a timer in ListView & hit Delete - To get Exit Options.
This seemed to work for all three cases.

I started to wonder whether it might be useful to be able to start expired or stopped timers from the Timer Watch dialog -- and/or perhaps have some way to get the Add/Edit Timer dialog to appear via a hotkey or button press. Still at the wondering stage though.

I've pondered that one myself, unfortunately getting the timers to restart from the watch window would require recoding the whole shebang from scratch as launching the timers is dependent on accessing a CBGetItemData structure which is only available when the add/edit window is open.

I haven't started exploring the hotkey option yet, but that will be dependent on how reliably I can make it without hooking even deeper into the shell.

Note: Timer Watch will automatically close if last timer is removed, or if a Single watched timer Expires.
I observed these two results too. I'm not sure what I think of the latter yet.

[/quote]

Granted I'm assuming ...

But...
If the last watched timer is removed, the next logical step would be to close the now un-needed window (which is why it's automated).

If a single timer expires, the alarm is more of an attention getter that a string of zeros (or the expired flag) so auto-closing the window while the clock is flashing & beeping saves an extra click.

The first (tricky) part was just get the thing to work ...

... *Shrug* the design behavior after that is up for debate. So let me know if it starts to grow on ya, or just itchs real bad.

Thank You,

Stoic Joker

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #56 on:** March 28, 2010, 01:08 PM »

Okay, as it turns out Hotkeys are a hell of a lot easier that I'd originally thought. So...

T-Clock Hotkeys
Ctrl + Shift + S      : Opens the T-Clock Stopwatch.
Ctrl + Shift + T      : Opens T-Clock Add/Edit Timers.
Ctrl + Shift + W   : Opens the T-Clock Timer Watch Window.
Note: Timer Watch will auto-close if it isn’t needed (has no timers being watched).

Now included in the new build available in the usual place.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #57 on:** March 28, 2010, 07:54 PM »

For you Astronomy buffs, I've added the Julian Date as a custom formatting option (JD)

If you are wondering what the Julian Date is...

Today is: 2455283.5

Download in usual place

ewemoa · « **Reply #58 on:** March 29, 2010, 08:59 PM »

Okay, as it turns out Hotkeys are a hell of a lot easier that I'd originally thought. So...

T-Clock Hotkeys
Ctrl + Shift + S      : Opens the T-Clock Stopwatch.
Ctrl + Shift + T      : Opens T-Clock Add/Edit Timers.
Ctrl + Shift + W   : Opens the T-Clock Timer Watch Window.
Note: Timer Watch will auto-close if it isn’t needed (has no timers being watched).
-Stoic Joker (March 28, 2010, 01:08 PM)

Thanks for adding these. They seem to work here.

Ctrl+Shift+T happens to be something I use often for Firefox (opening the most recently closed tab).

Given the possibility of conflicting shortcut keys, I wonder if configurability of the specific keys would be helpful. If that's a pain or too much work or whatever, perhaps you can punt on the shortcut keys for the moment (sorry, I know I asked for them initially).

A random thought: if command line options for the functionality of opening (and closing or toggling) the various windows were available, it'd be possible to set up something else (e.g AHK or FARR) to handle the specification and triggering of hotkeys. What do you think?

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #59 on:** March 29, 2010, 10:18 PM »

Okay, as it turns out Hotkeys are a hell of a lot easier that I'd originally thought. So...

T-Clock Hotkeys
Ctrl + Shift + S      : Opens the T-Clock Stopwatch.
Ctrl + Shift + T      : Opens T-Clock Add/Edit Timers.
Ctrl + Shift + W   : Opens the T-Clock Timer Watch Window.
Note: Timer Watch will auto-close if it isn’t needed (has no timers being watched).
-Stoic Joker (March 28, 2010, 01:08 PM)
Thanks for adding these. They seem to work here.

Ctrl+Shift+T happens to be something I use often for Firefox (opening the most recently closed tab).
-ewemoa (March 29, 2010, 08:59 PM)

Shit, I was afraid that would happen.

Given the possibility of conflicting shortcut keys, I wonder if configurability of the specific keys would be helpful. If that's a pain or too much work or whatever, perhaps you can punt on the shortcut keys for the moment (sorry, I know I asked for them initially).

