How can I trigger a method every 10 seconds without using NSTimer?

Question

I would like to call a method every 10 seconds, but I want to use something other than NSTimer. What could I use to do this?

Why don't you want to use timers? An NSTimer seems like a perfect solution to this problem. — John Parker, Apr 18 '11 at 15:56
As a note, Xcode is an IDE, not a framework or language, so please refrain from tagging your questions with it and placing it in the title unless you are asking about the IDE itself. — Brad Larson, Apr 18 '11 at 17:41

score 11 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 18 '11 at 16:00

11

I know you said you didn't want to use timers, but just to make sure you know how simple it would be with a timer...

[NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval:10.0
                                 target:self
                               selector:@selector(someMethod)
                               userInfo:nil
                                repeats:YES];

answered Apr 18 '11 at 16:00

André Morujão

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because I want that a ball start moving every ten second but I think aI can't have to timers for the same method – arvin Arabi Apr 18 '11 at 16:24
I don't think that's a problem - but even if it is, just create `anotherMethod` that calls `someMethod` :) – André Morujão Apr 18 '11 at 16:30

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 22 '12 at 14:19

If you dont want to use the timer, you can use GCD which internally will make use of NSOperationQueue, nevertheless will work in all cases. For eg: i had a class which was inherited from NSOperation so the above methods didn't work so i had go go with GCD:

    double delayInSeconds = 3.0;      
    dispatch_time_t popTime = dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, delayInSeconds * NSEC_PER_SEC);    
    dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0);
    dispatch_after(popTime, queue, ^{
        [self methodYouWantToCall];  
    });

The above code calls the method methodYouWantToCall after every three seconds.

"GCD which internally will make use of NSOperationQueue" This is not correct. It is vice versa. — Michael Dorner, Sep 07 '15 at 14:23

Nick Weaver · Answer 3 · 2011-04-18T16:11:03.513

2

You can create a loop with performSelector:withObject:afterDelay: setting afterDelay to 10.0.

I don't recommend this though, use an NSTimer.

- (void)callMeEvery10Seconds
{
    [self performSelector:@selector(callMeEvery10Seconds) 
               withObject:nil 
               afterDelay:10.0];

    // ... code comes here ...
}

edited Apr 18 '11 at 16:11

answered Apr 18 '11 at 16:00

Nick Weaver

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score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 22 '17 at 23:04

0

The easiest way to do so is:

- (void)scheduleLoopInSeconds:(NSTimeInterval)delayInSeconds
{
    dispatch_time_t popTime = dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, (int64_t)(delayInSeconds * NSEC_PER_SEC));

    dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0);
    dispatch_after(popTime, queue, ^{
        [self callWhatEverMethodYouWant];
        [self shceduleLoopcaInSeconds:delayInSeconds];//set next iteration
    });

}

// now whenever you like call this, and it will be triggering  "callWhatEverMethodYouWant" every 10 secs.
[self shceduleLoopcaInSeconds:10.0];

edited Apr 22 '17 at 23:04

Duck

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answered May 14 '15 at 15:15

Loebre

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WOW, I have tested this method and it works ok but the CPU usage that was around 25% with NSTimer skyrocketed to 99%!!! WTF? I guess this is called by the overhead associated with dispatching the blocks! – Duck Apr 22 '17 at 23:21

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

0

If you are not using Cocos2D, you have to use a NSTimer to do this....

If you are using Cocos2D, use the schedule method

here's a link below that shows both :

How can I create a count down timer for cocos2d?

edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

Community

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answered Apr 18 '11 at 16:03

DJ Burb

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Why would you "have" to use an NSTimer if you're not using Cocos2D? – André Morujão Apr 18 '11 at 16:06

How can I trigger a method every 10 seconds without using NSTimer?

5 Answers5