Use Python to monitor Windows and Mac and collect information on the apps you are working on

Introduction

I hear that more and more people work at home, and many people are worried that they are all working at home properly.

I think it's strange to be anxious in the first place, but I also wonder if some people will be in trouble if their boss becomes anxious.

So, I thought that if I could collect information on the apps I'm using in real time when using a computer, I could reduce that anxiety a little, so I considered a method.

Here, I will summarize the method of "getting and displaying the title of the active window every time the active window is changed".

Operating environment

• macOS Move
• Windows10 Pro
• Python3.7

Library installation

Library for operating Mac

For Mac, install the required library with the following command.

pip install -U PyObjC

Library for operating Windows

For Windows, install the required library with the following command.

pip install -U pywin32

Script creation

get_active_window_title.py

#!/usr/bin/env python

import sys

#For Mac
if sys.platform == "darwin":
    from AppKit import NSWorkspace
    from Quartz import (
        CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo,
        kCGWindowListOptionOnScreenOnly,
        kCGNullWindowID
    )

    def getActiveWindowTitle():
    
        curr_app = NSWorkspace.sharedWorkspace().frontmostApplication()
        curr_pid = NSWorkspace.sharedWorkspace().activeApplication()['NSApplicationProcessIdentifier']
        curr_app_name = curr_app.localizedName()
        options = kCGWindowListOptionOnScreenOnly
        windowList = CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo(options, kCGNullWindowID)
        
        txt = ""
        
        for window in windowList:
            pid = window['kCGWindowOwnerPID']
            windowNumber = window['kCGWindowNumber']
            ownerName = window['kCGWindowOwnerName']
            geometry = window['kCGWindowBounds']
            windowTitle = window.get('kCGWindowName', u'Unknown')
            
            if curr_pid == pid:
                activeWindowTitle = ownerName + " - " + windowTitle

        return activeWindowTitle

#For windows
elif sys.platform == "win32":
    import win32gui

    def getActiveWindowTitle():
        
        activeWindowTitle = win32gui.GetWindowText(win32gui.GetForegroundWindow());
        return activeWindowTitle

else:
    def getActiveWindowTitle():
        return ""
    
def main():
    bufWindowTitle = ""
    
    try:
        while True:
            activeWindowTitle = getActiveWindowTitle()
            if bufWindowTitle != activeWindowTitle:
                print(activeWindowTitle)
                bufWindowTitle = activeWindowTitle
    except KeyboardInterrupt:
        sys.exit(0)
        
if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Run

After creating it, execute it with the following command.

python get_active_window_title.py

You should see the application name each time you switch the active window.

did it!

If you send this to the specified server, you will know that you are working properly, and it is okay to be told "Prove!"! !! ...All right! ......I think it's okay.