Develop Reference

Running Timers in the Background c# Console

Wondering if there's a way to have a timer running in the background of a project that can be accessed if the user inputs a certain thing. At the moment this doesn't work
Timer t = new Timer(Program.TimerCallback, null, 0, 1000);
if (Console.ReadLine() == "i")
{
TimeSpan time = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(Program.seconds);
string str = time.ToString(#"mm\:ss");
Console.WriteLine("Time :" + str);
}
public static void TimerCallback(object o)
{
seconds +=1;
}
I used to have to code above within the Callback but then I couldn't do anything while it was running the timer. Thanks for any help

If I understand correctly, you don't actually need a timer:
DateTime startTime = DateTime.Now; // Just have a reference time
if (Console.ReadLine() == "i")
{
TimeSpan time = DateTime.Now - startTime; // Compute difference between "now" and "then"
string str = time.ToString(#"mm\:ss");
Console.WriteLine("Time :" + str);
}
should do the trick.
Subtracting two DateTimes like this gives you a TimeSpan: DateTime.Subtraction Operator
If you need better precision, you can make use of the StopWatch class, which also has a little more convenient API:
Stopwatch stopWatch = new Stopwatch();
stopWatch.Start();
if (Console.ReadLine() == "i")
{
TimeSpan time = stopWatch.Elapsed;
string str = time.ToString(#"mm\:ss");
Console.WriteLine("Time :" + str);
}
BUT do not think you can do (micro-)benchmarks with this. If you intend to do so, consider Benchmark.NET (not affiliated).

Time duration,time start and time end of a method in C#

how can I record the time duration, time start and time end of a method once it was executed using c#?
for example, I click a button and it will do something. Once it start, I'll get the start time, then when the execution is done, I'll get the time end and also the duration of time it take to finish.

You can use the Stopwatch, which resides in System.Diagnostics namespace.
This has the features of a normal stopwatch, with Start, Stop, Reset, ElapsedMilliseconds and so forth.
This is great for measuring a specific code block or method. You do however state that you want both start and end time in addition to the duration of execution. You could create a custom stopwatch by inheriting the Stopwatch class and extending it with a couple of DateTime properties.
public class CustomStopwatch : Stopwatch
{
public DateTime? StartAt { get; private set; }
public DateTime? EndAt { get; private set; }
public void Start()
{
StartAt = DateTime.Now;
base.Start();
}
public void Stop()
{
EndAt = DateTime.Now;
base.Stop();
}
public void Reset()
{
StartAt = null;
EndAt = null;
base.Reset();
}
public void Restart()
{
StartAt = DateTime.Now;
EndAt = null;
base.Restart();
}
}
And use it like this:
CustomStopwatch sw = new CustomStopwatch();
sw.Start();
Thread.Sleep(2342); // just to use some time, logic would be in here somewhere.
sw.Stop();
Console.WriteLine("Stopwatch elapsed: {0}, StartAt: {1}, EndAt: {2}", sw.ElapsedMilliseconds, sw.StartAt.Value, sw.EndAt.Value);

You can use System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch class to achieve this. see the sample
// Create new stopwatch
System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch stopwatch = new System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch();
// Begin timing
stopwatch.Start();
// Tasks performed by method
// Stop timing
stopwatch.Stop();
Console.WriteLine("Time taken : {0}", stopwatch.Elapsed);

I've done it by doing this
var watch = System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch.StartNew();
string startTime = DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString();
//Insert Code Here
watch.Stop();
string timeEnd = DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString();
//Time Format
string[] hours = watch.Elapsed.TotalHours.ToString().Split('.');
string[] minutes = watch.Elapsed.TotalMinutes.ToString().Split('.');
string[] seconds = watch.Elapsed.TotalSeconds.ToString().Split('.');
string[] milliseconds = watch.Elapsed.TotalMilliseconds.ToString().Split('.');
MessageBox.Show(hours[0].ToString() + ":" + minutes[0].ToString() + ":" + seconds[0].ToString() + "." + milliseconds[0].ToString());

