Help
Table
Operators
Score screen
Functions page 1 (files, layout)
Functions page 2 (time calculation)
Functions page 3 (trigonometry)
Miscellaneous (preferences, serial port, import / export...)
The easiest way to get started is the "quicktour" from the help menu.
Shows a large display of the running count.
Precision.
Minimal measurable duration: ca. 100 ms (depending on your machine).
Slow or busy machines may cause a switch delay of up to 10 ms.
The serial port access has additional delays: 1, 10 and 50 ms at precision of 1, 10 and 100 ms.
Between start and stop the program uses the hardware timer of your machine.
Shortcuts: Ctrl + 1, Ctrl + 2, Ctrl + 3.
Be aware that computers might be less precise as one believes, and use the "Calibrate" tool from the "Options" menu, especially if you compare results from different computers.
If you need absolutely perfect results for long durations, you should rely on special hardware devices rather than a Windows computer.
Start and Stop button. Shortcut: F1.
Lock Start/Stop. This might be useful for nervous people if only interim values are used.
Interim value. Shortcut: F2.
Reset of timer values. Writes the "total time" value to the end of the table (if not disabled). Shortcut: F3.
Return. Appends a blank row. Timer values are not inserted here. Shortcut: F4.
Absolute / relative. Applied to interim values which count either from start time (absolute) or from the last interim value.
Time display.
1. Offset: waits the entered time before starting. If switched to "threshold", starts immediately, but skips the count if a stop signal comes in during the entered time.
2. Current time: the actually running count.
3. Total time: permanently updated sum of all times together since program start or klicking "reset".
Table
Table and clear buttons.
Columns:
- Numbers (editable, semi-automatic). To show and fix an index display and scroll ramp, klick the column header (shortcut: Ctrl. + I)
- Time values. Values generated by the timer are normally inserted below the last value found in this column, as long as there is no insertion mark in the operator column. Also accepts floating-point numbers.
- Operator column.
- Results or custom Items. Button "c expr." clears all expressions used to control the score appearance (see Score screen). "Lock Items" prevents to clear this column, even if you create a new file.
Index display.It appears when the cursor moves over the column header and can be fixed by clicking the header. It can be used to apply selection operators by clicking a row while Shift, Control or both keys are pressed. Two scroll ramps are shown at top and bottom.
Shortcut: Ctrl + I.
The score screen
The score opens in a full screen window. Shortcut: F5.
By default, all rows with a time are displayed, sorted by time and grouped by number of turns (if any). A similar view can be exported to HTML, either manually (F7 from the screen) or automatically whenever it changes. Saving directory is ./score_dump/ within the directory of the program. Colors of HTML output are adjustable in a separate dialog.
The above score has been generated as follows:
At first, the table has been prepared like this, but with an empty time column, numeric insertion marks for all start values and with no turns (no number following the "#"). Then, the timer has been started, and an interim value has been assigned to each participant at start time, one after another (that's the rows with the "s" appended to the number, which also could be everything else). The numbers of all rows are unique so that insertion marks can be applied using the "Time to No." feature (F9).
Everytime a value is overwritten by the timer, the number of turns (the number following the "#") increases automatically. The expression "-@-1" means "subtract the value of the row which is one before this row". Thus, the score screen displays the time elapsed since the person has started. If the "@" is missing, the row with that index is used, e.g. "#-3;" would mean "subtract the value of the row with index 3". It is recommended to use the relative "@" syntax if there are multiple start values, and to use the absolute index number only if there is one single start value for all.
For not to display the start times, the settings dialog of the score screen has been edited so that only those rows are displayed where the item has an expression:
Functions page 1
Initializes a new, untiteled file without resetting the timer.
Shortcut: Ctrl + N.
Opens an existing file without resetting the timer.
Shortcut: Ctrl + O.
Saves the open file without resetting the timer.
The diode indicates wether changes have been made.
Shortcut: Ctrl + S.
Saves the open file in a different path without resetting the timer.
