IsRunning = False, even if the copying process has not yet been completed

[JoE-Seeve]

What is the meaning of the different flags for IsRunning, IsPaused and IsCancelled?

I have observed the following:

• IsRunning == True -> If the copy process is running
• IsRunning == True and IsPaused == True -> If the copy process isn't stopped and the process is paused
• IsRunning == False and IsCancelled == True -> If the copy process is running but a cancelation was requested
• IsRunning == False and IsCancelled == True -> If the process has completed but was cancelled

I would actually expect the following:

• IsRunning == True and IsCancelled == True -> If the copy process is running but a cancelation was requested
• IsRunning == False and IsCancelled == False -> If the process has completed but was cancelled

I only noticed this when I copied to a very slow USB stick and the message was constantly displayed that the copying process was no longer running, but after that there was no "OnCommandCompleted" signal for minutes. Could someone please explain to me how you can interpret the signals to clearly show the state of the copying process? Thanks in advance.

[JoE-Seeve]

After more time to test the RoboSharp signals, I believe that there is more of a bug here. I found the following problems:

• IsCancelled is set to TRUE when the copy function is started for the first time if the copy process is stopped. But there is no code in RoboCommand.cs that sets IsCancelled back to FALSE.
• At the moment there is no signal that indicates that the copy process is running or is being ended after a STOP command. IsRunning is set to FALSE if IsCancelled = TRUE. The copying process can still run. Since IsCancelled is never set to FALSE, this flag does not indicate when the copying process is ended.

It should work with the following adjustments (at least for me):

• IsCancelled is set to FALSE every time a copy process is started, indicating that the current or the last copy process has been canceled. Most users will not notice this behavior because they reinitialize the class for each copy process, just as it is described in the example (RoboCommand backup = new RoboCommand();).
• A new CancellationRequested signal indicates that a cancellation or stop has been requested. This flag is set to TRUE on STOP and back to FALSE on completion of the copy process (IsCancelled does not need to be changed so that existing apps should not have any problems).

[PCAssistSoftware]

Sorry for delay in responding, when I get a moment in the coming days I will look into what you are saying and comment further. I use those flags in my apps and have never noticed them returning wrong values though, but will certainly investigate

[JoE-Seeve]

Thank you very much for your info. I would like to present my solution via a pull request, but I still need time to read the help and then be able to use it.

[PCAssistSoftware]

Quick initial comments:-

The value of IsCancelled is set to False by default when you create a new instance of RoboCommand, it is changed to True when a copy process is cancelled - which is correct. You would then usually discard that instance of RoboCommand before starting another copy process and then the value of IsCancelled will be set back to False as intended. Am I missing something here?

[JoE-Seeve]

@PCAssistSoftware Yes, that's absolutely right for IsCancelled. But which signal then indicates the end of the copying process? It cannot be IsRunning because it is already set to FALSE when the process is requested to stop. And IsCancelled remains TRUE until a new copy process is started. A long time can pass between STOP (= IsRunning = FALSE / IsConcelled = TRUE) and Process Completed. The signals still show the same after the Process Completed Event (= IsRunning = FALSE / IsConcelled = TRUE).

[PCAssistSoftware]

I use the RoboCopyExitStatus of Successful to determine if a job is done, basically checking if that is True and IsCancelled is False then job is done

[JoE-Seeve]

Yes you can produce an additional signal or flag for this. But I think the signals implemented in RoboSharp should indicate every state. But that would only be the case if IsRunning remains TRUE until the copying process is ended.

[PCAssistSoftware]

RoboCopyExitStatus is already implemented in RoboSharp and is part of RoboSharp.Results, so I am not producing an additional signal or flag, I am using it as designed to be used

[JoE-Seeve]

Yes, I know, but I only have RESULTS when the process has ended. I also need the status when the process is still running but a STOP has been requested.

[PCAssistSoftware]

Not sure what we are doing differently, but if I start a job and then cancel it I can still get RESULTS to determine the relevant state at that point e.g. Success = False, Cancelled = True and Exit Code of "-1 - Results not valid as operation cancelled"

[JoE-Seeve]

I also didn't notice this problem straight away because I always performed the copy processes with fast drives or networks. The status display in my app also always looked right. Then I once copied movies (5 x 900 MByte) onto a USB stick, stopped before finishing and then saw that the IsRunning display was off but the copying process continued for two minutes. Although I had the message IsCancelled, I only recognized that the copy process was still running because the Completed event had not yet been triggered.

[PCAssistSoftware]

I don't know what to say then - the test I was doing at that point was with multiple 512mb testfiles, and I was copying to a USB drive, when I click Cancel in my app the copy stops immediately and the values showing in my form are correct. I cannot replicate your issue so will have to wait and see if anyone else can.

[PCAssistSoftware]

@JoE-Seeve - this should be resolved by #133 - can you please check and confirm for us? thank you :)

[JoE-Seeve]

I have just checked the IsRunning, IsCancelled signals again and nothing has changed for me. IsRunning is set to FALSE when IsCancelled is set to TRUE. However, IsRunning does not indicate when the process has actually ended. If the copying process is slow, the process sometimes runs for minutes after you call Cancel. Is this behavior wanted that way? If so, everything works fine, but then no boolean value indicates the end of the copying process.

For me, the IsRunning signal would be easier to understand if it is set at start (is implemented like this) and when OnCommandCompleted is reset immediately before the triggering (it is not implemented that way). IsRunning thus indicates with TRUE when a copying process is started and when it is finished.

After what I was able to test quickly, when Cancel is called, the task is prompted to end and IsRunning is set to FALSE. However, the task is only terminated after the file has been copied and only then is the OnCommandCompleted event triggered. However, the end of the copying process is not the same as resetting IsRunning.

[JoE-Seeve]

After a small test and two changes in RoboCommand.cs, IsRunning is set to FALSE when the copying process is reported as finished (and not already with Cancel / Stop).