Time delayed evaluation of a function

Question

I'd like to write a function that delays the evaluation of a function (say) $5$ seconds after I hit Shift+Return. Is this possible?

The tag is wrong. I'd like to use the tag clock but it is new, and I'm not allowed to create new tags. — zab, Apr 28 '14 at 15:38

Hassler Thurston · Answer 1 · 2014-04-28T18:32:16.697

6

Use the Pause function:

SetAttributes[delayedFunction, {HoldFirst}];
delayedFunction[function_] := (Pause[5]; function);

edited Apr 28 '14 at 18:32

answered Apr 28 '14 at 16:17

Hassler Thurston

More useful if defined as delayedFunction[function_, dt_] := (Pause[dt]; function) – m_goldberg Apr 28 '14 at 19:35

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 28 '14 at 17:05

3

An alternative is to use the built in function, RunScheduledTask

Dynamic[z]
RunScheduledTask[z = 7, {5}]

answered Apr 28 '14 at 17:05

image_doctor

2 Answers2