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. Clicking on "Event # n" hightlights (and unhighlights) this phrase, whereupon you can enter a more descriptive string; you must hit the return button to complete the operation. The string can be at most 60 characters long.
Up to 99 such times can be saved like this, and these times can be saved with their descriptive strings to a text file. If you do save them, you will be promted if you want to timestamp your saved times; i.e., if you want the time at which the events were recorded also saved. (If you choose this option, the text file will look something like
Saved times for session ending 8:54 PM, Saturday, May 18, 1991.
8:54:05 PM 00:00:05.0 Event # 1
8:54:05 PM 00:00:05.7 Just another day in Paradise
8:54:06 PM 00:00:06.1 Event # 3
The columns are separated by a pair of tabs, which makes it easy to import and modify with a text editor, word processor or spreadsheet.)
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; [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 remaming 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 verion 1.1 of the application. Version 1.0 had a couple of problems: it used TickCount() to keep time but as I have since learned, this is not particularly accurate--a tick is not exactly one 1/60 of a second. This problem has been fixed the current version, and the application is now as accurate as the built-in clock on the mac. Second, the earlier version did not save times greater than 10 minutes correctly in the Saved Times file, and this has been corrected. Finally, the timestamp facility was added. Thanks to the person [Jim] who reported the bug and wanted the timestamp; my e-mail to you bounced repeatedly. The newer version also uses less RAM.
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. On the other hand, I use it quite often myself, and have tested it without problems on a Mac Plus with the earliest system I could find (from 1984) through 6.0.5, on a Mac IIci with 6.0.7, 7.0 (in both 24 and 32 bit mode), and on an SE/30 running A/UX 2.0.1.
Feel free to redistribute the application, provided you don't try to make money from it.
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