---
name: "Test::Timer"
section: "3pm"
platform: "linux"
package: "libtest-timer-perl"
version: "2.12-2"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/Test::Timer"
---

# Test::Timer(3pm)

test module to test/assert response times

## NAME

Test::Timer - test module to test/assert response times

## VERSION

The documentation describes version 2.12 of Test::Timer

## FEATURES

- •

  Test subroutines to implement unit-tests to time that your code executes before a specified threshold

- •

  Test subroutines to implement unit-tests to time that your code execution exceeds a specified threshold

- •

  Test subroutine to implement unit-tests to time that your code executes within a specified time frame

- •

  Supports measurements in seconds

- •

  Implements configurable alarm signal handler to make sure that your tests do not execute forever

## SYNOPSIS

```
    use Test::Timer;
    time_ok( sub { doYourStuffButBeQuickAboutIt(); }, 1, 'threshold of one second');
    time_atmost( sub { doYourStuffYouHave10Seconds(); }, 10, 'threshold of 10 seconds');
    time_between( sub { doYourStuffYouHave5-10Seconds(); }, 5, 10,
        'lower threshold of 5 seconds and upper threshold of 10 seconds');
    # Will succeed
    time_nok( sub { sleep(2); }, 1, 'threshold of one second');
    time_atleast( sub { sleep(2); }, 2, 'threshold of one second');
    # Will fail after 5 (threshold) + 2 seconds (default alarm)
    time_ok( sub { while(1) { sleep(1); } }, 5, 'threshold of one second');
    $test::Timer::alarm = 6 #default 2 seconds
    # Will fail after 5 (threshold) + 6 seconds (specified alarm)
    time_ok( sub { while(1) { sleep(1); } }, 5, 'threshold of one second');
```

## DESCRIPTION

Test::Timer implements a set of test primitives to test and assert test times from bodies of code.

The key features are subroutines to assert or test the following:

- •

  that a given piece of code does not exceed a specified time limit

- •

  that a given piece of code takes longer than a specified time limit and does not exceed another

## EXPORT

Test::Timer exports:

- •

  time\_ok

- •

  time\_nok

- •

  time\_atleast

- •

  time\_atmost

- •

  time\_between

## SUBROUTINES/METHODS

### time\_ok

Takes the following parameters:

- •

  a reference to a block of code (anonymous sub)

- •

  a threshold specified as a integer indicating a number of seconds

- •

  a string specifying a test name

```
    time_nok( sub { sleep(2); }, 1, 'threshold of one second');
```

If the execution of the code exceeds the threshold specified the test fail with the following diagnostic message

```
    Test ran 2 seconds and exceeded specified threshold of 1 seconds
```

### time\_nok

The is the inverted variant of time\_ok, it passes if the threshold is exceeded and fails if the benchmark of the code is within the specified timing threshold.

The API is the same as for time\_ok.

```
    time_nok( sub { sleep(1); }, 2, 'threshold of two seconds');
```

If the execution of the code executes below the threshold specified the test fail with the following diagnostic message

```
    Test ran 1 seconds and did not exceed specified threshold of 2 seconds
```

### time\_atmost

This is *syntactic sugar* for time\_ok

```
    time_atmost( sub { doYourStuffButBeQuickAboutIt(); }, 1, 'threshold of one second');
```

If the execution of the code exceeds the threshold specified the test fail with the following diagnostic message

```
    Test ran N seconds and exceeded specified threshold of 1 seconds
```

N will be the actual measured execution time of the specified code

### time\_atleast

```
    time_atleast( sub { doYourStuffAndTakeYourTimeAboutIt(); }, 1, 'threshold of 1 second');
```

The test succeeds if the code takes at least the number of seconds specified by the timing threshold.

If the code executes faster, the test fails with the following diagnostic message

```
    Test ran 1 seconds and did not exceed specified threshold of 2 seconds
```

Please be aware that Test::Timer, breaks the execution with an alarm specified to trigger after the specified threshold + 2 seconds (default), so if you expect your execution to run longer, set the alarm accordingly.

```
    $Test::Timer::alarm = $my_alarm_in_seconds;
```

See also diagnostics.

### time\_between

This method is a more extensive variant of time\_atmost and time\_ok, you can specify a lower and upper threshold, the code has to execute within this interval in order for the test to succeed

```
    time_between( sub { sleep(2); }, 5, 10,
        'lower threshold of 5 seconds and upper threshold of 10 seconds');
```

If the code executes faster than the lower threshold or exceeds the upper threshold, the test fails with the following diagnostic message

```
    Test ran 2 seconds and did not execute within specified interval 5 - 10 seconds
```

Or

```
    Test ran 12 seconds and did not execute within specified interval 5 - 10 seconds
```

## PRIVATE FUNCTIONS

### \_runtest

This is a method to handle the result from \_benchmark is initiates the benchmark calling benchmark and based on whether it is within the provided interval true (1) is returned and if not false (0).

### \_benchmark

This is the method doing the actual benchmark, if a better method is located this is the place to do the handy work.

Currently Benchmark is used. An alternative could be Devel::Timer, but I do not know this module very well and Benchmark is core, so this is used for now.

The method takes two parameters:

- •

  a code block via a code reference

- •

  a threshold (the upper threshold, since this is added to the default alarm

### import

Test::Builder required import to do some import *hokus-pokus* for the test methods exported from Test::Timer. Please refer to the documentation in Test::Builder

## DIAGNOSTICS

All tests either fail or succeed, but a few exceptions are implemented, these are listed below.

