Is it possible to change Timer Tick in the middle of running - c#

I have application that execute some task via Timer every new minutes and i want to add the option to make this task changeable using user input in the middle of application running.
if for example my Timer.Tick is set to 1 minute and changed into 1 hour, Timer.Tick property will update ir i need to restart my application ?

I just ran this in LINQPad and it 'ticks' every second after I change the interval, meaning it looks like it respects your change to the interval property immediately.
void Main()
{
var timer = new System.Windows.Forms.Timer();
timer.Tick += Timer_Tick;
timer.Interval = 50000;
timer.Start();
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);
timer.Interval = 1000;
}
private void Timer_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Tick");
}
I'm assuming you are using System.Windows.Forms.Timer based on you referencing the Tick event. I also ran the same test using System.Threading.Timer and saw the same results.

Related

Timer inaccurate

I am trying to implement a delay of 10 seconds before calling a a method. However, the method is being called in just one second.
private void closeDoors(Floor floor)
{
Timer timer = new Timer();
timer.Interval = 10000;
timer.Tick += delegate
{
DoorManager(floor, Operation.CLOSE, null);
};
timer.Start();
}
Where am I going wrong?
Thank you for your assistant.
Your problem may occur because of not stopping the Timer after finishing its job. The following modified code should work (as long as I've experienced with Timer):
private void closeDoors(Floor floor) {
Timer timer = new Timer();
timer.Interval = 10000;
timer.Tick += (s,e) => {
DoorManager(floor, Operation.CLOSE, null);
((Timer)s).Stop();
};
timer.Start();
}
I manage to fix it by incrementing the timer Interval as the time delay was being utilised by a process invoked by another method call insideDoorManager().

What is the best way to implement a "timer"? [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
How do you add a timer to a C# console application
(12 answers)
Closed 3 years ago.
What is the best way to implement a timer? A code sample would be great! For this question, "best" is defined as most reliable (least number of misfires) and precise. If I specify an interval of 15 seconds, I want the target method invoked every 15 seconds, not every 10 - 20 seconds. On the other hand, I don't need nanosecond accuracy. In this example, it would be acceptable for the method to fire every 14.51 - 15.49 seconds.
Use the Timer class.
public static void Main()
{
System.Timers.Timer aTimer = new System.Timers.Timer();
aTimer.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(OnTimedEvent);
aTimer.Interval = 5000;
aTimer.Enabled = true;
Console.WriteLine("Press \'q\' to quit the sample.");
while(Console.Read() != 'q');
}
// Specify what you want to happen when the Elapsed event is raised.
private static void OnTimedEvent(object source, ElapsedEventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");
}
The Elapsed event will be raised every X amount of milliseconds, specified by the Interval property on the Timer object. It will call the Event Handler method you specify. In the example above, it is OnTimedEvent.
By using System.Windows.Forms.Timer class you can achieve what you need.
System.Windows.Forms.Timer t = new System.Windows.Forms.Timer();
t.Interval = 15000; // specify interval time as you want
t.Tick += new EventHandler(timer_Tick);
t.Start();
void timer_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//Call method
}
By using stop() method you can stop timer.
t.Stop();
It's not clear what type of application you're going to develop (desktop, web, console...)
The general answer, if you're developing Windows.Forms application, is use of
System.Windows.Forms.Timer class. The benefit of this is that it runs on UI thread, so it's simple just define it, subscribe to its Tick event and run your code on every 15 second.
If you do something else then windows forms (it's not clear from the question), you can choose System.Timers.Timer, but this one runs on other thread, so if you are going to act on some UI elements from the its Elapsed event, you have to manage it with "invoking" access.
Reference ServiceBase to your class and put the below code in the OnStartevent:
Constants.TimeIntervalValue = 1 (hour)..Ideally you should set this value in config file.
StartSendingMails = function name you want to run in the application.
protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
{
// It tells in what interval the service will run each time.
Int32 timeInterval = Int32.Parse(Constants.TimeIntervalValue) * 60 * 60 * 1000;
base.OnStart(args);
TimerCallback timerDelegate = new TimerCallback(StartSendingMails);
serviceTimer = new Timer(timerDelegate, null, 0, Convert.ToInt32(timeInterval));
}

