Hourglass

This project is the modified simple countdown timer for Windows. The changes were made to the original Hourglass can be found here. The latest Hourglass installer or portable distribution can be downloaded here.

Visit the original Hourglass site to learn more. The Hourglass FAQ can be found here.

Hourglass Command-line Example

hourglass -n on -a on -g on -c on -st on -w minimized -i left+title -t "Timer 1" 1h23

creates

• 1 hour 23 minutes long timer: 1h23
• named Timer 1: -t "Timer 1"
• with the notification area icon: -n on
• with the timer window:
  • which is always on top: -a on
  • shows the reversed progress bar: -g on
  • displays the time in the digital clock format: -c on
  • shows the trigger time: -st on
  • initially minimized: -w minimized
  • has the time left and the timer name displayed in the title: -i left+title

Run hourglass -h to display the Hourglass command-line reference or select Command-line usage from the notification area context menu.

Prerequisites

• .NET Framework 4.8 (click here to download the runtime Web Installer)

Hourglass Changes

Installer

• Adds the Hourglass executable path to the Windows App Paths, so the Hourglass command-line is available out of the box.

Portable

Ngen Support

Processing the Hourglass with the Native Image Generator (Ngen.exe) speeds up the Hourglass startup.

To run script as an Administrator press Win+X and select the Windows PowerShell (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin). Copy script full path to the console opened and execute one of the following:

• Generate the Hourglass native image and its dependencies and install in the native image cache:

ngen-Hourglass.bat install

• Delete the native images of the Hourglass and its dependencies from the native image cache:

ngen-Hourglass.bat uninstall

Command-line

• New command pause
• New command resume
• New option --digital-clock-time, -c, /c
• New option --multi-timers, -mt, /mt
• New option --activate-next, -an, /an
• New option --show-trigger-time, -st, /st
• New option --pause-after-loop-timer, -pl, /pl
• Renamed option --prompt-on-exit to --prompt-on-close

See command-line usage for details.

UI

• Uses a Windows Task Dialog instead of a message box (GitHub).
• The Command-line usage dialog can be accessed from the About dialog and vice versa.
• New Accent theme which uses Windows accent color. This theme is a default one.

Notification Area

• All the timers are arranged by the time left. The order of the timers is new, expired, paused, running.
• The red circle is shown over the notification area icon if at least one timer is expired.
• The pause sign is shown over the notification area icon if at least one timer is paused.
• The digits from 0 to 9 are the hotkeys for the timers in the notification area icon context menu.
• The Double Click shows/hides all the timer windows.
• The Ctrl+Click creates a new timer.
• The Shift+Click shows the first timer.
• The Shift+Middle Click shows the recently opened timer.
• The Middle Click or Shift+Right Click opens the timer options menu.
• The Pause all menu command pauses all the running timers.
• The Resume all menu command resumes all the paused timers.
• The Options menu command opens the timer options menu. The shortcut is the Middle Click or Shift+Right Click on the notification area icon.
• The Silent mode disables all the timers notifications. It is not preserved between runs.
• The Exit menu command prompts for closing all the running timer windows if the Prompt on close option is set.
• ⏺⏸⏹⏏🔁 symbols are used for the New, Paused, Stopped, Expired, Looped.

Timer Windows

Keyboard Shortcuts

• The Esc shortcut minimizes the timer window.
• The F11 shortcut makes the timer window full screen and back.
• The Ctrl+N shortcut creates a new timer window.

Context Menu

• All the timer window commands are available in the timer window context menu.
• The shortcuts are displayed in the timer window context menu.
• The Window title submenu is available directly from the timer window context menu.
• The Reset position and size menu command sets the timer window default position and size.
• The Restore, Minimize and Maximize timer window commands are always present in the timer window context menu.
• The Advanced options / Display time in the digital clock format timer window context menu option toggles the displayed time digital clock time format. The command-line option is --digital-clock-time, -c, /c
• The Advanced options / Show trigger time timer window context menu option shows the trigger time in the timer window and in the notification area context menu. The command-line option is --show-trigger-time, -st, /st
• The Advanced options / Activate next window when minimized or closed timer window context menu option enables the next timer window activation when the current timer window is minimized or closed. The command-line option is --activate-next, -an, /an
• The Pause all timer window context menu command pauses all the running timers. Command-line command is pause
• The Resume all timer window context menu command resumes all the paused timers. Command-line command is resume
• The Pause after each loop timer window context menu command pauses the loop timer when it expires. Command-line command is --pause-after-loop-timer, -pl, /pl

Other

• All the timer windows are arranged by the time left. The order of the timer windows is new, expired, paused, running.
• The minimum timer window size is limited by the Windows only.
• The timer tooltip is shown if the timer window size is too small.
• The progress bar changes direction to vertical when the height is more than the width and vice versa.
• When the timer window is minimized or closed the next visible non-minimized timer window is activated.
• The time left is now used for editing instead of the original launch time.
• The timer window pops up on the current virtual desktop.
• The mouse double-click on progress border toggles full screen.
• The sound file can be placed to the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Hourglass or %LOCALAPPDATA%\Hourglass\Sounds directories. It can be the symbolic link created by the mklink system command.
• NAudioHourglassPack can be used for playing sounds on Windows with no Windows Media Player installed.

Misc

• The Hourglass is built deterministically using the GitHub Actions.