Opens the data logging dialog. The diode appears if automatic logging is enabled.
Data logging dialog window.
The first option manually cuts off the specified amount of rows from top. A file dialog asks where to store the data. The data is appended to an existing or new file.
The second option allows to let the program decide when to cut off the specified amount of rows.
The subordinate options prevent the file from increasing in an uncontrolled way (25 KB = ca. 1000 rows of time values only). The following opened file dialog proposes a filename consisting of a timestamp and an appendix. It is recommended only to edit the appendix. You can also select an existing file.
All options are set to default everytime you start the program.
To disable auto logging, deselect both main options.
Saves a copy of the entire table -- or, if you made a selection, the selected data -- to the end of an existing or to a new file. There are no changes made to the open file or to the timer.
Saves the entire table to "_backup.txt" in the program directory. To backup in a custom directory, use the "append" function.
Automatic backups can be enabled in the preferences dialog. They are saved to "_backup_auto.txt".
Displays or hides the graph.
Graph. Contains all data or the data of a selection. The enumeration is independent from that of the table.
For zooming edit the scale values.
Shortcut: Ctrl + G.
Enables / disables the automatic correction of time values within the time column. The correction is applied as soon as the text cursor is set to another cell, either by clicking somewhere or pressing the return key.
You can (mis)use this function to quickly convert values consisting of units that do not fit the time format. For instance, you could enter ",,900" which means 0 hours, 0 minutes, 900 seconds and 0 milliseconds and which is converted automatically to
If you use floating-point or integer numbers, and you do not everytime want to disable the function, append an "f" to the number (e.g. "8274f") which means that the number is now protected against automatic conversion.
Sorts one selection using the number column. Select y...x to sort in descending order.
Sorts one selection using the time column. Select y...x to sort in descending order.
Sorts one selection using the item column. Select y...x to sort in descending order.
Adds that number of rows which you entered in the operator column. The new rows are inserted before.
Deletes a selection.
Moves a selection to a target marked by "z" (default). The rows are inserted before.
Copies a selection to a target marked by "z" (default). The rows are inserted before.
Inserts date and time at the end of the table or at a row marked by "x" (default).
Shortcut: Ctrl + T.
Refreshes a selection of the number column. Option "1.." counts from 1, option "n.." counts from the number in the first selected row. Option
Enters a special mode do apply insertion marks very quickly without having to edit the table. Once activated, the text field on the right is waiting for a number. If a number has been typed and the return key is pressed, the row where this number was found in column "No." gets an insertion mark of lowest priority.
Shortcut: F9.
Functions page 2
Converts floating-point or integer values into time format and reverse. For operators see the table section of this helpfile.
Adds the values of a selection together. All values must be in the same format (either floating-point or time).
The result is inserted in the item column on the right of the last selected value.
Shortcut: Ctrl + "+".
Subtracts values marked by "y" (default) from a value marked by "x" (default). Requires all values to be in the same format. The result is inserted on the right of value "x".
Shortcut: Ctrl + "-".
Multiplicates two values marked by "x" (default) and "y" (default). A time value cannot be multiplicated by a time value. The result is inserted on the right of value "x".
Shortcut: Ctrl + "*".
Divides a value marked by "x" (default) by a value marked by "y" (default). You cannot divide a number by a time value. The result is inserted on the right of value "x".
Shortcut: Ctrl + "/".
Calculates the average of a selection. Requires all values to be in the same format. Empty values are ignored. The result is inserted on the right of the last selected value.
Calculates the maximal common divisor of a selection. Empty values are ignored. Requires all values to be positive and in the same format (either time or integer). The result is inserted on the right of the last selected value.
Opens the dialog for the minimal common multiple.
Dialog for the minimal common multiple of a selection. Empty values are ignored. Requires all values to be positive and in the same format (either time or integer). The result is inserted on the right of the last selected value.
If you enter a maximal deviation, a more complicated (and much slower) algorithm is used. The calculation stops as soon as multiples of all values match with a deviation which is less than or equal to the entered value.
