8 in 1 Stopwatch

[Guest stevie_mac]

File Name: 8 in 1 Stopwatch

File Submitter: stevie_mac

File Submitted: 27 Aug 2005

File Updated: 16 Sep 2007

File Category: Tools - Productivity

Stopwatch 8 (8 in 1 Stopwatch)

Some time ago, I needed a stopwatch & realised the "Smartphone" didn't have one (or at least I couldn't find one anyhoo!) so I created one. Its intended use was to time several items at once (e.g. a race). I don't like standard Start / Lap /Stop timers so I laid it out as 8 individual timers. Each one can be started / stopped individually & they are Count up / Count down / Current Time / Journal configurable.

Normally I'd have done this in C++ (so It could be used on WM2002 & WM2003) but I was in a hurry & so did it in C# - my apologies to the WM2002 users!

UPDATE 16-Sep-2007 Sorry its been a while!

Added: Support for rotation

Change: Report viewing (now uses internal form instead of IE)

Change: Method of displaying background image so devices with different size Client Rectangle still sees it!

Other: Under the hood improvements!

* Coming Soon - support for touch screen devices.

UPDATE 5-Oct-06

Change: Set default "Backlight" option to 'Default' - i.e. use power management settings

Fix: Setting of alert file now saves every time

Fix: Setting for 'always on top' is now remembered

Added: Ability to generate text report (faster)

Added: Default build in alert sound (for those without a suitable 'WAV' on your phone)

Added: Ability to save / load / rename / delete timer sets

Added: Ability to 'Lock' the application itself to prevent accidental pressing of button

Other: Under the hood improvements!

Prev Version updates

* Vibrate alerts (additional to WAV alerts)

* Time mode / Journal Mode

* Backlight always on (full / low power)

* Keep application on top (a stopwatch needs to stay in view / not disappear to the background!)

* You can now set the action button to either "Cycle Through" or "Toggle Timer" (a workaround for the protected buttons on WM2005)

* Auto save selected timer set

* Some other bugs & spellings corrected.

See original thread for more details...

http://www.modaco.com/A_Stopwatch_for_WM_2..._1-t227148.html

Click here to download this file

Edited September 16, 2007 by stevie_mac

[Guest vjgrace]

Hello Stevie Mac,

Great application. Do you know how to add sound or alert to the countdown timers when finished?

I am going to be using this in a work setting and I was hoping to get some indication of time ending.

Thanks again for the great application.

JG

File Name :: 8 in 1 Stopwatch

Author :: stevie_mac

Category :: Tools  - Productivity

Description ::

8 in 1 Stopwatch

Some time ago, I needed a stopwatch & realised the "Smartphone" didn't have one (or at least I couldn't find one anyhoo!) so I created one. Its intended use was to time several items at once (e.g. a race). I don't like standard Start / Lap /Stop timers so I laid it out as 8 individual timers. Each one can be started / stopped individually & they are Count up / Count down configurable. It is quite basic & does what I initially intended it to do (minus some features I'd planned like saving the setup, beautifying etc).

Normally I'd have done this in C++ (so It could be used on WM2002 & WM2003) but I was in a hurry & so did it in C# - my apologies to the WM2002 users!

See original thread for more details...

http://www.modaco.com/A_Stopwatch_for_WM_2..._1-t227148.html

View File

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Guest stevie_mac]

Hello Stevie Mac,

Great application.  Do you know how to add sound or alert to the countdown timers when finished?

I am going to be using this in a work setting and I was hoping to get some indication of time ending.

Thanks again for the great application.

JG

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry for not responding to this earlier. I don't seem to get emails from modaco (prolly something I done!)

Anyhow, spotted this post yesterday & thought I'd spend a bit time on it.

I realised that I'd done this in VS.Net 2005 Beta & had since uninstalled. Had to create a new project + rebuild it.

OK, so I did that and added the following...

Ability to set a count down complete sound

Ability to adjust titles (unrestricted length so you might make it ugly!)

Ability to save 5 set-ups (main screen, options Load / Save)

I have not fully debugged it, but I'm willing to let you try it.

Attached is a Cab that will install the App + the File browser DLL to your phone, you must have the OpenNetCF already installed (should already be in-place if you installed the original version)

Let me know how it goes - any problems - post here, I'll keep a check on this thread.

