Loop Mode ? about node-red-contrib-controltimer

[Writech]

Delay mode: Timer will emit one event via timer-triggered output after the specified delay expires.
Loop mode: Timer will keep emitting events indefinitely via timer-triggered output with specified interval.

Event is emitted via timer-halted output if STOP or PAUSE payload is sent to the timer.

[steerage250]

Thanks, that is what I expected, however, what I don't expect is by changing the timer from Delay to Loop, that the initial timer time-out event switched from the 1st output to the 2nd output. As a Delay timer, after 10 seconds, I get a "Timer Triggered" debug message from output 1. If I then change the timer type to Loop, after 10 seconds, I get the "Timer Halted" debug message from output 2.

[Writech]

I'm not exactly sure what the issue is still. Can you produce exact steps to replicate the problem you're encountering?

What I tried so far:

• Using the config panel configure controltimer with 5 second delay.
• Start the timer.
• Timer expires and an event is sent to timer-triggered output.
• Start the timer again.
• After ~2.5 seconds send an override config message configuring the timer to run in 5 second loop mode.
• Timer restarts with 5 second loop mode and it didn't emit an event to timer-halted output.
• Timer expires the first time and an event is sent to timer-triggered output. All the succeeding loop expiries also send an event to timer-triggered output.
• Only when I manually send STOP payload an event is sent to timer-halted output.

What I also tried:

• Using the config panel configure controltimer with 5 second delay.
• Start the timer.
• Timer expires and an event is sent to timer-triggered output.
• Using the config panel configure controltimer with 5 second loop.
• Deploy changes.
• Start the timer.
• Timer expires and an event is sent to timer-triggered output and all the succeeding loop expiries also send an event to timer-triggered output.
• Only when I manually send STOP payload an event is sent to timer-halted output.

[steerage250]

I do what you do in your second example, but with different results.
This first screenshot shows a Delay timer expiring and sending an event to the top output - as expected.

I then reconfigure the timer as a Loop timer and deploy (as per this screenshot):

• and I get a LOOP_TIMEOUT message sent to the lower output as per the next screenshot -and the timer does not keep looping (it Stops and reverts to idle)
  

[Writech]

You are getting LOOP_TIMEOUT message to the timer-halted output because you have set Loop timeout to 5 seconds. Using the Loop timeout setting you can limit the timer with a specified duration after which is should time out and stop. If you set Loop timeout to 0, as it is by default you will not get the the LOOP_TIMEOUT message.

[steerage250]

ah! now I understand. I did not understand what the Loop_Timeout was for. It is maybe another thing that could be put into some expanded description in the help file :-)
thanks

[steerage250]

I now have an application where I would like to use the Loop mode (I think), but I don't understand how it works. What I need is 9 outputs/messages produced from one trigger event. Is this possible?

I tried setting the timer to 5 secs, and the loop timeout to 1 sec with a max iterations of 9. However, it just times-out after 5 seconds and doesn't do any looping.

When/how does it loop ?

thanks
Ian

[steerage250]

ah - I got it to work: timer duration of 1 second, then a big loop timeout with a max iteration counter of 9
all good
thanks