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Hi, I want 2 timer objects to execute sequentially, one after the other. Please help

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Suppose my program is as follows:
t = timer;
t.StartDelay = 3;
t.TimerFcn = @(myTimerObj, thisEvent)disp('hello');
start(t);
t1 = timer;
t1.StartDelay = 5;
t1.TimerFcn = @(myTimerObj, thisEvent)disp('world');
start(t1);
I want my program to display 'hello' after 3 seconds, which it does. But it displays 'world' 2 seconds after 'hello' is displayed. i.e. simultaneous execution takes place.
I want 'world' to be displayed 5 seconds after 'hello' is displayed. And making the delay 8 is not the answer I'm looking for! I need sequential execution because I want to put it in an infinite loop.
It should display 'hello' after 3 seconds, and 5 seconds later 'world'. Then 3 more seconds later 'hello' should be displayed, and 5 seconds after that, 'world'. This is needed in an infinite loop.
Please help
Thank you!

Accepted Answer

Oleg Komarov
Oleg Komarov on 2 Mar 2015
Edited: Oleg Komarov on 2 Mar 2015
You can use one timer and a function that alternate the state(s):
tic
t = timer;
t.ExecutionMode = 'fixedDelay';
t.StartDelay = 3;
t.TimerFcn = @(obj,evt) alternateState(obj);
start(t);
% After you are done
stop(t)
clear persistent
And the state alternation is done by:
function alternateState(t)
persistent on
if isempty(on)
on = true;
end
toc
stop(t)
if on
disp('hello')
t.StartDelay = 5;
on = false;
else
disp('world')
t.StartDelay = 3;
on = true;
end
start(t)
end
The state persists within the scope of the function.
Basically, you start the timer on repeated execution with fixed delay, and initial delay of 3. When the first time the function fires, it initializes the state to 'on', prints 'hello', sets the next delay to 5. On the next call, it reverts the delay back and prints 'world'.
Note, I am not sure this is clean, and would appreciate feedback, but it has the advantage to support several states. You can also clean away the tic/toc which is there for debugging purposes.
  3 Comments
Oleg Komarov
Oleg Komarov on 4 Mar 2015
Actually, why do you think you need a timer? For the snapshot question, please ask it separately, since I have not used the function before and others might help.

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