Overview: Timer Controls

Some transactions and events require a certain amount of time to complete. Others can run indefinitely if not aborted, and eat up resources. Still others must occur at a specific time. The Timer control provides the developer with a way to respond from code when a specified interval of time has elapsed or when a specified absolute time has been reached.

Configuring Timer Controls

You configure a separate Timer control for each event or operation you want to regulate. You can specify settings for a Timer control in several different ways. One way is to set the Timer control’s properties in Design view. Another way is to call the methods of the TimerControl interface. The Timer control notifies the application of the parameters using the onTimeout callback.

To learn more about setting these values and using callbacks, see Using a Timer Control.

Specifying Time Values

You can specify time values for the Timer control in two ways: you can set a relative time limit or an absolute time limit. Relative time values are relative to the present. For example, you can schedule an event to occur three days, three hours, and three minutes from now. Absolute time refers to a specific moment. For example, you can schedule an event for 6:00 PM on October 18, 2002.

To learn more about specifying time, see Specifying Time on a Timer Control.

Related Topics

Timer Control

Creating a New Timer Control