_singleton question?

[JAFN]

I have a script that may have several instances running.

I would like to have them dock top to bottom and also for only the first instance to record its location.

Is there a way to access the order of previous instances and to get their locations?

[martin]

I have a script that may have several instances running.

I would like to have them dock top to bottom and also for only the first instance to record its location.

Is there a way to access the order of previous instances and to get their locations?

You could do something like this

#include <misc.au3>

Global $instance = True, $inst = 0
While $instance = True
    $inst += 1
    _Singleton("MySpecialAppxyz" & $inst, 1)
    $instance = @error = 183
WEnd

$ht = 200
$wd = 200
$wintop = 0

If $inst > 1 Then
    $pos = WinGetPos("SameTitle");gets pos of first inst
    ;$pos = wingetpos(""DifferentTitle" & $inst - 1)
    $wintop = $pos[1] + $pos[3]
EndIf

$Gui = GUICreate("SameTitle", $ht, $wd, 0, $wintop)
;$Gui = GUICreate("DifferentTitle" & $inst,$ht,$wd,0,$ht*($inst - 1))
GUISetState()
While GUIGetMsg() <> -3
WEnd

But if any of the windows is closed it might mess things up, so you could check every so often. I think I would register a unique message and set things so that if an instance closes it closes all instances after it.

Edited May 21, 2011 by martin

[JAFN]

You could do something like this

#include <misc.au3>

Global $instance = True, $inst = 0
While $instance = True
    $inst += 1
    _Singleton("MySpecialAppxyz" & $inst, 1)
    $instance = @error = 183
WEnd

$ht = 200
$wd = 200
$wintop = 0

If $inst > 1 Then
    $pos = WinGetPos("SameTitle");gets pos of first inst
    ;$pos = wingetpos(""DifferentTitle" & $inst - 1)
    $wintop = $pos[1] + $pos[3]
EndIf

$Gui = GUICreate("SameTitle", $ht, $wd, 0, $wintop)
;$Gui = GUICreate("DifferentTitle" & $inst,$ht,$wd,0,$ht*($inst - 1))

Wow. I was expecting that if it could be done it would be long and arcane.

I was able to adapt it to my program with minimal trouble and it works perfectly.

However I do not understand this important section

While $instance = True
    $inst += 1
    _Singleton("MySpecialAppxyz" & $inst, 1)
    $instance = @error = 183
WEnd

Is '"MySpecialAppxyz"' simply a title unlikely to be found?

And how even if so, I don't get what this section does.

[martin]

Yes, singleton registers a mutex which is (my undertsnading) a mutually exclusive string. It ties a mutex handle to the string. So if you register a string which hopefully only you would have in your script then you can see if windows has a record of this string. The process which first creates the mutex destroys it when it closes. If windows has a record of the string then there must be another of your scripts running.

In this case we don't just want to know if an instance is running but we want to know how many. So I added a number to the end of the string. (So make sure the original string doesn't end wich a digit.) We try _Singleton to see if the string has been registered and if it has, because _Singleton with the flag set to 1 gives an error of 183, then we try the next number. As soon as _Singleton doesn't set error to 183 we know that we are that number. The error = 183 means that the mutex already exists.

I hope that makes sense.

[JAFN]

Yes, singleton registers a mutex which is (my undertsnading) a mutually exclusive string. It ties a mutex handle to the string. So if you register a string which hopefully only you would have in your script then you can see if windows has a record of this string. The process which first creates the mutex destroys it when it closes. If windows has a record of the string then there must be another of your scripts running.

In this case we don't just want to know if an instance is running but we want to know how many. So I added a number to the end of the string. (So make sure the original string doesn't end wich a digit.) We try _Singleton to see if the string has been registered and if it has, because _Singleton with the flag set to 1 gives an error of 183, then we try the next number. As soon as _Singleton doesn't set error to 183 we know that we are that number. The error = 183 means that the mutex already exists.

I hope that makes sense.

If I understand you right all that part of the code does is determine by '$inst > 1' that there are at least one other instance running.

Correct?

[martin]

If I understand you right all that part of the code does is determine by '$inst > 1' that there are at least one other instance running.

Correct?

Not to see if another is running but to count how many. Each new instance registers a new string.

When a script runs it tries to register a string MySpecialAppxyz1

If that is successful then this is the first script, and now we have MySpecialAppxyz1 registered.

Now another script is started. It also tries to register MySpecialAppxyz1 but that produces an error, so there must be at least one instance running.

Then it tries to register MySpecialAppxyz2 and that is successful and now we also have MySpecialAppxyz2 registered.

Now another script is started. It also tries to register MySpecialAppxyz1 but that produces an error, so there must be at least one instance running. Then it tries to register MySpecialAppxyz2 and that is successful and now we also have MySpecialAppxyz1 but that produces an error, so there must be at least two instances running which have already registered MySpecialAppxyz1 and MySpecialAppxyz2, so it tries MySpecialAppxyz3... and so on.

