88 lines
3.3 KiB
Groff
88 lines
3.3 KiB
Groff
'\"
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'\" Copyright (c) 1990 The Regents of the University of California.
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'\" Copyright (c) 1994-1996 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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'\"
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'\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution
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'\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.
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'\"
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.TH Tcl_DoWhenIdle 3 7.5 Tcl "Tcl Library Procedures"
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.so man.macros
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.BS
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.SH NAME
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Tcl_DoWhenIdle, Tcl_CancelIdleCall \- invoke a procedure when there are no pending events
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.nf
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\fB#include <tcl.h>\fR
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.sp
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\fBTcl_DoWhenIdle\fR(\fIproc, clientData\fR)
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.sp
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\fBTcl_CancelIdleCall\fR(\fIproc, clientData\fR)
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.SH ARGUMENTS
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.AS Tcl_IdleProc clientData
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.AP Tcl_IdleProc *proc in
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Procedure to invoke.
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.AP ClientData clientData in
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Arbitrary one-word value to pass to \fIproc\fR.
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.BE
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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.PP
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\fBTcl_DoWhenIdle\fR arranges for \fIproc\fR to be invoked
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when the application becomes idle. The application is
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considered to be idle when \fBTcl_DoOneEvent\fR has been
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called, could not find any events to handle, and is about
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to go to sleep waiting for an event to occur. At this
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point all pending \fBTcl_DoWhenIdle\fR handlers are
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invoked. For each call to \fBTcl_DoWhenIdle\fR there will
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be a single call to \fIproc\fR; after \fIproc\fR is
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invoked the handler is automatically removed.
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\fBTcl_DoWhenIdle\fR is only usable in programs that
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use \fBTcl_DoOneEvent\fR to dispatch events.
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.PP
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\fIProc\fR should have arguments and result that match the
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type \fBTcl_IdleProc\fR:
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.PP
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.CS
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typedef void \fBTcl_IdleProc\fR(
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ClientData \fIclientData\fR);
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.CE
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.PP
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The \fIclientData\fR parameter to \fIproc\fR is a copy of the \fIclientData\fR
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argument given to \fBTcl_DoWhenIdle\fR. Typically, \fIclientData\fR
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points to a data structure containing application-specific information about
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what \fIproc\fR should do.
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.PP
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\fBTcl_CancelIdleCall\fR
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may be used to cancel one or more previous
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calls to \fBTcl_DoWhenIdle\fR: if there is a \fBTcl_DoWhenIdle\fR
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handler registered for \fIproc\fR and \fIclientData\fR, then it
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is removed without invoking it. If there is more than one
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handler on the idle list that refers to \fIproc\fR and \fIclientData\fR,
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all of the handlers are removed. If no existing handlers match
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\fIproc\fR and \fIclientData\fR then nothing happens.
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.PP
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\fBTcl_DoWhenIdle\fR is most useful in situations where
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(a) a piece of work will have to be done but (b) it is
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possible that something will happen in the near future
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that will change what has to be done or require something
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different to be done. \fBTcl_DoWhenIdle\fR allows the
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actual work to be deferred until all pending events have
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been processed. At this point the exact work to be done
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will presumably be known and it can be done exactly once.
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.PP
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For example, \fBTcl_DoWhenIdle\fR might be used by an editor
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to defer display updates until all pending commands have
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been processed. Without this feature, redundant redisplays
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might occur in some situations, such as the processing of
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a command file.
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.SH BUGS
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.PP
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At present it is not safe for an idle callback to reschedule itself
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continuously. This will interact badly with certain features of Tk
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that attempt to wait for all idle callbacks to complete. If you would
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like for an idle callback to reschedule itself continuously, it is
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better to use a timer handler with a zero timeout period.
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.SH "SEE ALSO"
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after(n), Tcl_CreateFileHandler(3), Tcl_CreateTimerHandler(3)
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.SH KEYWORDS
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callback, defer, idle callback
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