Develop Reference

c# Threading Lock and Monitor

I'm currently running into a problem with multithreading and accessing a static list. A static list holds all items with several properties. The items are identified with a Guid. A main work thread changes some properties for any item in the static list. The child threads all have their own Guid, with this Guid they read their own item in the static list. And after a specific event they remove their assigned element from the static list.
To get to the source I have broken down my code to the essential methods and classes. The work thread has the following simplified code
public void RunWork()
{
Random random = new Random();
Int32 index = -1;
while (!Kill)
{
Thread.Sleep(1);
if (MainWindow.Clients != null)
{
index = random.Next(0, MainWindow.Clients.Count);
MainWindow.Clients[index].State = MainWindow.RandomString(9);
}
}
}
Each child thread has the following simplified code
public void RunChild()
{
Random random = new Random();
while (!Kill)
{
Thread.Sleep(100);
if (MainWindow.Clients.Any(x => x.Id == Id))
{
this.State = MainWindow.Clients.First(x => x.Id == Id).State;
}
Thread.Sleep(random.Next(50));
if (random.Next(100) % 90 == 0)
{
Kill = true;
MainWindow.Clients.RemoveAll(x => x.Id == Id);
}
}
}
If a child removes itself from the MainWindow.Clients list the work thread throws a exception, that the index it is trying to access does not exist.
I have added lock statments around every access of MainWindow.Clients but this does not prevent the work thread from accessing a deleted item. I have also tried Monitor.Enter(MainWindow.Clients) and Monitor.Exit(MainWindow.Clients) but with the same result as with lock.
The static list MainWindow.Clients is created before any thread runs and never gets recreated or disposed.
If the lock statement is set around this block of code in the RunWork() method
lock (MainWindow.Clients)
{
Thread.Sleep(1);
if (MainWindow.Clients != null)
{
index = random.Next(0, MainWindow.Clients.Count);
MainWindow.Clients[index].State = MainWindow.RandomString(9);
}
}
Why does it not block the child threads from changing the list between the lines
where the random index is set and the list gets accessed?
Update 1:
The following code still throws a IndexOutOfRangeException at MainWindow.Clients[index].State = MainWindow.RandomString(9);:
public void RunWork()
{
Random random = new Random();
Int32 index = -1;
while (!Kill)
{
Thread.Sleep(1);
if (MainWindow.Clients != null)
{
lock (MainWindow.Clients)
{
index = random.Next(0, MainWindow.Clients.Count);
MainWindow.Clients[index].State = MainWindow.RandomString(9);
}
}
}
}
public void RunChild()
{
Random random = new Random();
while (!Kill)
{
Thread.Sleep(100);
if (MainWindow.Clients.Any(x => x.Id == Id))
{
this.State = MainWindow.Clients.First(x => x.Id == Id).State;
}
Thread.Sleep(random.Next(50));
if (random.Next(100) % 90 == 0)
{
Kill = true;
lock (MainWindow.Clients)
{
MainWindow.Clients.RemoveAll(x => x.Id == Id);
}
}
}
}
Update 2: Here is the complete code for the quick sample application
Update 3: I have edited my code and wrapped all accesses of MainWindow.Clients with lock statements. But still the threads access the variable while it is locked:

