PHP 5+ Advanced Timer Class

Posted on March 20, 2008 by Elliott Brueggeman2 Comments »

Again?

Awhile ago I posted a PHP Execution class article for timing various PHP elements. Since then, a few developers have requested that I include the ability to start and start the timer, so you can be more precise with elements that you want to time and elements that you don’t. I decided to code this class in full PHP 5+ object-oriented structure. In addition to increased functionality, sticking to this style of programming supports PHP as an enterprise level language, and helps its standing among other more weathered and commercially used languages.

The Timer Script

This script returns the time in ms (milliseconds) rounded to the nearest ms when used in a php script or web page.

<?php
class Timer{
 
  private $start_time;
  private $end_time;
  private $accumulated_time;
 
  //Public constructor
  public function __construct() {
    $this->start_time = NULL;
    $this->end_time = NULL;
    $this->accumulated_time = 0;
  }
 
  //Public functions
  public function start() {
    if ($this->is_stopped()) {
      //add time so far to accumulated time
      //reset end time and set start time
      $this->accumulated_time += ($this->end_time - $this->start_time); 
      $this->start_time = $this->get_timestamp();
      $this->end_time = NULL;
    }
    else if (!$this->is_started()) {
      $this->start_time = $this->get_timestamp();
    }
  }
 
  public function stop() {
    if ($this->is_started()) {
      $this->end_time = $this->get_timestamp();
    }
  }
 
  public function reset() {
    $this->__construct(); 
  }
 
  public function retrieve() {
    $this->stop();
    return round($this->accumulated_time + ($this->end_time - $this->start_time));
  } 
 
  //Private functions
  private function is_started() {
    //if start is numeric but end is null, we are started
     if(is_numeric($this->start_time) && is_null($this->end_time)) {
      return true;
    }
    return false;
  }
 
  private function is_stopped() {
    //if end time is numeric, we have a stopped timer
    if(is_numeric($this->end_time)) {
      return true;
    }
    return false;
  }
 
  private function get_timestamp() {	
    //retrieve seconds and microseconds (one millionth of a second)
	//multiply by 1000 to get milliseconds
    $timeofday = gettimeofday();
    return 1000*($timeofday['sec'] + ($timeofday['usec'] / 1000000));
  } 
}
?>

Usage

Using this script is relatively easy as you can probably see from the function names. The 4 main functions in addition to the constructor are start(), stop(), retrieve(), and reset(). Here is an example of usage of this class:

<?php
//instantiate the timer object
$timer = new Timer();
 
//start the timer
$timer->start();
 
//... do something worth timing
 
for($i=0;$i<10000000;$i++){}
 
//stop the timer
$timer->stop();
 
//... do something NOT worth timing
 
//start the timer again
$timer->start();
 
//... do something worth timing
 
//stop the timer
$timer->stop();
 
//print the time accumulated
echo $timer->retrieve();

Comments

Kathy on 14 Sep 2009 at 11:32 am

Elliott, I’m trying to write code that will take a start time, add duration (this is the easy part), but then check the webserver clock to see if the start time+duration time has been exceeded (dowhile loop? or will that drain resources?). If exceeded, send an email and/or text alert to designated parties. Can you point me in the right direction? We’re using PHP and MySQL on Media Temple’s linux grid services. Thanks so much. k
Martin on 23 Dec 2009 at 4:36 am

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Thanks a lot.