BPM measure, ping utility and countdown program.

Submit portable freeware that you find here. It helps if you include information like description, extraction instruction, Unicode support, whether it writes to the registry, and so on.
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Webm
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 3:13 am

BPM measure, ping utility and countdown program.

#1 Post by Webm »

Hi,

I'm a programmer and I have made 3 programs I would like to be added to this wonderful database! :D

My programs don't write settings anywhere (other than in the same folder as the exe-file). I can guarantee that.

Name: WebmBPM
Website: http://www.webm.dk/programs/webmbpm
Extracted file size: 238 kb
Icon: http://www.webm.dk/webmbpm_icon2.gif
Screenshot: http://www.webm.dk/sites/default/files/ ... thmenu.png
Category: Audio – Miscellaneous, Education – Music.
Synopsis: WebmBPM is a small utility for determining the BPM (beats per minute) for music. All you have to do is to press a key in time with the music.
Writes settings to: None
How to extract: Download and extract the zipfile or just the exefile. Run the exefile.
Dependencies: None
License: Freeware
System Requirements: Win95 - Vista

Name: WebmCountdown
Website: http://www.webm.dk/programs/webmcountdown
Extracted file size: 248 kb
Icon: http://www.webm.dk/webmcountdown_icon.gif
Screenshot: http://www.webm.dk/sites/default/files/ ... ntdown.png
Category: Productivity – Desktop Accessories.
Synopsis: WebmCountdown is a small countdown program, which will count down from a specified number of hours, minutes and seconds. It will also show the progress in the taskbar so you can keep an eye on the countdown without having the program window visible (and taking up space).
Writes settings to: None
How to extract: Download and extract the zipfile. Run the exe file.
Dependencies: None
License: Freeware
System Requirements: XP, Vista

Name: WebmSitePing 1.5
Website: http://www.webm.dk/programs/webmsiteping
Extracted file size: 312 kb
Icon: http://www.webm.dk/webmsiteping_icon.gif
Screenshot: http://www.webm.dk/sites/default/files/ ... eping1.jpg
Category: System - Network.
Synopsis: WebmSitePing is a small utility for pinging a specified address or website with an interval. It is designed to run in the background and notify you if the specified address or website goes offline.
Writes settings to: Application folder
How to extract: Download and extract the zipfile. Run the exe file. Alternatively just download the exe file and run it.
Dependencies: None
License: Freeware
System Requirements: XP, Vista

Thanks :)
Michael :D
Last edited by Webm on Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:25 pm, edited 5 times in total.

lajjal
Posts: 82
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:18 pm

#2 Post by lajjal »

Websiteping is a wonderful program but it needs to do something besides popup a balloon when the site fails. Maybe just as little as run some other user defined program.

Webm
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 3:13 am

#3 Post by Webm »

lajjal wrote:Websiteping is a wonderful program but it needs to do something besides popup a balloon when the site fails. Maybe just as little as run some other user defined program.
Thanks!
That is a great idea :) I'll release a new version soon!

lajjal
Posts: 82
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:18 pm

#4 Post by lajjal »

Thanks for the response. I will keep an eye open. Sorry for misspelling WebmSitePing. I really think you are on to something here. A portable server monitor that just quietly monitors and then allows for some kind of alert is non-existent. Great start!

Webm
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 3:13 am

#5 Post by Webm »

Thanks :D

It's actually the reason I created this piece of software. All the other server monitors were missing features and were ugly.
Then I tried searching for regular non-portable apps and Vista sidebar gadgets. No real luck here either.

On a sidenote, I have implemented a few features (program launching, optional balloon hints, and autostart with Windows) and fixed a bug.
I just need to test it, but my testing so far haven't revealed any bugs. :)

User avatar
Drutt
Posts: 93
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:26 pm

#6 Post by Drutt »

WebmSitePing, what can I say, it does what it says on the tin and has the potential to be a super tool!

I wrote something similar a while ago that just monitors my server, but this is a perfect replacement!

I agree with lajjal, it would be handy if you could define an optional event to occur rather than only the balloon, either executing an application or playing a sound file.

Possibly also the option of adding multiple addresses to monitor, not unlimited, but limited to 4 or 5 maybe.

Not sure if it's even viable, but it'd be cute if the favicon of the site could somehow be shown in the balloon-tip, purely for graphical pleasure :lol:

Anyhow, it's great as it is, but anything more would be amazing!

Thanks for these Webm, and welcome to TPFC!

User avatar
Ameri-CAIN
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:11 am
Location: Orange County, California

#7 Post by Ameri-CAIN »

Another cool feature that would probably be fairly easy to implement would be a logging feature. When starting a monitor, have a message box prompt you for a log file name if you want to log the session. Anytime the connection is down, it could write to a named text log file so you can keep track of all down time chronologically. The ability to monitor multiple sites would also be pretty sweet.

lajjal
Posts: 82
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:18 pm

#8 Post by lajjal »

I don't want to pile on too many suggestions but just a small one. When the version number is in the executable file name itself then a new release means changing menus, scripts, batch files, etc. or remembering to change the file name each time. It's not an uncommon practice but it has always bugged me.

Webm
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 3:13 am

#9 Post by Webm »

Drutt wrote:WebmSitePing, what can I say, it does what it says on the tin and has the potential to be a super tool!

I wrote something similar a while ago that just monitors my server, but this is a perfect replacement!

I agree with lajjal, it would be handy if you could define an optional event to occur rather than only the balloon, either executing an application or playing a sound file.

Possibly also the option of adding multiple addresses to monitor, not unlimited, but limited to 4 or 5 maybe.

Not sure if it's even viable, but it'd be cute if the favicon of the site could somehow be shown in the balloon-tip, purely for graphical pleasure :lol:

Anyhow, it's great as it is, but anything more would be amazing!

