Reference Manual
TapPoint LapTimer Version 1.4

This section is a reference manual for all the features in TapPoint LapTimer.  You can browse it using the contents links or print it out using your browser's Print command.

Contents

1. Creating a New Session

In the New Session dialog, you can specify the track and session name for the session, pick whether you would like to time one or two cars, and specify the car number(s).  All of this information is optional, and may also be specified or changed later during or after the session, so you may just press OK to start timing a session immediately if desired.  

The value for the Track popup defaults to the last track used, and the Session name popup always defaults to "(None)" (none specified).  For more information on track and session names, see 4.1. Tracks, Drivers, Car Types, and Session Names.  

The Car # field(s) are either initially blank, or filled in with the last car number(s) used, if this user preference is enabled (see 8. User Preferences).  For more information on car numbers and how they are associated with driver names and car types, see 4.2. Car Numbers and the Cars List.  

When you press OK on the New Session dialog, the LapTimer view opens, ready to start timing the session.  See the following sections on using the timer.

Tutorial: For a step-by-step tutorial on creating a new session, see the Example Session.

2. Using the Timer

2.1. Timing Laps

Pressing the Lap button when the timer is running will end the current lap, registering a time, and immediately start the next lap.  When a lap is registered, the running timer display pauses for 5 seconds, showing the time of the lap just registered, and the lap time is added to the lap time list and highlighted for 5 seconds, and any other information displayed is updated.  After 5 seconds, the running timer resumes showing the elapsed time of the next lap in progress, with the previously registered lap time(s) still visible in the list display on screen.  Press the Lap button each time the car passes a fixed reference point to time each lap.

Note: As an alternative to pressing Lap button on-screen , you can use the device hardware buttons (see 2.3. Using the Device Hardware Buttons). 

When the session is done, press the Stop button to stop the timer.  The current lap is aborted and the timer is stopped (note that pressing Stop does not mark the end time of the last lap; you must press Lap to end each lap that you want recorded).  Once stopped, you can restart the timer to add more laps by pressing Start again, or you can press Done to end the session.  

When you press Done, LapTimer will save the session and return to the Sessions list view, where the new session will be listed.

2.2. Timing Two Cars

When timing two cars, LapTimer creates two independent sessions, with different session details (driver, car type, etc.), which will be stored separately in the Sessions list.  At the end of timing a session with two cars, LapTimer will save both sessions to create two new entries in the Sessions list.  While timing the two sessions, information and controls for the two sessions will be labeled by car number and/or driver name if already specified, otherwise as "Car A" for the primary car and "Car B" for the second car.

Tip: In the LapTimer view in Two Cars mode, you can press the "1" button on the top of the screen to change to One Car mode, which will show more information on the primary car.  The timer for the second car will still be running, and pressing the "2" button or the device hardware Lap button for the second car (see below) will switch back to Two Cars mode.   You can also use the "Swap A and B" command from the menu in the LapTimer view to swap the positions of the primary and second car, which will enable you to view One Car mode for the second car if desired.

2.3.  Using the Device Hardware Buttons

As an alternative to pressing the on-screen Lap and Start button(s), you can use the hardware buttons on your device.  The default hardware button configuration varies slightly on some devices, but on most devices the default Lap/Start hardware buttons are under the corresponding buttons on the screen, as shown below.  To view or edit the button assignments on your device, see 8. User Preferences.

When not in the LapTimer view or not assigned a function, the hardware buttons perform their normal action as assigned in the standard "Preferences" settings on your device (typically, launching the standard "Address" and "To Do List" applications).

Note: If you press a hardware or other button that results in switching to another application or exiting to the application launcher, LapTimer will exit.  However, if you have an active or unsaved session open, LapTimer will restore it the next time you launch LapTimer, and the timer will still be running on the lap in progress.  Thus if you accidentally exit LapTimer or want to briefly switch to another application, simply tap on the LapTimer icon in the application launcher to restart it and resume timing.  It is important to note, however, that if the device is turned off or allowed to turn off automatically while LapTimer is not running, the timer will stop on any active sessions and the time for the lap in progress will not be recorded  (LapTimer prevents the device from automatically turning off while timing when LapTimer is active).

