Newton 2.x Q&A: Using Procrastinated Actions from an InputScript

Using Procrastinated Actions from an InputScript

One of the Newton 2.x OS Q&As
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This document was exported on 7/23/97.

NEW: Using Procrastinated Actions from an InputScript (7/2/97)

Q: Calling AddProcrastinatedCall or AddProcrastinatedSend repeatedly with the same symbol from my input specification's InputScript method sometimes causes an out of memory exception on pre-Newton 2.1 devices. What's going wrong?

A: If you post a procrastinated action from an InputScript, it may not be executed until a much later time. Due to a bug in the way procrastinated actions with the same symbol are queued, it's possible to queue so many events that you run out of NewtonScript heap memory. This bug is fixed in the Newton 2.1 OS.

Here are two possible workarounds:

1) Use AddDelayedCall or AddDelayedSend in place of a procrastinated action.

2) Buffer the incoming data (perhaps into a temporary soup). Once the download has completed, perform the necessary operations on this data. This method also provides transactional integrity in the event the communications connection is unexpectedly torn down while downloading.