Panel that updates every N seconds

[bialio]

What's wrong with using the panel Animate property?

Yeah, I as about to say anything that needs more than a basic RefreshArea() call (which is what the Animate property seems to do) would be a little easier (maybe) in a fork/wait loop.

However, I think the LayoutStarted hook might be a way to 'do stuff' each time on the panel with the animate property, since it is really a "layoutabouttostart" and gives you a change to load stuff / tinker with variables etc before refresh kicks off.

btl.

[jaminben]

I'd be carefull with a LayoutStarted hook.... I found more often than not that it would run away with itself especially if your relying on default Sage stuff to refresh various items within your screen.

Originally Posted by bialio

Yeah, I as about to say anything that needs more than a basic RefreshArea() call (which is what the Animate property seems to do) would be a little easier (maybe) in a fork/wait loop.

However, I think the LayoutStarted hook might be a way to 'do stuff' each time on the panel with the animate property, since it is really a "layoutabouttostart" and gives you a change to load stuff / tinker with variables etc before refresh kicks off.

btl.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by jaminben

I'd be carefull with a LayoutStarted hook.... I found more often than not that it would run away with itself especially if your relying on default Sage stuff to refresh various items within your screen.

Yeah the layout started is really iffy and very inefficient once again

I would use the animate like you are unless andy says it is going away. I doubt it will they probably put that because the newer way is more efficient especially on extenders and such.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by bialio

Opus - is the Animation attribute scheduled for decomission anytime soon? The Studio manual hints that this might be so, but I do see it being used a bit in the default STV....

The animation property isn't going away; the Studio manual notes that the layer animation system may be removed in the future. The animation property was also used to define layers for the pre-v7 layered animation system. The effect widgets should be used for animations instead of the older layer-based animations.

In terms of using the animation property, a forked thread, or an effect widget to do a loop... I suppose the answer would be "yes".

I use various methods in the default STV, depending on what the loop does - how complex it is & so on. A very simple loop can be done via the animation property. If I want to control a lot more stuff outside that UI chain, then I will consider a forked thread.

Don't forget to see the "Animation property vs. Refresh() API call" tip starting on p. 158 of the v7 Studio manual.

And, there are ways to make sure the thread dies when it should & no additional threads are created while a single one is active. In addition to recognizing that a menu has been exited (or focus lost, etc), I will also use a variable to say that the thread is already active so that a second one can't be started.

- Andy