Can I create a software watchdog timer thread in C

Question

I am running function Foo from somebody else's library in a single-threaded application currently. Most of the time, I make a call to Foo and it's really quick, some times, I make a call to Foo and it takes forever. I am not a patient man, if Foo is going to take forever, I want to stop execution of Foo and not call it with those arguments.

What is the best way to call Foo in a controlled manner (my current environment is POSIX/C++) such that I can stop execution after a certain number of seconds. I feel like the right thing to do here is to create a second thread to call Foo, while in my main thread I create a timer function that will eventually signal the second thread if it runs out of time.

Is there another, more apt model (and solution)? If not, would Boost's Signals2 library and Threads do the trick?

Answer 1

You can call Foo on a second thread with a timeout. For example:

#include <boost/date_time.hpp> 
#include <boost/thread/thread.hpp>

boost::posix_time::time_duration timeout = boost::posix_time::milliseconds(500);
boost::thread thrd(&Foo);

if (thrd.timed_join(timeout))
{
  //finished
}
else
{
  //Not finished;
}

Answer 2

Vlad, excellent post! Your code compiled and works beautifully. I implemented a software watchdog timer with it. I made a few modifications:

• To prevent pointer decay, store the signal in boost::shared_ptr and pass this to the thread worker instead of a weak pointer to the timer class. This eliminates the need for the thread worker to be a friend struct and guarantees the signal is in memory.
• Add parameter _is_periodic to allow the caller to select whether or not the worker thread is periodic or if it terminates after expiration.
• Store _is_active, _interval and _is_periodic in boost::atomic to allow thread-safe access.
• Narrow the scope of mutex locking.
• Add reset() method to "kick" the timer, preventing it from issuing the expiration signal.

With these changes applied:

#include <atomic>
#include <boost/signals2.hpp>
#include <boost/thread.hpp>

class IntervalThread
{
    using interval_signal = boost::signals2::signal<void(void)>;

public:
    using interval_slot_t = interval_signal::slot_type;

    IntervalThread(const int interval_ms = 60)
      : _interval_ms(interval_ms),
        _is_active(false),
        _is_periodic(false),
        _signal_expired(new interval_signal()) {};

    inline ~IntervalThread(void) { stop(); };

    boost::signals2::connection connect(const interval_slot_t &subscriber)
    {
        // thread-safe: signals2 obtains a mutex on connect()
        return _signal_expired->connect(subscriber); 
    };

    void start(void)
    {
        if (is_active())
            return; // Already executed.
        if (get_interval_ms() <= 0)
            return;

        boost::lock_guard<boost::mutex> lock(_timer_thread_guard);
        _timer_thread.interrupt();
        _timer_thread.join();

        _timer_thread = boost::thread(timer_worker(),
                static_cast<int>(get_interval_ms()),
                static_cast<bool>(is_periodic()),
                _signal_expired);
        _is_active = true;
    };

    void reset(void)
    {
        if (is_active())
            stop();
        start();
    }

    void stop(void)
    {
        if (!is_active())
            return; // Already executed.

        boost::lock_guard<boost::mutex> lock(_timer_thread_guard);
        _timer_thread.interrupt();
        _timer_thread.join();
        _is_active = false;
    };

    inline bool is_active(void) const { return _is_active; };

    inline int get_interval_ms(void) const { return _interval_ms; };

    void set_interval_ms(const int interval_ms)
    {
        if (interval_ms <= 0 || get_interval_ms() == interval_ms)
            return;

