Create a Task list, with tasks without executing - c#

I have an async method
private async Task DoSomething(CancellationToken token)
a list of Tasks
private List<Task> workers = new List<Task>();
and I have to create N threads that runs that method
public void CreateThreads(int n)
{
tokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();
token = tokenSource.Token;
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
{
workers.Add(DoSomething(token));
}
}
but the problem is that those have to run at a given time
public async Task StartAllWorkers()
{
if (workers.Count > 0)
{
try
{
while (workers.Count > 0)
{
Task finishedWorker = await Task.WhenAny(workers.ToArray());
workers.Remove(finishedWorker);
finishedWorker.Dispose();
}
if (workers.Count == 0)
{
tokenSource = null;
}
}
catch (OperationCanceledException)
{
throw;
}
}
}
but actually they run when i call the CreateThreads Method (before the StartAllWorkers).
I searched for keywords and problems like mine but couldn't find anything about stopping the task from running.
I've tried a lot of different aproaches but anything that could solve my problem entirely.
For example, moving the code from DoSomething into a workers.Add(new Task(async () => { }, token)); would run the StartAllWorkers(), but the threads will never actually start.
There is another method for calling the tokenSource.Cancel().

You can use TaskCompletionSource<T> as a one-time "signal" to asynchronous methods.
So you'd create it like this:
private TaskCompletionSource<object> _tcs;
public void CreateThreads(int n)
{
_tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<object>();
tokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();
token = tokenSource.Token;
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
{
workers.Add(DoSomething(_tcs.Task, token));
}
}
Then when you're ready to start the tasks, just complete the "start" signal task:
public Task StartAllWorkers()
{
_tcs.TrySetCompleted(null);
return Task.WhenAll(workers);
}
(The StartAllWorkers method above has slightly different semantics than your original method: your original method would throw a cancellation exception as soon as the first task canceled; this one will wait until all the methods complete and then throw a cancellation exception)
Then your DoSomething just has to honor the "start signal":
private static async Task DoSomething(Task start, CancellationToken token)
{
await start;
... // rest of your code
}

What about this idea:
Instead of holding a list of tasks, hold a list of TaskReference items:
public class TaskReference
{
private readonly Func<Task> _func;
public TaskReference(Func<Task> func)
{
_func = func;
}
public async Task RunAsync()
{
await _func();
}
}
Adding to the list works like this:
taskList.Add(new TaskReference(() => DoSomething(myToken)));
And execution like this:
await Task.WhenAll(taskList.Select(o => o.RunAsync()));

Related

How to cancel Task without exception?

