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create multiple files using multiple threads c#

I am creating console app to simulate server. I create multiple virus files together using multiple threads to see whether all files get quarantined, if yes, how long it takes to quarantined. The problem with multithreading application is one thread starts writing another thread so I get exception - The process can not access the file X because the file is being used by another process. This is the reason that all files don't get quarantined. I use framework 4.5.2
I have created app using thread and task. I don't get the desire result. What is the best practice to write this app? Thank you for helping me in advance.
Using Thread:
class Program
{
static string folderPath;
static readonly string fileContent = #"X5O!P%#AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*";
static void Main(string[] args)
{
folderPath = "F:\VirusScan";
int counter = 1000;
for (int i = 0; i < counter; i++)
{
var thread = new Thread(() => GenerateVirusFile(i));
thread.Start();
}
Console.ReadKey();
}
static void GenerateVirusFile(int i)
{
string filePath = $#"{folderPath}\TestForVirusScan_{i}_{DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmssffff")}.txt";
try
{
using (StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(filePath))
{
writer.WriteLine(fileContent);
}
var timer = Stopwatch.StartNew();
while (true)
{
if (!File.Exists(filePath))
{
Console.WriteLine($"{i}: File was removed in {timer.ElapsedMilliseconds}ms");
break;
}
else
{
Thread.Sleep(1);
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{i}: Exception {ex.GetType().Name} occurred: {ex.Message}");
}
}
}
Using Task:
class Program
{
static string folderPath;
static readonly string fileContent = #"X5O!P%#AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*";
static void Main(string[] args)
{
folderPath = "F:\VirusScan";
int counter = 1000;
List<Task> tasks = new List<Task>();
for (int i = 1; i <= counter; i++)
{
Task newTask = new Task((x) => GenerateVirusFile(x), i);
tasks.Add(newTask);
}
foreach (var task in tasks)
{
task.Start();
}
Task.WaitAll(tasks.ToArray());
Console.ReadKey();
}
public static void GenerateVirusFile(object i)
{
string filePath = $#"{folderPath}\TestForVirusScan_{i}_{DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmssffff")}.txt";
try
{
using (StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(filePath))
{
writer.WriteLine(fileContent);
}
var timer = Stopwatch.StartNew();
while (true)
{
if (!File.Exists(filePath))
{
Console.WriteLine($"{i}: File was removed in {timer.ElapsedMilliseconds}ms");
break;
}
else
{
Thread.Sleep(1);
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{i}: Exception {ex.GetType().Name} occurred: {ex.Message}");
}
}
}

The problem is in the following code:
for (int i = 0; i < counter; i++)
{
var thread = new Thread(() => GenerateVirusFile(i));
thread.Start();
}
The closure () => GenerateVirusFile(i) is referencing changing variable
Rewrite it in the following way:
Parallel.For(0, counter, GenerateVirusFile);

Have you tried something like this in your loop:
int x = i;
var thread = new Thread(() => GenerateVirusFile(x));
this prevents that the same i is used for more threads/file names.

TargetInvokationException in Application.Run(new Form1());

I am trying to iterate through a for loop by pressing start button and stop it by pressing stop button. I am using await Task.Run(() => it works in the expected manner. But when I press start button again, I get TargetInvokationException in Application.Run(new Form1());.
My code below
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace CancellationTest
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private readonly SynchronizationContext synchronizationContext;
private DateTime previousTime = DateTime.Now;
CancellationTokenSource cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
synchronizationContext = SynchronizationContext.Current;
}
private async void ButtonClickHandlerAsync(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
button1.Enabled = false;
var count = 0;
CancellationToken token = cts.Token;
await Task.Run(() =>
{
try
{
for (var i = 0; i <= 5000000; i++)
{
token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
UpdateUI(i);
count = i;
}
}
catch (System.OperationCanceledException)
{
MessageBox.Show("Canceled");
}
}, token);
label1.Text = #"Counter " + count;
button1.Enabled = true;
}
public void UpdateUI(int value)
{
var timeNow = DateTime.Now;
if ((DateTime.Now - previousTime).Milliseconds <= 50) return;
synchronizationContext.Post(new SendOrPostCallback(o =>
{
label1.Text = #"Counter " + (int)o;
}), value);
previousTime = timeNow;
}
private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
cts.Cancel();
}
}
}
Can anyone explain why this happens and how to resolve this.

