Screen change detector

[JohanV]

Hi,
I am looking for a screen change detector that will alert me with a sound when the screen changes.
There are quite a few programs that do this. I am currently using "Pixel Change Detector"
This works very well, but only when the window that I am monitoring is in focus (on top)

I want something that will monitor a specific window even when it is not in focus and I have another window open.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

TIA

[Ath]

that will monitor a specific window even when it is not in focus and I have another window open.

-JohanV (March 26, 2019, 08:44 AM)

It is not guaranteed that the window content is updated if another window is (partially) covering it, so that might be quite a challenge... and maybe a little less if you can place that window visible and uncovered. And then there is a chance that the application detects it doesn't have focus and lowers/ceases the screen update frequency.

[JohanV]

Thanks for your input.
The screen definitely updates.
I am running a PayToClick program that sends through orders. It's these orders I want to be notified of.
An order comes through as a blue bar across the screen.
The program runs on a Firefox extension.
I log in then leave the window open But I have other work to do so I open a new window to carry on working.

Using PixelChangeDetector is easy when the window is open and in focus but it cannot monitor a window that is not in focus/on top.

[rjbull]

I've never used a two-monitor setup, so don't know if this is feasible.  Could you have two monitors, with the window you want to watch the sole item on one of them, perhaps pinned to be always on top to be sure, and do all other work on the other monitor?

[IainB]

@JohanV: - regarding your Q in the OP:
As an AHK user, I did a duckgo search for info on this: autohotkey - detect change in window
 - and some of the results looked potentially useful.
For example, including:

• Method to detect active window change?
• Run script on active window change

I also did a duckgo search on this: event viewer - detect change in a window
 - as I wondered whether that might be an easy avenue to pursue (anything that occurs in the system could probably be defined as an event).
Not sure whether the results would be useful though, as I know little about triggering/viewing system events, though I am aware that several third party applications "log" events to the viewer and subscriptions can also be enabled - e.g., for remote PCs or dual monitors. It seems to be a pretty sophisticated component of the OS.

Hope this helps or is of use.

[JohanV]

Thanks for all the input. I really appreciate it.
I have come to realise that I am asking for the, currently, impossible.
The best course of action would be to have a dual screen system but the earnings from the program do not justify the expense.
I'll just have to stick to manually checking the screen.
Thanks again.

[Shades]

Once you go with a dual monitor setup, you will not want to be without such a setup anymore. Introduced to such a setup at work, I recreated such a setup even at home. Preferably you'll go for 2 monitors that are the same, or at least with the same resolution. But that is not necessary to be useful. At home I bought a new but smaller and really cheap one and even that works out very well for what I am using my home system for. I work on my main, bigger one and keep track of events on the smaller one.

You will be more productive, or at least actively engaged with the tasks you are doing on a system with a dual monitor setup. Some here in the forum have a triple monitor setup or even more. Don't dismiss such a setup for yourself either, after having the dual monitor setup, you'll might have thought of a use case for a 3rd monitor. 

[Shades]

The PayToClick software you use, from the description you gave I understand that this is browser-based (extension).

Perhaps would this be of use:  tab-notifier

It is a generic notifier that pops up a message balloon on your desktop when things change on a website you have configured to be notified about. Its description states that it still works if the browser is minimized.

[rjbull]

The best course of action would be to have a dual screen system but the earnings from the program do not justify the expense.

-JohanV (March 27, 2019, 04:27 AM)

In that case, I wonder if the earnings justify immediate notification...  Another hypothetical approach.  On a single-monitor system, could you harness a macro program to bring the window of interest to the front, run the notifier, then return to the previous status?  And, set it to run both from a hotkey for ad hoc checks, and also from a scheduler so that it would check for you when you were at lunch, or the coffee machine or whatever?

[nickodemos]

Distill Web Monitor https://addons.mozil...still-web-monitor-ff

[JohanV]

Distill Web Monitor https://addons.mozil...still-web-monitor-ff

-nickodemos (March 28, 2019, 07:08 PM)

Thanks for your input.
The program I need monitored is a Firefox extension therefore does not have a url. so the web monitor can't monitor it.

I have come to the conclusion that what I want I can't get.

[Ath]

I have come to the conclusion that what I want I can't get.

-JohanV (March 29, 2019, 04:01 AM)

But you can go to a thrift shop or computer fair to buy a cheap second-hand secondary monitor for your computer, so the alternatives mentioned can be had for a small budget.

[tsaint]

Why not use a screen corral type program (eg Mouser's) and just have a quite thin vertical piece of screen reserved for your notification window/firefox window?
Pixel change notifier doesn't require the monitored window to have focus.

[nickodemos]

I know I have other ideas that might help but it is getting a bit harder to do without more information. IE can we get a screenshot of this blue bar in action? What addon are you using so maybe we can recreate your situation and get a better understanding.

As it is we are walking about blind.

[IainB]

@JohanV: Not sure if this will help, but I thought it might - I just happened across it today and it reminded me of this discussion thread, so I thought I'd mention it, just-in-case:

OnTopReplica
A real-time always-on-top “replica” of a window of your choice, for Windows Vista, 7, 8, or 10.

This simple utility application shows a blank always-on-top window by default. Users can pick any other window of the system to have an always up-to-date clone of the target window shown always-on-top. Very useful for monitoring background processes, wrangling with complex multi-window games or tools, watching Youtube videos while working, and so on.

Features:

• Clone any of your windows and keep it always-on-top while working with other windows,
• Select a subregion of the cloned window, which:
         * Can be stored for future use,
         * Can use relative coordinates from the target window’s borders.
  
• Auto-resizing (fit the original window, half, quarter and fullscreen mode),
• Position lock on any corner of your screen,
• Adjustable opacity,
• “Click forwarding”: allows to interact with the cloned window,
• “Click-through”: makes the replica ignore any mouse interaction (turns OnTopReplica into an overlay if set together with partial opacity),
• “Group switch”-mode automatically switches through a group of windows while you use them.

[Curt]

Nice find, IainB. OnTopReplica sounds just right. https://github.com/L...nTopReplica/releases
It's like an annoying advert important video following you around...

[IainB]

@Curt: Yes. I thought this bit here was quite amusing:

...watching Youtube videos while working, and so on.

-Curt (April 05, 2019, 05:09 PM)

How the heck does that work?