I need to execute a kind of LongRunning task after a delay.
Each Task can be cancelled. I prefer TPL with cancellationToken.
Since my task is long running and before starting a task it has to be placed in dictionary I have to use new Task(). But I've faced different behavior - when task is created using new Task() after Cancel() it throws TaskCanceledException whereas a task created with Task.Run doesn't throw an exception.
Generally I need to recognize the difference and not get TaskCanceledException.
It's my code:
internal sealed class Worker : IDisposable
{
private readonly IDictionary<Guid, (Task task, CancellationTokenSource cts)> _tasks =
new Dictionary<Guid, (Task task, CancellationTokenSource cts)>();
public void ExecuteAfter(Action action, TimeSpan waitBeforeExecute, out Guid cancellationId)
{
var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
var task = new Task(async () =>
{
await Task.Delay(waitBeforeExecute, cts.Token);
action();
}, cts.Token, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning);
cancellationId = Guid.NewGuid();
_tasks.Add(cancellationId, (task, cts));
task.Start(TaskScheduler.Default);
}
public void ExecuteAfter2(Action action, TimeSpan waitBeforeExecute, out Guid cancellationId)
{
var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
cancellationId = Guid.NewGuid();
_tasks.Add(cancellationId, (Task.Run(async () =>
{
await Task.Delay(waitBeforeExecute, cts.Token);
action();
}, cts.Token), cts));
}
public void Abort(Guid cancellationId)
{
if (_tasks.TryGetValue(cancellationId, out var value))
{
value.cts.Cancel();
//value.task.Wait();
_tasks.Remove(cancellationId);
Dispose(value.cts);
Dispose(value.task);
}
}
public void Dispose()
{
if (_tasks.Count > 0)
{
foreach (var t in _tasks)
{
Dispose(t.Value.cts);
Dispose(t.Value.task);
}
_tasks.Clear();
}
}
private static void Dispose(IDisposable obj)
{
if (obj == null)
{
return;
}
try
{
obj.Dispose();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//Log.Exception(ex);
}
}
}
internal class Program
{
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
Action act = () => Console.WriteLine("......");
Console.WriteLine("Started");
using (var w = new Worker())
{
w.ExecuteAfter(act, TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(10000), out var id);
//w.ExecuteAfter2(act, TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(10000), out var id);
Thread.Sleep(3000);
w.Abort(id);
}
Console.WriteLine("Enter to exit");
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
UPD:
This approach also works without exception
public void ExecuteAfter3(Action action, TimeSpan waitBeforeExecute, out Guid cancellationId)
{
var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
cancellationId = Guid.NewGuid();
_tasks.Add(cancellationId, (Task.Factory.StartNew(async () =>
{
await Task.Delay(waitBeforeExecute, cts.Token);
action();
}, cts.Token, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning, TaskScheduler.Default), cts)); ;
}
The reason of the inconsistent behavior is fundamentally incorrect usage of an async delegate in the first case. The Task constructors just don't receive Func<Task> and your asynchronous delegate is always interpreted as async void not async Task in case of using with constructor. If an exception is raised in an async Task method it's caught and placed into Task object which isn't true for an async void method, in that case exception just bubbles up out of the method to a synchronization context and goes under category of unhandled exceptions (you can familiarize with details in this Stephen Cleary article). So what happens in case of using constructor: a task which is supposed to initiate asynchronous flow is created and started. Once it reaches point when Task.Delay(...) returns a promise, the task completes and it has no more relationship to anything which happens in Task.Delay continuation (you can easily check in debugger by setting a breakpoint to value.cts.Cancel() that the task object in the _tasks dictionary has status RanToCompletetion while however the task delegate essentially is still running). When a cancellation is requested the exception is raised inside the Task.Delay method and without existence of any promise object is being promoted to app domain.
In case of Task.Run the situation is different because there are overloads of this method which are able to accept Func<Task> or Func<Task<T>> and unwrap the tasks internally in order to return underlying promise instead of wrapped task which ensures proper task object inside the _tasks dictionary and proper error handling.
The third scenario despite the fact that it doesn't throw an exception it is partially correct. Unlike Task.Run, Task.Factory.StartNew doesn't unwrap underlying task to return promise, so task stored in the _tasks is just wrapper task, like in the case with constructor (again you can check its state with debugger). It however is able to understand Func<Task> parameters, so asynchronous delegate has async Task signature which allows at least to handle and store exception in the underlying task. In order to get this underlying task with Task.Factory.StartNew you need to unwrap the task by yourself with Unwrap() extension method.
The Task.Factory.StartNew isn't considered as a beast practice of creating tasks because of certain dangers related to its application (see there). It however can be used with some caveats if you need to apply specific options like LongRunning which cannot be directly applied with Task.Run.
I don't know why I got down votes here but it's inspired me to update my answer.
UPDATED
My full approach:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace ConsoleApp4
{
internal class Program
{
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
using (var delayedWorker = new DelayedWorker())
{
delayedWorker.ProcessWithDelay(() => { Console.WriteLine("100"); }, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5), out var cancellationId_1);
delayedWorker.ProcessWithDelay(() => { Console.WriteLine("200"); }, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10), out var cancellationId_2);
delayedWorker.ProcessWithDelay(() => { Console.WriteLine("300"); }, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15), out var cancellationId_3);
Cancel_3(delayedWorker, cancellationId_3);
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
private static void Cancel_3(DelayedWorker delayedWorker, Guid cancellationId_3)
{
Task.Run(() => { delayedWorker.Abort(cancellationId_3); }).Wait();
}
internal sealed class DelayedWorker : IDisposable
{
private readonly object _locker = new object();
private readonly object _disposeLocker = new object();
private readonly IDictionary<Guid, (Task task, CancellationTokenSource cts)> _tasks = new Dictionary<Guid, (Task task, CancellationTokenSource cts)>();
private bool _disposing;
public void ProcessWithDelay(Action action, TimeSpan waitBeforeExecute, out Guid cancellationId)
{
Console.WriteLine("Creating delayed action...");
CancellationTokenSource tempCts = null;
CancellationTokenSource cts = null;
try
{
var id = cancellationId = Guid.NewGuid();
tempCts = new CancellationTokenSource();
cts = tempCts;
var task = new Task(() => { Process(action, waitBeforeExecute, cts); }, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning);
_tasks.Add(cancellationId, (task, cts));
tempCts = null;
task.ContinueWith(t =>
{
lock (_disposeLocker)
{
if (!_disposing)
{
TryRemove(id);
}
}
}, TaskContinuationOptions.ExecuteSynchronously);
Console.WriteLine($"Created(cancellationId: {cancellationId})");
task.Start(TaskScheduler.Default);
}
finally
{
if (tempCts != null)
{
tempCts.Dispose();
}
}
}
private void Process(Action action, TimeSpan waitBeforeExecute, CancellationTokenSource cts)
{
Console.WriteLine("Starting delayed action...");
cts.Token.WaitHandle.WaitOne(waitBeforeExecute);
if (cts.Token.IsCancellationRequested)
{
return;
}
lock (_locker)
{
Console.WriteLine("Performing action...");
action();
}
}
public bool Abort(Guid cancellationId)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Aborting(cancellationId: {cancellationId})...");
lock (_locker)
{
if (_tasks.TryGetValue(cancellationId, out var value))
{
if (value.task.IsCompleted)
{
Console.WriteLine("too late");
return false;
}
value.cts.Cancel();
value.task.Wait();
Console.WriteLine("Aborted");
return true;
}
Console.WriteLine("Either too late or wrong cancellation id");
return true;
}
}
private void TryRemove(Guid id)
{
if (_tasks.TryGetValue(id, out var value))
{
Remove(id, value.task, value.cts);
}
}
private void Remove(Guid id, Task task, CancellationTokenSource cts)
{
_tasks.Remove(id);
Dispose(cts);
Dispose(task);
}
public void Dispose()
{
lock (_disposeLocker)
{
_disposing = true;
}
if (_tasks.Count > 0)
{
foreach (var t in _tasks)
{
t.Value.cts.Cancel();
t.Value.task.Wait();
Dispose(t.Value.cts);
Dispose(t.Value.task);
}
_tasks.Clear();
}
}
private static void Dispose(IDisposable obj)
{
if (obj == null)
{
return;
}
try
{
obj.Dispose();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//log ex
}
}
}
}
}

