WinWhen - ASCII Clock for Windows

A beautiful ASCII art digital clock that displays the current time and date in your Windows console. The clock features large, stylized numbers and automatically centers itself in the console window.

Features

• Large ASCII Art Display: Time is shown using beautiful ASCII art characters
• Real-time Updates: Clock updates every second
• Auto-centering: Automatically centers the display in your console window
• Date Display: Shows the current date above the time
• Dynamic Console Sizing: Automatically resizes the console window to fit the clock
• HH:MM:SS Format: Displays hours, minutes, and seconds with colons

Screenshots

The clock displays time in a format like this:

                                                                                     Friday, July 4, 2025






               000000000        1111111                   000000000       333333333333333                1111111         999999999
             00:::::::::00     1::::::1                 00:::::::::00    3:::::::::::::::33             1::::::1       99:::::::::99
           00:::::::::::::00  1:::::::1               00:::::::::::::00  3::::::33333::::::3           1:::::::1     99:::::::::::::99
          0:::::::000:::::::0 111:::::1              0:::::::000:::::::0 3333333     3:::::3           111:::::1    9::::::99999::::::9
          0::::::0   0::::::0    1::::1              0::::::0   0::::::0             3:::::3              1::::1    9:::::9     9:::::9
          0:::::0     0:::::0    1::::1      ::::::  0:::::0     0:::::0             3:::::3   ::::::     1::::1    9:::::9     9:::::9
          0:::::0     0:::::0    1::::1      ::::::  0:::::0     0:::::0     33333333:::::3    ::::::     1::::1     9:::::99999::::::9
          0:::::0 000 0:::::0    1::::l      ::::::  0:::::0 000 0:::::0     3:::::::::::3     ::::::     1::::l      99::::::::::::::9
          0:::::0 000 0:::::0    1::::l              0:::::0 000 0:::::0     33333333:::::3               1::::l        99999::::::::9
          0:::::0     0:::::0    1::::l              0:::::0     0:::::0             3:::::3              1::::l             9::::::9
          0:::::0     0:::::0    1::::l              0:::::0     0:::::0             3:::::3              1::::l            9::::::9
          0::::::0   0::::::0    1::::l      ::::::  0::::::0   0::::::0             3:::::3   ::::::     1::::l           9::::::9
          0:::::::000:::::::0 111::::::111   ::::::  0:::::::000:::::::0 3333333     3:::::3   ::::::  111::::::111       9::::::9
           00:::::::::::::00  1::::::::::1   ::::::   00:::::::::::::00  3::::::33333::::::3   ::::::  1::::::::::1      9::::::9
             00:::::::::00    1::::::::::1              00:::::::::00    3:::::::::::::::33            1::::::::::1     9::::::9
               000000000      111111111111                000000000       333333333333333              111111111111    99999999

Project Structure

• ascii_clock.c - Main clock program source code
• ascii_clock.exe - Compiled clock executable
• generate_chars.c - Utility to generate ASCII character data from text files
• generate_chars.exe - Compiled generator utility
• ascii_chars.h - Generated header file containing ASCII art data
• zero.txt through nine.txt - ASCII art templates for digits 0-9
• colon.txt - ASCII art template for the colon character

How to Compile Your Shit

Prerequisites

• Windows with Visual Studio Build Tools or Visual Studio installed
• Microsoft C/C++ Compiler (MSVC)

Compilation Steps

1. Open VS Developer CMD prompt

   • Search for "Developer Command Prompt" in your Start menu
   • Or open a regular command prompt and run vcvars64.bat from your Visual Studio installation

2. Navigate to project directory

   cd "c:\Users\Steven\Github\WinWhen"

3. Compile the character generator

   cl generate_chars.c /Fe:generate_chars.exe

4. Run the character generator (this creates ascii_chars.h)

   generate_chars.exe

5. Compile the main clock program

   cl ascii_clock.c /Fe:ascii_clock.exe

6. Run the clock

   ascii_clock.exe

Alternative One-liner Compilation

If you want to compile everything in one go:

cl generate_chars.c /Fe:generate_chars.exe && generate_chars.exe && cl ascii_clock.c /Fe:ascii_clock.exe

Usage

Simply run the compiled executable:

ascii_clock.exe

• The clock will automatically resize your console window to fit properly
• Press Ctrl+C to exit the program
• The display updates every second with the current time

Customization

Modifying ASCII Art

To customize the appearance of the digits:

1. Edit the .txt files (zero.txt, one.txt, etc.) with your preferred ASCII art
2. Recompile using the steps above (you must run generate_chars.exe after editing)

Technical Details

• Maximum character dimensions: 30 lines × 20 columns
• Supports digits 0-9 and colon character
• Uses Windows API for console manipulation
• Automatically calculates centering based on console width

Requirements

• Windows operating system
• Console/Command Prompt
• Visual Studio Build Tools or Visual Studio (for compilation)

License

This project is licensed under the terms found in the LICENSE file.

Troubleshooting

Q: The clock doesn't display properly

• Make sure your console window is large enough
• Try running in full screen mode
• Ensure you have proper Windows console font settings

Q: Compilation errors

• Make sure you're using the Visual Studio Developer Command Prompt
• Verify all .txt files are present in the directory
• Check that generate_chars.exe ran successfully and created ascii_chars.h

Q: Clock appears off-center

• The program automatically calculates centering, but very narrow console windows may cause issues
• Try manually resizing your console window wider