Chat Program, need to call for an event somehow

First off, my code so far: http://pastebin.com/TfNYpn99
Soooo as you can probably imagine, i want to type a message and recieve the messages of my friend at the same time.
Now the problem is, the search for the event "modem_message" blocks the whole Process and i cant type anything as long as the other one sends me a message.
Now how do i call for a event? Like os.callEvent("modem_message") with the return of True (for updated data/event recieved) and False (for no event recieved/no update since last check).
Any suggestions?

I don't quite know what you mean,but you might need to use to parallel API(or,if you want to go hardcore,use coroutines) to be able to type and receive messages at the same time. Alternatively,you could create a custom read() function in your while loop.

-- forums messed up indenting
while true do
local event,e1,e2 = os.pullEvent()
if event == "char" then
  -- make a custom read()
elseif event == "modem_message" then
  -- add code for receiving messages
end
end

Glass Systems, on 17 December 2015 - 04:38 PM said:

I don't quite know what you mean,but you might need to use to parallel API(or,if you want to go hardcore,use coroutines) to be able to type and receive messages at the same time. Alternatively,you could create a custom read() function in your while loop.

-- forums messed up indenting
while true do
local event,e1,e2 = os.pullEvent()
if event == "char" then
  -- make a custom read()
elseif event == "modem_message" then
  -- add code for receiving messages
end
end

ahhhh i see. Didnt know there was a parallel api

Here's a list of official APIs, with links to documentation.

You might find my comment here useful.