2.4. Lap Flags

Laps can be marked with a "flag" condition to indicate an abnormal time due to a condition such as a caution flag, pit in/out lap, and other conditions.  Laps marked with a flag will have an icon representing the condition displayed next to the lap time, and are also excluded from the average lap time computation.  The average lap time is displayed in the Statistics view and also used to determine the scale of the graph in the Bar Graph view (see below). 

The suggested use of the provided lap flag types is as follows:

• Caution: Lap time slowed due to a track condition such as yellow flag, debris flag, pace car, etc.
• Pit stop: Lap is a "pit in" or "pit out" lap, or the duration of the pit stop itself (thus three laps in a row marked with the Pit Stop icon would indicate a pit in lap, the pit stop duration, then the pit out lap).
• Spin/Off: Lap time slowed by the car spinning or going off course
• Traffic: Lap time slowed by traffic
• Estimated: The lap time is estimated due to an error timing the lap and/or a correction to the lap time that is not guaranteed to be accurate.  Some of the built-in editing operations in LapTimer will automatically mark laps with the Estimated flag (see 6. Correcting Mistakes: Editing Laps).
• Other: Any other condition that affects the lap time, which you would like excluded from the average lap time computation (e.g. excessive traffic, mechanical condition, etc).  You can record any additional details in the Session Note (see 5. The Session Note).  

2.5. The Different Timer Views

In the LapTimer view, while timing a new session or viewing a saved session, you can choose from three different views by using the popup control in the upper-right corner of the screen: Times, Statistics, and Bar Graph.  In One Car mode, this view setting controls what is displayed in the right-hand column, with the left-hand column always showing lap times.  In two car mode, the selected view is shown for both cars in its corresponding column.  

The Times view shows a scrolling list of lap times, continuing into the second column in One Car mode.

The Statistics view shows the number of laps, total time (sum of all recorded laps, not counting the lap in progress), the average lap time, and the four best laps.  The average lap time is computed using only laps that are not marked with a lap flag (see 2.4. Lap Flags).

The Bar Graph view displays a horizontal bar representing each lap time (to the right of the corresponding numerical lap time in one car view).  The scale for the bar graph is computed so that the best lap time displays as a thin bar on the left side, with the scale centered on the average lap time (as indicated by the dotted line down the center of the graph).  The average lap time is computed using only laps that are not marked with a lap flag (see 2.4. Lap Flags).  Thus, the maximum time displayable in the graph is approximately (average lap time + (average lap time - best lap time)).  Times greater than this maximum are displayed with a ">" symbol at the end of a full-width bar.  Note that the scale of the graph will change, and the graph will be redrawn each time a new lap is recorded in an active session.

In all three views, if there are more laps than will fit on the screen, you can scroll the list by tapping on the scroll arrows at the top and/or bottom of the list, or by using the scroll up/down hardware buttons on your device.

Whenever lap times are displayed (in the times list and the best laps list), the best lap time is shown in bold.

3. Session Details

Each LapTimer session (note that timing two cars creates two sessions) has the following information associated and stored with it:

• Date and Time: The time that the session was started.  These values are set automatically based on the time that you first press the Start button to start a session, but you can also set them manually if desired.
• Track: The name of the track (e.g. "Portland Intl. Raceway")
• Session Name: A description such as  "Practice", "Quality", "Race", or any names you define
• Car Number: Up to 3 digits
• Driver: The name of the driver
• Car Type: A description of the car, e.g. "Chevrolet Corvette"

The Date and Time values display as "(automatic)" for a new session that has not been started yet, indicating that they will be set automatically when the Start button is pressed.  If you manually set the date or time, the value you set will be maintained, even if you set it before the session starts.

