# Calculating elapsed time **URL:** \ **Category:** ruby-talk\ **Created:** [16 April 2008 09:56 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/calculating-elapsed-time/45916 "2008-04-16T09:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clement\_Ow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@Clement\_Ow](https://rubytalk.org/u/Clement_Ow)\ **Post date:** [16 April 2008 09:56 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/calculating-elapsed-time/45916/1 "2008-04-16T09:56:04Z")
I have a program where i put the time at the beginning: puts $t1=Time.now and then after running some commands, i put the time again: puts $t2=Time.now and then have a method to calculate the time elapsed: def calTime starttime\_sec= $t1.strftime("%S").to\_i starttime\_min= $t1.strftime("%M").to\_i endtime\_sec= $t2.strftime("%S").to\_i endtime\_min= $t2.strftime("%M").to\_i diff\_sec= endtime\_sec - starttime\_sec diff\_sec1= diff\_sec.to\_s diff\_min= endtime\_min - starttime\_min diff\_min1= diff\_min.to\_s puts "\nElapsed time:\n "+ "Min-\> " +diff\_min1 + " Sec-\> "+ diff\_sec1 However, the calculation has limitations because if the start time is say, 4:50 and the end time is 5:10, it will return an errorneous value like -49 for the Min value, which is obviously not what we want.. Any alternative method or any corrections to the method are welcome. 馃槈 > **路路路** > > -- > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Inaki\_Baz\_Castillo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f14d63/32.png) [@Inaki\_Baz\_Castillo](https://rubytalk.org/u/Inaki_Baz_Castillo)\ **Post date:** [16 April 2008 10:04 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/calculating-elapsed-time/45916/2 "2008-04-16T10:04:53Z")
require 'benchmark' time = Benchmark.realtime { do\_all\_stuff } puts "Elapsed time: #{time}" 馃槈 > **路路路** > > 2008/4/16, Clement Ow \: > > > Any alternative method or any corrections to the method are welcome. 馃槈 > > -- > I帽aki Baz Castillo > \ ---
**Author:** ![Jesus\_Gabriel\_y\_Gala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@Jesus\_Gabriel\_y\_Gala](https://rubytalk.org/u/Jesus_Gabriel_y_Gala)\ **Post date:** [16 April 2008 10:24 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/calculating-elapsed-time/45916/3 "2008-04-16T10:24:56Z")
Alternative: irb(main):001:0\> start = Time.now =\> Wed Apr 16 12:06:23 +0200 2008 irb(main):003:0\> finish = Time.now =\> Wed Apr 16 12:07:24 +0200 2008 irb(main):005:0\> elapsed = (finish - start).to\_i =\> 65 irb(main):012:0\> mins = elapsed / 60 =\> 1 irb(main):013:0\> secs = elapsed % 60 =\> 5 Jesus. > **路路路** > > On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 11:56 AM, Clement Ow \ wrote: > > > I have a program where i put the time at the beginning: > > puts $t1=Time.now > > > > and then after running some commands, i put the time again: > > puts $t2=Time.now > > > > and then have a method to calculate the time elapsed: > > def calTime > > starttime\_sec= $t1.strftime("%S").to\_i > > starttime\_min= $t1.strftime("%M").to\_i > > endtime\_sec= $t2.strftime("%S").to\_i > > endtime\_min= $t2.strftime("%M").to\_i > > diff\_sec= endtime\_sec - starttime\_sec > > diff\_sec1= diff\_sec.to\_s > > diff\_min= endtime\_min - starttime\_min > > diff\_min1= diff\_min.to\_s > > puts "\nElapsed time:\n "+ "Min-\> " +diff\_min1 + " Sec-\> "+ diff\_sec1 > > > > However, the calculation has limitations because if the start time is > > say, 4:50 and the end time is 5:10, it will return an errorneous value > > like -49 for the Min value, which is obviously not what we want.. > > > > Any alternative method or any corrections to the method are welcome. 馃槈 ---