Async wait for multiple threads to finish

I have a code block which is eventually accessed by multiple threads. I search for an up to date async mechanism to continue executing when all threads have passed.
Currently I do the following with a CountDownEvent which works just fine (without async support).
public class Watcher
{
private static readonly Logger Log = LogManager.GetCurrentClassLogger();
private readonly CountdownEvent _isUpdating = new CountdownEvent(1);
private readonly IActivity _activity;
public Watcher([NotNull] IActivity activity)
{
_activity = activity ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(activity));
_activity.Received += OnReceived;
}
private void OnReceived(IReadOnlyCollection<Summary> summaries)
{
_isUpdating.AddCount();
try
{
// Threads processing
}
finally
{
_isUpdating.Signal();
}
}
private void Disable()
{
_activity.Received -= OnReceived;
_isUpdating.Signal();
/* await */ _isUpdating.Wait();
}
}
Do I need to use any of those AsyncCountdownEvent implementations or is there any other built-in mechanism? I already thought about using a BufferBlock because it has async functionality but I think it's a bit overkill.
Additional to the comments:
IActivity is a WebService call (but shouldn't effect the implementation on top or vice versa)
public async Task Start(bool alwayRetry = true, CancellationToken cancellationToken = new CancellationToken())
{
var milliseconds = ReloadSeconds * 1000;
do
{
try
{
var summaries = await PublicAPI.GetSummariesAsync(cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
OnSummariesReceived(summaries);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Log.Error(ex.Message);
OnErrorOccurred(ex);
}
await Task.Delay(milliseconds, cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
// ReSharper disable once LoopVariableIsNeverChangedInsideLoop
} while (alwayRetry);
}
It's not clear the IActivity signatures; but you can wait for a range of tasks to be completed:
class MultiAsyncTest {
Task SomeAsync1() { return Task.Delay(1000); }
Task SomeAsync2() { return Task.Delay(2000);}
Task EntryPointAsync() {
var tasks = new List<Task>();
tasks.Add(SomeAsync1());
tasks.Add(SomeAsync2());
return Task.WhenAll(tasks);
}
}
What's IActivity's signature? Does it support Task? Or you are using Thread? More explanation would help to a more specified answer.