It seemed reasonable enough at the time (and I like Hotkeys). I figure there are three options:
1. Add the Alt key to the Ctrl + Shift + X combo (and hope that's not used too)
2. Switch to Ctrl + Fx (and hope nobody else thought of that option)
3. Make the keys configurable - which means adding a tab to the properties dialog, in which case I'll have to reorganize all the existing pages (again).

A random thought: if command line options for the functionality of opening (and closing or toggling) the various windows were available, it'd be possible to set up something else (e.g AHK or FARR) to handle the specification and triggering of hotkeys. What do you think?

If it's gotta be written in something, I might as well write it into the existing app. ...Guess I'll just half to get blind drunk and a dart board to figure this one out.

callethan · « **Reply #60 on:** March 30, 2010, 09:22 AM »

So I sent a hoot out to the void in June of 2008, not really expecting any return, but sometimes you try, you know, just in case. - So imagine my pleasant surprise to find a message in my inbox from that most stoic of jokers.

Not only that, but he had done the thing I asked for(!) How totally awesome!

Now, just one little thing....
I asked for Julian date, but it turns out that what is often referred to as 'Julian date' is, um, really Ordinal date

In other words, what I was really looking for is 'Day of the year' 1-135, 366 on leap years. Please? Pretty Please?

Also, one of the neat features in TClockEx was having 'launch other application' in the Mouse config menus.

Gotta say, us power users tend to have a couple applications tied to hotkeys, so you really have to allow users to re-assign or disable them.

I have been using TClock, TClockEX, etc. for about the last 10 years, and it is really nice to see this work and refreshing. THANK YOU!

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #61 on:** March 30, 2010, 12:47 PM »

So I sent a hoot out to the void in June of 2008, not really expecting any return, but sometimes you try, you know, just in case. - So imagine my pleasant surprise to find a message in my inbox from that most stoic of jokers.

Not only that, but he had done the thing I asked for(!) How totally awesome!

Now, just one little thing....
I asked for Julian date, but it turns out that what is often referred to as 'Julian date' is, um, really Ordinal date In other words, what I was really looking for is 'Day of the year' 1-135, 366 on leap years. Please? Pretty Please?
-callethan (March 30, 2010, 09:22 AM)

I actually quite glad you brought this up. I had to research Julian Date to find out what it was, before having a go at it. But As I recall your Email did mention that you were looking for a YYYY.DDD format ... Which doesn't quite match the JD standard that I found and used. Now I understand why (thank you).

So at this point I'd really only need to add a Day-Of-Year option and then the Ordinal date format you're after would be easily configurable. I can do that - I was actually already on-the-fence about adding the DOY, so I'll just toss it into the next build.

Also, one of the neat features in TClockEx was having 'launch other application' in the Mouse config menus.

Um... TClockEx was Dale Nurden's project ... I'm the other guy...

Gotta say, us power users tend to have a couple applications tied to hotkeys, so you really have to allow users to re-assign or disable them.

Yes, I've slowly been resigning myself to that. The last build was just a test to see if I could do it (add hotkeys) ... Next trip through we get to find out if I can do it correctly...

been using TClock, TClockEX, etc. for about the last 10 years, and it is really nice to see this work and refreshing. THANK YOU!

I'm glad to see folks still enjoying T-Clock - and Thank You, I truly do appreciate the feedback.

wr975 · « **Reply #62 on:** March 30, 2010, 01:02 PM »

Well, much as I hate to regard silence as acceptance ... I gotta go with it.
-Stoic Joker (March 23, 2010, 06:07 PM)

Sorry for not responding about the week feature request. Totally missed that post as you said, it'll take some time. Thank you for implementing this feature. I think it's perfect the way it is (ISO Sunday, ISO Monday, Simple).

cranioscopical · « **Reply #63 on:** March 30, 2010, 01:34 PM »

Guess I'll just half to get blind drunk and a dart board to figure this one out.

And yet, I'm sure you'll hit the bulls-eye!

A few Donation Credits coming your way for the indefatigable effort and constant improvement!

