Shoutbox

A method of halting script execution by X milliseconds.  For example:

js code:

---

function Two()
{
    PartOne();
>>>    MsgPlus.Pause(500);<<<
    PartTwo();
}

---

...could be used instead of...

js code:

---

function Two()
{
    PartOne();
    MsgPlus.AddTimer("Two", 500);
}

function OnEvent_Timer(TimerId)
{
    if (TimerId === "Two")
    {
        PartTwo();
    }
}

---

quote:

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Originally posted by whiz

jscript code:

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>>>    MsgPlus.Pause(500);<<<

---

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Maybe you can use Interop.Call to call the function Sleep

quote:

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Originally posted by Choli

quote:

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Originally posted by whiz

jscript code:

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>>>    MsgPlus.Pause(500);<<<

---

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Maybe you can use Interop.Call to call the function Sleep

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Yeah, but that would freeze the msnmsgr process as well.

quote:

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Originally posted by Felu
Yeah, but that would freeze the msnmsgr process as well

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Aren't scripts executed in other thread than messenger's?

quote:

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Originally posted by Choli

quote:

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Originally posted by Felu
Yeah, but that would freeze the msnmsgr process as well

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Aren't scripts executed in other thread than messenger's?

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Actually no. In fact, it is stated in the scripting documents that:

quote:

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From the scripting documentation
Note: every function and properties of every object listed here is intended to be called from the main thread of the application. Functions and properties will fail or may create unexpected bugs if called from a different thread.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Choli

quote:

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Originally posted by Felu
Yeah, but that would freeze the msnmsgr process as well

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Aren't scripts executed in other thread than messenger's?

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No. They're executed in the same thread as Messenger Plus! which hooks itself up to the messenger process.

Edit: Damn you Mnjul. Beaten to it .

Then I see quite complex to pause the execution of a script without freezing or interfering with the messenger process.

Having a sleep() function seems like a very bad idea because it will be misused quite a lot. In fact, I can't see any good use for it. You should always use a timer instead.

A sleep function is sycroneous, and as long as each script doesn't have its own thread, it should realy not be used at all. Even when scripts are running in their own thread, Plus! would then not be able anymore to call other events at the appropiate time and custom interface windows will stop working; go blank, etc.

A function like sleep is only 'good' (mind the quotes; as it is actually never good) in a one-process-one-thread-no-gui environment.

Alright, how about this: dynamically add/edit/remove menu items in a MenuButtonControl (maybe in a similar way to OnGetScriptMenu() with the script menu).

quote:

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Originally posted by whiz
Alright, how about this: dynamically add/edit/remove menu items in a MenuButtonControl (maybe in a similar way to OnGetScriptMenu() with the script menu).

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I made that same request before, but I still think this should get more attention. There are many controls which you can define in the interface XML but which can't easily be accessed from the script afterwards.

Take MenuButtonControls for instance: in Countdown Live, I wanted the menu entry labels to be changed while the window was opened. Nothing fancy, I just needed translations to be reloaded without re-opening windows. To get around the missing support, I had to completely recreate the menu button functionality: using a standard button control instead, creating a menu through the Windows API and then positioning the menu beneath the button. This works perfectly (it even gives additional features such as check marks and icons) but it's not something an average script developer would want to go through.

Talking about the Windows API: perhaps Plus! should provide easier access to some standard controls which can now only be accessed through the Windows API. I can imagine a beginning developer writing his first script getting headaches from working with the API when he wants to add a DateTimeControl, TreeViewControl or ProgressControl to his first window. Of course, the Windows API handles everything and it might be a bit silly if we were to wrap each and every API function or message in a Plus! script method, but still I think this should be considered. Should we expect scripters to learn working with Interop and the Windows API or should we make commonly used methods easier to access?