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X i n k r oDigital stopwatch |
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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