Elapsed time is the number of seconds, in wall-clock time, required to execute a query batch or transaction. Elapsed time is determined by such factors as query complexity, server load, and waiting for locks.
To help develop appropriate limits for elapsed time use information you have gathered with set statistics time You can limit the elapsed time resource only at execution time.
With set statistics time set on, run some typical queries to determine processing time in milliseconds. Convert milliseconds to seconds when you create the resource limit.
Elapsed time resource limits are applied to all SQL statements in the limit’s scope (query batch or transaction), not just to the DML statements. A resource limit violation occurs when the elapsed time for the appropriate scope exceeds the limit value.
Because elapsed time is limited only at execution time, an individual query will continue to run, even if its elapsed time exceeds the limit. If there are multiple statements in a batch, an elapsed time limit takes effect after a statement violates the limit and before the next statement is executed. If there is only one statement in a batch, setting an elapsed time limit has no effect.
Separate elapsed time limits are not applied to nested stored procedures or transactions. In other words, if one transaction is nested within another, the elapsed time limit applies to the outer transaction, which encompasses the elapsed time of the inner transaction. Therefore, if you are counting the wall-clock running time of a transaction, that running time includes all nested transactions.
