Sequential

Overview

The Sequential Node generates a user-defined number of Output Pulses, and executes their Logic sequentially (one after the other), with the top-most Pulses being executed first. The one caveat to this is, that if any Nodes that pause, or delay the flow of Logic are used, they will only affect that particular Branch, not the other Output Pulses (See Execution Order below).

They are commonly used to organise Logic in a more readable way, or to execute multiple actions independently of one another.

Examples

In all of the examples below, the results are the same. We are simply setting four icons to be invisible. What's different is how this Logic is implemented.

Normally, Logic Branches execute from left-to-right, and all Nodes are connected to each other, even if they aren't directly related to each other. This can not only imply that they are dependent on each other, but if for some reason, part of the Logic fails or is incorrect, subsequent Nodes may never be executed, meaning that the execution of each Node is actually dependent on the successful execution of its preceding Node.

By using a Sequential Node, we can list these individual execution orders as separate, independant Branches. This solves our dependance problem, and visually shows that they are separate actions.

In this particular example, a better solution would be to combine the Sequential and SelectData Nodes, to perform the same action on multiple Objects.

Attributes

Attribute	Type	Description
Pulse Count	Int	The number of Output Pulses that will be executed in the sequence.

Inputs

Input	Type	Description
Pulse Input (►)	Pulse	A standard Input Pulse, to trigger the execution of the Node.

Outputs

Output	Type	Description
Pulse [n]	Pulse	A Pulse which is executed sequentially from top-to-bottom. The total number of Pulses is defined in the Pulse Count Attribute.

Execution Order

Here, we output three written numbers to the console, using the Sequential Node. As you might expect, the numbers are show immediately after each other, in the correct order:

One   [0 seconds]
Two   [0 seconds]
Three [0 seconds]

No, when we add a Timeout Node, which delays the execution of Branch, you might expect the numbers, to be output in order, with a delay between "One" and "Two". This, however, is not the case, as Timeout Nodes only affect the Branch that they're on. You will instead see the following output, exactly as before.

One   [0 seconds]
Two   [0 seconds]
Three [0 seconds]

This becomes much clearer, when we insert a Timeout Node before the Console Node is executed. Now we see that "Two" and "Three" are shown immediately, while there is a delay before "One" being shown.

Two   [0 seconds]
Three [0 seconds]
One   [1 second]