Topic: Timer Active ONLY when AutoCAD session is ONScreen

[ChrisSolid]

Hi, I'm a brand-new member. I've been a frequent contributor to AutoDesk’s Discussion Groups, and I'm happy to be joining you all here, as well.   . I've been searching for a particular function, and was told by an old member in that forum to try this one; that many of the members here are pretty savvy regarding programming. Myself, I'm just an Auto LISP hack, and haven't done too much of that lately, either (why do the days get shorter as one gets older?).
  What has initially sent me here is a search for a way to get the Time function in AutoCAD (2002, at the moment) to stop running during periods when a session window is not active, and to then automatically resume once it's made active again. I usually have, say, 4 to 8 windows going on any particular day - I have to be able to jump from one project to another at the snap of the boss' fingers, and he doesn’t want to have to snap twice while I am finding a file and then reopening it (patience is not his virtue). But now, he wants official time spent on any particular design/dwg, and I don't want the idle time included. Any help would be appreciated

[whdjr]

Hey look you guys it's Mr. 500!  

[CADaver]

Well, just don't point and laugh, give the boy some help.  There I was braggin' on you guys, sent the boy over, and nobody has an answer?

[daron]

Sorry, I was waiting on Keith to get into API's with this one. I don't know why. For some reason, I get the feeling that API calls can hellp this one. I'm probably way off though. Today seems kinda slow. Give it a couple of days and maybe someone will have an answer.

[ChrisSolid]

It's an honor to be your 500th. I've always liked nice, round numbers myself. My Camaro just turned a nice, round 100K mi. And it's only 5 yrs old (heh, heh, sob). I think I already like this forum better than AutoCAD's discussions groups, even if you DO have Cadaver as a member . Well, now you have me, which is even worse. I promise not to get into any long, protracted and stupid arguments with him like I do over there, fun though it is sometimes. Just go over to the AutoCAD Discussion groups and look for the l-o-n-g-e-s-t threads, and they will be Cad (he calls himself Old Cadaver over there) and me belaboredly going at it, tit for tat (he can't not have the last word, nor can I). But I thank him for steering me this way. I also hope to be able to add my own meager contributions here, too - been cadding for about 12 yrs or so now - my main strength is (as my handle might suggest) solids work, although I really don't get to do a whole lot for my job (boss feels it's too time-consuming to do everything that way, and I think he's probably right in some instances). But I LOVE the challange. OK, enough rambling - this has just sort of been my "hello, everybody" ramble. The quote below is Robert Frost, by the way - I should have put a credit at the bottom.

[ronjonp]

Welcome to the swamp

[CADaver]

... I think I already like this forum better than AutoCAD's discussions groups, even if you DO have Cadaver as a member .

I'm not only a member, but a moderator over here... heh, heh, heh... so watch it bub   anyway, I think you'll like it just fine around here, not only is it a little more "laid back", there are some of the finest programming talent living here as you will find anywhere.

... I promise not to get into any long, protracted and stupid arguments with him like I do over there,...

phooey, had I known you were gonna be THAT way, I'd have left you "over there".

... But I thank him for steering me this way.

Don't thank me just yet, you haven't met Dent.

...  this has just sort of been my "hello, everybody" ramble.

IN the "News" forum we have a "Break the Ice thread HERE where new folks can expound to their heart's content, maybe even post a picture.  Welcome aboard.

[Crank]

Chris,

Why don't you use the EDITTIME command from the express tools?

You can specify the period of inactivity, in minutes. When the timeout period expires, the timer automatically suspends timing.

edittime.arx also contains the following LISP functions:
(acet-edittime-enable [onOff]) Sets current state if onOff supplied. Returns current state.
(acet-edittime-reset) Resets elapsed time value to zero.
(acet-edittime-total) Returns current elapsed time total (Julian time).
(acet-edittime-timeout [value]) Sets current timeout value if supplied (Julian time). Returns current timeut value.

[ChrisSolid]

Hi, `Crank' -
I know -unfortunately, I don't have that version of Express Tools. I think mine is the 1st release.

[ChrisSolid]

... I think I already like this forum better than AutoCAD's discussions groups, even if you DO have Cadaver as a member .

I'm not only a member, but a moderator over here... heh, heh, heh... so watch it bub   anyway, I think you'll like it just fine around here, not only is it a little more "laid back", there are some of the finest programming talent living here as you will find anywhere.

... I promise not to get into any long, protracted and stupid arguments with him like I do over there,...

phooey, had I known you were gonna be THAT way, I'd have left you "over there".

... But I thank him for steering me this way.

Don't thank me just yet, you haven't met Dent.

...  this has just sort of been my "hello, everybody" ramble.

IN the "News" forum we have a "Break the Ice thread HERE where new folks can expound to their heart's content, maybe even post a picture.  Welcome aboard.

OK, how do you work this thing? Your individual responses to excerpted quotes of mine looks way cooler at this site than "over there" - is that what that little "quote" button is for?

[dubb]

like this

Code: [Select]

[quote]this is a quote [/quote]

or click on this button
http://www.theswamp.org/screens/dubb/quote.jpg

btw...welcome to theswamp.org

[ChrisSolid]

Welcome to the swamp

-Thanks. This place seems a lot less stuffy than over at AutoDesk's Discussion Groups. Humor is strictly verboten over there, it seems. Zero fun factor over there.

[Mark]

I know this isn't the answer you're looking for but it's all I have at the moment.

What if you ran a simple lisp routine upon entering/leaving a drawing. Log that time & date into a ascii file for later consumption. Maybe even tie it to the QSAVE command.

BTW, welcome to theswamp!!

