Time and work tracker

An event analyzer module which reads a computer activity log file over a date range for a plurality of tasks, comprising:

• wherein each task includes one or more computer activities;
• wherein for each task there are associated four times, including:
• a) total time, which is all time cumulated for a task since a last system reset, b) current time, which is all time since the current start of the task, c) active time, which is the real-time time of a last event for the task, and d) idle time limit, which is a predetermined interval of time;
• an analyzer loop, including:
• means for loading all of the total times for all tasks from an activity log file;
• means for zeroing all of the current times for each of the tasks;
• means for determining to which task an activity belongs;
• means for determining if an event is not to be analyzed and for then providing means for checking active times;
• means for determining if an event is to be analyzed and then providing means for setting current time equal to the differences between a current activity time and a previous activity time;
• means for setting active time of a task equal to the current event time;
• means for checking the active times for all other tasks to determine if any are idle;
• wherein the means for checking the active times is a loop including:
• means for determining if the active time interval between this activity time and a previous activity time for this task is greater than the idle time limit and, if so, for then determining that the task is idle;
• means for setting current time an event equal to a previous time for an event plus the idle time limit so that the total time for a task is an accumulation of such current times for a task;
• means for accumulating total time for each task into current time;
• and
• means for writing time information to a file.

A computer-implemented method for automatically collecting and analyzing information about time and work performed on a computer without the manual starting and stopping of a clock or specifying that work is being performed prior to beginning work, comprising the steps of:

• automatically logging into a log file certain portions of a user's computer activity;
• determining, by means of rules previously defined by a user, which portions of a user's computer activity constitutes a measurable work task;
• when a certain user-defined and task-specific time period has elapsed between certain activities in the log file for a given task, accumulating the time as a work period for the given task;
• wherein the step of determining which portions of a user'scomputer activity constitutes a measurable work task includes the steps of:
• loading current times for each of a number of events from a cumulative time file;
• for each event in the event file:
• (a) getting the event from the log file;
• (b) determining the owner of the task to which the event belongs;
• (c) if an event is to be included in a task, then accumulating job time;
• (d) if an event is not to be included in a task, then checking time duration of the active time for the event;
• (e) checking the active time for the event;
• wherein the step of checking the active time for an event includes for each task:
• (a) calculating the difference between a current activity and a previous activity for a task;
• (b) if the difference is greater than an idle time limit interval, accumulating task time;
• and (c) accumulating total time for each task;
• and
• writing time data for each task to a file.

A computer-implemented method for automatically collecting information about time and work performed on a computer without the manual starting and stopping of a clock or specifying that work is being performed prior to beginning the work, comprising the steps of:

• automatically monitoring certain portions of a user's computer activity;
• automatically logging into a log file those certain portions of a user'scomputer activity;
• determining, by means of rules previously defined by a user, which portions of those certain portions of a user'scomputer activity constitutes work and how this work is categorized by sets and subsets within a set;
• wherein, when a certain user-defined and task-specific time period has elapsed between certain activities in the log file, the time for the certain activities is cumulated as a work period;
• wherein the step of determining includes reading the contents of the activity log file over a particular range of days for a plurality of tasks, comprising:
• wherein for each task there are associated four times, including:
• a. total time, which is time total cumulated for a task since a last system reset, b. current time, which is time total since start of the task, c. active time, which is the real-time time of a last event for the task, and d. idle time limit, which is a predetermined interval of time;
• analyzing the contents of the activity log file, including the steps of:
• for each activity, determining to which task the activity belongs;
• if this event is not to be included in a task to be measured, then identifying this event as a system event and begin checking active times;
• if this event is to be included in a task to be measured, then updating current time for a task and setting the active time equal to the event time;
• checking active time for each task as follows:
• if the difference between the time of this activity and the time of a previous activity is greater that the idle time limit interval, then identifying the task as an idle task;
• if the difference between the time of this activity and the time of a previous activity is less that the idle time limit interval, then setting the current time equal to the time of the previous activity plus the idle time limit;
• accumulating the current time into the total time;
• and
• if any totals are updated, then writing such totals to a file for a corresponding task.