Preconfigured DataLoad Delays

DataLoad comes with many preconfigured delays which can be used in many situations but only need to be set once. Many of these delays could be achieved by using a *SL in the data sheet but that approach would mean many cells may need to be changed to change a regular delay, such as a pause after a *NR command. Furthermore, the preconfigured delays give access to many delays which cannot be set using the *SL command. The delays form can be accessed from the 'Tools' menu or by it's shortcut icon and consists of two tabs, 'Standard' and 'Advanced'. Each groups together different delays which can be set. All delays can be specified in whole or decimal seconds (E.g. 1 or 0.5).

The Standard Delays Tab

This tab contains delay actions for the most often needed delays, and these are divided into two groups. First are the general delays, which consist of regular events requiring delays. The 'Data cell' delay occurs whenever a cell containing data or keystrokes is processed, while the 'Cell' delay causes a pause whenever any cell is processed (command, data or keystroke). Note that delays can be cumulative. If both of these delays are set to 1 second, for instance, there will be a 2 second delay every time a data cell is processed, but only a 1 second delays after a command is processed. The third delay in this group occurs when the target window has been called but before any cells are processed. This provides time for the window to be drawn and the desktop to be reorganised.

The second group of delays are the command delays. These delays occur immediately after the relevant command has been executed. For example, a TAB delay of 0.5 will cause DataLoad to pause for 0.5 seconds after sending a TAB key. Again these commands can be cumulative. If the 'Cell' delay is set then the total delay after any command will be that command's delay plus the Cell delay.

The Advanced Delays Tab

This tab allows fine details to be changed and should be used with care. This tab sets pauses in milliseconds rather than seconds and controls how long certain important events happen for. The first 2 pauses control how long a key is left depressed when a keystroke is simulated. The 'Key' press delay represents the duration of a non-system key hold, while the 'System' key press is the time a system key (Alt, Shift or Control) is depressed. The 'Menu Call' delay specifies how long a menu should be displayed before keystrokes are sent to it. This provides extra time for menus to be drawn on slower systems. Finally, the 'Hourglass' delay defines how long DataLoad should pause for if the target application's cursor is an hourglass and if the Options form has been configured for DataLoad to use this delay. If this delay is used DataLoad can suspend sending data to the target window until the application has finished processing the previous data and commands, as indicated by the cursor changing back to its normal state from an hourglass.