Anyone else willing to test this is welcome. Just feed back here.

Thanks - Steve.

Removed download. An updated version in my post below.

Edited December 7, 2005 by stevie_mac

[Guest sx125]

Just what i'm looking for as a bike racer!

Thank you very much!

nice work

[Guest stevie_mac]

Just what i'm looking for as a bike racer!

Thank you very much!

nice work

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Your welcome...

sx125, in your PM to me, you requested I add the facility to stop running timer & start next - I have added this.

Press the call key to start T1, press it again to stop T1 & start T2, etc, etc.

When T8 is running, press 8 (or the action key) to stop 8.

Hope this helps.

Additionally, I have improved accuracy of the timers (use a common tick count now!) since stopping starting all would result in some variance accross the timers.

Try this one - let me know how it goes. see link below

Finally, C550 users. I am now aware there is issues with the screen layout. I intend on re-doing the layout (as it is very bland ATM). When I do this, I will make the layout dynamic (based on screen size) & hopefully this will remove issues.

Regards, Steve.

New download in post below

Edited May 16, 2006 by stevie_mac

[Guest monkeyjabber]

If you need a stopwatch, you can also try RJV Clock. Has a nice interface, and its free.

It can be found here:

http://www.modaco.com/index.php?showtopic=...jv%20clock&st=0

[Guest rogueqd]

Hi Stevie,

I'd like this to use the whole screen on my SP5 (QVGA). It currently uses a smaller spartphone screen in the top left corner. Could you update it for QVGA devices, or you could post the source and I'll do it for you.

Eddie

[Guest stevie_mac]

Hi Stevie,

I'd like this to use the whole screen on my SP5 (QVGA). It currently uses a smaller spartphone screen in the top left corner. Could you update it for QVGA devices, or you could post the source and I'll do it for you.

Eddie

I have finally had some spare time & I did a major update.

I almost rewrote the whole thing! I think it was worth it!

Tested on c500 & c550.

Will update download area soo (with new screen shots too if I can figure out how to edit the original post!)

{EDIT}

Some screen shots...

Get latest version...

http://www.modaco.com/index.php?act=dscrip...tails&f_id=1153

Edited May 30, 2006 by stevie_mac

[Guest sx125]

Best program in years, and then even update the program!!! Thank you very much!

I really appreciate what you do!

thank you very much.

ps: Tested on C600/SP5 and WORKED OK! (only green call button not)

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

Same here, excellent program.

Many thanks.

[Guest rogueqd]

Wonderful. Much better than what I was thinking of. Thanks very much!

The Call button doesn't work for Cycle Through on imate SP5 either. It brings up the recent calls list, which is it's usual behaviour. Nice thought tho, good for lap times.

Also, how about making joystick-right do Start/Stop and joystick-left do Reset for selected timer?

Love the interface for selecting the wav files. Did you write it yourself?

Edited May 17, 2006 by rogueqd

[Guest stevie_mac]

ps: Tested on C600/SP5 and WORKED OK! (only green call button not)

Same here, excellent program.

The Call button doesn't work for Cycle Through on imate SP5 either. It brings up the recent calls list, which is it's usual behaviour. Nice thought tho, good for lap times.

Yes, I've since discovered the Call button (along with some others) can't be consumed in the same manner as of WM2005 (accept for 'privileged' (signed) applications)

Also, how about making joystick-right do Start/Stop and joystick-left do Reset for selected timer?

I'm working on an update to work around the 'Call button' issue. I'm considering adding the ability to define keys. Not sure if its worth the effort though (as I won't allow keys 1~8 to be redefined - since they are primary to its function!)

If you have any thoughts then just let me know.

Love the interface for selecting the wav files. Did you write it yourself?

The main screen (1st screen shot) is drawn dynamically (Smartphone has no transparent labels!!!)

The settings screen (2nd screen shot) is a custom listview class I adapted from an MS article (smartphone has not got a transparent Listview!)

The 'Preset Value' setting box [00:00:00.00] (not shown) is another custom control, written from scratch (as smartphone has no Masked Edit!)

The file select form (not shown) is from the OpenNETCF (an early version i think, cant remember!)

Finally,

Thanks for your kind words.

Steve.

