read ini continousally best pratices

[botanic]

what are the best practices for reading an ini over and over?

The options that i can think of are

IniRead on a while loop

FileGetTime on a while loop

if $file = $oldfile on a while loop

 

I want to avoid as much disk i/o as possible so im open to any suggestions as well.

[DXRW4E]

AutoIt INI Function are the fastest, however have limitations, however try

Ciao.

Edited November 30, 2013 by DXRW4E

[botanic]

After some testing the ini functions dont seem to be the fastest

here is my test code

expandcollapse popup

Global Const $configfile = "config.ini"
#include <Crypt.au3>
#include <File.au3>



local $i =0
$i = 0
$oldfile =""
$file=""
$newfile=""
$timer = TimerInit()
while $i <10000
    $i = $i +1
    $file = FileOpen($configfile)
    $newfile = FileRead($file)
    FileClose($file)
    if $newfile <> $oldfile Then $newfile = $oldfile
WEnd
ConsoleWrite("FileRead:"&TimerDiff($timer)&@CRLF)

$i = 0
$oldfile =""
$file=""
$newfile=""
$timer = TimerInit()
while $i <10000
    $i = $i +1
    $newfile = FileGetTime($configfile, 0 ,1)
    if $newfile <> $oldfile Then $newfile = $oldfile
WEnd
ConsoleWrite("FileGetTime:"&TimerDiff($timer)&@CRLF)

$i = 0
$oldfile =""
$file=""
$newfile=""
_Crypt_Startup()
$timer = TimerInit()
while $i <10000
    $i = $i +1
    $newfile = _MD5Hash($configfile)
    if $newfile <> $oldfile Then $newfile = $oldfile
WEnd
ConsoleWrite("MD5:"&TimerDiff($timer)&@CRLF)
_Crypt_Shutdown()


$i = 0
$oldfile =""
$file=""
$newfile=""
$timer = TimerInit()
while $i <10000
    $i = $i +1
    $newfile = IniRead($configfile, "status", "running", "0")
    if $newfile <> $oldfile Then $newfile = $oldfile
WEnd
ConsoleWrite("IniRead:"&TimerDiff($timer)&@CRLF)


$i = 0
$oldfile =""
$file=""
$newfile=""
$timer = TimerInit()
while $i <10000
    $i = $i +1
    $newfile = IniReadSection($configfile, "status")
    if $newfile <> $oldfile Then $newfile = $oldfile
WEnd
ConsoleWrite("IniReadSection:"&TimerDiff($timer)&@CRLF)



; By guinness - 2012-2013.
Func _MD5Hash($sFilePath, $iPercentageRead = Default) ; Default is 100 percent.
    $iPercentageRead = Int($iPercentageRead)
    If ($iPercentageRead > 100) Or ($iPercentageRead < 0) Then
        $iPercentageRead = 100
    EndIf
    Return _Crypt_HashData(FileRead($sFilePath, ($iPercentageRead / 100) * FileGetSize($sFilePath)), $CALG_MD5)
EndFunc   ;==>_MD5Hash

results

 

FileRead:938.560059104115
FileGetTime:346.317013399032
MD5:2516.40223667911
IniRead:703.563987346681
IniReadSection:808.421184401613

 

Seems FileGetTime is the current winner, anyone have any other suggestions?

Also I am not looking for "fastest" but "lowest disk i/o"

[BrewManNH]

Your tests are meaningless, you're not testing the same criteria in the tests.

What EXACTLY are you trying to get out of the file that any of those tests are supposed to correlate to?

[botanic]

basically i just want to test if a file changed, with the lowest possible disk i/o

[DXRW4E]

Try to use the CRC32 or MD5, about Hash Function in Forum you will find thousands of info

Ciao.

Edited November 30, 2013 by DXRW4E

[botanic]

Tried MD5 in my test but it was like 3x slower then just comparing the fileread string...

I will give CRC32 a shot thanks

[BrewManNH]

What is writing to the ini file that would change it?

[botanic]

I have a few scripts that work together and act based on settings in some ini files.

So i have script A write to an ini file and i need script B and C to be able to see the update and do stuff based on it.

[AutID]

You create a small function that will check the ini file and return true or false depending on the iniread.

And then just call it when you want to check it.

[martin]

You could make the scrtipt that writes to the ini send a message to the other scripts to say "ini has changed"? It could also give information on which entry had changed.

[jchd]

... or monitor the ini file change by using Windows hook. See >this UDF.