TimerEx, hi precision timer using QueryPerformanceCounter

[Elroy]

You are (obviously) welcome to read all the posts in this thread. But I've made additional comments in post #26 that may be of interest to you.

I've posted this class many times in specific question threads, and I'm often referring to it, so I thought I'd post it here. It's just a high precision timer using the QueryPerformanceCounter API call.

I'm posting the entire CLS code (including the header stuff). So, to use it, open Notepad (or any ASCII editor), past it in, and save as TimerEx.cls. I've also attached in in the attached ZIP.

As a note, it's got the VB_PredeclaredId flag set to True. That can only be done to a CLS module with Notepad, and can't be done from the VB6 IDE. But, once done, it works perfectly. This flag auto instantiates the CLS module, using the CLS module's name as the object variable name. (Forms have this VB_PredeclaredId flag set to True by default. That's why you can use their names as an object variable that auto instantiates.)

With this VB_PredeclaredId = True, there's no need to declare any variable. Just start using the TimerEx, and it'll just work. It basically just becomes another keyword in the VB6 language.

There is only one read-only property (actually a function) named Value. However, it has it's Value.VB_UserMemId set to 0. This means it's the default. So you don't even have to say TimerEx.Value. You can just say TimerEx to get the value.

As a final note, if you use this for timing tests (which it's very good at), be sure to just get a value from TimerEx before you start your timings. Any CLS declared with New or with its VB_PredeclaredId flag set to True will be instantiated the first time you touch it, and not before. Therefore, you don't want your instantiation time interfering with anything, so "touch" it before using it in a critical way, and then it'll stay instantiated (unless you explicitly set it to Nothing).

Here's the code (with header info):

VERSION 1.0 CLASS
BEGIN
  MultiUse = -1  'True
  Persistable = 0  'NotPersistable
  DataBindingBehavior = 0  'vbNone
  DataSourceBehavior  = 0  'vbNone
  MTSTransactionMode  = 0  'NotAnMTSObject
END
Attribute VB_Name = "TimerEx"
Attribute VB_GlobalNameSpace = False
Attribute VB_Creatable = True
Attribute VB_PredeclaredId = True
Attribute VB_Exposed = False
'
' This class has VB_PredeclaredId = True.
' Also, the Value is set to the default property.
' Therefore, TimerEx will just act like a new built-in function.
' No need to declare an object variable or explicitly instantiate.
'
Option Explicit
'
Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceCounter Lib "kernel32" (lpPerformanceCount As Currency) As Long
Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceFrequency Lib "kernel32" (lpFrequency As Currency) As Long
'
Private cFreq As Currency
'

Private Sub Class_Initialize()
    QueryPerformanceFrequency cFreq
End Sub

Public Function Value() As Double
Attribute Value.VB_UserMemId = 0
    ' Must be Public (not Friend) so we can set default property.
    ' Returns seconds, a double, with high-precision.
    ' Caller is responsible for keeping track of start/stop times.
    ' Basically, it works exactly like the built-in Timer function, but with much more precision.
    Dim cValue As Currency
    QueryPerformanceCounter cValue
    Value = cValue / cFreq  ' The division will return a double, and it also cancels out the Currency decimal points.
End Function

And, the attachment is below.

Enjoy,
Elroy

EDIT1: Just as a notice, this TimerEx returns the number of seconds elapsed since the system on which it's running was last booted. And, AFAIK, it never rolls over. A Double can easily hold enough seconds that your computer would crumble to dust before it would need to roll over. This is in contrast to the built-in Timer function, which is pegged at midnight, and rolls over each day. Typically, I only use these things for Deltas (differences) so I don't care about their zero basis.

[wqweto]

I'm wondering if the performance optimization of caching cFreq is worth the whole class as the uncomplicated version can be implemented with a single function in a .bas file:

Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceCounter Lib "kernel32" (lpPerformanceCount As Currency) As Long
Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceFrequency Lib "kernel32" (lpFrequency As Currency) As Long
 
Public Function TimerEx() As Double
    Dim cFreq As Currency
    Dim cValue As Currency
    QueryPerformanceFrequency cFreq
    QueryPerformanceCounter cValue
    TimerEx = cValue / cFreq
End Function

cheers,
</wqw>

[The trick]

FYI, if you use VB_PredeclaredId = True then you have a small overhead because each access to an object translated to:

If cObj Is Nothing Then Set cObj = New cObj

[Elroy]

FYI, if you use VB_PredeclaredId = True then you have a small overhead because each access to an object translated to:

If cObj Is Nothing Then Set cObj = New cObj

Hmm, that's interesting. I suppose that's fine with me so long as the overhead is consistent.

