AnsweredAssumed Answered

vrf Dinging Windows

Question asked by VRFuser on Dec 30, 2005

Like • Show 0 Likes0
Comment • 8

Shawn,

The problem doesn't seem to be just that; In my case, savePanelImage works with color
depth set to 256 (default) or 65536, but does not work for any other settings including
down to 8 or 16.

-Vinod

--- Shawn wrote:

Oops! Yes I see. Well, for capturing bitmaps software is supposed to check for valid
color depth (bits per pixel) *before* calling CreateCompatibleBitmap, but it looks like
VEE is just passing the given value through without checking first.

Exactly what a valid value is depends on your video hardware/driver,...

--- Vinod <papineni_vinod@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> The savePanelImage function works fine for saving to .jpg
> files and .bmp files (with default 256 colors).
>
> Changing color depth to anything other than 256 causes error
> when saving to .bmp
>
> Example: savePanelImage("myFunction","C:\Temp\Test.bmp", 512)
>
> Notice this problem both in VEE 6.01 and 7.5. Has anyone seen
> this?
>
> -Vinod

__________________________________________
Yahoo! DSL Something to write home about.
Just $16.99/mo. or less.
dsl.yahoo.com

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: rsb@soco.agilent.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".

No one else has this question

Outcomes

8 Replies

VRFuser Dec 27, 2005 11:24 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
When an input box is left on the screen for some time, Windows 2K starts to repetitively ding.
Is there a way to programically fix this from within VEE?

I have tried the using the timeout to remove the box and immediately replace it with another copy, however that didn't work.
The only thing that I have seen work is moving the mouse or answering the box.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Jon Griggs

mailto:jgriggs@crownintl.com

Test Engineer

Crown International
1718 West Mishawaka Road
Elkhart, IN 46517

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: rsb@soco.agilent.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
jgriggs Dec 27, 2005 11:53 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
When an input box is left on the screen for some time, Windows 2K starts to repetitively ding.
Is there a way to programically fix this from within VEE?

I have tried the using the timeout to remove the box and immediately replace it with another copy, however that didn't work.
The only thing that I have seen work is moving the mouse or answering the box.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Jon Griggs

mailto:jgriggs@crownintl.com

Test Engineer

Crown International
1718 West Mishawaka Road
Elkhart, IN 46517

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: rsb@soco.agilent.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
VRFuser Dec 27, 2005 11:58 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Hello,

The savePanelImage function works fine for saving to .jpg files and .bmp files
(with default 256 colors).

Changing color depth to anything other than 256 causes error when saving to
.bmp

Example: savePanelImage("myFunction","C:\Temp\Test.bmp", 512)

Notice this problem both in VEE 6.01 and 7.5. Has anyone seen this?

-Vinod

__________________________________
Yahoo! for Good - Make a difference this year.
http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: rsb@soco.agilent.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
VRFuser Dec 28, 2005 8:20 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
> I'll get to this tomorrow morning.

Ok Jon. I'm wondering if maybe VEE 7 doesn't suffer this particular plague.
Here's what I did on Windows 2000:

First, an integer input box. Let it run and sit for 6 hours, no dings.
Second, a panel with an OK button. Let it run and sit for 6 hours, no dings.
Third, a panel with a text constant as input and an OK button. Let it run
and sit for 6 hours, no dings.

It was VEE 7 and it was running on the Archive computer (which is also the
web server) so maybe these background tasks polluted the test. The Archive
does involve simulated mouse input, however it's on a different window and
the VRF didn't experience any activity while the tests were in progress. The
computer is on a KVM switch and was left strictly alone during the 6 hour
intervals. I did notice that once I switched back to the computer after the
test interval the screen was still on (normally it gets switched off after 3
minutes).

I can think of a couple ways around this problem. There are two sources I
can think of right off the top of my head: screensaver and WM_ENTERIDLE. VEE
may intercept screensaver processing and do it's own thing. IE, wait a while
and start dinging. This wouldn't be very difficult to cure. The other
possibility I can think of is WM_ENTERIDLE. This seems less likely because
it involves a modal dialog or a menu message loop. A panel itself doesn't
really fit the bill, but a panel with a pause (such as an OK button) just
might. I don't know what VEE does in this respect. It seems counterintuitive
to make a panel a dialog, but that might be how it works. Besides, I didn't
see WS_DLGFRAME in any of the panel's component windows.

