Task Scheduling, or Getting my minions to wait their turn

Questions
1

I have a series of 8 animations that I was unable to get to run in the tweener since there is some setup that has to go along before the job can be sent out. Fine. So I wrote my own Task queue, cleverly named Tasks.

Tasks = class()
local timer = 0
local waiting = false

function Tasks:init()
end

function Tasks:add(action, wait)
    table.insert(self,{action, wait})
end

function Tasks:draw()
    timer = timer - DeltaTime
    if not waiting then
        if #self > 0 then
            waiting = true
            timer = self[1].wait
            self[1]:action()
            table.remove(self, 1)
        end   
    elseif timer<=0 then
        waiting = false
    end
end

-- in Main:
draw()
   .
   .
   .
    taskList:draw()
end

It seems to work fine until I try to queue up a function that takes parameters. I keep getting nil stored in the queue rather than a function pointer. I seem to have again gotten caught up in Lua syntax.

Have I written something wrong above that I cannot do

taskList:add(f(a,b), 1)  -- do func f and then wait 1 second

but:

taskList:add(f(), 1)

works fine? do I need dots (…) somewhere?

I’m making terrific progress, except for this loose syntax where anything seems to go. Except when it doesn’t. :frowning:

2

By placing parenthesis after your function, you are calling the function, and returning the result. If you want to pass parameters to a function the best way to do it AFAIK is

taskList:add(function () f(a, b) end, 1)
3

@Jordan, if the second one works, I think this is not the problem. I think he does want to return the result, but it does not?

4

So, f() invokes f, but just plain f passes a pointer to the function?

That is, if my function requires parameters, I have to wrap it in an an anonymous function?

I know I’ll get this someday here soon… I’ll go another round with it later as it’s late and I hear reindeer on the rooftop. :slight_smile:

5

@JakAttak I don’t need any return, just trying to pass some parameters with function. I think Jordan is at least partly right.

6

@Jordan That’s a no go. All 8 animations are fired at once, and the Tasks are still nil… I’ve done something wrong in my code above in handling parameters.

Oh well, time for bed… Good night all!

7

How about this?

-- Game
function setup()
    t=Tasks
    t:add(p,{"1","11"},2)
    t:add(p,{"2","22"},2)
    t:add(p,{"3","33"},2)
end

function p(t)
    print(t[1],t[2])
end

function draw()
    t:draw()
end

Tasks = class()
local timer = 0
local waiting = false

function Tasks:init()
end

function Tasks:add(action,p, wait)
    table.insert(self,{action,p, wait})
end

function Tasks:draw()
    timer = timer - DeltaTime
    if not waiting then
        if #self > 0 then
            waiting = true
            timer = self[1][3]
            self[1][1](self[1][2])
            table.remove(self, 1)
        end   
    elseif timer<=0 then
        waiting = false
    end
end

Key changes are

  1. You can’t call self[1].wait or self[1]:action unless you have specifically named the table fields, like this
table.insert(self,{action=action,params=p, wait=wait})

The way you did it, you need to refer to them by table position as I have done above

  1. You can pass through parameters in their own little table, store them along with the action function address, then apply them when the function runs.
8

obsessive me finally got it…

table.insert(self, {["action"]=action, ["wait"]=wait})

Probably the long way of writing it, but now it works beautifully! And no ugly global flag business like I used to have…

Thanks, Ignatz. Looks like you got there before me. :slight_smile:

9

Well you both were faster. I’ll post it anyway. @syntonica you can chack that too, to see how to 1/ pass values to tween.delay, and 2/ manage case when the values are initiated later. Merry Christmas!




task = class()
function task:init()
    print("created, but values not here")
end
function task:draw()
    resetMatrix()
    fill(self.c)
    translate(self.x,self.y)
    rotate(ElapsedTime*100)
    rect(-50,-50,100,100)
end
function task:setXYC(x,y,c)
    self.x = x
    self.y = y
    self.c = c
    print("values ready!")
end

function setup()
    task1 = task()
    task2 = task()
    task3 = task()
    tween.delay(1,task1.setXYC,task1,200,400, color(255, 0, 0, 255))
    tween.delay(3,task2.setXYC,task2,400,400, color(255, 217, 0, 255))
    tween.delay(6,task3.setXYC,task3,600,400, color(4, 0, 255, 255))
end
function draw()
    background(0)
    if task1.c then task1:draw() end
    if task2.c then task2:draw() end
    if task3.c then task3:draw() end
end
10

@Jmv38 Thanks! That was solution #1, but If I was going to have a table full of tasks, it was easier to write my routine rather than do this. I will be reusing my task list handler in several places in my code.

I originally had a global flag I was using, although I’m not sure how I managed it originally. lol. After discovering how functions are passed and how they are not really serializable, I had to do some recoding ( as in, I rewrote most of it) to be able to serialize my game state and reconstruct the game if reloaded. I also got rid of half my code. :smiley: AirCode is marvelous for copying code from TextWrangler, my favorite tool of choice. My iPad mini is just too mini to effectively code by touch.

2 days later, I am back to my original functionality, but I can now write my GUIs as tables and read them in. My only compromise is a table of actions to derefernce string names of functions to actual functions.