Running parallel async tasks?

So I've been searching StackOverflow/Google for different methods of running multiple async tasks concurrently. There seemed to be quite the debate between different methods and I just wanted to get some clarification. I'm writing a program to execute a JSON POST request until the server returns a status code of 200. Let's say I want to run 5 of theses tasks in parallel until one returns a status code of 200. Please try not to stray away from the topic, I have no control over the server! Here's my current code,
static bool status = false;
public static async Task getSessionAsync() {
while(!status) { ... }
}
public static async Task doMoreStuff() {
...
}
public static async Task RunAsync()
{
await getSessionAsync ();
await doMoreStuff();
}
public static void Main (string[] args)
{
Task.WhenAll(RunAsync()).GetAwaiter().GetResult();
}
Basically, I'm wondering if it's wrong for me to approach it like this,
public static async Task RunAsync()
{
for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
await getSessionAsync ();
}
await doMoreStuff();
}
This will not run in parallel:
public static async Task RunAsync()
{
for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
await getSessionAsync ();
}
await doMoreStuff();
}
You have to use Task.WhenAny()
public static async Task RunAsync()
{
var tasks = new List<Task>();
for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
tasks.Add(getSessionAsync());
}
await Task.WhenAny(tasks);
await doMoreStuff();
}
If you do not need your current context (i.e. when you are writing a Library and not Frontend code), don't forget to use ConfigureAwait(false) after each await.
Assuming:
private Task<MySession> GetSessionAsync()
{
// ...
}
Option 1
Task.WhenAny
var session = await await Task.WhenAny(Enumerable.Range(0, 5).Select(_ => GetSessionAsync()));
Option 2
You could use the Rx LINQ method called Amb which will observe only the first Observable that returns something.
var session = await Enumerable.Range(0, 5).Select(_ => GetSessionAsync().ToObservable()).Amb().ToTask();

Task finishes before expected

I have this method:
private static async Task MyMethod();
And it is invocated this way:
public static void Main()
{
s_Finishing = false;
Task printTask = PrintStatistics();
MyMethod(serversSawa, serversSterling).Wait();
s_Finishing = true;
}
I expect that PrintStatistics will stop to run only after MyMethod is completed. But unfortunately it doesn`t. If I comment the line s_Finishing = true; The task runs forever - and allows to MyMethod to be completed
How can I solve the issue?
private static async Task PrintStatistics()
{
while (!s_Finishing)
{
long total = 0;
await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(20));
foreach (var statistic in s_Statistics)
{
ToolsTracer.Trace("{0}:{1}", statistic.Key, statistic.Value);
total += statistic.Value;
}
foreach (var statistic in s_StatisticsRegion)
{
ToolsTracer.Trace("{0}:{1}", statistic.Key, statistic.Value);
}
ToolsTracer.Trace("TOTAL:{0}", total);
ToolsTracer.Trace("TIME:{0}", s_StopWatch.Elapsed);
}
}
private static async Task MyMethod()
{
Parallel.ForEach(
data,
new ParallelOptions { MaxDegreeOfParallelism = 20 }, async serverAndCluster =>
{
await someMethod() });
}
I believe your problem is here:
Parallel.ForEach(..., async ...);
You can't use async with ForEach. It's extremely rare to need to do both parallel (CPU-bound) and async (I/O-bound) together in the same method. If you just want concurrency (which I suspect), use Task.WhenAll instead of ForEach. If you really do need both CPU parallelism and async, then use TPL Dataflow.