Anyway, if it has to do with screensaver processing then a VEE program can
institute it's own rules for the screensaver and the problem is over with.
If it has to do with WM_ENTERIDLE, that could be a far more complex problem.
Back in the old 16-bit days WM_ENTERIDLE was commonly used to do
"background" tasks. Ever since Windows became preemptive this hasn't been
necessary, but VEE is rather old and I wouldn't be shocked to find it does
some idle processing. If this is the source of the ding, it might be
unfixable - save for turning off the sound (which can be done fairly
easily).

On the other hand, those are the two scenarios that leap to mind. The source
could be something entirely different - either something standard or
something that VEE does by itself.

Either way it seems the most concise and global solution is to hook the VEE
process and monitor input. After inactivity for a specified amount of time
turn off the audio. When activity takes place turn the audio back on. This
solution has the disadvantage of disabling audio for the entire PC if VEE
receives no input.

Another solution might be to give VEE it's own copy of user32.dll with calls
to Beep or mmsystem.dll with calls to PlaySound patched to simply return.
This solution has the possible disadvantage of VEE not being able to make
noise (if it's coming from Beep it's no big deal - PlaySound is the function
with all the beef). Also, it's probably not Win64 compatible, but you can
worry about that if and when VEE goes 64-bit (it'll still work on WOW).
-SHAWN-

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: rsb@soco.agilent.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
VRFuser Dec 29, 2005 5:00 AM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
> I'll get to this tomorrow morning.

Ok Jon. I'm wondering if maybe VEE 7 doesn't suffer this particular plague.
Here's what I did on Windows 2000:

First, an integer input box. Let it run and sit for 6 hours, no dings.
Second, a panel with an OK button. Let it run and sit for 6 hours, no dings.
Third, a panel with a text constant as input and an OK button. Let it run
and sit for 6 hours, no dings.

It was VEE 7 and it was running on the Archive computer (which is also the
web server) so maybe these background tasks polluted the test. The Archive
does involve simulated mouse input, however it's on a different window and
the VRF didn't experience any activity while the tests were in progress. The
computer is on a KVM switch and was left strictly alone during the 6 hour
intervals. I did notice that once I switched back to the computer after the
test interval the screen was still on (normally it gets switched off after 3
minutes).

I can think of a couple ways around this problem. There are two sources I
can think of right off the top of my head: screensaver and WM_ENTERIDLE. VEE
may intercept screensaver processing and do it's own thing. IE, wait a while
and start dinging. This wouldn't be very difficult to cure. The other
possibility I can think of is WM_ENTERIDLE. This seems less likely because
it involves a modal dialog or a menu message loop. A panel itself doesn't
really fit the bill, but a panel with a pause (such as an OK button) just
might. I don't know what VEE does in this respect. It seems counterintuitive
to make a panel a dialog, but that might be how it works. Besides, I didn't
see WS_DLGFRAME in any of the panel's component windows.

Anyway, if it has to do with screensaver processing then a VEE program can
institute it's own rules for the screensaver and the problem is over with.
If it has to do with WM_ENTERIDLE, that could be a far more complex problem.
Back in the old 16-bit days WM_ENTERIDLE was commonly used to do
"background" tasks. Ever since Windows became preemptive this hasn't been
necessary, but VEE is rather old and I wouldn't be shocked to find it does
some idle processing. If this is the source of the ding, it might be
unfixable - save for turning off the sound (which can be done fairly
easily).

On the other hand, those are the two scenarios that leap to mind. The source
could be something entirely different - either something standard or
something that VEE does by itself.

Either way it seems the most concise and global solution is to hook the VEE
process and monitor input. After inactivity for a specified amount of time
turn off the audio. When activity takes place turn the audio back on. This
solution has the disadvantage of disabling audio for the entire PC if VEE
receives no input.

Another solution might be to give VEE it's own copy of user32.dll with calls
to Beep or mmsystem.dll with calls to PlaySound patched to simply return.
This solution has the possible disadvantage of VEE not being able to make
noise (if it's coming from Beep it's no big deal - PlaySound is the function
with all the beef). Also, it's probably not Win64 compatible, but you can
worry about that if and when VEE goes 64-bit (it'll still work on WOW).
-SHAWN-

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: rsb@soco.agilent.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
jgriggs Dec 29, 2005 5:14 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
You know, your observations have helped me pinpoint this.

A panel with an OK doesn't do it.
Only a popup style box causes this.
A text input, and int32 input, and a message box all have this problem. (Others may too; these are only the ones I checked).

