A timer in Visual C++ is the term used to describe an arbitrary lapse of time. Programmers are the only people to set up and use timers within an application. The outside user does not intereact with the timer; the programmer has complete control over timers. Timers in Visual C++ are invoked using a predefined method call.
Instructions
1. Create a Timer in MFC. The command to accomplish this is the SetTimer() method. The complete syntax is:
SetTimer(1,200,0);
1 is your nIDEvent.
200 is your timing interval.
0 indicates that you are using the CWnds callback routine.
2. Determine your interval for the timer. This depends on what exactly you need the timer to do. This number is represented in milliseconds.
3. Open up Visual C++ on your Windows programming workstation. Regardless of whether you are working on an existing project or starting your own from scratch, implement your timer in a new method.
4. Kill the timer when you are finished using it. The syntax to accomplish this is KillTimer(int nIDEvent). Therefore, you want to use the same nIDEvent that was defined during creation.
5. Write your method that uses the timer. Typically, timers are used during drawing exercises. However, timers may be used for any programming task.
6. Test your application method. It is usually a best practice to thoroughly unit test your method independently from your application.
7. Implement an OnTimer method. This method will be called whenever your timer reaches its terminal count. This method will contain the "nuts and bolts" of your timer project.
