Peter deHaan

An interesting read! AS3 really seems to add some useful features to the platform.
Keep the articles coming! :)

is the timer class still frame dependent?

i find setinterval to be too inaccurate in many instances.

thank you

Very cool.
Nice article.

hi peter,

nice ....

but how to stop or clear...timer

http://sara-intop.blogspot.com

saravanan,

You can stop the timer by calling its stop() method.

For example:
var myTimer:Timer = new Timer(1000); // 1 second
myTimer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, runMany);
myTimer.start();

You could stop the timer at any point by using:
myTimer.stop();

For more information on the Timer class, check out the Flash CS3 LiveDocs at http://livedocs.adobe.com/flash/9.0/ActionScriptLangRefV3/flash/utils/Timer.html

Thanks,

Peter

Hi, I find that you cant pause the timer a major lack of an important feature.

- MaTT

MaTT,

While there is no "pause()" method in the timer class, there is a stop() and start() method. Note that calling the stop() method stops the current timer, but does not reset the count timer, so you can call start() and resume from your existing repeat count. Although, if you do want to stop the counter and reset the repeat count, there is a reset() method.

So it sounds like stop() may do what you want.

Peter

Oh, so if you have a timer set to 8000 ms and call stop at 4000 and then start again, it will start from 4000 and run to 8000? I have it set to inifinte as the repeatCount is 0?

Thanks

MaTT,

Ah, I see what you're saying.
No, I'm pretty sure that if you call the stop() and then start() methods, you'll reset the timer. So if you have a timer set to 8000 ms and call stop() at 4000 and then start again, it will start from 0 (not 4000) and run to 8000.

In fact, here's a quick little test I made in Flex (note that i changed my interval to 4000 cause i got tired of waiting 8 seconds for each update):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="vertical" creationComplete="init();">

    <mx:Script>

        <![CDATA[

            private var t:Timer;

            

            private function init():void {

                t = new Timer(4000);

                t.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, onTimer);

            }

            private function onTimer(evt:TimerEvent):void {

                appendIt(t.currentCount + " of " + t.repeatCount); 

            }

            

            private function start_click():void {

                appendIt("start");

                t.start();

            }

            private function stop_click():void {

                appendIt("stop");

                t.stop();

            }

            

            private function appendIt(str:String):void {

                var now:Number = getTimer();

                var diff:Number = now - lastTimer; 

                lastTimer = now;

                arrColl.addItemAt({message:str, time:msToSec(now), diff:diff}, 0);

            }

            

            private function msToSec(value:Number):String {

                return (value / 1000).toFixed(2);

            }

        ]]>

    </mx:Script>

    

    <mx:ArrayCollection id="arrColl" />

    <mx:Number id="lastTimer" />

    

    <mx:ApplicationControlBar dock="true">

        <mx:Button label="Start" click="start_click();" />

        <mx:Button label="Stop" click="stop_click();" />

    </mx:ApplicationControlBar>

    

    <mx:DataGrid id="dataGrid" width="400" height="300" dataProvider="{arrColl}">

        <mx:columns>

            <mx:DataGridColumn dataField="message" />

            <mx:DataGridColumn dataField="time" textAlign="right" />

            <mx:DataGridColumn dataField="diff" textAlign="right" />

        </mx:columns>

    </mx:DataGrid>

    

</mx:Application>

Hi Peter, I also did a test. So basically, there is no real pause. Hence it's not a true timer class if you cant pause the timer, correct? Thing is I'm using this to set an interval on some video playback. Problem is, if the user pauses the video, one can clear the interval, but then when you restart, it fires at the wrong time. I guess I can use a smaller interval and increment a counter as a hack to eliminate massive errors. Adobe should look into a true timer implementation as the help docs say you should rather user Timer than interval.

cheers

MaTT

MaTT,

If you want to pass that along the enhancement request to the Flash Player team, the best way to do that is probably using the Wishlist form at http://www.adobe.com/go/wish?product=17

(just make sure you mark it as Flash Player and give as much detail as you can)

Peter

Is it possible to recall time from the timer class? I want to use it like a stop watch and then have it display the amount of time that the timer was active.