- •

  Test did not exceed specified threshold, this message is diagnosis for time\_atleast and time\_nok tests, which do not exceed their specified threshold

- •

  Test exceeded specified threshold, this message is a diagnostic for time\_atmost and time\_ok, if the specified threshold is surpassed.

  This is the key point of the module, either your code is too slow and you should address this or your threshold is too low, in which case you can set it a bit higher and run the test again.

- •

  Test did not execute within specified interval, this is the diagnostic from time\_between, it is the diagnosis if the execution of the code is not between the specified lower and upper thresholds

- •

  Insufficient parameters, this is the message if a specified test is not provided with the sufficient number of parameters, consult this documentation and correct accordingly

- •

  Execution exceeded threshold and timed out, the exception is thrown if the execution of tested code exceeds even the alarm, which is default 2 seconds, but can be set by the user or is equal to the upper threshold + 2 seconds

  The exception results in a diagnostic for the failing test. This is a fail-safe to avoid that code runs forever. If you get this diagnose either your code is too slow and you should address this or it might be error prone. If this is not the case adjust the alarm setting to suit your situation.

## CONFIGURATION AND ENVIRONMENT

This module requires no special configuration or environment.

Tests are sensitive and be configured using environment and configuration files, please see the section on test and quality.

## DEPENDENCIES

- •

  Carp

- •

  Benchmark

- •

  Error

- •

  Test::Builder

- •

  Test::Builder::Module

## INCOMPATIBILITIES

This module holds no known incompatibilities.

## BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

This module holds no known bugs.

The current implementations only use seconds and resolutions should be higher, so the current implementation is limited to seconds as the highest resolution.

On occasion failing tests with CPAN-testers have been observed. This seem to be related to the test-suite being not taking into account that some smoke-testers do not prioritize resources for the test run and that additional processes/jobs are running. The test-suite have been adjusted to accommodate this but these issues might reoccur.

## TEST AND QUALITY

Coverage report for the release described in this documentation (see VERSION).

```
    ---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
    File                           stmt   bran   cond    sub    pod   time  total
    ---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
    blib/lib/Test/Timer.pm        100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0   99.9  100.0
    ...Timer/TimeoutException.pm  100.0    n/a    n/a  100.0  100.0    0.0  100.0
    Total                         100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0
    ---------------------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
```

The Test::Perl::Critic test runs with severity 5 (gentle) for now, please refer to *t/critic.t* and *t/perlcriticrc*.

Set TEST\_POD to enable Test::Pod test in *t/pod.t* and Test::Pod::Coverage test in *t/pod-coverage.t*.

Set TEST\_CRITIC to enable Test::Perl::Critic test in *t/critic.t*

### CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION

This distribution uses Travis for continuous integration testing, the Travis reports are public available.

## SEE ALSO

- •

  Test::Benchmark

## ISSUE REPORTING

Please report any bugs or feature requests using GitHub

- •

  GitHub Issues \<https://github.com/jonasbn/perl-test-timer/issues\>

## SUPPORT

You can find (this) documentation for this module with the `"perldoc"` command.

```
    perldoc Test::Timer
```

You can also look for information at:

- •

  Homepage \<https://jonasbn.github.io/perl-test-timer/\>

- •

  MetaCPAN \<https://metacpan.org/pod/Test-Timer\>

- •

  AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation \<http://annocpan.org/dist/Test-Timer\>

- •

  CPAN Ratings \<http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/Test-Timer\>

## DEVELOPMENT

- •

  GitHub Repository \<https://github.com/jonasbn/perl-test-timer\>, please see the guidelines for contributing \<https://github.com/jonasbn/perl-test-timer/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md\>.

## AUTHOR

- •

  Jonas Bromso (jonasbn) `"<jonasbn at cpan.org>"`

## ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

- •

  Mohammad S Anwar (MANWAR), POD corrections PRs #23

- •

  Erik Johansen (UNIEJO), suggestion for clearing alarm

- •

  Gregor Herrmann (GREGOA) from the Debian Perl Group, PR #16 fixes to spelling mistakes

- •

  Nigel Horne (NHORNE), issue #15 suggestion for better assertion in time\_atleast

- •

  Nigel Horne (NHORNE), issue #10/#12 suggestion for improvement to diagnostics

- •

  p-alik, PR #4 eliminating warnings during test

- •

  Kent Fredric (KENTNL), PR #7 addressing file permissions

- •

  Nick Morrott, PR #5 corrections to POD

- •

  Bartosz Jakubski, reporting issue #3

- •

  Gabor Szabo (SZABGAB), suggestion for specification of interval thresholds even though this was obsoleted by the later introduced time\_between

- •

  Paul Leonerd Evans (PEVANS), suggestions for time\_atleast and time\_atmost and the handling of `$SIG`{ALRM}. Also bug report for addressing issue with Debian packaging resulting in release 0.10

- •

  brian d foy (BDFOY), for patch to \_runtest

## LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

Test::Timer and related modules are (C) by Jonas Bromso (jonasbn) 2007-2021

Test::Timer and related modules are released under the Artistic License 2.0

Used distributions are under copyright of there respective authors and designated licenses

Image used on website \<https://jonasbn.github.io/perl-test-timer/\> is under copyright by Veri Ivanova \<https://unsplash.com/photos/p3Pj7jOYvnM\>