Thanks for these Webm, and welcome to TPFC!
Thanks :D
I have added the option to launch 1 program, file or command and I made the balloon hint optional. I might add sound, too.

Multiple addresses. That would be a bit of re-write of my code, so that will be in a future version :)

I'm not sure how to change the icons in the balloon hints, but I'm sure it is possible. I'll look into that.
Ameri-CAIN wrote:Another cool feature that would probably be fairly easy to implement would be a logging feature. When starting a monitor, have a message box prompt you for a log file name if you want to log the session. Anytime the connection is down, it could write to a named text log file so you can keep track of all down time chronologically. The ability to monitor multiple sites would also be pretty sweet.
Log files will come! :)
I think it'll be easiest to create [address-name].txt in the folder? And then for each log entry write:
[28-05-2008] - [10:51:12]: www.webm.dk is offline.
[28-05-2008] - [10:51:32]: www.webm.dk is back online.
etc.
lajjal wrote:I don't want to pile on too many suggestions but just a small one. When the version number is in the executable file name itself then a new release means changing menus, scripts, batch files, etc. or remembering to change the file name each time. It's not an uncommon practice but it has always bugged me.
Good suggestion! It'll be named "WebmSitePing.exe" :)

User avatar
Queue
Posts: 197
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:41 am
Contact:

#10 Post by Queue »

If you want to keep an organized archive of older versions, naming the ZIP file with the version number while having a standardized EXE name is one way.

I also like WebmSitePing and think it has potential to be even better. My only gripe is it seems a little big (in file size) for a single purpose utility, but then again I've developed with Delphi before and know it's not your fault (I also really like Delphi).

Did you make the program icons? Because I think they're really nice. If not, good selections for them at least. =)

Queue

User avatar
Ameri-CAIN
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:11 am
Location: Orange County, California

#11 Post by Ameri-CAIN »

I think it'll be easiest to create [address-name].txt in the folder? And then for each log entry write:
[28-05-2008] - [10:51:12]: www.webm.dk is offline.
[28-05-2008] - [10:51:32]: www.webm.dk is back online.
etc.
Suggestion, I know it is being picky, but I prefer to see the date format in a log file as follows. (yyyy-mm-dd 24hh:mm:ss) It makes sorting go chronologically, just as a log file should. Placing the URL within square brackets also gives you markers to parse the log file if needed (This may come in handy if you ever implement multiple connection monitoring.)

Example:

2008-05-28 10:51:12 [www.webm.dk] is offline.
2008-05-28 10:51:32 [www.webm.dk] is back online.

This is entirely suggestive. Thanks for creating a useful app! I am enjoying it as is, but I am excited to see it get even better.

Webm
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 3:13 am

#12 Post by Webm »

Queue wrote:If you want to keep an organized archive of older versions, naming the ZIP file with the version number while having a standardized EXE name is one way.

I also like WebmSitePing and think it has potential to be even better. My only gripe is it seems a little big (in file size) for a single purpose utility, but then again I've developed with Delphi before and know it's not your fault (I also really like Delphi).

Did you make the program icons? Because I think they're really nice. If not, good selections for them at least. =)

Queue
Version 1.5 (so far) is 657 kb, and before I release it I will compress it with UPX, which makes it 311 kb. So that is less than half of the original size.
The main reason for the relatively "big" size is the icons, which take almost 100 kb of the 657 kb. And then for the "autostart with windows" (for the non-portable functionality) it relies on the registry unit, which in itself should be pretty bloaty. Also ShellAPI (launching programs), Wininet (update notification), and inifiles (saving settings) is used + a big part of the code is for fixing various things in Vistas new Window Manager.

However, I don't think it is a big problem that it is around 300 kb - just as long it isn't like 1 or 2 mb!
8 gb USB sticks are very cheap today. In Denmark (I live there) you can get them for about $30 :)

And no :( I didn't make all of the icons. I usually use http://www.iconfinder.net/ which has a huge database of "free" icons. I found the exe icon, the tray icon and the rightclick menu icons there. I changed the colors of the tray icon to red (and to gray in version 1.5) myself, and the icon while it pings (the 3 dots) i made myself.


Ameri-CAIN:
Wonderful, I didn't think of that :) It'll be implemented soon!
And no :D It's not being picky. It's making something good awesome!


The status for 1.5 is:
- Added pause feature to stop the pinging without closing the program
- Autostart with Windows
- Optional balloon hint
- Option for launching a program, file, or command (it should act like the Run dialog in Windows)
- Fixed a (small) bug in the "double check" feature

lajjal
Posts: 82
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:18 pm

#13 Post by lajjal »

It was not specified but I assume the launcher will support relative paths.

I really love this. This is the way things should work but so seldom do. A skilled and receptive developer and a group of smart people making excellent suggestions.

Webm
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 3:13 am

#14 Post by Webm »

lajjal wrote:It was not specified but I assume the launcher will support relative paths.

I really love this. This is the way things should work but so seldom do. A skilled and receptive developer and a group of smart people making excellent suggestions.
wow, thanks :D I really appreciate all your suggestions, ideas, and feedback!

And yes, it does support relative paths :) It doesn't care where it is launched from, just as long it has its settings file in the same folder.

Webm
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 3:13 am

#15 Post by Webm »

The logfile feature has been implemented:

Code: Select all

2008-05-29 22:13:08 [WebmSitePing Start] WebmSitePing has been started.
2008-05-29 22:13:19 [www.webm.dk] went offline (double ping is enabled).
2008-05-29 22:13:28 [www.webm.dk] is online again.
2008-05-29 22:13:45 [WebmSitePing Exit] WebmSitePing was closed.
:D

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