AbtTimedWait versus Delay

Hi Julian,

I think "Delay >> wait" will block the current Smalltalk process.... So you may want to do that in a separate Smalltalk process...not the UI process. The AbtTimedWait does slightly different.  In Windows, for example, this is just calling the Windows API "Sleep" function on a separate thread so it won't block the main vm process (see AbtTimedWait >> #useThreadMethod).

Aside from that, AbtTimedWait allows a much higher resolution on the time to wait. The default 'Delay class >> interruptPeriod' is 100 ms. So if you need less than that, then you should use AbtTimedWait or else change Delay's  interruptPeriod.

Finally, you might want to look at SstCron (Load Sst Base feature) as it can manage long running tasks. For example, to print "Fire!" to the Transcript every 5 seconds, you would do:

SstCron default add: (
        SstCronEntry new
            workBlock: [Transcript show: 'Fire!'];
            seconds: 5).

Others may have additional thoughts. 

Best regards,

On Thu, Jul 2, 2020 at 12:36 PM Julian Ford <<a href="javascript:" target="_blank" gdf-obfuscated-mailto="fAI6s-QFAwAJ" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;javascript:&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;javascript:&#39;;return true;">rjuli...@...> wrote:

Hello all...

A while back, I saw a post from Bob which mentioned AbtTimedWait, and how it offered

a reliable delay, without pinning the CPU.

There are a few instances in my software, where I need to use a delay of some kind,

and I have been using Delay.

One example, is to start a repeating procedure on a specified interval.

For this, I would fork a Process, then use a delay, followed by the appropriate code.

Yes, there are also checks to ensure the procedure is still enabled, and such...but at its

base level, it is mainly wait for x seconds, do the thing, and repeat.

I have never noticed anything untoward, by using (Delay forMilliseconds: x) wait,

but I like the idea of the AbtTimedWait minimizing CPU cycles.

The reason I am asking about this, is that there are no references to AbtTimedWait

in the VA base code (at least in what I have loaded), but numerous references to Delay.

Is that simply because AbtTimedWait is newer?

Or are there downsides to using it?

I appreciate any thoughts....

Best Regards,

Julian Ford

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VA Smalltalk" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to <a href="javascript:" target="_blank" gdf-obfuscated-mailto="fAI6s-QFAwAJ" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;javascript:&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;javascript:&#39;;return true;">va-sma...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit <a href="https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/va-smalltalk/f835ffd8-8eaf-4bad-a683-ae8354ee3231o%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=footer" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/va-smalltalk/f835ffd8-8eaf-4bad-a683-ae8354ee3231o%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium\x3demail\x26utm_source\x3dfooter&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/va-smalltalk/f835ffd8-8eaf-4bad-a683-ae8354ee3231o%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium\x3demail\x26utm_source\x3dfooter&#39;;return true;">https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/va-smalltalk/f835ffd8-8eaf-4bad-a683-ae8354ee3231o%40googlegroups.com.

--

Mariano Martinez Peck
Software Engineer, Instantiations Inc.

Email: <a href="javascript:" target="_blank" gdf-obfuscated-mailto="fAI6s-QFAwAJ" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;javascript:&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;javascript:&#39;;return true;">mp...@instantiations.com

Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/MartinezPeck" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FMartinezPeck\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNFPV-7Bnc-U6phGEh-VZU0iUtY7vw&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FMartinezPeck\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNFPV-7Bnc-U6phGEh-VZU0iUtY7vw&#39;;return true;">https://twitter.com/MartinezPeck

LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariano-mart%C3%ADnez-peck/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fmariano-mart%25C3%25ADnez-peck%2F\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNGyJTUAWXPstaw4J3OpFUYRyFAqmw&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fmariano-mart%25C3%25ADnez-peck%2F\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNGyJTUAWXPstaw4J3OpFUYRyFAqmw&#39;;return true;">www.linkedin.com/in/mariano-martinez-peck

Blog: <a href="https://marianopeck.wordpress.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fmarianopeck.wordpress.com%2F\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNHAOaIsyMIYgmQWdQZRuKRdD6gBfw&#39;;return true;" onclick="this.href=&#39;https://www.google.com/url?q\x3dhttps%3A%2F%2Fmarianopeck.wordpress.com%2F\x26sa\x3dD\x26sntz\x3d1\x26usg\x3dAFQjCNHAOaIsyMIYgmQWdQZRuKRdD6gBfw&#39;;return true;">https://marianopeck.wordpress.com/