I don't have a screensaver set, but I do have "Turn this monitor off" set to 20 minutes.
When I first tried to simulate this, I build a VEE program with only a Text Dialog Box.
That program was run and observed.
I wasn't around most of the time, but it happened somewhere after 15 minutes and I caught it dinging near 30 minutes.
One thing I noticed was that the screen was still on.
With your info, I had the insight to adjust the "Turn this monitor off" property down to 1 minute.
Reran the simple program and at one minute the monitor stayed on and the computer started dinging.

I also tried turning the screensaver on at 1 minute and setting the monitor power down to 2 minutes.
It started dinging at 1 minute, indicating that it will do this when the screensaver is engaged, also.

This dinging (and the inability for the computer to go into screensaver mode) only happens if VEE is on top (or in focus).

O.K. here is the real kicker.
VEE 6.03 and VEE 7.03 exhibit this problem.
VEE 7.51 does not have this problem.
There is no indication in the release notes that this was fixed.

Brainstorming out loud mode on/

There are a few things that could be done.
1) Simulate mouse movement.
   However, the only thing this is doing is keeping the computer out of power down mode.
2) That means I could just turn power down mode off.
   The downside of this is screen burn.
3) I could disable sound, as you mentioned.
   I would have to turn it back on, as there are stations that use sound as indicators.
4) Build VEE panels that replicate Dialog boxes.
   This would simply be some panel with a message at the top and proper controls at the bottom.
   Multiples of these would have to be created to encompass all the forms of dialog boxes with their different buttons and options.
5) Live with it until I can get VEE 7.51 implemented in production.
   (There would have to be hope that Agilent fixed it on purpose and that it will stay fixed).

Brainstorming out loud mode off

Thanks,
Jon Griggs

mailto:jgriggs@crownintl.com

Test Engineer

Crown International
1718 West Mishawaka Road
Elkhart, IN 46517

-----Original Message-----
From: Shawn Fessenden [mailto:shawn@testech-ltd.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2005 10:00 PM
To: VRF
Subject: RE: [vrf] Dinging Windows

> I'll get to this tomorrow morning.

Ok Jon. I'm wondering if maybe VEE 7 doesn't suffer this particular plague.
Here's what I did on Windows 2000:

First, an integer input box. Let it run and sit for 6 hours, no dings.
Second, a panel with an OK button. Let it run and sit for 6 hours, no dings.
Third, a panel with a text constant as input and an OK button. Let it run
and sit for 6 hours, no dings.

It was VEE 7 and it was running on the Archive computer (which is also the
web server) so maybe these background tasks polluted the test. The Archive
does involve simulated mouse input, however it's on a different window and
the VRF didn't experience any activity while the tests were in progress. The
computer is on a KVM switch and was left strictly alone during the 6 hour
intervals. I did notice that once I switched back to the computer after the
test interval the screen was still on (normally it gets switched off after 3
minutes).

I can think of a couple ways around this problem. There are two sources I
can think of right off the top of my head: screensaver and WM_ENTERIDLE. VEE
may intercept screensaver processing and do it's own thing. IE, wait a while
and start dinging. This wouldn't be very difficult to cure. The other
possibility I can think of is WM_ENTERIDLE. This seems less likely because
it involves a modal dialog or a menu message loop. A panel itself doesn't
really fit the bill, but a panel with a pause (such as an OK button) just
might. I don't know what VEE does in this respect. It seems counterintuitive
to make a panel a dialog, but that might be how it works. Besides, I didn't
see WS_DLGFRAME in any of the panel's component windows.

Anyway, if it has to do with screensaver processing then a VEE program can
institute it's own rules for the screensaver and the problem is over with.
If it has to do with WM_ENTERIDLE, that could be a far more complex problem.
Back in the old 16-bit days WM_ENTERIDLE was commonly used to do
"background" tasks. Ever since Windows became preemptive this hasn't been
necessary, but VEE is rather old and I wouldn't be shocked to find it does
some idle processing. If this is the source of the ding, it might be
unfixable - save for turning off the sound (which can be done fairly
easily).

On the other hand, those are the two scenarios that leap to mind. The source
could be something entirely different - either something standard or
something that VEE does by itself.

Either way it seems the most concise and global solution is to hook the VEE
process and monitor input. After inactivity for a specified amount of time
turn off the audio. When activity takes place turn the audio back on. This
solution has the disadvantage of disabling audio for the entire PC if VEE
receives no input.

