<@TIMER>

Syntax

<@TIMER [NAME=name] [VALUE=value]>

Description

Allows you to create and use named timers. These timers exist only within the scope of a single application file execution. <@TIMER> accepts and returns its numbers in milliseconds.

Upon application file start-up, the default timer named ELAPSED is created to track elapsed time, and is set to zero.

You can create new timers or update existing ones by calling <@TIMER> with an optional NAME and a required VALUE attribute. If the name attribute is not specified, the default timer (ELAPSED) is updated with the value specified.

If a non-numeric value is given, the timer is set to zero. Values may be negative. When setting a timer, the tag returns nothing.

The value of a timer is retrieved if only the NAME attribute and no VALUE attribute is specified. Retrieving a non-existent timer returns nothing.

Because NAME is optional, the most simple and direct use of the tag is <@TIMER>, which returns the elapsed time for the current application file.

Values returned by <@TIMER> are accurate to 1/60 of a second.

Examples

<@TIMER>

Returns the value of the default timer (ELAPSED).

<@TIMER VALUE="-30000">

Sets the value of the default timer (ELAPSED) to -30,000 milliseconds.

<@TIMER NAME="Fred" VALUE="3000">

Creates a new timer named Fred and sets its value to 3000 milliseconds.

<@TIMER NAME="Fred">

Returns the current value of Fred.