class QElapsedTimer

The QElapsedTimer class provides a fast way to calculate elapsed times. More…

Added in version 4.7.

Synopsis

Methods

Static functions

Note

This documentation may contain snippets that were automatically translated from C++ to Python. We always welcome contributions to the snippet translation. If you see an issue with the translation, you can also let us know by creating a ticket on https:/bugreports.qt.io/projects/PYSIDE

Detailed Description

Warning

This section contains snippets that were automatically translated from C++ to Python and may contain errors.

The QElapsedTimer class is usually used to quickly calculate how much time has elapsed between two events. Its API is similar to that of QTime , so code that was using that can be ported quickly to the new class.

However, unlike QTime , QElapsedTimer tries to use monotonic clocks if possible. This means it’s not possible to convert QElapsedTimer objects to a human-readable time.

The typical use-case for the class is to determine how much time was spent in a slow operation. The simplest example of such a case is for debugging purposes, as in the following example:

timer = QElapsedTimer()
timer.start()
slowOperation1()
print("The slow operation took", timer.elapsed(), "milliseconds")

In this example, the timer is started by a call to start() and the elapsed time is calculated by the elapsed() function.

The time elapsed can also be used to recalculate the time available for another operation, after the first one is complete. This is useful when the execution must complete within a certain time period, but several steps are needed. The waitFor-type functions in QIODevice and its subclasses are good examples of such need. In that case, the code could be as follows:

def executeSlowOperations(timeout):

    timer = QElapsedTimer()
    timer.start()
    slowOperation1()
    remainingTime = timeout - timer.elapsed()
    if remainingTime > 0:
        slowOperation2(remainingTime)

Another use-case is to execute a certain operation for a specific timeslice. For this, QElapsedTimer provides the hasExpired() convenience function, which can be used to determine if a certain number of milliseconds has already elapsed:

def executeOperationsForTime(ms):

    timer = QElapsedTimer()
    timer.start()
    while not timer.hasExpired(ms):
        slowOperation1()

It is often more convenient to use QDeadlineTimer in this case, which counts towards a timeout in the future instead of tracking elapsed time.

Reference Clocks

QElapsedTimer will use the platform’s monotonic reference clock in all platforms that support it (see isMonotonic() ). This has the added benefit that QElapsedTimer is immune to time adjustments, such as the user correcting the time. Also unlike QTime , QElapsedTimer is immune to changes in the timezone settings, such as daylight-saving periods.

On the other hand, this means QElapsedTimer values can only be compared with other values that use the same reference. This is especially true if the time since the reference is extracted from the QElapsedTimer object ( msecsSinceReference() ) and serialised. These values should never be exchanged across the network or saved to disk, since there’s no telling whether the computer node receiving the data is the same as the one originating it or if it has rebooted since.

It is, however, possible to exchange the value with other processes running on the same machine, provided that they also use the same reference clock. QElapsedTimer will always use the same clock, so it’s safe to compare with the value coming from another process in the same machine. If comparing to values produced by other APIs, you should check that the clock used is the same as QElapsedTimer (see clockType() ).

See also

QTime QChronoTimer QDeadlineTimer

class ClockType

This enum contains the different clock types that QElapsedTimer may use.

QElapsedTimer will always use the same clock type in a particular machine, so this value will not change during the lifetime of a program. It is provided so that QElapsedTimer can be used with other non-Qt implementations, to guarantee that the same reference clock is being used.

Constant

Description

QElapsedTimer.SystemTime

The human-readable system time. This clock is not monotonic.

QElapsedTimer.MonotonicClock

The system’s monotonic clock, usually found in Unix systems. This clock is monotonic.

QElapsedTimer.TickCounter

Not used anymore.

QElapsedTimer.MachAbsoluteTime

The Mach kernel’s absolute time (macOS and iOS). This clock is monotonic.

QElapsedTimer.PerformanceCounter

The performance counter provided by Windows. This clock is monotonic.

SystemTime

The system time clock is purely the real time, expressed in milliseconds since Jan 1, 1970 at 0:00 UTC. It’s equivalent to the value returned by the C and POSIX time function, with the milliseconds added. This clock type is currently only used on Unix systems that do not support monotonic clocks (see below).

This is the only non-monotonic clock that QElapsedTimer may use.

MonotonicClock

This is the system’s monotonic clock, expressed in milliseconds since an arbitrary point in the past. This clock type is used on Unix systems which support POSIX monotonic clocks (_POSIX_MONOTONIC_CLOCK).

MachAbsoluteTime

This clock type is based on the absolute time presented by Mach kernels, such as that found on macOS. This clock type is presented separately from MonotonicClock since macOS and iOS are also Unix systems and may support a POSIX monotonic clock with values differing from the Mach absolute time.

This clock is monotonic.

