I’ve eliminated the files storing the transactions, now they are properly stored in the database and can be viewed either with a double click on the selected task or by clicking the “Task Details” button.

I’ve also implemented more advanced search syntax. Now the user can specify more in details the search terms. There are 5 keywords available:

• PROCESS – process name or part of the name
• WINDOW – window name or part of the name
• TAG – task tag
• FROM – task start date
• TO – task end date

To properly use the above keywords there are three operators available:

• “=” – equals, works on strings and dates, it also looks for substrings, e.g. “%string%” syntax
• “>” – greater than, works on dates
• “<” – smaller than, works on dates

To use logical “OR” for multiple keyword values, the user can use comma as separator, e.g. “PROCESS=firefox, procexp”. The logical “AND” is achieved by separating the search into multiple keywords with spaces, e.g. “PROCESS=firefox FROM>2012″

In order to provide some insight into tasks and transactions some (basic) statistics can be calculated from the tasks. They can be displayed by clicking the “Stats” button. The new window shows statistics for the tasks that are currently listed in the table. This combined with a flexible search system can yield interesting results.

The aplication icon has also been changed, by user request.

The files:

Window Listener 0.9

Window Listener 0.9 Mono

The new version includes MySQL and SQLite support. The previous ‘dump all to file and load them all’ approach, I must say, was ridiculous.

Also, the tasks are not loaded all at once (as before), but on demand, meaning that a task is fetched and displayed only when needed instead of loading all the tasks at once. This speeds up things a lot, but, I’ve added the ‘Show all’ and ‘Hide all’ buttons in order to display and search ALL tasks and to clear them from the table.

Another nice thing is that now the tasks hold an unique GUID in the database and the current user is also recorded. Plus, the non-administrator user rights have been limited so that a normal user cannot remove and lock tasks. Hmm, do I see the first signs of 1984?

The software now logs (to a file only) the transactions between tasks, e.g. when the focus was shifted from one task to another and for how much time the focus was on the specific task (plus the number of key-presses). This is currently under development and will be used sometime later in order to display task transitions.

Ha, but the new perks come with a price: every 3 hours an annoying popup shows. Donate and it will go away

Windows link: click

Mono link: click

I just finished the latest version of Window Listener software.

The new features include

• Task tagging
• Improved search functionality
• Tasks locking

Now the user can define tags that are applied to tasks which makes searching much easier.

More updates and features will follow. The same goes for the Mono port.

Download link: WindowListener_0_7.rar

EDIT: Now the Mono version is available for download as well: WindowListener.0.7.Mono.rar

Window listener is a simple application that listens to the active windows and records the time, spent on that windon. This way it’s easy to see how much time was spent writing an email, reviewing a document, editing a picture.

Please note that the application also records key presses (this is more of a proof–of-concept) that will, at some point, be used to apply tags to tasks … But, more about that later. Believe me, there is no evil behind this. The library used can be found at CodeProject: Global Mouse And Key Library

The current version supports merging of the recorded tasks  – in case multiple windows of the same process are used to accomplish something and of course deletion of tasks. The tasks are remembered when the program is closed.

Download link (download, unpack and run): WindowListener.rar

PS: there is also a Mono port of the app available: WindowListener.Mono.rar

There is a lot more planned for future versions but let’s take it a step at a time.

I allow use for private purposes but I’m open to commercial proposals – it can, of course,  be used for evil corporate purposes as well …

It took me 5 and something minutes to write this post.

Music advice of the day: Alex Clare, Relax My Beloved

Of course, I immediately had to make an algorithm that would make 50 images with something describing the work I do. Well, I took some quotes from Wikipedia Algorithm page, fired up Processing. The results can be seen here: alg_qoute_generator applet

The logo font is Unibody 8 (link)

Let’s keep things transparent!