Avoiding mouse polls

[Dar Scott]

On Sunday, December 15, 2002, at 03:18 PM, Troy Rollins wrote:

> But the good part is that you can interrupt the cycle by testing a 
> variable state. This particular case may have read -
>
> on cycle
> change
> if myCustomState is false
> 	send cycle to me in 333 milliseconds
> put the result into flashingID
> end cycle

This is a good point.

If the myCustomState variable (or whatever) is checked to stop a cycle, 
then saving the ID is not needed.  This style might be easier for those 
new to this.

Modifying the flashing light example off the top of my head:
------------------------------
local flashingIsOn="false"

-- Modify this handler when adapting to other uses
on change
   if backgroundColor of me is red then
     set backgroundColor of me to green
   else
     set backgroundColor of me to red
   end if
end change

on startFlashing
   if not flashingIsOn then  -- only one flashing at a time
     put true into flashingIsOn
     cycle  -- no need to "send" the first one
   end if
end startFlashing

on cycle
   change
   if flashingIsOn then send "cycle" to me in .333 seconds
end cycle

on stopFlashing
   put false into flashingIsOn
end stopFlashing
--------------------------

In this example, the applicable state is the flashingIsOn local variable 
and the backgroundColor of the object.

This has the advantage and disadvantage of not actually cancelling the 
pending messages.  This might be handy if the cycle needs to go through 
a shutdown sequence.  If start is modified to restart on busy (as might 
be important if parameters apply to the state machine), then being able 
to cancel might be important.

It is possible to keep state in the parameters of one or more cycle 
handlers, but if you want to stop it you probably need to have at least 
one part of the state outside, as in these two examples.  State in 
parameters also allows multiple "processes" using the same handlers 
going on at the same time.  (If you mix with other callbacks, such as 
socket callbacks, you might not be able to have all the info you need in 
parameters to maintain a full state--global arrays may be needed to keep 
up with these.)

Dar Scott