circuitpython/docs/library/utime.rst

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:mod:`utime` -- time related functions
======================================
.. module:: utime
:synopsis: time related functions
The ``utime`` module provides functions for getting the current time and date,
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measuring time intervals, and for delays.
**Time Epoch**: Unix port uses standard for POSIX systems epoch of
1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. However, embedded ports use epoch of
2000-01-01 00:00:00 UTC.
**Maintaining actual calendar date/time**: This requires a
Real Time Clock (RTC). On systems with underlying OS (including some
RTOS), an RTC may be implicit. Setting and maintaining actual calendar
time is responsibility of OS/RTOS and is done outside of MicroPython,
it just uses OS API to query date/time. On baremetal ports however
system time depends on ``machine.RTC()`` object. The current calendar time
may be set using ``machine.RTC().datetime(tuple)`` function, and maintained
by following means:
* By a backup battery (which may be an additional, optional component for
a particular board).
* Using networked time protocol (requires setup by a port/user).
* Set manually by a user on each power-up (many boards then maintain
RTC time across hard resets, though some may require setting it again
in such case).
If actual calendar time is not maintained with a system/MicroPython RTC,
functions below which require reference to current absolute time may
behave not as expected.
Functions
---------
.. function:: localtime([secs])
Convert a time expressed in seconds since the Epoch (see above) into an 8-tuple which
contains: (year, month, mday, hour, minute, second, weekday, yearday)
If secs is not provided or None, then the current time from the RTC is used.
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* year includes the century (for example 2014).
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* month is 1-12
* mday is 1-31
* hour is 0-23
* minute is 0-59
* second is 0-59
* weekday is 0-6 for Mon-Sun
* yearday is 1-366
.. function:: mktime()
This is inverse function of localtime. It's argument is a full 8-tuple
which expresses a time as per localtime. It returns an integer which is
the number of seconds since Jan 1, 2000.
.. only:: port_unix or port_pyboard or port_esp8266
.. function:: sleep(seconds)
Sleep for the given number of seconds. Seconds can be a floating-point number to
sleep for a fractional number of seconds. Note that other MicroPython ports may
not accept floating-point argument, for compatibility with them use ``sleep_ms()``
and ``sleep_us()`` functions.
.. only:: port_wipy
.. function:: sleep(seconds)
Sleep for the given number of seconds.
.. only:: port_unix or port_pyboard or port_wipy or port_esp8266
.. function:: sleep_ms(ms)
Delay for given number of milliseconds, should be positive or 0.
.. function:: sleep_us(us)
Delay for given number of microseconds, should be positive or 0
.. function:: ticks_ms()
Returns an increasing millisecond counter with an arbitrary reference point,
that wraps around after some value. This value is not explicitly exposed,
but we will refer to it as `TICKS_MAX` to simplify discussion. Period of
the values is `TICKS_PERIOD = TICKS_MAX + 1`. `TICKS_PERIOD` is guaranteed
to be a power of two, but otherwise may differ from port to port. The same
period value is used for all of ticks_ms(), ticks_us(), ticks_cpu() functions
(for simplicity). Thus, these functions will return a value in range
[0 .. `TICKS_MAX`], inclusive, total `TICKS_PERIOD` values. Not that only
non-negative values are used. For the most part, you should treat values
return by these functions as opaque. The only operations available for them
are ``ticks_diff()`` and ``ticks_add()`` functions described below.
Note: Performing standard mathematical operations (+, -) on these value
will lead to invalid result. Performing such operations and then passing
results as arguments to ``ticks_diff()`` or ``ticks_add()`` will also lead to
invalid result.
.. function:: ticks_us()
Just like ``ticks_ms`` above, but in microseconds.
.. function:: ticks_cpu()
Similar to ``ticks_ms`` and ``ticks_us``, but with the highest possible resolution
in the system. This is usually CPU clocks, and that's why the function is named that
way. But it doesn't have to a CPU clock, some other timing source available in a
system (e.g. high-resolution timer) can be used instead. The exact timing unit
(resolution) of this function is not specified on ``utime`` module level, but
documentation for a specific port may provide more specific information. This
function is intended for very fine benchmarking or very tight real-time loops.