Another solution might be to give VEE it's own copy of user32.dll with calls
to Beep or mmsystem.dll with calls to PlaySound patched to simply return.
This solution has the possible disadvantage of VEE not being able to make
noise (if it's coming from Beep it's no big deal - PlaySound is the function
with all the beef). Also, it's probably not Win64 compatible, but you can
worry about that if and when VEE goes 64-bit (it'll still work on WOW).
-SHAWN-

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: JGriggs@crownintl.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: rsb@soco.agilent.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
VRFuser Dec 29, 2005 9:09 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Jon:

Jon:

This bug was indeed fixed in VEE 7.51 (defect report #11098). I'm not sure why this was not listed in the "What's been fixed" section for VEE 7.51. The process to scoop the fixed defects out of the database is somewhat automated and not 100% it seems. Sorry about that.

Here is some information from the defect report / code comments:
"VEE beeps when it is the active window, has a modal dialog box open and the screen saver/monitor standby mode kicks in. On some systems it beeps once and others it beeps repeatedly. On some systems the screen saver is prevented from starting and on others it starts up."

You have hit upon the two workarounds for this problem - disable the beep driver or turn off the screen saver (or set it to 9999 minutes).

Hope this helps.

Ken

-----Original Message-----
From: Griggs, Jon [mailto:JGriggs@crownintl.com]
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2005 7:14 AM
To: VRF
Subject: RE: [vrf] Dinging Windows

You know, your observations have helped me pinpoint this.

A panel with an OK doesn't do it.
Only a popup style box causes this.
A text input, and int32 input, and a message box all have this problem. (Others may too; these are only the ones I checked).

I don't have a screensaver set, but I do have "Turn this monitor off" set to 20 minutes.
When I first tried to simulate this, I build a VEE program with only a Text Dialog Box.
That program was run and observed.
I wasn't around most of the time, but it happened somewhere after 15 minutes and I caught it dinging near 30 minutes.
One thing I noticed was that the screen was still on.
With your info, I had the insight to adjust the "Turn this monitor off" property down to 1 minute.
Reran the simple program and at one minute the monitor stayed on and the computer started dinging.

I also tried turning the screensaver on at 1 minute and setting the monitor power down to 2 minutes.
It started dinging at 1 minute, indicating that it will do this when the screensaver is engaged, also.

This dinging (and the inability for the computer to go into screensaver mode) only happens if VEE is on top (or in focus).

O.K. here is the real kicker.
VEE 6.03 and VEE 7.03 exhibit this problem.
VEE 7.51 does not have this problem.
There is no indication in the release notes that this was fixed.

Brainstorming out loud mode on/

There are a few things that could be done.
1) Simulate mouse movement.
   However, the only thing this is doing is keeping the computer out of power down mode.
2) That means I could just turn power down mode off.
   The downside of this is screen burn.
3) I could disable sound, as you mentioned.
   I would have to turn it back on, as there are stations that use sound as indicators.
4) Build VEE panels that replicate Dialog boxes.
   This would simply be some panel with a message at the top and proper controls at the bottom.
   Multiples of these would have to be created to encompass all the forms of dialog boxes with their different buttons and options.
5) Live with it until I can get VEE 7.51 implemented in production.
   (There would have to be hope that Agilent fixed it on purpose and that it will stay fixed).

Brainstorming out loud mode off

Thanks,
Jon Griggs

mailto:jgriggs@crownintl.com

Test Engineer

Crown International
1718 West Mishawaka Road
Elkhart, IN 46517

-----Original Message-----
From: Shawn Fessenden [mailto:shawn@testech-ltd.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2005 10:00 PM
To: VRF
Subject: RE: [vrf] Dinging Windows

> I'll get to this tomorrow morning.

Ok Jon. I'm wondering if maybe VEE 7 doesn't suffer this particular plague.
Here's what I did on Windows 2000:

First, an integer input box. Let it run and sit for 6 hours, no dings.
Second, a panel with an OK button. Let it run and sit for 6 hours, no dings.
Third, a panel with a text constant as input and an OK button. Let it run
and sit for 6 hours, no dings.

It was VEE 7 and it was running on the Archive computer (which is also the
web server) so maybe these background tasks polluted the test. The Archive
does involve simulated mouse input, however it's on a different window and
the VRF didn't experience any activity while the tests were in progress. The
computer is on a KVM switch and was left strictly alone during the 6 hour
intervals. I did notice that once I switched back to the computer after the
test interval the screen was still on (normally it gets switched off after 3
minutes).