**Author:** ![Rob\_Biedenharn1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Rob\_Biedenharn1](https://rubytalk.org/u/Rob_Biedenharn1)\ **Post date:** [16 April 2008 14:47 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/calculating-elapsed-time/45916/4 "2008-04-16T14:47:05Z")
> > I have a program where i put the time at the beginning: > > puts $t1=Time.now > > > > and then after running some commands, i put the time again: > > puts $t2=Time.now > > > > and then have a method to calculate the time elapsed: > > def calTime > > starttime\_sec= $t1.strftime("%S").to\_i > > starttime\_min= $t1.strftime("%M").to\_i > > endtime\_sec= $t2.strftime("%S").to\_i > > endtime\_min= $t2.strftime("%M").to\_i > > diff\_sec= endtime\_sec - starttime\_sec > > diff\_sec1= diff\_sec.to\_s > > diff\_min= endtime\_min - starttime\_min > > diff\_min1= diff\_min.to\_s > > puts "\nElapsed time:\n "+ "Min-\> " +diff\_min1 + " Sec-\> "+ diff\_sec1 > > > > However, the calculation has limitations because if the start time is > > say, 4:50 and the end time is 5:10, it will return an errorneous value > > like -49 for the Min value, which is obviously not what we want.. > > > > Any alternative method or any corrections to the method are welcome. 馃槈 > > Alternative: > > irb(main):001:0\> start = Time.now > =\> Wed Apr 16 12:06:23 +0200 2008 > irb(main):003:0\> finish = Time.now > =\> Wed Apr 16 12:07:24 +0200 2008 > irb(main):005:0\> elapsed = (finish - start).to\_i > =\> 65 > irb(main):012:0\> mins = elapsed / 60 > =\> 1 > irb(main):013:0\> secs = elapsed % 60 > =\> 5 > > Jesus. or: > start = Time.now =\> Wed Apr 16 10:41:03 -0400 2008 > finish = Time.now =\> Wed Apr 16 10:45:53 -0400 2008 > elapsed = finish.to\_f - start.to\_f # note to\_f to keep fractional seconds =\> 289.695813894272 > mins, secs = elapsed.divmod 60.0 =\> [4, 49.6958138942719] > puts("%3d:%04.2f"%[mins.to\_i, secs])    4:49.70 =\> nil -Rob Rob Biedenharn [http://agileconsultingllc.com](http://agileconsultingllc.com) Rob@AgileConsultingLLC.com > **路路路** > > On Apr 16, 2008, at 6:24 AM, Jes煤s Gabriel y Gal谩n wrote: > > > On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 11:56 AM, Clement Ow \> \ wrote: ---
**Author:** ![Jesus\_Gabriel\_y\_Gala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@Jesus\_Gabriel\_y\_Gala](https://rubytalk.org/u/Jesus_Gabriel_y_Gala)\ **Post date:** [16 April 2008 15:01 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/calculating-elapsed-time/45916/5 "2008-04-16T15:01:42Z")
> or: > \> start = Time.now > =\> Wed Apr 16 10:41:03 -0400 2008 > \> finish = Time.now > =\> Wed Apr 16 10:45:53 -0400 2008 > \> elapsed = finish.to\_f - start.to\_f # note to\_f to keep fractional > seconds Yep, I assumed he wanted to stop at the seconds level. > =\> 289.695813894272 > \> mins, secs = elapsed.divmod 60.0 > =\> [4, 49.6958138942719] > \> puts("%3d:%04.2f"%[mins.to\_i, secs]) >   4:49.70 > =\> nil I always forget about divmod, it's a cool little method 馃檪 Jesus. > **路路路** > > On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 4:47 PM, Rob Biedenharn \ wrote: ---
**Author:** ![Clement\_Ow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@Clement\_Ow](https://rubytalk.org/u/Clement_Ow)\ **Post date:** [17 April 2008 01:38 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/calculating-elapsed-time/45916/6 "2008-04-17T01:38:44Z")
Thanks guys of the prompt reply! However, i'll need help the explanations though.. Really appreciate that 馃槈 Jes煤s Gabriel y Gal谩n wrote: > > or: > > \> start = Time.now > > =\> Wed Apr 16 10:41:03 -0400 2008 > > \> finish = Time.now > > =\> Wed Apr 16 10:45:53 -0400 2008 > > \> elapsed = finish.to\_f - start.to\_f # note to\_f to keep fractional > > seconds > > Yep, I assumed he wanted to stop at the seconds level. > > > =\> 289.695813894272 > > \> mins, secs = elapsed.divmod 60.0 > > =\> [4, 49.6958138942719] > > \> puts("%3d:%04.2f"%[mins.to\_i, secs]) how this line work? "%3d" and %04.2f" means selecting min and secs respectively? > **路路路** > > > On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 4:47 PM, Rob Biedenharn \> \ wrote: > > > > >   4:49.70 > > > =\> nil > > > > I always forget about divmod, it's a cool little method 馃檪 > > > > Jesus. > > -- > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/\](http://www.ruby-forum.com/%5C). ---
