Backgroundrb devel - Aug 2006 - repeat_every doesn''t tie in with first_run...

Ezra,

Sorry for inundating the list.  In using the autostart, repeat_every,
and first_run, I noticed a behaviour I didn''t expect.

I would like the job to run starting at 2am, and then every 24 hours.
So I set first_run to Time.now.beginning_of_day + 2.hours, and
repeat_every to 24.hours.

The problem is if backgroundrb starts up at 6am (due to a code change
or server bump), then the process runs immediately (because first_run
< Time.now), and then runs every 24 hours from that time, so 6am every
day.  I was expecting more cron-ish behaviour, where it would start at
the first_run time and repeat based on that initial time.

Is this the proper behaviour?  Personally, I like the cron style
better - it gives me tighter control, which might be required for
better resource utilization.  If I want it to start running
immediatley, I can put in first_run Time.now.

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Brett

That Behaviour is absolutely OK, since it starts the job when Time.now >
first_start. Time.now.beginning_of_day is 0:00 TODAY, meaning 14 hours ago
(at least here in Germany). The only way to work around that is to use
Time.now.tomorrow.beginning_of_day meaning 0:00 tonight. I think this can be
improved in some later version.

2006/8/7, Brett Walker <lapomme00 at gmail.com>:
>
> Ezra,
>
> Sorry for inundating the list.  In using the autostart, repeat_every,
> and first_run, I noticed a behaviour I didn''t expect.
>
> I would like the job to run starting at 2am, and then every 24 hours.
> So I set first_run to Time.now.beginning_of_day + 2.hours, and
> repeat_every to 24.hours.
>
> The problem is if backgroundrb starts up at 6am (due to a code change
> or server bump), then the process runs immediately (because first_run
> < Time.now), and then runs every 24 hours from that time, so 6am every
> day.  I was expecting more cron-ish behaviour, where it would start at
> the first_run time and repeat based on that initial time.
>
> Is this the proper behaviour?  Personally, I like the cron style
> better - it gives me tighter control, which might be required for
> better resource utilization.  If I want it to start running
> immediatley, I can put in first_run Time.now.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Cheers,
> Brett
> _______________________________________________
> Backgroundrb-devel mailing list
> Backgroundrb-devel at rubyforge.org
> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/backgroundrb-devel
>


-- 
Michael Siebert <info at siebert-wd.de>

www.stellar-legends.de - Weltraum-Browsergame im Alpha-Stadium
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
http://rubyforge.org/pipermail/backgroundrb-devel/attachments/20060807/c2479aa9/attachment.html

Hhhmm...I still disagree.   A 24 hour cycle was not a good example.
Suppose I want it run every 6 hours.  2am, 8am, 2pm, 8pm.  Since we
don''t know when backgroundrb is going to be started, it''s a
convuluted
calculation for first_run to line up with one of the run times, unless
you put it at 2am tomorrow.  But that means it doesn''t run at all
today.

The best way is to set it to 2am today, and calculate the period based
off of the start time.  Railscron takes care of it like this:

  def should_run_now
    now = Time.now.to_i
    return false if self.start && self.start > now
    return false if self.finish && self.finish < now

    start = self.start
    every = self.every || 1.day
    proximity = (now - start) % every
    return proximity < @@options[:sleep]
  end

The difference between Time.now and the start time modded with the
period.  As long as the remainder falls within the sleep period, it
kicks off.  Your going to get within @@options[:sleep] seconds of the
real time you wanted.

