Waitfor Command Window
This window allows you to create a
Waitfor command easily via GUI and insert it into the active editor. See
the Waitfor command
specification for more information on fields and values defined in the
window.
To open the window select Script ->
Waitfor Command in the VNCRobot menu. Alternatively select the
Waitfor Command Window button in the Events
Tab of the Tool Panel.
VNCRobot v1.3 defines three basic types of Waitfor commands. Each of
them has a separate tab in the Waitfor Command window:
Waitfor Update
This tab allows you to create a Waitfor update
command and insert it into the active editor. The command will be
constructed based on selected update event(s) (RFB event FramebufferUpdate
)
and options defined in the window.

The first component on the top is a list of recent update events
received from the RFB (VNC) server, i.e. FramebufferUpdate
events defined by the RFB protocol. These events represent update of a
certain area of the remote desktop. Each event in the list displays the
update rectangle in form of x:<x>,y:<y>,w:<width>,h:<height>
,
extent of the update as a percentage of the whole window and time from
the last user action. Note that the list displays only update events
which are greater than a certain extent. This limit is by default set to
10% and can be customized in the Preferences
window. See also help on the Events Tab
of the Tool Panel which contains a list with similar functionality.
If you select one or more events in the table, the areas defined by
them will display in the remote desktop as red frames and a Waitfor
command gets constructed using the options in the window and displayed
in the Resulting Command field at the bottom of the window. If
you press OK, the command will be inserted into the active editor.
Update Event Options
Generate update area - Select this option to insert the update
area into the command (parameter area=x:<x>,y:<y>,w:<width>,h:<height>
).
If you deselect this option, the parameter will not be inserted into
the command. The option is by default on.
Generate update pass rate - Select this option to insert the pass
rate (parameter passrate=<value>%
) into the command.
If the Generate update area option is selected, value of the
following option Default overall pass rate will be used. If the
option is deselected, the pass rate will be calculated with regards to
the update event size, window size and the value of the default overall
pass rate. The option is by default on. See help on Waitfor update for
more info about pass rates and update area.
Default overall pass rate (in %) - Default pass rate in %.
Default value is 95%. This option is used only if the Generate
update pass rate option is on.
Update Timing Options
Generate timeout - Select this option to insert a timeout into
the command (parameter timeout=<time>
). It defines
the maximum amount of time to wait for the specified desktop update. If
you deselect this option, the parameter will not be inserted into the
command. The option is by default on.
Multiple measured timeout by - Safety timeout coefficient.
Default value is 3. Let's say you perform a mouse click or press a key
to open an application and the window takes 1 second to open. In such a
case VNCRobot generates a timeout of 3 seconds (3 x 1 sec). If your
computer is not stable in terms of performance, you might want to raise
this factor to make sure that the command won't fail when your
application for some reasons takes e.g. 5 seconds to open.
Generate minimum timeout - Generate a minimum timeout value flag.
If the calculated timeout is lower than the minimum one, use the minimum
value instead. The option is by default on.
Minimum timeout (miliseconds) - Minimum timeout value. This
option is applied only if the Generate minimum timeout option is
on. Default value is 3,000 miliseconds (3 seconds).
Reset wait param of previous command - If the preceding command
in the script contains a 'wait
' parameter, remove it. It is
a good idea because it can make the created Waitfor command fail when
the expected update comes during the 'wait
' delay defined
by the previous command. The option is by default on.
Multiple Updates Options
Use 'wait' rather than 'count' for multiple updates - Some
applications update their windows several times when opening. You
however usually want to wait until the last update to get the window
fully initialized. There are two ways to handle such multiple updates.
The first option is use the 'count
' parameter and define
how many times the screen or specified area must update before
proceeding further. This way is however not always safe because VNC
servers often behave differently based on their provider and
configuration. VNCRobot provides safer method of handling of the
multiple updates. Whenever you decide to create a 'Waitfor udate
'
command, VNCRobot searches all recent update events and defines whether
there are multiple updates of the same area. When potential events are
found, VNCRobot rather generates a 'wait' parameter based on the time of
the latest multiple event and options described below. This approach is
safer and more reliable than the 'count' parameter. A disadvantage is
that such a Waitfor command will take more time to complete because
extra safety wait time is used. This feature is by default on.
Multiply measured delay by - Safety 'wait
' delay
coefficient. It is used to multiply the delay time when the Use
'wait' rather than 'count' for multiple updates feature is on.
Default value is 3.
Generate minimum wait delay - Generate a minimum 'wait
'
delay value flag. If the calculated delay is lower than the minimum
one, use the minimum value instead. The option is by default on. This
option is applied only when the Use 'wait' rather than 'count' for
multiple updates feature is on.
Minimum wait delay (miliseconds) - Minimum 'wait
'
delay time. Default value is 3,000 miliseconds (3 seconds). This option
is applied only when the Use 'wait' rather than 'count' for multiple
updates feature is on.
Waitfor Bell
This tab allows you to create a Waitfor bell command
and insert it into the active editor. The command will be constructed
based on selected bell event(s) (RFB event Bell
) and
options defined in the window.

