Running lengthy task in GUI?

[littlebigman]

Hello,

I just need to display a listbox, run a for loop that could take minutes and just adds a few items to the list, and then let the user close the application.

What would be the right way to do this? It looks like the OnEventMode() would be a better way to keep the GUI responsive.

Thank you.

;Opt("GUIOnEventMode", 1) ; Change to OnEvent mode

#Region ### START Koda GUI section ### Form=
$Form1 = GUICreate("Form1", 623, 449, 279, 114)
$List1 = GUICtrlCreateList("", 8, 8, 601, 422)
;GUISetOnEvent($GUI_EVENT_CLOSE, "CLOSEButton")
;GUICtrlSetOnEvent($iOKButton, "OKButton")
GUISetState(@SW_SHOW)
#EndRegion ### END Koda GUI section ###

;~ While 1
;~         Sleep(100) ; Sleep to reduce CPU usage
;~ WEnd

;~ Func CLOSEButton()
;~         ; Note: At this point @GUI_CtrlId would equal $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE,
;~         ; and @GUI_WinHandle would equal $hMainGUI
;~         MsgBox($MB_OK, "GUI Event", "You selected CLOSE! Exiting...")
;~         Exit
;~ EndFunc   ;==>CLOSEButton 
;~ Exit

While 1
    $nMsg = GUIGetMsg()
    Switch $nMsg
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    EndSwitch

    For $picindx = 1 to UBound($aArray) -1
        ;lengthy task
    Next
    ;GUICtrlSetData($Form1, "Done.")
    WinSetTitle($Form1, "Done.", "")
    ConsoleWrite("Done." & @CRLF)
WEnd

 

[Andreik]

For $picindx = 1 to UBound($aArray) -1
    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        ...
    EndSwitch
    ; Do your other task
Next

If an itertation doesn't take too long you can still process GUI messages in that loop so your GUI will remain responsive.

[littlebigman]

Thanks.

But then the GUI closes when the code exits the for/next loop, while I need to keep it open to display data I found within the loop.

How would I prevent this?

For blah
    $nMsg = GUIGetMsg()
    Switch $nMsg
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    EndSwitch

    ;do stuf
Next

;gone!

 

[Andreik]

It doesn't mean you have to exit the program, you could simply ExitLoop.

[littlebigman]

The GUI still closes:

For blah
    $nMsg = GUIGetMsg()
    Switch $nMsg
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            ;Exit
            ExitLoop
    EndSwitch
    ;do stuf
Next
;gone!

Alternatively, is there some Refresh() command that I could call within the GUI loop to keep the application responsive?

[argumentum]

... you could fork the code. 

[littlebigman]

Thanks. What files do I need, and would you have a "Hello, World!" I could try fast and see if it solves the problem?

Example_Fork_Broadcast.au3
Example_Fork_BroadcastWithFMIPC.au3
Example_Fork_Events.au3
Example_Fork_FileMonitor.au3
Example_Fork_FileMonitor_NoGui.au3
Example_Fork_Reciever.au3
Example_Fork_TCP.au3
FMIPC.au3
Fork.au3
ForkDbgAid.au3
ForkDbgWr.au3
MailSlot.au3

[argumentum]

hmm, maybe this is less advanced and gives you a clue :

Example()
Func Example()
    Local $sHello = "Hello cru" & "el world" ; ..this way is safer ; discovered after debugging
    If StringInStr($CmdLineRaw, "/bangbang") Then
        If WinWait("", $sHello, 5) Then
            MsgBox(262144, @ScriptName, "Bye cruel world", 1)
            WinClose("", $sHello)
        Else
            MsgBox(262144, @ScriptName, "oops ?", 2)
        EndIf
    Else
        ShellExecute(@AutoItExe, '"' & @ScriptFullPath & '" /bangbang')
        MsgBox(262144, @ScriptName, $sHello)
    EndIf
EndFunc

..basically you can have a script handle other scripts in whatever creative ways you can apply within your "arsenal of code knowing" / experience  

Edited June 5, 2023 by argumentum
better code

[littlebigman]

Not sure how I can get control back to the GUI once the code was launched with ShellExecute().

I'll read the examples to fork.

[Andreik]

5 hours ago, littlebigman said:

The GUI still closes:

For blah
    $nMsg = GUIGetMsg()
    Switch $nMsg
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            ;Exit
            ExitLoop
    EndSwitch
    ;do stuf
Next
;gone!

Alternatively, is there some Refresh() command that I could call within the GUI loop to keep the application responsive?

You're joking. The GUI close if you close it or if the script ends. You must be more specific about what do stuff and lengthy task means.

[littlebigman]

The for/next loop is a task that can take minutes, and will just add some items to the listbox.

That's why I need a way to keep the GUI responsive, and keep it open once I'm out of the loop.

[Andreik]

I still don't get what do you mean to keep the GUI responsive. Something like that?

$hMain = GUICreate('Whatever', 400, 400)
$cListBox = GUICtrlCreateList('', 10, 10, 390, 350)
$cButton = GUICtrlCreateButton('Click me', 100, 365, 200, 30)
GUISetState(@SW_SHOW, $hMain)

While True
    ProcessMessages()
    AdlibRegister('ProcessMessages', 30)
    For $Index = 1 To 1000
        ; If a loop doesn't take seconds
        ; you can remove adlib and process
        ; messages here
        ; ProcessMessages()
        GUICtrlSetData($cListBox, $Index)
        Sleep(500)
    Next
    AdlibUnRegister('ProcessMessages')
    Sleep(10)
WEnd

Func ProcessMessages()
    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        Case -3
            Exit
        Case $cButton
            ConsoleWrite('Hi there!!' & @CRLF)
    EndSwitch
EndFunc

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by Andreik

[littlebigman]

Thank you!

#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>
#include <ListViewConstants.au3>
#include <GUIListBox.au3>
#include <StaticConstants.au3>
#include <WindowsConstants.au3>

#Region ### START Koda GUI section ### Form=
$Form1 = GUICreate("Form1", 623, 449, 279, 114)
$List1 = GUICtrlCreateList("", 0, 52, 622, 396)
$Label1 = GUICtrlCreateLabel("Label1", 8, 8, 428, 31)
GUISetState(@SW_SHOW)
#EndRegion ### END Koda GUI section ###

Func ProcessGUI()
    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    EndSwitch
EndFunc

For blah
    ProcessGUI() ;to keep the GUI responsive
    ;do stuff
Next

WinSetTitle($Form1, "", "Done!")

;So the app doesn't close after the for loop
While True
    $nMsg = GUIGetMsg()
    Switch $nMsg
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            Exit
    EndSwitch
WEnd

Edited June 6, 2023 by littlebigman