I can think of a couple ways around this problem. There are two sources I
can think of right off the top of my head: screensaver and WM_ENTERIDLE. VEE
may intercept screensaver processing and do it's own thing. IE, wait a while
and start dinging. This wouldn't be very difficult to cure. The other
possibility I can think of is WM_ENTERIDLE. This seems less likely because
it involves a modal dialog or a menu message loop. A panel itself doesn't
really fit the bill, but a panel with a pause (such as an OK button) just
might. I don't know what VEE does in this respect. It seems counterintuitive
to make a panel a dialog, but that might be how it works. Besides, I didn't
see WS_DLGFRAME in any of the panel's component windows.

Anyway, if it has to do with screensaver processing then a VEE program can
institute it's own rules for the screensaver and the problem is over with.
If it has to do with WM_ENTERIDLE, that could be a far more complex problem.
Back in the old 16-bit days WM_ENTERIDLE was commonly used to do
"background" tasks. Ever since Windows became preemptive this hasn't been
necessary, but VEE is rather old and I wouldn't be shocked to find it does
some idle processing. If this is the source of the ding, it might be
unfixable - save for turning off the sound (which can be done fairly
easily).

On the other hand, those are the two scenarios that leap to mind. The source
could be something entirely different - either something standard or
something that VEE does by itself.

Either way it seems the most concise and global solution is to hook the VEE
process and monitor input. After inactivity for a specified amount of time
turn off the audio. When activity takes place turn the audio back on. This
solution has the disadvantage of disabling audio for the entire PC if VEE
receives no input.

Another solution might be to give VEE it's own copy of user32.dll with calls
to Beep or mmsystem.dll with calls to PlaySound patched to simply return.
This solution has the possible disadvantage of VEE not being able to make
noise (if it's coming from Beep it's no big deal - PlaySound is the function
with all the beef). Also, it's probably not Win64 compatible, but you can
worry about that if and when VEE goes 64-bit (it'll still work on WOW).
-SHAWN-

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: JGriggs@crownintl.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: ken_colasuonno@agilent.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: rsb@soco.agilent.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
VRFuser Dec 29, 2005 9:19 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Jon:

Jon:

This bug was indeed fixed in VEE 7.51 (defect report #11098). I'm not sure why this was not listed in the "What's been fixed" section for VEE 7.51. The process to scoop the fixed defects out of the database is somewhat automated and not 100% it seems. Sorry about that.

Here is some information from the defect report / code comments:
"VEE beeps when it is the active window, has a modal dialog box open and the screen saver/monitor standby mode kicks in. On some systems it beeps once and others it beeps repeatedly. On some systems the screen saver is prevented from starting and on others it starts up."

You have hit upon the two workarounds for this problem - disable the beep driver or turn off the screen saver (or set it to 9999 minutes).

Hope this helps.

Ken

-----Original Message-----
From: Griggs, Jon [mailto:JGriggs@crownintl.com]
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2005 7:14 AM
To: VRF
Subject: RE: [vrf] Dinging Windows

You know, your observations have helped me pinpoint this.

A panel with an OK doesn't do it.
Only a popup style box causes this.
A text input, and int32 input, and a message box all have this problem. (Others may too; these are only the ones I checked).

I don't have a screensaver set, but I do have "Turn this monitor off" set to 20 minutes.
When I first tried to simulate this, I build a VEE program with only a Text Dialog Box.
That program was run and observed.
I wasn't around most of the time, but it happened somewhere after 15 minutes and I caught it dinging near 30 minutes.
One thing I noticed was that the screen was still on.
With your info, I had the insight to adjust the "Turn this monitor off" property down to 1 minute.
Reran the simple program and at one minute the monitor stayed on and the computer started dinging.

I also tried turning the screensaver on at 1 minute and setting the monitor power down to 2 minutes.
It started dinging at 1 minute, indicating that it will do this when the screensaver is engaged, also.

This dinging (and the inability for the computer to go into screensaver mode) only happens if VEE is on top (or in focus).

O.K. here is the real kicker.
VEE 6.03 and VEE 7.03 exhibit this problem.
VEE 7.51 does not have this problem.
There is no indication in the release notes that this was fixed.