Fire timer_elapsed immediately from OnStart in windows service

I'm using a System.Timers.Timer and I've got code like the following in my OnStart method in a c# windows service.
timer = new Timer();
timer.Elapsed += timer_Elapsed;
timer.Enabled = true;
timer.Interval = 3600000;
timer.Start();
This causes the code in timer_Elapsed to be executed every hour starting from an hour after I start the service. Is there any way to get it to execute at the point at which I start the service and then every hour subsequently?
The method called by timer_Elapsed takes too long to run to call it directly from OnStart.
Just start a threadpool thread to call the worker function, just like Timer does. Like this:
timer.Elapsed += timer_Elapsed;
ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem((_) => DoWork());
...
void timer_Elapsed(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs e) {
DoWork();
}
void DoWork() {
// etc...
}
Use AutoReset Property of System.Timers.Timer and set it value to "true".
No need to use timer.Start() because it does the same job as timer.Enabled = true;
timer = new Timer();
timer.Elapsed += timer_Elapsed;
timer.Enabled = true;
timer.Interval = 3600000;
timer.AutoReset = true;
AutoReset = true will set a value indicating that the Timer should raise the Elapsed event each time when the specified interval elapses.
If you want your Timer to be fired immediately then you could simply just initialize the Timer object without a specified interval (it will default to 100ms which is almost immediately :P), then set the interval within the called function to whatever you like. Here is an example of what I use in my Windows Service:
private static Timer _timer;
protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
{
_timer = new Timer(); //This will set the default interval
_timer.AutoReset = false;
_timer.Elapsed = OnTimer;
_timer.Start();
}
private void OnTimer(object sender, ElapsedEventArgs args)
{
//Do some work here
_timer.Stop();
_timer.Interval = 3600000; //Set your new interval here
_timer.Start();
}
Use System.Threading.Timer class instead of System.Timers.Timer as this type is just a wrapper for Threading Timer.
It also suits your requirement.
System.Threading.Timer timer =
new System.Threading.Timer(this.DoWork, this, 0, 36000);
Here are the details.

How to stop a timer after it is done running?

I have a Console App and in the main method, I have code like this:
Timer time = new Timer(seconds * 1000); //to milliseconds
time.Enabled = true;
time.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(time_Elapsed);
I only want the timer to run once so my idea is that I should stop the timer in the time_Elapsed method. However, since my timer exists in Main(), I can't access it.
You have access to the Timer inside of the timer_Elapsed method:
public void timer_Elapsed(object sender, ElapsedEventArgs e)
{
Timer timer = (Timer)sender; // Get the timer that fired the event
timer.Stop(); // Stop the timer that fired the event
}
The above method will stop whatever Timer fired the Event (in case you have multiple Timers using the same handler and you want each Timer to have the same behavior).
You could also set the behavior when you instantiate the Timer:
var timer = new Timer();
timer.AutoReset = false; // Don't reset the timer after the first fire
A little example app:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
int seconds = 2;
Timer time = new Timer(seconds * 1000); //to milliseconds
time.Enabled = true;
time.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(MyHandler);
time.Start();
Console.ReadKey();
}
private static void MyHandler(object e, ElapsedEventArgs args)
{
var timer = (Timer) e;
timer.Stop();
}
I assume that you're using System.Timers.Timer rather than System.Windows.Forms.Timer?
You have two options.
First, as probably the best, is to set the AutoReset property to false. This should do exactly what you want.
time.AutoReset = false;
The other option is to call Stop in the event handler.
You may also use the System.Threading.Timer. Its constructor takes two time-related parameters:
The delay before the first "tick" (due time)
The period
Set the period to Timeout.Infinite to prevent from firing again.

Question About Timers And Variable Intervals

The point of this timer is to execute some code whenever it's midnight.
So basically, the first interval will be between Now and midnight and all intervals following that will be 24hours.
Now that's all well and good, but I was wondering how this timer business works. Is the MyTimer.Interval recalculated each time the timer resets?
System.Timers.Timer MyTimer = new System.Timers.Timer();
MyTimer.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(TriggeredMethod);
MyTimer.Interval = [pseudocode]Time between now and midnight[/pseudocode];
MyTimer.Start();
EDIT:
I'm having trouble setting the Interval inside of my TriggerMethod. Where/how should I initiate the Timer so I don't get any context errors?
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
System.Timers.Timer MyTimer = new System.Timers.Timer();
MyTimer.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(TriggeredMethod);
MyTimer.Start();
}
private void TriggerMethod(object source, ElapsedEventArgs e)
{
MyTimer.Interval = [pseudocode]Time between now and midnight[/pseudocode];
}
The Interval property is the number of milliseconds between timer invocations.
To run the timer at midnight, you would need to change Interval in each Elapsed event to (int)(DateTime.Today.AddDays(1) - DateTime.Now).TotalMilliseconds.
To access the timer inside the Elapsed handler, you'll need to store the timer in a field in your class, like this:
System.Timers.Timer MyTimer
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
MyTimer = new System.Timers.Timer();
//...
}
Note, by the way, that System.Timers.Timer will not fire on the UI thread.
Therefore, you cannot manipulate the form inside the Elapsed handler.
If you need to manipulate the form, you can either switch to System.Windows.Forms.Timer (which is less accurate) or call BeginInvoke.
after the first run, you would have to update the interval, subtracting the current time from midnight the following day and assigning to the interval; I do this for one of my batch processes, and it works well.
HTH.
Make your timer fire once per hour, and then only do the actual work at midnight. And I also recommend using BeginInvoke to move the actual UI interaction onto the GUI thread.

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