# Weird things happening. CPU load spikes

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/weird-things-happening-cpu-load-spikes/51429>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [23 September 2021 09:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/weird-things-happening-cpu-load-spikes/51429 "2021-09-23T09:44:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Trying\_to\_learn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/trying_to_learn/32/28400_2.png) [@Trying\_to\_learn](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Trying_to_learn)\
**Post date:** [5 October 2021 09:48 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/weird-things-happening-cpu-load-spikes/51429/21 "2021-10-05T09:48:52Z")

</div>

Is this any better/closer to working?

```auto
// node.send()

var sunset;
var z = 0;
var msg1;
var msg2;
var delay_time;
if (msg.delay_time == undefined)
    msg.delay_time = 4000;
delay_time = msg.delay_time;
if (msg.sunset == undefined)
    msg.sunset = "196,10,0";
sunset = msg.sunset;

msg1 = "rgb,0,"+sunset;
msg2 = "X";

//node.warn("Msg1 " + msg1);
//node.warn("Msg2 " + msg2);

// Delay
f(delay_time,z,msg1,msg2);

//------------------

msg1 = "rgb,1,"+sunset;
msg2 = "X";

// Delay
f(delay_time,z,msg1,msg2);

//------------------

if (msg.existing[0] == undefined)
{
    msg.existing[0] = "0,0,0";
}
msg1 = "rgb,2,"+sunset;
msg2 = msg.existing;

// Delay
f(delay_time,z,msg1,msg2);

//------------------

if (msg.existing[1] == undefined)
{
    msg.existing[1] = "0,0,0";
}
msg1 = "rgb,3,"+sunset;
msg2 = msg.existing;

// Delay
f(delay_time,z,msg1,msg2);

//------------------

if (msg.existing[2] == undefined)
{
    msg.existing[2] = "0,0,0";
}
msg1 = "rgb,4,"+sunset;
msg2 = msg.existing;

// Delay
f(delay_time,z,msg1,msg2);

//------------------

if (msg.existing[3] == undefined)
{
    msg.existing[3] = "0,0,0";
}
msg1 = "rgb,5,"+sunset;
msg2 = msg.existing;

// Delay
f(delay_time,z,msg1,msg2);

//------------------

if (msg.existing[4] == undefined)
{
    msg.existing[4] = "0,0,0";
}
msg1 = "rgb,6,"+sunset;
msg2 = msg.existing;

// Delay
f(delay_time,z,msg1,msg2);

//------------------

if (msg.existing[5] == undefined)
{
    msg.existing[5] = "0,0,0";
}
msg1 = "rgb,7,"+sunset;
msg2 = msg.existing;

// Delay
f(delay_time,z,msg1,msg2);

//------------------

if (msg.existing[6] == undefined)
{
    msg.existing[6] = "0,0,0";
}
msg1 = "X";
msg2 = msg.existing;

//msg.payload = "rgb,6,"+msg.existing[6];
// Delay
f(delay_time,z,msg1,msg2);

//------------------

if (msg.existing[7] == undefined)
{
    msg.existing[7] = "0,0,0";
}
msg1 = "X";
msg2 = msg.existing;

//msg.payload = "rgb,7,"+msg.existing[7];
node.send(msg2);

return;

function f(delay_time,z,msg1,msg2)
{
    //
    node.warn("Messages received " + delay_time + " - " + z + " - " + msg1 + " - " + msg2);
    if (msg1 != "X")
    {
        msg.payload = msg1;
        node.send(msg);
    }
    if (msg2 != "X")
    {
        msg.payload = msg2;
        node.send(msg);
    }
    z += 1;
    if (z < delay_time){
        setTimeout(f, delay_time,z);
    }
}

f(delay_time,z,msg1,msg2);

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steve-Mcl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/steve-mcl/32/4826_2.png) [@Steve-Mcl](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Steve-Mcl)\
**Post date:** [5 October 2021 19:54 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/weird-things-happening-cpu-load-spikes/51429/22 "2021-10-05T19:54:07Z")

</div>

Andrew, I beleive you are attempting to send messages evenly spaced out by the `ms` set in delay\_time using a function node and `settimeout`

Here is your function re-worked.

