WaitForTask V0.400


        COPYRIGHT

     WaitForTask is Freeware,  so  anybody  may  use  it  without  any
     charge. You are welcome to give this program to your friends,  as
     long as you do not charge  any  money  for  it.  All  rights  are
     reserved, because I'll certainly publish a modified version in  a
     local computer magazine.


        WHAT IS IT ?

     The idea for this program came to  me  while  talking  to  Walter
     Mildenberger, who said:  "Self-detaching  programs  are  stupid!"
     (Okay, those weren't his  original  words,  but  that's  what  he
     meant).

     We talked about the problem of waiting on such a program from the
     CLI. This is quite difficult because there is no possible way  of
     finding out when the program finishes.

     This problem is solved now! WaitForTask scans Exec's  task  lists
     regularly and looks for a program name, which is  specified  when
     you run the program. WaitForTask will not return until this  task
     exists!

     Using this command you can easily synchronise your  scripts  with
     self detaching programs.


        USAGE

     WaitForTask recognizes the following parameters:

       Taskname/A [Interval/N] [Reversed/S] [Delay/N] [PostDelay/N]


        Taskname - This argument is required! As you might guess  from
                   it's cleverly chosen name, this should be the  name
                   of the task/process WaitForTask waits for.

                   How do you get the name of a task? The best way  is
                   to look for it using a tool like  XOper,  SystemSpy
                   or AmigaRealTime-Monitor. If you want to  find  out
                   the task name of a  non-selfdetaching  program  you
                   started with "RUN", the CLI-command "STATUS"  might
                   possibly help.

                   WaitForTask understands and uses the  CLI-wildcards
                   of OS 2.xx! This is very useful if you do not  know
                   the exact name of  a  program!  Additionally,  some
                   tools  include  their  path  in  the   task   name,
                   especially those you started with  "RUN".  In  this
                   case you should wait for "#?<Tasknane>".

                   The pattern matching is not case-sensitive.


        Interval - This optional parameter specifies the time interval
                   that WaitForTask uses to scan the tasklist for  the
                   wanted  name.  The  units  are  1/50  seconds.  For
                   example, a value  of  150  means  that  WaitForTask
                   checks every three seconds (150/50=3).

                   If you leave out this parameter,  WaitForTask  uses
                   the default value of 3 seconds.


        Reversed - This is an optinal switch, which, when used,  turns
                   around the function of WaitForTask. It doesn't wait
                   for a task to disappear, but for a task to  appear.
                   Using   this   switch,   you   may   wait   for   a
                   self-detaching program to be installed.


           Delay - This value specifies the time  (in  1/50  seconds),
                   that WaitForTask waits before it  checks  the  task
                   lists the first time. Using this feature,  you  can
                   give  a  self-detaching  program  time  to  install
                   itself completely.


       PostDelay - This is nearly the same as Delay, but this value is
                   the time that WaitForTask delays  before  returning
                   to the CLI, after the task it was waiting  for  has
                   disappeared.


     If you ever get caught in a dead-lock, you can abort  WaitForTask
     with CTRL+C or Shell's "BREAK"-command. There might  be  a  small
     delay before this is recognised, depending on the  test  interval
     chosen.


        INSTALLATION

     All you have to do to install  this  wonderful  program  on  your
     Amiga is to copy WaitForTask to your command path, preferably the
     "C:"-directory.

     WaitForTask is re-entrant and can be made  resident.  (You  might
     have to set the PURE-bit first...)


        SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

     WaitForTask requires OS V2.04 or higher.


        THE AUTHOR

     If you have any comments for me or just want to tell me that  you
     hate my program, don't hesitate to connect me under  one  of  the
     following addresses:

     Snail-Mail: Peter Simons      E-Mail: simons@peti.GUN.de (Usenet)
                 Europaring 20             2:242/7.25       (FIDO-Net)
                 D-5300 Bonn 1
                 Germany            Voice: Tel. 0228 / 746061