by Soluch (1 Submission)
Category: Miscellaneous
Compatability: Visual Basic 5.0
Difficulty: Beginner
Date Added: Wed 3rd February 2021
Rating: 
(7 Votes)
Idle Check tests your system whether it is in an idle state. Once the system is idle for a specified amount of time it performs a certain function. After it stops being idle a further further procedure is called. (Perfect for screensavers). This is done through checking any mouse cursor movements and any key presses.
API DeclarationsPrivate Declare Function GetAsyncKeyState Lib "user32" (ByVal vKey As Long) As Integer
Private Declare Function GetCursorPos Lib "user32" (lpPoint As POINTAPI) As Long
VBcodersOption Explicit
'BEFORE YOU BEGIN:
'- Place timer control on an empty form, name it "TimerIdle"
'- Set the interval on the timer to 1 (one)
'- Copy this code into the form
'- Ensure you can see the Immediate Window to see results
'Note: No error control, insert if you like
' May encounter problems if computer passes midnight (timer resets)
'Peter Soluch - 2003
'Function to get state of keys
Private Declare Function GetAsyncKeyState Lib "user32" (ByVal vKey As Long) As Integer
'Function to get position of mouse cursor
Private Declare Function GetCursorPos Lib "user32" (lpPoint As POINTAPI) As Long
'The time (in seconds) a computer must be idle before running sub
Private Const IDLESECONDS As Long = 5
'Type used with GetCursorPos
Private Type POINTAPI
X As Long
Y As Long
End Type
Private Sub TimerIdle_Timer()
Dim newMousePos As POINTAPI 'Var for values of "current" Mouse Position
'Static variables
Static oldMousePos As POINTAPI 'Old / Previous values of the mouse position
Static isIdle As Boolean 'Checks if state is currently idle
Static wasIdle As Boolean 'Checks if state was "declared" idle before
Static idleStartTime As Single 'When did the idle first start
Static idleTimeCount As Single 'Idle time counter
Static idleTimeSecs As Single 'Idle time in seconds
Static passedOnce As Boolean 'Used for first time timer started
Dim i As Integer 'Just a counter
'Check for first pass to set timer
If passedOnce = False Then
'Get what time the timer started
idleStartTime = Timer
passedOnce = True
End If
'Set that idle is true, check for mouse and keys movements, etc
'If there are any then isIdle will become false
isIdle = True
'Check API for keypress
For i = 1 To 256
'If pressed state becomes -32767
If GetAsyncKeyState(i) = -32767 Then
isIdle = False
End If
Next i
'Get CURRENT position of the mouse cursor
GetCursorPos newMousePos
'Compare mouse position with last time (has the mouse moved?)
If newMousePos.X <> oldMousePos.X Or newMousePos.Y <> oldMousePos.Y Then
'Mouse moved, not idle
isIdle = False 'Not idle
'Replace old coordinates with new ones to check next time
oldMousePos.X = newMousePos.X
oldMousePos.Y = newMousePos.Y
End If
'1. Check if computer WAS idle and user has come back
If wasIdle And Not isIdle Then
'Run procedure for when computer comes out of idle state
IdleFinished
'Reset wasIdle, so procedure does not run again till next idle time
wasIdle = False
'Clear timers
idleTimeSecs = 0
idleTimeCount = 0
idleStartTime = Timer
End If
'Check for how long has been idle (seconds - i.e. convert to longs)
If CLng(idleTimeSecs) > CLng(idleTimeCount) Then
Debug.Print CLng(idleTimeSecs) & " second(s) have passed on idle"
idleTimeCount = idleTimeSecs
End If
'Computer was not idle but has become idle after x seconds
If Not wasIdle And isIdle And idleTimeSecs >= IDLESECONDS Then
'Computer becomes idle, set wasIdle to true so can run
'procedure after computer comes out of idle state
wasIdle = True
'Run procedure for "Idle"
IdleStarted idleTimeSecs
End If
'If idle then update time that has been idle, else reset timers
If isIdle Then
idleTimeSecs = Timer - idleStartTime
Else
Debug.Print "User pressed a key or moved the mouse"
idleTimeCount = 0
idleStartTime = Timer
idleTimeSecs = 0
End If
End Sub
Private Sub IdleStarted(Optional ByVal numSeconds As Long)
'Code when idling starts, i.e. user has gone away for x secs
Debug.Print "Computer was declared idle at " & Now & " after " & numSeconds & " seconds"
'Put your code here
End Sub
Private Sub IdleFinished()
'Code when idling stops, i.e. user returns
Debug.Print "Computer stopped being IDLE at " & Now
'Put your code here
End Sub