Can anyone explain why this happens
TargetInvokationException is a wrapper type exception and the main information is contained in InnerException property which you didn't show. Looking at the code, most likely it is OperationCanceledException and is caused by passing an already canceled token to Task.Run.
In general you should not reuse the CancellationTokenSource instance - see The general pattern for implementing the cooperative cancellation model in the Remarks section of the documentation.
Also you should protect with try/catch the whole block, not only the Task.Run body. And initialize all the involved state members at the beginning, and do the necessary cleanup at the end.
So the correct code could be like this:
private DateTime previousTime;
private CancellationTokenSource cts;
private async void ButtonClickHandlerAsync(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
button1.Enabled = false;
var count = 0;
previousTime = DateTime.Now;
cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
try
{
CancellationToken token = cts.Token;
await Task.Run(() =>
{
for (var i = 0; i <= 5000000; i++)
{
token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
UpdateUI(i);
count = i;
}
}, token);
}
catch (System.OperationCanceledException)
{
MessageBox.Show("Canceled");
}
finally
{
cts.Dispose();
cts = null;
}
label1.Text = #"Counter " + count;
button1.Enabled = true;
}
and make sure Cancel button is enabled only when cts != null or check that condition inside the click handler in order to avoid NRE.

How to make exception be awared of before calling Task.WaitAll?

In my case, I created tasks by:
IList<Task> Tasks = new List<Task>();
Tasks.Add(Task.Run(async () => { await functionAsync();}));
I need these tasks to run infinitely in order to continuously processing some incoming data. However, in cases when some fatal error/exceptions happen, I need to end the program by canceling all the tasks. I put together an simple example to simulate what I intended to do , but it does not work. I thought a task will considered to be end when throw an exception, and the WaitAny should return with AggregatedException, but it doesn't seem to be how it actually works. So, how can I make it correct?
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine(nameof(Main));
for (int i = 1; i < 5; i++)
{
var i1 = i;
_tasks.Add(Task.Run(async () => { await Tryme(i1); }));
}
try
{
Task.WaitAny(_tasks.ToArray());
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Stop my program if any of the task in _tasks throw exception");
Console.WriteLine(e);
}
Console.ReadLine();
}
private static async Task Tryme(int i)
{
Console.WriteLine($"I'm {i}");
if (i == 3)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{i} is throwing the exception");
throw new Exception("fake one");
}
await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.MaxValue);
}

Instead of manually canceling the entire task-chain, you can use TPL Dataflow which falts the entire block for you if an unhandeled exception occurs, or can be configured to behave in other modes if needed:
var actionBlock = new ActionBlock<int>(i => TryMe(i));
foreach (var num in Enumerable.Range(0, 100))
{
actionBlock.Post(num);
}
try
{
await actionBlock.Completion();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
// Block finished prematurely, handle exception.
}
Note Dataflow takes care of parralisation for you, no need to manually create tasks.

Got some clue from this post . It looks that WaitAny will not throw any exception. I got the exception by:
int faultIndex = Task.WaitAny(_tasks.ToArray());
if (_tasks[faultIndex].IsFaulted)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{faultIndex} end");
throw _tasks[faultIndex].Exception;
}

How to cancel the thread after timeout

I have a multi-threaded application and i'm using this to control the no.of processes (2). I want to process files only for specified time duration. Below is my approach. I'm getting The CancellationTokenSource has been disposed. error.
If i'm not dispoing the cts.Dispose(); then the process is not stooping after 10 sec. It is keep on processing till 1000. Can any one help me here.
Note: I've a 1000 files. Requirement is process files with in a given time (10 sec) by controlling the number of process (2) and sleep in between (some x ms).
Below is my code
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
try
{
LimitedConcurrencyLevelTaskScheduler lcts = new LimitedConcurrencyLevelTaskScheduler(2);
List<Task> tasks = new List<Task>();
TaskFactory factory = new TaskFactory(lcts);
CancellationTokenSource cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
{
int i1 = i;
var t = factory.StartNew(() =>
{
if (cts != null)
Console.WriteLine("{0} --- {1}", i1, GetGuid(cts.Token));
}, cts.Token);
tasks.Add(t);
}
Task.WaitAll(tasks.ToArray(), 10000, cts.Token);
cts.Dispose();
Console.WriteLine("\n\nSuccessful completion.");
Console.ReadLine();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
}
private static Guid GetGuid(CancellationToken cancelToken)
{
if (cancelToken.IsCancellationRequested)
{
return Guid.Empty;
}
Thread.Sleep(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));
return Guid.NewGuid();
}
}