The Track, Session Name, Driver, and Car Type values are each set by picking from a popup list of names of that type that have already been entered.  The value "(None)" is displayed when one of these values has not been specified (the value will display as blank in the Sessions list).  Pick the "Edit..." choice at the end of the popup list to enter a new name or edit an existing list of names.  See 4. Entering Names for more information on entering and managing these names. 

You can enter up to three digits (0-9) in the Car # field using any of the standard text-input techniques on your device.  Leading zeros are kept, so that, for example "08" is considered different than "8".  You can also pick a value from the Car # popup list, which will assign the Car #, Driver, and Car Type fields in one step using the the Cars list (see 4.2. Car Numbers and the Cars List).

4. Entering Names

In order to minimize the time spent entering names for tracks, drivers, cars, etc., but still allow you to easily include this information in every session you store, so that you can efficiently organize your saved sessions, LapTimer stores all names entered in internal lists for easy re-use.  After entering the text of a name once, you will be able to re-use that name in future sessions by just picking it from a popup list.

4.1. Tracks, Drivers, Car Types, and Session Names

Names of tracks, drivers, car types, and sessions are stored in four separate lists corresponding to these four types of names.  Entries from these lists appear in the Session Details view and other places where a name of one of these types is to be specified.  To re-use an existing name, simply pick it from the list.  To enter a new name or edit the contents of the list, pick the "Edit.." choice at the end of the list, which will bring up a dialog that lets you edit the list entries.

The actions allowed in the list editing dialogs are as follows:

New: Pressing New brings up a dialog to allow you to enter a new name.  In addition to the text field for the name, The Edit Track, Edit Driver, and Edit Session Name dialogs have a field for an optional abbreviation, where you can enter a shorter name for use in the Sessions list view.  In the Edit Car Type dialog, a Car Class field is provided where you can enter a class (e.g. "GT1") associated with the car type, which can be displayed separately in the Sessions list view.

Edit: When a name is selected in the list, pressing Edit allows you to edit the text of the name or its abbreviation (or car class for a car type).  When you edit a name, the change will be reflected in all saved and active sessions that use this name.   If you edit a (full) name to be same as another (full) name that exists in the list, LapTimer will ask you if you wish to merge the two names into a single entry in the list.  If you choose to merge them, all saved or active sessions that used either of the two names will be changed to use the new common name.  This makes it easy to clean up inconsistent spellings of a name, which may happen as a result of accepting beamed sessions from somebody else, for example.  

Delete: When a name is selected in the list, pressing Delete will delete the entry from the list, and any existing uses of this name in any saved or active sessions will be changed to "(None)" (no name specified).  LapTimer will warn you if a name is used in any existing sessions before deleting it and ask you to confirm the action.

Move Up and Move Down: Pressing the up and down arrows changes the order of the items in the list by moving the selected entry up or down.  This does not affect the names referenced in any saved or active sessions.

4.2. Car Numbers and the Cars List

When you pick an entry from the Cars list in the New Session dialog, or if you enter a car number that exists in this list into the Car # text entry field, the car number, driver name, and car type values associated with the entry are all assigned to the session.  Note that you can edit these values individually for this session in the Session Details view, or pick another entry from the Cars list later if desired (see 3. Session Details). 

Note: Although only the car number and driver name are displayed in the Cars popup list, a car type can be associated as well (see below).

You can also edit, delete, or reorder existing entries in the Cars list in the Edit Cars dialog by selecting an entry and pressing the Edit, Delete, or Move buttons.  Editing entries in the Cars list has no effect on the values used in any saved or active sessions.  Furthermore, deleting an entry from the Cars list will not delete any of the referenced names (e.g. the driver name) from the internal name list, so for example, deleting "#65 Pat Harris" from the Cars list will not delete "Pat Harris" from the drivers list, nor will it delete the car type "Ford Mustang" from the car types list, even if this is the only use of these names.  To affect these name lists you must edit them directly (which will affect any saved session which use these names) -- see 4.1. Tracks, Drivers, Car Types, and Session Names.

