Prematurely exit a function

[jfornango]

Hi all.  Been using AutoIT for a few years now, and I love it.  Also, the forum has been a valuable resource.  Thanks for all the community support. Still, I know that my coding skills aren't quite up to snuff

I'm working on a project and could use some assistance on a "best approach" for an issue I've come across.  I didn't see an article that really applied, but if there is one, just point me to it.

Here's the score, I'm writing an application that will be used to migrate a user's data between two computers. (don't ask why my client isn't using roaming profiles or the profile migration utility. Too much customization for either to work.)

Anyway, the backup and restore processes include roughly a dozen steps each.  During the entire process, I want the deskside technician to be able to hit a Cancel button, and have the process stop. (this is like an emergency stop)  Previous code that I have written is usually a sigle step repeated ad-nauseum, and just uses an GUIGetMsg() to check for an button, which then kills the program with an exit.  However, I need to do some house-keeping, including logging the fact that the run was interupted by the user, before terminating.

What would be the best approach to accomplish this?

Thank you in advance for any and all recommendations.

[Melba23]

jfornango,

Welcome to the AutoIt forum.

I suggest you read the Interrupting a running function tutorial in the Wiki - that shows a number of ways of doing what you want to do.

M23

[jfornango]

Ok, so after reading this, it looks like I'm already using one of the methods described. As an example, here are the first two pieces of my backup process.

expandcollapse popup

; copy the user's desktop
    $strStatus = "Backing up desktop"
    GUICtrlSetData ($lblStatus, "Status: " & $strStatus)
    GUISetState()
    $rc = DirCopy(@UserProfileDir & "\Desktop", $strTarget & "\Desktop")
    If $rc = 1 Then
        FileWriteLine($strProcessLog, _NowTime() & "  Desktop copied successfully")
    Else
        FileWriteLine($strProcessLog, _NowTime() & "  There was an error " & _
                    "copying the Desktop. Error code " & @error)
    EndIf

    ; check for the Cancel button
    $ctrl_msg = GUIGetMsg()
    if $ctrl_msg = $btnCancel Then
        $strStatus1 = "Cancel"
        _dataCancel()
    EndIf

    ; copy the user's IE Favorites
    $strStatus = "Backing up IE Favorites"
    GUICtrlSetData ($lblStatus, "Status: " & $strStatus)
    GUISetState()
    $rc = DirCopy(@UserProfileDir & "\Favorites", $strTarget & "\Favorites")
    If $rc = 1 Then
        FileWriteLine($strProcessLog, _NowTime() & "  Favorites copied successfully")
    Else
        FileWriteLine($strProcessLog, _NowTime() & "  There was an error " & _
                    "copying the Favorites. Error code " & @error)
    EndIf

    ; check for the Cancel button
    $ctrl_msg = GUIGetMsg()
    if $ctrl_msg = $btnCancel Then
        $strStatus1 = "Cancel"
        _dataCancel()
    EndIf

And for reference, here is the Cancel function

Func _dataCancel()

    Select
        Case $strStatus1 = "Idle"
            MsgBox(0, "ALERT", "There is currently no operation to cancel.")
        Case $strStatus1 = "Backup"
            $strStatus = "Canceling...  Please Wait"
            GUICtrlSetData($lblStatus, $strStatus)
            GUISetState()
            FileWriteLine($strProcessLog, _NowTime() & "Backup cancelled by user.")
            FileClose($strProcessLog)
            Exit
        Case $strStatus1 = "Restore"
            $strStatus = "Canceling...  Please Wait"
            GUICtrlSetData($lblStatus, $strStatus)
            GUISetState()
            FileWriteLine($strProcessLog, _NowTime() & "Restore cancelled by user.")
            FileClose($strProcessLog)
            Exit
    EndSelect

EndFunc

So, you can see where I am checking for a "cancel" message after each piece of the process. This is works well and coded fairly easily.  So far, so good.

Here's my problem.  What if I discover that a user has a 20 GB folder on their desktop after the backup has started (which makes me want to stop and evaluate the state of the backup location)?  Is there a way to interupt the DirCopy command without actually closing the program?  I need to be able to update the log file, to show that the process was manually interupted (instead of, say, crashing), and at what point.

Edited October 31, 2013 by jfornango