Sleep for milliseconds

Question

I know the POSIX sleep(x) function makes the program sleep for x seconds. Is there a function to make the program sleep for x milliseconds in C++?

Answer 1

In C++11, you can do this with standard library facilities:

#include <chrono>
#include <thread>

std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(x));

Clear and readable, no more need to guess at what units the sleep() function takes.

Answer 2

Note that there is no standard C API for milliseconds, so (on Unix) you will have to settle for usleep, which accepts microseconds:

#include <unistd.h>

unsigned int microseconds;
...
usleep(microseconds);

Answer 3

To stay portable you could use Boost::Thread for sleeping:

#include <boost/thread/thread.hpp>

int main()
{
    //waits 2 seconds
    boost::this_thread::sleep( boost::posix_time::seconds(1) );
    boost::this_thread::sleep( boost::posix_time::milliseconds(1000) );

    return 0;
}

This answer is a duplicate and has been posted in this question before. Perhaps you could find some usable answers there too.

Answer 4

In Unix you can use usleep.

In Windows there is Sleep.

Answer 5

Depending on your platform you may have usleep or nanosleep available. usleep is deprecated and has been deleted from the most recent POSIX standard; nanosleep is preferred.

Answer 6

Why don't use time.h library? Runs on Windows and POSIX systems (don't use this code in production!):

CPU stays in IDLE state:

#include <iostream>
#ifdef _WIN32
    #include <windows.h>
#else
    #include <unistd.h>
#endif // _WIN32

using namespace std;

void sleepcp(int milliseconds);

void sleepcp(int milliseconds) // Cross-platform sleep function
{
    #ifdef _WIN32
        Sleep(milliseconds);
    #else
        usleep(milliseconds * 1000);
    #endif // _WIN32
}
int main()
{
    cout << "Hi! At the count to 3, I'll die! :)" << endl;
    sleepcp(3000);
    cout << "urrrrggghhhh!" << endl;
}

Answer 7

From C++14 using std and also its numeric literals:

#include <chrono>
#include <thread>

using namespace std::chrono_literals;

std::this_thread::sleep_for(123ms);

Answer 8

#include <windows.h>

Syntax:

Sleep (  __in DWORD dwMilliseconds   );

Usage:

Sleep (1000); //Sleeps for 1000 ms or 1 sec

Answer 9

nanosleep is a better choice than usleep - it is more resilient against interrupts.

Answer 10

If using MS Visual C++ 10.0, you can do this with standard library facilities:

Concurrency::wait(milliseconds);

you will need:

#include <concrt.h>

Answer 11

On platforms with the select function (POSIX, Linux, and Windows) you could do:

void sleep(unsigned long msec) {
    timeval delay = {msec / 1000, msec % 1000 * 1000};
    int rc = ::select(0, NULL, NULL, NULL, &delay);
    if(-1 == rc) {
        // Handle signals by continuing to sleep or return immediately.
    }
}

However, there are better alternatives available nowadays.

Answer 12

The way to sleep your program in C++ is the Sleep(int) method. The header file for it is #include "windows.h."

For example:

#include "stdafx.h"
#include "windows.h"
#include "iostream"
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    int x = 6000;
    Sleep(x);
    cout << "6 seconds have passed" << endl;
    return 0;
}

The time it sleeps is measured in milliseconds and has no limit.

Second = 1000 milliseconds
Minute = 60000 milliseconds
Hour = 3600000 milliseconds

Answer 13

Select call is a way of having more precision (sleep time can be specified in nanoseconds).

Answer 14

Use Boost asynchronous input/output threads, sleep for x milliseconds;

#include <boost/thread.hpp>
#include <boost/asio.hpp>

boost::thread::sleep(boost::get_system_time() + boost::posix_time::millisec(1000));

Answer 15

As a Win32 replacement for POSIX systems:

void Sleep(unsigned int milliseconds) {
    usleep(milliseconds * 1000);
}

while (1) {
    printf(".");
    Sleep((unsigned int)(1000.0f/20.0f)); // 20 fps
}

Answer 16

The question is old, but I managed to figure out a simple way to have this in my app. You can create a C/C++ macro as shown below use it:

#ifndef MACROS_H
#define MACROS_H

#include <unistd.h>

#define msleep(X) usleep(X * 1000)

#endif // MACROS_H

Answer 17

Elegant solution from the one answer, bit modified.. One can easilly add select() usage if there's no better functionality available. Just make function that uses select() etc. ..

Code:

#include <iostream>

/*
 Prepare defines for millisecond sleep function that is cross-platform
*/
#ifdef _WIN32
#  include <Windows.h>
#  define sleep_function_name           Sleep
#  define sleep_time_multiplier_for_ms      1
#else
#  include <unistd.h>
#  define sleep_function_name           usleep
#  define sleep_time_multiplier_for_ms      1000
#endif

/* Cross platform millisecond sleep */
void cross_platform_sleep_ms(unsigned long int time_to_sleep_in_ms)
{
   sleep_function_name ( sleep_time_multiplier_for_ms * time_to_sleep_in_ms );
}

Answer 18

I use this:

#include <thread>
#define sleepms(val) std::this_thread::sleep_for(val##ms)

example:

sleepms(200);

Answer 19

for C use /// in gcc.

#include <windows.h>

then use Sleep(); /// Sleep() with capital S. not sleep() with s .

//Sleep(1000) is 1 sec /// maybe.

clang supports sleep(), sleep(1) is for 1 sec time delay/wait.