-------------

I'm wondering if the performance optimization of caching cFreq is worth the whole class as the uncomplicated version can be implemented with a single function in a .bas file:

Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceCounter Lib "kernel32" (lpPerformanceCount As Currency) As Long
Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceFrequency Lib "kernel32" (lpFrequency As Currency) As Long
 
Public Function TimerEx() As Double
    Dim cFreq As Currency
    Dim cValue As Currency
    QueryPerformanceFrequency cFreq
    QueryPerformanceCounter cValue
    TimerEx = cValue / cFreq
End Function

cheers,
</wqw>

And that's also an interesting question. I guess I'll have to use QueryPerformanceCounter and QueryPerformanceFrequency to test themselves. Shouldn't be difficult though.

----------

Taking both of the above together though, I suppose in an ideally optimized situation, we'd keep it all in a BAS module and also have an "InitTimerEx" call that was mandated before "TimerEx" was called. We could check in the "TimerEx" procedure, but, again, that'd be some unwanted overhead.

Maybe I'll take a closer look at this stuff later,
Elroy

[DEXWERX]

The first call to your "Global" TimerEx function will instantiate the class - and add that overhead only to the first call.

[Elroy]

Okay, the verdict is in. There are four modules in all to do this testing, and that project is attached. However, the testing itself is all in Form1. Here's that code:

Option Explicit
'
Private Declare Function GetModuleHandle Lib "kernel32.dll" Alias "GetModuleHandleW" (ByVal lpModuleName As Long) As Long
'
Private Const Iterations = 2000000
Private ManualClsTimerEx As ManualClsTimerEx
'

Private Sub Form_Load()
    Text1.FontName = "Courier New"
    Text1.FontSize = 12
    '
    Set ManualClsTimerEx = New ManualClsTimerEx
    '
    Text1.Text = "CLICK THE FORM TO DO TIMINGS." & vbCrLf & _
                 " In The IDE:  " & InIde6 & vbCrLf & _
                 "Instantiate: " & AutoClsTimerEx & vbCrLf & _
                 "Instantiate: " & ManualClsTimerEx & vbCrLf & _
                 "---------------------" & vbCrLf
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Click()
    ' We'll just initialize the TimerExBasWithInit each time here (outside of any timings).
    InitForBasTimerEx
    '
    Text1.Text = Text1.Text & _
        "         TimeUsingAutoClass: " & TimeUsingAutoClass & vbCrLf & _
        "       TimeUsingManualClass: " & TimeUsingManualClass & vbCrLf & _
        "  TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: " & TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx & vbCrLf & _
        "TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: " & TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit & vbCrLf & _
        "---------------------" & vbCrLf
End Sub

Private Function TimeUsingAutoClass() As Double
    Dim i As Long
    Dim d As Double
    Dim dStart As Double
    Dim dEnd As Double
    '
    dStart = AutoClsTimerEx
    For i = 1 To Iterations
        d = AutoClsTimerEx      ' It's the timing of AutoClsTimerEx being tested.
    Next i
    dEnd = AutoClsTimerEx
    '
    TimeUsingAutoClass = dEnd - dStart
End Function

Private Function TimeUsingManualClass() As Double
    Dim i As Long
    Dim d As Double
    Dim dStart As Double
    Dim dEnd As Double
    '
    dStart = AutoClsTimerEx
    For i = 1 To Iterations
        d = ManualClsTimerEx    ' It's the timing of ManualClsTimerEx being tested.
    Next i
    dEnd = AutoClsTimerEx
    '
    TimeUsingManualClass = dEnd - dStart
End Function

Private Function TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx() As Double
    Dim i As Long
    Dim d As Double
    Dim dStart As Double
    Dim dEnd As Double
    '
    dStart = AutoClsTimerEx
    For i = 1 To Iterations
        d = NoInitBasTimerEx    ' It's the timing of NoInitBasTimerEx being tested.
    Next i
    dEnd = AutoClsTimerEx
    '
    TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx = dEnd - dStart
End Function

Private Function TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit() As Double
    Dim i As Long
    Dim d As Double
    Dim dStart As Double
    Dim dEnd As Double
    '
    dStart = AutoClsTimerEx
    For i = 1 To Iterations
        d = TimerExBasWithInit  ' It's the timing of TimerExBasWithInit being tested.
    Next i
    dEnd = AutoClsTimerEx
    '
    TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit = dEnd - dStart
End Function


Private Function InIde6() As Boolean
    InIde6 = (GetModuleHandle(StrPtr("vba6")) <> 0)
End Function

