TiMan: Add a sourced SOMA guide with explanations and stock-script examples.

2026-10-02T12:10:01Z

Add a sourced SOMA guide with explanations and stock-script examples.

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The General helper turns a number of seconds into a clock display. This short example prints a clock string so you can see how the format switches work.

== Print a clock string ==
# Open your mod’s map script. Keep its generated map class and callbacks; see [[HPL3/SOMA/Getting Started/Add Your First Script|Add your first script]].
# Add this include alongside the other includes:

<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
#include "helpers/helper_general.hps"
</syntaxhighlight>

# Put the following body inside your existing <code>OnStart()</code> callback:

<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
void OnStart()
{
tString clock = String_SecondsToClockDisplay(65.25f, false, true, true, true);
cLux_AddDebugMessage(clock);
}
</syntaxhighlight>

# Save and start the map in development mode. If it is already running, press <code>F5</code> to restart it.

The debug message is <code>01:05:25</code>: one minute, five seconds and 25 hundredths. The four Boolean arguments select hours, minutes, seconds and hundredths, in that order. Here hours are hidden.

== Change the format ==
The helper extracts each time component, pads values below 10 with a leading zero and separates enabled components with colons. Changing the last argument to <code>false</code> hides hundredths and gives <code>01:05</code>.

The seconds component is not the total number of seconds. If you enable only seconds for this input, the result is <code>05</code>; whole minutes have already been removed.

== A stock use ==
The stock <code>String_SecondsToClockDisplay</code> caller formats an ETA with hours and hundredths hidden. You can use the same switches for a minutes-and-seconds display.

== If the message does not appear ==
Check that you edited the script beside your mod’s map, retained its class and callback structure, and added the include. In development mode, use <code>F1</code> → '''Show Error List''' or '''Show HPL Log'''.

== See also ==
* [[HPL3/SOMA/Getting Started/Test Debug and Continue|Test and debug your script]]

[[Category:English]]

HPL3/SOMA/Scripting/General Helper - Revision history

TiMan: Add a sourced SOMA guide with explanations and stock-script examples.