# PLL Timer



## Zarxrax (Oct 17, 2010)

*LL Timer by Zarxrax*

Introducing version 2 of my new app, LL Timer.

It is similar to the PLL trainer by badmephisto, but its not a straight copy of it. I've changed some aspects that I didn't like, for instance with my program it shows you the PLL before you start the timer, and you can train a single PLL repeatedly if you like.
As of version 2, it now has support for OLL and C*LL cases!
Also, the main reason that I created this was because badmephisto's app doesn't fit on small screens. You shouldn't have that problem with this one.

How to use:
Click on a case, and its image will be displayed on the left. Under the case, an algorithm is displayed which lets you SET UP the case on your own cube. 
Press the spacebar to start the timer, and then press it again to stop. 
Finally, press the spacebar once more to accept the time. If you made a mistake, you can press the discard button instead, and the time will not be recorded.
If you select the "random case" checkbox, it will display a random case each time.
If you don't want certain cases to appear in the random selection, you can disable cases by right-clicking on them.
When you close the program, your times are automatically saved and will be loaded the next time you start.

Screenshots:










Version 2.2 Changes:
- Cases can be disabled by right clicking their image
- The current case is now highlighted in green
- There is now a half second delay after stopping the timer, to prevent accidentally accepting times. 

Version 2.02 Changes:
- Fixed a bug where the last case would never come up when the random checkbox was selected
- Fixed a bug where the first case would be selected after you press the discard button
- Fixed a bug where some stats were not erased when starting a new session

Version 2.01 Changes:
- Fixed a bug related to number formatting which can occur with some region settings.

Version 2.0 Changes: 
- Changed the name to LL timer
- Added OLL and CLL cases
- Pressing any key will stop the timer
- The setup algs for the 2 N perms were swapped
- *Warning*: saved times from old versions can not be used in this version. Start a new session.

Version 1.2 Changes:
- Fixed the standard deviation
- Reports actually contain your stats now!
- Rotated N perms, and one of the J perms
- Added blocks and headlights to G and A perm images (is everyone satisfied with these pics now?)
- Converted images to PNG, total images filesize reduced from 28KB to 8KB (YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH)
- Changed the order the PLLs appear in (you need to start a new session or old times will be for the wrong pll)
- Hovering the mouse over the big PLL shows that PLL's name

Version 1.11 Changes:
- Averages and Standard deviation were completely broken in 1.1 (std is still broke, I'll have to check into it)

Version 1.1 Changes:
- You can't click on the times now (it served no purpose anyway)
- Clicking almost anywhere will set focus on the start button
- Fixed the algorithm for one of the R perms
- Standard deviation is now displayed if you have done at least 2 solves. (btw, i dont even know if im calculating std correctly, lolz)
- Generates reports now (links to images on my server, images not guaranteed to work in the future)


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## oprah62 (Oct 17, 2010)

It's very nice, but the main thing I have a problem is, when doing a random pll, like in badmephisto's app, and a g perm comes up, I have no idea which to do because I neever learned from those diagrams. I learned from headlights and block.

Very nice app otherwise!


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## Zarxrax (Oct 17, 2010)

oprah62 said:


> It's very nice, but the main thing I have a problem is, when doing a random pll, like in badmephisto's app, and a g perm comes up, I have no idea which to do because I neever learned from those diagrams. I learned from headlights and block.
> 
> Very nice app otherwise!


 
This is the reason why it displays an alg under the picture. This alg lets you set up the correct case.


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## maggot (Oct 17, 2010)

ok. i had this big ol message and i lost it so im going to keep short and sweet. 
thanks for fixing big screen issue. 
rotation of PLL pics by 90 degrees (so you can customize. i dont use J perm on the back of the cube.)
also, something missing from yours and badmephisto's that would take some work, including a list of algs on the fly so that way you can test different ones as you are learning, or to mess around with if you hate your alg. there is a droid app that has an alg database. although its not very comprehensive, it is great for all those moments of boredom on the go. 
also, i agree with the block headlights pics, i appreciate that it is a cycle of 3 edge and 3 corner for a Gperm, but who the hell learns them like that? for a long time i didnt want to learn Gperms because of those stupid pics.. but i did learn them from the pic, but block headlight is WAY easier. maybe i can doctor the pictures up for you so that they would make sense without losing much integrity of your aesthetics.
whenever i used badmephisto's trainer, any time i seen the G perm, regardless of which one, i just did which ever G perm i felt like at that moment lmao.

on anthony's site i believe there is a block headlight representation of G perms.