First, you need to create a stopwatch object.
private readonly Stopwatch stopwatch = new Stopwatch();
Then, your method:
public void MyMethod()
{
stopwatch.Start();
// Any other code here.
stopwatch.Stop();
//returns longs
long runningTimeInMs = stopwatch.ElapsedMilliseconds;
}

String format error

I've coded a uptime to my application and it's just displaying random numbers?
the program time is this code
public static DateTime TimeStarted { get; set; }
public static void Time(string[] args)
{
//set start time
Program.TimeStarted = DateTime.Now;
}
and then this is a class to display the uptime
case "uptime":
{
TimeSpan sinceStarted = (TimeSpan)(DateTime.Now - Program.TimeStarted);
double secondsRunning = sinceStarted.TotalSeconds;
string message = string.Format("{0} Days, {1} hours, and {2} minutes", sinceStarted.Days, sinceStarted.Hours, sinceStarted.Minutes);
Session.SendData(UserAlertModernComposer.Compose("Stats", message));
return true;
}
its currently saying 735096 days 7 hours and 34 minutes when the uptime is around 20 minutes,

There is no need to keep yourself this value. It is already available in the Process.StartTime property. You only need to get an handle to the current process
Process p = Process.GetCurrentProcess();
TimeSpan sinceStarted = (TimeSpan)(DateTime.Now - p.StartTime);
string message = string.Format("{0} Days, {1} hours, and {2} minutes",
sinceStarted.Days, sinceStarted.Hours, sinceStarted.Minutes);

Consider using the Stopwatch class for your purposes. Its in the System.Diagnostics namespace and should be better suited for you.
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Threading;
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Stopwatch stopWatch = new Stopwatch();
stopWatch.Start();
Thread.Sleep(10000);
stopWatch.Stop();
// Get the elapsed time as a TimeSpan value.
TimeSpan ts = stopWatch.Elapsed;
// Format and display the TimeSpan value.
string elapsedTime = String.Format("{0:00}:{1:00}:{2:00}.{3:00}",
ts.Hours, ts.Minutes, ts.Seconds,
ts.Milliseconds / 10);
Console.WriteLine("RunTime " + elapsedTime);
}
}

As mentioned in my comment you are never calling your Time method. Which means TimeStarted will have the DateTime.MinValue. DateTime.MinValue is equivalent to 01/01/0001 00:00:00. Hence the result you are getting.
What you need to do is to write the following line in program.cs
Program.TimeStarted = DateTime.Now;
Rest is fine

Time elapse computation in milliseconds C#

I need to time the execution of a code sequence written in C#. Using DateTime.Now I get incorrect values for the millisecond field.
For example:
int start_time, elapsed_time;
start_time = DateTime.Now.Millisecond;
for(int i = 0; i < N_ITER; i++) {
// cpu intensive sequence
}
elapsed_time = DateTime.Now.Millisecond - start_time;
elapsed_time gives negative values.
How may I replace DateTime in order to obtain the actual value of the elapsed time?

using System.Diagnostics;
//...
var stopwatch = new Stopwatch();
stopwatch.Start();
for (int i = 0; i < N_ITER; i++) {
// cpu intensive sequence
}
stopwatch.Stop();
elapsed_time = stopwatch.ElapsedMilliseconds;

Answer EDITED based on comments
This answer is only trying to count the total elapsed Milliseconds between two times, where the times are derived directly from DateTime.Now. As per the conversation, it's understood that DateTime.Now is vulnerable to outside influences. Hence the best solution would be to use the Stopwatch class. Here's a link that better explains (IMO) and discusses the performance between DateTimeNow, DateTime.Ticks, StopWatch.
Original Answer
The way you cast it into a int is the issue. You need better casting and extra elements :)
This may looks simple compared to an efficient timer. But it works:
DateTime startTime, endTime;
startTime = DateTime.Now;
//do your work
endTime = DateTime.Now;
Double elapsedMillisecs = ((TimeSpan)(endTime - startTime)).TotalMilliseconds;
There is a reference on the web, you may want to check out as well.

