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Implementing timeout in async retry operations

I wrote an async method with retry logic. It works just fine, however recently I wanted to add a timeout for each try in case the operation takes too long.
public static async Task<Result> PerformAsync(Func<Task> Delegate,
Func<Exception, bool> FailureCallback = null, int Timeout = 30000,
int Delay = 1000, int Threshold = 10)
{
if (Delegate == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(Delegate));
}
if (Threshold < 1)
{
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(Threshold));
}
CancellationTokenSource Source = new CancellationTokenSource();
CancellationToken Token = Source.Token;
bool IsSuccess = false;
for (int Attempt = 0; Attempt <= Threshold && !Source.IsCancellationRequested;
Attempt++)
{
try
{
await Delegate();
Source.Cancel();
IsSuccess = true;
break;
}
catch (Exception E)
{
Exceptions.Add(E);
if (FailureCallback != null)
{
bool IsCanceled =
Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(new Func<bool>(() =>
{
return !FailureCallback(E);
}));
if (IsCanceled)
{
Source.Cancel();
IsSuccess = false;
break;
}
}
}
await Task.Delay(Delay);
}
return new Result(IsSuccess, new AggregateException(Exceptions));
}
I've been trying various solutions all over the web, but for whatever reason I've never managed to set timeout for each try individually.
I tried to do this using Task.WhenAny() with Task.Delay(Timeout), but when I launch my program, FailureCallback is called only once and if another try fails, FailureCallback is not called.

Ok, lets start. First of all, the intended usage of a CancellationToken isn't to cancel locally a loop, that's a waste, a CancellationToken reserves some resources and in your case you can simply usea boolean.
bool IsSuccess = false;
bool IsCancelled = false;
for (int Attempt = 0; Attempt <= Threshold; Attempt++)
{
try
{
await Delegate();
IsSuccess = true;
//You are breaking the for loop, no need to test the boolean
//in the for conditions
break;
}
catch (Exception E)
{
Exceptions.Add(E);
if (FailureCallback != null)
{
IsCancelled = Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(new Func<bool>(() =>
{
return !FailureCallback(E);
}));
//You are breaking the for loop, no need to test the boolean
//in the for conditions
if(IsCancelled)
break;
}
}
await Task.Delay(Delay);
}
//Here you have "IsSuccess" and "IsCancelled" to know what happened in the loop
//If IsCancelled is true the operation was cancelled, if IsSuccess is true
//the operation was success, if both are false the attempt surpased threshold.
Second, you must update your delegate to be cancellable, that's the real intended usage of CancellationToken, make your delegate to expect a CancellationToken and use it properly inside the function.
public static async Task<Result> PerformAsync(Func<CancellationToken, Task> Delegate, //..
//This is an example of the Delegate function
public Task MyDelegateImplemented(CancellationToken Token)
{
//If you have a loop check if it's cancelled in each iteration
while(true)
{
//Throw a TaskCanceledException if the cancellation has been requested
Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
//Now you must propagate the token to any async function
//that accepts it
//Let's suppose you are downloading a web page
HttpClient client;
//...
await client.SendAsync(message, Token)
}
}
Finally, now that your task is cancellable you can implement the timeout like this:
//This is the "try" in your loop
try
{
var tokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();
var call = Delegate(tokenSource.Token);
var delay = Task.Delay(timeout, tokenSource.Token);
var finishedTask = await Task.WaitAny(new Task[]{ call, delay });
//Here call has finished or delay has finished, one will
//still be running so you need to cancel it
tokenSource.Cancel();
tokenSource.Dispose();
//WaitAny will return the task index that has finished
//so if it's 0 is the call to your function, else it's the timeout
if(finishedTask == 0)
{
IsSuccess = true;
break;
}
else
{
//Task has timed out, handle the retry as you need.
}
}

