Timers and loops

[Enrico Maria Giordano]

Dear friends, is there any way to get a timer to count even if a loop without a sysrefresh() inside it is running?

EMG

[ukoenig]

Enrico,

maybe a Solution :

Code: Select all  Expand view  RUN

FUNCTION MAIN()

cTimeStart := Time()
i := 1
x := 0
FOR i := 1 to 12000000
    x++
NEXT
cTimeEnd := Time()

MsgAlert( "Start : " + cTimeStart + CRLF + ;
   "End : " + cTimeEnd + CRLF + ;
   CRLF + ;
   "Elapsed : " + TIME_DIFF( cTimeStart, cTimeEnd), "Elapsed Time ( 12000000-Counter )" )

RETURN NIL

// -----------------------------

FUNCTION TIME_COUNT(cTIME1,cTIME2)
local  nTIME1, nTIME2, nDELSECS, nHRS, nMINS, nSECS, nSECS1, nSECS2

nSECS1   := (val(substr(cTIME1,1,2)) * 3600) +;
              (val(substr(cTIME1,4,2)) * 60) + (val(substr(cTIME1,7)))
nSECS2   := (val(substr(cTIME2,1,2)) * 3600) +;
              (val(substr(cTIME2,4,2)) * 60) + (val(substr(cTIME2,7)))
nDELSECS := abs(nSECS2 - nSECS1)
nHRS     := int(nDELSECS / 3600)
nMINS    := int((nDELSECS - nHRS * 3600) / 60)
nSECS    := nDELSECS - (nHRS * 3600) - (nMINS * 60)

RETURN right("00" + ltrim(str(nHRS)),2) + ":" + ;
right("00" + ltrim(str(nMINS)),2) +  ":" + ;
right("00" + ltrim(str(nSECS)),2)
 

Best Regards
Uwe

[Enrico Maria Giordano]

Sorry, I was referring to a Windows timer (FWH's TTimer class): it stops counting when the program is in a loop without a call to SysRefresh() inside it.

EMG

[James Bott]

Enrico,

I believe everything stops when there is no sysrefresh() inside a loop (other apps also). That is why you should put sysrefresh() inside any loop that takes more than a couple of seconds.

James

[Enrico Maria Giordano]

No, other apps don't stop. Maybe I can use threads but I'm not familiar with them.

EMG

[James Bott]

Why don't you want to call sysrefresh()?

James

[Enrico Maria Giordano]

Because I already have tons of loops without SysRefresh().

EMG

[James Bott]

Enrico,

Well you say other apps are not affected, but that is not my experience. Trying running a continous loop without a sysrefresh():

do while .t.
endo

And then try running another app. It will be extremely sluggish since the loop is using 99% of the CPU time. Now try:

do while .t.
sysfresh()
enddo

And see the difference.

James

[Enrico Maria Giordano]

Sorry, I see no differences at all in my PC. Maybe because I have a dual processor PC?

EMG

[Enrico Maria Giordano]

Yes, it was that. If I run two empty loops then my system become sluggish too. Anyway, I don't really need to get the rest of the system responding fast during my waiting loops. I only need the timers going on with their work.

EMG

[Antonio Linares]

Enrico,

SysRefresh() lets Windows "breathe" and process its pending work

If for some reason you can't call SysRefresh() then you may need to run your timer action yourself. In example, you can use GetTickCount() to count time and every amount of ticks, call yourself the timer action. That would be an equivalent for receiving and processing a timer event.

[Enrico Maria Giordano]

Ok, I realize that I can't do what I had in my mind. No problem.

EMG

[Antonio Linares]

Dear Enrico,

If you explain us what you have in your mind then we may try to help you

[Enrico Maria Giordano]

Easy to explain: I have tons of loops without SysRefresh() that use a waiting message for the user, something like this:

Code: Select all  Expand view  RUN

MSGBOX( "Please wait..." )

WHILE ... // condition
    // do a lot of work
ENDDO

CLOSE MSGBOX

Now I would want to add something moving inside the function MsgBox() to give the user a better feel that the process is really going.

EMG

[ukoenig]

Enrico,

maybe have a look at < Progres1.prg, Progtime.prg and Win32 > ?

Best Regards
Uwe