stopping a repeated script with a button

[magice]

I need a script to run every 15 seconds until it is turned off by the user. My original thought was to set a control variable to true with a button, and use "repeat while controlvariable is true". Then have a button that sets the control variable to false to kill the loop. unfortunately, while the loop is running none of the buttons function. There is a 15 second wait in the loop that I thought would allow for other input, but I guess it doesn't work that way. Is there a way to give the loop a break long enough to allow a button to be pushed?

[jmburnod]

Hi Magice,
Try this

Code: Select all

on mouseUp
   repeat until the mouse is down
      put the seconds
      wait 1 milliseconds with messages
   end repeat
end mouseUp

Best

Jean-Marc

[BvG]

if the 15 minutes do not need to be kept exactly, you can also use send in time. That is guaranteed to be nonblocking, but it might not fire, until the mouse is released (for example when the user is resizing the stack), or repeat loops have finished.

on mouseUp
send "runTimer" to me in 15 seconds
end mouseUp


on runTimer
--ca. 15 seconds later
end runTimer

[magice]

Thank you Jean-Marc, I tried your suggestion to understand exactly what it does. Unfortunately running the loop until mouse is down only stops the loop while the mouse is down. as soon as I release to mouse again it reactivates the mouseup command so I am not quite sure how to work this into what I have done. Here is what I have so far"

Code: Select all

-- this is the code for the start button
on mouseUp  
  send activateToggle to me in 1 milliseconds   
end mouseUp

on activateToggle
   global tLogStarted
   set the visible of me to false
   set the visible of button LogToggle2 to "true"
   put "true" into tLogStarted
   beginPollingLog
end activateToggle

--This is the code for the stop button

on mouseUp
send deactivateToggle to me in 1 milliseconds
end mouseUp

on deactivateToggle
   global tLogStarted
   set the visible of me to false
   set the visible of button LogToggle to "true"
      put "false" into tLogStarted
end deactivateToggle

I started with a single button that toggled label and script, but changed to a two button system with buttons stacked in the same position in hopes that it would solve the problem.

the script the first button runs is the repeat loop which is basically like this:

Code: Select all

on beginPollingLog
    global tLogStarted
    repeat while tLogStarted is "true"
           --script i want to run every 15 seconds until stopped by the user
           wait for 15 seconds
    end repeat
 end beginPollingLog

After pushing the start button no buttons will work. I have to shut down rev completely and reload the program. When I shut down rev the repeat loop aborts at the wait command, which seems to me eliminates the actual script as the problem.

[dunbarx]

Make a button, and make sure its "autoHilite" is set to "false". Put these two handlers into its script

Code: Select all

on mouseUp
   set the hilite of me to not the hilite of me
   if the hilite of me then startTimer
end mouseUp

on startTimer
   if not the hilite of me then  exit startTimer
   repeat 30
      if the mouseClick then
         exit to top
         set the hilite of me to "false"
      end if
      put random(99)
      wait 5
      if the mouseClick then
         set the hilite of me to "false"
         exit to top
      end if
   end repeat
   if the hilite of me then send startTimer to me in 5 seconds
end startTimer

Is this the sort of thing you needed?

Craig Newman

[magice]

Mr.Newman Thank you very much. This is not exactly the button behavior I wanted, but with a little modification it works to stop my repeat loop. And I am actually starting to like this button behavior more then the name change that i was wanting before. So basically you fixed my problem.

for anyone with a similar situation, this is the modified version of your script that runs my script every 15 seconds until stopped.

Code: Select all

on mouseUp
   set the hilite of me to not the hilite of me
   if the hilite of me then startTimer
end mouseUp

on startTimer
   if not the hilite of me then  exit startTimer
   repeat while the hilite of me
      if the mouseClick then
         exit to top
         set the hilite of me to "false"
      end if
      beginPollingLog
      
      wait 15 seconds
      if the mouseClick then
         set the hilite of me to "false"
         exit to top
      end if
   end repeat
   if the hilite of me then send startTimer to me in 5 seconds
end startTimer

I then just removed the repeat and the wait line from my "beginPollingLog" scrips and is seems to work. of course there is up to a 15 second delay when toggling the button off before seeing the hilite change, but I can live with that if it means my project is no longer dead. Thank you all again for your suggestions and thank you Mr. Newman for your solution.

