Limiting number of processes

[Gibbo]

I hope this will be of use to someone.

I recently had to do a batch job (applying EXIF data to photos) that wasn't very processor intensive. Running the command ("program.exe" in the code below) with "RunWait" was just too slow, but running it with "Run" spawned some 5000+ processes, bringing the pc to a grinding halt.

After some fiddling I came up with the code below.

I am sure there is a more elegant solution, and it would be nifty to translate it to a function or some such, but it works as is quite well.

Let me know if you have any questions or improvements

#include <array.au3>
Const $iMaxProcesses = 5
Dim $aPIDs[1]

For $sItem In $aLotsofitems
    While UBound($aPIDs) > $iMaxProcesses
        For $thePID In $aPIDs
            $iResult = ProcessWaitClose($thePID, 1)
            If $iResult Then
                _ArrayDelete($aPIDs, _ArraySearch($aPIDs, $thePID))
                ExitLoop
            EndIf
        Next
    WEnd
    $pid = Run("program.exe " & $sItem)
    _ArrayAdd($aPIDs, $pid)
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