Visual Basic .Net Examples: The Tick Counter

	The Tick Counter

The .Net provides a special property used to count a specific number of lapses that have occurred since you started your computer. This information or counter is available through the Environment.TickCount property.

This property provides the number of milliseconds that have elapsed since you started your computer. Just like the timer control, what you do with the result is up to you and it can be used in various circumstances. For example, computer games and simulations make great use of this function.

After retrieving the value that this property provides, you can display it in a text-based control.

Overview

Start Microsoft Visual Basic .Net and create a Windows Application named TickCounter
Design the form as follows:
Add a timer control to the form (it will be positioned in the lower section of the view). Set its Interval to 20 and its Enabled to True

Declare a global private integer named CompTime

Public Class Form1
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

    Private CompTime As System.Int32

End Class

Double-click the form to get its Load event

Initialize the CompTime variable as follows:

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        CompTime = Environment.TickCount
    End Sub

Double-click the timer1 control and implement its Timer event as follows:

Private Sub timer1_Tick(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles timer1.Tick
        Dim CurTickValue As System.Int32 = Environment.TickCount
        Dim Difference As System.Int32 = CurTickValue - CompTime

        label1.Text = String.Format("This computer has been ON for {0}", CurTickValue.ToString())
        label2.Text = String.Format("This application has been running for {0}", Difference.ToString())
    End Sub

Double-click the Close button and implement it as follows:

Private Sub btnClose_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnClose.Click
        Close()
    End Sub

Test the application
After testing the application, close it

To make the values easier to read, change the code of the OnTimer event as follows:

Private Sub timer1_Tick(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles timer1.Tick
        Dim CurTickValue As System.Int32 = Environment.TickCount
        Dim Difference As System.Int32 = CurTickValue - CompTime

        Dim ComputerHours As System.Int32
        Dim ComputerMinutes As System.Int32
        Dim ComputerSeconds As System.Int32
        Dim ApplicationHours As System.Int32
        Dim ApplicationMinutes As System.Int32
        Dim ApplicationSeconds As System.Int32

        ComputerHours = (CurTickValue / (3600 * 999)) Mod 24
        ComputerMinutes = (CurTickValue / (60 * 999)) Mod 60
        ComputerSeconds = (CurTickValue / 999) Mod 60

        ApplicationHours = (Difference / (3600 * 999)) Mod 24
        ApplicationMinutes = (Difference / (60 * 999)) Mod 60
        ApplicationSeconds = (Difference / 999) Mod 60

        label1.Text = String.Format("This computer has been ON for {0} hours, {1} minutes {2} seconds", _
                           CStr(ComputerHours), _
                           CStr(ComputerMinutes), _
                           CStr(ComputerSeconds))

        label2.Text = String.Format("This application has been running for {0} hours, {1} minutes {2} seconds", _
                                CStr(ApplicationHours), _
                                CStr(ApplicationMinutes), _
                                CStr(ApplicationSeconds))
    End Sub

Test the application:
After testing the application, close it