UsageLogger is a small background only application. When run it creates a log which contains information on the programs run on your Macintosh. This information is stored into a text file called 'Usage Log' inside the preferences folder. Every time ‘the front process’ (i.e. the program whose menu bar is showing) changes one line is added to the log file. This line contains the following information:
date
time
Creator
numseconds
date and time indicate the time the process was seen to have become the front process
Creator is the code the system uses to identify applications. Every application has its own type. Some common ones are:
ttxt TeachText or SimpleText
R*ch BBEdit
KAHL THINK Project Manager
MACS Finder
WORD MacWrite
RSED ResEdit
This information is not easy to read, but has the advantage of being much shorter than the application name. On top of that it is a more reliable indicator, since users can more easily change the name of a program than its creator.
numseconds is the number of seconds that application was found to be the front process.
In addition one line is logged whenever UsageLogger starts up or is stopped. These lines are identified by a Creator field of 'strt', respectively 'stop'.
AppleScript users or programmers can add additional lines to the log by sending a 'Log' event to the application. These lines are marked with a Creator field of 'Log:' (identical to the Creator of UsageLogger); the text logged is added at the end of the line.
Installation:
UsageLogger can be installed by dragging it on top of the System Folder. The system will then propose to put it in the 'Extensions' folder, which you should allow it to do. Restart your Macintosh to make it run.
Requirements:
UsageLogger requires system 7 or later in order to do its work. Apart from this it should run on any Macintosh.
Limitations:
UsageLogger does not patch any traps. As a consequence the reported timespans may be off by a few seconds. Also, rapid application switches may not get logged.
The lines in the log file may not end up in chronological order. Lines with application usage information are logged when a new application has become the front process, so lines with a 'Log:' creator type will end up before lines containing the entry of the application which made the logging entry.
UsageLogger does not know whether you are actually doing anything in the front process. Switching to the Finder during a long recalculation in Excel, for instance, causes the time spent to be logged as time spent in the Finder.
Distribution:
UsageLogger is freeware. It may be distributed freely, as long as it is distributed together with this documentation and unchanged. The author, Reinder Verlinde, retains all rights to the program.
