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Break - Rest / Work Logger

Version 1.9

65 KB Download / 500 KB Installed

22 Sep 22

Win8 / Win10 / Win11

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Break - Rest Reminder and Work Logger

Break
Version 1.9
12 Sep 22

Website

Program Info

Break is designed to help you work more effectively by recording your work times and reminding you to take a break when you have been working for over a set time. Work can be divided into an unlimited number of different categories, with maximum work capping for each category, plus a recorded total for each of the last seven days, as well as an over all total, average, and percentage. This enables you to know how long you are on your computer, and what you do most while on it. In addition, Break totalises time at work, time on break and also time that the computer is unused. The timer can be set in minute divisions up to 120 minutes and can remind you using a window and any common sound file to get up and go for a walk, have a coffee, go home, go to bed etc. For those that need that extra push to stop working, Break can blank the screen as well. Text logging, target time notification (with automatic calculation as well as manual), random alert sound, random alert text, auto reset, file alerts, micro breaks, file logging & auto boot are also supported.

Contents

Installation
Upgrading
Use
Main Window
Icon
Menu
Work Details
Options
Text.txt file
Data Files
Programmers Notes
System Impact Statement
History
Licence and Registration
Liability
Contact

Installation

Run "Setup.exe" and follow the instructions. To remove Break use the "Add/Remove Programs" option in the Control Panel. Break stores all of its data files in the designated application data area, often "C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Sinner\Break". If you would prefer that it saves in the same directory as Break either run the program from a removable drive, such as a floppy or a USB drive, or delete the "DefSet.txt" file from the Break directory.

Upgrading

If you have a previous version of Break installed it will use the previous data and upgrade to the new format. Please note that the new format is not compatible with the old and the upgrade cannot be reversed. If you have a log file Break will scan it for suitable data that will be turned into a database. If not it will just make a single work type for all the recorded work. When Break has finished scanning it will show the data it has found and ask if it is OK. Check if the totals match what you expect, and if they are then press the OK button and you are ready!

Use

Break is ready to go the instant it is installed, but you will probably want to configure it so it more relevant to how you work. To start the timer click on the icon or the current time section of the main window. When the time is up you will be notified and you can either go on break, or press Snooze if you are in the middle of a job and need an extra five minutes.

Below is a detailed description of all of the functions of Break. Items in Bold are feature or window names.

Main Window

The main window is divided up into two sections; at the top is Current Time and Recent Work is shown at the bottom. In the Current Time section what Break is currently counting time for. If it's a task the name is shown as well as the total time for today, the time until the next break and the total time to go or total work time. If you click in this area then the mode changes to "Break" and it displays the totals for the total break time of the current day. Similarly, if Break is set to "Away" the Away totals are displayed here as well. In the Recent Work section is show stats about up to twenty of the most recently active work tasks, as well as the totals for all work and break statistics. If you bring up the right click menu from this window and the pointer was over one of the twenty work names you can quickly select or edit that work.

The data on this page is updated every six seconds, but some of the totals are only recalculated every five minutes to avoid needless CPU drain. However if you want the statistics to be updated early you can just select "Refresh" from the right click menu. Please note that due to rounding the percentages may not add up to 100%, especially the Work Day percentages as they are calculated using a complete day as 100%. (In other words if you have your computer on 12 hours the most the total percentage will be is 50%.) The size of this window can be reduced and it will show more or less work types. It also set as on-top, or even transparent.

Icon

If you leave the mouse pointer over the Break icon in the System Notification area (also know as the System Tray) a tool tip will inform you of the current program status. The first state is called On-Break and it is signified by an upright Coffee Mug icon. This is the default state on start-up. If you left-click on the icon then Break will toggle to Working mode and the icon will change to an upside-down Coffee Mug. In Working mode the the current work time will be shown and if the Break Reminder function is enabled then it will also display the time until Break reminds you to take some time off.

Menu

Right clicking on the icon or in the main window will bring up a menu. The contents and item positions of this menu depend on where you open it and also the current status of Break.

Change Work To...	Shown if the menu if triggered while the cursor is over one of the Recent Work items. When selected that work will become active. Window only
Edit...	Shown if the menu if triggered while the cursor is over one of the Recent Work items. It opens the Work Details record for that work type. Window only
Recent Work	Selects what work you are doing at the moment. From this menu you can only select from the recent work list.
Select Work Type	Shows a window that allows you to quickly select another pre-set work type. Window only
Add work type	Opens the Work Details window and creates a new work type. Window only
Refresh	The data on the Work Details page is updated every six seconds, and some of the totals are only recalculated every five minutes to avoid needless CPU drain. However if you want the statistics to be updated early you can just select this option and it will be done. Window only
Transparent	Makes the Break main window semi-transparent. Window only
On Top	Sets the Break main window as the top most window. Window only
Reset Reminder	Sets the Reminder Timer back to its default. (Only shown if the Break Reminder timer is running)
Away	Sets Breaks state to Away (This is only shown if Away Toggling is in manual)
At Meeting	Lock Breaks state to Working until de-selected
Work	Sets Breaks state to Working (This is only shown if the current state is On Break)
On Break	Sets Breaks state to On Break (This is only shown if the current state is Working)
Options	Opens the Break Options window
About	Information about the program
Help	Shows this File
Terminate Sound	Allows long sound to be stopped. Shown only if a sound is still playing.
Exit	Exits Break

