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This utility is a COM add-in or add-in (.xla) programmed in Microsoft® Visual Basic® for Application (VBA) that generates a popup stopwatch in Microsoft® Excel®. See the pictures below. It has only one file, the ExcelStopwatch.dll, of about 330 kb that can be installed automatically. Except for the dll, no another setting is save in the Windows Register and yes in ExcelStopwatch.ini and ExcelStopwatchHotKey.xla files that are created and maintained by the proper utility. The uninstallation also can be made automatic and completely not leaving any dirt in your Windows Register or disc. Features:- Stopwatch - Countdown (Timer) - When the countdown expires, it can beep, play a WAV file, run a Windows program, alert, and/or start automatically the stopwatch - Can speak (pronounce) in robot voice, announcing second by second the last n seconds of a countdown - Allows multiple instances within a single instance of Excel with independent controls, settings, counting, and results. In practice quantities, there is no limit to the number of simultaneous instances, and there is no degradation in the count accuracy or display update - Start, Stop, Restart, Stop-Insert, and Reset controls in all instances or in only some of them running independently can be attached to be triggered simultaneously with a single click - Attached controls are distinguished by asterisks in the title - The feature of multiple instances can be disabled - Split time reports (Snapshots) directly in Excel sheets, one new sheet for each popup in the same workbook created during each execution or when saved and closed one - Reports of split time with labels (Label Snapshots), allowing set up of as many as 10 snapshot controls in the interface with different labels, background and front colors, and sounds. Labels and colors set up in an interface control are also duly registered in the split sheet cells - Five display modes - Display background and front colors can be changed by the user - The display can be adjusted to any size through an interface control or through the borders - The control panel can be adjusted to any size through an interface control - All settings of an instance can be saved in a file on the disc and named by the user to be opened in another parallel or future instance - The last opened setting or the last closed instance setting will be used as default in the next new instance - Decimals used for the precision of a millionth of a second - Can capture and insert into the active cell - Can capture either positive or negative time in cells. The positives are prepared to be increased by the stopwatch using the Restart button and the negatives are prepared for the countdown - Positive time in cells can be numeric or formatted text, numeric according to Excel definitions to represent dates and times by decimal numbers, or formatted text inserted normally into cells with text format or preceded by a quotation mark in cells without text format. Examples: 5:10.25 or '5:10.25 (Five minutes, ten seconds and twenty-five hundredths of a second), 10 or '10 (Ten seconds) - Negative time in cells can only be in the formatted text, because Excel does not represent a negative time through a negative decimal number. Therefore, negative time should always be inserted as formatted text between brackets or preceded by a quotation mark and a negative sign. Examples: (5:10.25) or '-5:10.25 (Five minutes, ten seconds and twenty-five hundredths of a second) , (10) or '-10 (Ten seconds). Download and see more examples in the Roast Chicken Recipe Sheet - The behavior of popup can be set via menu to: Reset the display (Not capture the active cell), Start the stopwatch, Split time in active worksheet or in the background, and Popup in the last saved position - The behavior of the Stop-Insert button can be set via menu to: (1) Stop, Insert and Close the stopwatch, (2) Stop and Insert, (3) Insert only, or (4) Disable - The Stop-Insert button can also be set to insert the result into the current active cell or into the active cell when started. In this last case, the stopwatch instance is attached to the cell where it originated and the cell address appears in the stopwatch title - Pops up in small size - Pops up close to the mouse cursor or optionally at the last saved position - Can auto-popup when selecting cells with time formats or cells specifically defined to auto-popup - Auto-popups can happen simultaneously in different cells, although no more than one in each cell
- An
instance created in a cell auto-popup is tied to the same cell
as the standard - All sounds, including the paper one, may be temporarily disabled - Can print time and setting on a digital paper ribbon in each event - Can capture back to the display times and settings registered on digital paper ribbon - Can send some or all lines on the digital paper ribbon to the printer - Can copy the time on display to Windows Clipboard - Can paste on display existent the time on Windows Clipboard
- The
skin can be set up in: color and background picture, display and
controls transparency, hiding title bar, and action of a button
when clicking on display - Occupies less than 420 Kb when installed - Can be called too directly from any VBA code thru the fStopwatch() function. See, soon below the pictures for a detailed description of this function and examples of VBA application that use it.