I'm not sure what exactly you are trying to achieve, but I've written something that might help you find the correct solution. Sorry for the lack of correctness - tight schedule ;-)
using System;
using System.Collections.Concurrent;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
namespace ConcurrentCollectionTest
{
internal class Client
{
public string State
{
get; set;
}
public string Name
{
get;
internal set;
}
}
internal class MainWindow
{
private ConcurrentDictionary<int, Client> _dict = new ConcurrentDictionary<int, Client>();
public IDictionary<int, Client> Clients
{
get
{
return _dict;
}
}
}
internal class Program
{
private static bool killAll = false;
private static MainWindow mainWindow = new MainWindow();
private static int id = -100;
private static string state = "Initial";
private static Random random = new Random();
private static object lockObject = new object();
internal static string RandomString(int v)
{
int k = random.Next(0, v);
return k.ToString();
}
public static void RunChild()
{
Debug.WriteLine($"child running {Thread.CurrentThread.Name}");
bool killThis = false;
while (!killThis && !killAll)
{
Thread.Sleep(100);
Client client = null;
if (mainWindow.Clients.TryGetValue(id, out client))
{
state = client.State;
}
Thread.Sleep(random.Next(50));
if (random.Next(100) % 90 == 0)
{
Debug.WriteLine($"killing {Thread.CurrentThread.Name}");
killThis = true;
lock (lockObject)
{
mainWindow.Clients.Remove(id);
}
}
}
}
public static void RunWork()
{
Console.WriteLine("RunWork");
Random random = new Random();
Int32 index = -1;
while (!killAll)
{
if (!mainWindow.Clients.Any())
{
killAll = true;
break;
}
Thread.Sleep(100);
// edit: still need lock here as count can change in between
Client client = null;
lock (lockObject)
{
index = random.Next(0, mainWindow.Clients.Count);
client = mainWindow.Clients[index];
}
Debug.WriteLine($"Changing {client.Name}");
client.State = RandomString(9);
}
Console.WriteLine("Worker killed");
}
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Starting. Enter id or kill");
for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++)
{
mainWindow.Clients.Add(i, new Client
{
Name = $"Client {i:000}",
State = "Unknown"
});
}
var worker = new Thread(RunWork);
worker.Start();
var threadList = new List<Thread>();
threadList.Add(worker);
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
var thread = new Thread(RunChild)
{
Name = $"Child {i:00}"
};
threadList.Add(thread);
thread.Start();
}
while (!killAll)
{
var str = Console.ReadLine();
if (str.Equals("kill", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
{
killAll = true;
break;
}
int enteredId = -1;
if (int.TryParse(str, out enteredId))
{
id = enteredId;
}
}
foreach (var thread in threadList)
{
thread.Join();
}
Console.WriteLine("all dead");
}
}
}

Reference to public static queue of static class gets lost

I have a static class A which has a public static ConcurrentQueue.
This class has a method which calls a method of another static class B.
In this method of static class B, a worker thread is started which polls for items in the static ConcurrentQueue of class A. If found, it dequeues the item and processes it.
The same method in class B also starts another thread which checks if the queue of class A is being constantly filled. If the filling occasionally is somehow stuck, a call to a static method in class A is made which resets and restarts the process.
And here comes the problem: When I restart the filling, items are inserted again into the static queue of static class A. But my thread in static class B which checks for items in the queue does not find any items anymore.
So my idea is that in class B I somehow lost the reference to the original static queue of class A. I think I oversee here some principles of static classes, but can not figure out what exactly.
EDIT: Here are some more details.
Main:
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
B.Initialize(8);
A.StartDataStream();
Console.ReadKey();
}
Class A:
class A
{
private static ACOMObject MyCOMObjekt;
public static ConcurrentQueue<PriceItem> Prices = new ConcurrentQueue<PriceItem>();
public static void StartDataStream()
{
DataStream myDataStream = GetDataStream();
FillStream(myDataStream);
B.StartHeartbeatCheck();
Console.WriteLine("Press Key to Exit Stream Call.");
Console.ReadKey();
GC.KeepAlive(myDataStream);
GC.KeepAlive(MyCOMObjekt);
}
private static DataStream GetDataStream()
{
if (MyCOMObjekt== null)
{
MyCOMObjekt= new ACOMObject ();
}
return (DataStream) MyCOMObjekt.DataStream;
}
private static void FillStream(DataStream myDataStream)
{
foreach (var symbol in Symbols.SymbolList)
{
myDataStream.Add(symbolNr, 1);
}
myDataStream.Bid += new _IDataStreamEvents_BidEventHandler(myDataStream_Bid);
myDataStream.Ask += new _IDataStreamEvents_AskEventHandler(myDataStream_Ask);
}
private static void myDataStream_Bid(int SymbolNr, float Price, DateTime Time)
{
PriceItem p;
p.SymbolNr = SymbolNr;
p.Price = Price;
p.Time = Time;
p.IsBid = true;
Prices.Enqueue(p);
}
private static void myDataStream_Ask(int SymbolNr, float Price, DateTime Time)
{
PriceItem p;
p.SymbolNr = SymbolNr;
p.Price = Kurs;
p.Time = Zeit;
p.IsBid = false;
Prices.Enqueue(p);
}
public static void RestartMyCOMProcess()
{
try
{
Process proc = Process.GetProcessesByName("MyCOMProcess")[0];
proc.Kill();
}
catch (Exception)
{
//No Process = fine
}
MyCOMObjekt = null;
DataStream myDataStream = GetDataStream();
myDataStream.Bid -= new _IDataStreamEvents_BidEventHandler(myDataStream_Bid); //probably not necessary...
myDataStream.Ask -= new _IDataStreamEvents_AskEventHandler(myDataStream_Ask); //probably not necessary...
FillStream(myDataStream);
}
}
Class B:
class B
{
private static int countPrices; //Incremented every time a price is taken out of Price Queue
public static void Initialize(int numberOfWorkerThreads)
{
StartWorkers(numberOfWorkerThreads);
}
public static void StartWorkers(int number)
{
for (int j = 0; j < number; j++)
{
Thread t = new Thread(ScanForPrices);
t.Name = "ScanForPrices" + j;
t.Start();
}
}
private static void ScanForPrices()
{
try
{
while (true)
{
PriceItem p;
if (A.Prices.TryDequeue(out p))
{
if (p.IsBid)
{
AnalyzeBidPrice(p);
}
else
{
HandleAskPrice(p);
}
Interlocked.Increment(ref countPrices)
}
else
{
Thread.Sleep(1);
}
}
}
catch (ThreadAbortException)
{
Console.WriteLine("Price Scan Thread aborted.");
}
}
public static void StartHeartbeatCheck()
{
Thread t = new Thread(CheckHeartBeat);
t.Name = "CheckHeartBeat";
t.Start();
}
private static void CheckHeartBeat()
{
TimeSpan start = new TimeSpan(09, 0, 0); //09 o'clock
TimeSpan end = new TimeSpan(20, 0, 0); //20 o'clock
TimeSpan stopTime = new TimeSpan(20, 5, 0); //20 o'clock and 5 minutes
int countSuccessiveBlockings = 0;
try
{
while (true)
{
Thread.Sleep(5000);
TimeSpan now = DateTime.Now.TimeOfDay;
if ((now > start) && (now < end))
{
int countOld = countPrices;
Thread.Sleep(1000);
if (countOld == countPrices)
{
Console.WriteLine(DateTime.Now + ": Price Stream blocked!");
countSuccessiveBlockings++;
}
else
{
countSuccessiveBlockings = 0;
}
if (countSuccessiveBlockings > 2)
{
A.RestartMyCOMProcess();
countSuccessiveBlockings = 0;
}
}
}
}
catch (ThreadAbortException)
{
Console.WriteLine("Heartbeat Thread aborted.");
}
}
}