What you can do is you can run a Task that will change your Cancellation Token state to canceled after some time.
Like this :
class Program
{
public static void ProcessFiles(CancellationToken cts)
{
try
{
LimitedConcurrencyLevelTaskScheduler lcts = new LimitedConcurrencyLevelTaskScheduler(2);
List<Task> tasks = new List<Task>();
TaskFactory factory = new TaskFactory(lcts);
for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
{
int i1 = i;
var t = factory.StartNew(() =>
{
if (cts != null) Console.WriteLine("{0} --- {1}", i1, GetGuid());
}, cts);
tasks.Add(t);
}
Task.WaitAll(tasks.ToArray());
Console.WriteLine("\n\nSuccessful completion.");
Console.ReadLine();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
CancellationTokenSource cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
Task.Factory.StartNew(() => { Thread.Sleep(10000); cts.Cancel(); });
ProcessFiles(cts.Token);
Console.ReadKey();
}
private static Guid GetGuid()
{
Thread.Sleep(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));
return Guid.NewGuid();
}
}

Progress bar in parallel loop invocation

I am trying to update a progressbar in a multithreaded environment. I know that a lot of questions already treat that question but none of the proposed solution have worked for me.
Here is the backbone of my code :
public static void DO_Computation(//parameters) {
//Intialisation of parameters
Parallel.For(struct initialisation with local data) {
//business logic
//Call to update_progressbar (located in an another class, as the DO_Computation function is in Computation.cs class (not deriving from Form).
WinForm.Invoke((Action)delegate {Update_Progress_Bar(i);}); //WinForm is a class that exposes the progressbar.
}
}
This is not working (the progressbar is freezing when arriving at 100%, which is normal (we can refer to the microsoft article in this matter (indeed, this is not a thread-safe operating method)).
The Microsoft site stiplates to wrap the Parallel.For loop into a Task routine as follows:
public static void DO_Computation(//parameters) {
//Intialisation of parameters
Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
Parallel.For(struct initialosation with local data) {
//business logic
//Call to update_progressbar (ocated in an another class, as the DO_Computation function is in Computation.cs class (not deriving from Form).
WinForm.Invoke((Action)delegate {Update_Progress_Bar(i);}); //WinForm is a class that exposes the progressbar.
..
}
});
});
However this is not working as well, when debugging the thread is getting out of the Task scope directly.
EDIT 2:
Basically, my problem is divided in 3 parts: Computation.cs (where DO_Computation is exposed), WinForm which is the form containing the progress bar, and MainWindow which is the form that contains the button which when clicked opens the form with the progress bar.
I do not clearly understand what is the use of "Task" in this case.
Because it is going out of the Task scope without performing any Parallel.For work
Any ideas?
Many Thanks,
EDIT 3:
I upgraded my code with the help of Noseratio (thans a lot to him). However I have the same problem which is the code inside task is never executed. My code now looks like :
DoComputation method
//Some Initilasations here
Action enableUI = () =>
{
frmWinProg.SetProgressText("Grading Transaction...");
frmWinProg.ChangeVisibleIteration(true);
};
Action<Exception> handleError = (ex) =>
{
// error reporting
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
};
var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
var token = cts.Token;
Action cancel_work = () =>
{
frmWinProg.CancelTransaction();
cts.Cancel();
};
var syncConext = SynchronizationContext.Current;
Action<int> progressReport = (i) =>
syncConext.Post(_ => frmWinProg.SetIteration(i,GrpModel2F.NumOfSim, true), null);
var task = Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
ParallelLoopResult res = Parallel.For<LocalDataStruct>(1,NbSim, options,
() => new DataStruct(//Hold LocalData for each thread),
(iSim, loopState, DataStruct) =>
//Business Logic
if (token.IsCancellationRequested)
{
loopState.Stop();
}
progressReport(iSim);
//Business Logic
return DataStruct;
},
(DataStruct) =>
//Assiginig Results;
});//Parallel.For end
}, token, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning, TaskScheduler.Default);
task.ContinueWith(_ =>
{
try
{
task.Wait();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
while (ex is AggregateException && ex.InnerException != null)
ex = ex.InnerException;
handleError(ex);
}
enableUI();
}, TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext
());
Note that the Do_Computation function is itself called from a Form that runs a BackGroundWorker on it.

