Timers

Timers are used for delayed execution or even regular execution of a code.

setTimer function

Triggers a callback once an amount of milliseconds pass. Can be repeated any amount of times. Use zero for infinite interval. Returns an integer representing a timer handle that you can use to stop it.

Syntax:

int setTimer( function callback, int milliseconds, int repeat )

Example:

setTimer(function()
    print("Hello")
end, 5000, 5)

isTimer function

Checks whether the handle for a timer is still valid (timer is running).

Syntax:

isTimer( int handle )

killTimer function

Use a timer handle returned from the setTimer function to stop a timer.

Syntax:

killTimer( int handle )

Example:

local timer = setTimer(doStuff, 1000, 1)
killTimer(timer)

getTimer function

Retrieves timing information about a running timer.

Syntax:

int, int getTimer( int handle )

Returns the amount of milliseconds left until the next trigger, followed by the timer's interval in milliseconds. You can also use this to see how far we are into a single run timer. Two zeroes are returned on invalid handle.

Example:

local timer = setTimer(doStuff, 5000, 0)
local msLeft, interval = getTimer(timer)