**Author:** ![Daniel\_Finnie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/77aa72/32.png) [@Daniel\_Finnie](https://rubytalk.org/u/Daniel_Finnie)\ **Post date:** [17 April 2008 02:20 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/calculating-elapsed-time/45916/7 "2008-04-17T02:20:38Z")
Hi, Ruby substitutes the elements in the array for the percent signs in the string. The "3d" and "04.2f" tell Ruby how to format those numbers: > > "The number is: %.2f" % 1.23456 =\> "The number is: 1.23" The documentation for sprintf has more info: daniel@daniel-desktop:~/lightconsole$ ri sprintf --------------------------------------------------------- Kernel#sprintf      format(format\_string [, arguments...] ) =\> string      sprintf(format\_string [, arguments...] ) =\> string > **路路路** > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >      Returns the string resulting from applying format\_string to any >      additional arguments. Within the format string, any characters >      other than format sequences are copied to the result. A format >      sequence consists of a percent sign, followed by optional flags, >      width, and precision indicators, then terminated with a field type >      character. The field type controls how the corresponding sprintf >      argument is to be interpreted, while the flags modify that >      interpretation. The field type characters are listed in the table >      at the end of this section. The flag characters are: > >        Flag | Applies to | Meaning >        ---------+--------------+----------------------------------------- >        space | bdeEfgGiouxX | Leave a space at the start of >                 \> \> positive numbers. >        ---------+--------------+----------------------------------------- >        (digit)$ | all | Specifies the absolute argument number >                 \> \> for this field. Absolute and relative >                 \> \> argument numbers cannot be mixed in a >                 \> \> sprintf string. >        ---------+--------------+----------------------------------------- >         # | beEfgGoxX | Use an alternative format. For the >                 \> \> conversions `o', `x', `X', and `b', >                 \> \> prefix the result with ``0'', ``0x'', ``0X'', >                 \> \> and ``0b'', respectively. For `e', >                 \> \> `E', `f', `g', and 'G', force a decimal >                 \> \> point to be added, even if no digits follow. >                 \> \> For `g' and 'G', do not remove trailing zeros. >        ---------+--------------+----------------------------------------- >        + | bdeEfgGiouxX | Add a leading plus sign to positive numbers. >        ---------+--------------+----------------------------------------- >        - | all | Left-justify the result of this conversion. >        ---------+--------------+----------------------------------------- >        0 (zero) | bdeEfgGiouxX | Pad with zeros, not spaces. >        ---------+--------------+----------------------------------------- >        \* | all | Use the next argument as the field width. >                 \> \> If negative, left-justify the result. If the >                 \> \> asterisk is followed by a number and a dollar >                 \> \> sign, use the indicated argument as the width. > >      The field width is an optional integer, followed optionally by a >      period and a precision. The width specifies the minimum number of >      characters that will be written to the result for this field. For >      numeric fields, the precision controls the number of decimal >      places displayed. For string fields, the precision determines the >      maximum number of characters to be copied from the string. (Thus, >      the format sequence %10.10s will always contribute exactly ten >      characters to the result.) > >      The field types are: > >          Field | Conversion >          ------+-------------------------------------------------------------- >            b | Convert argument as a binary number. >            c | Argument is the numeric code for a single character. >            d | Convert argument as a decimal number. >            