clock_gettime alternative in Mac OS X

Question

When compiling a program I wrote on Mac OS X after installing the necessary libraries through MacPorts, I get this error:

In function 'nanotime':
error: 'CLOCK_REALTIME' undeclared (first use in this function)
error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
error: for each function it appears in.)

It appears that clock_gettime is not implemented in Mac OS X. Is there an alternative means of getting the epoch time in nanoseconds? Unfortunately gettimeofday is in microseconds.

Answer 1

After hours of perusing different answers, blogs, and headers, I found a portable way to get the current time:

#include <time.h>
#include <sys/time.h>

#ifdef __MACH__
#include <mach/clock.h>
#include <mach/mach.h>
#endif



struct timespec ts;

#ifdef __MACH__ // OS X does not have clock_gettime, use clock_get_time
clock_serv_t cclock;
mach_timespec_t mts;
host_get_clock_service(mach_host_self(), CALENDAR_CLOCK, &cclock);
clock_get_time(cclock, &mts);
mach_port_deallocate(mach_task_self(), cclock);
ts.tv_sec = mts.tv_sec;
ts.tv_nsec = mts.tv_nsec;

#else
clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &ts);
#endif

or check out this gist: https://gist.github.com/1087739

Hope this saves someone time. Cheers!

Answer 2

None of the solutions above answers the question. Either they don't give you absolute Unix time, or their accuracy is 1 microsecond. The most popular solution by jbenet is slow (~6000ns) and does not count in nanoseconds even though its return suggests so. Below is a test for 2 solutions suggested by jbenet and Dmitri B, plus my take on this. You can run the code without changes.

The 3rd solution does count in nanoseconds and gives you absolute Unix time reasonably fast (~90ns). So if someone find it useful - please let us all know here :-). I will stick to the one from Dmitri B (solution #1 in the code) - it fits my needs better.

I needed commercial quality alternative to clock_gettime() to make pthread_…timed.. calls, and found this discussion very helpful. Thanks guys.

/*
 Ratings of alternatives to clock_gettime() to use with pthread timed waits:
    Solution 1 "gettimeofday":
        Complexity      : simple
        Portability     : POSIX 1
        timespec        : easy to convert from timeval to timespec
        granularity     : 1000 ns,
        call            : 120 ns,
        Rating          : the best.

    Solution 2 "host_get_clock_service, clock_get_time":
        Complexity      : simple (error handling?)
        Portability     : Mac specific (is it always available?)
        timespec        : yes (struct timespec return)
        granularity     : 1000 ns (don't be fooled by timespec format)
        call time       : 6000 ns
        Rating          : the worst.

    Solution 3 "mach_absolute_time + gettimeofday once":
        Complexity      : simple..average (requires initialisation)
        Portability     : Mac specific. Always available
        timespec        : system clock can be converted to timespec without float-math
        granularity     : 1 ns.
        call time       : 90 ns unoptimised.
        Rating          : not bad, but do we really need nanoseconds timeout?

 References:
 - OS X is UNIX System 3 [U03] certified
    http://www.opengroup.org/homepage-items/c987.html

 - UNIX System 3 <--> POSIX 1 <--> IEEE Std 1003.1-1988
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSIX
    http://www.unix.org/version3/

 - gettimeofday() is mandatory on U03,
   clock_..() functions are optional on U03,
   clock_..() are part of POSIX Realtime extensions
    http://www.unix.org/version3/inttables.pdf

 - clock_gettime() is not available on MacMini OS X
    (Xcode > Preferences > Downloads > Command Line Tools = Installed)

 - OS X recommends to use gettimeofday to calculate values for timespec
    https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man3/pthread_cond_timedwait.3.html

 - timeval holds microseconds, timespec - nanoseconds
    http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/Elapsed-Time.html

 - microtime() is used by kernel to implement gettimeofday()
    http://ftp.tw.freebsd.org/pub/branches/7.0-stable/src/sys/kern/kern_time.c

 - mach_absolute_time() is really fast
    http://www.opensource.apple.com/source/Libc/Libc-320.1.3/i386/mach/mach_absolute_time.c

 - Only 9 deciaml digits have meaning when int nanoseconds converted to double seconds
    Tutorial: Performance and Time post uses .12 precision for nanoseconds
    http://www.macresearch.org/tutorial_performance_and_time

 Example:
    Three ways to prepare absolute time 1500 milliseconds in the future to use with pthread timed functions.

 Output, N = 3, stock MacMini, OSX 10.7.5, 2.3GHz i5, 2GB 1333MHz DDR3:
    inittime.tv_sec = 1390659993
    inittime.tv_nsec = 361539000
    initclock = 76672695144136
    get_abs_future_time_0() : 1390659994.861599000
    get_abs_future_time_0() : 1390659994.861599000
    get_abs_future_time_0() : 1390659994.861599000
    get_abs_future_time_1() : 1390659994.861618000
    get_abs_future_time_1() : 1390659994.861634000
    get_abs_future_time_1() : 1390659994.861642000
    get_abs_future_time_2() : 1390659994.861643671
    get_abs_future_time_2() : 1390659994.861643877
    get_abs_future_time_2() : 1390659994.861643972
 */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <sys/time.h>       /* gettimeofday */
#include <mach/mach_time.h> /* mach_absolute_time */
#include <mach/mach.h>      /* host_get_clock_service, mach_... */
#include <mach/clock.h>     /* clock_get_time */