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## Cyrus C. (Oct 17, 2010)

Trying it out. Is there a way to start the timer besides clicking? Also, it would be nice to have block representation on the pictures, I don't recognize any of my PLLs in cycles.


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## Zarxrax (Oct 17, 2010)

Cyrus C. said:


> Trying it out. Is there a way to start the timer besides clicking?


Yes, just press the spacebar whenever the start button has focus. It takes focus after most operations... if you click on a pll, if you click on the big pll pic, after you stop the timer, etc.
You can also press tab a few times to get the focus onto the button.
I'll try to add some code that makes clicking on random empty areas move the focus to the button as well.


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## Zarxrax (Oct 17, 2010)

Version 1.11 released.

By the way, its easy to recognize the G perms with those images. The headlights always go on left. Then you see that 1x2 block in the images that doesn't have any arrows on it? That's the location of the 1x2 block on your cube.

Also, the images can be rotated to your liking with Windows Photo Viewer (double click the image, it should open).


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## Zarxrax (Oct 18, 2010)

Whee, updated to version 1.2.
I still don't test before releasing, but hopefully it wont have any bugs 

Version 1.2 Changes:
- Fixed the standard deviation
- Reports actually contain your stats now!
- Rotated N perms, and one of the J perms
- Added blocks and headlights to G and A perm images (is everyone satisfied with these pics now?)
- Converted images to PNG, total filesize reduced from 28KB to 8KB (YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH)
- Changed the order the PLLs appear in (you need to start a new session or old times will be for the wrong pll)
- Hovering the mouse over the big PLL shows that PLL's name


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## demma (Oct 21, 2010)

Bery nice, congratulations!
Now I need to make a pad from an old mouse to avoid breaking my space bar.
With some other reviews and advices you can master this and maybe build an OLL Trainer!...

Thanks for sharing.


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## Zeat (Oct 21, 2010)

mm you can not stop the time with letters, only spacebar... :S


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## Zarxrax (Oct 21, 2010)

Zeat said:


> mm you can not stop the time with letters, only spacebar... :S


 
Lol is your accuracy that bad that you miss the largest button on the keyboard? 
If its a big deal, I could check into changing that.


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## oprah62 (Oct 21, 2010)

I've found some alg mistakes. For example, the two u perm algs are switched. like the new diagrams (for gs) btw


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## Zarxrax (Oct 21, 2010)

The U perm algs seem correct to me.
You realize that the algs are to set up the case, not to solve it, right?


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## oprah62 (Oct 21, 2010)

Zarxrax said:


> The U perm algs seem correct to me.
> You realize that the algs are to set up the case, not to solve it, right?


 
Ahh. My bad.


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## Metallor (Oct 29, 2010)

Zarxrax said:


> Lol is your accuracy that bad that you miss the largest button on the keyboard?
> If its a big deal, I could check into changing that.


 
My spacebar may be the biggest button on my keyboard, but its still not that big. On BM's PLL trainer I was missing stopping the timer quite a lot because after my PLL I just went for a keyboard mash & hit keys along with spacebar.
I assume with the code, it would not accept a spacebar press unless spacebar was the first key you hit. eg. Say you finish PLL and try to press spacebar and hit N then spacebar at the same time, timer doesnt stop . But if you hit spacebar then N, it would (i guess).
Also, is there a way of expanding this and making an OLL trainer also? Shouldnt require too much code changing i wouldnt think, just a bit of Ctrl + C & Ctrl + V
Thanks, gonna give it a try now


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## Zarxrax (Oct 29, 2010)

Well, the code to stop the timer is just a normal button so its all handled by windows. I'd have to figure out how to write specialized code to handle keypresses, to do anything else. I doubt it would be difficult to implement though.

