ON IDLE block

The ON IDLE idle-seconds clause defines a set of instructions that must be executed after idle-seconds of inactivity. This can be used, for example, to quit the dialog after the user has not interacted with the program for a specified period of time. The parameter idle-seconds must be an integer literal or variable. If it evaluates to zero, the timeout is disabled.

It is not recommended to use the ON IDLE trigger with a short timeout period such as 1 or 2 seconds; The purpose of this trigger is to give the control back to the program after a relatively long period of inactivity (10, 30 or 60 seconds). This is typically the case when the end user leaves the workstation, or got a phone call. The program can then execute some code before the user gets the control back.

ON IDLE 30
   IF ask_question(
      "Do you want to reload information the database?") THEN
      -- Fetch data back from the db server
   END IF

The timeout value is taken into account when the dialog initializes its internal data structures. If you use a program variable instead of an integer constant, any change of the variable will have no effect if the variable is changed after the dialog has initialized. If you what to change the value of the timeout variable, it must be done before the dialog block.