I have a timer that talks to java objects through LS2J. It has only to call some getters of the java objects and to update the GUI with new values. This causes the GUI in iNotes Client to show the "Busy" cursor very shortly when the timer ticks. I is really annoying because it occurs even when another window is open and even in the designer.
I actually have to expect that the functionality in the timer event will get more complicated in the future, so I don't want to solve the problem by making my handler lighter.
Is there a way to tell iNotes client not to show this cursor or even an alternative way to make this regular check without timers?
The NotesTimer class in Notes client (not iNotes) does take over the foreground when it triggers, so there will be a bit of a delay if you do something that takes time to execute. It's possible to set up the Notes client to execute background scheduled agents in local database replicas, so that might be an option. You can to the heavy lifting in background and deposit the results somewhere -- say, in a profile document -- that can be accessed quickly by the UI code.
Alternately, you could try a XPages in the client application. I believe it can do partial refreshes while other stuff is going on.
For the record, I simplified the functionality of the Java call by preparing the data so that the timer only has to read the results. I also made the timer run every 3 seconds instead of 1.
Now I don't see any flicker!
Related
Subject sounds mutually exclusive, and this is probably a terrible hack, but I'll ask anyway.
I have an single-threaded VB.NET application which is setting status bar label to "Loading..." and then synchronously loading data from database which in some cases can take up to 1-2 minutes. Is there any way to show user an AJAX-type animation while data is being loaded? Of course, the correct way is to use separate thread/BackgroundWorker for data access and manage UI separately, but I can't currently change data access model and have been asked for a "temporary fix".
Here are some of my ideas at the moment:
Update label (and only that single label) from another thread, force it's redraw, somehow circumventing windows forms message pump (probably not possible)
Keep another process in background and send "show" message to it from main application. It shows up in front of application, shows animation until "hide" message from main application is received. (problems with user switching away from main application but "animation" form still visible)
I'll probably get down voted for suggesting it (and quite frankly I don't blame people) but this sounds like a job for DoEvents.
I wouldn't normally suggest it, but you are looking for a hack.
In my application in VB.NET, I have started an application and introduced a wait delay of 20 seconds. But for loading the second application, the time is varying. Is it possible to have a do while loop, similar to the structure as shown below:
Start the application1
do {
sleep(2seconds)
}until(Application1 Window is loaded
Did you look at Process.WaitForInputIdle()? It's waiting until the application has entered a message loop for it's user interface (created a window).
Edit: See the MSDN description on the topic here
The biggest obstacle you're going to face is how the child process communicates that it's ready. Determining if another process's window is loaded is shaky at best. It's much cleaner if you decide on something more definitive
Creating a particular registry key
Writing a value to a predetermined file
Windows Messages
Once you decide on that then it's fairly straight forward loop
Dim span = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(20)
Thread.Sleep(span)
Do While Not IsProcessReady()
Thread.Sleep(span)
Loop
As said before you'll need to pick a mechanism to communicate "loaded" and that becomes your IsProcessReady function
I have created a web-service app and i want to populate my view controllers according to the response i fetch(via GET) in main thread. But i want to create a scheduled timer which will go and control my server, if there becomes any difference(let's say if the count of an array has changed) i will create a local notification. As far as i read from here and some google results, i cant run my app in background more then ten minutes expect from some special situations(Audio, Vo-IP, GPS).. But i need to control the server at least one per minute.. Can anyone offer some idea-or link please?
EDIT
I will not sell the app in store, just for a local area network. Let's say, from the server i will send some text messages to the users and if a new message comes, the count of messages array will increment, in this situation i will create a notification. I need to keep this 'controlling' routing alive forever, whether in foreground or background. Does GCD give such a solution do anyone have any idea?
Just simply play a mute audio file in loop in the background, OR, ping the user's location in the background. Yes, that will drain the battery a bit, but it's a simple hack for in-home applications. Just remember to enable the background types in your Info.plist!
Note: "[...] I fetch (via GET) in main thread." This is not a good approach. You should never fetch any network resources on the main thread. Why? Because your GUI, which is maintained by the main thread, will become unresponsive whenever a fetch isn't instantaneous. Any lag spike on the network results in a less than desirable user experience.
Answer: Aside from the listed special situations, you can't run background apps. The way I see it:
Don't put the app in the background. (crappy solution)
Try putting another "entity" between the app and the "server". I don't know why you "need to control the server at least one per minute" but perhaps you can delegate this "control" to another process outside the device?
.
iOS app -> some form of proxy server -> server which requires
"babysitting" every minute.
When my application loads, using the didFinishLaunchingWithOptionsi parse data from the internet to nsarrays. My question is, when the user exists the application by using the 'home' button, and then loads the application again how can the data be re-loaded? (because if the data does not reload - if there are any updates on websites, the new updates will not be seen).
Add an applicationWillEnterForeground method to your app delegate. Load the data there, or start a thread to load it if you like.
You should probably also periodically check for new data even while the app remains open, because the user could go idle for a long time.
As an aside, you shouldn't do anything which might block in applicationDidFinishLaunchingWithOptions. If you are using synchronous NSURLConnection APIs there is a danger the OS might kill your app for taking too long to launch. Best to either use the asynchronous/NSURLConnectionDelegate APIs or do the networking on a background thread and call back to the main thread when you need to update UI (UIKit does NOT like being called from background threads, as it is not thread safe. It might appear to work sometimes, but it will come back to bite you sooner or later).
Im working on a silverlight application where a user can create, edit, delete objects. The changes they make are placed in a queue which is processed every 4 minutes. When it is processed, the updates are sent over an async web method call to be saved in a sql database, one at a time. When the first update finishes, the next starts.
Im having a problem when a user makes a change and then exits the browser app before the 4 minute timer has expired. Currently the changes are getting lost.
Ive built on what the guy working on this before me has done, and explored the Dispose and Finalize methods, trying to start the update process when the factory is being shut down, but that isnt working due to the async nature of the web service calls. I get errors saying needed objects have already been disposed of.
Im looking for a way to save the data in the updatequeue using a webmethod when the user tries to close or refresh the webpage. Im not expecting the queue to be packed full with updates. This is an application that would usually be run for several hours at a time.
You can use Javascript to stop the user leaving the page. StackOverflow does it (try editing an answer and leaving the page). That works on browser close as well as page navigation. From Javascript you can also notify the Silverlight app to save any queued data (Silverlight support exposing methods to Javascript).
Q. Saving every 4 minutes is slightly odd behaviour for a Silverlight App. I am guessing it is only deigned to be run by one user at a time. What restricts you from saving more frequently?