---
name: "nanotime"
section: "9"
platform: "linux"
package: "freebsd-manpages"
version: "6.0-5"
release: "Debian 4.0 (Etch)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/nanotime"
---

# nanotime(9)

get the current time

## NAME

**bintime**, **getbintime**, **microtime**, **getmicrotime**, **nanotime**, **getnanotime** – get the current time

## SYNOPSIS

**#include \<sys/time.h\>**

*void*\

**bintime**(*struct bintime \*bt*);

*void*\

**getbintime**(*struct bintime \*bt*);

*void*\

**microtime**(*struct timeval \*tv*);

*void*\

**getmicrotime**(*struct timeval \*tv*);

*void*\

**nanotime**(*struct timespec \*ts*);

*void*\

**getnanotime**(*struct timespec \*tsp*);

## DESCRIPTION

The **bintime**() and **getbintime**() functions store the system time as a *struct bintime* at the addresses specified by *bt*. The **microtime**() and **getmicrotime**() functions perform the same utility, but record the time as a *struct timeval* instead. Similarly the **nanotime**() and **getnanotime**() functions store the time as a *struct timespec*.

The **bintime**(), **microtime**(), and **nanotime**() functions always query the timecounter to return the current time as precisely as possible. Whereas **getbintime**(), **getmicrotime**(), and **getnanotime**() functions are abstractions which return a less precise, but faster to obtain, time.

The intent of the **getbintime**(), **getmicrotime**(), and **getnanotime**() functions is to enforce the user's preference for timer accuracy versus execution time.

## SEE ALSO

[binuptime(9)](/binuptime/9.md), [getbinuptime(9)](/getbinuptime/9.md), [getmicrouptime(9)](/getmicrouptime/9.md), [getnanouptime(9)](/getnanouptime/9.md), [microuptime(9)](/microuptime/9.md), [nanouptime(9)](/nanouptime/9.md), [tvtohz(9)](/tvtohz/9.md)

## HISTORY

The **bintime** functions first appeared in FreeBSD 5.0. The **bintime** and **nanotime** functions first appeared in FreeBSD 3.0 but existed in other incarnations since 4.4BSD.

## AUTHORS

This manual page was written by Kelly Yancey ⟨kbyanc@posi.net⟩.