Digital Workshop

I am using the variable changed trigger to detect when the system clock increments to the next minute So I have: Variable Changed<SYSTEM_TIME_MINUTE>. I have put a Play Sound(a beep) as the action. I also display <SYSTEM_TIME_MINUTE. In a text box
When it runs, it is triggered every second, but the variable isn't actually changing--I must be misunderstanding how this works???

Are you using a text input box or normal text? Text input is just that; input and won't refect any changes to a variable value once it has been shown. Make sure you display the variable in a standard text box.

I am using a standard text box. I simply insert the variable. as the minutes change, I see the correct 'time'...... However the 'variable changed' continues to trigger every second, which is indicated by the beep action.

Sorry, I'm obviously not understanding the problem. Can you send an example in to Support and I'll take a look tomorrow.

For some reason I can't attach the pip.ogg sound, but no matter. You can see what I am trying to do.
My understanding of the 'variable changed' trigger...... is that it will only trigger when a variable changes. The 'systen_time_minute' variable will change once a minute, but in this example, it triggers about once a second?
This is what help says:-
"The Variable Changed trigger allows you to trigger an action when the contents of the variable you specify changes value. This trigger is used in a variety of publications"

Hi sandyn,

Whilst Duncan and the UK side of the world are sleeping, I thought I'd take a look.

It seems that the <SYSTEM_TIME_MINUTE> variable must be internally counting/pulsing since it's tied in with the system clock, which in turn, is affecting the Variable Changed trigger.

There is a quick solution, by simply adding an "if' condition to your Variable Changed trigger, so it will work every minute as you intended.

See the attached mock-up IMP file. Hope this helps in the meantime, until Duncan can take a better look.

Thank you Steve!!!

This will work. I'll still be interested to know why the variable changed triggers like that with the system_time_minutes.

Sandy

All the system time variables (hour, minute, second) are updated once a second as a unit. This causes them to trigger changed notifications even if the value for the minutes or hours has not actually changed.

While it would be possible to change this; it is possible that such a change would break other people's publications; so we would have to consider this before making any changes.

Your best solution would be to keep your own copies of the minute and hour values and use them to compare with the system variables, only updating your copies when they do not match and the doing any actions you want to trigger on the minute or hour changes.

That's fine Duncan. I can understand why it would not be easy to change from the way it works at present. The original difficulty was that the help file indicated what they should do, but these variables are an exception to the rule. Now I understand how they work.
Thanks for your help.