Some features which have been implemented include cut/copy/paste, undo/redo, drag/drop, freely move and re-size objects on the surface, zoom-in/zoom-out and print/print preview. See the poster for more information.

The solution is entirely written in C# using an Object-Oriented approach. It is Event-Driven and is based on the Model-View-Controller and Client-Server architecture.

It is available for download, free of charge.

TPG bitometer includes the following features:

• Compatible with 32bit and 64bit Windows.
• No installation, single file download, nothing written to the registry.
• Display basic information about the plan user signed up to.
• Display number of days remaining until quota resets.
• Display remaining peak/off-peak quota as a percentage and in megabytes.
• Display used peak/off-peak quota as a percentage and in megabytes.
• Display and keep a history of download usage in days, months and years.
• Display remaining daily peak/off-peak quota for the current month.
• Display the current service status reported by TPG.
• Display remaining days, peak and off-peak usage in the system tray.
• Change colour of the system tray icon.
• Ability to check if there is any email in the TPG inbox.
• Ability to delete emails.
• Ability to view email messages within the program.
• Ability to run the program at start-up and delay the update.
• Ability to show quota in megabytes or gigabytes.
• Ability to check for program updates.

Download TPG bitometer v1.1.5 (263kb)

Release notes :

** v1.1.5 ** (09/05/2010)
- Updated program to reflect changes made on the TPG usage and status page.
- Increased font of status message.
- Added support for the unlimited plan.

** v1.1.4 ** (08/02/2010)
- Updated service status page.
- Reworded some error messages.

** v1.1.3 ** (18/11/2009)
- Updated program to reflect minor changes made on the TPG usage page.

** v1.1.2 ** (22/09/2009)
- Fixed a bug introduced in v1.1.1 related to checking for program updates on program start-up when an internet connection is not established.

** v1.1.1 ** (22/09/2009)
- Updated program to reflect minor changes made on the TPG usage page.
- Updated donate button link.
- Updated status function to also check Mobile status.
- Added feature to check for program updates during program start-up.
- Changed default system tray text colour from WhiteSmoke to GreenYellow.

** v1.1.0 ** (21/08/2009)
- Fixed a bug introduced in v1.0.9 where all users were treated as having peak and off-peak times.

** v1.0.9 ** (21/08/2009)
- Updated program to reflect changes made on the TPG VoIP usage page.

** v1.0.8 ** (18/08/2009)
- Updated program to reflect changes made on the TPG web site.

** v1.0.7 ** (19/07/2009)
- Fixed a bug introduced in v1.0.6 which prevented users without off-peak time to
retrieve their usage.

** v1.0.6 ** (17/07/2009)
- Fixed a bug where negative days were sometimes shown due to late TPG website updates.
- Fixed some unexpected exceptions caused by broken TPG usage pages.
- Added extra status messages.
- Added feature to show usage as ‘remaining usage’ or ‘used usage’ for the monthly period.

** v1.0.5 ** (03/07/2009)
- Fixed a bug where incorrect remaining daily peak/off-peak quota was shown when
there was less than 1 day remaining.
- Added a new graph that shows monthly billing period download usage.
- Added feature to show quota in megabytes or gigabytes.

** v1.0.4 ** (24/05/2009)
- Added feature to view remaining daily peak/off-peak quota for the current month.
- Fixed a typo in ‘Next month starts’
- Fixed a crash when trying to continuously retrieve email with incorrect details.

** v1.0.3 ** (08/05/2009)
- Fixed a bug where sometimes incorrect remaining days were shown.

** v1.0.2 ** (06/05/2009)
- Added the ability to view email messages within the program.
- Added an additional button to open WebMail.

** v1.0.1 ** (03/05/2009)
- Added separate login data for email.

** v1.0.0 ** (03/05/2009)
- First release to the public.

Create a new file ToolStripOverride.cs and copy the following code.

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using System.Windows.Forms;
 
namespace OverrideControls
{
    public class ToolStripOverride : ToolStripProfessionalRenderer
    {
        public ToolStripOverride() { }
 
        protected override void OnRenderToolStripBorder(ToolStripRenderEventArgs e) { }
    }
}

Then inside the class where you have your ToolStrip control add the following line to the constructor.

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myToolStripControl.Renderer = new ToolStripOverride();

If you are using Windows Vista this is easily achieved by using a rounded PNG image with transparent corners and setting the transparency property. This however does not work on systems such as Windows XP.

The following C# code can be used to ensure you have rounded corners on a number of Windows Operating Systems.

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[DllImport("Gdi32.dll", EntryPoint = "CreateRoundRectRgn")]
private static extern IntPtr CreateRoundRectRgn
(
    int nLeftRect,      // x-coordinate of upper-left corner
    int nTopRect,       // y-coordinate of upper-left corner
    int nRightRect,     // x-coordinate of lower-right corner
    int nBottomRect,    // y-coordinate of lower-right corner
    int nWidthEllipse,  // height of ellipse
    int nHeightEllipse  // width of ellipse
);
 
// Set your own values
Region = System.Drawing.Region.FromHrgn(CreateRoundRectRgn(1, 1, 10, 10 16, 16));

Unfortunately for some bizarre reason Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 do not have this feature by default.  However, there is a simple solution to this. Create a macro and assign it a shortcut key.

First create a new macro module though Tools > Macros with the following code

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Imports System
Imports EnvDTE
Imports EnvDTE80
Imports System.Diagnostics
 
Public Module BuildStartup
    Sub BuildStartup()
        DTE.Solution.SolutionBuild.BuildProject(DTE.Solution.SolutionBuild.ActiveConfiguration.Name, DTE.Solution.SolutionBuild.StartupProjects(0), False)
    End Sub
End Module

Now that you have the macro, you simply assign it a shortcut key through Tools > Options.  Look for “Keyboard” under “Environment”.  Find your macro in the command list and assign it a shortcut key.

Enjoy.