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X-Hacker.org- Grumpfish Library 3.2 - <b>waiton()</b>
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WAITON()
This function is handy for keeping the user of your application
apprised of time-consuming operations, such as printing a report,
instead of letting them stare at a blank screen and wonder what (if
anything) is going on.
Syntax
WAITON([<message>] [,<sound>] [,<color>], [, <top>] [, <left>])
Optional Parameters
<message> is the message you wish to display. If you do not pass a
message, WAITON() will assume that you are about to print a report
and will display the message "Now printing... please wait".
<sound> is a logical value. If you pass True (.T.), WAITON() will
emit two ascending tones when displaying the message and WAITOFF()
will emit two descending tones when restoring the screen.
These tones are scarcely trivial; if the time-consuming operation
consumes enough time for the user to get up from their desk and do
something else, the descending tones provided by WAITOFF() will
alert them so that they can get back to work. Pass False (.F.) if
you do not want to use sound. (The default is sound on.)
It is possible to have WAITON() be silent and WAITOFF() use the
tones. For more information, please refer to the WAITOFF()
discussion.
<color> is a character string representing the color in which to
display the box. The message will be displayed in the blinking
version of this color. For example, if you pass "W/B", the message
will be displayed with "*W/B". If you do not pass this parameter or
pass a null string, the default will be yellow on black ("+GR/N").
(5.0 NOTE: the same <color>, sans blinking, will be used for both
the box and message.)
<top> is a numeric representing the top row at which to draw the
message box. If you do not pass this parameter, WaitOn() will draw
the box beginning at row 11.
<left> is a numeric representing the left column at which to draw
the message box. If you do not pass this parameter, WaitOn() will
automatically center the box horizontally on the screen.
When the operation is complete, use the WAITOFF() function to
refresh the screen:
Return Value
WAITON() does not return a value. However, the following PUBLIC
variables are initialized in WAITON() because WAITOFF() must make
use of them to restore the screen: WAIT_LEFT, WAIT_RIGHT, and
WAIT_SCRN. WAIT_LEFT and WAIT_RIGHT are the left and right columns
of the message box, and WAIT_SCRN holds the screen buffer beneath
the box. They are released in WAITOFF().
Sample usage
USE Sales
WAITON('Indexing file... please wait')
INDEX ON lname+fname TO customer
WAITOFF()
Clipper 5.0 Notes
- WAITON() and WAITOFF() have been combined into one function
(although the syntax for calling them remains exactly the same,
thanks to the preprocessor). Therefore, you must put the following
line at the top of any .PRG referring to WAITOFF():
#include "grump.ch"
- The PUBLIC variables have been replaced by STATICs.
- WAITON() can now display more than one message. To make use of
this feature, pass an array of character strings as the <message>
parameter. The following line demonstrates this usage.
waiton( {"Now printing...", "Go take a coffee break" } )
See Also: WAITOFF()
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