Edited May 17, 2006 by stevie_mac

[Guest aarcam]

Wow stevie_mac this is an amazig timer. Great work! I would pay for an app of this quality *hint*. Its intuitive, well written and does everything you could want a timer to do. Highly recommended.

If you have one, drop your PayPal account info here for donations. I would have no problem throwing some coin your way for an amazing app. Thanks for your efforts!

[Guest stevie_mac]

Wow stevie_mac this is an amazig timer. Great work! I would pay for an app of this quality *hint*. Its intuitive, well written and does everything you could want a timer to do. Highly recommended.

If you have one, drop your PayPal account info here for donations. I would have no problem throwing some coin your way for an amazing app. Thanks for your efforts!

Thank you for your kind words & generous offer.

In the 'About' info is my Email address which you can paypal me if you wish.

But to save you time, you can donate to...

http://www.paypal.co.uk/uk :- sd00 -at- blueyonder dot co dot uk

I will be adding a bit more functionality & improving the WM2005 situation (where the 'Call' button does not work for 'Cycle Through' (a sort of LAP operation where each press of the button stops the running timer & starts the next one)).

Until then, adios.

[Guest stevie_mac]

New Version - includes new features...

* Vibrate alerts (additional to WAV alerts)

* Time mode / Journal Mode

* Backlight always on (full / low power)

* Keep application on top (a stopwatch needs to stay in view / not disappear to the background!)

* You can now set the action button to either "Cycle Through" or "Toggle Timer" (a workaround for the protected buttons on WM2005)

* Auto save selected timer set

* Some other bugs & spellings corrected.

Get latest version...

http://www.modaco.com/index.php?act=dscrip...tails&f_id=1153

Enjoy, Steve.

[Guest dev9]

Excellent program by the way. Only thing I'm having a problem with is the timer pretty much pauses when I close my phone (clamshell design - samsung i600) It has no problem when I leave the phone open. Not sure if your program can override whatever is causing this.

Again, thank you for the great program!

j

[Guest stevie_mac]

Excellent program by the way. Only thing I'm having a problem with is the timer pretty much pauses when I close my phone (clamshell design - samsung i600) It has no problem when I leave the phone open. Not sure if your program can override whatever is causing this.

Again, thank you for the great program!

j

It shouldn't!

Is the timer pausing as though a button was pressed (i.e. is it toggled) or is the display not updating (you can check this by pressing home then the "<--" back key - the display may start updating again)

Let me know as I might have a clue as to what is happening & i'll be able to handle this.

Regards, Steve.

[Guest MountainDrew]

Awesome program Steve. I'm a lurker on Modaco, but I had to come out of the woodwork to compliment you on your great work. I love the concept of 8 individual timers. Pure genius.

Now, you had to know this was coming... a feature request! :)

The only thing I can see that's missing would be some options on the countdown timer mode. Examples: Countdown and stop, countdown and repeat, or countdown and start stopwatch.

These are features I had on my old Timex Triathlon that were very handy. Not sure how hard it would be to implement, but if you can do it, you would then have the PERFECT stopwatch app for smartphone.

[Guest stevie_mac]

Awesome program Steve. I'm a lurker on Modaco, but I had to come out of the woodwork to compliment you on your great work. I love the concept of 8 individual timers. Pure genius.

Now, you had to know this was coming... a feature request! :)

The only thing I can see that's missing would be some options on the countdown timer mode. Examples: Countdown and stop, countdown and repeat, or countdown and start stopwatch.

These are features I had on my old Timex Triathlon that were very handy. Not sure how hard it would be to implement, but if you can do it, you would then have the PERFECT stopwatch app for smartphone.

Thanks for your kind comments.

I am willing to incorporate suggestions, but I have learned (from my background in PLC / SCADA / Automation) that what people ask for & what they get are rarely the same <_<

If you can explain how you'd see these options working (as detailed as you can) then I'll look in to it.

E.g.

"countdown and repeat" - Counts down from Preset to zero. upon reaching zero, the alarm (if set) sounds and the counter resets back to the preset & continues counting down again. etc etc.

Steve.

[edit]

And just out of curiosity, why would a person need these functions!

Edited June 9, 2006 by stevie_mac

[Guest MountainDrew]

Thanks for your kind comments.

