SECONDS

(Read-only) The SECONDS option holds the number of seconds since January 1, 1970. As an aid to enhancing a program's speed, SECONDS can be used to determine how many real seconds elapse while the program is running.

Data type

INTEGER

Syntax

SECONDS

Examples

Example 21-21 Timing a Program Using SECONDS

The following program puts the value of SECONDS at the start of the program in a variable called t1, then displays the difference between t1 and the value of SECONDS at the end of the program.

DEFINE prodsummary PROGRAM
PROGRAM
VARIABLE t1 INTEGER
t1 = seconds
LIMIT product TO ALL
BLANK
FOR product
DO
  ROW WIDTH 16 name.product ACROSS month Jun96: DECIMAL 0 LSET -
   '$'WIDTH 18 <RSET ' (actual)' sales RSET ' (plan)' sales.plan>
DOEND
BLANK
ROW WIDTH 35 LSET 'the program took ' RSET ' SECOND(s).' -
 (SECONDS-t1)
END

Running this program produces the following results.

3-Person Tents     $95,121 (actual)     $80,138 (plan)
Aluminum Canoes   $157,762 (actual)    $132,931 (plan)
Tennis Racquets    $97,174 (actual)     $84,758 (plan)
Warm-up Suits      $79,630 (actual)     $73,569 (plan)
Running Shoes     $153,688 (actual)    $109,219 (plan)
 
      The program took 2 second(s).