6 Calling X-Functions

Waiting for Startup Origin C Compile after Launch

Before you can make any Origin C or X-Function call from a COM server, you need to check and wait for Origin C startup compile to finish, which will typically take a fraction of a second, but nevertheless the waiting is needed.

Currently, there is no exposed COM property or method for this checking, but there exists a LabTalk command to wait up to a specified length of time (timeout in seconds), as shown below:

sec -poc 3;//wait up to 3 sec for OC to be ready

The actual waiting time varies but the LabTalk command will return as soon as OC is ready. You can try to use a shorter timeout value like 2 but it would be safer to use a longer timeout.

The following small VBA example illustrates how this work:

Private Sub CommandButton_Click()
    Dim app As Origin.ApplicationSI
    Dim wbk As Origin.WorksheetPage
    Dim Wks As Origin.Worksheet
    Set app = New Origin.ApplicationSI
    app.NewProject
    'wait for OC to be ready
    app.Execute ("sec -poc 3.5")
    'call built-in XF to create a new folder called test and change to it
    app.Execute ("pe_mkdir test;pe_cd test")
    'add new book in this new folder and set active sheet to 5 columns
    Set wbk = app.WorksheetPages.Add
    Set Wks = wbk.Layers(0)
    Wks.Cols = 5
    'in case Origin was hidden, show it now
    app.Visible = MAINWND_SHOW
End Sub