As you can see, I've tested four approaches to using these QueryPerformanceCounter and QueryPerformanceFrequency calls. Compiled, which is probably what we're most interested in, it turns out that we can see overhead in everything, and that a version that's in a BAS module and does an initialization call to QueryPerformanceFrequency (not calling it each time) is the fastest, as we'd expect. Next fastest is what wqweto recommended. Third fastest is the case where we use a CLS module but manually instantiate it (but that isn't consistent). And then last is the case presented in the OP. Here are a few compiled runs of my testing code:

 In The IDE:  False
Instantiate: 867457.654884335
Instantiate: 867457.654886158
---------------------
         TimeUsingAutoClass: 0.163434998015873
       TimeUsingManualClass: 0.166667456855066
  TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: 0.124106141505763
TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: 0.115294555202127
---------------------
         TimeUsingAutoClass: 0.163133778376505
       TimeUsingManualClass: 0.155467628850602
  TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: 0.118451162124984
TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: 0.114395637065172
---------------------
         TimeUsingAutoClass: 0.165043204557151
       TimeUsingManualClass: 0.159728099941276
  TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: 0.121101238648407
TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: 0.114371203933842
---------------------
         TimeUsingAutoClass: 0.162556136841886
       TimeUsingManualClass: 0.153970282757655
  TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: 0.120634822174907
TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: 0.10941129073035
---------------------

And, just for completeness, here are a few runs while still in the IDE:

CLICK THE FORM TO DO TIMINGS.
 In The IDE:  True
Instantiate: 867841.39021802
Instantiate: 867841.390223125
---------------------
         TimeUsingAutoClass: 0.323476716526784
       TimeUsingManualClass: 0.32679523807019
  TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: 0.241708710440435
TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: 0.221975176711567
---------------------
         TimeUsingAutoClass: 0.321620167931542
       TimeUsingManualClass: 0.318047469481826
  TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: 0.241511422442272
TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: 0.231404518708587
---------------------
         TimeUsingAutoClass: 0.31885193742346
       TimeUsingManualClass: 0.311261639813893
  TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: 0.242311514331959
TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: 0.222751929541118
---------------------
         TimeUsingAutoClass: 0.321575677837245
       TimeUsingManualClass: 0.335889081121422
  TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: 0.26366492419038
TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: 0.235398049349897
---------------------

However, let's not forget that we're typically going to call any one of these twice, once at the start of whatever we're timing, and once at the end of it. Therefore, whatever differences there are in the above timings are going to be minuscule (several decimal places smaller) than whatever it is we'll be timing. And, there's no way to remove all of the overhead (making the above numbers zero). Therefore, we just have to make sure that whatever it is we're checking for time is done many more times than calls to any of these timer functions.

Best Regards,
Elroy

[Elroy]

The first call to your "Global" TimerEx function will instantiate the class - and add that overhead only to the first call.

Dex, I thought Trick was suggesting that there's an "If cls Is Nothing..." check done on each call when VB_PredeclaredId=True.

However, the closeness of the timings for the first two methods (TimeUsingAutoClass and TimeUsingManualClass) (both compiled and in-IDE) suggest that that's possibly not the case. But, knowing Trick, he's possibly examined the machine code. If it is doing such a test, it's quite fast.

Elroy

[Elroy]

Also, just as an aside, all of this pretty conclusively shows that there's some overhead in making a call into an instantiated CLS as compared to making a call into a BAS (in general).

[The trick]

My results:

CLICK THE FORM TO DO TIMINGS.
In The IDE: False
Instantiate: 30717,4133387763
Instantiate: 30717,4133417096
---------------------
TimeUsingAutoClass: 2,38058461340916
TimeUsingManualClass: 2,38982265902814
TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: 4,44215207519301
TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: 2,26196890946085
---------------------

If i use the declared APIs in TLB i get:

CLICK THE FORM TO DO TIMINGS.
In The IDE: False
Instantiate: 31208,6440042659
Instantiate: 31208,6440076881
---------------------
TimeUsingAutoClass: 2,37273892351732
TimeUsingManualClass: 2,37825896866343
TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: 4,42636731763923
TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: 2,25509121969299
---------------------

Just make small optimizations:

CLICK THE FORM TO DO TIMINGS.
In The IDE: False
Instantiate: 31719,6791920482
Instantiate: 31719,6791935148
---------------------
TimeUsingAutoClass: 2,33123616269586
TimeUsingManualClass: 2,32856242902199
TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: 2,2230386822921
TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: 2,19657854559773
---------------------

Optimizations:

Option Explicit
'
'Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceCounter Lib "kernel32" (lpPerformanceCount As Currency) As Long
'Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceFrequency Lib "kernel32" (lpFrequency As Currency) As Long
'
Dim mdFreq As Double


