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# $cache_lifetime

This is the length of time in seconds that a template cache is valid. Once this time has expired, the cache will be regenerated.

- `$caching` must be turned on (either 1 or 2) for `$cache_lifetime` to have any purpose.

- A value of -1 will force the cache to never expire.

- A value of 0 will cause the cache to always regenerate (good for testing only, to disable caching a more efficient method is to set `$caching` = 0).

- If you want to give certain templates their own cache lifetime, you could do this by setting `$caching` = 2, then set `$cache_lifetime` to a unique value just before calling `display()` or `fetch()`.

If `$force_compile` is enabled, the cache files will be regenerated every time, effectively disabling caching. You can clear all the cache files with the `clear_all_cache()` function, or individual cache files (or groups) with the `clear_cache()` function.

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