Correct way of starting a forever-running loop with Async

I've an existing code I wrote some time ago, that works but I dislike the fact that the thread I start remains in loop.
This piece of code is a consumer on an IBMMQ code, waiting for messages to be processed.The problem I've is that with the following code
private Task ExecuteQueuePolling(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
{
return Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
ConnectToAccessQueue();
Logger.Debug($"Accessed to the queue {queueName}");
Logger.DebugFormat("Repeating timer started, checking frequency: {checkingFrequency}",
checkingFrequency);
while (!cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
{
Logger.Trace( () => "Listening on queues for new messages");
// isChecking = true;
var mqMsg = new MQMessage();
var mqGetMsgOpts = new MQGetMessageOptions
{ WaitInterval = (int)checkingFrequency.TotalMilliseconds };
// 15 second limit for waiting
mqGetMsgOpts.Options |= MQC.MQGMO_WAIT | MQC.MQGMO_FAIL_IF_QUIESCING |
MQC.MQCNO_RECONNECT_Q_MGR | MQC.MQOO_INPUT_AS_Q_DEF;
try
{
mqQueue.Get(mqMsg, mqGetMsgOpts);
if (string.Compare(mqMsg.Format, MQC.MQFMT_STRING, StringComparison.Ordinal) == 0)
{
var text = mqMsg.ReadString(mqMsg.MessageLength);
Logger.Debug($"Message received : [{text}]");
Message message = new Message { Content = text };
foreach (var observer in observers)
observer.OnNext(message);
}
else
{
Logger.Warn("Non-text message");
}
}
catch (MQException ex)
{
if (ex.Message == MQC.MQRC_NO_MSG_AVAILABLE.ToString())
{
Logger.Trace("No messages available");
//nothing to do, emtpy queue
}
else if (ex.Message == MQC.MQRC_CONNECTION_BROKEN.ToString())
{
Logger.ErrorException("MQ Exception, trying to recconect", ex);
throw new ReconnectException();
}
}
Thread.Sleep(100);
}
},cancellationToken);
}
//Calling method
try
{
string queueManagerName = configuration.GetValue<string>("IBMMQ:QUEUE_MANAGER_NAME");
// var queueManager = new MQQueueManager(queueManagerName,dictionary2);
QueueMonitor monitor = new QueueMonitor(configuration, "IMPORTER_RECEIVER_TEST");
//_subscription = monitor.Subscribe(receiver);
await monitor.StartAsync(cts.Token).ConfigureAwait(false);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
log.Error(e, "Error creating the queue monitor or it's subscription");
}
finally
{
WaitForCancel(cts);
}
The call to await monitor.StartAsync(cts.Token).ConfigureAwait(false); remains pending.
How should I modify my code, so that the call returns and in background the task continue to loop?
Thanks in advance

Here is how you can simplify your code by replacing Thread.Sleep with Task.Delay:
private async Task ExecuteQueuePolling(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
{
while (true)
{
// Process mqQueue here
await Task.Delay(100, cancellationToken);
}
}
Task.Delay has the advantage that accepts a CancellationToken, so in case of cancellation the loop will exit immediately. This could be important if the pooling of the MQ was lazier (for example every 5 seconds).

private static Task _runningTask;
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
_runningTask = ExecuteQueuePolling(cts.Token);
WaitForCancel(cts);
}
private static void WaitForCancel(CancellationTokenSource cts)
{
var spinner = new SpinWait();
while (!cts.IsCancellationRequested
&& _runningTask.Status == TaskStatus.Running) spinner.SpinOnce();
}
private static Task ExecuteQueuePolling(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
{
var t = new Task(() =>
{
while (!cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
; // your code
if (cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
throw new OperationCanceledException();
}, cancellationToken, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning);
t.Start();
return t;
}

How to wait for a response in wpf

So I am talking to something externally and I have just sent it a message, I will expect an almost immediate response but I will wait for a second in case there is a delay. A separate thread is monitoring for an input and will set a flag "newdataflag" when it has received this data. All I am trying to do below is wait in a while loop until this flag is set or 1 second elapses.
private bool WaitrxData()
{
System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherTimer waitrxtimer = new System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherTimer();
waitrxtimer.Tick += waitrxtimer_Tick;
waitrxtimer.Interval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(10);
waitrxtimer.IsEnabled = true;
waitrxtimer.Start();
statusText.Text = "Waiting For Response";
//wait for new data
while (!newdataflag)
{
if (waitrxcounter > 100)
{
statusText.Text = "No Response";
break;
}
}
waitrxtimer.Stop();
if (waitrxcounter > 100)
{
return false;
}
else
{
newdataflag = false;
return true;
}
}
private void waitrxtimer_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
waitrxcounter++;
}
This code works if the response is so immediate the while loop is skipped but if not, the code will not execute the timer and just get stuck in the while loop and crash. I think this is because the timer is not creating a new thread to tick like I thought it would?
Maybe I am doing the wrong thing?
Cheers