Note: It is possible to have duplicate car numbers in the Cars list, which may be desired if, for example, multiple drivers share the same car, or if the same car number is used for different cars.  In this case, if you enter a car number from the list in the Car # text entry field instead of picking it from the list, the first entry in the Cars list that matches that car number will be used.  You may also have the same driver name listed several times using different cars numbers.

Tip: If you enter a new driver name in the Edit Car dialog (one that does not already exist in the Drivers list), you may want to enter an abbreviation for it later by using the Edit Drivers dialog (see 4.1. Tracks, Drivers, Car Types, and Session Names).

5. The Session Note

If there is a note attached to a session, a note icon will appear next to the session in the Sessions list view (if Note Icon is checked in the Show List Fields dialog, see 7. Finding and Opening a Saved Session), and also in the session header in the LapTimer view (in One Car mode, Statistics and Times views only).  Tapping the note icon in the session header will also open the Session Note view.

Tip: When in the LapTimer view, entering the menu shortcut sequence "/ N" in the Grafitti writing area is a quick way to create or access the session note.

6. Correcting Mistakes: Editing Laps

6.1. Handling Common Mistakes

The following situations are common mistakes made while timing a session.  

• Accidentally pressing the Lap button.  If you realize this before pressing the Lap button again, you can easily fix it by Undoing a Lap.  If you need to correct an earlier lap, you can fix it by Combining Laps.
• Missing a lap.  If you fail to press the Lap button when the car you are timing passes its reference point, you can wait until the car passes again to register the lap, then fix it by Splitting a Lap. 
• Pressing the Lap button at the wrong time.  If you press the Lap button at the wrong time (e.g. used the wrong car or the wrong reference point), and it is too late to fix it by Undoing a Lap, you may want to Adjust a Lap Time to estimate the correct time, or simply Delete the incorrect laps.  

6.2. Undoing a Lap

Tip: You can also use Undo Last Lap to remove split time(s) that you register with the Lap button for viewing in the middle of a Lap.

6.3. Splitting a Lap

Laps that are calculated by splitting a lap are automatically marked with the Estimated flag icon (the "?" mark), to indicate that the actual time is unknown.  You can reassign another flag to the laps if desired by tapping on the lap again to access the Lap Details view. 

6.4. Combining Laps

6.5. Adjusting a Lap Time

Lap times that are affected by adjusting a time are automatically marked with the Estimated flag icon (the "?" mark), to indicate that the actual time may be unknown.  You can remove or reassign another flag to the laps if desired by tapping on the lap again to access the Lap Details view. 

6.6. Deleting a Lap

You can delete a lap from the list of laps in the LapTimer view by tapping on the lap time and then pressing the Delete button in the Lap Details view.  The lap will be removed from the list, and the other laps will be unaffected.

Note: It may preferable to fix an incorrect lap by combining, splitting, or adjusting its time (see sections above), in order to more accurately account for all of the time in the session. 

7. Finding and Opening a Saved Session

You can filter the Sessions list to show only saved sessions for a particular Track, Driver, Session Name, Car Type, or Car Number by using the popup list in the upper-right corner of the Sessions list view. To select which field (e.g. Car Number) to filter on, select "Filter..." from the popup list and then select the field in the Sessions Filter dialog.  Then select which value (e.g. #65) to filter on by selecting it from the popup list.
The Sessions Filter dialog	The Sessions Filter popup list	The Sessions list filtered by Car #65

8. User Preferences

Picking the Preferences and Device Buttons... commands from the Options menu will bring up LapTimer's Preferences and Device Buttons dialogs, respectively, where you can select options for LapTimer's general operation.  These settings will be remembered each time you start LapTimer.

The Preferences dialog The Device Buttons dialog

Un-checking "Prompt for session info before new session" in the Preferences dialog will prevent the New Session dialog from being displayed when you create a new session (see 1. Creating a New Session).  In this case, a new session is created with no session detail information (track, driver, etc) filled in.  You might choose this option if you prefer to enter the session detail information during or after a session, or if you don't plan to save most of the sessions you will create.

