[erlang-questions] Replacing erlang:now/0 for getting a unique number

[Martin Koroudjiev]

Thanks guys,

Seems from the documentation that unique_integer([monotonic] is enough.

Regards,
Martin
On 9/18/2015 10:24 AM, zxq9 wrote:
> On 2015年9月18日 金曜日 10:04:30 Martin Koroudjiev wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I have code that users erlang:now/0 to get a unique number. What is the
>> alternative in OTP 18? In the documentation for erlang:monotonic_time/0
>> says that consecutive calls might produce same results.
> It depends on what you are using the value for.
>
> If you are just getting the time, either erlang:system_time/1 (you pass what unit you want), or if you want it to work the way now/0 used to, then use erlang:timestamp/0 -- but this is not guaranteed to be unique (make two calls faster than the clock's resolution, for example).
>
> If you need to determine ordering of events using a timestamp then you need a tuple that combines monotonic_time/0 and inique_integer/1:
>
>   EventStamp = {monotonic_time(), unique_integer([monotonic])}.
>
> Systems are so fast now that outrunning the system clock can actually happen more than you might expect!
>
> There is a section in the release notes for R18 that explains a how time issues have changed.
>
> -Craig
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