```auto
if (msg.delay_time == undefined)
    msg.delay_time = 4000;
var delay_time = msg.delay_time;
if (msg.sunset == undefined)
    msg.sunset = "196,10,0";
var sunset = msg.sunset;

sendLater(0, msg, "rgb,0," + sunset);
sendLater(delay_time * 1, msg, "rgb,1," + sunset);
sendLater(delay_time * 2, msg, "rgb,1," + sunset);
sendLater(delay_time * 3, msg, "rgb,2," + sunset);
if (msg.existing[0] == undefined) {
    msg.existing[0] = "0,0,0";
}
sendLater(delay_time * 4, msg, "rgb,0," + msg.existing[0]);
sendLater(delay_time * 5, msg, "rgb,3," + sunset);
if (msg.existing[1] == undefined) {
    msg.existing[1] = "0,0,0";
}
sendLater(delay_time * 6, msg, "rgb,1," + msg.existing[1]);
sendLater(delay_time * 7, msg, "rgb,4," + sunset);
if (msg.existing[2] == undefined) {
    msg.existing[2] = "0,0,0";
}
sendLater(delay_time * 8, msg, "rgb,2," + msg.existing[2]);
sendLater(delay_time * 9, msg, "rgb,5," + sunset);
if (msg.existing[3] == undefined) {
    msg.existing[3] = "0,0,0";
}
sendLater(delay_time * 10, msg, "rgb,3," + msg.existing[3]);
sendLater(delay_time * 11, msg, "rgb,6," + sunset);
if (msg.existing[4] == undefined) {
    msg.existing[4] = "0,0,0";
}
sendLater(delay_time * 12, msg, "rgb,4," + msg.existing[4]);
sendLater(delay_time * 13, msg, "rgb,7," + sunset);

if (msg.existing[5] == undefined) {
    msg.existing[5] = "0,0,0";
}
sendLater(delay_time * 14, msg, "rgb,5," + msg.existing[5]);
if (msg.existing[6] == undefined) {
    msg.existing[6] = "0,0,0";
}
sendLater(delay_time * 15, msg, "rgb,6," + msg.existing[6]);

if (msg.existing[7] == undefined) {
    msg.existing[7] = "0,0,0";
}
sendLater(delay_time * 16, msg, "rgb,7," + msg.existing[7]);

/**
* @param {number} delayMS
* @param {NodeMessage} msg
* @param {string} payload
*/
function sendLater(delayMS, msg, payload) {
    node.warn(`In sendLater(${delayMS},${msg},${payload}) - setting up a timer to send payload '${payload}' in ${(delayMS/1000).toFixed(2)} seconds time`)
    const callback = function (msg, payload) {
        node.warn("Sending delayed payload " + payload);
        msg.payload = payload;
        node.send(msg);
    }
    setTimeout(callback, delayMS, RED.util.cloneMessage(msg), payload)
}

```

Here is a test flow so you can check it does what you expect (put it on a node-red that is not doing a million other things so you can see its output is as you expect...

