StopWatch is a free utility written using Think C 4.0.5. Its main purpose is to make it easier to time and compare applications, procedures and programs, but it can also be used as an event-logger. It is primarily intended for use with MultiFinder, though this is not mandatory.
The main features are
1) It will count up or down from a specified time (between 0 and 99 hours);
2) It can count in tenths of seconds;
3) You can set a pause period for the timer to wait before starting the main count, to give you time to switch over to your other application.
4) You can save the times at which events occur (by hitting cmd-H or choosing "Hold" from the File menu). When you do this, the time appears in a separate window followed by the phrase "Event # n" if this is the n-th time you have saved a time, which you can then edit for a more informative description. The times at which events are held can also be timestamped, and the fields are separated by tabs. The saved times window can also be printed.
[Shortcut: Hitting the <tab> key when the stopwatch is the active window will select the other window.]
In addition, you can grey the clock face out to reduce interference with the application being timed, you can reduce the size of the clock-face somewhat, there is a small on-line help file under the Apple menu, and you can change the creator of the saved times file using ResEdit to alter the 'STR ' resource with ID 400; [it is initially set to be TeachText].
If you run a screen saver like After Dark or Pyro! and you also run TrueType, then you should arrange that TrueType loads before the screen saver. This can be achieved with an init manager, or more simply by renaming one or other init so that the (renamed) TrueType alphabetically precedes the (renamed) screen saver. If you do not do this, the clock will "shine through" when the screen saver becomes active, a problem which will also occur with Apple's Alarm Clock desk accessory. Greying the clock out when it is running is another cure for the problem. (This problem only occcurs when using System 6.0.7; TrueType is automatically loaded first with System 7.)
This is version 1.2 of the application. Apart from a couple of minor bug fixes, the main changes are that
(1) the "Log" window now behaves like a standard text editor, admitting the usual operations of copying, cutting and pasting. This means there is also essentially no limit other than memory constraints on the number of held events or the length of the descriptions (but see the warning below). There is also some freedom available in choice of fonts and sizes.
(2) various settings (such as window positions) are remembered, [at least if the application is not being run of a locked disk like a file server].
(3) You can now print the saved times.
*Warnings*:
1) As I said in my earlier posts, this is the first Mac application I have written, so the user should be a little wary and I take no responsibility for damage resulting from the use of StopWatch. [I personally have not lost any files, and use it quite regularly though.] Although it is now up to version 1.2 and I learned a lot getting it working, the added complexity (admittedly not great, but I'm just an amateur) means that the same degree of caution should be exercised.
2) If you plan to copy and paste large amounts of text or you expect to have large amounts of text in the "log" window (e.g. > 3 A4 pages), it would be a good idea to increase the amount of memory available in the "Get Info" box. The same applies if you have problems printing. Neither memory management nor the printing facility is particularly sophisticated. I have intentionally tried to keep the amount of RAM used down as much as possible as the program is intended primarily as a background application.
This version of the StopWatch has been tested on a IIci running 6.0.7 and an SE/30 running System 7, but it should be compatible with virtually all macs and systems.
Thanks to Lars who suggested many of the changes, as did Jim, who also reported assorted bugs.
Feel free to redistribute the application, provided you don't try to make money from it.
Send comments, queries, suggestions for improvements and bug reports to:
