Function to Calculate Elapsed or Accumulated Time

ID: Q115055

2.50 2.50a 2.50b 2.60 3.00 | 2.50 2.50a 2.50b 2.60 | 2.50b 2.50c

WINDOWS                    | MS-DOS                | MACINTOSH

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0
Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b, 2.6
Microsoft FoxPro for MS-DOS, versions 1.02, 2.0, 2.5, 2.5a, 2.6
Microsoft FoxPro for Macintosh, versions 2.5b, 2.5c

SUMMARY

Although the TIME() and SECONDS() functions in FoxPro return the current time and seconds elapsed since midnight, respectively, there are no intrinsic functions within FoxPro to directly perform arithmetic operations on time values.

The user-defined (UDF) function shown below makes it possible to add or subtract values returned by the TIME() function or those entered manually in the standard hours:minutes:seconds format.

MORE INFORMATION

The following function is used by the first set of code samples found below it:

   * TIMECALC.PRG
   PARAMETERS bt,et,op
   hr1=VAL(LEFT(bt,2))
   hr2=VAL(LEFT(et,2))
   mn1=VAL(SUBSTR(bt,4,2))
   mn2=VAL(SUBSTR(et,4,2))
   sc1=VAL(RIGHT(bt,2))
   sc2=VAL(RIGHT(et,2))
   tot1=(hr1*3600)+(mn1*60)+sc1
   tot2=(hr2*3600)+(mn2*60)+sc2
   IF op=1
     tt=tot1+tot2
   ELSE
     tt=tot2-tot1
   ENDIF
   thr=ALLTRIM(STR(INT(tt/3600)))
   tmn=ALLTRIM(STR(INT((tt%3600)/60)))
   tsc=ALLTRIM(STR((tt%3600)%60))
   tdc=RIGHT(STR(INT((VAL(tmn)/60)*10)/10,5,1),1)
   RETURN chr(13)+'  '+ ;
          thr+' hour'+iif(val(thr)<>1,'s','')+', '+ ;
          tmn+' minute'+iif(val(tmn)<>1,'s','')+', '+ ;
          tsc+' second'+iif(val(tsc)<>1,'s','')+'.' + ;
          chr(13)+chr(13)+ '  Decimal equivalent: '+ ;
          thr+'.'+tdc+' hour'+iif(val(tdc)<>1,'s','')+'.'+chr(13)

Sample Code

   *-> FOR MS-DOS and Macintosh
   ? timecalc('00.05.15','01.25.00',1)
   ? timecalc('00.05.15','01.25.00',2)

   *-> FOR WINDOWS 2.5
   SET TEXTMERGE ON
   \<<timecalc('00.05.15','01.25.00',1)>>
   \<<timecalc('00.05.15','01.25.00',2)>>
   SET TEXTMERGE OFF

   *-> FOR 2.5a MS-DOS or WINDOWS
   WAIT WIND timecalc('00.05.15','01.25.00',1) NOWAIT
   WAIT WIND timecalc('00.05.15','01.25.00',2) NOWAIT

   **** R E S U L T S ******************************

   * (1=ADDITION) returns:
   *
   *    1 hour, 30 minutes, 15 seconds.
   *
   *    Decimal equivalent: 1.5 hours.
   *

   * (2=SUBTRACTION) returns:
   *
   *    1 hour, 19 minutes, 45 seconds.
   *
   *    Decimal equivalent: 1.3 hours.
   *
   * NOTE: While a period is used in this example as a separator
   * character for hr.mn.sc, any other character may be used.

The following program demonstrates a FoxPro for Windows-specific implementation of the TimeCalc() function, which tracks the time since the current FoxPro session began. The timer can optionally be reset. This example uses a program file called by the CONFIG.FPW file when FoxPro is started to initialize the variables and set keytraps for displaying and resetting the timer.

   *** T I M E T R A K . P R G
   *
   PUBLIC btime
   ON KEY LABEL F4 btime=TIME()
   ON KEY LABEL F5 WAIT WINDOW TimeCalc( btime, TIME(), 2 ) NOWAIT
   KEYBOARD "{F4}"
   * end of program

To have the program load automatically when FoxPro starts, modify the CONFIG.FPW file to include the following line:

   COMMAND=DO timetrak

To use the timer, press F5 to display how long FoxPro has been running. You can display the elapsed time at any time during the session by pressing F5.

If you are repeating a specific action and each action must be timed separately (such as data entry or phone call tracking), press F4 (or issued it programmatically with the KEYBOARD command) to reset the timer at the beginning of the action. When you have completed the action, press F5 to display the elapsed time for that action.

If the timer has not been reset, you can display the entire session time by issuing F5 within an ON SHUTDOWN routine. If individual actions must be tracked as well, you can assign an additional variable in the TIMETRAK program to track the entire session.

Additional reference words: VFoxWin 3.00 FoxMac FoxDos FoxWin 2.60 timing stopwatch lap KBCategory: KBSubcategory: FxenvConfigfp

Keywords          : kbcode FxenvConfigfp 
Version           : 2.50 2.50a 2.50b 2.60 3.00 | 2.5
Platform          : MACINTOSH MS-DOS WINDOWS