All, I have a mathod called TaskSpin
that runs the passed method on a background thread using TPL.
public TaskSpin(Func asyncMethod, object[] methodParameters)
{
...
asyncTask = Task.Factory.StartNew<bool>(() =>
asyncMethod(uiScheduler, methodParameters));
asyncTask.ContinueWith(task =>
{
...
// Finish the processing update UI etc.
...
if (isStacked && task.Status == TaskStatus.RanToCompletion)
ProcessNextTask(dataGridViewSite);
}
...
}
This routine is well established to fire off one method at-a-time, but I have recently been required to queue multiple methods and run them sequentially. To do this (aided by this answer) I have written the following button click event handler
private void buttonProcAllUrg_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Build the stacker.
Dictionary<Func<TaskScheduler, object[], bool>, object[]> taskPair =
new Dictionary<Func<TaskScheduler, object[], bool>, object[]>();
this.taskQueue =
new Queue<KeyValuePair<Func<TaskScheduler, object[], bool>, object[]>>();
// Populate the stacker.
foreach (DataGridViewRow row in this.DataGridViewDrg.Rows)
{
KeyValuePair<Func<TaskScheduler, object[], bool>, object[]> task =
new KeyValuePair<Func<TaskScheduler, object[], bool>, object[]>
(BuildDrgDataForSite, DrgDataRowInfo(row.Index));
this.taskQueue.Enqueue(task);
}
// Launch the queue.
ProcessNextTask(this.DataGridViewDrg);
}
and the method ProcessNextTask is defined as
private void ProcessNextTask(DataGridView dataGridView)
{
try
{
// Queue empty.
bIsStacked = true;
if (this.taskQueue.Count <= 0)
{
bIsStacked = false;
return;
}
// Launch new task.
KeyValuePair<Func<TaskScheduler, object[], bool>, object[]> item = this.taskQueue.Dequeue();
Task<bool> asyncBuildDataTask = null;
TaskSpin(asyncBuildDataTask, uiScheduler, mainForm,
item.Key, item.Value, dataGridView,
"Process stack successfully executed", true, bIsStacked);
}
catch(InvalidOperationException)
{
// Nothing left in stack.
bIsStacked = false;
}
}
This works fine, but after the first task has run and the ProcessNextTask
is called for the second (or more times) from the continuation, the GUI becomes unresponsive. What can I do to ensure the UI thread is not blocked upon the second call?
Note. I have tried to launch the ProcessNextTask
method on another thread using the UI thread synchronisation context
Task task = Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
ProcessNextTask(dataGridView);
}, CancellationToken.None,
TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning,
uiScheduler);
where TaskScheduler uiSchduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchonisationContex();
.
Edit: I have attampted to create a BlockingCollection
to facilitate what I want to do based on @Reed Copsey's answer below, but I have never done this and would welcome any advice here
BlockingCollection<Action<object[]>> taskQueue =
new BlockingCollection<Action<object[]>>();
foreach (DataGridViewRow row in this.DataGridViewDrg.Rows)
{
Action<object[]> tmpAction = del =>
{AsyncBuildDrgDataForSite(DrgDataRowInfo(row.Index)); };
taskQueue.Add(tmpAction);
}
Thanks for your time.