Timer Class

Definition

Namespace:

System.Windows.Forms

Assembly:

System.Windows.Forms.dll

Implements a timer that raises an event at user-defined intervals. This timer is optimized for use in Windows Forms applications and must be used in a window.

public ref class Timer : System::ComponentModel::Component

public class Timer : System.ComponentModel.Component

type Timer = class
    inherit Component

Public Class Timer
Inherits Component

Inheritance

Object

MarshalByRefObject

Component

Timer

Examples

The following example implements a simple interval timer, which sets off an alarm every five seconds. When the alarm occurs, a MessageBox displays a count of the number of times the alarm has started and prompts the user as to whether the timer should continue to run.

public ref class Class1
{
private:
   static System::Windows::Forms::Timer^ myTimer = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Timer;
   static int alarmCounter = 1;
   static bool exitFlag = false;

   // This is the method to run when the timer is raised.
   static void TimerEventProcessor( Object^ /*myObject*/, EventArgs^ /*myEventArgs*/ )
   {
      myTimer->Stop();
      
      // Displays a message box asking whether to continue running the timer.
      if ( MessageBox::Show( "Continue running?", String::Format( "Count is: {0}", alarmCounter ), MessageBoxButtons::YesNo ) == DialogResult::Yes )
      {
         
         // Restarts the timer and increments the counter.
         alarmCounter += 1;
         myTimer->Enabled = true;
      }
      else
      {
         
         // Stops the timer.
         exitFlag = true;
      }
   }


public:
   static void Main()
   {
      
      /* Adds the event and the event handler for the method that will 
                process the timer event to the timer. */
      myTimer->Tick += gcnew EventHandler( TimerEventProcessor );
      
      // Sets the timer interval to 5 seconds.
      myTimer->Interval = 5000;
      myTimer->Start();
      
      // Runs the timer, and raises the event.
      while ( exitFlag == false )
      {
         
         // Processes all the events in the queue.
         Application::DoEvents();
      }
   }

};

int main()
{
   Class1::Main();
}

public class Class1 {
    static System.Windows.Forms.Timer myTimer = new System.Windows.Forms.Timer();
    static int alarmCounter = 1;
    static bool exitFlag = false;
 
    // This is the method to run when the timer is raised.
    private static void TimerEventProcessor(Object myObject,
                                            EventArgs myEventArgs) {
       myTimer.Stop();
 
       // Displays a message box asking whether to continue running the timer.
       if(MessageBox.Show("Continue running?", "Count is: " + alarmCounter, 
          MessageBoxButtons.YesNo) == DialogResult.Yes) {
          // Restarts the timer and increments the counter.
          alarmCounter +=1;
          myTimer.Enabled = true;
       }
       else {
          // Stops the timer.
          exitFlag = true;
       }
    }
 
    public static int Main() {
       /* Adds the event and the event handler for the method that will 
          process the timer event to the timer. */
       myTimer.Tick += new EventHandler(TimerEventProcessor);
 
       // Sets the timer interval to 5 seconds.
       myTimer.Interval = 5000;
       myTimer.Start();
 
       // Runs the timer, and raises the event.
       while(exitFlag == false) {
          // Processes all the events in the queue.
          Application.DoEvents();
       }
    return 0;
    }
 }

Public Class Class1
    Private Shared WithEvents myTimer As New System.Windows.Forms.Timer()
    Private Shared alarmCounter As Integer = 1
    Private Shared exitFlag As Boolean = False    
    
    ' This is the method to run when the timer is raised.
    Private Shared Sub TimerEventProcessor(myObject As Object, _
                                           ByVal myEventArgs As EventArgs) _
                                       Handles myTimer.Tick
        myTimer.Stop()
        
        ' Displays a message box asking whether to continue running the timer.
        If MessageBox.Show("Continue running?", "Count is: " & alarmCounter, _
                            MessageBoxButtons.YesNo) = DialogResult.Yes Then
            ' Restarts the timer and increments the counter.
            alarmCounter += 1
            myTimer.Enabled = True
        Else
            ' Stops the timer.
            exitFlag = True
        End If
    End Sub
    
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        ' Adds the event and the event handler for the method that will
        ' process the timer event to the timer.
        
        ' Sets the timer interval to 5 seconds.
        myTimer.Interval = 5000
        myTimer.Start()
        
        ' Runs the timer, and raises the event.
        While exitFlag = False
            ' Processes all the events in the queue.
            Application.DoEvents()
        End While

    End Sub    

End Class

Remarks

A Timer is used to raise an event at user-defined intervals. This Windows timer is designed for a single-threaded environment where UI threads are used to perform processing. It requires that the user code have a UI message pump available and always operate from the same thread, or marshal the call onto another thread.

When you use this timer, use the Tick event to perform a polling operation or to display a splash screen for a specified period of time. Whenever the Enabled property is set to true and the Interval property is greater than zero, the Tick event is raised at intervals based on the Interval property setting.

This class provides methods to set the interval, and to start and stop the timer.

Note

The Windows Forms Timer component is single-threaded, and is limited to an accuracy of 55 milliseconds. If you require a multithreaded timer with greater accuracy, use the Timer class in the System.Timers namespace.

Constructors

Timer()	Initializes a new instance of the Timer class.
Timer(IContainer)	Initializes a new instance of the Timer class together with the specified container.

Properties

CanRaiseEvents	Gets a value indicating whether the component can raise an event. (Inherited from Component)
Container	Gets the IContainer that contains the Component. (Inherited from Component)
DesignMode	Gets a value that indicates whether the Component is currently in design mode. (Inherited from Component)
Enabled	Gets or sets whether the timer is running.
Events	Gets the list of event handlers that are attached to this Component. (Inherited from Component)
Interval	Gets or sets the time, in milliseconds, before the Tick event is raised relative to the last occurrence of the Tick event.
Site	Gets or sets the ISite of the Component. (Inherited from Component)
Tag	Gets or sets an arbitrary string representing some type of user state.

Methods

CreateObjRef(Type)	Creates an object that contains all the relevant information required to generate a proxy used to communicate with a remote object. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject)
Dispose()	Releases all resources used by the Component. (Inherited from Component)
Dispose(Boolean)	Disposes of the resources, other than memory, used by the timer.
Equals(Object)	Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object. (Inherited from Object)
GetHashCode()	Serves as the default hash function. (Inherited from Object)
GetLifetimeService()	Retrieves the current lifetime service object that controls the lifetime policy for this instance. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject)
GetService(Type)	Returns an object that represents a service provided by the Component or by its Container. (Inherited from Component)
GetType()	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object)
InitializeLifetimeService()	Obtains a lifetime service object to control the lifetime policy for this instance. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject)
MemberwiseClone()	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object)
MemberwiseClone(Boolean)	Creates a shallow copy of the current MarshalByRefObject object. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject)
OnTick(EventArgs)	Raises the Tick event.
Start()	Starts the timer.
Stop()	Stops the timer.
ToString()	Returns a string that represents the Timer.

Events

Disposed	Occurs when the component is disposed by a call to the Dispose() method. (Inherited from Component)
Tick	Occurs when the specified timer interval has elapsed and the timer is enabled.