time delay on script execution

[kev wood]

i am looking at the sleep() function but i have never used this before and would like some pointers if anyone can help.

 

i would like to know if this can be used for what i want it for.  i want to execute a piece of code after a 24 hr wait.  i know that the sleep functions time is done in seconds so i would have to tell it to sleep for 24*60*60.

 

once this time has passed would the code be executed automatically on the server with out no user interaction.

[kbh43dz_u]

Your script will abort before time (24hr) ran out But you can save the time to a database and install a cronjob which kicks a script which checks the time every minute (or what you want...). If time has passed 24hr the script can send your code.

[DarkWater]

Use cron.  Apache kills HTTP requests after 300 seconds and PHP timesout after 30 seconds (defaults).

[kev wood]

i have never used the cron function where can i find some good tutorials on this.

 

thanks for the replies.

[kbh43dz_u]

http://www.tech-geeks.org/contrib/mdrone/cron&crontab-howto.htm (all you need)

[kev wood]

thank you

[kev wood]

this will not work for how i want it to.  i need the counts to be reset after 24 hr has passed from when the first email has been sent out.  the cron function only allows me to schedule the code to be run on a daily basis.  thanks for the replies though i am sure i can find a use for that function very soon.

[BlueSkyIS]

cron allows you to run as often as every minute.

 

unless your host has done something funky to cron, you might want to take another look at the manual.

[kev wood]

what i want is say if a user sends a message 09:15 in the morning and this is there last message they are aloud to send that day as there limit has been reached.  i then want all there data about there time of the last message to be deleted 24 hr as passed.  so at 09:15 the next morning they can once again send messages.

 

correct me if i am wrong but the cron function would only allow me to run any code once a minute, hour, day or week etc. as the time of the last message could be sent at anytime of the day then the cron function would only run at the time i have set it up to run for.  as i would need the code running exactly 24 hours after the last message has been sent this would not work.

[kev wood]

is there away of using a mysql db to store the time of the last message then add 23:59 to this time and get php to evaluate the two times and if the time has passed then let the user have access to the rest of the site?

[Prismatic]

When a user sends a new message record the current php time() timestamp into the database

 

<?php

# $last_message is the timestamp you recorded when they sent their last message
$time_dif = time() - $last_message;

$time_dif = intval($time_dif / 60);

# 1440 is the number of minutes in 24 hours
if($time_dif >= 1440)
{
    # Its been 24 hours
}
else
{
    # It has not been 24 hours
}

?>

[kev wood]

thanks for the reply.  you didnt have to post the code i dont mind working it out for myself.  you were good enough to come up with the idea in the first place.

[freeloader]

You should use mysql for this

 

Method 1:

 

Insert the datetime in the mysql DB and next time query it:

 

SELECT * FROM tb_yourtable WHERE (NOW() > Datetimefield + INTERVAL 1 DAY) AND Username = ''

 

Method 2:

 

UPDATE tb_yourtable SET Nextuse = DATE_ADD(NOW(), INTERVAL 1 DAY) WHERE Username = ''

[kev wood]

the now() function is only storing the year in the db is another that will store the time aswel

[freeloader]

Now will display date + time there.

[kev wood]

i have made a page which just prints out the contents on the tables and there stored data and it just gave me 2008 in both the columns i had tried to store the date and time in.  i will run it again wit the now() function and see what it gives me this time.

 

strange!

[kev wood]

no it is defiantly just storing the the year 2008.  what data type should the table be set up with to hold the date?  i mean by this varchar, int, blob etc

[kev wood]

i have had a look around and from what i can gather you can store the date and time in a sting or integer data type so it couldnt be the way i have set my table up as it is done with the int data type.

 

Or am i wrong?