The MathJax.Callback.Signal Class

The MathJax.Callback.Signal object is one of the key mechanisms used by MathJax to synchronize its actions with those that occur asynchronously, like loading files and stylesheets. A Signal object is used to publicize the fact that MathJax has performed certain actions, giving other code running the web page the chance to react to those actions. See Synchronizing with MathJax for more details, and Using Signals in particular for examples of how to specify and use MathJax Signal objects.

The Callback Signal object is a subclass of the Callback Queue object.

Properties

name: The name of the signal. Each signal is named so that various components can access it. The first one to request a particular signal causes it to be created, and other requests for the signal return references to the same object.

posted: Array used internally to store the post history so that when new listeners express interests in this signal, they can be informed of the signals that have been posted so far. This can be cleared using the signal’s Clear() method.

listeners: Array of callbacks to the listeners who have expressed interest in hearing about posts to this signal. When a post occurs, the listeners are called, each in turn, passing them the message that was posted.

Methods

Post(message[, callback])

Posts a message to all the listeners for the signal. The listener callbacks are called in turn (with the message as an argument), and if any return a Callback object, the posting will be suspended until the callback is executed. In this way, the Post() call can operate asynchronously, and so the callback parameter is used to synchronize with its operation; the callback will be called when all the listeners have responded to the post.

If a Post() to this signal occurs while waiting for the response from a listener (either because a listener returned a Callback object and we are waiting for it to complete when the Post() occurred, or because the listener itself called the Post() method), the new message will be queued and will be posted after the current message has been sent to all the listeners, and they have all responded. This is another way in which posting can be asynchronous; the only sure way to know that a posting has occurred is through its callback. When the posting is complete, the callback is called, passing it the signal object that has just completed.

Returns the callback object (or a blank callback object if none was provided).

Parameters:

message — the message to send through the signal
callback — called after the message is posted

Returns:

the callback or a blank callback

Clear([callback])

This causes the history of past messages to be cleared so new listeners will not receive them. Note that since the signal may be operating asynchronously, the Clear() may be queued for later. In this way, the Post() and Clear() operations will be performed in the proper order even when they are delayed. The callback is called when the Clear() operation is completed.

Returns the callback (or a blank callback if none is provided).

Parameters:

callback — called after the signal history is cleared

Returns:

the callback or a blank callback

Interest(callback[, ignorePast])

This method registers a new listener on the signal. It creates a Callback object from the callback specification, attaches it to the signal, and returns that Callback object. When new messages are posted to the signal, it runs the callback, passing it the message that was posted. If the callback itself returns a Callback object, that indicates that the listener has started an asynchronous operation and the poster should wait for that callback to complete before allowing new posts on the signal.

If ignorePast is false or not present, then before Interest() returns, the callback will be called with all the past messages that have been sent to the signal.

Parameters:

callback — called whenever a message is posted (past or present)
ignorePast — true means ignore previous messages

Returns:

the callback object

NoInterest(callback)

This removes a listener from the signal so that no new messages will be sent to it. The callback should be the one returned by the original Interest() call that attached the listener to the signal in the first place. Once removed, the listener will no longer receive messages from the signal.

Parameters:

callback — the listener to be removed from signal

Returns:

null

MessageHook(message, callback)

This creates a callback that is called whenever the signal posts the given message. This is a little easier than having to write a function that must check the message each time it is called. Although the message here is a string, if a message posted to the signal is an array, then only the first element of that array is used to match against the message. That way, if a message contains an identifier plus arguments, the hook will match the identifier and still get called with the complete set of arguments.

Returns the Callback object that was produced.

Parameters:

message — the message to look for from the signal
callback — called when the message is posted

Returns:

the callback object

ExecuteHook(message)

Used internally to call the listeners when a particular message is posted to the signal.

Parameters:

message — the posted message

Returns:

null