Messages from Usenet group comp.lang.idl-pvwave, compiled by Paulo Penteado
Rick Towler (rtowler@u.washington.edu) writes: > Is there a minimum value for the TIMER keyword of Widget_Control? > > I can't seem to generate events faster than maybe 2-3 per second > regardless of the value I set TIMER to. I certainly can slow it down > with values of 1,2,5 etc. but values of .3, .1, .01 all seem to create > events of the same delay (around 2-3 per second). I thought that this > may be processor dependent but the program seems to act the same on a > 300 MHz laptop and Dual 500 MHz desktop. > > Is there a limit to the rate at which IDL can generate TIMER events or > do I have a problem someplace else? If you set the TIMER equal to 0, the event will go on the queue immediately. How soon that event gets handled, depends on several things: (1) how much more you do in the event handler *after* you set the Timer event, (2) what other events are in the queue and have to be processed *before* the next timer event, (3) how fast your machine is, etc. But I do think the slowest of these variables is actually generating the event and putting it on the queue. 2-3 per second sounds about right to me. Cheers, David -- David Fanning, Ph.D. Fanning Software Consulting Phone: 970-221-0438 E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/ Toll-Free IDL Book Orders: 1-888-461-0155
"David Fanning" <davidf@dfanning.com> wrote in message news:MPG.13ff53cf969ed50b989bbe@news.frii.com... > Rick Towler (rtowler@u.washington.edu) writes: > >> I can't seem to generate events faster than maybe 2-3 per second >> regardless of the value I set TIMER to. I certainly can slow it down >> with values of 1,2,5 etc. but values of .3, .1, .01 all seem to create >> events of the same delay (around 2-3 per second). I thought that this >> may be processor dependent but the program seems to act the same on a >> 300 MHz laptop and Dual 500 MHz desktop. > ... > But I do think the slowest of these variables is actually > generating the event and putting it on the queue. 2-3 > per second sounds about right to me. It sounds pretty slow to me! XINTERANIMATE uses widget timer events and it runs along at 30 per second if the images are small. I regularly run my own object graphics animator code at approx. 15 per second. Re the minimum delay, I expect (but haven't checked) that on an Intel PC it is equal to the granularity of the system timer, i.e. 55 ms. --- Mark Hadfield m.hadfield@niwa.cri.nz http://katipo.niwa.cri.nz/~hadfield/ National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research PO Box 14-901, Wellington, New Zealand