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WSupported on Windows
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USupported on Unix
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VSupported on OpenVMS
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NSupported in Synergy .NET
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SLEEP interval
Arguments
interval
The number of seconds for which program execution is to be suspended. (n)
Discussion
The SLEEP statement suspends program execution for a specified amount of time. Interval can be specified as any numeric type (integer, decimal, implied-decimal, packed, or implied-packed) and as either a variable or a literal. If interval is an implied value, the runtime will sleep for the specified number of seconds and milliseconds. Note that the processing of the milliseconds is system dependent, and some systems are able to sleep for a finer granularity than others.
After the time specified by interval has elapsed, execution resumes with the statement following the SLEEP statement.
If interval is greater than 65,535, you’ll get an “Arithmetic operand exceeds maximum size” error ($ERR_BIGNUM). If interval is less than or equal to zero, no sleeping occurs.
On Unix, if system option #12 and the TBUF environment variable is set, the I/O buffer is flushed before the SLEEP statement is executed.
See also
- System option #12
- TBUF environment variable
Examples
sleep 5 sleep 3.2 sleep int_var sleep imp_var sleep 2.532 ;Length of time slept could be 2, 2.5, 2.53, or 2.532 seconds
Also see WHILE for an example that uses the SLEEP statement.