Use async/await, Progress<T> and observe cancellation with CancellationTokenSource.
A good read, related: "Async in 4.5: Enabling Progress and Cancellation in Async APIs".
If you need to target .NET 4.0 but develop with VS2012+ , you still can use async/await, Microsoft provides the Microsoft.Bcl.Async library for that.
I've put together a WinForms example illustrating all of the above. It also shows how to observe cancellation for Parallel.For loop, using ParallelLoopState.Stop():
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication_22487698
{
public partial class MainForm : Form
{
public MainForm()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
IEnumerable<int> _data = Enumerable.Range(1, 100);
Action _cancelWork;
private void DoWorkItem(
int[] data,
int item,
CancellationToken token,
IProgress<int> progressReport,
ParallelLoopState loopState)
{
// observe cancellation
if (token.IsCancellationRequested)
{
loopState.Stop();
return;
}
// simulate a work item
Thread.Sleep(500);
// update progress
progressReport.Report(item);
}
private async void startButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// update the UI
this.startButton.Enabled = false;
this.stopButton.Enabled = true;
try
{
// prepare to handle cancellation
var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
var token = cts.Token;
this._cancelWork = () =>
{
this.stopButton.Enabled = false;
cts.Cancel();
};
var data = _data.ToArray();
var total = data.Length;
// prepare the progress updates
this.progressBar.Value = 0;
this.progressBar.Minimum = 0;
this.progressBar.Maximum = total;
var progressReport = new Progress<int>((i) =>
{
this.progressBar.Increment(1);
});
// offload Parallel.For from the UI thread
// as a long-running operation
await Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
Parallel.For(0, total, (item, loopState) =>
DoWorkItem(data, item, token, progressReport, loopState));
// observe cancellation
token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
}, token, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning, TaskScheduler.Default);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}
// update the UI
this.startButton.Enabled = true;
this.stopButton.Enabled = false;
this._cancelWork = null;
}
private void stopButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (this._cancelWork != null)
this._cancelWork();
}
}
}
Updated, here's how to do the same without async/await:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication_22487698
{
public partial class MainForm : Form
{
public MainForm()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
IEnumerable<int> _data = Enumerable.Range(1, 100);
Action _cancelWork;
private void DoWorkItem(
int[] data,
int item,
CancellationToken token,
Action<int> progressReport,
ParallelLoopState loopState)
{
// observe cancellation
if (token.IsCancellationRequested)
{
loopState.Stop();
return;
}
// simulate a work item
Thread.Sleep(500);
// update progress
progressReport(item);
}
private void startButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// update the UI
this.startButton.Enabled = false;
this.stopButton.Enabled = true;
Action enableUI = () =>
{
// update the UI
this.startButton.Enabled = true;
this.stopButton.Enabled = false;
this._cancelWork = null;
};
Action<Exception> handleError = (ex) =>
{
// error reporting
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
};
try
{
// prepare to handle cancellation
var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
var token = cts.Token;
this._cancelWork = () =>
{
this.stopButton.Enabled = false;
cts.Cancel();
};
var data = _data.ToArray();
var total = data.Length;
// prepare the progress updates
this.progressBar.Value = 0;
this.progressBar.Minimum = 0;
this.progressBar.Maximum = total;
var syncConext = SynchronizationContext.Current;
Action<int> progressReport = (i) =>
syncConext.Post(_ => this.progressBar.Increment(1), null);
// offload Parallel.For from the UI thread
// as a long-running operation
var task = Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
Parallel.For(0, total, (item, loopState) =>
DoWorkItem(data, item, token, progressReport, loopState));
// observe cancellation
token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
}, token, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning, TaskScheduler.Default);
task.ContinueWith(_ =>
{
try
{
task.Wait(); // rethrow any error
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
while (ex is AggregateException && ex.InnerException != null)
ex = ex.InnerException;
handleError(ex);
}
enableUI();
}, TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext());
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
handleError(ex);
enableUI();
}
}
private void stopButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (this._cancelWork != null)
this._cancelWork();
}
}
}