Instead of busy waiting in a loop you could await Task.Delay() with a CancellationToken:
private CancellationTokenSource cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
...
private async Task<bool> Wait()
{
try
{
await Task.Delay(1000, cts.Token);
return true;
}
catch
{
return false;
}
}
// cancel Wait() from another method
cts.Cancel();

when Task.IsCancelled is set as true?

when will come Task.IsCanceled = true;
Code:
var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
string result = "";
cts.CancelAfter(10000);
try
{
Task t = Task.Run(() =>
{
using (var stream = new WebClient().OpenRead("http://www.rediffmail.com"))
{
result = "success!";
}
cts.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
}, cts.Token);
Stopwatch timer = new Stopwatch();
timer.Start();
while (timer.IsRunning)
{
if (timer.ElapsedMilliseconds <= 10000)
{
if (result != ""){
timer.Stop();
Console.WriteLine(result);
}
}
else
{
timer.Stop();
//cts.Cancel();
//cts.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
}
}
}
catch (OperationCanceledException)
{
Console.WriteLine(t.IsCanceled); // still its appear in false.
}
My requirement is - Task is not completed upto 10seconds, Need to cancel the task.
So I am setting timer and watch upto the given seconds. its not completed mean cancel the task and showing error message.

You have to pass the token to your method. It should inspect the token and respect the call to Cancel() of the CancellationTokenSource.
Or you do it yourself:
Task t = Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
myResult = method(); // Request processing in parallel
cts.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested(); // React on cancellation
}, cts.Token);
A complete example is this:
async Task Main()
{
var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
var ct = cts.Token;
cts.CancelAfter(500);
Task t = null;
try
{
t = Task.Run(() => { Thread.Sleep(1000); ct.ThrowIfCancellationRequested(); }, ct);
await t;
Console.WriteLine(t.IsCanceled);
}
catch (OperationCanceledException)
{
Console.WriteLine(t.IsCanceled);
}
}
The output is that an OperationCanceledException is thrown and the result is
True
if you remove the ct.ThrowIfCancellationRequested(); part it will show
False
Edit:
Now, you have updated the question, some comments on that. First, you won't need the timer anymore since you are using the CancelAfter method. Second, you need to await your task. So that makes something like this:
string result = "";
cts.CancelAfter(10000);
Task t = null;
try
{
t = Task.Run(() =>
{
using (var stream = new WebClient().OpenRead("http://www.rediffmail.com"))
{
cts.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
result = "success!";
}
}, cts.Token);
await t;
}
catch (OperationCanceledException)
{
Console.WriteLine(t.IsCanceled);
}
This should show that t.IsCanceled is true but of course only when the call of the WebClient takes longer that 10 seconds.

From documentation:
A Task will complete in the TaskStatus.Canceled state under any of the following conditions:
Its CancellationToken was marked for cancellation before the task started executing.
The task acknowledged the cancellation request on its already signaled CancellationToken by throwing an OperationCanceledException that bears the same CancellationToken.
The task acknowledged the cancellation request on its already signaled CancellationToken by calling the ThrowIfCancellationRequested method on the CancellationToken.
So basically you would need to throw an OperationCanceledException within your task to force the state for instance by executing cts.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested() just after you cancel it.
But the intention of this mechanism is a bit the other way around. You cancel source say while user presses cancel button on your form (from outside of your task) an task just verifies if cancellation was requested in some safe to cancel points of its code.

