Best way to set up an idle timer

[Sarah]

> I want to write a routine in my stack that will automatically log the 
> user out after X minutes of inactivity, in the same way the screen 
> saver will kick in after X minutes. Any mouse or keyboard event would 
> reset the timer. I've been playing with the idle handler like this:

script snipped

> The problem with this approach of course is there is no way to reset 
> the startSeconds unless the timeOut handler runs. I don't want to have 
> to trap every single mouse and keyboard event to reset startSeconds.

An idle handler is a bad idea as it tries to hog the processor. It is 
always better to use a send instead. I would recommend something like 
this:

on openStack
	put the seconds into startSeconds
	send "logoutMessage" to me in 300 seconds
	....
end openStack

on resetLogout
	-- cancel any pending logoutMessage
	-- send a new one 5 minutes from now
end resetLogout

on logoutMessage
	-- do the actual logout stuff
end logoutMessage

Then have a frontScript that tracks rawKeyDown and mouseDown (or 
mouseMove if that is enough to stop being logged out), and sends a 
resetLogout message after each one before passing it on.

Cheers,
Sarah
sarahr at genesearch.com.au
http://www.troz.net/Rev/