OnPeriodicTimer() stops sending events when scripts are saved

Help & Support
1

Slight bug with the OnPeriodicTimer() event.
It stops sending events when a script is saved.

Steps to reproduce

  • setup Background Changer in slideshow mode, changing background every 5 seconds. (Or use any other script using OnPeriodicTimer() with short duration)
  • Open any script, make an edit and save

Please fix.

2

When a script is modified it's reloaded, and would need to reestablish any periodic timers itself in the OnInit function.

3

But it is happening when any script is saved, not just a script that is using a periodic timer.

For example, say I was to write a script to display a dialog (a text reminder with image) on christmas day, wishing me a happy christmas - the timer would be cancelled the next time I wrote another script!

4

That doesn't seem to be true from my own testing.

5

Using same function but called from a command `test'.
run command - timer increments
make edit and save - timer stops (can also edit another random script and click save)
this should not happen. Timer should only stop when the timer is killed. (which can be done in the above script by uncommenting the End() and return and then calling command.

// test
// (c) 2024

// This is a script for Directory Opus.
// See https://www.gpsoft.com.au/endpoints/redirect.php?page=scripts for development information.



// Called by Directory Opus to initialize the script
function OnInit(initData)
{
	initData.name = "test";
	initData.version = "1.0";
	initData.copyright = "(c) 2024";
//	initData.url = "https://resource.dopus.com/c/buttons-scripts/16";
	initData.desc = "test";
	initData.default_enable = true;
	initData.min_version = "13.0";

  // Add a command to Opus
  var cmd                   = initData.AddCommand();
  cmd.name                  = 'test';		    // command name
  cmd.method                = 'OnClick';        // function called
  cmd.desc                  = initData.desc;
  cmd.label                 = initData.name;	// name shown in commands list in customize dialog
  cmd.noprogress            = true;


}

// Allows a script to have an event called at regular intervals
function OnPeriodicTimer(periodicTimerData)
{
    var x = 0;
    if (Script.Vars.Exists('x'))
        x = Script.Vars.Get('x') + 1;
    Script.Vars.Set('x', x);
    DOpus.ClearOutput();
    DOpus.Output('timer called ' + x);
}



function OnClick(clickData)
{

    //End();
    //return;

    // set timer 1 secondfg
    var log = true;
    DOpus.ClearOutput();
    DOpus.SetTimer(100, 1000);
}



function End()
{
    var success = DOpus.KillTimer(100);
    DOpus.Output('End = ' + success);
	if (Script.Vars.Exists('x')) 
    {
        DOpus.Output('Deleting x');
        Script.Vars.Delete('x');
    
    }
}
6

On the subject of OnPeriodicTimer in the PeriodicTimerData could we have some more properties/methods to

  • show time left till next event of timer id
  • show list of timers currently running
  • what to do with events that have been missed (PC has been turned off, Directory Opus not open, etc) -- run handler, do not run handler, run last x amount of missed events.
  • Calendar & Time based methods would be useful - to be thourough there are six principal calendars in current use. These are the Gregorian, Jewish, Islamic, Indian, Chinese, and Julian Calendars .
  • Some way of setting how to deal with missed events - restart timer - resume timer - resume timer with missing time subtracted.
7

That's expected if you edit the script that set the timer.

It doesn't happen if you edit another random script. I just tried it and the timer kept going.

8

hmmm - that is not what is happening here - oh well another only happens to me issue then. :frowning:
Means I cannot have a slideshow on when coding and it is pointless doing any kind of calendar background change scripts (set dates and times of changes)

9

There must be another detail that has been missed so far. (E.g. The script that’s edited is also setting timers or an include script or something.)

10

video shows slideshow at 1 second interval, then a completly unrelated script is edited and saved. (the script has no OnPeriodicTimer events).

The new timer event (and any future ones, hint, hint) need to be more stable and robust, running timers cannot be interupted or cancelled because the scripts (even the script that is being called|) is being edited.

A lot of useful scripts can be created with timer and calendar events, but not if they are not stable.

As far as robustness is concerned, have added an item to the small list of ideas above (will update it if I think of any more).

11

Leaving the timers initiated by a script running when you modify the said script could lead to unexpected behaviors, and may even be dangerous (trigerring actions that were not the ones meant to be on previous launch). Depending on the specific use case, it might not, but that feels right to me that by default the existing timers are stopped when the initiator script is reloaded.

@Leo : I have the impression that saving a script (e.g. any script) triggers the OnInit functions of scripts that are in a package (osp) which is the case of the BackgroundChanger. I can't try and find right now if this is related to some script I previously installed and that triggers on some events, or if it's standard behavior. If it's the later, I can't really find the reason why, but the answer might be "under the hood" :slight_smile:

12

Yes! That was the thing I hadn't tried.

We will have a fix for that in the next beta.

Many thanks to both of you!

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