Monitor Async Task with Timeout and cancellation

I All,
I have to monitor an async task, which has to be cancellable and do not perform more than specific Time To Live.
I already knew about the following code.
CancellationTokenSource l_cts = new CancellationTokenSource(timemillis);
which will doing the cancellation ( as far i monitor the token in my async method).
However, this NOT gave me any information about WHY he has been cancelled, Timeout or user cancellation? furthermore, the timeout event is delayed while i did not catch the cancellation with
Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
In order to solve these issues, I wrote the timeout process as follow.
static async Task TestAsync(int processDelaySeconds, int cancelDelaySeconds, int timeoutDelaySeconds )
{
CancellationTokenSource l_cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
// the process to monitor
Task l_process = new Task((state) =>
{
Console.WriteLine("Process BEGIN");
// dummy loop
for (int l_i = 0; l_i != processDelaySeconds; l_i++)
{
Thread.Sleep(1000);
l_cts.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
}
Console.WriteLine("Process END");
}, null, l_cts.Token);
// register timeout
RegisteredWaitHandle l_rwh = ThreadPool.RegisterWaitForSingleObject(l_cts.Token.WaitHandle,
(state, timedOut) =>
{
if (timedOut)
{
l_cts.Cancel();
Console.WriteLine("Timed out");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("Cancel Signaled");
}
},
null, (int)TimeSpan.FromSeconds(timeoutDelaySeconds).TotalMilliseconds, true);
// cancel task
if (cancelDelaySeconds > 0)
{
Task l_cancel = new Task(() =>
{
Thread.Sleep(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(cancelDelaySeconds));
l_cts.Cancel();
});
l_cancel.Start();
}
try
{
l_process.Start();
await l_process;
}
catch (OperationCanceledException)
{
Console.WriteLine("Task Cancelled");
}
finally
{
// be sure to unregister the wait handle to cancel the timeout
if (l_process.Status != TaskStatus.Canceled) l_rwh.Unregister(l_cts.Token.WaitHandle);
}
Console.WriteLine("Task Status is : {0}", l_process.Status);
}
static async void Tests()
{
Console.WriteLine("NORMAL PROCESS");
Console.WriteLine("--------------");
await TestAsync(2, 10, 10);
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("CANCEL");
Console.WriteLine("------");
await TestAsync(5, 2, 10);
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("TIMEOUT");
Console.WriteLine("-------");
await TestAsync(10, 15, 2);
}
Then My question is :
Is there any drawbacks or traps behind the scene ?
A better and more efficient way ??
ps- Goal is performance, not shorter code.

If you need to distinguish between the user's and time-out cancellation, you can use CreateLinkedTokenSource:
using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace ConsoleApp
{
internal class Program
{
// worker
private static void DoWork(CancellationToken token)
{
for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
{
token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
Thread.Sleep(100); // do the work item
}
token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
}
// test
private static void Main()
{
var userCt = new CancellationTokenSource();
var combinedCt = CancellationTokenSource.CreateLinkedTokenSource(
userCt.Token);
combinedCt.CancelAfter(3000); // cancel in 3 seconds
Console.CancelKeyPress += (s, e) =>
{
e.Cancel = true;
userCt.Cancel();
};
var task = Task.Run(
() => DoWork(combinedCt.Token),
combinedCt.Token);
try
{
task.Wait();
}
catch (AggregateException ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.InnerException.Message);
if (task.IsCanceled)
{
if (userCt.Token.IsCancellationRequested)
Console.WriteLine("Cancelled by user");
else if (combinedCt.Token.IsCancellationRequested)
Console.WriteLine("Cancelled by time-out");
else
Console.WriteLine("Cancelled by neither user nor time-out");
}
}
}
}
}
As to your original code, you really did not need ThreadPool.RegisterWaitForSingleObject(l_cts.Token.WaitHandle, ...), there's CancellationToken.Register for that, which returns an IDisposable ready for use with using.

In order to know if your Task has been cancelled or timed out, you can use the Task.WaitAny overload which takes a TimeSpan:
// Index will return -1 if timeout has occured, otherwise will print the index of the completed task
var cnclToken = new CancellationTokenSource().Token
var yourTask = Task.Run(() => { /* Do stuff */ }, cnclToken);
var index = Task.WhenAny(new[] { yourTask }, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd235645(v=vs.110).aspx