## Tcl8.5.14/Tk8.5.14 Documentation > TclLib > DoWhenIdle

### Tcl/Tk Applications | Tcl Commands | Tk Commands | Tcl Library | Tk Library

### NAME

Tcl_DoWhenIdle, Tcl_CancelIdleCall - invoke a procedure when there are no pending events

### SYNOPSIS

#include <tcl8.5/tcl.h>
Tcl_DoWhenIdle(proc, clientData)
Tcl_CancelIdleCall(proc, clientData)

### ARGUMENTS

Tcl_IdleProc *proc (in)
  Procedure to invoke.

ClientData clientData (in)
  Arbitrary one-word value to pass to proc.

### DESCRIPTION

Tcl_DoWhenIdle arranges for proc to be invoked when the application becomes idle. The application is considered to be idle when Tcl_DoOneEvent has been called, could not find any events to handle, and is about to go to sleep waiting for an event to occur. At this point all pending Tcl_DoWhenIdle handlers are invoked. For each call to Tcl_DoWhenIdle there will be a single call to proc; after proc is invoked the handler is automatically removed. Tcl_DoWhenIdle is only usable in programs that use Tcl_DoOneEvent to dispatch events.

Proc should have arguments and result that match the type Tcl_IdleProc:

    typedef void Tcl_IdleProc(ClientData clientData);

The clientData parameter to proc is a copy of the clientData argument given to Tcl_DoWhenIdle. Typically, clientData points to a data structure containing application-specific information about what proc should do.

Tcl_CancelIdleCall may be used to cancel one or more previous calls to Tcl_DoWhenIdle: if there is a Tcl_DoWhenIdle handler registered for proc and clientData, then it is removed without invoking it. If there is more than one handler on the idle list that refers to proc and clientData, all of the handlers are removed. If no existing handlers match proc and clientData then nothing happens.

Tcl_DoWhenIdle is most useful in situations where (a) a piece of work will have to be done but (b) it is possible that something will happen in the near future that will change what has to be done or require something different to be done. Tcl_DoWhenIdle allows the actual work to be deferred until all pending events have been processed. At this point the exact work to be done will presumably be known and it can be done exactly once.

For example, Tcl_DoWhenIdle might be used by an editor to defer display updates until all pending commands have been processed. Without this feature, redundant redisplays might occur in some situations, such as the processing of a command file.

### BUGS

At present it is not safe for an idle callback to reschedule itself continuously. This will interact badly with certain features of Tk that attempt to wait for all idle callbacks to complete. If you would like for an idle callback to reschedule itself continuously, it is better to use a timer handler with a zero timeout period.

### KEYWORDS

callback, defer, idle callback
Copyright © 1995-1997 Roger E. Critchlow Jr. Copyright © 1990 The Regents of the University of California. Copyright © 1994-1996 Sun Microsystems, Inc.