I am willing to incorporate suggestions, but I have learned (from my background in PLC / SCADA / Automation) that what people ask for & what they get are rarely the same :)

If you can explain how you'd see these options working (as detailed as you can) then I'll look in to it.

E.g.

"countdown and repeat" - Counts down from Preset to zero. upon reaching zero, the alarm (if set) sounds and the counter resets back to the preset & continues counting down again. etc etc.

Steve.

[edit]

And just out of curiosity, why would a person need these functions!

Thanks for the reply Steve.

Your description of countdown and repeat is bang on. It would be used in a situation where you want the alarm to go off every "n" minutes. For example, if you're playing Texas Holdem' Poker, and you want the blinds to increase every 15 minutes, you just set the "countdown/repeat timer" for 15 minutes, and you no longer have to watch the clock.

For "countdown and stopwatch" - Counts down from preset to zero. Upon reaching zero, sound the alarm (if set) then immediately begin counting up from zero. Used for counting down to the start of a race, or something like that. I've never personally used that one, but I'm sure people could find a use for it.

Your program is already great the way it is now, and I will continue to use it whether or not you add these features. I just thought I'd throw some ideas around for your consideration. It is, of course, your program, and you're free to do with it as you please.

Thanks again for the great work. :)

P.S. One other idea that just occurred to me, and may be simpler than the others. If you had an option on the countdown timer to just trigger the next stopwatch to start when it reaches zero, I'm sure that could be useful as well. That way, if you were, for example, cooking something. If the directions say "cook for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, then cook for 25 minutes at 375 degrees" (yes, I've seen recipes like this), you'd just set stopwatch one to 15 minutes, and stopwatch two to 25 minutes, and it would cycle through both of them. You could also set the second stopwatch as a count-up or anything else.

Anyway, up to you, if you think these are useful, go ahead, and if not, feel free to ignore me. ;)

[Guest MisterOrange]

Hi, great program. I'm finding myself using it more and more since I've installed it a couple weeks ago.

Any chance on getting support for more audio formats? (i.e. mp3, wma, etc.)

Thanks again for making this program :)

[Guest Marc_Sch]

When I try to install the (very promising) tool, I get the error message "This is not a valid Windows CE setup file"...???

I'm using a MDA compact (~HTC Magician, Qtek S100), running WM2003SE.

Any hints how to proceed?

Thanks in advance

Marc

[Guest stevie_mac]

Hi, great program. I'm finding myself using it more and more since I've installed it a couple weeks ago.

Any chance on getting support for more audio formats? (i.e. mp3, wma, etc.)

Thanks again for making this program :)

MisterOrange, adding support for other formats (MP3 for example) requires the addition of a library capable of reading & decoding MP3 audio. I have had a quick look around the internet & although there is source code available, it is either not immediately suitable (i.e. requires conversion / hacks) or is restrictive (licencing etc). So for the moment (untill I can find a suitable light weight component) i'm afraid this is a no!

Sorry.

PS, find a nice compact, free mp3 library / component that wourks with the .NET compactframework and I may well reconsider!

When I try to install the (very promising) tool, I get the error message "This is not a valid Windows CE setup file"...???

I'm using a MDA compact (~HTC Magician, Qtek S100), running WM2003SE.

Any hints how to proceed?

Thanks in advance

Marc

Marc, the cab was created specifically for smartphone. It is not that it doesn't run on the MDA (it does) but there is a fair bit of work required to make it 'right'.

If you must have it, then you need to extract the files from the cab (WinCE CAB Manager will do this) and copy them to a location on the MDA.

The hourglass background will not work without tweaking and there is minimal touch screen support (hence the reason for packaging in a smarphone cab)

I might get time to improve this matter in a couple of weeks time (3 weeks off work - woohoo) - so feel free to pester me again after Aug 14th if you are still interested.

Hasta Luego Amigos.

[Guest clearstar]

HI Stevie Mac,

Thanks for a great program!

1. I found one bug:

Editing alert File only (without changing alert enable or other options) fails (setting is forgotten). There is no "apply" button and rather an "open" button when editing alerts. The workaround is to twiddle some other setting and hit "apply".

Suggestions

2. What does Backlight "full, half, default" mean - it doesn't seem to do anything on my Orange C600 WM5 phone. Also, what would 'default' correspond to?

