Determine if Timer is running

Question

In this Link it shows how to determine if a timer is running. For me it is not working.

I have the timer declared in a static class as shown

public static class ServiceGlobals // Globals
{

    public static System.Timers.Timer _timer = new System.Timers.Timer();
}

}

On Start-up of my service, I set the timer properties

 protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
        {                  

                    ServiceGlobals._timer.AutoReset = false;
                    ServiceGlobals._timer.Interval = (3000);
                    ServiceGlobals._timer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(_timer_Elapsed);
                    ServiceGlobals._timer.Enabled = true;
                    ServiceGlobals._timer.Start(); // Start timer                  
        }

then i check if it is running in one of my methods but even when it is running the code is always false

if (ServiceGlobals._timer.Enabled) // Check if the timer is running
{
    // Return error.........

}

Try this and see what it returns. `ServiceGlobals._timer.Enabled = true;if (ServiceGlobals._timer.Enabled){}` — Sriram Sakthivel, Apr 13 '14 at 16:25
Side note: 1.You shouldn't expose public fields. 2.Non public members should have "PascalCase" naming convention with no prefixes. — Sriram Sakthivel, Apr 13 '14 at 16:27
We could already tell from your previous question that your Interval property is too short. So yes, very high odds that you'll get *false* because the Elapsed event handler is running. No guarantee however. Use a bool variable to keep track. And note the inevitable race condition, stopping the timer doesn't stop the Elapsed event handler from running nor does it prevent you from enabling the timer again. If you are sick of this class yet then [have a look here](http://stackoverflow.com/a/2033431/17034). — Hans Passant, Apr 13 '14 at 18:03

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 13 '14 at 16:25

2

You must have missed this part of the thread you linked:

"If Timer.AutoReset is true, then Enabled will automatically be set to false the first time the timer expires."

answered Apr 13 '14 at 16:25

Steve Wellens

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but i have Timer.AutoReset set to false – user1438082 Apr 13 '14 at 16:26
I see that. So Enabled will NOT be set to false automatically. So you can't use it to see if it is running. Maybe you need to see if the function the timer executes is running, or have the function set Enabled to false. – Steve Wellens Apr 13 '14 at 16:27
Ok i understand what you are saying now. – user1438082 Apr 13 '14 at 16:32
I misspoke in my previous comment, you CAN use Enabled to see if the timer is running when AutoReset is false...it's always running...it'll always be true. – Steve Wellens Apr 13 '14 at 16:34
So in my function should i set ServiceGlobals._timer.Enabled = false; and at the end of the method ServiceGlobals._timer.Enabled = true; ? This is going to look messy. – user1438082 Apr 13 '14 at 16:35
It depends on what you want to do. – Steve Wellens Apr 13 '14 at 16:44

Determine if Timer is running

1 Answers1