Script Profiler instructions

[J. Landman Gay]

Since the Script Profiler stack I just uploaded to RevOnline expects you 
to be a mind-reader, I thought I'd provide brief instructions. This is 
definitely a development tool with a minimal UI. Here is how to use it.

1. Open the stack as you would any other. You can put it in the plugins 
folder if you want and choose it from the Plugins menu. The stack will 
choose a default script to display when it opens.

2. Use the popdown menu buttons to choose the stack and object you want 
to examine. Choose the handler name you want to specifically want to test.

3. Click the "Start Profile" button at the top right of the stack.

4. Either execute handlers normally by using the stack you are testing, 
or else click the "Send Message" button at the bottom of the stack to 
specifically send the message you choose in the popdown button. When 
testing a single handler, clicking the button is the easiest way to 
execute the handler.

5. The message will be sent and executed, and the profiler display will 
change to show the number of calls and total execution time for each 
line of the handler being tested. Times are relative and depend on the 
traceDelay property. The shorter the traceDelay, the faster the times 
will be. TraceDelay is a global Revolution property which defaults to 
500 miliseconds. You can set a different delay from the message box to 
change the relative times.

Statistics are cumulative. Every time you run the handler, times and 
number of calls are added to the previous test results. You can re-run 
the same handler multiple times to get a cumulative average of relative 
times.

6. When you are done testing, click the "Stop Profile" button. The stack 
will no longer watch for messages.

7. If you want to clear the current display, click "Clear Profile". This 
resets the numbers to zero so that new tests are not added to the 
statistics from previous tests.

The "Edit Script" buttton does what you'd expect, and opens the script 
of the object currently being tested.

The "Done" button closes the stack.

The "Help" button does nothing; it is linked to the MetaCard IDE. But 
the above is a fair approximation of that info.

-- 
Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com