TickCount Property

TickCount Property

Location

My.Computer.Clock.TickCount

Syntax

     Dim result As Integer = My.Computer.Clock.TickCount

Description

The TickCount property returns the current millisecond count of the system timer, although with limited granularity.

Usage at a Glance

This property is read-only.
The system timer has a limited resolution and is not accurate to more than 500 milliseconds.
After about 24.9 days, the TickCount value reaches the maximum integer value (System.Int32.MaxValue). It then jumps to the minimum integer value, a negative number (System.Int32.MinValue), and continues incrementing in the positive direction.
The system timer may stop incrementing when the system is in certain power-saving states, such as hibernation.

Example

The following example returns the number of milliseconds that have elapsed since the last time the function was called.

     Public Function SinceLastCall(  ) As Integer        ' ----- Return the number of milliseconds since the        '       last call of this routine.        Static lastTime As Integer = -1        Dim thisTime As Integer        ' ----- Get the current tick count and compare to last time.        thisTime = My.Computer.Clock.TickCount        If (lastTime = -1) Then lastTime = thisTime        If (thisTime < lastTime) Then           ' ----- The integer value wrapped.           SinceLastCall = (Integer.MaxValue - lastTime) + _              (thisTime - Integer.MinValue)        Else           ' ----- Simple advance of the timer.           SinceLastCall = thisTime - lastTime        End If        lastTime = thisTime     End Function

Related Framework Entries

Microsoft.VisualBasic.Devices.Clock.TickCount Property
System.Environment.TickCount Property