Thread: Making a timer...

Hi, I wqas wondering, how exactly are timers made in C++, and how are they manipulated so that they restart after a certain amount of time...

I hope some1 out there can help...

is that the only code thats needed, arent there any header files needed to make it work, or did u just not bother putting them in...

Thank u, all i need to do now is to get use to the using the time functions, and I should be able to put it in when ever I like, cheers for the help...

There is more information in the Programming FAQ.

If you're using Windows, be aware that the time can be inaccruate when timing milliseconds. The results are returned with millisecond precision, but the variables are updated only (about) every 50 milliseconds. And with multitasking, the timing can be off even more.

k, ill keep that in mind when I make my programs, by the way, do u have any ideas on how to make the clock start on the user's input, not when the program starts. I tried this code below, but it didn't work, any ideas???

(The program is just an example)

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>

using namespace std;

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    int num;
    
    cout << "Please press '1' to start the clock" << endl;
    cin >> num;
    if(num == 1)
    {
    while(num = 2)
    {
    time_t begin,length,end;
    begin=clock();
    end=begin;
    cout << clock() << endl;
    }
    }
    else
    {
        cout << "Please press '1'" << endl;
        int main();
    }
    system("Pause");
    return 0;
}

I admit, it is a bit shabby, but it was rushed and my compiler doesn't pick a fight with it, so for now its ok... but how can I make the timer start on the user's input, and not when the program starts. Also, is there a way to get the computer to read off the clock so that when it gets to a certain value, it outputs something, because I was thinking of having it output random strings after a random number of seconds...

I a tad stuck rite now, help would be greatly valued...

cout << "enter whatever" << endl;
cin >> whatever;
//get current time here---call it startTimer
//do something here
//get current time here---call it stopTimer
//subtract startTimer from stopTimer
//see if difference between the two exceeds your time limit or do whatever else you want with it.

The function clock() returns a clock_t type, not time_t. This code will only both clock_t and time_t are typedef'd to the same type.