[JAFN]

Not to see if another is running but to count how many. Each new instance registers a new string.

When a script runs it tries to register a string MySpecialAppxyz1

If that is successful then this is the first script, and now we have MySpecialAppxyz1 registered.

Now another script is started. It also tries to register MySpecialAppxyz1 but that produces an error, so there must be at least one instance running.

Then it tries to register MySpecialAppxyz2 and that is successful and now we also have MySpecialAppxyz2 registered.

Now another script is started. It also tries to register MySpecialAppxyz1 but that produces an error, so there must be at least one instance running. Then it tries to register MySpecialAppxyz2 and that is successful and now we also have MySpecialAppxyz1 but that produces an error, so there must be at least two instances running which have already registered MySpecialAppxyz1 and MySpecialAppxyz2, so it tries MySpecialAppxyz3... and so on.

How does it get registered? Does _Singleton do more than I thought it did?

[martin]

How does it get registered? Does _Singleton do more than I thought it did?

Evidently.

Have a look at the _Singleton function in misc.au3.

[JAFN]

Evidently.

Have a look at the _Singleton function in misc.au3.

Oh that hurt my head.

But based on what I have I am going to try to write an aligning routine to run when each new instance opens.

Be back much later, most likely.

Thank you.

[Yashied]

Another way.

#Include <WinAPIEx.au3>

$hSemaphore = _WinAPI_CreateSemaphore('MySemaphore', 0, 65535)
$Count = _WinAPI_ReleaseSemaphore($hSemaphore) + 1

_MyGUI('#' & $Count)

_WinAPI_CloseHandle($hSemaphore)

Func _MyGUI($sTitle)

    Local $Msg

    GUICreate($sTitle)
    GUISetState()
    While 1
        $Msg = GUIGetMsg()
        Switch $Msg
            Case -3
                ExitLoop
        EndSwitch
    WEnd
EndFunc   ;==>_MyGUI

[martin]

Another way.

#Include <WinAPIEx.au3>

$hSemaphore = _WinAPI_CreateSemaphore('MySemaphore', 0, 65535)
$Count = _WinAPI_ReleaseSemaphore($hSemaphore) + 1

_MyGUI('#' & $Count)

_WinAPI_CloseHandle($hSemaphore)

Func _MyGUI($sTitle)

    Local $Msg

    GUICreate($sTitle)
    GUISetState()
    While 1
        $Msg = GUIGetMsg()
        Switch $Msg
            Case -3
                ExitLoop
        EndSwitch
    WEnd
EndFunc   ;==>_MyGUI

I like that method, but I don't understand what happens when a process closes. Can the semaphore count be decremented?

Th edisadvantage I suppose is that you can't tell if the third instance is running but the second is not..

[JAFN]

Okay.

I have 3 windows all starting with (-).

Why does the comment line never get reached?

OrderWindow()

Func OrderWindow()

    $Marker = "(-)"
    $First = True
    $List = ProcessList()
    $Items = $List[0][0]
;   MsgBox(0,"",$Items)
    If $Items < 1 Then Return
    For $x = $Items To 1 Step -1
        If $Marker <> $List[$x][0] Then ContinueLoop
        ; code never gets here
    Next
EndFunc

[Yashied]

OK, then you can use AutoIt window.

expandcollapse popup

Opt('WinTitleMatchMode', 1)
Opt('WinWaitDelay', 0)

$Count = 1
While WinExists('MyUnique' & $Count)
    $Count += 1
WEnd

_MyGUI($Count)

$Title = AutoItWinGetTitle()
$Count = Number(StringMid($Title, 9, StringInStr($Title, '@') - 8))
While 1
    $Count += 1
    $hWnd = WinGetHandle('MyUnique' & $Count)
    If @error Then
        ExitLoop
    EndIf
    $Title = WinGetTitle($hWnd)
    WinSetTitle(HWnd(StringTrimLeft($Title, StringinStr($Title, '@'))), '', '#' & ($Count - 1))
    If @error Then
        ExitLoop
    EndIf
    WinSetTitle($hWnd, '', StringReplace($Title, $Count & '@', ($Count - 1) & '@', 1))
    If @error Then
        ExitLoop
    EndIf
WEnd

Func _MyGUI($iIndex)
    $hWnd = GUICreate('#' & $iIndex, 200, 200)
    AutoItWinSetTitle('MyUnique' & $Count & '@0x' & Hex($hWnd))
    GUISetState()
    Do
    Until GUIGetMsg() = -3
    GUIDelete()
EndFunc   ;==>_MyGUI

Edited May 21, 2011 by Yashied

[JAFN]

My mind is fried now. Can't even figure out who is talking to who now.

I'll tackle it fresh in the morning.

Thank you.

Edited May 21, 2011 by JAFN

[guinness]

Yashied, the second Example was very interesting indeed Nice work.