node-safetimeout

DEPRECATION WARNING

WARNING! This module should be considered deprecated. If you are seeking this functionality, I recommend utilizing the nearly equivalent safe-timers module instead.

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Overview

A Node.js module that wraps setTimeout, clearTimeout, setInterval, and clearInterval to safely operate on delays greater than the max 32-bit integer (2147483647) but less than Number.MAX_VALUE (approximately 1.79E+308). Of course, you can use these safe versions of the functions for delays that are less than the max 32-bit integer, too.

That said, if you need to run a setTimeout or setInterval with a delay greater than 24.85 days, you may want to rethink your strategy to begin with. This module was mostly made to prove a point. :smirk:

Please note that, for use as the "delay" with setTimeout and setInterval, JavaScript engines typically treat the numeric values of -Infinity, -0, NaN, 0, and Infinity as 0 (though they are also typically executed in the order listed). This module does not handle any of those values, and so the behavior will match the underlying behavior of Node.

Also, please note that JavaScript engines typically:

• treat numerical values greater than Number.MAX_VALUE as Infinity (Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY), and
• treat numerical values less than -Number.MAX_VALUE as -Infinity (Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY).

Setup

npm install safetimeout

Usage

var safe = require('safetimeout');

var timeoutId = safe.setTimeout(console.log.bind(console, 'timeout fired'), Number.MAX_VALUE);
safe.clearTimeout(timeoutId);

var intervalId = safe.setInterval(console.log.bind(console, 'interval fired'), Number.MAX_VALUE);
safe.clearInterval(intervalId);

Tests

Note that there are no unit tests because any real test would need to run for about 25 days. I am fairly confident that Travis-CI would auto-kill the build long before then... likely within 1 hour.