[WXC/VFX] Xnet Usage Monitor for Google Chrome

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ChrisNZL

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#86868 14-Jul-2011 16:30

I've created an Xnet Usage Monitor extension for Google Chrome and thought I'd share:
http://code.google.com/p/xnet-chrome/

It doesn't display very much currently, but it's a start. There's certainly room for improvement.

Let me know what you think!

Creator of Tallowmere. Working on Tallowmere 2.

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#493428 14-Jul-2011 16:37

Thanks for sharing Chris

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coldsavoury

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#493590 15-Jul-2011 08:16

Nice work Chris, this looks really good.

Just one change you should make is to set the url to api.xport.co.nz instead of testapi.xport.co.nz.
It's likely that we'll get rid of the testapi link soon as we were just using that to test out the new data feed.

ChrisNZL

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#493637 15-Jul-2011 10:13

Ahhh okay, cheers, will change it soon.

Creator of Tallowmere. Working on Tallowmere 2.

nate

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#493785 15-Jul-2011 16:59

Nice work!

AllenG

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#498723 27-Jul-2011 22:13

Nice.

How about options to show data cap &/or percentage used, and a hyperlink to xnet account page? usage history like the Xnet usage app?

How about an android widget next?

Well done.

Allen

ChrisNZL

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#498763 28-Jul-2011 00:37

Sure, I should be able to implement these into the extension.

I don't have any data caps or free data periods, so I'd just be replacing some of the 0 values in my XML usage data file to test...

If you wouldn't mind, could you please PM me your XML data file?
You can view this by clicking the red Xnet logo (the one in the screenshot above) and it will open your XML data in a new tab.
This info would help me heaps, just so I can be sure I'm not stabbing completely in the dark.

I've got no knowledge of Android things though, sorry :p

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AllenG

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#499061 28-Jul-2011 18:20

ChrisNZL:

If you wouldn't mind, could you please PM me your XML data file?

No Problems. Have done. Had to copy to another app before pasting in to PM. Formatting has added blank lines between each field.
PM me if you want me to email the actual file.
I'm happy to beta test

I don't have peak/offpeak and I'm pretty sure you can't get that plan at present but other users would probably find it a useful addition.

It would be nice to have show/hide configuration options to choose which fields are shown when "Hovering" and when "Open" so users can customise it?

ChrisNZL

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#499064 28-Jul-2011 18:43

Awesome, thanks for this info. Formatting looks fine.
I probably won't worry about peak/offpeak for now but the cap, % and history tracking should be sweet.

Toggleable options sound good too :)

I'll try and tackle these within the next week - just want to get to a good breaking point with my Fauxbar development first, then I'll work on the above.

Creator of Tallowmere. Working on Tallowmere 2.

AllenG

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#499099 28-Jul-2011 20:00

ChrisNZL: I'll try and tackle these within the next week - just want to get to a good breaking point with my Fauxbar development first, then I'll work on the above.

Hi Chris,

No problem, just suggestions for enhancement.

I had a look at your FauxBar. I havn't used firefox, so not really sure what I'm missing. Chromes' bookmarks are pretty dire so anything that improves that would be good.

Are these projects just a hobby, a uni project, or learning tool?

If you were looking for another future project, I have been scouring the internet for a tool that would probably be very popular. Found lots of people wanting the same tool but no solutions.

I run Media Centre full screen on a secondary display (extended desktop) on win7 64 bit.
When media centre is fullscreen it captures focus of the mouse and locks it to the secondary display. Also, it prevents the screensaver or powersaving on both monitors.

I have TV running fullscreen on the secondary display and intermittently do other things on the primary display and would like the primary display to blank and powersave when not being used.

Pressing the "Windows" key temporarily returns focus from media centre and there is an app called "Maxifier" that provides a workaround for the focus issue, but what I would really like is an app that would achieve this as well as one of the following (in order of preference)

1 Allow the windows screensaver and power saving to continue to activate on the primary display while media centre is full screen on the secondary display.
2 If this is not possible some way of forcing the primary display to powersave when media centre has focus and wake again when focus is returned to the primary display? Launching the app could also automatically launch media centre.
3 If powersave of a single display is not possible due to limitations of Windows power management , force the primary display to black when media centre has focus and wake again when focus is returned to the primary display. Launching the app could also automatically launch media centre.

The closest thing I've found so far is an app called Cinema Drape. This lets you black out everything but a selected screen area, and requires focus to be returned and escape to be pressed to exit.
It's not as automated as I would like and I'd prefer the primary display to powersave.

sound like an idea for a project?

ChrisNZL

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#499128 28-Jul-2011 21:03

Not to get off topic too much, but...

These are just hobbies of mine; personal experiments. I like writing things that make my life a little better. And on the rare occasion, if I reckon something I've created is good enough for others to use, I'll share :)

I doubt I'd have written this Xnet Chrome extension if I hadn't been working on Fauxbar first.
Having used Firefox for years, then trying out Chrome... I find Chrome faster and more stable, but its address bar behaviour is horrible compared to Firefox's, and I know I'm not the only one griping about it, haha. So I thought, hey, let me try and write an extension that mimics Firefox's behaviour.

And through working on Fauxbar for roughly four months now, learning how to use Chrome's API and the new HTML5 storage systems, I thought it'd be easy enough to make an Xnet extension. Took me just a couple of days to write it, and should be simple to develop it further.

As for your Media Center issues: not a project for me, sorry. If I'm not coding something for myself, I'm playing video games :P
I did some searching though and I'll PM you with what I found.

Creator of Tallowmere. Working on Tallowmere 2.

ChrisNZL

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#499950 31-Jul-2011 09:47

New version, 1.1.0
Added lots of toggleable options. Chrome should apply the update automatically.
Hope this is what you were after, Allen ;)

Will try and implement history tracking in the near future; no ETA though.

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AllenG

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#500061 31-Jul-2011 19:32

ChrisNZL: New version, 1.1.0
Added lots of toggleable options. Chrome should apply the update automatically.
Hope this is what you were after, Allen ;)

Hi Chris.

doesn't seem to have updated automatically? anything you would like me to try before uninstalling and re-installing new version?
Also, you should probably display a version number on the options page or an "About" page?

Regards Allen.

ChrisNZL

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#500073 31-Jul-2011 20:06

Hmm, try going:
chrome://extensions > Developer mode > Update extensions now

Failing that, you'd have to uninstall, then install again from here:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jpnhbkaagkkjkdgjhjkicdhfgicljhlc

Will add the version number in the next update :) Thanks

Creator of Tallowmere. Working on Tallowmere 2.

AllenG

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#500083 31-Jul-2011 20:37

ChrisNZL: Hmm, try going:
chrome://extensions > Developer mode > Update extensions now

Brilliant! Whats the "Time Left" display? Time left in billing period?

One cosmetic suggestion. Perhaps change the percentage used to a similar format as the other fields on the Tooltip display ie "Percentage of cap used: 18%"
like the bar graph on the Pop-up. Does the bar graph change colour? Is there an indication that you are being throttled from XML data or from 100% usage? Maybe change to orange at 80% and red at 100%?

Very well done. like the inclusion of all the xnet links as well. Perhaps you could add speedtest.net & pingtest.net?

By the way very tidy

Regards Allen.

AllenG

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#500087 31-Jul-2011 20:52

ChrisNZL: Hmm, try going:
chrome://extensions > Developer mode > Update extensions now

By the way.The "update extensions now" worked. Should Chrome or the extension periodically check for updates?

Regards Allen.

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