Work Details

This window shows the data for the selected work type. To the right is the work records from the last seven days as well as the total, average and percentage. To the left is details that can be edited. Due to the ability for times to be added and deleted the work count is not updated while this window is open. (All work is added to the selected type when the window is closed.)

Name	What the work type is to be referred to as. This area can also be used to change the displayed work type.
Max Time	This is the most time that Break will allow to be tallied for this work type
Notes	Here you can enter information about this work type.
Prev/Next	Allows you to browse thought the work types. The name combobox can also be used.
Delete	Deletes the current work type. Please note that this will reduce your total work if there is any work recorded for this work type.
Copy	Creates a new work type that has the same details as the current one.
New	Creates a new blank work type.
Select	Makes the viewed work type the active work type.

Break Options

This Window appears when you select "Options..." in the menu.

Work Logging

Monitor Activity	Selects if Break will monitor mouse and keyboard activity to know if you are away from the computer
Away Time	If Monitor Activity is enabled then this is the time of inactivity that Break will require to decide you are away. Once Break has decided that you have left it will deduct the Away Time from the Work Total and add it to the Away total. It will then continue adding time to the Away Total until it detects mouse movement.
File Log	Saves the daily work log data to "dLog.txt"
Show Report	Displays the totals of the last days work at the end of each recorded day. This will either be soon after midnight, or when Break is started the next day.
View Log	Shows the Break work log file

Target

Target Mode	Alter this to set the target calculations to be off, manual or automatic. When in automatic Break calculates what work is needed in the following day to maintain the average.
Re-Calc	For performance reasons the projection only updates if the mode is changed. Pressing this button will make Break recalculate the projection based on work done after the options window was opened.
Projection	Here is shown the work that was scheduled for today, as well as the work for tomorrow if no more work is done today.

Misc Settings

Work notes	Text in this box is added to the log at the end of the day. Once it has been logged it is cleared.
Confirm Quit	Sets Break to confirm quit requests.
On Top Alert	Sets the alert windows to be above other windows.
Auto Start	Selects if Break will start when Windows starts.
Lock Screen	Blanks the screen at break time.
Decimal	When on minutes are shown as fractional hours, otherwise minutes are shown as minutes.
Long Meeting	Makes time hibernated/suspended while At Meeting is enabled to be counted as work.
Auto Show	Sets Break to automatically show the Main Window on start-up.
Transparency	This is the degree of transparency that the main window will have when Transparent is enabled. To clarify, 90 is very transparent, 10 is mostly solid.
Functons	You can select various database function here. These include;

Log Totals Adds a list of the current totals to the log.

Zero Totals Clears the work totals in the database. The names, comments, break count, away count and day count are unchanged.

Zero All Clears the work totals in the database as well as the break count, away count and day count. The names and comments are unchanged.

Help	Shows this File.

Break Reminder

Enable	Turns on the Break Reminder functions
Work Time	Sets how long between times that Break will remind you to take a break. It is settable between 5 and 240 minutes and can be set via a slider bar or the edit box.
Action	Selects if Break will show a window as a break reminder and/or play a sound. The sound can be either the default system beep, a set sound file (wav, mp3 and mid are supported) or select a random sound file from a selected directory. Break can also be set to run a file instead of playing a sound. This enables you, for example, to run a screen saver.
Test	Tests the current break reminder action
Text	This is the text that Break will show if the reminder window is enabled. If you edit the Text.txt file file you can change the names in the quick-set comboboxes. Alternatively, you can enable the Random text mode by selecting the check-box to the right. In this mode a phrase is randomly selected from the Text.txt file.
Auto Reset	Selects if Break will reset the count if the timer is stopped in mid count. When the "Auto Reset+" option is enabled Break will only reset the time if you have been on break for five minutes.
Snooze	Allows you to change the default snooze length for times when you want to finish what you are working on prior to taking a break.
Auto Cont	In this mode Break will reset and resume countdown once the Work Reminder window is closed. This feature is disabled when a non-window reminder is selected..
Auto Begin	If selected Break will assume that you are already working when you start it.

