# OpenSesame help

This is the offline help page. If you are connected to the internet, you can browse the online documentation by clicking here.

## Introduction

OpenSesame is a graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. It allows you to easily create experiments, using a point-and-click graphical interface. For complex tasks, OpenSesame supports Python scripting.

## Getting started

The best way to get started is to follow the tutorial and/ or take a look at example experiments. This, and much more, can be found online in the OpenSesame documentation area.

## Interface

The graphical interface consists of the following parts. You can get context sensitive help by clicking on the help icons at the top-right of each tab.

- The menu (at the top of the window) offers a variety of options, such as opening and closing files, inserting items (see below) and checking for updates. The menu cannot be hidden or closed.
- The main toolbar (the big buttons below the menu) offers a selection of the most relevant options from the menu. The main toolbar cannot be hidden, but it can be moved or detached from the main window.
- The item toolbar (the big buttons on the left of the window) displays a list of available items. You can drag items from the items toolbar into the overview of the experiment. The items toolbar cannot be hidden, but it can be moved or detached from the main window.
- The tab area contains the tabs that are used to edit the experiment. If you click on an item in the 'overview' window, a corresponding tab will be opened in the tab area. Help is displayed in the tab area as well. The tab area cannot be moved or hidden.
- The overview area provides an overview of your experiment. The structure of your experiment is visualized as a tree. The overview item can be hidden, moved and detached from the main window.
- The file pool (Control + P) provides an overview of the files that are bundled with your experiment. If you save your experiment in the .opensesame.tar.gz format, the file pool will be saved along with your experiment. The file pool can be hidden, moved, and detached from the main window.
- The variable inspector (Control + I) provides an overview of the variables that are used in your experiment. The variable inspector can be hidden, moved, and detached from the main window.
- The debug window. (Control + D) shows the messages that are written to the standard output during an experiment. This is mostly useful for debugging inline_script items. A Python interpreter is provided as well. The debug window can be hidden, moved, and detached from the main window.

## Items

Items are the building blocks of your experiment. There are 10 core items that provide the basic functionality that is necessary to create an experiment. Core items can be dragged into to your experiment from the item toolbar.

- The loop item runs another item multiple times. You can also define independent variables in the loop item.
- The sequence item runs multiple other items in sequence.
- The sketchpad item presents visual stimuli. A built-in drawing tool allows you to easily create stimulus displays.
- The feedback item is similar to a sketchpad, but is not prepared in advance. Therefore, a feedback item can be used to present feedback to the participants.
- The sampler item plays back a single sound file.
- The synth item generates a single sound.
- The keyboard_response item collects keypress responses.
- The mouse_response item collects mouseclick responses.
- The logger item writes variables to the log file.
- The inline_script item allows you to execute Python code and offers a built-in programming editor.

If installed, plug-in items provide additional functionality. Plug-ins appear alongside the core items in the item toolbar. An overview of available plug-ins can be found online.

## Running your experiment

You can run your experiment in full-screen mode (Control+R; Run -> Run fullscreen) or in a window (Control+W; Run -> Run in window). When the 'auto-response' option (Run -> Enable auto-response) is enabled, OpenSesame will simulate keypress and mouseclick responses, which can be useful when testing your experiment.

## Saving your experiment

Experiments can be saved in two file formats:

- .opensesame files contain only the experiment script. Therefore, the file pool will not be saved along with your experiment when saving in .opensesame format. The .opensesame format is a plain-text format.
- .opensesame.tar.gz files contain the experiment script and all the files from the file pool. The .opensesame.tar.gz format is a .tar.gz compressed archive, which can be opened with most file compression tools.