# timeout-worker

> A dedicated web-worker for the `setTimeout` method. Client-side only, No server required.

Latest version **1.0.5** (published 2021-08-04) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads

## Install

```sh
npm install timeout-worker
pnpm add timeout-worker
yarn add timeout-worker
bun add timeout-worker
```

## Health

**Score 30/100 (F)** — status: abandoned.

Positive: has types; esm support; no vulnerabilities; high quality score.

Warnings: low downloads.

Negative: abandoned; low maintenance score.

## Facts

| | |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.0.5 |
| Published | 2021-08-04 |
| First published | 2021-08-01 |
| Weekly downloads | 0 |
| License | MIT |
| TypeScript types | bundled |
| Module format | ESM + CommonJS |
| Dependencies | 0 |
| Unpacked size | 26.4 KB |
| Known vulnerabilities | 0 |
| Install scripts | no |
| GitHub stars | 3 |
| Author | Taitu Lizenbaum |
| Maintainers | taitulism |
| Keywords | setTimeout, timeout, timer, worker, web worker, web-worker |

## Links

- npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/timeout-worker
- Repository: https://github.com/taitulism/timeout-worker
- Homepage: https://github.com/taitulism/timeout-worker#readme
- Issues: https://github.com/taitulism/timeout-worker/issues
- npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/timeout-worker

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## Recent versions

- 1.0.5 (latest) — 2021-08-04
- 1.0.4 — 2021-08-01

## README

[![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-blue.svg)](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/taitulism/timeout-worker.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/taitulism/timeout-worker)


timeout-worker
==================
A dedicated web-worker for the `setTimeout` method.
Client only. No server required.

 

## Why?
When the browser's current tab loses focus, the browser throttles the tab's timeouts and they become inaccurate, especially when setting short timeout periods (like in a ticking clock or a metronome). This behavior is inconsistent between different browsers and the subject is not well documented. 

Using a web-worker for setting timeouts eliminates this issue.

 

## Install
`$ npm install timeout-worker`  

 

## Usage
```js
// import:
import { timeoutWorker } from 'timeout-worker';
// or require:
const { timeoutWorker } = require('timeout-worker');

// initialize
timeoutWorker.start();

const timeoutRef = timeoutWorker.setTimeout(() => {
    // do somthing
}, 3000)

timeoutWorker.clearTimeout(timeoutRef);

// terminate
timeoutWorker.stop();
```

 

## `timeoutWorker`
A singleton instance. It has the following methods:  
* `.start()`
* `.setTimeout(callback, ms)`
* `.clearTimeout(timeoutRef)`
* `.stop()`
* `.onError(errorHandler)`

 

### `.start()`
Initializes a worker. **Must be called in order to set timeouts**. 

 

### `.setTimeout(callback, ms)`
`.setTimeout(callback, ms[, arg1, arg2, ..., argN])`

>TL;DR - Same as `window.setTimeout()`.

Sets a timeout in the worker scope. Returns a timeout reference (number) that can be used for clearing the timeout. Accepts a callback to run after the given delay in milliseconds. Extra arguments will be passed to the callback by the same order.

**Calling `setTimeout` before initializing a worker will throw an error**. See `.start()` above.

```js
timeoutWorker.setTimeout((a, b, c) => {

    console.log(a, b, c); // 1 2 3

}, 1000, 1, 2, 3);
```

 

### `.clearTimeout()`
>TL;DR - Same as `window.clearTimeout()`.

Cancles an active timeout. Accept a timeout reference (returned by `setTimeout`).


```js
const timeoutRef = timeoutWorker.setTimeout(callback, 1000);

timeoutWorker.clearTimeout(timeoutRef);
```


 

### `.stop()`
Terminates the worker, clearing any active timeouts. Will not set any new timeouts until `.start()` is called again.

 

### `.onError(errorHandler)`
Sets an error handler function to catch the worker's exceptions. The function will get called with an `Error`
```js
timeoutWorker.onError((err) => {
    console.error(err);
});

/*
  Error: timeoutWorker
  Uncaught Error: Something Happend!
      Worker: blob:null/ce72fad0-bd41-46f7-9bea-fd405ab117c5
      Line: 7
      Col: 15
      Timestamp: 72.00000001466833
      at Worker._worker.onerror (timeout-worker.js:58)
*/
```


You can see the worker's code by opening the blob in a new browser tab.

---
_Source: https://npm.io/package/timeout-worker · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._