gbTalkTimer

gbTalkTimer is an easy-to-use timer application. It's two major features are the ability to speak the time at intervals and to automatically size the time to match the size of the gbTalkTimer dialog. Time display in in MM:SS format.

gbTalkTimer can count up or count down. At the end of a count down cycle, an optional alarm can be sounded. During all counting cycles, minute intervals can be spoken (1 minute, 2 minutes, ...). Also, during a count down cycle, the last 10 seconds can also be spoken (ten, nine, eight, ...).

Several built-in count down cycles are available and a custom count down cycle can also be entered.

Download (v1.3, 139K)
Online update of gbTalkTimer is supported.

Feature List

Here's a summary of the key features offered by gbTalkTimer.

Count up, count down
Start/stop/reset a counting cycle
Time display automatically sizes to fit the gbTalkTimer dialog
Alarm at end of count down cycle (at zero time). Alarm can be continuous until stopped by user.
Voice announcement at 1 minute intervals and last 10 seconds of a count down cycle
Standard, selectable count down cycles
Custom count down cycle can be defined
Time of day alarm
Set text/background color
Online update of EXE
Online Help

These, and other gbTalkTimer features are discussed in the following sections.

Overview

gbTalkTimer was written to provide a very basic set of up/down counter capabilities, which keeping the user interface very simple. The entire application consists of just a 6-button toolbar and a time display which takes up the entire, remaining gbTalkTimer client area.

The ability to enlarge the current time in a cycle allows the user to monitor the status of a counting cycle. The alarm and the option to hear the counting status (minute intervals) provides a similar ability to monitor a counting cycle, but without having to view gbTalkTimer itself.

Count Up Cycles

A count up cycle consists of starting at zero and counting upward until the user stops the cycle. When Reset is pressed during a count up cycle, the cycle is stopped and the counter is reset to zero.

In a count up cycle, gbTalkTimer can optionally speak the time at minute intervals.

Count Down Cycles

A count down cycle consists of starting at a specified cycle interval, such as 5 minutes, and counting down to zero. The user can stop the count down cycle at any time and the cycle will stop automatically when the counter reaches zero.

In a count down cycle, gbTalkTimer can optionally speak the time at minute intervals. It can also speak the last 10 seconds of a count down cycle.

Toolbar

The gbTalkTimer toolbar consist of the following buttons:

On/Off
Toggles the timer counting cycle on and off

Reset
Resets the time of the current cycle - to zero in a count up cycle and to the cycle interval for a count down cycle. If pressed during a counting cycle, the counting cycle is stopped.

Clicking on the time display has the same effect as pressing the toolbar Reset button.

Up
Puts gbTalkTimer in a count up mode. If pressed during a counting cycle, the counting cycle is stopped and the time is set to zero.

Down
Puts gbTalkTimer in a count down mode If pressed during a counting cycle, the counting cycle is stopped and the time is set to the current count down interval.

Settings
Pressing the Settings button opens a dialog in which the user can define a custom count down cycle time. If pressed during a counting cycle, the counting cycle is stopped and the time is set to the current count down interval. The Settings button also has a dropdown arrow which exposes the following context menu options.

0:30
Sets the count down cycle to 30 seconds
1:00
Sets the count down cycle to 1 minute
3:00
Sets the count down cycle to 3 minutes
5:00
Sets the count down cycle to 5 minutes
10:00
Sets the count down cycle to 10 minutes
30:00
Sets the count down cycle to 30 minutes
Custom (0:12)
Sets the count down cycle to the custom count down time. The current custom count down interval is displayed in the menu itself. If pressed during a counting cycle, the counting cycle is stopped and the time is set to the entered count down interval.
Speak
Enables speaking of minute intervals and the last 10 seconds of a count down cycle
CountDown Alarm
Enables playing a sound file at the end of a count down cycle
Time of Day Alarm
Enables playing a sound file at a specific time of day
Repeat Alarm
Enables playing a continous alarm sound file at the end of a count down cycle. Press ESC to stop the sound.
On Top
Maintains gbTalkTimer on top of all other applications
Enter Custom CountDown Interval (MM:SS)
Opens a dialog in which the user can enter a custom count down interval
Create Custom CountDown Interval From Time of Day (HH:MM:SS)
Opens a dialog in which the user can enter a time of day (later than now) from which gbTalkTimer will create a custom count down interval
Enter Time of Day
Opens a dialog in which the user can enter a time of day (HH:MM:SS in 24-hour format). Time of day can be used in two ways - to set a time of day alarm, and to create a custom count down interval.
Select Text Color
Opens the color selection dialog to select the text color
Select Background Color
Opens the color selection dialog to select the background color
Reset Colors to Black & White
Sets the text color to black and the background color to white.
Online Update
Updates the gbTalkTimer EXE

Help
Opens this online Help page.

Accelerator Keys

These accelerator keys are supported:

F - Online Help
Ctl-B - Toggles the timer cycle on/off
Ctl-D - Set gbTalkTimer in count down mode
Ctl-R - Reset the current timer cycle
Ctl-U - Set gbTalkTimer in count up mode
Ctl-Z - Toggles debug mode

Comments

Miscellaneous information is provided in this section.

Sessions
When gbTalkTimer starts, it restores the previous session content.

Manual Settings
These three settings are used by gbTalkTimer but no mechanism is provided by which the user can change the values. The 3 settings weren't judged important enough to warrant space on the user interface, so this backdoor mechanism of changing the values was provided.

BGColor - background color
FGColor - text color
TalkPoint - time in count down cycle below which talking begins (11s is default)
FontName - font used to display the time

But all four may be manually changed by editing the gbtalktimer.ini file.

INI File
gbTalkTimer application settings are saved in an ANI file, kept in the same folder as the gbTalkTimer application.

Instances
Multiple instances are allowed. However, all instances use the same INI file. So the INI file reflects the settings of the most recently close instance of gbTalkTimer.

Comments and suggestions are welcome!