Cheers,
Brett

On 8/7/06, Michael Siebert <info at siebert-wd.de>
wrote:
> That Behaviour is absolutely OK, since it starts the job when Time.now >
> first_start. Time.now.beginning_of_day is 0:00 TODAY, meaning 14 hours ago
> (at least here in Germany). The only way to work around that is to use
> Time.now.tomorrow.beginning_of_day meaning 0:00 tonight. I
> think this can be improved in some later version.
>
>
> 2006/8/7, Brett Walker <lapomme00 at gmail.com>:
> >
> Ezra,
>
> Sorry for inundating the list.  In using the autostart, repeat_every,
> and first_run, I noticed a behaviour I didn''t expect.
>
> I would like the job to run starting at 2am, and then every 24 hours.
> So I set first_run to Time.now.beginning_of_day + 2.hours, and
> repeat_every to 24.hours.
>
> The problem is if backgroundrb starts up at 6am (due to a code change
> or server bump), then the process runs immediately (because first_run
> < Time.now), and then runs every 24 hours from that time, so 6am every
> day.  I was expecting more cron-ish behaviour, where it would start at
> the first_run time and repeat based on that initial time.
>
> Is this the proper behaviour?  Personally, I like the cron style
> better - it gives me tighter control, which might be required for
> better resource utilization.  If I want it to start running
> immediatley, I can put in first_run Time.now.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Cheers,
> Brett
> _______________________________________________
> Backgroundrb-devel mailing list
>  Backgroundrb-devel at rubyforge.org
> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/backgroundrb-devel
>
>
>
> --
>  Michael Siebert <info at siebert-wd.de>
>
> www.stellar-legends.de - Weltraum-Browsergame im Alpha-Stadium

Yeah I agree with Brett. If we are going to have a start time like  
we do we ought to be calculating the intervals so they line up to the  
correct time. Perhaps I can steal that method from rails cron ;) I  
hope to have some time later today to work on the plugin. I have a  
few features lined up that I need to release. I will add this to the  
list and see what I can come up with.

Cheers-
-Ezra


On Aug 7, 2006, at 6:29 AM, Brett Walker wrote:
> Hhhmm...I still disagree.   A 24 hour cycle was not a good example.
> Suppose I want it run every 6 hours.  2am, 8am, 2pm, 8pm.  Since we
> don''t know when backgroundrb is going to be started, it''s
a convuluted
> calculation for first_run to line up with one of the run times, unless
> you put it at 2am tomorrow.  But that means it doesn''t run at all
> today.
>
> The best way is to set it to 2am today, and calculate the period based
> off of the start time.  Railscron takes care of it like this:
>
>   def should_run_now
>     now = Time.now.to_i
>     return false if self.start && self.start > now
>     return false if self.finish && self.finish < now
>
>     start = self.start
>     every = self.every || 1.day
>     proximity = (now - start) % every
>     return proximity < @@options[:sleep]
>   end
>
> The difference between Time.now and the start time modded with the
> period.  As long as the remainder falls within the sleep period, it
> kicks off.  Your going to get within @@options[:sleep] seconds of the
> real time you wanted.
>
> Cheers,
> Brett
>
> On 8/7/06, Michael Siebert <info at siebert-wd.de> wrote:
>> That Behaviour is absolutely OK, since it starts the job when  
>> Time.now >
>> first_start. Time.now.beginning_of_day is 0:00 TODAY, meaning 14  
>> hours ago
>> (at least here in Germany). The only way to work around that is to  
>> use
>> Time.now.tomorrow.beginning_of_day meaning 0:00 tonight. I
>> think this can be improved in some later version.
>>
>>
>> 2006/8/7, Brett Walker <lapomme00 at gmail.com>:
>>>
>> Ezra,
>>
>> Sorry for inundating the list.  In using the autostart, repeat_every,
>> and first_run, I noticed a behaviour I didn''t expect.
>>
>> I would like the job to run starting at 2am, and then every 24 hours.
>> So I set first_run to Time.now.beginning_of_day + 2.hours, and
>> repeat_every to 24.hours.
>>
>> The problem is if backgroundrb starts up at 6am (due to a code change
>> or server bump), then the process runs immediately (because first_run
>> < Time.now), and then runs every 24 hours from that time, so 6am  
>> every
>> day.  I was expecting more cron-ish behaviour, where it would  
>> start at
>> the first_run time and repeat based on that initial time.
>>
>> Is this the proper behaviour?  Personally, I like the cron style
>> better - it gives me tighter control, which might be required for
>> better resource utilization.  If I want it to start running
>> immediatley, I can put in first_run Time.now.
>>
>> Thoughts?
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Brett
>> _______________________________________________
>> Backgroundrb-devel mailing list
>>  Backgroundrb-devel at rubyforge.org
>> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/backgroundrb-devel
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>  Michael Siebert <info at siebert-wd.de>
>>
>> www.stellar-legends.de - Weltraum-Browsergame im Alpha-Stadium
> _______________________________________________
> Backgroundrb-devel mailing list
> Backgroundrb-devel at rubyforge.org
> http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/backgroundrb-devel