Advanced COM Wait
Wait method

Waits the current operation started with the Start or Execute method to complete.

Syntax:

variable = object.Wait(timeout)

Arguments

Return value - Boolean. If the operation completed in the allowed timeout period the returned value is True, if the operation is not completed within the allowed timeout period the returned value is False.

timeout - Positive integer. The allowed timeout in milliseconds. The method will wait the specified number of milliseconds the operation to complete. After that if the operation is not complete yet the method returns False.

Examples:


        

Remarks:

Compared to the Busy property the Wait method is the same but with a timeout. So, the Busy property just checks if the operation is complete and returns immediately. while the Wait method can be instructed to wait the completetion the specified time.

Thus the Wait method is intended mostly for the points in the application where the application needs the results of the thread work in order to continue its work. So the application specifies a reasonable timeout period and waits the thread to catch up. Anyway the application should be able to deal with negative result - i.e. the work is not done in the specified timeout. What to do in such a case depends on the application structure. For example in ASP application you can tell the user that the server is too busy and the operation will take more time than expected and provide another page where the user will be able to continue (wait more). In non-ASP application with linear execution (such as Windows Scripting Host for example) the main script (the application) will most likely need the results right at this moment. So the timeout should be a bit bigger and if the operation is still incomplete then the only possible actions will be optional (by user request) additional waiting or error message. 

On contrary the Busy property can be used when the results are not so important. For example in an application where the user does something else and besides that wants to see if the background task is complete.

Applies to: COMScriptThread object

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