You're looking for the Stopwatch class. It is specifically designed to bring back high-accuracy time measurements.
var stopwatch = new Stopwatch();
stopwatch.Start();
for (int i = 0; i < N_ITER; i++)
{
// cpu intensive sequence
}
stopwatch.Stop();
var elapsed = stopwatch.ElapsedMilliseconds;

Stopwatch there are examples in the URL
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.diagnostics.stopwatch?view=netframework-4.8
using System.Diagnostics;
//...
Stopwatch watch = new Stopwatch();
watch.Start();
// here the complex program.
//...
watch.Stop();
TimeSpan timeSpan = watch.Elapsed;
Console.WriteLine("Time: {0}h {1}m {2}s {3}ms", timeSpan.Hours, timeSpan.Minutes,
timeSpan.Seconds, timeSpan.Milliseconds);

DateTime.Millisecond just returns the millisecond fraction of the second, from 0-999. You would need to take the rest of the datetime into consideration when doing timings.
However, you should look at using the StopWatch class for these kinds of performance timings.

This works for me:
var lapsedTime = DateTime.Now.Subtract(beginTime).TotalMilliseconds;

Here is what I used to obtain the time for a simple computation:
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Decimal p = 0.00001m;
Decimal i = 0m;
DateTime start = new DateTime();
DateTime stop = new DateTime();
for (i = p; i <= 5; i = i + p)
{
Console.WriteLine("result is: " + i);
if (i==p) start = DateTime.Now;
if (i==5) stop = DateTime.Now;
}
Console.WriteLine("Time to compute: " + (stop-start));
}
}

C# Timer counter in xx.xx.xx format

I have a counter that counts up every 1 second and add 1 to an int.
Question
How can I format my string so the counter would look like this:
00:01:23
Instead of:
123
Things I've tried
Things I've tried so far:
for (int i = 0; i < 1; i++)
{
_Counter += 1;
labelUpTime.Text = _Counter.ToString();
}
My timer's interval is set to: 1000 (so it adds 1 every second).
I did read something about string.Format(""), but I don't know if it is applicable.
Thanks if you can guide me through this :D!

Use a TimeSpan:
_Counter += 1;
labelUpTime.Text = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(_Counter).ToString();

You could make it a TimeSpan (for that's what it is, a span of time), then format that:
labelUpTime.Text = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(_Counter).ToString();

Don't use a counter, and don't rely on the timer firing exactly every second. It won't. Do something like this.
class TimerTest
{
private DateTime _start = DateTime.Now;
private Timer _timer = new Timer(1000);
public TimerTest()
{
// (DateTime.Now - _start) returns a TimeSpan object
// Default TimeSpan.ToString() returns 00:00:00
_timer.Elapsed = (o, e) => labelUpTime.Text = (DateTime.Now - _start).ToString();
}
}
You can adjust the formatting with the TimeSpan.ToString method.

TimeSpan timer = new TimeSpan(0);
and on your interval:
timer += TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1);

Use timespan. To add a second use
mytimespan.Add(new TimespanFromSeconds(1));
Console.WriteLine(mytimespan); //Output in the form of xx:xx:xx
http://www.dotnetperls.com/timespan

it worked well for me
public TimeSpan ElapsedTimeFormatted
{
get
{
if (FinishedOn != null &&
StartedAt != null)
{
TimeSpan durationCount = new TimeSpan();
int hours = 0;
int minutes = 0;
int seconds = 0;
var times = Segments.Select(c => c.ElapsedTimeFormatted).ToList();
foreach (var time in times)
{
TimeSpan timeParse = TimeSpan.Parse(time);
hours = hours + (int)timeParse.Hours;
minutes = minutes + (int)timeParse.Minutes;
seconds = seconds + (int)timeParse.Seconds;
durationCount = new TimeSpan(hours, minutes, seconds);
}
return durationCount;
}
return new TimeSpan();
}
}