Micro Breaks

Micro Break Enable	Break can also be used to remind you to look away from the screen and/or do some quick stretches. These breaks can be at either half or quarter intervals from your main break time.
Micro Break Action	Selects either just the selected sound or a window will alert you to take a micro break. The sound can be either the default system beep, a set sound file (wav, mp3 and mid are supported) or select a random sound file from a selected directory.
Test	Tests the current Micro Break reminder action

Maximum Break

Max Break Enable	When this is enabled Break will remind you when a pre-set time in seconds has expired, so you know that it's time to return to work.
Max Break Action	The Maximum Break reminder sound can be either the default system beep, a set sound file (wav, mp3 and mid are supported) or select a random sound file from a selected directory.
Test	Tests the current Maximum Break reminder action

Text.txt File

This file is used to customise the text messages. By default Break will allow memory space for only 10 entries per type, however you can make it up to 200 using the options in the file. (Only do this if you need to however as Break requires 200 bytes of computer memory per entry.) For further details please refer to the example "Text.txt" file included with Break.

Data Files

Break stores the times for each data type in a file called "BrkDB.lbf" and the rest of the data is stored in a file called "dBreak.dat". These files are backed up regularly to separate files labelled "BrkDB.lbf Bak" and "dBreak.dat Bak". It is recommended that you backup these files as an extra precaution.

Programmers Notes

There shouldn't be any major apparent changes in this version. It is just a rebuild of the lower libraries. Thus what follows next is the comments from the last version...

A resizable window to allow for larger work descriptions has been planned for a while. While I was at it I also added the ability to show up to 20 work types at once.

If you have any thoughts on Break please EMail them my way as I am always interested in improvement ideas. I do have substantial feature plans for Break, but it is not one of our most popular programs so it is hard to justify the time.

System Impact Statement

We go to great lengths to reduce system impact, but we feel that it is still important to explain here what our programs do to your system. If you feel we are missing something, or you need further clarification, please contact us.

Registry	Break uses the registry if you enable one of the "Auto Start" options. The installer that comes with Break uses the registry only for the required un-installation data, and not at all if you use the "Extract Only" mode.
System Settings	Break does not change any system settings.
Files	All of its program files are stored in the installation directory, and all of its data files are stored in the designated application data area, often "C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Sinner\Break". If you would prefer that it saves in the same directory as Break either run the program from a removable drive, such as a floppy of a USB drive, or delete the "DefSet.txt" file from the Break directory. These directories can be opened via the About box.
Network	Break and its installer do not access the internet in any way, but the ReadMe does have three graphic files that are stored on the internet. (They are not used as web-beacons, merely spacers and images for the payment processors.)
CPU	Break does not have any CPU demanding functions.
Memory	Break has no major memory requirement.

History

1.0	Initial Version
1.1	Work Logging
1.2	Work Types, Target, Meeting mode
1.21	Auto Cont, Auto Begin, Bugfixes
1.22	Multi-User support, Snooze and Sound options
1.23	Micro Breaks, internal tweaks
1.24	Improved Idle detection, random messages, run file as alert
1.25	Blank screen
1.3	Database integration and new work display window
1.31	Long Meeting and hour display options
1.32	Maximum break time and data reset function
1.33	Resizable window, function grouping
1.9	Sinner Computing re-align and rebuild

Licence and Registration

Permission is given to evaluate Break for a period of 30 days. After this time you are required to either register or remove Break. Permission is given for all forms of distribution, including CD compilations and Websites, providing the ZIP file is unaltered and it is made clear that Break is a Shareware program and that registration is required for continued usage. Break can be registered using PayPal. For details on the terms of our licences and of our Buy-Three-Get-All policy please refer to the payment page.

Break is a copyrighted work and thus permission is not given for you to decompile, disassemble, modify, translate, enhance or create derivative works from this program. If you feel that you need to do any of those actions, and that those rules do not apply to you, contact us first.

Single User

PayPal $15.00 USD

Mail	No longer accepted

Site

PayPal $120 USD


Mail	No longer accepted

Liability

Sinner Computing accepts no liability for this software to the maximum extent allowable by law. Installing this software is the decision of the installer, and signifies that you agree with this liability statement. Thus, any damage/loss caused by the use of this software is not in any way the responsibility of Sinner Computing. This includes, but is not limited to, physical damage and loss of income/time. In no event shall the maximum liability of Sinner Computing exceed the registration fee paid by the user, if any. Because some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, in such jurisdictions the liability of Sinner Computing shall be limited to the extent permitted by law. If at any time you do not find these conditions agreeable you are required to remove this software.

Contact

Advice/insults (on the subject of the program, not the programmer) are always welcome. To help users keep up to date we send out newsletters whenever there is a major new version of Break. To join this list simply send an EMail with "BreakADD" in the subject. To be removed from this list, write an EMail with "BreakREMOVE" in the subject. (Sinner Computing does not sell or give your EMail address or any other personal information to anyone.) In addition, we have a RSS feed that is updated whenever there is a new version of any program.

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