#define BILLION 1000000000L
#define MILLION 1000000L

#define NORMALISE_TIMESPEC( ts, uint_milli )            \
    do {                                                \
        ts.tv_sec += uint_milli / 1000u;                \
        ts.tv_nsec += (uint_milli % 1000u) * MILLION;   \
        ts.tv_sec += ts.tv_nsec / BILLION;              \
        ts.tv_nsec = ts.tv_nsec % BILLION;              \
    } while (0)

static mach_timebase_info_data_t timebase = { 0, 0 }; /* numer = 0, denom = 0 */
static struct timespec           inittime = { 0, 0 }; /* nanoseconds since 1-Jan-1970 to init() */
static uint64_t                  initclock;           /* ticks since boot to init() */

void init()
{
    struct timeval  micro;      /* microseconds since 1 Jan 1970 */

    if (mach_timebase_info(&timebase) != 0)
        abort();                            /* very unlikely error */

    if (gettimeofday(&micro, NULL) != 0)
        abort();                            /* very unlikely error */

    initclock = mach_absolute_time();

    inittime.tv_sec = micro.tv_sec;
    inittime.tv_nsec = micro.tv_usec * 1000;
    printf("\tinittime.tv_sec = %ld\n", inittime.tv_sec);
    printf("\tinittime.tv_nsec = %ld\n", inittime.tv_nsec);
    printf("\tinitclock = %ld\n", (long)initclock);
}

/*
 * Get absolute future time for pthread timed calls
 *  Solution 1: microseconds granularity
 */
struct timespec get_abs_future_time_coarse(unsigned milli)
{
    struct timespec future;         /* ns since 1 Jan 1970 to 1500 ms in the future */
    struct timeval  micro = {0, 0}; /* 1 Jan 1970 */

    (void) gettimeofday(&micro, NULL);
    future.tv_sec = micro.tv_sec;
    future.tv_nsec = micro.tv_usec * 1000;
    NORMALISE_TIMESPEC( future, milli );
    return future;
}

/*
 * Solution 2: via clock service
 */
struct timespec get_abs_future_time_served(unsigned milli)
{
    struct timespec     future;
    clock_serv_t        cclock;
    mach_timespec_t     mts;

    host_get_clock_service(mach_host_self(), CALENDAR_CLOCK, &cclock);
    clock_get_time(cclock, &mts);
    mach_port_deallocate(mach_task_self(), cclock);
    future.tv_sec = mts.tv_sec;
    future.tv_nsec = mts.tv_nsec;
    NORMALISE_TIMESPEC( future, milli );
    return future;
}

/*
 * Solution 3: nanosecond granularity
 */
struct timespec get_abs_future_time_fine(unsigned milli)
{
    struct timespec future;     /* ns since 1 Jan 1970 to 1500 ms in future */
    uint64_t        clock;      /* ticks since init */
    uint64_t        nano;       /* nanoseconds since init */

    clock = mach_absolute_time() - initclock;
    nano = clock * (uint64_t)timebase.numer / (uint64_t)timebase.denom;
    future = inittime;
    future.tv_sec += nano / BILLION;
    future.tv_nsec += nano % BILLION;
    NORMALISE_TIMESPEC( future, milli );
    return future;
}

#define N 3

int main()
{
    int                 i, j;
    struct timespec     time[3][N];
    struct timespec   (*get_abs_future_time[])(unsigned milli) =
    {
        &get_abs_future_time_coarse,
        &get_abs_future_time_served,
        &get_abs_future_time_fine
    };

    init();
    for (j = 0; j < 3; j++)
        for (i = 0; i < N; i++)
            time[j][i] = get_abs_future_time[j](1500);  /* now() + 1500 ms */

    for (j = 0; j < 3; j++)
        for (i = 0; i < N; i++)
            printf("get_abs_future_time_%d() : %10ld.%09ld\n",
                   j, time[j][i].tv_sec, time[j][i].tv_nsec);

    return 0;
}

Answer 3

In effect, it seems not to be implemented for macOS before Sierra 10.12. You may want to look at this blog entry. The main idea is in the following code snippet:

#include <mach/mach_time.h>
#define ORWL_NANO (+1.0E-9)
#define ORWL_GIGA UINT64_C(1000000000)

static double orwl_timebase = 0.0;
static uint64_t orwl_timestart = 0;

struct timespec orwl_gettime(void) {
  // be more careful in a multithreaded environement
  if (!orwl_timestart) {
    mach_timebase_info_data_t tb = { 0 };
    mach_timebase_info(&tb);
    orwl_timebase = tb.numer;
    orwl_timebase /= tb.denom;
    orwl_timestart = mach_absolute_time();
  }
  struct timespec t;
  double diff = (mach_absolute_time() - orwl_timestart) * orwl_timebase;
  t.tv_sec = diff * ORWL_NANO;
  t.tv_nsec = diff - (t.tv_sec * ORWL_GIGA);
  return t;
}

Answer 4

#if defined(__MACH__) && !defined(CLOCK_REALTIME)
#include <sys/time.h>
#define CLOCK_REALTIME 0
// clock_gettime is not implemented on older versions of OS X (< 10.12).
// If implemented, CLOCK_REALTIME will have already been defined.
int clock_gettime(int /*clk_id*/, struct timespec* t) {
    struct timeval now;
    int rv = gettimeofday(&now, NULL);
    if (rv) return rv;
    t->tv_sec  = now.tv_sec;
    t->tv_nsec = now.tv_usec * 1000;
    return 0;
}
#endif