activity log

[Muddy]

I want to create an app that tracks usage on a computer. When nothing has been done for say 10 minutes (mouse moves, kyboard inputs, etc) then the "inactivity period" has begun and wil end when computer is utilized again. Should also log actual power on and power off time.

Any ideas on how to approach this problem would be greatly apreciated.

[KayJay]

what do u want to track activity or inactivity?

For activity log use the GetKeyBoardState, GetKeyState api calls to captire keyboard inputs and GetCursorPos api to get the mouse co-ordinates (wrt the screen)

http://allapi.net

To get system power up?

Windows loading can be captured by running the app from STARTUP or adding the apps path to registry, The key should be

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

To get system power down ?
again!

Windows shutdown could be logged by something like appending a batch command to "autoexec.bat" AFTER the "WIN" command. So when Windows is initialised and running, "autoexec.bat" is waiting for the "WIN" command to exit. On shutting down windows, the next line is executed. Haven't tried this myself. So not sure whether it works or not. Just a thought nevertheless

[Muddy]

If I made an app that that was always running and looked at the current time for every keypress or mousemove, and logged time deltas greater than 10 minutes .... would that slow performance of my computer?