If the "Prompt for session info before new session" option is checked, then checking "Remember Car #s" will cause the New Session dialog to automatically fill in the car number(s) most recently used into the Car # fields.  You might choose this option if you usually time the same car(s). 

The Device Buttons dialog controls whether and how LapTimer will intercept the device hardware buttons to register laps when timing, as explained in  2.3. Using the Device Hardware Buttons.  When "(None)" is assigned to a button, the button will perform its normal operation (for example, switching to the build-in "Address" or "To Do List" application).  The number of device hardware buttons and their built-in functions varies from device to device, but typically they are arranged on the bottom of the device, left-to-right, with Button 1 on the far left.

If any hardware Lap/Start buttons are enabled, then the "Lap Button Beep Sound" option controls whether the sound emitted by the device when these buttons are pressed is the same as for a normal button press (typically a "click" sound), or a louder sound (typically a "beep"), which is easier to hear in a loud environment.

9. Beaming Data to Other Devices

You can share data with other users of LapTimer by beaming information to and from devices with an infrared port.  

9.1. Beaming Sessions

Note that LapTimer must be installed on the receiving device for it to accept the session (but it does not have to be running).  If you want to share a session with someone who does not have LapTimer installed on their device, you can beam them a free 30-day trial version of LapTimer before beaming them the session (see 9.3. Beaming LapTimer).  

9.2. Beaming Names

9.3. Beaming LapTimer

10. Exporting Session Data

You can export a session to a standard text format memo in the standard Memo Pad application on your device.  Exporting to a memo allows you to copy and paste the data into other documents on your device, and to HotSync® to transfer the session data to your desktop computer in a readable text format, which then allows you to print it, or paste it into desktop applications such as spreadsheets, email, etc.   

10.1. Exporting Data to a Memo

In the Export Session to Memo dialog, you can also choose whether to use the standard lap time format ("mm:ss.ss") which specifies a time in minutes, seconds, and hundredths of seconds, or a numeric seconds format ("ssss.ss"), which expresses the lap time in seconds and hundredths of seconds.   For example, a lap time of 1:02.34 in the standard format will be output as 62.34 in the seconds format, which can be useful when pasting into a spreadsheet and other applications for numerical analysis (see section 10.4 below).

In all cases, the output of an exported session is a new Memo Pad document in a standard "tab delimited" text format.  This means that multiple fields on a line are separated by a tab character, which will allow the data to organize into columns when pasted into spreadsheets and tables in most desktop applications (see section 10.4 below for more information on pasting session data into a spreadsheet).

After pressing OK on the Export Session to Memo dialog, the data will be copied in text format to a new Memo document on your device (the original session data is still stored in the LapTimer Sessions list).  Depending on which version of the Palm OS® your device is running, you may then be asked whether you wish to accept the new memo into the Memo Pad application and which category to assign it to (creating a new category named "LapTimer" is a convenient way to organize your exported sessions in the Memo Pad).  The new memo will then be automatically opened (to switch back to LapTimer after the memo opens, tap the Applications/Home button on your device and then tap on the LapTimer icon).  The new memo is given a title (also the first line of the memo) that contains the date, car #, and session name. 

Once the new memo has opened, you can select and copy text from the session data if you want to paste it into any other applications on the handheld device.  The following sections describe how to transfer the data to the desktop for pasting into desktop applications.  

Note: If you modify the contents of the memo text in the Memo Pad, the original LapTimer session will not be modified.  Also, if you go back and modify the original LapTimer session, you must export it again to get an updated copy in Memo Pad (the old memo will still exist as well, unless you delete it). 

10.2. HotSync® Data to your Desktop

Once a session has been exported to a memo (see section 10.1 above), you can then copy it to your desktop computer by simply placing your device into the HotSync® cradle and pressing the HotSync® button.  The exported memo will appear on the desktop along with the other memos in the "Memo" section of the Palm™ Desktop application.  You can then view the memo, print it, copy and paste data from it, etc.

Note: Any changes made to the memo text on the desktop will be transferred back to the memo on the device at the next HotSync®, but the original LapTimer session data will be unchanged.