Public Function NoInitBasTimerEx() As Double
    Static cFreq    As Currency
    Static dFreq    As Double
    Static bIsInit  As Boolean
    Dim cValue      As Currency
    
    If cFreq = 0 Then
    
        QueryPerformanceFrequency cFreq
        dFreq = cFreq
        
    End If
    
    QueryPerformanceCounter cValue
    NoInitBasTimerEx = cValue / dFreq
    
End Function

Public Sub InitForBasTimerEx()
    Dim cFreq As Currency
    
    QueryPerformanceFrequency cFreq
    mdFreq = cFreq
    
End Sub

Public Function TimerExBasWithInit() As Double
    Dim cValue As Currency
    QueryPerformanceCounter cValue
    TimerExBasWithInit = cValue / mdFreq
End Function

------------------------------------


'
' This class has VB_PredeclaredId = True.
' Also, the Value is set to the default property.
' Therefore, TimerEx will just act like a new built-in function.
' No need to declare an object variable or explicitly instantiate.
'
Option Explicit
'
'Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceCounter Lib "kernel32" (lpPerformanceCount As Currency) As Long
'Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceFrequency Lib "kernel32" (lpFrequency As Currency) As Long
'
Private dFreq As Double
'

Private Sub Class_Initialize()
    Dim cFreq As Currency
    QueryPerformanceFrequency cFreq
    dFreq = cFreq
End Sub

Public Function Value() As Double
    ' Must be Public (not Friend) so we can set default property.
    ' Returns seconds, a double, with high-precision.
    ' Caller is responsible for keeping track of start/stop times.
    ' Basically, it works exactly like the built-in Timer function, but with much more precision.
    Dim cValue As Currency
    QueryPerformanceCounter cValue
    Value = cValue / dFreq  ' The division will return a double, and it also cancels out the Currency decimal points.
End Function

[DEXWERX]

Dex, I thought Trick was suggesting that there's an "If cls Is Nothing..." check done on each call when VB_PredeclaredId=True.

He is (correctly) suggesting that. That code that does the test, has very little to no overhead on a modern cpu.
The problem is the first time it's called, you have the overhead of instantiating the class...

[wqweto]

Btw, does this TimerEx version has the midnight problem inherent to built-in Timer, i.e. this

Dim dblTimer As Double
dblTimer = Timer
Do While Timer < dblTimer + DURATION
    DoEvent
Loop

. . . is not working around midnight (will loop forever)?

cheers,
</wqw>

[The trick]

Elroy, when you declare a class with the VB_PredeclaredId attribute or you have a declaration looks like Dim cObj As New Class you'll have checking like:
The original code:

cObj.Method1(x, y, z);
cObj.Method2(x, y, z);

If ObjPtr(cObj) Then 
...
End if

is compiled to:

If cObj Is Nothing Then Set cObj = New Class
cObj.Method1(x, y, z);

If cObj Is Nothing Then Set cObj = New Class
cObj.Method2(x, y, z);

If cObj Is Nothing Then Set cObj = New Class
If ObjPtr(cObj) Then 
...
End if

[The trick]

Btw, does this TimerEx version has the midnight problem inherent to built-in Timer, i.e. this

Dim dblTimer As Double
dblTimer = Timer
Do While Timer < dblTimer + DURATION
    DoEvent
Loop

. . . is not working around midnight (will loop forever)?

cheers,
</wqw>

From MSDN:

How often does QPC roll over?

Not less than 100 years from the most recent system boot, and potentially longer based on the underlying hardware timer used. For most applications, rollover isn't a concern.

[Elroy]

Trick, please feel free to post your declarations TypeLib. If people are worried about these overheads, they could use it to build a TimerEx which would return in the fastest possible way.

Personally, I'm still thinking we're picking at nits. I seriously doubt that calls to any TimerEx are going to be within any tight loop. And, even if they are, I seriously doubt that the differences we're looking at are going to have any effect that's noticeable to within 4 or 5 (maybe more) decimal places.

Truth be told, I do use my TimerEx class within a long loop in some production code. Specifically, it's to slow down the "playing" of "frames" so that it matches the framerate at which the data were collected. Even here though, I'm typically talking about a framerate that's probably 240Hz at the fastest (much faster than the GPU).

So, that's a speed of 0.004166 seconds per frame. Let's think about how long it's taking to make a single call to TimerEx (using the slowest method). Just picking one of the above, we've got about 0.163434998015873 seconds to call it 2000000 times. Therefore, it takes about 0.0000000817 seconds to make the TimerEx call.

