MenuTicks

MenuTicks

MenuAPI runs its per frame work in named loops, each with a condition. When the condition is false the loop ends completely, it does not keep running and return early. With every menu closed, almost nothing runs.

MenuTicks is read only. Only MenuAPI itself can add, start or stop a tick. It is not a general purpose tick registry for your own code.

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Seeing what is running

The console command carries your resource name, so two resources that ship MenuAPI do not clash:

menuapi:yourresourcename:ticks

With every menu closed:

[MenuAPI] 10 ticks registered:
[MenuAPI]   Menu.Scheduler (per frame): running
[MenuAPI]   Menu.Layout (every 500ms): stopped
[MenuAPI]   Menu.Textures (every 250ms): stopped
[MenuAPI]   Menu.Draw (per frame): stopped
[MenuAPI]   Menu.InstructionalButtons (per frame): stopped
[MenuAPI]   Menu.InstructionalButtonsData (every 300ms): stopped
[MenuAPI]   Menu.Select (per frame): stopped
[MenuAPI]   Menu.Navigate (per frame): stopped
[MenuAPI]   Menu.OnscreenKeyboard (per frame): stopped
[MenuAPI]   Menu.Toggle (per frame): running

Opening a menu flips the other eight to running. Closing every menu stops them again.

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The ticks

Name	Rate	Runs while
Menu.Scheduler	per frame	Always. Switches the other ticks on or off when a menu opens or closes. Costs one flag check when nothing changed.
Menu.Layout	every 500ms	A menu is open. Reads screen size and safe zone.
Menu.Textures	every 250ms	A menu is open. Streams game textures the menu needs, like your own banner texture, and releases them once every menu is closed.
Menu.Draw	per frame	A menu is open. Sends changes to the NUI page and disables conflicting game controls. Hides the page when the last menu closes.
Menu.InstructionalButtons	per frame	A menu is open. Draws the button hints.
Menu.InstructionalButtonsData	every 300ms	A menu is open. Works out which hints and key icons to show.
Menu.Select	per frame	A menu is open. Handles select and back, including mouse buttons.
Menu.Navigate	per frame	A menu is open. Handles up, down, left and right, including hold to repeat.
Menu.OnscreenKeyboard	per frame	A menu is open. Stops the menu reacting while the game’s text input box is open.
Menu.Toggle	per frame	Always. Watches for the menu toggle key on keyboard and controller. Reads a flag set by the key binding, so an idle frame costs no natives.

Menu.Scheduler waits one frame before switching ticks. Opening a submenu closes the parent and opens the child in one go, and the delay stops that from tearing down and rebuilding the button hints and textures.

Pause menu, screen fade, death and player switch are not tick conditions. The loops keep running and draw nothing on those frames.

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Reading it from code

using MenuAPI;

// Everything MenuAPI has registered, running or not.
foreach (MenuTickHandle tick in MenuTicks.Handles)
{
    Debug.WriteLine($"{tick.Name} at {tick.Rate} is {(tick.IsRunning ? "running" : "stopped")}");
}

// Or let MenuAPI format the lines for you.
foreach (string line in MenuTicks.Describe())
{
    Debug.WriteLine(line);
}

// Or just dump the lot to the console.
MenuTicks.Dump();

On Enhanced, use API.Log.Info instead of Debug.WriteLine.

To keep a debug overlay up to date, subscribe to Changed:

MenuTicks.Changed += () => _needsRedraw = true;

Caution

Changed fires once per tick that changed, so opening a menu raises it eight times. Set a flag and act on it once.

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MenuTicks

Member	Type	Description
Handles	IReadOnlyList<MenuTickHandle>	(Getter only) Every registered tick, running or not.
Changed	event Action	Fires whenever a tick starts or stops.
Describe()	IEnumerable<string>	One "name (rate): running" line per tick.
Dump()	void	Writes those lines to the console. The console command calls this.

MenuTickHandle

Read only, you cannot create or control one.

Member	Type	Description
Name	string	The tick’s name, for example Menu.Draw.
Rate	MenuTickRate	How long it waits between iterations.
IsRunning	boolean	Whether its loop is alive right now.

A tick that throws five times in a row logs an error and stops until a menu next opens or closes.

MenuTickRate

Member	Type	Description
Milliseconds	long	The wait between iterations. 0 means once per frame.
ToString()	string	"per frame" or something like "every 100ms".

The wait starts after an iteration finishes, so a slow iteration delays the next one instead of overlapping it.