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SignUp Now!The documentation indicates the (our) expected behavior.
OFF Force the stopwatch to stop
The documentation does not mention OFF as a start option. There is either a defect in behavior or in documentation. My guess is on behavior, but we need to wait for Rex on that.
Why was it changed ... in case you wanted to time OFF.EXE or OFF.BTM? It *is* an inconvenience to say I want the timer off only to have it started!WAD -- this was changed when the ability to time commands was added. There was a discussion at the time & the general consensus was that since there wasn't any reason to do a "timer off" when you weren't running a timer, it didn't impose much of a burden.
What I don't know if it's on or off. That has often been the case when I'm trying to time something to make a point here in the forums and it takes a few tries to get my command error-free. The point is there's no way to force it to be off. The only old thread I could find on the subject was rather one-sided. You said "this is how it is now" and others offered alternatives like "timer ... /cmd <command>" and "timer ... (<command>)" (as with DO).Why do you want want to turn the timer off if it's already off??
What if I don't know the current state, but know that I want it off? Or put another way, why should the current state matter? If the instruction is to turn it off, why not just turn it off consistently regardless of the current state? Is this intended to be a toggle?Why do you want want to turn the timer off if it's already off??
As it works today in 14.03.54, the 2-command sequence "TIMER /S %+ TIMER" will turn it off. The first command is "do nothing" if it is already on, but it starts it if it was off; the second command will turn it off. It is certainly not as nice as the original design - "OFF" meat OFF!What I don't know if it's on or off... The point is there's no way to force it to be off.
The Principle of Least Astonishment (POLA) states that the result of performing some operation should be obvious, consistent, and predictable, based upon the name of the operation and other clues.
That's my opinion, too.What if I don't know the current state, but know that I want it off? Or put another way, why should the current state matter? If the instruction is to turn it off, why not just turn it off consistently regardless of the current state? Is this intended to be a toggle?
In my case I was running a batch file that did various "timer & command & timer" things. I was troubleshooting something and would break out (CTRL+C) of the batch file and re-run it. This was causing issues with the timer if I broke out while "command" was running. I tried putting "timer off" at the beginning and I was surprised that "timer off" will turn it back on if it was off.Why do you want want to turn the timer off if it's already off??
What if I don't know the current state, but know that I want it off?
Exactly..... TIMER OFF should never turn it back on! Just as TIMER ON should never turn it off!I can't believe this has gone on so long. It's just ridiculous that "TIMER OFF" turns the timer on. Many have agree, none have disagreed. In v13, "TIMER OFF" leaves a timer that's off off (just as any reasonable person would expect).