Start time is off each time macro activates

[Paulb2100]

I have a macro set to activate every 30 minutes using the "Other" option in the Set Schedule dialog box. The macro works perfectly, but each time it fires it starts 1 or 2 seconds later. I tested this by logging the start time and end time to Notepad each time it runs. The first thing the macro does is get the time so nothing is else occuring to affect the time (that I know of!). Here are some sample timings:

 

Start Time = 6:00:50

End Time = 6:01:09

Start Time = 6:30:52

End Time = 6:31:11

Start Time = 7:00:53

End Time = 7:01:12

Start Time = 7:30:55

End Time = 7:31:13

Start Time = 8:00:56

End Time = 8:01:15

 

Is there any way I can prevent this from happening? What I really want it to do is activate within a few seconds (up to 10) of the top of the hour and the bottom of the hour.

[rberq]

First, check Options | Preferences | Scheduler | Timer Interval. Make sure you have the interval very small, 1 second for the highest precision. Probably 5 seconds would be OK if you don't mind 10 seconds or so of slop in your start times.

 

Second, from your sample times, it looks like there is a cumulative time slippage of a second or two with each execution, which will make the macro later and later as the hours and days go by. I have not tried this, but perhaps you could use the "hourly" schedule method rather than the "other". Presumably that would start the macro based on the clock time, rather than relative to the previous execution time, so there should be no cumulative error.

 

Since you want it to run on the half hour as well as the hour, duplicate the entire macro under another name and schedule the first to run at 0 minutes past the hour and the second one to run at 30 minutes past. Or (probably better) schedule two small macros that way, which each do nothing but call ("Macro Run") your "real" macro; that way you don't have to maintain two copies of the full macro.

[Paulb2100]

I'll give the two macro approach a try and see how that goes. Thanks for the quick reply!