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Thread ID: 70904 2006-07-20 07:00:00 help me make a programme Adrian23q (9593) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
472266 2006-07-20 07:00:00 hi i had a good idea last night before i dozed off. My idea was to make a programme that helped u discovered how long it would take u to downlaod a certain programme. all u have to do is put in your internet connection speed. e.g. 512kb/s then put in how big the file is. 1mb.. then press calculate.. then the answer comes up with 0hr 0min 20sec.

is there eny programmes that would be able to creat an application and i just put in the rest?

please help :)
Adrian23q (9593)
472267 2006-07-20 07:26:00 Unfortunately you are calculating the *perfect* download speed. Server load, variable download speed and packet overhead will throw out your figures.

However for a rough idea, and ignoring the fact we are mixing data communication (Kbps) and data storage (MB) units together, a calculator will do this for you.

Example (completely ignoring the data communication units)

Perfect download speed = 512 Kbps (little b indicates bits)
8 bits (b) = 1 byte (B)
512/8 = 64 KBps download

1 MB = 1024 KB
1MB x 1024 = 1024 KB

1024 KB / 64 KB/s = ~16 seconds


I am known for bad Maths, so hopefully that is true and makes sense! :D


Forget to mention, if you use Excel and put the formula into a cell, then this should calculate this for you each time. One of the Excel gurus might be able to give you the formula required. :)
Jen (38)
472268 2006-07-20 08:16:00 thankx. i now understand that it wont be exact. but how would i actuly make the programme? Adrian23q (9593)
472269 2006-07-20 09:22:00 There's the rub. zqwerty (97)
472270 2006-07-20 09:39:00 thankx. i now understand that it wont be exact. but how would i actuly make the programme?

visual basic?
Tux (606)
472271 2006-07-20 09:41:00 As Jen says, a calculator is easier.
Otherwise just set it up in a spreadsheet.

File size in kiloBytes divided by download speed in kiloBytes then multiply by 8

as above, 1,000 divided by 512 then multiplied by 8 gives 15.6 seconds, then add about 10% for error correction overheads, assuming perfect conditions (which seldom/never exist)

If you want to code it as a "program", you will have to tell us what programming languages you are already proficient in (C++, Fortran etc...) but I cannot imagine that any would be easier or quicker than a calculator (or simple mental arithmetic)
godfather (25)
472272 2006-07-20 10:49:00 Keep it simple and start at the bottom!
Go to: qbnz.com
and download qbasic 1.1
Create a new folder and Unzip your download into it.
Run qbasic.exe and enter the text shown below.
Still in qbasic: file - save and call it test.bas (or any other name with .bas extension)
Still in qbasic, click on RUN
Type 512 for the first question and press enter
Type 1 for the second question and press enter
Your answer appears on screen.
Enjoy!
============
'
' demo program
'
CLS
INPUT "Speed in Kbps ", x
INPUT "Size in MB ", y
k = x / 8
m = y * 1024
t1 = m / k
tm = INT(t1 / 60)
ts = t1 - (tm * 60)
PRINT "Time in seconds = "; t1
PRINT "Time = "; tm; " minutes "; ts; "seconds"
END
coldot (6847)
472273 2006-07-20 13:09:00 aiite thanks yall for ya help :thumbs: Adrian23q (9593)
472274 2006-07-20 13:16:00 Why make one?

www.t1shopper.com

www.intel.com
Metla (12)
472275 2006-07-20 13:25:00 If you are interested in creating Windows applications, I suggest msdn.microsoft.com

Free, and very nice.
mejobloggs (264)
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