        // Cache timer activity state.
        const bool was_active = is_active();
        // Initialize timer with new interval.
        if (was_active)
            stop();
        _interval_ms = interval_ms;
        if (was_active)
            start();
    };

    inline bool is_periodic(void) const { return _is_periodic; }
    inline void set_periodic(const bool is_periodic = true) { _is_periodic = is_periodic; }

private:
    // The timer worker for the interval thread.
    struct timer_worker {
        void operator()(const int interval_ms, const bool is_periodic, boost::shared_ptr<interval_signal> signal_expired)
        {
            boost::posix_time::milliseconds duration(interval_ms);
            try {
                do {
                    boost::this_thread::sleep<boost::posix_time::milliseconds>(duration);
                    {
                        boost::this_thread::disable_interruption di;
                        signal_expired->operator()();
                    }
                } while (is_periodic);
            } catch (const boost::thread_interrupted &) {
                // IntervalThread start(), stop() and reset() throws boost::this_thread::interrupt,
                // which is expected since this thread is interrupted. No action neccessary.
            }
        };
    };

    std::atomic<int> _interval_ms;  // Interval, in ms
    std::atomic<bool> _is_active;   // Is the timed interval active?
    std::atomic<bool> _is_periodic; // Is the timer periodic?

    boost::mutex _timer_thread_guard;
    boost::thread _timer_thread;

    // The signal to call on interval expiration.
    boost::shared_ptr<interval_signal> _signal_expired;
};

Answer 3

You can also set an alarm right before calling that function, and catch SIGALRM.

Answer 4

You can use the following class:

class timer
{
    typedef boost::signals2::signal<void ()> timeout_slot;
public:
    typedef timeout_slot::slot_type timeout_slot_t;

public:
    timer() : _interval(0), _is_active(false) {};
    timer(int interval) : _interval(interval), _is_active(false) {};
    virtual ~timer() { stop(); };

    inline boost::signals2::connection connect(const timeout_slot_t& subscriber) { return _signalTimeout.connect(subscriber); };

    void start()
    {
        boost::lock_guard<boost::mutex> lock(_guard);

        if (is_active())
            return; // Already executed.
        if (_interval <= 0)
            return;

        _timer_thread.interrupt();
        _timer_thread.join();

        timer_worker job;
        _timer_thread = boost::thread(job, this);

        _is_active = true;
    };

    void stop()
    {
        boost::lock_guard<boost::mutex> lock(_guard);

        if (!is_active())
            return; // Already executed.

        _timer_thread.interrupt();
        _timer_thread.join();

        _is_active = false;
    };

    inline bool is_active() const { return _is_active; };

    inline int get_interval() const { return _interval; };

    void set_interval(const int msec)
    {
        if (msec <= 0 || _interval == msec)
            return;

        boost::lock_guard<boost::mutex> lock(_guard);
        // Keep timer activity status.
        bool was_active = is_active();

        if (was_active)
            stop();
        // Initialize timer with new interval.
        _interval = msec;

        if (was_active)
            start();
    };

protected:
    friend struct timer_worker;
    // The timer worker thread.
    struct timer_worker
    {
        void operator()(timer* t)
        {
            boost::posix_time::milliseconds duration(t->get_interval());

            try
            {
                while (1)
                {
                    boost::this_thread::sleep<boost::posix_time::milliseconds>(duration);
                    {
                        boost::this_thread::disable_interruption di;
                        {
                            t->_signalTimeout();
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            catch (boost::thread_interrupted const& )
            {
                // Handle the thread interruption exception.
                // This exception raises on boots::this_thread::interrupt.
            }
        };
    };

protected:
    int             _interval;
    bool            _is_active;

    boost::mutex    _guard;
    boost::thread   _timer_thread;

    // Signal slots
    timeout_slot    _signalTimeout;
};

An example of usage:

void _test_timer_handler()
{
    std::cout << "_test_timer_handler\n";
}

BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE( test_timer )
{
    emtorrus::timer timer;

    BOOST_CHECK(!timer.is_active());
    BOOST_CHECK(timer.get_interval() == 0);

    timer.set_interval(1000);
    timer.connect(_test_timer_handler);

    timer.start();

    BOOST_CHECK(timer.is_active());

    std::cout << "timer test started\n";

    boost::this_thread::sleep<boost::posix_time::milliseconds>(boost::posix_time::milliseconds(5500));

    timer.stop();

    BOOST_CHECK(!timer.is_active());
    BOOST_CHECK(_test_timer_count == 5);
}