TPL Queue Processing

I'm currently working on a a project and I have a need to queue some jobs for processing, here's the requirement:
Jobs must be processed one at a time
A queued item must be able to be waited on
So I want something akin to:
Task<result> QueueJob(params here)
{
/// Queue the job and somehow return a waitable task that will wait until the queued job has been executed and return the result.
}
I've tried having a background running task that just pulls items off a queue and processes the job, but the difficulty is getting from a background task to the method.
If need be I could go the route of just requesting a completion callback in the QueueJob method, but it'd be great if I could get a transparent Task back that allows you to wait on the job to be processed (even if there are jobs before it in the queue).
You might find TaskCompletionSource<T> useful, it can be used to create a Task that completes exactly when you want it to. If you combine it with BlockingCollection<T>, you will get your queue:
class JobProcessor<TInput, TOutput> : IDisposable
{
private readonly Func<TInput, TOutput> m_transform;
// or a custom type instead of Tuple
private readonly
BlockingCollection<Tuple<TInput, TaskCompletionSource<TOutput>>>
m_queue =
new BlockingCollection<Tuple<TInput, TaskCompletionSource<TOutput>>>();
public JobProcessor(Func<TInput, TOutput> transform)
{
m_transform = transform;
Task.Factory.StartNew(ProcessQueue, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning);
}
private void ProcessQueue()
{
Tuple<TInput, TaskCompletionSource<TOutput>> tuple;
while (m_queue.TryTake(out tuple, Timeout.Infinite))
{
var input = tuple.Item1;
var tcs = tuple.Item2;
try
{
tcs.SetResult(m_transform(input));
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
tcs.SetException(ex);
}
}
}
public Task<TOutput> QueueJob(TInput input)
{
var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<TOutput>();
m_queue.Add(Tuple.Create(input, tcs));
return tcs.Task;
}
public void Dispose()
{
m_queue.CompleteAdding();
}
}
I would go for something like this:
class TaskProcessor<TResult>
{
// TODO: Error handling!
readonly BlockingCollection<Task<TResult>> blockingCollection = new BlockingCollection<Task<TResult>>(new ConcurrentQueue<Task<TResult>>());
public Task<TResult> AddTask(Func<TResult> work)
{
var task = new Task<TResult>(work);
blockingCollection.Add(task);
return task; // give the task back to the caller so they can wait on it
}
public void CompleteAddingTasks()
{
blockingCollection.CompleteAdding();
}
public TaskProcessor()
{
ProcessQueue();
}
void ProcessQueue()
{
Task<TResult> task;
while (blockingCollection.TryTake(out task))
{
task.Start();
task.Wait(); // ensure this task finishes before we start a new one...
}
}
}
Depending on the type of app that is using it, you could switch out the BlockingCollection/ConcurrentQueue for something simpler (eg just a plain queue). You can also adjust the signature of the "AddTask" method depending on what sort of methods/parameters you will be queueing up...
Func<T> takes no parameters and returns a value of type T. The jobs are run one by one and you can wait on the returned task to get the result.
public class TaskQueue
{
private Queue<Task> InnerTaskQueue;
private bool IsJobRunning;
public void Start()
{
Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
while (true)
{
if (InnerTaskQueue.Count > 0 && !IsJobRunning)
{
var task = InnerTaskQueue.Dequeue()
task.Start();
IsJobRunning = true;
task.ContinueWith(t => IsJobRunning = false);
}
else
{
Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
}
}
}
public Task<T> QueueJob(Func<T> job)
{
var task = new Task<T>(() => job());
InnerTaskQueue.Enqueue(task);
return task;
}
}

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