Avoid using it in portable code.
Availability: Not every port implement this function.
.. function:: ticks_diff(ticks1, ticks2)
Measure ticks difference between values returned from ticks_ms(), ticks_us(), or ticks_cpu()
functions. The argument order is the same as for subtraction operator,
``tick_diff(ticks1, ticks2)`` has the same meaning as ``ticks1 - ticks2``. However, values returned by
ticks_ms(), etc. functions may wrap around, so directly using subtraction on them will
produce incorrect result. That is why ticks_diff() is needed, it implements modular
(or more specifically, ring) arithmetics to produce correct result even for wrap-around
values (as long as they not too distant inbetween, see below). The function returns
**signed** value in the range [`-TICKS_PERIOD/2` .. `TICKS_PERIOD/2-1`] (that's a typical
range definition for two's-complement signed binary integers). If the result is negative,
it means that `ticks1` occured earlier in time than `ticks2`. Otherwise, it means that
`ticks1` was after `ticks2`. This holds `only` if `ticks1` and `ticks2` are apart from
each other for no more than `TICKS_PERIOD/2-1` ticks. If that does not hold, incorrect
result will be returned. Specifically, if 2 tick values are apart for `TICKS_PERIOD/2-1`
ticks, that value will be returned by the function. However, if `TICKS_PERIOD/2` of
real-time ticks has passed between them, the function will return `-TICKS_PERIOD/2`
instead, i.e. result value will wrap around to the negative range of possible values.
``ticks_diff()`` is designed to accommodate various usage patterns, among them:
Polling with timeout. In this case, the order of events is known, and you will deal
only with positive results of ``ticks_diff()``::
# Wait for GPIO pin to be asserted, but at most 500us
start = time.ticks_us()
while pin.value() == 0:
if time.ticks_diff(time.ticks_us(), start) > 500:
raise TimeoutError
Scheduling events. In this case, ``ticks_diff()`` result may be negative
if an event is overdue::
# This code snippet is not optimized
now = time.ticks_ms()
scheduled_time = task.scheduled_time()
if ticks_diff(now, scheduled_time) > 0:
print("Too early, let's nap")
sleep_ms(ticks_diff(now, scheduled_time))
task.run()
elif ticks_diff(now, scheduled_time) == 0:
print("Right at time!")
task.run()
elif ticks_diff(now, scheduled_time) < 0:
print("Oops, running late, tell task to run faster!")
task.run(run_faster=true)
Note: Do not pass ``time()`` values to ``ticks_diff()``, and should use
normal mathematical operations on them. But note that ``time()`` may (and will)
also overflow. This is known as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem .
.. function:: time()
Returns the number of seconds, as an integer, since the Epoch, assuming that underlying
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RTC is set and maintained as described above. If an RTC is not set, this function returns
number of seconds since a port-specific reference point in time (for embedded boards without
a battery-backed RTC, usually since power up or reset). If you want to develop portable
MicroPython application, you should not rely on this function to provide higher than second
precision. If you need higher precision, use ``ticks_ms()`` and ``ticks_us()`` functions,
if you need calendar time, ``localtime()`` without an argument is a better choice.
.. admonition:: Difference to CPython
:class: attention
In CPython, this function returns number of
seconds since Unix epoch, 1970-01-01 00:00 UTC, as a floating-point,
usually having microsecond precision. With MicroPython, only Unix port
uses the same Epoch, and if floating-point precision allows,
returns sub-second precision. Embedded hardware usually doesn't have
floating-point precision to represent both long time ranges and subsecond
precision, so they use integer value with second precision. Some embedded
hardware also lacks battery-powered RTC, so returns number of seconds
since last power-up or from other relative, hardware-specific point
(e.g. reset).