JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, Fourth Edition

Name

Window.setTimeout( ) — defer execution of code

Availability

JavaScript 1.0

Synopsis

                  window.setTimeout(code, delay)

Arguments

code

A string that contains the JavaScript code to be executed after the delay has elapsed.

delay

The amount of time, in milliseconds, before the JavaScript statements in the string code should be executed.

Returns

An opaque value (“timeout id”) that can be passed to the clearTimeout( ) method to cancel the execution of code.

Description

The setTimeout( ) method defers the execution of the JavaScript statements in the string code for delay milliseconds. Once the specified number of milliseconds has elapsed, the statements in code are executed normally. Note that they are executed only once. To execute code repeatedly, code must itself contain a call to setTimeout( ) to register itself to be executed again. In JavaScript 1.2, you can use Window.setInterval( ) to register code that is executed at periodic intervals.

The statements in the string code are executed in the context of window; i.e., window is the current window for those statements. If more than one statement appears in code, the statements must be separated by semicolons.

See Also

Window.clearTimeout( ), Window.setInterval( )