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #64 on:** March 30, 2010, 07:33 PM »

Now, just one little thing....
I asked for Julian date, but it turns out that what is often referred to as 'Julian date' is, um, really Ordinal date In other words, what I was really looking for is 'Day of the year' 1-135, 366 on leap years. Please? Pretty Please?
-callethan (March 30, 2010, 09:22 AM)

Luckily (for both of us) the code is strikingly similar - So I got all of the above it one shot. How ever while Julian Date was crystal clear regarding the "Thow Shalt Not Uses Any Other But UTC" part, the Ordinal Date (after an hour on Google) wouldn't break one way or the other. ... So I did both:
1. OD = Ordinal Date (YYYY-DDD) Using UTC Time (shown in screen shot below).
2. Od = Ordinal Date (YYYY-DDD) Using Local Time.
3. DOY = Day-Of-Year in Decimal (001 - 366) format.

Yes, I was playing with the font size before taking the SS - The fonts do seem to scale nicely...

Well, much as I hate to regard silence as acceptance ... I gotta go with it.
-Stoic Joker (March 23, 2010, 06:07 PM)

Sorry for not responding about the week feature request. Totally missed that post as you said, it'll take some time. Thank you for implementing this feature. I think it's perfect the way it is (ISO Sunday, ISO Monday, Simple).
-wr975 (March 30, 2010, 01:02 PM)

Thank you, I'm truly relieved to know that the function passed muster. ...And Thank You also for the encouragement.

Guess I'll just half to get blind drunk and a dart board to figure this one out.

And yet, I'm sure you'll hit the bulls-eye!

A few Donation Credits coming your way for the indefatigable effort and constant improvement!
-cranioscopical (March 30, 2010, 01:34 PM)

Gees, I hope not - That'll make the bull real mad ... Then What'll I Do...

Thank You.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #65 on:** March 30, 2010, 08:24 PM »

I hope not - That'll make the bull real mad ... Then What'll I Do...

Try for the udder one?

callethan · « **Reply #66 on:** April 02, 2010, 02:17 PM »

Luckily (for both of us) the code is strikingly similar - So I got all of the above it one shot. How ever while Julian Date was crystal clear regarding the "Thow Shalt Not Uses Any Other But UTC" part, the Ordinal Date (after an hour on Google) wouldn't break one way or the other. ... So I did both:
1. OD = Ordinal Date (YYYY-DDD) Using UTC Time (shown in screen shot below).
2. Od = Ordinal Date (YYYY-DDD) Using Local Time.
3. DOY = Day-Of-Year in Decimal (001 - 366) format.

WooHoo! You da MAN. The Manerator. The Manerino.

Installed it, played with it, it works! Simple, Clean, Nice.

In other words THANK YOU.

(Now I'm going to have to figure out this donation thingy...)

PhilB66 · « **Reply #67 on:** April 03, 2010, 04:09 AM »

Awesome. Thanks for this, Stoic Joker.

Would love to see a portable edition too.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #68 on:** April 03, 2010, 10:42 AM »

Glad to see the new features being well received ... as there's always a fine line between being feature rich and junked up (that I don't want to cross).

I had to take a short break due to getting completely fried bouncing between TC and the office projects. That and the configurable hotkey functionality is proving to be as difficult as I thought it would be (to do properly). Also my wife had surgery yesterday (which went well).

There are a couple of things I'm planning, but here are some of the highlights:
1. I have concocted a rough plan on how to attack the hotkey project which I'll be exploring this afternoon.
2. There are plans for an .ini based portable version, but they haven't completely gelled yet.
3. I'm still getting hammered on the Time Sync front - which has me torn on what to do - All research attempts have led back to a (UAC prompt filled) dead end. So f0dder if Ya happen to wander by... I'm open for ideas.

f0dder · « **Reply #69 on:** April 03, 2010, 10:51 AM »

Dunno if there's much you can do about the time sync issue - unless you're willing to run a background service with admin privileges that t-clock can communicate with

mouser · « **Reply #70 on:** April 03, 2010, 11:42 AM »

who cares if a uac prompt comes up? if time sync is a manual action triggered from system tray i dont mind if i have to ok a UAC prompt. i just want to have easy access to the command.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #71 on:** April 03, 2010, 03:05 PM »

Dunno if there's much you can do about the time sync issue - unless you're willing to run a background service with admin privileges that t-clock can communicate with
-f0dder (April 03, 2010, 10:51 AM)

Compounded by the fact that there is already an existing time service that I don't want to run afoul of (domain membership). While I could (for simplicity sake and to allow portability) leverage the existing Windows Time Service, it quickly turns into a kludge because of the (workgroup membership) defaults which only update every 7 days, and then there's the issue that most folks tend to use the default time.microsoft.com which fails frequently for a multitude of reasons.

