37. Timespec Helpers¶

37.1. Introduction¶

The Timespec helpers manager provides directives to assist in manipulating instances of the POSIX struct timespec structure.

The directives provided by the timespec helpers manager are:

rtems_timespec_set - Set timespec’s value
rtems_timespec_zero - Zero timespec’s value
rtems_timespec_is_valid - Check if timespec is valid
rtems_timespec_add_to - Add two timespecs
rtems_timespec_subtract - Subtract two timespecs
rtems_timespec_divide - Divide two timespecs
rtems_timespec_divide_by_integer - Divide timespec by integer
rtems_timespec_less_than - Less than operator
rtems_timespec_greater_than - Greater than operator
rtems_timespec_equal_to - Check if two timespecs are equal
rtems_timespec_get_seconds - Obtain seconds portion of timespec
rtems_timespec_get_nanoseconds - Obtain nanoseconds portion of timespec
rtems_timespec_to_ticks - Convert timespec to number of ticks
rtems_timespec_from_ticks - Convert ticks to timespec

37.2. Background¶

37.2.1. Time Storage Conventions¶

Time can be stored in many ways. One of them is the struct timespec format which is a structure that consists of the fields tv_sec to represent seconds and tv_nsec to represent nanoseconds. The``struct timeval`` structure is simular and consists of seconds (stored in tv_sec) and microseconds (stored in tv_usec). Either``struct timespec`` or struct timeval can be used to represent elapsed time, time of executing some operations, or time of day.

37.3. Operations¶

37.3.1. Set and Obtain Timespec Value¶

A user may write a specific time by passing the desired seconds and nanoseconds values and the destination struct timespec using the rtems_timespec_set directive.

The rtems_timespec_zero directive is used to zero the seconds and nanoseconds portions of a struct timespec instance.

Users may obtain the seconds or nanoseconds portions of a struct timespec instance with the rtems_timespec_get_seconds or rtems_timespec_get_nanoseconds methods, respectively.

37.3.2. Timespec Math¶

A user can perform multiple operations on struct timespec instances. The helpers in this manager assist in adding, subtracting, and performing divison on struct timespec instances.

Adding two struct timespec can be done using the rtems_timespec_add_to directive. This directive is used mainly to calculate total amount of time consumed by multiple operations.
The rtems_timespec_subtract is used to subtract two struct timespecs instances and determine the elapsed time between those two points in time.
The rtems_timespec_divide is used to use to divide one struct timespec instance by another. This calculates the percentage with a precision to three decimal points.
The rtems_timespec_divide_by_integer is used to divide a struct timespec instance by an integer. It is commonly used in benchmark calculations to dividing duration by the number of iterations performed.

37.3.3. Comparing struct timespec Instances¶

A user can compare two struct timespec instances using the rtems_timespec_less_than, rtems_timespec_greater_than or rtems_timespec_equal_to routines.

37.3.4. Conversions and Validity Check¶

Conversion to and from clock ticks may be performed by using the rtems_timespec_to_ticks and rtems_timespec_from_ticks directives.

User can also check validity of timespec with rtems_timespec_is_valid routine.

37.4. Directives¶

This section details the Timespec Helpers manager’s directives. A subsection is dedicated to each of this manager’s directives and describes the calling sequence, related constants, usage, and status codes.

37.4.1. TIMESPEC_SET - Set struct timespec Instance¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

void rtems_timespec_set(
    struct timespec *time,
    time_t           seconds,
    uint32_t         nanoseconds
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

NONE

DESCRIPTION:

This directive sets the struct timespec time to the desired seconds and nanoseconds values.

NOTES:

This method does NOT check if nanoseconds is less than the maximum number of nanoseconds in a second.

37.4.2. TIMESPEC_ZERO - Zero struct timespec Instance¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

void rtems_timespec_zero(
    struct timespec *time
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

NONE

DESCRIPTION:

This routine sets the contents of the struct timespec instance time to zero.

NOTES:

NONE

37.4.3. TIMESPEC_IS_VALID - Check validity of a struct timespec instance¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

bool rtems_timespec_is_valid(
    const struct timespec *time
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

This method returns true if the instance is valid, and false otherwise.

DESCRIPTION:

This routine check validity of a struct timespec instance. It checks if the nanoseconds portion of the struct timespec instanceis in allowed range (less than the maximum number of nanoseconds per second).

NOTES:

NONE

37.4.4. TIMESPEC_ADD_TO - Add Two struct timespec Instances¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

uint32_t rtems_timespec_add_to(
    struct timespec       *time,
    const struct timespec *add
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

The method returns the number of seconds time increased by.

