Clock on webpage using server and system time?

Question

I need to add a clock to a web page. The clock needs to be synchronized with a server but I really don't want to have it constantly check the server as the page will be open 24/7 on several PCs. Is there some way to get the time from the server and then use the systems clock to keep it updated and check the server every 15 minutes or so to keep it synced?

Answer 1

Server Time: <input type="text" id="clock" value="" size='8'>

<script type="text/javascript">
var serverTime = <?php echo time() * 1000; ?>; //this would come from the server
var localTime = +Date.now();
var timeDiff = serverTime - localTime;

setInterval(function () {
    var realtime = +Date.now() + timeDiff;
    var date = new Date(realtime);
    // hours part from the timestamp
    var hours = date.getHours();
    // minutes part from the timestamp
    var minutes = date.getMinutes();
    // seconds part from the timestamp
    var seconds = date.getSeconds();

    // will display time in 10:30:23 format
    var formattedTime = hours + ':' + minutes + ':' + seconds;

    $('#clock').attr('value',formattedTime); <-- input id=clock
}, 1000);
</script>

Answer 2

The way I've gone about this before is:

• Take the time from the server,
• Take the time from the client (immediately)
• Get an offset.
• When showing the clock, apply the offset to the current time on the client.

You only need to update this occasionally from the server.

The problem that you've got to sort out though is that in making a request to get the time from the server, there will be a lag before you can get the client time. You can probably minimize this by using an ajax request to get the server time and nothing else, thereby cutting overhead and network lag etc.