```auto
[{"id":"47ba4118261ff5d7","type":"inject","z":"b872cb4b.5a6448","name":"500ms","props":[{"p":"payload"},{"p":"topic","vt":"str"},{"p":"existing","v":"[]","vt":"json"},{"p":"delay_time","v":"500","vt":"num"}],"repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"topic":"","payloadType":"date","x":1530,"y":340,"wires":[["03a5f0701303bafd"]]},{"id":"56e2873e77a8f625","type":"debug","z":"b872cb4b.5a6448","name":"","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"true","targetType":"full","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":1950,"y":340,"wires":[]},{"id":"03a5f0701303bafd","type":"function","z":"b872cb4b.5a6448","name":"Generate Delated Messages","func":"if (msg.delay_time == undefined)\n msg.delay_time = 4000;\nvar delay_time = msg.delay_time;\nif (msg.sunset == undefined)\n msg.sunset = \"196,10,0\";\nvar sunset = msg.sunset;\n\nsendLater(0, msg, \"rgb,0,\" + sunset);\nsendLater(delay_time * 1, msg, \"rgb,1,\" + sunset);\nsendLater(delay_time * 2, msg, \"rgb,1,\" + sunset);\nsendLater(delay_time * 3, msg, \"rgb,2,\" + sunset);\nif (msg.existing[0] == undefined) {\n msg.existing[0] = \"0,0,0\";\n}\nsendLater(delay_time * 4, msg, \"rgb,0,\" + msg.existing[0]);\nsendLater(delay_time * 5, msg, \"rgb,3,\" + sunset);\nif (msg.existing[1] == undefined) {\n msg.existing[1] = \"0,0,0\";\n}\nsendLater(delay_time * 6, msg, \"rgb,1,\" + msg.existing[1]);\nsendLater(delay_time * 7, msg, \"rgb,4,\" + sunset);\nif (msg.existing[2] == undefined) {\n msg.existing[2] = \"0,0,0\";\n}\nsendLater(delay_time * 8, msg, \"rgb,2,\" + msg.existing[2]);\nsendLater(delay_time * 9, msg, \"rgb,5,\" + sunset);\nif (msg.existing[3] == undefined) {\n msg.existing[3] = \"0,0,0\";\n}\nsendLater(delay_time * 10, msg, \"rgb,3,\" + msg.existing[3]);\nsendLater(delay_time * 11, msg, \"rgb,6,\" + sunset);\nif (msg.existing[4] == undefined) {\n msg.existing[4] = \"0,0,0\";\n}\nsendLater(delay_time * 12, msg, \"rgb,4,\" + msg.existing[4]);\nsendLater(delay_time * 13, msg, \"rgb,7,\" + sunset);\n\nif (msg.existing[5] == undefined) {\n msg.existing[5] = \"0,0,0\";\n}\nsendLater(delay_time * 14, msg, \"rgb,5,\" + msg.existing[5]);\nif (msg.existing[6] == undefined) {\n msg.existing[6] = \"0,0,0\";\n}\nsendLater(delay_time * 15, msg, \"rgb,6,\" + msg.existing[6]);\n\nif (msg.existing[7] == undefined) {\n msg.existing[7] = \"0,0,0\";\n}\nsendLater(delay_time * 16, msg, \"rgb,7,\" + msg.existing[7]);\n\n/**\n* @param {number} delayMS\n* @param {NodeMessage} msg\n* @param {string} payload\n*/\nfunction sendLater(delayMS, msg, payload) {\n node.warn(`In sendLater(${delayMS},${msg},${payload}) - setting up a timer to send payload '${payload}' in ${(delayMS/1000).toFixed(2)} seconds time`)\n const callback = function (msg, payload) {\n node.warn(\"Sending delayed payload \" + payload);\n msg.payload = payload;\n node.send(msg);\n }\n setTimeout(callback, delayMS, RED.util.cloneMessage(msg), payload)\n}\n","outputs":1,"noerr":0,"initialize":"","finalize":"","libs":[],"x":1740,"y":340,"wires":[["56e2873e77a8f625"]]}]

```

* * *

I may have messed up your messages but the spaced out delay works. In essence, call the function `sendLater` with a delay time, a `msg` and a `payload` - it will "send it later"

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [5 October 2021 20:20 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/weird-things-happening-cpu-load-spikes/51429/23 "2021-10-05T20:20:05Z")

</div>

I think it may be necessary to clone msg inside the function, otherwise all the changes that are made to msg at the top level will be made before the delayed messages are sent. Since parameters are passed by reference all the function instances will be accessing the same msg.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steve-Mcl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/steve-mcl/32/4826_2.png) [@Steve-Mcl](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Steve-Mcl)\
**Post date:** [5 October 2021 20:20 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/weird-things-happening-cpu-load-spikes/51429/24 "2021-10-05T20:20:51Z")

</div>

> [@Colin](#):
>
> I think it may be necessary to clone msg inside the function

Agreed. (its there in the function at bottom of code) `setTimeout(callback, delayMS, RED.util.cloneMessage(msg), payload)`

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [5 October 2021 20:28 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/weird-things-happening-cpu-load-spikes/51429/25 "2021-10-05T20:28:40Z")

</div>

> [@Steve-Mcl](#):
>
> its there in the function at bottom of code

Oops yes, I missed it. I suppose because my instinct would have been to put it at the start of the function, for no particular reason.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Trying\_to\_learn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/trying_to_learn/32/28400_2.png) [@Trying\_to\_learn](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Trying_to_learn)\
**Post date:** [5 October 2021 22:59 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/weird-things-happening-cpu-load-spikes/51429/26 "2021-10-05T22:59:01Z")

</div>

Thanks.

I think _that_ wasn't helping me either.

When I was _programming_ in my _formative years_ it was in BASIC and that was a bit of a _dog's breakfast_ language, but it was what I had.

That the _call_ to the function is written BELOW the function in these cases really throws me.

I'm looking at it now and shall study what you did.

Thanks @Steve-Mcl for the code.  
If you _goofed_ with the messages being sent, not a big deal.  
I'm sure (or: I **hope** ) I can work that part out.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [6 October 2021 07:23 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/weird-things-happening-cpu-load-spikes/51429/27 "2021-10-06T07:23:59Z")

</div>

> [@Trying\_to\_learn](#):
>
> If you _goofed_ with the messages being sent,

What goof?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Trying\_to\_learn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/trying_to_learn/32/28400_2.png) [@Trying\_to\_learn](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Trying_to_learn)\
**Post date:** [6 October 2021 09:14 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/weird-things-happening-cpu-load-spikes/51429/28 "2021-10-06T09:14:09Z")

</div>

He said

> [@Steve-Mcl](#):
>
> I may have messed up your messages but the spaced out delay works.

All is good.  
Though I did see/find an extra line in there for `led1` being turned on twice.  
But that isn't a problem.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [20 October 2021 09:14 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/weird-things-happening-cpu-load-spikes/51429/29 "2021-10-20T09:14:55Z")

</div>

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