Just wrote my first gadget.

• Emadkb

  Oh, that's bad, we want those documented and used! Thanks for mentioning that they went away, we'll get them back up soon.

  Brian

  
  

• Rituparna MSFT

  If anyone is looking for an example of how to use the above documented features, this is how I decided to implement it in my gadget:

  <script type="text/javascript">

  var compName = null; //computer name
  var availMem = null; //available memory
  var procType = null; //processor type
  var cpuObj = null; // cpuObjects
  var cpuCount = null; // number of processors
  var cpuStats = null; // count string
  var cpuTemp = null; // temp variable
  var procStat = null; // processor stats
  var intervalID = null; // timer id
  var visible = null;

  function initialize()
  {
  //do some initialization stuff
  compName = "Your computer is: " + System.Environment.getEnvironmentVariable("COMPUTERNAME") + "\n";
  availMem = "Available memory: " + System.Machine.availableMemory + "mb\n";
  procType = "Processor Type: " + System.Machine.processorArchitecture + "\n";
  cpuObj = System.Machine.CPUs;
  cpuCount = System.Machine.CPUs.count;
  cpuStats = "Processor count: " + cpuCount + "\n";
  cpuTemp = "";
  procStat = "";

  for(var i = 0; i < cpuCount; i++)
  {
  cpuTemp = cpuObj.item(i);
  var utilization = cpuTemp.usagePercentage;
  procStat = procStat + "CPU " + (i+1) + ": " + Math.round(utilization) + "%\n";
  }

  gadgetContent.innerText = compName + availMem + procType + cpuStats + procStat;
  procStat = "";

  System.Gadget.visibilityChanged = isVisible;
  intervalID = setInterval(update, 1000);
  
  }

  function isVisible()
  {
  if (System.Gadget.visible)
  {
  visible = true;
  }
  else
  {
  visible = false;
  }
  }

  function update()
  {
  if (visible)
  {
  // perform updates here
  isDirty = false;
  availMem = "Available memory: " + System.Machine.availableMemory + "mb\n"
  for(var i = 0; i < cpuCount; i++)
  {
  cpuTemp = cpuObj.item(i);
  var utilization = cpuTemp.usagePercentage;
  procStat = procStat + "CPU " + (i+1) + ": " + Math.round(utilization) + "%\n";
  }

  gadgetContent.innerText = compName + availMem + procType + cpuStats + procStat;
  procStat = "";
  isDirty = true;
  }
  }

  
  
  

• Greg_Dodd

  Okay I see the logic it just wasn't clear before, the logic for "function()" is if the window is visible and the timer wasn't running run it now. But the change in visibility is dependent upon the refresh function at least running once to make sure that if the gadget is visible we do our updating clear the timer and reset it to a new one otherwise if the window is not visible do nothing.
  
  Now since this polls every second it def did eat cpu cycles in the background but that has now changed.
  
  Thanks
  
  
  

• byronfromwesleyan

  Well I have only coded in javascript for about a period of 4 hours now since yesterday.  Is thare a set of commands such that i can do a boolean test   Persay isFocused

   

  I acutally found an answer, the pages is located here:

  http://blogs.msdn.com/sidebar/archive/2006/08/18/706495.aspx - Brian T's page.

  
  
  

• Chuck Cobb

  You need to use two undocumented Gadget functions! They were there during the beta, but seem to have disappeared from the MSDN documentation recently. I've recreated them below for you.
  
  
  

  visibilityChanged Event

  ---

  This event is triggered when the gadget visibilty has changed, and will run the specified script code when the event occurs.

  Syntax

  Event property System.Gadget.visibilityChanged = handler
  

  Event Handler Parameters

  handler

  Required. A function containing code to run when a gadget visibility changes.

  
  
  
  
  

  visible Property

  ---

  Called from within a gadget as a means to determine whether or not the gadget is visible.

  Syntax

  [ bIsVisible = ] System.Gadget.visible

  Possible Values

  bIsVisible

  The visible status of the gadget, stored as a Boolean value. Returns true if visible, and false if hidden.

  The property is read-only. The property has no default value.

  Example

  System.Gadget.visibilityChanged = areWeVisible;

  function areWeVisible()
  {
  if (System.Gadget.visible)
  {
  //Gadget now visible
  } else {
  //Gadget now hidden
  }
  }

  
  

• simon_

  You're still firing a timer and running a little javascript every second; try this:

  window.setTimeout(refresh, 1000);
  var timerRunning = true;
  function refresh()
  {
  timerRunning = false;
  if (!System.Gadget.visible)
  {
  return;
  }
  // refresh your data and UI here
  window.setTimeout(refresh, 1000);
  timerRunning = true;
  }
  System.Gadget.visibilityChanged = function ()
  {
  if (System.Gadget.visible && !timerRunning)
  {
  window.setTimeout(refresh, 1000);
  }
  }

  
  

• devstuff

  Its a good start! One suggestion - stop polling every second if your gadget isn't visible, and start again when it becomes visible again.
  
• Just wrote my first gadget.