# pause

The `pause` statement is used to suspend execution of a USE script for a specified time.

## Syntax

**`pause`***`delaytime`*

## Details

The *delaytime* parameter is the number of milliseconds to wait before continuing. A value of 0 is allowed, in which case no delay will occur.

The `pause` statement may be useful in cases where an external data source imposes some form of rate limiting on the number of queries that can be serviced in a given time-frame, or to slow down execution at critical points when debugging a long or complex script.

## Example

{% hint style="info" %}
This example makes use of script parameters which are provided when USE is executed. For more information on script parameters please refer to the [Extract introduction](/2.10.2/data-pipelines/extract.md).
{% endhint %}

```
var first = ${ARG_1}
var last = ${ARG_2}
var last += 1
var x = ${first}

# Retrieve a number of files from http://server.local/?.dat where ? is a number
# Wait for 1 second between each file
loop slurp {
    var url = http://server.local/datafiles/${x}.dat
    set http_savefile data/${x}.png
    print Getting datafile ${x}
    http GET ${url}
    if (${HTTP_STATUS_CODE} == 200) {
        print 200 OK
    }
    if (${HTTP_STATUS_CODE} == 404) {
        print Data file ${x} missing on server
    }
    var x += 1
    if (${x} == ${last}) {
        exit_loop
    }
        pause 1000   # Wait for 1 second
}
print ${x} files were downloaded
terminate
```


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://olddocs.exivity.io/2.10.2/data-pipelines/extract/language/pause.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.