exilepanda has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

In my experience on using Perl/Tk. There are events(mouse, keyboard etc.) to pull the first trigger to do the first thing, and then reflect on the GUI.

But then I have no idea on how to create a trigger at the moment that the GUI starts. For example, to make a clock with arms, the script starts by itself without anyone touch it, then where should I post the block

while(1){ &clockMoveArms($mw) } # for example

in my Perl/Tk code ?

What I am expecting is a while(1){} loop can start with the GUI. Is this feasible or did I missed something ?

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: PerlTk, how to handle/setup an "autorun" block with the GUI?
by zentara (Cardinal) on Feb 22, 2013 at 11:24 UTC
    Here is a simple usage of a timer. Tk::after and Tk::repeat both do the same thing, but Tk::after runs just once, where Tk::repeat continues until you stop it. 
    #!/usr/bin/perl
use Tk;
use warnings;
use strict;

my $mw = MainWindow->new(title => "Timer");
my $elapsed_sec = 0;
my $elapsed_sec_label = $mw->Label(-textvariable => \$elapsed_sec)->pa
+ck();

my $repeater; # declare first so it can be accessed in the callback
    
$mw->Button(-text => "reset", 
     -command => sub {
               $elapsed_sec = 0;
               &repeater();
             })->pack();

$mw->Button(-text => "exit", 
     -command => sub { exit })->pack();

# start first run
&repeater();
               
MainLoop;


sub repeater{

#this is repeated every second, and you can put your is_playing here
$repeater = $mw->repeat(1000 => sub {

               $elapsed_sec ++;
               
               if ($elapsed_sec > 4){ $repeater->cancel }
               
               }  ); 
      
}

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[reply]
[d/l]
      Thank you very much! Your code demonstrated an alternative style from what the perldoc mentioned! Works perfectly and much easier for me to deploy!
[reply]
Re: PerlTk, how to handle/setup an "autorun" block with the GUI?
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Feb 22, 2013 at 08:59 UTC

    See Tk::after

    With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
    Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
    "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
    In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.
[reply]
      Thanks Pope! That's exactly what I needed!
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