SLEEP

Allows the program to pause execution for a specified time period.

COMMAND SYNTAX

SLEEP {expression}

SYNTAX ELEMENTS

expression may evaluate to one of two forms:

• Numeric in which case the statement will sleep for the specified number of seconds or fractions of a second.
• "nn:nn{:nn}" in which case the statement will sleep until the time specified.

If expression is not supplied then a default time period of 1 second is assumed.

NOTES

Sleeping until a specified time works by calculating the time between the current time and the time supplied and sleeping for that many seconds. If the host clock is changed in the meantime then the program will not wake up at the desired time.

If the debugger is invoked while a program is sleeping and then execution continued, the user will be prompted:
Continue with SLEEP (Y/N) ?
If "N" is the response, the program will continue at the next statement after the SLEEP.

See also MSLEEP to sleep for a specified number of milliseconds.

EXAMPLES

* Sleep until the end of the working day for anyone who doesn't program computers
SLEEP "17:30"
*
* 40 winks...
SLEEP 40
*
* Sleep for two and a half seconds...
SLEEP 2.5

jBC