How to wait for a method to finish on another thread?

I am new to multi-thread programming in C#. My problem is that I don't know how to wait for a method that is being run on another thread to finish, before it can continue to the next line. For example, something like this
public class A
{
int i;
public A()
{
i = 0;
}
protected void RunLoop()
{
while(i < 100)
{
i++;
}
}
public void Start()
{
TimerResolution.TimeBeginPeriod(1);
runThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(RunLoop));
running = true;
runThread.Start();
}
}
public class B
{
A classAInstance = new A();
A.Start();
Console.Writeline(i);
}
Right now, it prints 0 on the console, which is not what I want (i.e. i = 100).
What is the best way to do this? BTW, I don't have access to the runThread that is created in class A
Thanks.
EDIT:
It was a bit difficult to solve this problem without modifying a lot codes. Therefore, we ended up with adding a condition in the public void Start() with which it can decide whether to run the RunLoop in a separate thread or not. The condition was defined using an Enum field.
public void Start()
{
TimerResolution.TimeBeginPeriod(1);
running = true;
if (runningMode == RunningMode.Asynchronous)
{
runThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(RunLoop));
runThread.Start();
}
else
{
RunLoop();
}
}
And
public enum RunningMode { Asynchronous, Synchronous };
Thanks everyone for help.

