tools: stop executing command

[sbrady]

what does it mean when the "Tools>stop executing" menu item is hightlighted. Does it mean that something is still running in your script.

I have a GUI with 6 Tabs and up to 6 buttons on any tab. Some buttons are not fully programmed, yet they do something simple as opening a Message Box that says "You pushed button 4". Shouldnt the script stop after that simple command. What is going on that makes the "Tools>stop executing" menu item active.

[Melba23]

sbrady,

If the <Tools - Stop Executing> menu item in SciTE is highlighted (highlit?) then your script is still running.

The script will only stop if it comes across an "Exit" command or if the script flow ceases - this shows you what happens:

#include <GUIConstantsEx.au3>

$hGUI = GUICreate("Test", 500, 500)

$cButton_1 = GUICtrlCreateButton("One", 10, 10, 80, 30)
$cButton_2 = GUICtrlCreateButton("Two", 10, 110, 80, 30)
$cButton_3 = GUICtrlCreateButton("Three", 10, 210, 80, 30)

GUISetState()

While 1

    Switch GUIGetMsg()
        Case $GUI_EVENT_CLOSE
            ; Exit the script directly
            Exit
        Case $cButton_1
            MsgBox(0, "Button 1 Pressed", "This will exit because it is followed by 'Exit'")
            ; Exit the script directly
            Exit
        Case $cButton_2
            MsgBox(0, "Button 2 Pressed", "This will exit because the script flow stops")
            ; Break out of the While...WEnd loop
            ExitLoop
        Case $cButton_3
            MsgBox(0, "Button 3 Pressed", "This will NOT exit because it just re-enters the loop")
            ; The script continues in the loop waiting for the next event
    EndSwitch

WEnd

; Button 2 ends up here and the script exits as the script flow ceases

All clear?

M23

[sbrady]

when I insert the EXIT command, the whole GUI disappears............

[Melba23]

sbrady,

That is what will happen when the script stops.

they do something simple as opening a Message Box that says "You pushed button 4". Shouldnt the script stop after that simple command

What do you want to happen after the MsgBox is closed?

M23

[sbrady]

I would expect the script to be in a state of doing nothing. I dont understand why the MsgBox command makes the script wait for something else to happen. When I make a directory, its OK, when I open a folder, its OK, why is this making the script seem like its waiting for more.

[Melba23]

sbrady,

The script is always doing something until it exits so the menu item remains highlighted. At a absolute minimum it is staying active to look for the next event - that is why we always need some form of loop (usually a While...WEnd loop enclosing a GUIGetMsg or a Sleep command) within the script. Otherwise we get to the end of the script flow and it just stops - as you saw from the above example.

The script pauses when a MsgBox appears because the MsgBox is created by a call to the Windows API. This is a blocking call and the script waits to see what it gets as a return value when the MsgBox is closed. If you want to have the script continue and ignore any action the user takes then you might want to look at Yashied's NotifyBox UDF as an alternative.

M23