TIME(1,C)                   AIX Commands Reference                    TIME(1,C)



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time



PURPOSE

Times the execution of a command.

SYNTAX


time -- command --|


DESCRIPTION

The time command times the execution of the named command.  The time command
writes to standard error the elapsed time of the command, the system time used,
and the execution time, in seconds.

EXAMPLES

  1. To measure the time required to run a program:

      time  a.out

    This runs the program a.out and writes to the standard error output the
    amount of real, system, and user time that it uses:

      real 8.6
      user 7.7
      sys 0.5

    where "real" is the elapsed clock time in seconds, "user" is the user
    process time in seconds, and "sys" is the CPU time in seconds.

  2. To save a record of the time information in a file using the Bourne shell.

      time  a.out  2> a.time

RELATED INFORMATION

See the following commands:  "csh" and "timex."

Note:  The csh command contains a built-in subcommand named time.  The command
       and subcommand do not necessarily work the same way.  For information on
       the subcommand, see the csh command.

See the times system call in AIX Operating System Technical Reference.





Processed November 8, 1990         TIME(1,C)                                  1