Brainstorming out loud mode on/

There are a few things that could be done.
1) Simulate mouse movement.
   However, the only thing this is doing is keeping the computer out of power down mode.
2) That means I could just turn power down mode off.
   The downside of this is screen burn.
3) I could disable sound, as you mentioned.
   I would have to turn it back on, as there are stations that use sound as indicators.
4) Build VEE panels that replicate Dialog boxes.
   This would simply be some panel with a message at the top and proper controls at the bottom.
   Multiples of these would have to be created to encompass all the forms of dialog boxes with their different buttons and options.
5) Live with it until I can get VEE 7.51 implemented in production.
   (There would have to be hope that Agilent fixed it on purpose and that it will stay fixed).

Brainstorming out loud mode off

Thanks,
Jon Griggs

mailto:jgriggs@crownintl.com

Test Engineer

Crown International
1718 West Mishawaka Road
Elkhart, IN 46517

-----Original Message-----
From: Shawn Fessenden [mailto:shawn@testech-ltd.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2005 10:00 PM
To: VRF
Subject: RE: [vrf] Dinging Windows

> I'll get to this tomorrow morning.

Ok Jon. I'm wondering if maybe VEE 7 doesn't suffer this particular plague.
Here's what I did on Windows 2000:

First, an integer input box. Let it run and sit for 6 hours, no dings.
Second, a panel with an OK button. Let it run and sit for 6 hours, no dings.
Third, a panel with a text constant as input and an OK button. Let it run
and sit for 6 hours, no dings.

It was VEE 7 and it was running on the Archive computer (which is also the
web server) so maybe these background tasks polluted the test. The Archive
does involve simulated mouse input, however it's on a different window and
the VRF didn't experience any activity while the tests were in progress. The
computer is on a KVM switch and was left strictly alone during the 6 hour
intervals. I did notice that once I switched back to the computer after the
test interval the screen was still on (normally it gets switched off after 3
minutes).

I can think of a couple ways around this problem. There are two sources I
can think of right off the top of my head: screensaver and WM_ENTERIDLE. VEE
may intercept screensaver processing and do it's own thing. IE, wait a while
and start dinging. This wouldn't be very difficult to cure. The other
possibility I can think of is WM_ENTERIDLE. This seems less likely because
it involves a modal dialog or a menu message loop. A panel itself doesn't
really fit the bill, but a panel with a pause (such as an OK button) just
might. I don't know what VEE does in this respect. It seems counterintuitive
to make a panel a dialog, but that might be how it works. Besides, I didn't
see WS_DLGFRAME in any of the panel's component windows.

Anyway, if it has to do with screensaver processing then a VEE program can
institute it's own rules for the screensaver and the problem is over with.
If it has to do with WM_ENTERIDLE, that could be a far more complex problem.
Back in the old 16-bit days WM_ENTERIDLE was commonly used to do
"background" tasks. Ever since Windows became preemptive this hasn't been
necessary, but VEE is rather old and I wouldn't be shocked to find it does
some idle processing. If this is the source of the ding, it might be
unfixable - save for turning off the sound (which can be done fairly
easily).

On the other hand, those are the two scenarios that leap to mind. The source
could be something entirely different - either something standard or
something that VEE does by itself.

Either way it seems the most concise and global solution is to hook the VEE
process and monitor input. After inactivity for a specified amount of time
turn off the audio. When activity takes place turn the audio back on. This
solution has the disadvantage of disabling audio for the entire PC if VEE
receives no input.

Another solution might be to give VEE it's own copy of user32.dll with calls
to Beep or mmsystem.dll with calls to PlaySound patched to simply return.
This solution has the possible disadvantage of VEE not being able to make
noise (if it's coming from Beep it's no big deal - PlaySound is the function
with all the beef). Also, it's probably not Win64 compatible, but you can
worry about that if and when VEE goes 64-bit (it'll still work on WOW).
-SHAWN-

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: JGriggs@crownintl.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: ken_colasuonno@agilent.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".

---
You are currently subscribed to vrf as: rsb@soco.agilent.com
To subscribe send a blank email to "join-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To unsubscribe send a blank email to "leave-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
To send messages to this mailing list, email "vrf@agilent.com".
If you need help with the mailing list send a message to "owner-vrf@it.lists.it.agilent.com".
Search the "unofficial vrf archive" at "www.oswegosw.com/vrf_archive/".
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions

vrf Dinging Windows

Outcomes

Related Content

Recommended Content