TIMER

Description

This element is not an actual data type but simply fires an event on a regular basis, when specified time has elapsed.

Inherited Attributes

See Attributes Common to All Elements.

Specific Attributes

Name	Value Type	Default Value	Description	Comment	V.	Exp.
enabled	boolean	'true'	Enables or disables the timer.		2.0	2.0
refresh_time_ms	Any positive integer value	50	interval between two timer events.		2.0	2.0
Events
elapsed	ref_type_event		Fired when specified refresh_time_ms has elapsed, if the event is enabled.		2.0	2.0

Examples

Script Timer

The following code creates a timer launched by a button that calls a simple script (using an ACTION_TRIGGER) measuring elapsed time while it is displayed on screen. Once elapsed_time reaches 1000 ms, timer is stopped and a message box is displayed:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<SKIN text_color="#ffffff" font_size="28" font_face="Arial">
    <!-- Creates a disabled timer -->
    <TIMER id="timer" enabled="false" refresh_time_ms="10"/>
    
    <!-- Elapsed parameter and alert action to be used by triggered script-->
    <PARAM id="elapsed" default="0" max="2000" exposed="true"/>
    <ACTION id="alert" type="DisplayMessageBox" message="button clicked 1 second ago" exposed="true"/>
    
    <!--script action trigger on timer event-->
    <ACTION_TRIGGER event_id="timer.elapsed" script="elapsed+=timer.refresh_time_ms; if(elapsed>=1000) {timer.enabled=0; alert(); elapsed=0;}" async="false"/>
    
    <!-- Ensures that the refresh attribute is exposed to script-->
    <EXPOSED_OBJECTS object_ids="timer.refresh_time_ms"/>
    
    <!-- Simple "click me" button to start the timer and text field that shows elapsed time-->
    <COLUMN margin="5">
        <TEXT value="Click Here">
            <INVISIBLE_PARAM_BUTTON id="button" width="100%" height="100%" param_id="timer.enabled"/>
        </TEXT>
        <PARAM_TEXT font_size="15" param_id="elapsed" content="button clicked {value} ms ago" width="200"/>
    </COLUMN>
</SKIN>