So, if we divide 0.0000000817 by 0.004166, we get about 0.0000196, or 0.00196%, of our frame time making a call to TimerEx to check the timing. That's a pretty small number, a number I'm willing to live with as minuscule overhead in a long loop.

Best Regards,
Elroy

EDIT1: Just as an FYI, I do see a distinction between a "tight loop" and a "long loop". To me, a "tight loop" should be one we want to run as fast as possible. And, in my case, a "long loop" is a loop we wish to run at a specific speed, typically much slower than the CPU would be capable of. Again, I can't think of a reason we'd want a TimerEx in a "tight loop", as we've done above to check the actual performances of the TimerEx function.

[wqweto]

@Elroy: Very good!

I've been using my custom Timer replacement called DateTimer just to overcome this built-in Timer limitation. I just made it so the returned value is Timer + Date * (24 * 60 * 60) i.e. the added part is the number of seconds since 1900-01-01.

It's using a single API call but has much less precision than TimerEx (only 5-6 digits past the floating point) and (just noticed) does not account for daylight saving time (we are changing back to astronomical time again this Sunday here in Europe).

cheers,
</wqw>

[Elroy]

Btw, does this TimerEx version has the midnight problem inherent to built-in Timer

Hey, thanks for the compliment.

And, no, the TimerEx (i.e., anything using QueryPerformanceCounter) shouldn't have the midnight problem. The TimerEx (with QueryPerformanceCounter divided by frequency) returns the number of seconds elapsed since the system was last booted. And, AFAIK, it never rolls over.

And, as you know, the built-in Timer is just pegged to seconds past midnight.

I only use these things to check Deltas (i.e., differences) so I never care about their zero basis. But that's a good point for people to know. I'll put a small notice in the OP about that.

Best Regards,
Elroy

[The trick]

Personally, I'm still thinking we're picking at nits. I seriously doubt that calls to any TimerEx are going to be within any tight loop. And, even if they are, I seriously doubt that the differences we're looking at are going to have any effect that's noticeable to within 4 or 5 (maybe more) decimal places.

I just told about how the VB6 does generally such things under the hood. These things are the general ones and don't affect (nearly) within the current situation/tests. I'm very embarrassed and i don't want to hijack the current thread to provide the more significant tests but if you don't mind i show the more significant case (and exactly attached the TLB ).
Once i had the discussion about the VB6 performance on the russian forum and we tested the Rnd function. I wrote the test of the random generation with the module, the class and the pure-VB-Rnd function. Of course all the analogs don't implement all the functionality of the Pure-VB-Rnd function (like the thread-independence, repeating etc.) but make the main task - the generation of random numbers between 0...1. That's code:
The main form:

Option Explicit

Private Const ITERATIONS = 20000000

Private Sub Form_Click()
    Dim fR1()   As Single
    Dim fR2()   As Single
    Dim fR3()   As Single
    Dim fRes1   As Currency
    Dim fRes2   As Currency
    Dim fRes3   As Currency
    Dim lIndex  As Long
    Dim cRndObj As New CRnd
    Dim cFreq   As Currency
    Dim cValue  As Currency
    Dim cValue2 As Currency
    
    ReDim fR1(ITERATIONS - 1)
    ReDim fR2(ITERATIONS - 1)
    ReDim fR3(ITERATIONS - 1)
    
    QueryPerformanceFrequency cFreq
    QueryPerformanceCounter cValue
    
    Set cRndObj = New CRnd
    
    For lIndex = 0 To ITERATIONS - 1
        fR1(lIndex) = cRndObj.MyRnd()
    Next
    
    QueryPerformanceCounter cValue2
    
    fRes1 = (cValue2 - cValue) / cFreq
    
    modRnd.InitRnd
    
    For lIndex = 0 To ITERATIONS - 1
        fR2(lIndex) = modRnd.MyRnd()
    Next
    
    QueryPerformanceCounter cValue
    
    fRes2 = (cValue - cValue2) / cFreq
    
    For lIndex = 0 To ITERATIONS - 1
        fR3(lIndex) = Rnd()
    Next
    
    QueryPerformanceCounter cValue2
    
    fRes3 = (cValue2 - cValue) / cFreq
    
    MsgBox "Obj " & Format$(fRes1, "0.00000") & vbNewLine & _
           "Mod " & Format$(fRes2, "0.00000") & vbNewLine & _
           "VBRnd " & Format$(fRes3, "0.00000")

    For lIndex = 0 To ITERATIONS - 1
        
        ' // Checking
        If fR2(lIndex) <> fR1(lIndex) Or _
           fR2(lIndex) <> fR3(lIndex) Then Stop
           