[dunbarx]

You're welcome.

But you are using a "wait" command, which will lock the system until it times out. Is this OK? I would continue to modify so that no "wait" is ever needed. The one I used was only to make the short sequence of random numbers visible to represent another process.

Also, though you like the hilite, why not have both? When the hilite is true, set the label of the button to "running" (or something). When it is false, set the label to "push me".

[jsburnett]

I have no solution to offer but just wonder in general, how are "clocks" scripted that preform a continous script but don't "lock" the system?

[dunbarx]

Generally the "send message in time" command is used. Instead of "wait" or "repeat until...", this command leaves the system alone. Check the dictionary.

Craig Newman

[dunbarx]

Here is a simple script that shows "send in time". Put these handlers into a button. You can do other tasks while the message box happily counts...

Code: Select all

on mouseUp
    set the timeKeeper of me to 0
   startTimer
end mouseUp

on startTimer
   set the timeKeeper of me to the timeKeeper of me + 1
   put  the timeKeeper of me
   if the  timeKeeper of me < 25 then
      send "startTimer" to me in 20
   end if
end startTimer

Check out the "pendingMessages" (and related stuff) in the dictionary. They are key to managing this sort of thing.

Craig Newman

[magice]

This thread has been most helpful in understanding what I am doing to the system when I create a loop. One thing I have noticed, is that if I close the stack without first toggling off the repeat loop, the stack closes but the process still runs in windows background. Is there an easy way to kill the loop before allowing the stack to close?

[jmburnod]

Hi Magice

Is there an easy way to kill the loop before allowing the stack to close?

Yes. on CloseStack (or when you want)

Code: Select all

on closestack
   repeat for each line aLine in the pendingMessages
      if aLine contains "startTimer"  then 
         cancel item 1 of aLine
      end if
   end repeat
end closestack

Best

Jean-Marc

[Klaus]

Bonjour Jean-Marc,

yep that's the way to canel "pending messages", but obviously magice still has "wait XYZ" and "repeat until..."
clauses in his handlers which will of course NOT be interrupted by this script!

@magice
AVOID "wait xyz" and "repeat until..." whereever you can!
That will save you from a lot of headaches!


Best

Klaus

[magice]

I have seen the error of my ways. After finally having the logic of how the startTimer system works, I did a complete rewrite of my script. It now looks like this:

Code: Select all

on mouseUp
   global tButtonToggle
   if tButtonToggle is false then
      set the label of me to "Stop"
      
      put true into tButtonToggle
      send startTimer to me in 1 millisecond
   else
      set the label of me to "Start"
      put false into tButtonToggle
   end if
end mouseUp

on startTimer
   global tButtonToggle 
   
   if tButtonToggle is false then 
      exit startTimer to top
   else
      beginPollingLog
      send startTimer to me in 5 seconds
   end if
   
end startTimer

My processor usage went down from 20% to less than 1% and I no longer leave stray processes running on shutdown. Thank you.

[Klaus]

Hi Magice,

wonderful, congratulations!

Please allow me some more tiny hints
See my comments

Code: Select all

on mouseUp
   global tButtonToggle
   if tButtonToggle is false then
      set the label of me to "Stop"  
      put true into tButtonToggle
      ## send startTimer to me in 1 millisecond
     ## Yopu can simply CALL the handler now, no need to send
     startTimer
   else
      set the label of me to "Start"
      put false into tButtonToggle
   end if
end mouseUp

on startTimer
   global tButtonToggle    
   if tButtonToggle is false then 
   ## exit startTimer to top
   exit startTimer
   ## OR
   ## exit to top
   else
      beginPollingLog
      ## Put quotes around the name of the messages to send!
      send "startTimer" to me in 5 seconds
   end if   
end startTimer

Best

Klaus