DELAY
 Print Topic  Return to Overview  Previous Topic  Next Topic 
Purpose:Pause for a specified length of time.

 

Format:DELAY [/B /F /M time]

 

timeThe number of seconds or milliseconds to delay.

 

/B(reak enabled)/M(illiseconds)

/F(lush keyboard)

 

Usage:

 

DELAY is useful in batch file loops while waiting for something to occur. For example, to wait for 10 seconds:

 

delay 10

 

DELAY is most useful when you need to wait a specific amount of time for an external event, or check a system condition periodically. For example, this batch file checks the battery status (as reported by your Advanced Power Management drivers) every 15 seconds, and gives a warning when battery life falls below 30%:

 

do forever

  iff %_apmlife lt 30 then

     beep 440 4 880 4 440 4 880 4

     echo Low Battery!!

  endiff

  delay 15

enddo

 

The time value can be as large as about 1 billion seconds (34 years!).  If you don't enter a time, the default is 1 second.

 

TCC uses the minimum possible processor time during a DELAY, in order to allow other applications full use of system resources.

 

You can cancel a delay by pressing Ctrl-C or Ctrl-Break.

 

Options:

 

/BAllows terminating a DELAY by pressing a key.

 

/FFlush the keyboard buffer when DELAY ends. (Not available in TCC/LE.)

 

/MCount by milliseconds instead of seconds. Normally only used for delays of less than 1 second.

Topic "delay.htm" last edited 2009-01-28. ©2009  JP Software, Inc.
Keywords: DELAY