Timers (SetTimer and CreateWaitableTimer) in Windows

SetTimer

The following example creates a timer (that is not attached to a window) whose Timer Procedure creates 20 Message Boxes

#include <windows.h>

class foo_class {
  static int counter;
public:
  static void  __stdcall timer_proc(HWND,unsigned int, unsigned int, unsigned long) {
    if (counter++ < 20)
      MessageBox(0,"Hello","MessageBox",0);
    else
      PostQuitMessage(0);
  }
};

int foo_class::counter=0;

WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE,HINSTANCE,LPSTR,int) {

int iTimerID = SetTimer(0, 0, 300, foo_class::timer_proc);
  MSG m;
  while (GetMessage(&m,0,0,0)) {
    TranslateMessage(&m);
    DispatchMessage(&m);

   }
  return 1;
}

CreateWaitableTimer

This example demonstrates how to use Timers in windows. A timer will be set that is signalled for the first time 2 seconds after the first call to CreateWaitableTimer and then is signalled every 3/4th of a second.

#define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0400

#include <windows.h>
#include <process.h>
#include <stdio.h>

unsigned __stdcall TF(void* arg) {
  HANDLE timer=(HANDLE) arg;

  while (1) {
    WaitForSingleObject(timer,INFINITE);
    printf(".");
  }

}

int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {

  HANDLE timer = CreateWaitableTimer(
    0,
    false, // false=>will be automatically reset
    0);    // name

  LARGE_INTEGER li;

  const int unitsPerSecond=10*1000*1000; // 100 nano seconds

  // Set the event the first time 2 seconds
  // after calling SetWaitableTimer

  li.QuadPart=-(2*unitsPerSecond);
  SetWaitableTimer(
    timer,
    &li,
    750,   // Set the event every 750 milli Seconds
    0,
    0,
    false);

  _beginthreadex(0,0,TF,(void*) timer,0,0);

  // Wait forever,
  while (1) ;

  return 0;
}