Purpose:Pause for a specified length of time

 

Format:DELAY [/B /F /M time hh:mm:ss]

DELAY UNTIL [yyyy-mm-dd] hh:mm[:ss]

 

timeThe number of seconds or milliseconds to delay
hh:mm:ssWait for the specified interval, or (UNTIL) the specified time

 

/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 maximum time value is limited to about 585 million years in Windows. If you don't enter a time, the default is 1 second.

 

You can optionally wait until the specified date and time. If no date is specified, DELAY defaults to today.

 

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.

 

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