how do I wait on console input in c# for 15 seconds or so

Question

I need to ask for input in console and wait for few sec may be a min after that I need to default to some value. How can basically time our on console input in c# and proceed with default settings? If you have sample code that would be great.

Answer 1

You could use the timer object in System.Timers.Timer and set it to 60 secs, enable it and if someone enters something into the console just disable it, if not then just handle the what happens in the Timer.Elapsed event.

static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            System.Timers.Timer timer = new System.Timers.Timer(60000);
            timer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(T_Elapsed);
            timer.Start();
            var i = Console.ReadLine();
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(i)) 
            {
                timer.Stop();
                Console.WriteLine("{0}", i);
            }
        }

        static void T_Elapsed(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Defult Values Used");
            var T = (Timer)sender;
            T.Stop;

        }

Not sure if this is the best way. I have tested this but as I said it may not be the best way.

Answer 2

See here, it uses a nice little polling technique on the console, which although a bit crude, very effective.