Spell Cast Availability

[roguish]

I want to be able to determine if a spell is being cast (either a called spell in a script or while the script is running and I manual a spell cast, or if I use an item to cast a spell). I want to be able to know if another action can be taken, but need to know if spell casting is underway BEFORE I call the other action. According to the documentation:

$char(gem,xxx) returns the casting gem for a spell
Also can return:
0: Spell not on an gem
-2: The spell is on a gem but unusable right now

there should be a return of '-2' if a gem is unusable. But, I never get a return of -2 even when I click a long casting spell and ask for the $char(gem,XXX) state. In fact, it never changes from the pre or post value.

Any thoughts on this? I am quite adept at MQ (see my posted Warrior, Rogue, Cleric autogroup scripts) and have done searches on the board for this. Am I missing something? I am a bit flummoxed...

[OldNecro]

prolly one of the many, many, many, many, many NewUI bugs.

[roguish]

Hmmm.. had not thought was a new UI issue, but I recall having this problem a few months back too on the old UI.

One never knows. If anyone has had a thought in this arena, besides blaming the UI, or has other ideas would appreciate.