C++ Timer Library
Author
Currently, I'm looking for a decent timer library for a 2D RTS engine that I'm making. I've looked around the internet but haven't found anything. I could use an API specific timer, such as those in DX, OpenGL, or something lesser known such as Grim. But I'd prefer to have seperate libraries for everything, allowing the maximum amount of flexibility when it comes to porting the engine to different APIs for performance comparison. If anyone could recommend a decent timer library for my game, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks for the time.
Time.h has everything you need. It's as simple as calling clock() to get the number of millis passed since the app started. For the difference in seconds, it's like this:
clock_t initial = clock();//do stuff hereclock_t current = clock();float difference = (current - initial) / 1000.0f;//1000 millis = 1 second ;)
afaik the granularity of clock(0) really sucks, so its not a good choice for a decent game...
plus, it only takes the CPU time, right? what if your programs task doesn't get 100% CPU time?
@Tarviathun: i don't know whether the boost library has good timers, but i'd just write my own timer class to wrap some DX timer (eg.), so you can easily replace it if necessary.
plus, it only takes the CPU time, right? what if your programs task doesn't get 100% CPU time?
@Tarviathun: i don't know whether the boost library has good timers, but i'd just write my own timer class to wrap some DX timer (eg.), so you can easily replace it if necessary.
Author
I'll probably do what you said, max. Wrap a timer library from DX. I would presume it has a high-resolution timer. The reason why I don't use the standard clock in Time.h is I've heard that is has some issues with accuracy.
Here's the timer class I made from a few various tutorials.
To use it, it's very easy:
CTime timer;
in your init code:
timer.Initialize();
in your update function:
timer.Update();
whenever you want to get the elapsed time:
timer.GetTime();
whenever you want to get the frame difference time
timer.Get_dt();
It should be bug free - I've had no problems with it [smile]. I just take credit for wrapping it up [lol] - the code is not my original ideas. I believe I had used some ideas from Cone3D, NeHe, and GameTutorials sometime ago.
- Drew
[edit] Also take a look at this page for info on the avaliable timers and why I use the one I did.[/edit]
[Edited by - Drew_Benton on January 13, 2005 10:25:15 PM]
#include <mmsystem.h>#pragma comment(lib,"winmm.lib")// Ctime.hclass CTime{private: float dt, td, td2; __int64 frequency; // Timer Frequency float resolution; // Timer Resolution unsigned long mm_timer_start; // Multimedia Timer Start Value unsigned long mm_timer_elapsed; // Multimedia Timer Elapsed Time bool performance_timer; // Using The Performance Timer? __int64 performance_timer_start; // Performance Timer Start Value __int64 performance_timer_elapsed; // Performance Timer Elapsed Timepublic: CTime(); void Update(); float Get_dt() const; float GetTime() const; void Initialize();};// CTime.cppvoid CTime::Update() { td2 = GetTime(); dt = (td2-td) * 0.1f; td = td2;}CTime::CTime(){ dt = 0; td2 = 0; td = 0; frequency = 0; performance_timer_start = 0; resolution = 0; mm_timer_start = 0; mm_timer_elapsed = 0; performance_timer_elapsed = 0; performance_timer = 0; Initialize();}void CTime::Initialize() // Initialize Our Timer (Get It Ready){ // Check To See If A Performance Counter Is Available // If One Is Available The Timer Frequency Will Be Updated if (!QueryPerformanceFrequency((LARGE_INTEGER *) &frequency)) { // No Performace Counter Available performance_timer = FALSE; // Set Performance Timer To FALSE mm_timer_start = timeGetTime(); // Use timeGetTime() To Get Current Time resolution = 1.0f/1000.0f; // Set Our Timer Resolution To .001f frequency = 1000; // Set Our Timer Frequency To 1000 mm_timer_elapsed = mm_timer_start; // Set The Elapsed Time To The Current Time } else { // Performance Counter Is Available, Use It Instead Of The Multimedia Timer // Get The Current Time And Store It In performance_timer_start QueryPerformanceCounter((LARGE_INTEGER *) &performance_timer_start); performance_timer = TRUE; // Set Performance Timer To TRUE // Calculate The Timer Resolution Using The Timer Frequency resolution = (float) (((double)1.0f)/((double)frequency)); // Set The Elapsed Time To The Current Time performance_timer_elapsed = performance_timer_start; }}float CTime::Get_dt() const { return dt; }float CTime::GetTime() const // Get Time In Milliseconds{ __int64 time; // time Will Hold A 64 Bit Integer if (performance_timer) // Are We Using The Performance Timer? { QueryPerformanceCounter((LARGE_INTEGER *) &time); // Grab The Current Performance Time // Return The Current Time Minus The Start Time Multiplied By The Resolution And 1000 (To Get MS) return ( (float) ( time - performance_timer_start) * resolution)*1000.0f; } else { // Return The Current Time Minus The Start Time Multiplied By The Resolution And 1000 (To Get MS) return( (float) ( timeGetTime() - mm_timer_start) * resolution)*1000.0f; }}To use it, it's very easy:
CTime timer;
in your init code:
timer.Initialize();
in your update function:
timer.Update();
whenever you want to get the elapsed time:
timer.GetTime();
whenever you want to get the frame difference time
timer.Get_dt();
It should be bug free - I've had no problems with it [smile]. I just take credit for wrapping it up [lol] - the code is not my original ideas. I believe I had used some ideas from Cone3D, NeHe, and GameTutorials sometime ago.
- Drew
[edit] Also take a look at this page for info on the avaliable timers and why I use the one I did.[/edit]
[Edited by - Drew_Benton on January 13, 2005 10:25:15 PM]
Author
Thank you a whole lot. I think I'll use that for now, seeing as it's simple and effective. I'll definately give you credit for it. Thanks.
void WINAPI GetCycleCount(ULARGE_INTEGER &ulCycleCount){ __asm { push ecx rdtsc mov ecx, ulCycleCount mov DWORD PTR[ecx], eax mov DWORD PTR[ecx+4], edx pop ecx } }That'll get the CPU cycle counter. Should be accurate to +/- 10 cycles or so, if you're running in realtime priority class.
void CTime::Update() { td2 = GetTime(); dt = (td2-td) * 0.1f; td = td2;}Could somebody tell me why do we multiply the variable dt in the above timer update function by 0.1? That would give us the difference time not in ms, but in 0.01s.
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