DESCRIPTION:

This routine adds two struct timespec instances. The second argument is added to the first. The parameter time is the base time to which the add parameter is added.

NOTES:

NONE

37.4.5. TIMESPEC_SUBTRACT - Subtract Two struct timespec Instances¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

void rtems_timespec_subtract(
    const struct timespec *start,
    const struct timespec *end,
    struct timespec       *result
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

NONE

DESCRIPTION:

This routine subtracts start from end saves the difference in result. The primary use of this directive is to calculate elapsed time.

NOTES:

It is possible to subtract when end is less than start and it produce negative result. When doing this you should be careful and remember that only the seconds portion of a struct timespec instance is signed, which means that nanoseconds portion is always increasing. Due to that when your timespec has seconds = -1 and nanoseconds = 500,000,000 it means that result is -0.5 second, NOT the expected -1.5!

37.4.6. TIMESPEC_DIVIDE - Divide Two struct timespec Instances¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

void rtems_timespec_divide(
    const struct timespec *lhs,
    const struct timespec *rhs,
    uint32_t              *ival_percentage,
    uint32_t              *fval_percentage
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

NONE

DESCRIPTION:

This routine divides the struct timespec instance lhs by the struct timespec instance rhs. The result is returned in the ival_percentage and fval_percentage, representing the integer and fractional results of the division respectively.

The ival_percentage is integer value of calculated percentage and fval_percentage is fractional part of calculated percentage.

NOTES:

The intended use is calculating percentges to three decimal points.

When dividing by zero, this routine return both ival_percentage and fval_percentage equal zero.

The division is performed using exclusively integer operations.

37.4.7. TIMESPEC_DIVIDE_BY_INTEGER - Divide a struct timespec Instance by an Integer¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

int rtems_timespec_divide_by_integer(
    const struct timespec *time,
    uint32_t               iterations,
    struct timespec       *result
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

NONE

DESCRIPTION:

This routine divides the struct timespec instance time by the integer value iterations. The result is saved in result.

NOTES:

The expected use is to assist in benchmark calculations where you typically divide a duration (time) by a number of iterations what gives average time.

37.4.8. TIMESPEC_LESS_THAN - Less than operator¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

bool rtems_timespec_less_than(
    const struct timespec *lhs,
    const struct timespec *rhs
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

This method returns struct true if lhs is less than rhs and struct false otherwise.

DESCRIPTION:

This method is the less than operator for struct timespec instances. The first parameter is the left hand side and the second is the right hand side of the comparison.

NOTES:

NONE

37.4.9. TIMESPEC_GREATER_THAN - Greater than operator¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

bool rtems_timespec_greater_than(
    const struct timespec *_lhs,
    const struct timespec *_rhs
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

This method returns struct true if lhs is greater than rhs and struct false otherwise.

DESCRIPTION:

This method is greater than operator for struct timespec instances.

NOTES:

NONE

37.4.10. TIMESPEC_EQUAL_TO - Check equality of timespecs¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

bool rtems_timespec_equal_to(
    const struct timespec *lhs,
    const struct timespec *rhs
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

This method returns struct true if lhs is equal to rhs and struct false otherwise.

DESCRIPTION:

This method is equality operator for struct timespec instances.

NOTES:

NONE

37.4.11. TIMESPEC_GET_SECONDS - Get Seconds Portion of struct timespec Instance¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

time_t rtems_timespec_get_seconds(
    struct timespec *time
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

This method returns the seconds portion of the specified struct timespec instance.

DESCRIPTION:

This method returns the seconds portion of the specified struct timespec instance time.

NOTES:

NONE

37.4.12. TIMESPEC_GET_NANOSECONDS - Get Nanoseconds Portion of the struct timespec Instance¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

uint32_t rtems_timespec_get_nanoseconds(
    struct timespec *_time
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

This method returns the nanoseconds portion of the specified struct timespec instance.

DESCRIPTION:

This method returns the nanoseconds portion of the specified timespec which is pointed by _time.

NOTES:

NONE

37.4.13. TIMESPEC_TO_TICKS - Convert struct timespec Instance to Ticks¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

uint32_t rtems_timespec_to_ticks(
    const struct timespec *time
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

This directive returns the number of ticks computed.

DESCRIPTION:

This directive converts the time timespec to the corresponding number of clock ticks.

NOTES:

NONE

37.4.14. TIMESPEC_FROM_TICKS - Convert Ticks to struct timespec Representation¶

CALLING SEQUENCE:

void rtems_timespec_from_ticks(
    uint32_t         ticks,
    struct timespec *time
);

DIRECTIVE STATUS CODES:

NONE

DESCRIPTION:

This routine converts the ticks to the corresponding struct timespec representation and stores it in time.

NOTES:

NONE