.. _eyetrackerRecordComponent:

Eye Tracker Record Component
-------------------------------

Please note: This is a new component, and is subject to change.

The eye-tracker record component provides a way to record eye movement data within an experiment. To do so, specify the
starting time relative to the start of the routine (see `start` below) and a stop time (= duration in seconds). Before
using the eye-tracking record component, you must specify your eye tracking device under `experiment settings > Eyetracking`.
Here the available options are:

- GazePoint
- MouseGaze
- SR Research Ltd (aka EyeLink)
- Tobii Technology

If you are developing your eye-tracking paradigm out-of-lab we recommend using *MouseGaze* which will simulate eye movement
responses through monitoring your mouse cursor and buttons to simulate movements and blinks.

The resulting eye-movement coordinates are stored and accessible through calling `etRecord.pos` where `etRecord corresponds
to the name of the eye-tracking record component, you can set something (e.g. a polygon) to be in the same location as
the current "look" by setting the position field to :code:`etRecord.pos` and setting the field to update on **every frame**
When running an eye tracking study, you can optionally save the data in hdf5 format through selecting this option in the
experiment settings > data tab.

Parameters
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Basic
============
name : string
    Everything in a PsychoPy experiment needs a unique name. The name should contain only letters, numbers and underscores (no punctuation marks or spaces).
    
start : float or integer
    The time that the stimulus should first play. See :ref:`startStop` for details.

stop (duration):
    The length of time (sec) to record for. An `expected duration` can be given for 
    visualisation purposes. See :ref:`startStop` for details; note that only seconds are allowed.

Data
============

Save onset/offset times: bool
    Whether to save the onset and offset times of the component.

Sync timing with screen refresh: bool
    Whether to sync the start time of the component with the window refresh.


.. seealso::
	
	API reference for :class:`~psychopy.iohub.devices.eyetracker.hw.mouse.EyeTracker`