The calculation stops at the entered limit, and, in this case, displays an error. (0 means no limit, regardless of the upper system limit). A limit is not useful if you do not enter a deviaton.
Searches for the minimum of the entire time column or of a selection.
Searches for the maximum of the entire time column or of a selection.
Applies a specified increment or decrement to a selection. A practical purpose is to count events using the serial port. You can enter an offset or threshold (try out the difference).
Shortcuts: F12 / F11.
Functions page 3
Sets the degree or radians mode. Alternatively you could append "d" or "r" to a number (the button then changes after the calculation). Time values are always interpreted as degree.
Converts a degree value (time format or floating-point) marked by "x" (default) to radians, and converts a radians value to degree (floating-point).
Miscellaneous
Sets the number of undo steps. It is recommended to keep the automatic adaption enabled.
Preferences dialog.
Automatic backups are saved to "_backup_auto.txt" in the program directory.
If a value cannot properly be represented on your machine (if it has to many digits), this will lead to loss of precision. You can minimize the risk of unnoticed rounding errors by setting a limit. Klick "generate limit" to find one which is likely to prevent errors with integer values. The program then searches for the highest errorless power of 10 and divides this by 100. Clear the number of digits that you urgently need after the decimal point. If any calculation process reaches the limit, a warning is displayed.
Serial port settings dialog.
This feature requires a VISA runtime engine to be installed.
Some computers, especially notebooks, do not have a serial port input. The socket must exactly look like this:
If your machine has one, all you need is a soldering iron, a 9 pin plug and a cable with up to 6 cores, depending on what you plan to do. For connection details see the help page of the dialog. If you scan flickering signals, set a threshold value to filter out short intervals (click "offset" in the main program to switch to "threshold").
Export / Import dialog (The import dialog looks slightly different).
Exports all data or selected rows using a specified format. The filetypes txt, csv and xls save the data as simple tabulator separated spreadsheet data. The sql filetype creates a MySQL dump file containing "CREATE TABLE" and "INSERT INTO" statements.
The import function does not support the xls type (you should then export the file from Excel as txt-file).
Html export dialog.
Exports all data or selected rows to a html file. Disable "convert special characters" if you want to use html code. Characters like é, â, ä and so on are always converted.
The "edit graph" button opens a dialog where you can zoom into the graph by editing the scale values. Color changes made afterwards are not applied to the graph.
Checks the entire time column for format errors. This is useful if you open files which have been saved with different separators. Be careful with the "replace all" function if the time column also contains floating-point numbers and integers, because they all would be converted to hours.
Opens a print preview of the entire or selected data. Make a test printout of a page and decrease the "rows per page" value if rows are lost at the lower margin.
If you want to edit graph scale values, use the "export to html" function and print from your browser. If you want the lowest scale value not to be zero but the minimal measured value, ensure that the selection does not contain empty values.
Shortcut: Ctrl + P.
Opens a dialog to execute up to three stored system commands. Klick "browse" to select first a program, and press again to select a file, or enter a command manually. To execute a command with options, use a .bat-file.
Metronome. This is a separate module which you must start from the program directory (start "metron.exe").
In the upper section you can set the beats per minute and a predefined or custom rhythm. On the left and right there are light diodes. The metronome must be switched on for running.
The middle section allows to record impulses you give by pressing the "rec" button or F12. The measured beats per minute are applied to the metronome setting. The option "single klicks" records the time difference to the previous click. If you use the option "average of 5 values", you must click at mindest six times to get a proper result.
In the lower section you can edit some sound settings, dependig on your system platform. The "tick.wav" files in the program directory are used only on windows platforms. Other platforms use internal sound data.
The sound output may hang a short time if your computer is very busy.
Waker. This is a separate module which you must start from the program directory (start "waker.exe").
Klick the pointer and move it to the right to that time which you want to wait. To set hours make additional turns.
An alarm window appears when the time is over.