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ActivateConfig / DeactivateConfig vs ShowFade / HideFade - Is one "better" or "worst"?

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strawberryshortcake
Posts: 79
Joined: August 27th, 2016, 12:49 am

ActivateConfig / DeactivateConfig vs ShowFade / HideFade - Is one "better" or "worst"?

Post by strawberryshortcake »

"Better" / "Worst" in terms of 'stressing' the computer or making it work ... "harder" so to speak?
( Is it better to keep the computer running 24/7 versus powering it off/on when needed? )

I'm referring to user control actions (i.e. MouseOverAction or Left/RightMouseUpAction, etc)

Triggering [Activate / DeactivateConfig] loads and unloads a skin on demand, similar to flipping a light switch on and off, correct? There's an off ('rest') period (skin is inactive) (DeactivateConfig). But is continually loading and unloading a skin 'worst''? On the other hand, with Show / HideFade, the skin is always active even when it's hidden (Hidefade), sort of like turning off the monitor (the PC is still active). The skin is always active.

Does the same answer apply to a skin that is
(1) Continuous loop animation,
(2) animation with an ending
(3) loop actiontimer animation,
(4) Actiontimer animation that plays only once
(5) image skin
(6) text based skin.

Two videos below. The Show/Fade doesn't continuously register a log. The Activate/Deactivate registers a log when something happens. Side note: I couldn't get rid of the warning message with Active/Deactive config which is why I'm using the Show/HideFade method. I've read putting "DeactivateConfig" before ActivateConfig is suppose to get rid of the warning message but that's not working (or I'm certain that I'm doing it wrong.)

ActivateConfig / DeactivateConfig

ShowFade/HideFade
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balala
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Re: ActivateConfig / DeactivateConfig vs ShowFade / HideFade - Is one "better" or "worst"?

Post by balala »

strawberryshortcake wrote: October 26th, 2020, 10:40 pm "Better" / "Worst" in terms of 'stressing' the computer or making it work ... "harder" so to speak?
( Is it better to keep the computer running 24/7 versus powering it off/on when needed? )

I'm referring to user control actions (i.e. MouseOverAction or Left/RightMouseUpAction, etc)

Triggering [Activate / DeactivateConfig] loads and unloads a skin on demand, similar to flipping a light switch on and off, correct? There's an off ('rest') period (skin is inactive) (DeactivateConfig). But is continually loading and unloading a skin 'worst''? On the other hand, with Show / HideFade, the skin is always active even when it's hidden (Hidefade), sort of like turning off the monitor (the PC is still active). The skin is always active.
As yourself said, when a skin is deactivated it closes, so its running is interrupted. Such in a case a Calc measure for instance isn't calculating anymore. Let's say you have the following measure:

Code: Select all

[MeasureCalc]
Measure=Calc
Formula=( MeasurCalc + 1 )
While the skin is activated, this measure counts. If you deactivat the skin, the above measure doesn't count anymore, it interrupts.
If on the other hand you are just hiding the skin it runs in background, so the above Calc measure still counts.
A deactivated skin doesn't consume resources, but a hidden one does.
Which one is "better" or "worst", depends on what would you like to do, so it's completely up to the author. That's why in fact you can't say any of these would be better or worst.
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Yincognito
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Re: ActivateConfig / DeactivateConfig vs ShowFade / HideFade - Is one "better" or "worst"?

Post by Yincognito »

strawberryshortcake wrote: October 26th, 2020, 10:40 pmSide note: I couldn't get rid of the warning message with Active/Deactive config which is why I'm using the Show/HideFade method. I've read putting "DeactivateConfig" before ActivateConfig is suppose to get rid of the warning message but that's not working (or I'm certain that I'm doing it wrong.)
You're possibly doing it wrong (although I doubt this is the case, since the process is quite straightforward), but there is also a catch:
Test_1.0.0.rmskin
(1.25 KiB) Downloaded 33 times
It's something I encountered when implementing my custom tooltips in my suite, and that is the fact that when closing or refreshing the "parent" skin (i.e. the one that toggles the other skin to activate / deactivate, in this case Test.ini) Rainmeter doesn't (or doesn't always, in the case of closing) unload the "child" skin (i.e. Skin.ini in this case), so you have to (optionally) use OnCloseAction and OnRefreshAction from the [Rainmeter] section to make sure those things happen. Needless to say, that leads also to Log "warnings", if the child skin is already in the state on which it is actively set to. But then, at least those "warnings" (which despite me mentioning about them in the Bugs & Feature Suggestions section of the forum, can't be "disabled" or "hidden" from the Log although they're harmless in nature) happen only in those moments, and not every time you hover over the parent skin or meter.

Personally, I couldn't care less about those warnings, but regular users might see them as a "problem" with the skin and such, and needlessly worry or stop using the skin as a result, at least in these particular cases - which is why I talked about it already on the forum, too bad without much success... :confused:
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