PerformanceCounter

This clock uses the Windows functions QueryPerformanceCounter and QueryPerformanceFrequency to access the system’s performance counter.

This clock is monotonic.

Added in version 4.7.

__init__()

Constructs an invalid QElapsedTimer . A timer becomes valid once it has been started.

See also

isValid() start()

static clockType()
Return type:

ClockType

Returns the clock type that this QElapsedTimer implementation uses.

Since Qt 6.6, QElapsedTimer uses std::chrono::steady_clock, so the clock type is always MonotonicClock .

See also

isMonotonic()

elapsed()
Return type:

int

Returns the number of milliseconds since this QElapsedTimer was last started.

Calling this function on a QElapsedTimer that is invalid results in undefined behavior.

hasExpired(timeout)
Parameters:

timeout – int

Return type:

bool

Returns true if elapsed() exceeds the given timeout, otherwise false.

A negative timeout is interpreted as infinite, so false is returned in this case. Otherwise, this is equivalent to elapsed() > timeout. You can do the same for a duration by comparing durationElapsed() to a duration timeout.

invalidate()

Marks this QElapsedTimer object as invalid.

An invalid object can be checked with isValid() . Calculations of timer elapsed since invalid data are undefined and will likely produce bizarre results.

static isMonotonic()
Return type:

bool

Returns true if this is a monotonic clock, false otherwise. See the information on the different clock types to understand which ones are monotonic.

Since Qt 6.6, QElapsedTimer uses std::chrono::steady_clock, so this function now always returns true.

isValid()
Return type:

bool

Returns false if the timer has never been started or invalidated by a call to invalidate() .

msecsSinceReference()
Return type:

int

Returns the number of milliseconds between last time this QElapsedTimer object was started and its reference clock’s start.

This number is usually arbitrary for all clocks except the SystemTime clock. For that clock type, this number is the number of milliseconds since January 1st, 1970 at 0:00 UTC (that is, it is the Unix time expressed in milliseconds).

On Linux, Windows and Apple platforms, this value is usually the time since the system boot, though it usually does not include the time the system has spent in sleep states.

msecsTo(other)
Parameters:

other – QElapsedTimer

Return type:

int

Returns the number of milliseconds between this QElapsedTimer and other. If other was started before this object, the returned value will be negative. If it was started later, the returned value will be positive.

The return value is undefined if this object or other were invalidated.

See also

secsTo() elapsed()

nsecsElapsed()
Return type:

int

Returns the number of nanoseconds since this QElapsedTimer was last started.

Calling this function on a QElapsedTimer that is invalid results in undefined behavior.

On platforms that do not provide nanosecond resolution, the value returned will be the best estimate available.

__ne__(rhs)
Parameters:

rhs – QElapsedTimer

Return type:

bool

Returns true if lhs and rhs contain different times, false otherwise.

__le__(rhs)
Parameters:

rhs – QElapsedTimer

Return type:

bool

__eq__(rhs)
Parameters:

rhs – QElapsedTimer

Return type:

bool

Returns true if lhs and rhs contain the same time, false otherwise.

__gt__(rhs)
Parameters:

rhs – QElapsedTimer

Return type:

bool

__ge__(rhs)
Parameters:

rhs – QElapsedTimer

Return type:

bool

restart()
Return type:

int

Warning

This section contains snippets that were automatically translated from C++ to Python and may contain errors.

Restarts the timer and returns the number of milliseconds elapsed since the previous start. This function is equivalent to obtaining the elapsed time with elapsed() and then starting the timer again with start() , but it does so in one single operation, avoiding the need to obtain the clock value twice.

Calling this function on a QElapsedTimer that is invalid results in undefined behavior.

The following example illustrates how to use this function to calibrate a parameter to a slow operation (for example, an iteration count) so that this operation takes at least 250 milliseconds:

timer = QElapsedTimer()
count = 1
timer.start()
do {
     = 2
    slowOperation2(count)
} while (timer.restart() < 250)
return count

See also

start() invalidate() elapsed() isValid()

secsTo(other)
Parameters:

other – QElapsedTimer

Return type:

int

Returns the number of seconds between this QElapsedTimer and other. If other was started before this object, the returned value will be negative. If it was started later, the returned value will be positive.

Calling this function on or with a QElapsedTimer that is invalid results in undefined behavior.

See also

msecsTo() elapsed()

start()

Warning

This section contains snippets that were automatically translated from C++ to Python and may contain errors.

Starts this timer. Once started, a timer value can be checked with elapsed() or msecsSinceReference() .

Normally, a timer is started just before a lengthy operation, such as:

timer = QElapsedTimer()
timer.start()
slowOperation1()
print("The slow operation took", timer.elapsed(), "milliseconds")

Also, starting a timer makes it valid again.