Name
msys.timer.after — execute closure after a given time
Synopsis
msys.timer.after(delta, closure, name);
delta: number closure: string name: string, optional
Description
The returned timer is already scheduled when the function returns; no additional schedule call is required. The returned object is a timer object with the following methods:
-
timer:stop() – cancel the timer
-
timer:start() – reschedule the timer
-
timer:name() – return the name used when the timer was created
Warning
The stop method is not thread-safe. Make sure that you only call timer:stop from the scheduler thread.
name is an optional parameter that can be interrogated from the timer using timer:name(). The name is simply a label associated with the instance; it is not a unique identifier for the event and can not be used to locate an event by name.
The garbage collection handler of the timer object will implicitly stop the timer so that dangling references are prevented. As a consequence the following code is incorrect: msys.timer.after(10, do_something) since the return value will be collectible immediately and will likely cancel the timer before it fires. Likewise, the following will fail for the same reasons: local timer = msys.timer.after(10, do_something). Instead, use a global variable, or something traceable from a stronger reference to keep your timer instance alive.
require("msys.core");
require 'msys.timer';
t = msys.timer.after(10, function ()
print("t: I am the 10 second one-shot timer")
end, "t")
Enable this function with the statements require('msys.timer'); and require("msys.core");.