10.3. Printing Data on your Desktop

Once a session has been exported to a memo and then transferred to the desktop via HotSync® (see sections 10.1-2 above), you can print it in the Palm™ Desktop application.  For example, to print a memo in Palm™ Desktop 4.0, you can:

1. Click on the Memo button on the Palm™ Desktop vertical button bar to view the memos.

2. If necessary, pick All or the appropriate category from the Category dropdown control to see your exported memos.

3. Single-click a memo in the list to highlight it.

4. Pick File-Print from the Palm™ Desktop menus.

5. Pick Selection in the Print options portion of the Print dialog, and press OK.

10.4. Pasting Data into Desktop Applications

Once a session has been exported to a memo and then transferred to the desktop via HotSync® (see sections 10.1-2 above), you can copy the text data from the Palm™ Desktop application and then paste into another desktop application.  For example, to copy the text of a memo in Palm™ Desktop 4.0, you can:

1. Click on the Memo button on the Palm™ Desktop vertical button bar to view the memos.

2. If necessary, pick All or the appropriate category from the Category dropdown control to see your exported memos.

3. Single-click a memo in the list to highlight it (to copy only a portion of the text in a memo, double-click the memo in the list to open it and then select the desired text).

4. Pick Edit-Copy from the Palm™ Desktop menus (or press Ctrl+C if you opened the memo).

You can then switch to another desktop application and paste the data into it.  For example, to paste session data into Microsoft® Excel, you can:

1. Launch or switch to Microsoft® Excel

2. Select the upper-left cell of the area where you want the pasted data to appear

3. Pick Edit-Paste or press Ctrl+V.

Note: If you use the standard "mm:ss.ss" lap time format when you export a session (see section 10.1 ) then Microsoft® Excel will treat the lap times as text (not numeric) data, and they will appear in this same format.  If you want the values to be interpreted numerically (e.g. for charting or statistical analysis), use the "ssss.ss" lap time format. 

Appendix A: LapTimer Menus

In addition to the functionality available from the on-screen buttons and controls, LapTimer has some commands in its application menus.  To access the menus, tap the standard menu button on your device (to the left of the Grafitti writing area).  The menus that are available vary depending on which LapTimer view is displayed.  The menus and menu commands available in LapTimer are described below.

Appendix B: Product and Support Information

The following sections contain general information on TapPoint LapTimer.

B.1. The Free 30-Day Trial

LapTimer offers a free 30-day trial period, during which the product is fully-functional, except that after 30 days from the time it is first used, it can no longer be used to create or import new sessions, although you can continue to view saved sessions after expiration. 

LapTimer uses the "Shareware Registration" model, so the trial and full versions of the program are identical.  To upgrade to the full version after purchasing it (see www.tappoint.com/laptimer for purchase information), you will be sent a registration code that you can enter to convert the trial version to a full version.

B.2. Version Information and Updates

B.3. Product Specifications

B.4. System Requirements

TapPoint LapTimer runs on any device running Palm OS® version 2.0 or later.  This includes any Palm™ device except the Pilot 1000 and Pilot 5000 models, any Handspring™ device, and other devices by Sony, IBM, and others.

The LapTimer application occupies about 80K of memory on the device.  Saved sessions are very small, so you can save several sessions per each 1K of device memory. 

B.5. Support Contacts

For questions on the operation of TapPoint LapTimer, look on http://www.tappoint.com/laptimer for the latest product information, or send email to support@tappoint.com.  For questions on downloading and installing LapTimer, first consult the support contact of the source where you purchased LapTimer (online or retail) or the reference material for your device.

For product feedback, and suggestions for future features or products, send email to suggest@tappoint.com.

For information on where you can purchase TapPoint LapTimer, see http://www.tappoint.com/laptimer.

TapPoint is a registered trademark of TapPoint, LLC. 
Palm OS and HotSync are registered trademarks of Palm, Inc.  Palm is a trademark of Palm, Inc.
© 2001-2003 TapPoint, LLC.  All Rights Reserved.