The preferred method is to use the Task Parallel Library (TPL) and use Task with await.
If you must use Threads, then use a ManualResetEvent or ManualResetEventSlim to signal the end of a method.
void Main()
{
var a = new A();
a.Start();
a.FinishedEvent.WaitOne();
Console.WriteLine(a.Index);
}
// Define other methods and classes here
public class A
{
ManualResetEvent mre = new ManualResetEvent(false);
int i;
public EventWaitHandle FinishedEvent
{
get { return mre; }
}
public int Index
{
get { return i; }
}
public A()
{
i = 0;
}
protected void RunLoop()
{
while (i < 1000)
{
i++;
}
mre.Set();
}
public void Start()
{
var runThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(RunLoop));
runThread.Start();
}
}

Your life would be so much better with tasks.
Your code could be this simple:
var task = Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
var i = 0;
while (i < 100)
{
i++;
}
return i;
});
Console.WriteLine(task.Result);

I like use Monitor.Wait() and Monitor.Pulse() in conjunction with "lock" operator. It works, but you must be careful, when you use this technique.
I'm added some changes to your code to demonstrate it. Code below are prints i== 100, as you want.
public class A
{
int i;
public object SyncObject
{ get; private set; }
public A()
{
SyncObject = new object();
i = 0;
}
protected void RunLoop()
{
while (i < 100)
{
i++;
}
lock (SyncObject)
{
Monitor.Pulse(SyncObject);
}
}
public void Start()
{
var runThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(RunLoop));
runThread.Start();
}
public void PrintI()
{
Console.WriteLine("I == " + i);
}
}
public class B
{
public static void Run()
{
A classAInstance = new A();
lock (classAInstance.SyncObject)
{
classAInstance.Start();
Monitor.Wait(classAInstance.SyncObject);
}
classAInstance.PrintI();
}
}

Accessing WebBrowsers From Threadpool

I'm trying to access information on a web browser from another thread. When trying to access the browser.DocumentTitle, I get this error:
The name DocumentTitle does not exist in the current context
I can successfully navigate to webpages inside the DoWork or ProcessWebPage methods but I cannot access the GetTitle function without crashing. I have been working on this part alone for days and simply cannot figure it out.
Here is the problem code:
BROWSER CODE
class BrowserInterface : Form
{
WebBrowser browser;
Thread thread;
State state;
public State State { get { return state; } }
public BrowserInterface()
{
Initialize();
}
void Initialize()
{
browser = new WebBrowser();
state = State.Null;
state = State.Initializing;
thread = new Thread(StartThread);
thread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
thread.Start();
while (state == State.Initializing) Thread.Sleep(20);
}
void StartThread()
{
browser = new WebBrowser();
browser.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
browser.Name = "webBrowser";
browser.ScrollBarsEnabled = false;
browser.TabIndex = 0;
browser.DocumentCompleted +=
new WebBrowserDocumentCompletedEventHandler(this.Web_Completed);
Form form = new Form();
form.Controls.Add(browser);
form.Name = "Browser";
state = State.Null;
Application.Run(form);
}
public void Navigate(string url)
{
state = State.Navigating;
if (browser.IsDisposed)
Initialize();
browser.Navigate(url);
}
public string GetTitle()
{
if (InvokeRequired)
{
BeginInvoke(new MethodInvoker(() => GetTitle()));
}
return browser.DocumentTitle;
}
private void Web_Completed(object sender, WebBrowserDocumentCompletedEventArgs e)
{
var br = sender as WebBrowser;
if (br.Url == e.Url)
state = State.Completed;
}
}
enum State
{
Initializing,
Null,
Navigating,
Completed
}
OTHER THREAD
class Controller
{
public int ThreadsAllowed;
private ManualResetEvent[] resetEvent;
private BrowserInterface[] browser;
static Thread mainThread;
bool run;
bool exit;
public Controller(int threadsAllowed)
{
ThreadsAllowed = threadsAllowed;
resetEvent = new ManualResetEvent[ThreadsAllowed];
browser = new BrowserInterface[ThreadsAllowed];
for (int i = 0; i < ThreadsAllowed; i++)
{
resetEvent[i] = new ManualResetEvent(true);
browser[i] = new BrowserInterface();
}
ThreadPool.SetMaxThreads(ThreadsAllowed, ThreadsAllowed);
mainThread = new Thread(RunThread);
mainThread.Start();
run = false;
exit = false;
}
public void Run()
{
run = true;
}
void RunThread()
{
while (true)
{
while (!run) Thread.Sleep(20);
while (mode == ScoutMode.Off) Thread.Sleep(100);
//wait for the last set to complete
WaitHandle.WaitAll(resetEvent);
if (exit)
break;
for (int i = 0; i < ThreadsAllowed; i++)
ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(DoWork, i);
}
}
void DoWork(object o)
{
int i = (int)o;
if(browser[i].state == State.null)
{
…
… navigation code that works …
…
return;
}
else if(browser[i].state == State.Completed)
ProcessWebPage(i);
}
void ProcessWebPage(int i)
{
string title;
try
{
title = browser[i].GetTitle();
}
catch { return; }
}
}

