TiddlyPom

A simple console Pomodoro for C++ neckbeards

Why?

I wanted a simple, UNIX-friendly Pomodoro timer.

So I came across Thyme and, while simple, it requires (a) a whole Ruby stack, (b) a bunch of dependencies and (c) does the annoying thing of writing to a file for integration elsewhere. A cute trick, but a dirty one nonetheless.

There's a right way to do this. UNIX domain sockets! C++!

So here it is.

Building

Clone the repository. In the directory, run

make

And assuming you have g++ and a unixy system, it will just work. Nothing special.

Usage

If you try

./tpom

You'll see a blank line. This is because the timer isn't running. Try

./tpom start

To start the daemon for a default of 25 minutes. If you want a different amount of time try one of:

./tpom start -s 90
./tpom start -m 15

For 90 seconds or 15 minutes, respectively. Now that it's running, run

./tpom

And lo, the remaining time will be echoed back to you.

Integration

Because just running tpom is sufficient to connect to the daemon and get the remaining time (without smashing your filesystem cache) -- running the command means you can integrate it wherever you need.

tmux

Add

set -g status-right '#(~/path/to/tpom/tpom)'
set -g status-interval 1

Potentially with other options for your status-right, potentially other colors -- mine, for instance is:

set -g status-right '#[fg=green]#(~/src/tpom/tpom) #[fg=cyan,bold]%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S#[default]'

But you can fit it to taste.

awesome

I love AwesomeWM. So you can add the timer as a countdown widget in your ~/.config/awesome/rc.lua:

pom = widget({type = "textbox"})
pom.text = " " .. execute_command("~/path/to/tpom") .. " "
pomtimer = timer({ timeout = 1})
pomtimer:add_signal("timeout", function() 
  pom.text = " " .. execute_command("~/path/to/tpom") .. " " 
end)
pomtimer:start()

And add the pom variable to your widgets list.

Post-Hook

Not to be outdone, you can execute an arbitrary script when the timer goes off. This is totally useful to cause notifications to fly, ring an alarm -- whatever you like. Create an executable file at ~/.tpm-post.sh with a standard #! line at the top. An example is included -- just copy it to the right place.

Questions?

It's a tiny thing, but feel free to help me improve it. Drop me a line, or follow me on Twitter.