Delphi : Sleep without freeze and processmessages

Question

I need a way to pause the execution of a function for some seconds. I know i can use the sleep method to do it, but this method 'freezes' the application while its execution. I also know i can use something like the code below to avoid freezing :

// sleeps for 5 seconds without freezing 
for i := 1 to 5 do
    begin
    sleep(1000);
    application.processmessages;
    end;

There are two problems of this approach : one is the fact the freezing still occurs each one second and the second problem is the calling to 'application.processmessages' each second. My app is CPU intensive and each processmessages call do a lot of unnecessary work that uses unnecessary CPU power ; i just want to pause the workflow, nothing more.

What i really need would be a way to pause the execution just like a TTimer, in the example below :

   // sleeps for 5 seconds
   mytimer.interval := 5000;
   mytimer.enabled := true;
   // wait the timer executes
   // then continue the flow
   // running myfunction
   myfunction;

The problem of this approach is 'myfunction' won't wait the for mytimer, it will run right after the mytimer is enabled.

Is there another approach to achieve a pause like i want ?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

As David stated, the best option is to move the work into a separate thread and stop blocking the main thread altogether. But, if you must block the main thread, then at the very least you should only call ProcessMessages() when there really are messages waiting to be processed, and let the thread sleep the rest of the time. You can use MsgWaitForMultipleObjects() to handle that, eg:

var
  Start, Elapsed: DWORD;

// sleep for 5 seconds without freezing 
Start := GetTickCount;
Elapsed := 0;
repeat
  // (WAIT_OBJECT_0+nCount) is returned when a message is in the queue.
  // WAIT_TIMEOUT is returned when the timeout elapses.
  if MsgWaitForMultipleObjects(0, Pointer(nil)^, FALSE, 5000-Elapsed, QS_ALLINPUT) <> WAIT_OBJECT_0 then Break;
  Application.ProcessMessages;
  Elapsed := GetTickCount - Start;
until Elapsed >= 5000;

Alternatively:

var
  Ret: DWORD;
  WaitTime: TLargeInteger;
  Timer: THandle;

// sleep for 5 seconds without freezing 
Timer := CreateWaitableTimer(nil, TRUE, nil);
WaitTime := -50000000; // 5 seconds
SetWaitableTimer(Timer, WaitTime, 0, nil, nil, FALSE);
repeat
  // (WAIT_OBJECT_0+0) is returned when the timer is signaled.
  // (WAIT_OBJECT_0+1) is returned when a message is in the queue.
  Ret := MsgWaitForMultipleObjects(1, Timer, FALSE, INFINITE, QS_ALLINPUT);
  if Ret <> (WAIT_OBJECT_0+1) then Break;
  Application.ProcessMessages;
until False;
if Ret <> WAIT_OBJECT_0 then
  CancelWaitableTimer(Timer);
CloseHandle(Timer);

Answer 2

Move the task that needs to be paused into a separate thread so that it does not interfere with the UI.

Answer 3

It is rather doubtful, that Application.ProcessMessages will really consumpt too much processor time. You can try to store the moment of time when you start waiting and then begin a repeat Application.ProcessMessages until...; circle checking the time span between the stored and current time.

Answer 4

If you have not a problem with using a timer, you can do this:

(ouside the timer-event:)
mytimer.interval := 5000;
mytimer.tag:=0;
mytimer.enabled := true;

(inside the timer-event:)
mytimer.tag:=mytimer.tag+1;
if mytimer.tag=2 then begin
  mytimer.enabled:=false;
  myfunction;
end;