What hurts my eye is your GetTitle function. When using MethodInvoker, you're dealing with methods of void type, that is, you cannot get return value from the function. That's why you need a delegate which will return you the value.
Also, you have to have else statement, so to not try to return the value when invoking is in fact required.
class BrowserInterface : Form
{
/* ... */
private delegate string StringDelegate();
public string GetTitle()
{
/*
if (InvokeRequired)
{
BeginInvoke(new MethodInvoker(() => GetTitle()));
}
return browser.DocumentTitle;
*/
if (InvokeRequired)
{
object result = Invoke(new StringDelegate(GetTitle));
return (string)result;
}
else
return browser.DocumentTitle;
}
/* ... */
}

At first, use browsers invoke instead of forms one. And the main problem that after invokation you will return to code and try to access browser.DocumentTitle as background thread. To avoid this, add else construction.
public string GetTitle()
{
if (this.browser.InvokeRequired)
{
this.browser.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(() => GetTitle()));
}
else
{
return browser.DocumentTitle;
}
}

Can this code be refactored by using the reactive framework?

copy paste the following code in new C# console app.
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var enumerator = new QueuedEnumerator<long>();
var listenerWaitHandle = Listener(enumerator);
Publisher(enumerator);
listenerWaitHandle.WaitOne();
}
private static AutoResetEvent Listener(IEnumerator<long> items)
{
var #event = new AutoResetEvent(false);
ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem((o) =>
{
while (items.MoveNext())
{
Console.WriteLine("Received : " + items.Current);
Thread.Sleep(2 * 1000);
}
(o as AutoResetEvent).Set();
}, #event);
return #event;
}
private static void Publisher(QueuedEnumerator<long> enumerator)
{
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
enumerator.Set(i);
Console.WriteLine("Sended : " + i);
Thread.Sleep(1 * 1000);
}
enumerator.Finish();
}
class QueuedEnumerator<T> : IEnumerator<T>
{
private Queue _internal = Queue.Synchronized(new Queue());
private T _current;
private bool _finished;
private AutoResetEvent _setted = new AutoResetEvent(false);
public void Finish()
{
_finished = true;
_setted.Set();
}
public void Set(T item)
{
if (_internal.Count > 3)
{
Console.WriteLine("I'm full, give the listener some slack !");
Thread.Sleep(3 * 1000);
Set(item);
}
else
{
_internal.Enqueue(item);
_setted.Set();
}
}
public T Current
{
get { return _current; }
}
public void Dispose()
{
}
object System.Collections.IEnumerator.Current
{
get { return _current; }
}
public bool MoveNext()
{
if (_finished && _internal.Count == 0)
return false;
else if (_internal.Count > 0)
{
_current = (T)_internal.Dequeue();
return true;
}
else
{
_setted.WaitOne();
return MoveNext();
}
}
public void Reset()
{
}
}
}
2 threads (A,B)
A thread can provide one instance at a time and calls the Set method
B thread wants to receive a sequence of instances (provided by thread A)
So literally transforming an Add(item), Add(item), .. to a IEnumerable between different threads
Other solutions also welcome of course!

Sure - this code might not be the best way to do it, but here was my initial stab at it:
Subject<Item> toAddObservable;
ListObservable<Item> buffer;
void Init()
{
// Subjects are an IObservable we can trigger by-hand, they're the
// mutable variables of Rx
toAddObservable = new Subject(Scheduler.TaskPool);
// ListObservable will hold all our items until someone asks for them
// It will yield exactly *one* item, but only when toAddObservable
// is completed.
buffer = new ListObservable<Item>(toAddObservable);
}
void Add(Item to_add)
{
lock (this) {
// Subjects themselves are thread-safe, but we still need the lock
// to protect against the reset in FetchResults
ToAddOnAnotherThread.OnNext(to_add);
}
}
IEnumerable<Item> FetchResults()
{
IEnumerable<Item> ret = null;
buffer.Subscribe(x => ret = x);
lock (this) {
toAddObservable.OnCompleted();
Init(); // Recreate everything
}
return ret;
}