GetTickCount.md

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Function name : GetTickCount

Group: Time - Library: kernel32

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Retrieves the number of milliseconds that have elapsed since the system was started.

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Code examples:

Using the GetTempFileName
Retrieving the elapsed time since the system was started
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Declaration:

DWORD GetTickCount(VOID);  

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FoxPro declaration:

DECLARE LONG GetTickCount IN kernel32  

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Parameters:

This function has no parameters.

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Return value:

The return value is the number of milliseconds that have elapsed since the system was started.

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Comments:

DWORD or INTEGER both allow to keep 4 bytes, that means maximum of 4,294,967,295 milliseconds -> 1193 hours -> 49.7103 days.

So after 49 and something days without rebooting the computer, this 32-bit counter overflows.

Use the QueryPerformanceFrequency and QueryPerformanceCounter functions to access the high-resolution performance counter that operates 64-bit values.

Read more about time counters.

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The GetTickCount64 function is free of the 49.71 limitation, if only one can find a way to return its 8-byte return value back to FoxPro. Unless, of course, this function is called in external library.

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The timeGetTime function (Winmm.dll) is the absolute twin of the GetTickCount.

DECLARE LONG timeGetTime IN winmm

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