Windows Tip Sheet
Time Machine
Date-time objects give you a sense of a script's performance.
- By Jeffery Hicks
- 07/05/2007
In PowerShell I'm often wondering how long a particular script or process took to complete. It's is a great way to gauge a script's performance in a non-scientific sort of way. Fortunately, you can do this in PowerShell using Date-time objects. PowerShell is smart enough to be able to subtract two date-time objects. All you need is a beginning time and end time.
In your script or at the console, before you run your lengthy command, run this:
$start=Get-Date
Then, run your command. Or if you just want to see what I'm talking about, wait a few minutes pretending something is running, then type:
$end=Get-Date
The runtime will be the difference between the two. I like to create a variable:
$runtime=$end-$start
If you look at $runtime, you should see output like this:
Days : 0
Hours : 0
Minutes : 13
Seconds : 24
Milliseconds : 292
Ticks : 8042925552
TotalDays : 0.00930894161111111
TotalHours : 0.223414598666667
TotalMinutes : 13.40487592
TotalSeconds : 804.2925552
TotalMilliseconds : 804292.5552
To display any part of $runtime all you need to do is use a command like:
$RunTime.TotalSeconds
What I prefer to do in my script or session is to use a single-line expression like this (it's wrapping here, so remember to type this as a single line):
Write-host Process took $Runtime.Days days $Runtime.Hours hours $Runtime.minutes minutes $Runtime.Seconds seconds $runtime.milliseconds milliseconds
Tech Help—Just An
E-Mail Away |
|
Got a Windows, Exchange or virtualization question
or need troubleshooting help? Or maybe you want a better
explanation than provided in the manuals? Describe
your dilemma in an e-mail to the MCPmag.com editors
at [email protected];
the best questions get answered in this column and garner
the questioner with a nifty Redmond T-shirt.
When you send your questions, please include your
full first and last name, location, certifications (if
any) with your message. (If you prefer to remain anonymous,
specify this in your message, but submit the requested
information for verification purposes.) |
|
|
As a faster alternative, you can use this:
$runtime | format-table -auto
Because $runtime is an object, you can do all sorts of things with it, such as checking the number of minutes and, if it exceeds a certain value, display the time in red. I'm sure you'll think of other ways to leverage this information.
About the Author
Jeffery Hicks is an IT veteran with over 25 years of experience, much of it spent as an IT infrastructure consultant specializing in Microsoft server technologies with an emphasis in automation and efficiency. He is a multi-year recipient of the Microsoft MVP Award in Windows PowerShell. He works today as an independent author, trainer and consultant. Jeff has written for numerous online sites and print publications, is a contributing editor at Petri.com, and a frequent speaker at technology conferences and user groups.