In this chapter we’ll take a guided tour of MultiTimer Pro’s main window. This is the window shown below.
 
The Start/Stop button:
This stopwatch button is the most important control in MultiTimer Pro. It starts and stops the MultiTimer Pro timer. Click the button to start timing a session, and click it again to stop. When the timer is on, you can optionally “pause” the timer rather than stopping it. The difference between stopping and pausing is that when you restart the timer after pausing, the time will continue to be added to the same session. If you stop the timer and restart, you will have two separate sessions in the log. To pause a session, click on the stopwatch button and hold the mouse button down. A popup menu will appear allowing you to select Pause or Stop. Similarly, when you want to restart a paused session, a quick click on the stopwatch button will resume the session, but if you click and hold, a popup menu will appear allowing you to select Resume or Stop.
 
 
Changing the Time of an Ongoing Session:
While a session is running, (the stopwatch button shows “On” or “Paused”), you can edit the total time shown for that session. Just click on the hours or minutes number to the right of “Session”, and then use the arrow control to adjust the time. If you want to edit a session’s total time after the session has ended, this can be done in the log window. See the chapter on log windows for full information.
 
Changing the Name of a Module:
Simply click on the module’s name; you can then edit the name. If you type in a name that is already used by another module, MultiTimer Pro will alert you to enter a different name.
Changing Modules:
Click in the double-triangle beside the module name and a popup menu will appear, showing all the modules you currently have defined. At the bottom of this menu is the item “Sort this menu...”. If you select this a new window will be opened, and you will be able to change the order in which module names appear in the popup menu. This will be described in detail in a later chapter.
 
The Module Note:
Click in the note box that fills the lower portion of the main window, and you can then edit the note that appears there. Each module has its own note; the text in this box changes when you change modules. Typically, you would use this note to record some basic information about a project, such as a client’s name, a deadline date, budget limit, etc.
The “Total for this...” Popup Menu:
This popup menu allows you to see how much time a module has accumulated in the current day, week, month, year, and the grand total for the module. For more (much more!) complete information about the module, including a record of every session you have timed, you can open the log window.
 
The Log Window Button:
By clicking on the log window button, you can open the log for the current module. log windows present you with much more information about a module, and allow you to make use of many of MultiTimer Pro’s more powerful features. You can also open a log window by selecting “Open This Module’s Log” under the File menu. When a log window is open, clicking on the log window button again closes it.
 
The Auto-Open Files Button/Indicator:
With MultiTimer Pro you have the option of having any document or application automatically opened whenever you start a module’s timer. In fact, you can have up to five different documents and/or applications opened when the timer is started. The item shown here is both a button and an indicator. When you click on it, a window will appear that allows you to select or change your “Auto-Open” files. If you have a single Auto-Open file selected, that file’s icon will appear in the button/indicator, as shown below center. If you have multiple files selected, the button/indicator will appear as shown below right:
 
The Floating Window Checkbox:
Clicking this checkbox turns on MultiTimer Pro’s floating window, which is illustrated below. This window appears whenever MultiTimer Pro is in the background, and “floats” over the windows of all other applications, so it will always be visible. The floating window shows you whether the timer is currently on, the name of the current module, and the total time for the current session.
 
The Disclosure Triangle:
If you like, you can shrink MultiTimer Pro’s main window, hiding the note box and the total time popup menu. This is done by clicking the little blue triangle: Clicking again expands the window to its full size.
