Simple timer function in c (Needs improvement)

**Kriptik_nooby** · 08-28-2014

I am 17 years old and I'm just getting into c and c++.
I recently wrote a timer function that, when given an
input will wait. I am here to ask all you programming wizards and witches to help me find a better way. Here's the code:

Code:

#include <time.h>

void Tmr(int len){
    int _s1; //Second 1
    int _s2; //Second 2 
    int _lc; //loop count
       while(_lc != len){ 
            _s1 = time(NULL);  
          if(_s1 != _s2){
                _lc = _lc + 1;
                _s2 =  time(NULL); 
                  }
            }
        } 
int main()
{
Tmr(10); //ten seconds or so
}

By the way, I am running Windows 8, my IDE is wxDev-C++, compiler set is Default GCC, and my compiler is MingW.

**laserlight** · 08-28-2014

Consider the non-standard but Posix standard function named sleep. It might not be available via MinGW though, in which case you could try the Windows API version named Sleep. Note though that sleep takes number of seconds as the argument whereas Sleep takes number of milliseconds as the argument.

**Alpo** · 08-28-2014

I would use the time_t struct defined in <time.h> (or <ctime.h>). That way you might be able to use difftime() to control what breaks the loop: difftime - C++ Reference .

I would do it by declaring two time_t structures. Then initialize one of them outside the while loop in your function. The other time_t can be constantly updated within the loop, while you compare the return from difftime() to the number passed in.

**stahta01** · 08-28-2014

FYI: I would call it a "delay" function instead of a "timer" function.

Tim S.

**Elysia** · 08-28-2014

Originally Posted by Kriptik_nooby

I am 17 years old and I'm just getting into c and c++.

Pick one - they're radically different languages. What you write in C is not C++, and what you write in C++ is not C.

**Kriptik_nooby** · 08-30-2014

I want to avoid WinAPI as much as I can.

**laserlight** · 08-30-2014

Originally Posted by Kriptik_nooby

I want to avoid WinAPI as much as I can.

There is no facility in the C++ standard library for getting the process to wait. What you can do is to define your own delay function that has the same interface as the Posix sleep function and implement it using Sleep. If for some reason neither sleep nor Sleep is available, you can substitute the implementation with whatever wait function is available, or implement a busy wait as in your initial idea. This way, you reduce your dependency on the Windows API and can more easily make your program cross platform.

**antred** · 09-09-2014

Originally Posted by laserlight

There is no facility in the C++ standard library for getting the process to wait.

You could always use an std::condition_variable and invoke the wait_for or wait_until methods with a suitable timeout / time point.

EDIT: Or better yet, use std::this_thread::sleep_for or std::this_thread::sleep_until.

**Salem** · 09-09-2014

Also, don't name all your variables with a leading underscore.
The GNU C Library: Reserved Names

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