E | Equivalent to `e', but uses an uppercase E to indicate >                \> the exponent. >            e | Convert floating point argument into exponential notation >                \> with one digit before the decimal point. The precision >                \> determines the number of fractional digits (defaulting to six). >            f | Convert floating point argument as [-]ddd.ddd, >                \> where the precision determines the number of digits after >                \> the decimal point. >            G | Equivalent to `g', but use an uppercase `E' in exponent form. >            g | Convert a floating point number using exponential form >                \> if the exponent is less than -4 or greater than or >                \> equal to the precision, or in d.dddd form otherwise. >            i | Identical to `d'. >            o | Convert argument as an octal number. >            p | The valuing of argument.inspect. >            s | Argument is a string to be substituted. If the format >                \> sequence contains a precision, at most that many characters >                \> will be copied. >            u | Treat argument as an unsigned decimal number. Negative integers >                \> are displayed as a 32 bit two's complement plus one for the >                \> underlying architecture; that is, 2 \*\* 32 + n. However, since >                \> Ruby has no inherent limit on bits used to represent the >                \> integer, this value is preceded by two dots (..) in order to >                \> indicate a infinite number of leading sign bits. >            X | Convert argument as a hexadecimal number using uppercase >                \> letters. Negative numbers will be displayed with two >                \> leading periods (representing an infinite string of >                \> leading 'FF's. >            x | Convert argument as a hexadecimal number. >                \> Negative numbers will be displayed with two >                \> leading periods (representing an infinite string of >                \> leading 'ff's. > >      Examples: > >         sprintf("%d %04x", 123, 123) #=\> "123 007b" >         sprintf("%08b '%4s'", 123, 123) #=\> "01111011 ' 123'" >         sprintf("%1$\*2$s %2$d %1$s", "hello", 8) #=\> " hello 8 hello" >         sprintf("%1$\*2$s %2$d", "hello", -8) #=\> "hello -8" >         sprintf("%+g:% g:%-g", 1.23, 1.23, 1.23) #=\> "+1.23: 1.23:1.23" >         sprintf("%u", -123) #=\> "..4294967173" > > Dan > > On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 9:38 PM, Clement Ow \ wrote: > > > Thanks guys of the prompt reply! However, i'll need help the > > explanations though.. Really appreciate that 馃槈 > > > > Jes煤s Gabriel y Gal谩n wrote: > > > > \> On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 4:47 PM, Rob Biedenharn \> \> \ wrote: > > \> > > \>\> or: > > \>\> \> start = Time.now > > \>\> =\> Wed Apr 16 10:41:03 -0400 2008 > > \>\> \> finish = Time.now > > \>\> =\> Wed Apr 16 10:45:53 -0400 2008 > > \>\> \> elapsed = finish.to\_f - start.to\_f # note to\_f to keep fractional > > \>\> seconds > > \> > > \> Yep, I assumed he wanted to stop at the seconds level. > > \> > > \>\> =\> 289.695813894272 > > \>\> \> mins, secs = elapsed.divmod 60.0 > > \>\> =\> [4, 49.6958138942719] > > \>\> \> puts("%3d:%04.2f"%[mins.to\_i, secs]) > > how this line work? "%3d" and %04.2f" means selecting min and secs > > respectively? > > > > \>\> 4:49.70 > > \>\> =\> nil > > \> > > \> I always forget about divmod, it's a cool little method 馃檪 > > \> > > \> Jesus. > > > > -- > > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/\](http://www.ruby-forum.com/%5C). ---
**Author:** ![Clement\_Ow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@Clement\_Ow](https://rubytalk.org/u/Clement_Ow)\ **Post date:** [17 April 2008 02:33 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/calculating-elapsed-time/45916/8 "2008-04-17T02:33:34Z")
That's some information, thanks, dan! > **路路路** > > -- > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/).