Scripting Guide - SAS

Chapter 8 Programming Methods 229
Scheduling Actions
to the log. For example, if you checked the schedule several times during the “hello” example, you would see
something like this:
Scheduled at 11.55000000000018 :Print("hello")
Scheduled at 4.716666666666697 :Print("hello")
Scheduled at 3.083333333333485 :Print("hello")
The script might also be a name referring to a stored expression. For example, try submitting this script,
which calls itself:
quickieScript = expr( show("Hi there"); schedule(15, quickieScript); );
quickieScript;
This script should show the string “Hi there” in a log window after 15 seconds, and reschedule itself for
another 15 seconds, continuing until the Stop button is clicked.
More typically, in a production setting you might want to set up a schedule like this:
FifteenMinuteCheck = expr(show("Checking data");
open("my file", options...);
distribution(column(column1), capability(spec limits));
schedule(15*60, FifteenMinuteCheck));
FifteenMinuteCheck;
Schedule initiates an event queue, but once it has the event queued, JMP proceeds with the next statement
in the script. For example, the following has results that might surprise you:
schedule(3, print("one"));
print("two");
"two"
"one"
If you want the script to wait until the scheduled events are finished before proceeding, one solution would
be to use Wait( ) with a suitable pause. Another is to embed the subsequent actions into the schedule
queue. Schedule accepts a series of arguments to queue many events in sequence. Each event is a separate
call to the schedule. Each event time is an absolute time relative to “now” (or the instant that Go is clicked).
Therefore, the following sequence finishes in five seconds, not in twelve:
schedule(3, print("hello"));
schedule(4, print(", world"));
schedule(5, print("--bye"));
To cancel all events in a schedule queue, use Clear Schedule.
scheduler[1]