    Next

End Sub

CRnd class:

Option Explicit

Dim oldVal  As Long
 
Public Function MyRnd() As Single
    Dim bIsInIde    As Boolean
    
    Debug.Assert MakeTrue(bIsInIde)
    
    If Not bIsInIde Then
        oldVal = (&HFFC39EC3 - oldVal * &H2BC03) And &HFFFFFF
    Else
    
        ' // This code won't added to EXE
        GetMem4 CCur(429101.0243@ - (CCur(oldVal / 10000) * 179203@)), oldVal
        oldVal = oldVal And &HFFFFFF
        
    End If

    MyRnd = oldVal / 16777216
    
End Function

Private Sub Class_Initialize()
    oldVal = 327680
End Sub

modRnd.bas module:

Option Explicit

Dim oldVal  As Long
 
Public Function MyRnd() As Single
    Dim bIsInIde    As Boolean
    
    Debug.Assert MakeTrue(bIsInIde)
    
    If Not bIsInIde Then
        oldVal = (&HFFC39EC3 - oldVal * &H2BC03) And &HFFFFFF
    Else
    
        ' // This code won't added to EXE
        GetMem4 CCur(429101.0243@ - (CCur(oldVal / 10000) * 179203@)), oldVal
        oldVal = oldVal And &HFFFFFF
        
    End If

    MyRnd = oldVal / 16777216
    
End Function

Public Sub InitRnd()
    oldVal = 327680
End Sub

Public Function MakeTrue( _
                ByRef bIsInIde As Boolean) As Boolean
    bIsInIde = True
    MakeTrue = True
End Function

The results:
IDE:

---------------------------
Project1
---------------------------
Obj 7,68400

Mod 6,32100

VBRnd 0,99810
---------------------------
ОК
---------------------------

EXE (with the optimizations):

---------------------------
Project1
---------------------------
Obj 1,03530

Mod 0,15190

VBRnd 1,44850
---------------------------
ОК
---------------------------

The std-module implementation is almost 7 times faster than Class implementation and almost 10 times! faster than pure-vb-rnd function.

[Elroy]

I'm very embarrassed and i don't want to hijack the current thread...

Trick,

You hijack any of my threads anytime you want. I'd give both you and Wqweto stars for your contributions to this, but I need to spread some around first.

I'm still attracted to the simplicity and elegance of the class in the OP, although you've clearly shown that there are alternatives with less overhead. And, I don't think we've identified anything in that OP that would be called a bug.

Trick, have no doubt that I am extremely impressed with your understanding of VB6, at all levels! YOU are the one who should knock out an open-source version of the VB6 IDE and compiler. Heck, forget the linker. It works fine as it is.

You Take Care,
Elroy

[couttsj]

Silly question, but I have always used GetTickCount to get precision. Is QueryPerformanceCounter any more precise?

J.A. Coutts

[Elroy]

Hi Couttsj,

According to Microsoft, QueryPerformanceCounter can have a resolution of up to ONE millisecond. And GetTickCount can get no better than about 10 milliseconds (or ONE centisecond). Also, GetTickCount supposedly wraps after 49.7 days. Whereas, from any reference I can find, I don't believe that QueryPerformanceCounter ever wraps.

Best Regards,
Elroy

EDIT1: With the understanding that a Double gives us 15 digits of base-10 precision, and that we need four for our microseconds, that leaves 11 digits for whole-seconds. So, we could count up to 99,999,999,999 seconds before we needed to wrap. That's over 3,000 years, so I don't think we need to worry about wrapping.

[Elroy]

Hmmm, I thought about also developing a UnixTime high-precision timer (pegged at January 1, 1970), so we'd know what ZERO meant.

However, apparently, a good UnixTime function accounts for these things called "leap seconds", little adjustments we occasionally make to the clock to keep the noon sun at the top of the sky. Also, it'd be dependent upon the accuracy of the system clock, which I know can have inaccuracies.

Therefore, I think I'll let that one go.

[pekko]

According to Microsoft, QueryPerformanceCounter can have a resolution of up to ONE millisecond.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/fi-fi/lib...(v=vs.85).aspx
Retrieves the current value of the performance counter, which is a high resolution (<1us) time stamp that can be used for time-interval measurements.

So we're talking about nanoseconds

[couttsj]

Hi Couttsj,

According to Microsoft, QueryPerformanceCounter can have a resolution of up to ONE millisecond. And GetTickCount can get no better than about 10 milliseconds (or ONE centisecond). Also, GetTickCount supposedly wraps after 49.7 days. Whereas, from any reference I can find, I don't believe that QueryPerformanceCounter ever wraps.