I can add OLL support (and possibly other things like CLL as well).
I need all the OLL images at the right resolution (76x76), sorted in a logical order and numbered like the pll images, short setup algs for each one (has to fit under the big image), and possibly a "name" for each case.

I'm a bit busy as of late so I'm not sure when I can get around to doing all that.


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## Metallor (Oct 29, 2010)

Bob Burtons page www.cubewhiz.com/oll.html has all the OLL pics in 76x76 resolution


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## demma (Oct 29, 2010)

I have been using this aplication and I like it a lot, even more than badmephisto's (my respect for him, I use all his sheets and watch his videos).
Congratulations for the great job.


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## Zarxrax (Nov 5, 2010)

I've about finished adding OLLs to it.
But I'll need to change the name now, since it's not just a PLL timer. 
Any suggestions?


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## cuberkid10 (Nov 5, 2010)

When I open the file, it says, "Was not specified which application to open with. Select one" Or something like that... what do I hit?


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## Zarxrax (Nov 5, 2010)

cuberkid10 said:


> When I open the file, it says, "Was not specified which application to open with. Select one" Or something like that... what do I hit?


 
What? Are you running the exe file?


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## cuberkid10 (Nov 5, 2010)

Yes


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## Zarxrax (Nov 5, 2010)

No idea... I've never heard of someone having that problem when running an exe file...


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## cuberkid10 (Nov 5, 2010)

Stupid Macs....


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## Zarxrax (Nov 5, 2010)

cuberkid10 said:


> Stupid Macs....


 
Oh, well that would definitely explain it. This is a windows app...


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## FatBoyXPC (Nov 5, 2010)

Lol yes, that would explain it  You could install Darwine? That would let you run exe files from there. You could also use Mac's Parrallels, Boot Camp, or any type of Virtual PC software (but all of those require you to install windows).


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## Zarxrax (Nov 9, 2010)

Version 2.0 Changes:
- Changed the name to LL timer
- Added OLL and CLL cases
- Pressing any key will stop the timer
- The setup algs for the 2 N perms were swapped
- *Warning*: Saved times from old versions can not be used with this version. Start a new session.


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## demma (Nov 9, 2010)

Excelent work, Zarxrax.
Congrats.


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## bluedasher (Nov 9, 2010)

Nice! Great upgrade! One suggestion though. On algorithms like the G-perm that are hard to recognize, you could allow the user to edit the algorithm to there PLL algorithm so that you could recognize it better. I haven't messed around with the program that much so far, so this might be the case.


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## Zarxrax (Nov 9, 2010)

The algorithms are to set up the case, not to solve it.
If your question was something different, please try to explain better, because I couldn't really understand.


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## bluedasher (Nov 9, 2010)

Zarxrax said:


> The algorithms are to set up the case, not to solve it.
> If your question was something different, please try to explain better, because I couldn't really understand.



Okay, No that was my question. I feel sooo stupid right now.


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## Winball (Nov 10, 2010)




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## Zarxrax (Nov 10, 2010)

Winball said:


> View attachment 1298


 
That's probably because its loading an old times.dat file from a previous version. As mentioned in the release notes, the old ones aren't compatible. Delete that file and it should be ok.


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## Winball (Nov 10, 2010)

Still not working :- (
I get the errormsg when I try to save the time (By pressing accept)

http://paste.ubuntu.com/529011/


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## Zarxrax (Nov 10, 2010)

Ok, lets check a few things to figure out what is going on.
- Make sure the app is closed.
- Delete the times.dat file.
- Start up the app.
- Upon starting the app, it should create a times.dat file. Make sure it does this.
- Try to save a time.

Make sure everything goes as I described. Do you encounter the error message only at the last step?
If its still giving you trouble, maybe I can make a debug version for you to try, to figure out whats going on.

*Also, what language is your windows set to?


