Current Time	date$, time$
Elapsed Time	tix, timer
Pause Program	sleep

Profiling - Time to Perform Tasks
A common task is to compare the time taken to run a series of statements. With TIMER, the answer can be retuned with an accuracy of about 0.01 seconds - accurate, but not extremely so. Repeating the code block many times is usually done when TIMER is used.

When only a relative comparison is acceptable, the use of TIX (CPU cycles) can get very high resolution comparisons, but timing is unknown.

For high resolution clock time, use the Windows GetTickCount API.

String Function Listing
Here's a simple listing of the date/time functions above, with a one-line description of what the function does. Syntax and examples are given in the next section.

• date$ - get/set system date
• SLEEP - pause application/thread (milliseconds)
• TIME$ - get/set system time
• TIMER - number of seconds since midnight
• TIX - elapsed CPU cycles.

Date/Time Functions Reference
Here are examples for each of the date/time functions. The functions are listed in alphabetical order.

• DATE$ - get/set system date

      a$ = DATE$       'returns system data
      DATE$ = a$       'set system date
  
      a$ formats:  mm-dd-yy
                   mm/dd/yy
                   mm-dd-yyyy
                   mm/dd/yyyy
      

• SLEEP - pause application/thread (milliseconds)

      sleep 3000       'pause for 3 seconds
      

• TIME$ - get/set system time

      a$ = TIME$       'returns system time  :  hh:mm:ss
      TIME$ = a$       'set system time  (hh:mm:ss)
  
      TIME$ = "08:40:00"   ' 8:40am
      TIME$ = "08"         ' 8am
      TIME$ = "15:30"      ' 3:30pm
      TIME$ = "0:01"       ' 1 min after midnight
      

  Time is in 24-hour format.

• TIMER - number of seconds since midnight

      ElapsedSeconds = TIMER   'seconds since midnight
      

  Return data type is double precision. Resolution is about 1/100 of a second.

• TIX - elapsed CPU cycles.

      TIX Cycles&&       ' Cycles&& has current value of counter
      TIX END Cycles&&   ' Cycles&& is delta since first call
      

If you have any suggestions or corrections, please let me know.