Best Regards,
Elroy

EDIT1: With the understanding that a Double gives us 15 digits of base-10 precision, and that we need four for our microseconds, that leaves 11 digits for whole-seconds. So, we could count up to 99,999,999,999 seconds before we needed to wrap. That's over 3,000 years, so I don't think we need to worry about wrapping.

GetTickCount supposedly relies on the system timer. Using Clockres.exe from SysInternals yields:
------------------------------------------------
Clockres v2.1 - Clock resolution display utility
Copyright (C) 2016 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals

Maximum timer interval: 15.625 ms
Minimum timer interval: 0.500 ms
Current timer interval: 15.625 ms
------------------------------------------------
Using timeBeginPeriod 1/timeEndPeriod 1, I can reduce that Interval to 1.001 ms. But Win 8+ appears to use it inconsistently. So indeed your timer seems to be more precise.

J.A. Coutts

[couttsj]

For demonstration purposes, here is my version:

Option Explicit

Private Declare Sub Sleep Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long)
Private Declare Function timeBeginPeriod Lib "winmm.dll" (ByVal uPeriod As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function timeEndPeriod Lib "winmm.dll" (ByVal uPeriod As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceCounter Lib "kernel32" (lpPerformanceCount As Currency) As Long
Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceFrequency Lib "kernel32" (lpFrequency As Currency) As Long

Private Function TimerEx() As Double
    Dim cFreq As Currency
    Dim cValue As Currency
    QueryPerformanceFrequency cFreq
    QueryPerformanceCounter cValue
    TimerEx = cValue / cFreq
End Function

Private Sub cmdStart_Click()
    Dim Start As Double
    Static Delay As Long
    Dim Result(4) As Long
    Dim N%
    Delay = Delay + CLng(Text2.Text)
    Text1.Text = CStr(Delay) & " ms Delay" & vbCrLf
    timeBeginPeriod 1
    Start = TimerEx
    Sleep Delay
    Result(0) = CLng((TimerEx - Start) * 1000)
    Sleep Delay
    Result(1) = CLng((TimerEx - Start) * 1000)
    Sleep Delay
    Result(2) = CLng((TimerEx - Start) * 1000)
    Sleep Delay
    Result(3) = CLng((TimerEx - Start) * 1000)
    Sleep Delay
    Result(4) = CLng((TimerEx - Start) * 1000)
    timeEndPeriod 1
    For N% = 0 To 4
        Text1.Text = Text1.Text & Result(N%) & vbCrLf
    Next N%
End Sub

The delay is provided by the Sleep function, which has been enhanced using "timeBeginPeriod 1" and "timeEndPeriod 1". This modifies the System Timer Interval to 1.001, and is a system wide modification. As long as you use "timeEndPeriod" with the same interval as "timeBeginPeriod", the System Timer is restored to it's original setting. Each time the Start button is depressed, the delay is incremented by the ms box.
10 ms Delay
10 + 11 =
21 + 10 =
31 + 11 =
42 + 11 =
53
20 ms Delay
20 + 20 =
40 + 20 =
60 + 21 =
81 + 20 =
101
30 ms Delay
31 + 30 =
61 + 31 =
92 + 31 =
123 + 30 =
153
40 ms Delay
40 + 41 =
81 + 41 =
122 + 41 =
163 + 41 =
204
50 ms Delay
50 + 50 =
100 + 51 =
151 + 51 =
202 + 50 =
252

J.A. Coutts

[IliaPreston]

Thanks for the great code and advice in here.
But, I am totally confused.
I am exploring the code attached to Post#6 by Elroy, and am interested in the last option (TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit) because it is the fastest of all:

    Text1.Text = Text1.Text & _
        "         TimeUsingAutoClass: " & TimeUsingAutoClass & vbCrLf & _
        "       TimeUsingManualClass: " & TimeUsingManualClass & vbCrLf & _
        "  TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx: " & TimeUsingNoInitBasTimerEx & vbCrLf & _
        "TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit: " & TimeUsingTimerExBasWithInit & vbCrLf & _
        "---------------------" & vbCrLf

I am trying to simplify it (and extract the minimum code) for my use in my bas module, but there is some confusion.
As far as I understand, this technique of time calculation involves three declarations in a bas module (two API and one variable declaration):

Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceCounter Lib "kernel32" (lpPerformanceCount As Currency) As Long
Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceFrequency Lib "kernel32" (lpFrequency As Currency) As Long

Dim mcFreq As Currency

And one functions (in the same bas module) to be called only once when the application starts (for example in the MDIForm_Load):