3. Allow Timer sets to be given names, included when building the report.

4. Text entry method defaults to T9 even though I reset to 'abc' every time. Other apps seem to know I want 'abc' (I use different languages without T9).

5a. Another journal mode that keeps history: report would include multiple times the journal watch was pressed, not just the most recent one as now. Useful to keep track of multiple time points, without having to create a journal for each.

5b. Somebody earlier suggested adding specialized modes e.g. 'count down, beep, start counting up'.

However, this would clutter the app.

If at all needed, a cleaner alternative would be to allow custom compositions as a sequence of actions.

6. Allow customizable time increment display. E.g. 1/100 sec, 1/10 sec, sec, min. I don't think 1/100 is a good default as it probably isn't accurate. E.g. when the timer stops it displays 0.06. Perhaps 1/10 would be better.

7. Does running the timer increase power consumption?

Can it be reduced by checking timer interrupts less often? E.g. 1/min.

8. A key lock mode: i am afraid of starting/stopping a timer by accident while wanting to see the app on top; how about a special key lock mode that requires pressing a special combination to unlock. The phone has key lock but then stopwatch goes to the background and doesn't display.

9. Comment on file format of Timer sets so they can be edited on a computer and copied.

10. Allow alerts to repeat 1,2,3 .. times or until dismissed. (this can be covedrd by 5) though.

11. (minor) The light background with bitmaps make it a bit hard to read the text. i assume one can customize by replacing the bitmap file; perhaps worthe commenting on.

12. (minor) Build report is somewhat sluggish. Perhaps a text only mode would be faster.

I hope I haven't made too many requests at once... Just ideas - it's a great app already.

Thanks again for great work.

--- clearstar

[Guest stevie_mac]

HI Stevie Mac,

Thanks for a great program!

1. I found one bug:

Editing alert File only (without changing alert enable or other options) fails (setting is forgotten). There is no "apply" button and rather an "open" button when editing alerts. The workaround is to twiddle some other setting and hit "apply".

I noticed this on a previous release - I thought I'd solved it! no matter, I've actually noticed the Backlight and stay on top settings are also forgotten! I'll sort these small issues for the next release.

Suggestions

2. What does Backlight "full, half, default" mean - it doesn't seem to do anything on my Orange C600 WM5 phone. Also, what would 'default' correspond to?

I have found this to be an issue on the SP5 also (smartphone like C600 but with WiFi) . The Full refers to keeping the backlight on fully. The half refers to the level your backlight dims to prior to going off completely, default is as it is set in power management (i.e. off after xx seconds). It seems this doesn't work as expected on WM2005 devices & I will have to do some digging.

3. Allow Timer sets to be given names, included when building the report.

I had thought about this but was unsure if it was worth the effort.

4. Text entry method defaults to T9 even though I reset to 'abc' every time. Other apps seem to know I want 'abc' (I use different languages without T9).

Yeah, my bad (or rather my good!) I set this as it its what 'I' wanted, I'll disable the 'force to T9' on the text boxes!

5a. Another journal mode that keeps history: report would include multiple times the journal watch was pressed, not just the most recent one as now. Useful to keep track of multiple time points, without having to create a journal for each.

I like your idea, I'll consider it!

'Multi-Journal'. Hmmm, I'll give it some thought.

5b. Somebody earlier suggested adding specialized modes e.g. 'count down, beep, start counting up'.

However, this would clutter the app.

If at all needed, a cleaner alternative would be to allow custom compositions as a sequence of actions.

Not quite sure what you are saying exactly!. I did not disregard the comments other made, I simply haven't had time to explore their requests so have came to no decisions yet but I do remember thinking it would clutter the app. Be more explicit if you think you have a good idea on this matter.

6. Allow customizable time increment display. E.g. 1/100 sec, 1/10 sec, sec, min. I don't think 1/100 is a good default as it probably isn't accurate. E.g. when the timer stops it displays 0.06. Perhaps 1/10 would be better.

I tried to have the timers as accurate as possible, but alas, it is operated by a human who can add around 0.2 sec (I recently read: For most people, the time from eye to reaction is around 0.3 sec, random error or uncertainty:

Edited September 25, 2006 by stevie_mac