Timers

The Timer pool can be used to manage stopwatches and countdowns.

The pool can be created like any other pool window using the Add Window pop-up.

The Timers pool has a default action indicated by an icon in the title field's upper right corner. The default action is Toggle (). The alternative action is Select (). The default action is applied when a pool object is tapped without a valid keyword in the command line. Learn more about Pool Actions in the Window Settings topic.

There are two different types of timers: Stopwatch and Countdown. Each of these two types has their own topics. Follow the links below or in the menu on the left.

The running state of the timer is not saved with the showfile. The time on the timer will be saved, and the timer will be on the saved time in a paused state when the showfile is reloaded.

Each object in the Timers pool can be one or the other.

The first pool object is a Stopwatch, locked from being edited, although It can be used.

Timers can be controlled using the pool objects or the Timer keyword.

Active timers can be seen in the pool with the time and a progress bar at the bottom of the pool object. Active timers can also be seen in the Running Playbacks window.

Running timers have a green play icon pointing right for stopwatches () and left for countdowns () in the upper right corner of the pool object. A paused timer has the pause icon () in the corner. Stopped timers do not have a playback icon.

Timers can be assigned to executors. Learn more in the Assign Object to an Executor topic.

Playback Actions

A timer can be started with a Go+ command or toggled On if it is Off or paused. It will start to count up or down in real time.

A timer can be paused in its running. This keeps the current time on the timer. Restarting the timer with a Go+ command can either restart the timer or let it continue. This can be set in the setting for the timer.

The Top command will reset the time. If the timer is running, it will continue to run. If the timer is paused, the time will be reset, and the timer will be stopped.

Stopping a timer resets the time to zero for stopwatches and to the set time value for countdowns.

Using the Clock to See the Time

The Clock can be used to show and control the timers. The Clock Source should be set to Timer. Then the Timer can be used to select the desired timer object.

The controls in the title bar adjust to match the selected timer.

Stopwatches have numbers in white color. Countdowns have numbers in red color with a countdown bar at the bottom of the timer. These are the default colors.

Create and Edit a New Timer

A new timer can be created by editing an empty pool object.

Editing a timer pool object opens the editor:

There are some common settings for the two types.

Label

• Name:
  This is the name of the timer object.
• Scribble:
  This is used to assign a scribble to the pool object.
• Appearance:
  This is used to assign an appearance to the pool object.
• Note:
  This is used to add a note to the pool object.

Settings

• Timer Mode:
  This is used to select one of the two modes: Stopwatch or Countdown.
• Timer Link Type:
  These are the options:
  • Not Linked:
    Nothing happens when starting a sequence playback.
  • Selected Go+:
    Executing Go+ for the selected sequence also starts the Timer.
  • Selected Toggle:
    Executing Go+ for the selected sequence toggles the Timer.
  • LastGo Go+:
    Executing Go+ for any sequence also starts the Timer.
  • LastGo Toggle:
    Executing Go+ for any sequence toggles the Timer.
• Restart Option:
  This has two possible options:
  • Continue on Go+:
    When executing Go+ on a stopped or paused timer, it will continue to run the time.
  • Reset on Go+:
    A stopped or paused timer will be reset and start from its default time when executing Go+ for the timer.

Format

There are two settings in the format column:

• Frame Format
• Time Readout

These are available for each timer object. They are described in the User Settings topic.