We are on the same page here (privileges wise), I was just hoping you could think of something I was missing.

who cares if a uac prompt comes up?
-mouser (April 03, 2010, 11:42 AM)

I do. ...One of the core premises for the project is that it be (draconian) Corporate Network user friendly ... So administrators need not worry if it was set-off within their realm.

if time sync is a manual action triggered from system tray i dont mind if i have to ok a UAC prompt. i just want to have easy access to the command.

Understood. point taken, but "we" still have to contend with the proclivities of the rest of the great unwashed masses... that also might be inclined to set this thing off, and spasticly panic of an ominous looking security message is triggered.

Remember I'm working in pure C here, it's all-or-none - I don't have the luxury of the C# style runtime code level permissions checking/validation/prompting. Best I can do is what I hinted at earlier, which is to configure Quicky Menu option to point at a script that fires the Windows Time Service re-sync. That way the script handles/contends with the permissions prompting.

My typical uptimes are measured in months. I know the clock in Windows likes to drift a bit, because it completely ignores the hardware clock (after boot) and keeps its own time going forward during the session (it's a HAL thing). Unfortunately, the only current (reduced permissions) security model safe option is to let Windows handle the time.

The only reason I haven't completely closed the book on this is that I'm a bit of a (die-hard) nonconformist and love bending the rules in an attempt to invent have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too solutions. This one however has me stumped.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #72 on:** April 06, 2010, 07:11 AM »

I updated the DL last night, but was too fried to post the description ... and now I'm pressed for time. *Sigh*

Configurable hotkeys now available - for trial by fire

...I'm hoping the usage is self explanitory as I tried to emulate the native Windows shortcut hotkey interface behavior as closely as possible. This is with the exception of the added reset button requirement which prevents Ctrl Tabbing through the Tab'ed dialog from borking the config.

ewemoa · « **Reply #73 on:** April 06, 2010, 07:56 AM »

Thanks for the update.

I briefly tried the HotKeys feature in beta -5-.

To reproduce, please try:

1. Bring up HotKeys tab in Properties dialog (what, no hotkey for this? kidding)
2. Click Reset button for "Display Timer Watch Hotkey"
3. Enter hotkey: Control+Shift+S
4. Click Apply buton
5. Press: Control+Shift+S (notice window pop up)
6. Click Reset button for "Display Timer Watch Hotkey"
7. Try to enter hotkey: Control+Shift+S (notice that only the text Control+Shift shows up and a timer watch window pops up)
8. Click on Properties dialog
9. Try to enter hotkey: Control+Shift+S (notice that the text field gets additional content)

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #74 on:** April 06, 2010, 09:07 AM »

Thanks for the update.

I briefly tried the HotKeys feature in beta -5-.
(see attachment in previous post)
To reproduce, please try:

1. Bring up HotKeys tab in Properties dialog (what, no hotkey for this? kidding)
-ewemoa (April 06, 2010, 07:56 AM)

In retrospect, it's a hell of a good question (I'll have to work on that).

2. Click Reset button for "Display Timer Watch Hotkey"
3. Enter hotkey: Control+Shift+S
4. Click Apply buton
5. Press: Control+Shift+S (notice window pop up)
6. Click Reset button for "Display Timer Watch Hotkey"
7. Try to enter hotkey: Control+Shift+S (notice that only the text Control+Shift shows up and a timer watch window pops up)
8. Click on Properties dialog
9. Try to enter hotkey: Control+Shift+S (notice that the text field gets additional content)

Hm... (May be an artifact from the old config.) Can't play with that now (I'm at work), but I'd swear that should be impossible (granted the SS differs...

). After the initial (just updated) run can you do it again?