Note: The above link downloads the installer and uninstaller package programmed in VBA in a XLS duly converted to EXE by the XLtoEXE to make fully easy the installation by macro and Windows laymen, but, if you're expert and due some reason prefer an installer and uninstaller package in open ZIP, clique here. With this zip package you can install of three ways: (1) Simply act the Install.exe that loads the same XLS in Excel without macro alert; (2) Extract the all package to a folder and act the XLS enabling the macros in Excel and using 123 as password, or (3) Install the DLL manually. Pictures:
fStopwatch() Function:The stopwatch can be called too directly from any VBA code thru the fStopwatch() function that has these 15 optional arguments: 1 - InitialElapsed (Date/Time, Default=0) 2 - ResetAtPupUp (Boolean, Default=True)
3 -
StartAtPupUp (String, Default=””) If at any position in the
string there is: 4 - DisplaySize (Long 20 to 500, Default=0 to use the current default setting or one saved in the file specified by the argument 21, SavedSettingFile) 5 - DisplayMode (Long 0 to 4, Default=0 to use the current default setting or one saved in the file specified by the argument 21, SavedSettingFile.) 6 - DecimalPlaces (Long 0 to 3, Default=-1 to use the current default setting or one saved in the file specified by the argument 21, SavedSettingFile.) 7 - CountDown (Boolean, Default=False) 8 - PaperRibbon (Boolean, Default=False) 9 - Split (Boolean, Default=False. If True, start splitting time in a sheet) 10 - SplitSheet (String, Default="" to create a new time split sheet) 11 - SplitWorkbook (String, Default="" to use the active or to create a new, if SplitSheet="") 12 - SplitStartCellRef (String, Default="A1") 13 - ActivateSplitSheet (Boolean, Default=True) 14 - LeftPos (String, Default="0") 15 - TopPos (String, Default="0"). Where LeftPos and TopPos are the distances in points (1/72 inches) from the center of the Start button to the current mouse position. If the values are preceded by $ (dollar sign), LeftPos and TopPos turn to be the distances from left top corner of the stopwatch to the left top fix corner of the screen. And yet, if there is only the $ without number, will be used the current default position or one saved in the file specified by the argument 21, SavedSettingFile 16 - ShareSplitSheet (Boolean, Default=False to not allow that the split sheet is used simultaneously by other instance)
17 -
WaitAndRetValue (Long 0 to 2, Default=0). Where: 18 - CtrlPanelSize (Long 3 to 50, Default=0 to use the current default setting or one saved in the file specified by the argument 21, SavedSettingFile)
19 -
StopInsMode (Long 0 to 4, Default=0). Define the setting to
Stop-Insert button, as: 20 - SnapshotNumb (Long 0 to 10, Default=0. Define the number of Label Snapshot controls to show. If informed negative (-1) or more than 10, will be used the current default setting or one saved in the file specified by the argument 21, SavedSettingFile) 21 - SavedSettingFile (String, Default= "" to use the current default setting. Due to the quantity and difficult to set some features like colors, fonts, sounds, skin options etc., would not be practical to use arguments to attend all the possible features. The most practical is to open the stopwatch, set any all desired option, and use the 'Save Setting As ...’ command on the menu to save the setting to a file. After inform the file name and its full path thru this argument) Examples: 1 - The code below calls the ExcelStopwatch with all default arguments, if its current version is duly installed.
Sub
YourSub1() End Sub
2 - The code below calls the ExcelStopwatch with all default arguments, except the 3 (To start at popup and attach Start buttons), the 9 (To start splitting), the 10 (To split on the Sheet3 of the active workbook), and the 12 (To start splitting on cell G10).
Sub
YourSub2() Note: Replace 'As Object' by 'As StopwatchObjToVBA', if you prefer Early Binding method, but you have to use Tools/References... menu and add "Excel Stopwatch © 2003-08 by Francisco Orlando Magalhães Filho" reference. This method makes easy to view the names and positions of function arguments.
The
fStopwatch() function can give the following returns:
Finally, to see practical examples that you can improve upon or adapt to other uses, download and see two Stopwatch Sheet Templates for Motocross Race with VBA codes calling the fStopwatch() function. The first template, an improvement of the example used with the previous version, now using the multiple instances feature of the current version, it uses an instance of a stopwatch and a sheet of division for each pilot. Click here to download the English version.
The
second template uses the label snapshots feature of the new
version, in which each instance can measure up to ten pilots
differentiated by colors, fonts, and sounds. Moreover, as it is
more compact, only one stopwatch instance for each tem pilots,
the measuring is easier and more precise, and uses a single
split sheet that facilitates the report generation. Click
here to download the English version. Tips on how to use
this second version:
About Add-in (.xla):The COM add-in version available above to download is technically the best option because it consumes little Excel memory and does not delay its load, but, if you’re a special Excel user and prefer the add-in version (ExcelStopwatch.xla) for some technical reason, I can make it available also with the same features as well as access to the source code. For this, it is necessary to become a special registered user. Click here to ask information about this special register.
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POPUP STOPWATCH 
