MonoBehaviour.StartCoroutine

function StartCoroutine (routine : IEnumerator) : Coroutine

Description

Starts a coroutine.

The executation of a coroutine can be paused at any point using the yield statement. The yield return value specifies when the coroutine is resumed. Coroutines are excellent when modelling behaviour over several frames. Coroutines have virtually no performance overhead. StartCoroutine function always returns immediately, however you can yield the result. This will wait until the couroutine has finished execution.

When using JavaScript it is not necessary to use StartCoroutine, the compiler will do this for you. When writing C# code you must call StartCoroutine.

// In this example we show how to invoke a coroutine and continue executing
// the function in parallel.

// - After 0 seconds, prints "Starting 0.0"
// - After 0 seconds, prints "Before WaitAndPrint Finishes 0.0"
// - After 2 seconds, prints "WaitAndPrint 2.0"
print ("Starting " + Time.time);
// Start function WaitAndPrint as a coroutine. And continue execution while
// it is running
WaitAndPrint(2.0);
print ("Before WaitAndPrint Finishes " + Time.time);

function WaitAndPrint (waitTime : float) {
// suspend execution for waitTime seconds
yield WaitForSeconds (waitTime);
print ("WaitAndPrint "+ Time.time);
}

// In this example we show how to invoke a coroutine and wait until it
// is completed

// - After 0 seconds, prints "Starting 0.0"
// - After 2 seconds, prints "WaitAndPrint 2.0"
// - After 2 seconds, prints "Done 2.0"
print ("Starting " + Time.time);
// Start function WaitAndPrint as a coroutine. And wait until it is completed.
yield WaitAndPrint(2.0);
print ("Done " + Time.time);

function WaitAndPrint (waitTime : float) {
// suspend execution for waitTime seconds
yield WaitForSeconds (waitTime);
print ("WaitAndPrint "+ Time.time);
}

C# Example code below

// C# example
// In this example we show how to invoke a coroutine and continue executing the function
// in parallel

void Start () {
// - After 0 seconds, prints "Starting 0.0"
// - After 0 seconds, prints "Before WaitAndPrint Finishes 0.0"
// - After 2 seconds, prints "WaitAndPrint 2.0"
print ("Starting " + Time.time);
// Start function WaitAndPrint as a coroutine. And continue execution while
// it is running
StartCoroutine(WaitAndPrint(2.0F));
print ("Before WaitAndPrint Finishes " + Time.time);
}

IEnumerator WaitAndPrint (float waitTime) {
// pause execution for waitTime seconds
yield return new WaitForSeconds (waitTime);
print ("WaitAndPrint "+ Time.time);
}

// C# example
// In this example we show how to invoke a coroutine and wait until it
// is completed

IEnumerator Start () {
// - After 0 seconds, prints "Starting 0.0"
// - After 2 seconds, prints "WaitAndPrint 2.0"
// - After 2 seconds, prints "Done 2.0"
print ("Starting " + Time.time);
// Start function WaitAndPrint as a coroutine. Wait until it is completed
yield return StartCoroutine(WaitAndPrint(2.0F));
print ("Done " + Time.time);
}

IEnumerator WaitAndPrint (float waitTime) {
// pause execution for waitTime seconds
yield return new WaitForSeconds (waitTime);
print ("WaitAndPrint "+ Time.time);
}

function StartCoroutine (methodName : string, value : object = null) : Coroutine

Description

Starts a coroutine named methodName.

In most cases you want to use the StartCoroutine variation above. However StartCoroutine using a string method name allows you to use StopCoroutine with a specific method name. The downside is that the string version has a higher runtime overhead to start the coroutine and you can pass only one parameter

// In this example we show how to invoke a coroutine using a string name and stop it
function Start () {
StartCoroutine("DoSomething", 2.0);
yield WaitForSeconds(1);
StopCoroutine("DoSomething");
}

function DoSomething (someParameter : float) {
while (true) {
print("DoSomething Loop");
// Yield execution of this coroutine and return to the main loop until next frame
yield;
}
}