There is a getTimer() method in the flash.utils package, although that tracks the amount of time since the Flash Player has been initialized. See http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/201/langref/flash/utils/package.html#getTimer().

If you want to use the Timer class, I'd just create a temporary variable that holds the time when the timer was initialized, and then do some subtraction from the current date. Something like this in Flex:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolute">

<mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
private var start:Date;
private var timer:Timer;

private function init():void {
start = new Date();

timer = new Timer(100);
timer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, updateTimer);
timer.start();
}

private function updateTimer(evt:TimerEvent):void {
var now:Date = new Date();
var diff:Date = new Date(now.time - start.time);
lbl.text = ">>" + dateFormatter.format(diff);
}
]]>
</mx:Script>

<mx:DateFormatter id="dateFormatter" formatString="NN:SS" />

<mx:Label id="lbl" creationComplete="init();" />

</mx:Application>

HTH,
Peter

Which way produces more consistent times? The application I am creating will be used for research purposes and involves measuring reaction times. I have to keep the errors to a minimum.

Thanks for your help!

I haven't done any tests to try and determine which is more reliable. It really depends on your specific use case as to which is easier to do.

You cant pause/stop the getTimer() timer. It simply starts counting as soon as the SWF is loaded/initialized. It should be pretty easy to determine reaction times by storing the current value of getTimer() when some event happens, and then get the value again when event 2 happens. Subtract the second getTimer() value from the first, and that should give you a pretty good measure of the number of milliseconds between the two events.

Although, if you're trying to force an action in under X seconds, you may want to use a Timer. This lets you say "if action X hasnt been finished in Y milliseconds, do Z".

Just remember that Flash Player isn't real time. Just because you set a timer for 1000 ms, doesn't mean it will execute exactly every 1000 ms. It may execute at 1000 or 1100 or anywhere in between.

Hope that helps,
Peter

Hope that helps.

it would be easy to build a pause event
just extend the timer class and make pause method which will keep track of start time and pause time and calculate the rest

only problem would be first time it continues but it's not a problem just two or three lines more

This was exactly what I needed and it worked great. Thanks!

Here i have to design a media player in flex exactly same as windows media player .i m buiding up basic things like play pause stop they are working .. but problem is with volume control n slider bar . slider control i have to build for forwarding or reversing d video

Hi Peter,

What I find frustrating is that the handler method always expects a TimerEvent. What if I just want to call a function that expects an object 'foo' after a certain time? There doesn't seem to be a way to achieve this in AS3, whereas in AS2 the setInterval method van handle this without a problem.

Sander,

Good question, actually, I just blogged a couple of potential solutions/workarounds on my other blog about a week ago. For more information, check out "Creating custom timers by extending the Timer class" on flexexamples.com.

Basically I came up with two custom solutions, a DataTimer class which lets you specify a "data" parameter on a Timer instance, and a DynamicTimer class which lets you add any additional methods/properties you want to the Timer object.

The ActionScript classes (DataTimer.as and DynamicTimer.as) should be usable in Flash or Flex, but the rest of the code on the page is for Adobe Flex.

Peter

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the swift reply. Both approaches will come in handy.

Pretty good stuff on your other site too!

Hi, hopefully someone can answer this. I'm not a programmer but the above seems to be on the right track of what I'm looking for.

In AS 3.0, I just want some simple reusable code I can put on a frame to stop the timeline for a given number of milliseconds, then after the time I set is complete, go to a frame label.

Anyone?

How do I synchronize two timers ?

For example a custom object has two timers and each handler is changing a class variable... how do I make sure that each one waits till the other one is done.

This is a simple example. now extrapolate to fifty timers objects...

Drop me an email if have a good answer...

Q

Hi Peter,

I am working on a timer inside a timer. For some reason I keep getting error's. Do you know if it is posible to have a timer inside a timer?
(after 3 seconds give a new question and after 6 seconds give the answer to the new question)

Thank You!
Annelies