[ChrisSolid]

I know this isn't the answer you're looking for but it's all I have at the moment.

What if you ran a simple lisp routine upon entering/leaving a drawing. Log that time & date into a ascii file for later consumption. Maybe even tie it to the QSAVE command.

BTW, welcome to theswamp!!

Thanks for the warm welcome.
The thing is, I don't know how (if it's even possible with LISP) to detect that an active window has been made inactive. Just going by the timer, it seems that AutoCAD does not discern between active, and not active, since the timer keeps running in the background -which is my whole problem.

[ChrisSolid]

... I think I already like this forum better than AutoCAD's discussions groups, even if you DO have Cadaver as a member .

I'm not only a member, but a moderator over here... heh, heh, heh... so watch it bub   anyway, I think you'll like it just fine around here, not only is it a little more "laid back", there are some of the finest programming talent living here as you will find anywhere.

... I promise not to get into any long, protracted and stupid arguments with him like I do over there,...

phooey, had I known you were gonna be THAT way, I'd have left you "over there".

... But I thank him for steering me this way.

Don't thank me just yet, you haven't met Dent.

...  this has just sort of been my "hello, everybody" ramble.

IN the "News" forum we have a "Break the Ice thread HERE where new folks can expound to their heart's content, maybe even post a picture.  Welcome aboard.

OK, how do you work this thing? Your individual responses to excerpted quotes of mine looks way cooler at this site than "over there" - is that what that little "quote" button is for?

-Never mind, I figured out the quotes thing. Highlight 1st, then click Quote

[CADaver]

Code: [Select]

What I usually do is quote the awhole thing by hitting the "quote" in the post.  Then I add a [/quote] where I want to stop quoting the poster and provide an answer.  Then I copy the [quote="somegoofyposter"] and paste it in front of the next section I wish to quote.  Remember each section you wish to quote has to start with [quote] or [quote="someotherposter"] and end with [/quote]

I bracketed everything above in code format so the quote formats wouldn't fershnoodle the post.

[t-bear]

fershnoodle

there you go with the tekniwogikal terms agin.  [Note to self: gotta look that one up...save to impress the friends.....]

[Keith™]

Ok ... I have had some time to think about this ...

I can do just such a program, BUT even though I would love to do it ... I cannot justify the time involved in doing so.

To properly develop, code, debug and test a program would take several hours .. I'd hate to even try to estimate it without some in depth study of the situation.

However, here is what I suspect it would be ...

Program Flow

Program Starts at boot and monitors top level windows
When AutoCAD is top level window
Grab document name
Start timer
Open DB
Check for name in database
If name exists increment time entry
If name does not exist, add entry increment time entry
When drawing loses focus, stop timer, stop DB incrementation, close DB
When drawing changes, reset timer, change DB entry and repeat ...

There it is .. all spelled out in concept ... all it needs to be is implemented ...

If I find time I may do something .. or defer it to RCI for a paid program as a time sheet management program.

[CADaver]

fershnoodle

there you go with the tekniwogikal terms agin.  [Note to self: gotta look that one up...save to impress the friends.....]

Not sure if that's the proper spelling or pronunciation. My dad crashed a plane (B-17) in Switzerland during WWII. As he and his crew piled out of the pile, a young lad rode up on a bicycle and asked "Fershnoodle?" Dad tried to let him know he had no idea what the young man was saying, so the boy made motions with his hands indicating a plane crashing into the ground, then pointed at the remains of the Flying Fortress". From then on dad used the term to indicate something trashed beyond repair.

[Keith™]

I have been cogitating a bit .. running different phonetic variations of fershnoodle through my mind ...

There are a few words that are close, but one that sticks out is

verschuldet - essentially it is a question regarding the status of the current situation ... literally "is this of your own doing" but there is also another phonetic variant which is roughly translated into "I am in your debt"

Yeah I know it is not exactly phonetic, but lets say you have a few english speaking men wickedly high on adrenaline being approached by a small boy speaking a foreign language ... it is very conceivable that the pronounciation is off a bit ....

Clearly either of the rough translations (of the phonetic variations) could be accurate.

but heck .. "a screwed up tangled mess" works for me too!!

[CADaver]

verschuldet - essentially it is a question regarding the status of the current situation ... literally "is this of your own doing"

Considering it sorta was their own doing, that makes a world of sense.  The mission was strictly recon over Germany, but it seems that during a test fire, a "dud" tracer round was ejected onto the floor in the mid-gunners position.  Some half-hour later the round decided to become "un-dud" and launch itself into a magazine case feeding three of the mid-gunner positions.  No one is really sure what happened next, but from all accounts it was REAL exciting in the mid-gunnery bay for a few minutes.  They lost 2 engines, most of the rudder and elevator controls. plus a round went through the throttle controls dad had his hand on at the time and another took out a good chunk of the pilot-side wind-screen.  They got her turned around and kept her in the air long enough to make the Swiss border.

Yeah I know it is not exactly phonetic, but lets say you have a few english speaking men wickedly high on adrenaline being approached by a small boy speaking a foreign language ... it is very conceivable that the pronounciation is off a bit ....

I'm quite sure it was off more than just a bit.  Everybody but dad and his co-pilot  bailed out a few minutres before the plane "augered in", the mishap had apparently screwed up their route to the bail hatch (that and dad was NOT gonna jump outta plane as long as at least one "butter-padel" was turning) By the time those two had made the "bumpy" landing, climbed through the hole in the wind-screen and slid to the ground, the kid could have been speaking English and they'd have never known.  Dad said he'd have messed his pants, but his sphincter was too tight to let anything pass.  

but heck .. "a screwed up tangled mess" works for me too!!

That's what'll always mean to me anyway.