[Solved] How to use TTimer without a form

[Wilko500]

MacOs Laz 4.1 FPC 3.2.2
My program under development has six timers (TTimer) all set up on the main form. Currently they are coded so that each has both a fire and tick procedure.  They work just fine but I would like to put all these timers into a single unit eg TimerUnit.  I have been unable to get this to work so I went back to a simple example I found on the web, helped by AI lol, but it does not compile

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. unit TimerUnit;
2.  
3. interface
4.  
5. uses
6.   SysUtils, Classes, extCrtls;
7.  
8. type
9.   TMyTimer = class(TObject)
10.   private
11.     FTimer: TTimer;
12.     FOnTimer: TTimerEvent;      // <=Compile error identifier not found TTimerEvent
13.     procedure OnTimerEvent(Sender: TObject);
14.   public
15.     constructor Create;
16.     destructor Destroy; override;
17.     procedure Start(Interval: Integer; OnTimer: TTimerEvent);
18.     procedure Stop;
19.   end;
20.  
21. implementation
22.  
23. { TMyTimer }
24.  
25. constructor TMyTimer.Create;
26. begin
27.   FTimer := TTimer.Create(nil);
28.   FTimer.Enabled := False;
29.   FTimer.OnTimer := OnTimerEvent;
30. end;
31.  
32. destructor TMyTimer.Destroy;
33. begin
34.   FTimer.Free;
35.   inherited;
36. end;
37.  
38. procedure TMyTimer.Start(Interval: Integer; OnTimer: TTimerEvent);
39. begin
40.   FTimer.Interval := Interval;
41.   FOnTimer := OnTimer;
42.   FTimer.Enabled := True;
43. end;
44.  
45. procedure TMyTimer.Stop;
46. begin
47.   FTimer.Enabled := False;
48. end;
49.  
50. procedure TMyTimer.OnTimerEvent(Sender: TObject);
51. begin
52.   FOnTimer(Sender);
53. end;
54.  
55. end.

Compiler errors on line 12 with identifier not found TTimerEvent

Getting this working was supposed to be a starting point for migrating my existing code. Maybe one of you has a simple working example of a TTimer in a unit rather than a form?

[Phoenix]

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. unit TimerUnit;
2.  
3. {$mode objfpc}{$H+}
4.  
5. interface
6.  
7. uses
8.   SysUtils, Classes, ExtCtrls;
9.  
10. type
11.   TMyTimer = class(TObject)
12.   private
13.     FTimer: TTimer;
14.     FOnTimer: TNotifyEvent;
15.     procedure OnTimerEvent(Sender: TObject);
16.   public
17.     constructor Create;
18.     destructor Destroy; override;
19.     procedure Start(Interval: Integer; OnTimer: TNotifyEvent);
20.     procedure Stop;
21.   end;
22.  
23. implementation
24.  
25. { TMyTimer }
26.  
27. constructor TMyTimer.Create;
28. begin
29.   FTimer := TTimer.Create(nil);
30.   FTimer.Enabled := False;
31.   FTimer.OnTimer := @OnTimerEvent;
32. end;
33.  
34. destructor TMyTimer.Destroy;
35. begin
36.   FTimer.Free;
37.   inherited;
38. end;
39.  
40. procedure TMyTimer.Start(Interval: Integer; OnTimer: TNotifyEvent);
41. begin
42.   FTimer.Interval := Interval;
43.   FOnTimer := OnTimer;
44.   FTimer.Enabled := True;
45. end;
46.  
47. procedure TMyTimer.Stop;
48. begin
49.   FTimer.Enabled := False;
50. end;
51.  
52. procedure TMyTimer.OnTimerEvent(Sender: TObject);
53. begin
54.   FOnTimer(Sender);
55. end;
56.  
57. end.
58.  
59.  

[Wilko500]

@Phoenix, thank you.  Very helpful.  I see that AI inspired help has a little way to go but to be fair it was close.  Shame I wasn't sharp enough to spot the errors.  For now I'll mark this post as solved and then I'll see if I can get my more complicated timer procedure to work.

Update:  Took a few attempts but I now have the basic timer working to update main form time field with the timer code in the TimerUnit.  When I have more time I'll try with the more complicated timer code.  This should simplify my code because I think I can create a separate class instance for each of my timers and then have a separate Tick and Fire for each.  At the moment the entire timer code is duplicated for each timer.