Public Sub InitForBasTimerEx()
    QueryPerformanceFrequency mcFreq
End Sub

And another functions (also in the same bas module) to be called as many times as the programmer wishes to get the time since the application started (or the PC was rebooted):

Public Function TimerExBasWithInit() As Double
    Dim cValue As Currency
    QueryPerformanceCounter cValue
    TimerExBasWithInit = cValue / mcFreq
End Function

What I understand from all of this is that the bas module variable "mcFreq" should be declared as Public.
What I understand from all of this is that "mcFreq" should be available to the whole application, such that it is SET once (by a call to InitForBasTimerEx) when the application starts (for example in the MDIForm_Load), and then USED numerous times by any later calls to "TimerExBasWithInit"

But, I see that in that code, it is declared as Dim instead of Public.

I set a breakpoint in that project's Form_Load, and check the value of "mcFreq" before and after the call to:

    Set ManualClsTimerEx = New ManualClsTimerEx

in the Immediate window, and it shows the value as blank, and not a numeric value.

Can anybody shed some light to this matter please?

I am trying to EXTRACT the minumum code to add to my project for time calculation.
Can I assume that the above three little snippets that I have extracted (the declarations and the two functions) are all I need to put in my bas module?

Then why "mcFreq" is not Public?

Please help.
Thanks.

[Elroy]

Ilia, and all,

Several people are saying several things in this thread. However, if you want simple, just take what I posted in post #1, make a class out of it, and just use it (no explicit instantiation needed) as TimerEx.

Now, there are a couple of caveats:

• It's probably best to make the TimerEx call when your program starts up and then just toss the results. That will make sure it's instantiated and that you don't have that instantiation work_delay later on. It should stay instantiated for the life of your project unless you explicitly uninstantiate it (which would be: Set TimerEx = Nothing).
• On that first call to TimerEx, don't have it in the same procedure where you'll actually be using it for any timings.
• Yes, there is a touch of overhead (but minuscule) to calling TimerEx (that could be reduced, see The Trick's post #3 above), but it should be the same for each call. Therefore, if whatever your timing is more than a couple of seconds (or even less), then that overhead should be entirely negligible. And, there's always going to be a few CPU cycles of overhead regardless. We can't make API calls and have time stop while we do it.

Within those parameters, that class has served my purposes quite well. Actually, I use it for more than just testing the speed of code. I also use it for things such as timing the framerate when doing DirectX work, and it serves me quite well.

And, as a final note about that overhead ... it doesn't distort the reporting of TimerEx. It simply gets added to the reported time (or time elapsed). So, using it to test framerates works perfectly. And, say you call it twice to test the timing of some code in a loop, with a TimerEx call above and below the loop, in that case you will just have a fixed amount of minuscule built into your elapsed time.

Good Luck,
Elroy

EDIT1: And dilettante recently said something relevant in a another thread. Basically, in this age of potentially massive multi-tasking operating systems (like Windows 10), we will never get precise and consistent timings. For whatever CPU core our thread is running in, we will always be competing for CPU core timeslices with who knows what other processes and services.

[DOLAN]

This version is a little quicker than the class module, two times in the debugger and five times compiled.
Reports in milliseconds, which you might round to two or three places.
Copy to a module or save as .bas.

Option Explicit
Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceCounter Lib "kernel32" (lpPerformanceCount As Currency) As Long
Private Declare Function QueryPerformanceFrequency Lib "kernel32" (lpFrequency As Currency) As Long
Dim Clock1 As Currency
Dim Clock2 As Currency
Dim Freq As Double
Dim x As Long

Public Sub Start()
If x = 0 Then x = 2147483647: QueryPerformanceFrequency Clock1: Freq = 1000 / Clock1
QueryPerformanceCounter Clock1
End Sub

Public Function Finish() As Double
QueryPerformanceCounter Clock2
Finish = (Clock2 - Clock1) * Freq
End Function

You can return arbitrary units, e.g.,

Milliseconds

If x = 0 Then x = 2147483647: QueryPerformanceFrequency Clock1: Freq = 1000 / Clock1

Seconds

If x = 0 Then x = 2147483647: QueryPerformanceFrequency Clock1: Freq = 1 / Clock1

Minutes

If x = 0 Then x = 2147483647: QueryPerformanceFrequency Clock1: Freq = (1/60) / Clock1

Hours

If x = 0 Then x = 2147483647: QueryPerformanceFrequency Clock1: Freq = (1/3600) / Clock1

Microsecond(µs) measurements are possible (with Freq = 1000000 / Clock1) but if your performance counter is lower than 2 mhz you won't have absolute accuracy.
You can check the performance counter and with CPUZ or WinTimerTester.