Timer Lifecycle

A timer is always in one of four states, exposed by timer.state and enumerated by the State enum, a named export. The control methods move it between them.

States

State	Value	Meaning
IDLE	idle	Initial state, and the state after reset(). No tasks have run.
RUNNING	running	Ticking; tasks are firing.
PAUSED	paused	Held; tasks and counters are frozen, ready to resume.
STOPPED	stopped	Halted; tasks and counters are retained but not running.

import { TaskTimer, State } from 'tasktimer';

timer.state === State.RUNNING;

Transitions

timer.start();  // → RUNNING  (resets tick count; keeps tasks)
timer.pause();  // → PAUSED   (only from RUNNING)
timer.resume(); // → RUNNING  (from PAUSED; starts the timer if IDLE)
timer.stop();   // → STOPPED  (only from RUNNING)
timer.reset();  // → IDLE     (clears ticks and removes all tasks silently)

Each method returns the timer, so calls chain: timer.add(task).start().

The transitions are guarded — calling a method from the wrong state is a safe no-op rather than an error:

• pause() and stop() do nothing unless the timer is RUNNING.
• resume() does nothing unless the timer is PAUSED — except from IDLE, where it acts as start().
• start() from RUNNING restarts: it resets the tick count and counters but keeps existing tasks.

Start vs Resume

start() begins a fresh run — tickCount, taskRunCount, and the timer’s time reset to zero. resume() continues a paused run where it left off, preserving counters and each task’s progress. runCount increments on every start and resume.

timer.start();  // run 1
timer.pause();
timer.resume(); // still run 1, continued
timer.runCount; // 2 (one start + one resume)

Stop vs Reset

stop() halts the timer but keeps everything — tasks, tick count, run counters — so you can inspect or restart. reset() returns the timer to IDLE, clearing the tick count and removing all tasks silently (no taskRemoved events).

timer.stop();   // STOPPED — tasks and counts retained
timer.reset();  // IDLE — tasks removed, counts cleared

Both pausing and the lifecycle around completion are covered in Pause, Resume & Cleanup. Every transition also emits an event.