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## Winball (Nov 10, 2010)

Same problem. 
I really want this app :-( 

The error-msg only pop-up when I try to accept a time (Saving a time)
When I start the app, it creates the .dat file

Window 7 Ultimate(English)


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## Zarxrax (Nov 10, 2010)

Ok, please try this version:
http://amvhell.com/stuff/cubes/lltimer_debug.zip

When you accept a time, it should pop up a box showing the time that it is trying to save. I need you to show me exactly what appears in that popup box.
Then, it SHOULD pop up another error message when it encounters a problem. Let me know what that next message says as well.


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## Winball (Nov 10, 2010)

I always have to delete the .dat file to make the app start again.
If I don't delete it, the program won't start


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## Zarxrax (Nov 16, 2010)

Alright, version 2.01 is out, fixing the bug that Winball was encountering.


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## Xrayblitz (Nov 17, 2010)

Very cool app! I recently decided to learn the full PLL algorithms and this is perfect for practicing them and learning the case. Awesome!!

Plus, some of the algorithms included are better than the ones that I was using. =D


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## Whyusosrs? (Nov 17, 2010)

Anyway to have this as an online timer? I hate booting up parallels just to run this.


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## Zarxrax (Nov 17, 2010)

Xrayblitz said:


> Very cool app! I recently decided to learn the full PLL algorithms and this is perfect for practicing them and learning the case. Awesome!!
> 
> Plus, some of the algorithms included are better than the ones that I was using. =D


 
Lol, like I have said a hundred times now, the included algs are only to help SET UP the case. If the algs also solve the case, its only coincidental. If you are looking for algs, you should check the wiki on this site.


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## Zarxrax (Nov 17, 2010)

Whyusosrs? said:


> Anyway to have this as an online timer? I hate booting up parallels just to run this.


Nope.
You might be able to run it on mac or linux using Mono. But I don't know anything about that.


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## Metallor (Nov 23, 2010)

Great new features. However I think there is something wrong with your RNG. I have been using the PLL section and have never gotten the last case.


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## Zarxrax (Nov 26, 2010)

You're right, thanks for pointing that out.

Version 2.02 Changes:
- Fixed a bug where the last case would never come up when the random checkbox was selected
- Fixed a bug where the first case would be selected after you press the discard button
- Fixed a bug where some stats were not erased when starting a new session


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## caramba2654 (Dec 21, 2010)

Is there a way to block certain OLLs to come up?


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## Zarxrax (Dec 21, 2010)

caramba2654 said:


> Is there a way to block certain OLLs to come up?


 
No.
I *might* add a way to disable certain cases at some point in the future.
In the meantime, if you dont want to drill all the cases, you might be best off just drilling specific cases repeatedly. (since this does not test recognition at all, there is really no need to do cases in a random order. Just focus on one, then move to another one)


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## Zarxrax (Jan 4, 2011)

I have released a new version which allows you to disable cases that you don't want to come up during random practice. To disable a case, simply right click it, and you should see the background turn red, indicating that it is disabled. Disabled cases can still be selected and practiced normally by left-clicking on them, but they will not come up when using the random case option.

Version 2.2 changes:
- Cases can be disabled by right clicking their image
- The current case is now highlighted in green
- There is now a half second delay after stopping the timer, to prevent accidentally accepting times.


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## Seirup (Jan 7, 2011)

Very nice, thanks!


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## Zarxrax (Jan 7, 2011)

Lol, looks like my fix to prevent accidentally accepting times doesnt actually work. I'll need to rethink that.


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## Tall5001 (Jan 8, 2011)

AWESOME timer for PLL and OLL my only problem is if i hit enter to start the time it does a double tap and does like a .48 and accepts it but then i can not delete it or look at all of the times i have done for that PLL/OLL but if you could fix this it would be awesome!


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## Zarxrax (Jan 8, 2011)

Yea I'll be releasing a fix sometime soon to prevent a double tap mistake.
I wont be adding any way to look at all of the times or delete times though, because I think it adds more complexity than its worth. It only stores 12 times for each one, so its not too hard to just do 12 more if you mess one up 

If you are really obsessed about it, all the times are stored in plain text in the times.dat file though.


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## MaeLSTRoM (Jan 8, 2011)

I think that I will start using this to help with learning PLL/OLL in 1 look. Looks like a great program.


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