[Question] How can I do this....

Sorry the title isn't very descriptive but I can't seem to fit what I want to do in it…
Ok, imagine(this is but one example of many different things I want to be able to do.) that I have a house with 6 different floors. I want one computer for each of the six floors that can toggle the lights on/off, via user input. However, I also want a 'mother' computer that can send rednet signals to each of the six computers telling them how to turn the lights on and off. Basically, I want to know how I can make a computer wait for user input AND wait for a rednet signal and act upon them when the get there. Sorry if I have worded this badly, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

This is relatively advanced. I would recommend learning Lua a bit more and getting experience with the CC APIs. After that, you'll look back and say, "Pshhh! I know that!" Trust me, I know. :(/>/>

Look over the os.pullEvent(), it does what you want.

ChunLing, on 20 November 2012 - 04:43 PM said:

Look over the os.pullEvent(), it does what you want.

Sorry, for being so terrible, but all I can see is that os.pullEvent wait for me to do something, my question is, how can I wait for two thing to happen at the same time? A code example would be appreciated, as I do find i learn this best from just looking at code, messing around with it until
i finally understand it. If it's too and it's way over my head I'll appreciate it anyway.

You could use the parallel api. It's somewhat more advanced, but you can give it a go. Here's a sample.

rednet.open('top')
function getRednet()
   id,message = rednet.receive()
   print(message) --Change this to the code you have for changing light status from mother computer
end

function getInput()
   input = io.read()
   print(input) --Change this to the code you have for changing light status from user input
end

parallel.waitForAny(getRednet, getInput)

Of course you would change the code inside of those functions to do what you want, but the parallel api will run those two functions at the same time allowing you to both get user input while at the same time receiving rednet messages. The "waitForAny" part just means "wait for any of the given functions to finish and then return true".

If you call os.pullEvent() without an argument, it will pull any event rather than only a specified type of event. So you do something like

repeat
    t_event = {os.pullEvent()}
    if t_event[1] == "char" then --do something with the character
    elseif t_event[1] == "rednet_message" then --do something with the message
    end
until t_event[2] == "X" --an optional input to exit the loop

ChunLing, on 23 November 2012 - 03:32 AM said:

If you call os.pullEvent() without an argument, it will pull any event rather than only a specified type of event. So you do something like

repeat
	t_event = {os.pullEvent()}
	if t_event[1] == "char" then --do something with the character
	elseif t_event[1] == "rednet_message" then --do something with the message
	end
until t_event[2] == "X" --an optional input to exit the loop

Why use a table?

while true do
    e, p1, p2, p3 = os.pullEvent()
    if e == "char" then
    elseif e == "rednet_message" then
    end
end

But I guess it makes no different

Everything is tables anyway. On the other hand, I avoid "while true do … end" loops whenever possible, because if you can do something else then you almost certainly should.

I feel like using the parallel api in combination with os.pullEvent() would be the best way to go, although it is true that you could accomplish this only with os.pullEvent(). With the parallel api however the user can input commands even while the computer is performing other tasks for the mother computer.

For more complex string inputs (such as a rednet chat system), the parallel api would be an easier way to handle it. But for a simple task like turning lights on and off (calling an elevator, activating an alarm, anything where you'd just press a button or flip a switch), you probably only need to pull single characters or just key events (or mouse clicks, or even redstone events from nearby buttons/switches).

If you can use single events for inputs, os.pullEvent is much easier and more efficient.