--- /dev/null
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2008 Patrik Gornicz, Gornicz_P (at) hotmail (dot) com.
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifndef TICKS_H
+#define TICKS_H
+
+/// ***** Public Methods *****
+
+typedef long int MICRO;
+
+// returns the current seconds from program start
+MICRO tickCountSec();
+
+// returns the current milliseconds from program start
+MICRO tickCountMilli();
+
+// returns the current microseconds from program start
+MICRO tickCountMicro();
+
+#endif // TICKS_H
--- /dev/null
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2008 Patrik Gornicz, Gornicz_P (at) hotmail (dot) com.
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include "ticks.h"
+
+#include <sys/time.h>
+
+/* this file is specific to a UNIX system */
+
+/// ***** Public Methods *****
+
+// returns the current microseconds from unix time
+MICRO tickCountMicro()
+{
+ timeval tv;
+ gettimeofday(&tv, 0);
+
+ return (long int)tv.tv_sec * 1000000 + tv.tv_usec;
+}
+
+// returns the current milliseconds from unix time
+MICRO tickCountMilli()
+{
+ return tickCountMicro() / 1000;
+}
+
+// returns the current seconds from unix time
+MICRO tickCountSec()
+{
+ return tickCountMicro() / 1000000;
+}