Miscellaneous Software

These are a few miscellaneous utilities I've written over the years. They help me out, so maybe they'll help you too.

Hasher

Latest Release - This program computes a hash (i.e., checksum) for a file and optionally compares it to a known hash value. It supports several industry standard hash algorithms such as MD5, SHA-1, and SHA-256. This requires the .NET Framework or .NET Core.

Latest Release - This program tracks continuous working time and suggests periodic breaks. It's a tray icon version of the time tracking functionality I used to depend on from Clock Band XP. I stopped using Clock Band XP when Windows 7 included the date in its clock display, but I missed the work time tracking. Now "Work Break" brings back the old functionality I was used to, and it adds some new bells and whistles. This requires the .NET Framework or .NET Core.

Latest Release - This program calculates and displays the total space used for a directory, its files, and all of its subdirectories. I wrote it because I didn't like any of the free ones I found on the net, and I wasn't about to spend money for a little utility like this. This requires the .NET Framework or .NET Core.

AdoNetMetadataExplorer.zip - This sample program uses the ADO.NET 2.0 APIs to get provider factories (using DbProviderFactories.GetFactoryClasses) and connection schema information (using DbConnection.GetSchema). It provides a tree view to select the metadata DataTable you want to see. I wrote this utility so I could quickly compare the metadata returned from the different providers. (Unfortunately, they all return dramatically different results.) The zip file includes the full C# source code and the debug build of the EXE.

ClockBandXP.zip - This is an update of Clock Band for Windows XP, Server 2003, and Vista (32-bit and 64-bit). It uses the Windows theme APIs to paint correctly on the TaskBar. Because it has a custom manifest and links to several theme-specific DLLs (e.g., UXTheme.dll and ComCtl32.dll v6), I decided to make this a separate DLL and object from the original Clock Band. This version can also optionally track your working time to suggest that you take a break after too long a period of continuous work.

ClockBand.zip - This requires IE4 with the Web Integrated Desktop. It adds a resizable DeskBand object that displays a clock to your Windows TaskBar. You can completely control the format of the date and time data displayed. I wrote this because I hated the fact that I couldn't control the format of the standard TaskBar clock, and I wanted to learn some of the IE4 shell interfaces.

XPad.zip - This is a standalone multi-page editor similar to the editor in Delphi and C++Builder. In addition to the unique but functional interface, it has way more features than Notepad.

RPNCalc.zip - This is an RPN Calculator with the look and feel of an HP48. It doesn't do everything the HP48 does, but it has all the typical functions most programmers need.

Triangle.zip - This program lets you play the "jump pegs on a triangle board until there's only one peg left" game. It can recommend moves and solve the game for you if necessary. I wrote this one day after getting frustrated at not being able to solve the puzzle myself. But being able to program a computer to do it still makes me pretty clever, right?

DocEdit.zip - This is an SDI editor for OLE Structured Storage files. It is dramatically better than Microsoft's pitiful DocFile Viewer utility. This distribution also includes a DLL which contains COM objects for easily working with structured storage files.