X i n k r o

Digital stopwatch

Quick links

What is it?

Xinkro is just a digital stopwatch with the standard functions you would expect in a stopwatch (start, stop, pause). It also features an OSD (On–screen display), thus avoiding the waste of valuable screen space.

What can I do with it?

The same that you could do with a real stopwatch. I wrote it for measuring the time it takes to complete certain tasks (not necessarily computer–related), and also for conducting informal benchmarks regarding applications load and response times. It really helps me when I do not have a real stopwatch at hand.

Why?

I developed Xinkro after spending almost 2 hours looking for a tool that met the following specification:

· Win32 application

· Digital stopwatch (with basic start, stop, pause functionality)

· Control the stopwatch via hotkeys (thus avoiding the need of switching to the stopwatch program in order to start it or pause it)

· Ability to remain “always on top” (OSD –On-screen display– preferred)

· Don’t waste space in the taskbar, use an icon in the systray instead

· Free (open source preferred)

· Important, though not essential: I wanted a well–behaved application (i.e., an app that does not try to do things it was not told to do, like setting itself to launch every time you start windows, and the like…)

After my brief search, I came back empty–handed. I searched through Sourceforge, then Freshmeat, and finally Google. All of the tools that i found and tried failed in satisfying one or more of my simple requisites.

Finally, I needed to have this tool ASAP. So, my choices were to continue spending more time searching for a suitable one, or write my own. Being a developer, I choosed the latter.

Was it really necessary to develop yet another stopwatch?

Well, as I wrote above, I couldn’t find a single program that met my criteria. Nevertheless, being such a simple program, it would not surprise me if there is one –maybe more than one– that meets my exact requirements. If you know about other tools that do just the same, please let me know, so I do not have to reinvent the wheel…

Is there anything special or different about your stopwatch?

Hmm… not really, at least not in this first release, and looking at it from an end–user perspective.

From a developer point of view, you’ll notice that the program handles the stopwatch functionality in a separate thread class. This means that supporting multiple, independent stopwatches would be trivial. It also means that you can just include the thread class in your project, or easily adapt it to better suite your specific needs.

Why a BSD license?

I am not an expert in open–source licensing issues. The BSD–style license just makes me feel more comfortable than GPL. I think it gives me more freedom as a developer and, in the long run, it gives you more freedom to do whatever you want with it.

How do I use it?

Launch the application. You’ll see a green OSD, and a new icon in the systray.

You can start/pause the stopwatch with the ALT+X hotkey, and stop/reset with ALT+S (not user–definable yet… but well, you have the sources, don’t you?)

The OSD can be moved around just by dragging it (and it will remember its position the next time you use it)

In order to exit the program, just right–click over the program icon, and select the appropriate option