The first component on the top contains a list of recent bell events
received from the RFB (VNC) server, i.e. Bell
events
defined by the RFB protocol. To create a Waitfor bell
command and insert it to the active editor select one or more events in
the list and click OK.
Bell Event Timing Options
Generate timeout - Select this option to insert a timeout into
the command (parameter timeout=<time>
). It defines
the maximum amount of time to wait for the bell event(s). If you
deselect this option, the parameter will not be inserted into the
command. The option is by default on.
Multiple measured timeout by - Safety timeout coefficient.
Default value is 3. Let's say you run a command in a terminal window on
your remote computer which beeps once it finishes ("echo -e '\007'
"
on Unix/Linux systems). If the command takes 3 seconds to finish,
VNCRobot will generate a timeout of 9 seconds (3 x 3 sec). If your
computer is not stable in terms of performance, you might want to raise
this factor to make sure that the command won't fail when such a command
for some reasons takes more time to finish.
Generate minimum timeout - Generate a minimum timeout value flag.
If the calculated timeout is lower than the minimum one, use the minimum
value instead. The option is by default on.
Minimum timeout (miliseconds) - Minimum timeout value. This
option is applied only if the Generate minimum timeout option is
on. Default value is 3,000 miliseconds (3 seconds).
Reset wait param of previous command - If the preceding command
in the script contains a 'wait' parameter, remove it. It is a good idea
because it can make the created Waitfor command fail when the expected
bell event comes during the 'wait
' delay defined by the
previous command. The option is by default on.
Waitfor Match
This tab allows you to create a Waitfor match or
mismatch command and insert it into the active editor. The command
will be constructed based on the options defined in the window and
selected image file (if required by the comparison algorithm).

Match/Mismatch
Selection
The top component allows you to select between a "Waitfor match" and "Waitfor mismatch". The difference
is that a "Waitfor match" commad will hold on the script execution until
the remote desktop matches the template while a "Waitfor mismatch"
waits as long as the images match.
Template
Image Properties
This component is actually a plugin originating from the Compareto Command Window. See also the How to Use Image Comparison document for
more information about image comparison with VNCRobot.
Timing Preferences
Image comparison interval - This parameter defines how often
should be the remote desktop compared to the selected template image.
VNCRobot compares the images every 3 seconds by default.
Define timeout - Select this option to insert a timeout into the
command (parameter timeout=<time>
). It defines the
maximum amount of time to wait for a match of the remote desktop and
selected template image. If you don't select this option, the 'Waitfor
match
' command will wait until there's a match.
Timeout - Timeout value in seconds. Default timeout is 15 seconds.
Reset wait param of previous command - If the preceding command
in the script contains a 'wait' parameter, remove it. The option is by
default on.