Alarm

Alarm is a simple BASH script for creating alarms, countdowns, and intervals with optional command execution at the end.

Script has been tested on the following distributions:

• Ubuntu 18.04
• Debian 9.5

Song of the project: AC/DC - Hells Bells

Versioning Scheme

I use a 3-digit Semantic Versioning identifier, for example 1.0.2. These digits have the following meaning:

• The first digit (1) specifies the MAJOR version number.
• The second digit (0) specifies the MINOR version number.
• The third digit (2) specifies the PATCH version number.

Complete documentation can be found by following the link above.

Examples

This script was made for Debian and Debian-based distributions but it should work on other Linux distributions - as long as the audio and MIDI functionality on them is provided by ALSA.

Note: You can always check the status of an alarm by pressing d key for days, h key for hours, m key for minutes, or s key for seconds.

Example 1 - Testing Sound

Sound of a countdown, interval, or an alarm can be easily tested prior to initialization using a "--test" flag.

bash ./alarm.sh --test -a

Example 2 - Countdown

In this example, we are starting a 10s countdown, after which a generic alarm sound will be played.

bash ./alarm.sh -t 10s -c

Example 3 - Interval

Starting an interval is just as easy, in this example we are starting an interval that will play a generic alarm sound after each minute.

bash ./alarm.sh -t 1m -i

Alternatively, you can start an interval with varying time. First interval will trigger an alarm in 1m, second in 2m, and so on indefinitely.

bash ./alarm.sh -t 1m,2m,3m -i

Note: Keep in mind that intervals run idefinitely so in order to stop them you need to press CTRL + C or kill it using your prefered method.

Example 4 - Alarm

To create an alarm that will be triggered at ex. 07:00 AM you simply need to issue the following command.

bash ./alarm.sh -t "07:00 AM" -n "My Alarm" -a

Note: Command above will create an appropriate CRON job.

Example 5 - Listing Alarms

Listing previously created alarms can be done using the "-l" flag.

bash ./alarm.sh -l

Example 6 - Removing Alarms

Appropriate CRON job is created whenever you add an alarm, which may be a hassle to remove. To easily remove an alarm, simply determine the index of an alarm (using the listing feature) and pass it using the "-r" flag.

bash ./alarm.sh -r 1

Example 7 - Disabling Alarms

In some cases you would want to temporarily disable an alarm, which can be achieved using the "-b" flag.

bash ./alarm.sh -b 1

Example 8 - Enabling Alarms

In a similar fashion, you can enable previously disabled alarm using the "-e" flag.

bash ./alarm.sh -e 1

Example 9 - Toggling Alarms

Alternatively, you can just toggle an alarm using the "-o" flag.

bash ./alarm.sh -o 1

Example 10 - Initialization Delay

Sometimes you may want to start a countdown after a slight delay, in this example we are starting a 10m countdown with a 10 second delay. Like before, a generic alarm sound will be palyed after the countdown.

bash ./alarm.sh -t 10m -d 10 -c

Example 11 - Command Execution

Usually, you would want to execute a certain command after a countdown, interval or an alarm. This example shows you how to do just that, execute an arbitrary command after a 10s countdown.

bash ./alarm.sh -t 10s -c "echo 'Hello World!'"

Example 12 - Alternative Sound Effect

You can easily change the default sound effect by providing an ID of a built-in sound effect.

bash ./alarm.sh -t 10s -s 2 -c

Or you can, alternatively, just point to your own sound effect.

bash ./alarm.sh -t 10s -s /path/to/your/folder/effect.wav -c

Example 13 - Sound Volume

Flag "-v" is used to temporarily change the master volume during the alarm to a percentage of your choosing. It is a great way to avoid missing an alarm.

bash ./alarm.sh -t 10s -v 100 -c

Example 14 - Displaying Messages

You can display a custom message when the alarm is triggered using the "-m" flag.

bash ./alarm.sh -t 10s -m "My alarm message!" -c

If needed, you may even set the display for alarm message.

bash ./alarm.sh --display ":1" -t 10s -m "My alarm message!" -c

Example 15 - Global Alarms

If you want to set a countdown, interval, or an alarm that will trigger for all logged-in users, you should use the "--global" flag.

bash ./alarm.sh --global -t 1m -c

Example 16 - Stopping Alarms

All triggered alarms can be stopped using the following command.

bash ./alarm.sh --stop

Example 17 - Interactive Mode

If you don't want to deal with all of the flags above, simply use the interactive mode.

bash ./alarm.sh --interactive

Example 18 - Exporting & Importing

Alarms can conveniently be exported to a file by using the following command.

bash ./alarm.sh --export my-export.dat

And later you can easily import your alarms in a similar fashion.

bash ./alarm.sh --import my-export.dat

Example 19 - Dependency Installation

Alarm doesn't have a lot of dependencies but, in any case, there's a way to install them quickly and effortlessly.

bash ./alarm.sh --install

Alias

If you plan to use the script everyday, you should probably create an alias.

Temporary Alias

alias alarm="/path/to/your/folder/alarm.sh"

Permanent Alias

echo alias alarm="/path/to/your/folder/alarm.sh" >> ~/.bash_aliases

Installation

Alternatively, you can add my personal APT repository to your machine and install Alarm like you would anything else.

Add the repository.

wget -nc https://www.djordjejocic.com/storage/app/media/other/release.key
sudo apt-key add release.key
sudo echo "deb http://apt.djordjejocic.com general main" >> "/etc/apt/sources.list"
sudo apt-get update

Install project.

sudo apt-get install alarm

Contribution

Please review the following documents if you are planning to contribute to the project:

• Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct
• Contribution Guidelines
• Pull Request Template
• MIT License

Support

Please don't hessitate to contact me if you have any questions, ideas, or concerns.

My Twitter account is: @jocic_91

My support E-Mail address is: support@djordjejocic.com

Copyright & License

Copyright (C) 2018 Đorđe Jocić

Licensed under the MIT license.