Backup buffer for .NET.

Question

Backup buffer for .NET.

(Note. Although I would like ideas for the future .Net 4.0, I am limited to .Net 3.5 for this project.)

I have a stream that asynchronously reads data from an external device (modeled in the sample code by the ever-creative strSomeData :-) and saves it in the StringBuilder buffer (strBuilderBuffer: -)

In the "main code" I want to "crop" in this "buffer". However, I am not sure how to do this in streaming mode, from the point of view of "operational". I understand that this is safe from a data point of view, because according to msdn, "any public static members of this type ( StringBuilder) are thread safe. Any member of an instance is not guaranteed thread safe." However, my code below shows that it may not be thread safe from an “operating” point of view.

The key is that I'm worried about two lines of code:

string strCurrentBuffer = ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.strBuilderBuffer.ToString();
// Thread 'randomly' slept due to 'inconvenient' comp resource scheduling...
ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.strBuilderBuffer.Length = 0;

if the computer OS sleeps my thread between reading the buffer and flushing the buffer, I can lose data (which is bad: - (

Is there a way to guarantee "atomy"? of these two lines and make the computer not interrupt them?

lock, , ( ):

    public void BufferAnalyze()
    {
        String strCurrentBuffer;
        lock (ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.strBuilderBuffer)
        {
            strCurrentBuffer = ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.strBuilderBuffer.ToString();
            Console.WriteLine("[BufferAnalyze()]  ||<<  Thread 'Randomly' Slept due to comp resource scheduling");
            Thread.Sleep(1000);  //  Simulate poor timing of thread resourcing...
            ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.strBuilderBuffer.Length = 0;
        }
        Console.WriteLine("[BufferAnalyze()]\r\nstrCurrentBuffer[{0}] == {1}", strCurrentBuffer.Length.ToString(), strCurrentBuffer);
    }

?

:

namespace ExploringThreads
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Description of BasicThreads_TestThreadSafety_v1a
    /// </summary>
    class ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a
    {
        private Thread thread;
        public static StringBuilder strBuilderBuffer = new StringBuilder("", 7500);
        public static StringBuilder strBuilderLog = new StringBuilder("", 7500);

        public bool IsAlive
        {
            get { return thread.IsAlive; }
        }

        public ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a(string strThreadName)
        {
            // It is possible to have a thread begin execution as soon as it is created.
            // In the case of MyThread this is done by instantiating a Thread object inside MyThread constructor.
            thread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(this.threadRunMethod));
            thread.Name = strThreadName;
            thread.Start();
        }

        public ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a() : this("")
        {
            //   NOTE:  constructor overloading ^|^
        }

        //Entry point of thread.
        public void threadRunMethod()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("[ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a threadRunMethod()]");
            Console.WriteLine(thread.Name + " starting.");
            int intSomeCounter = 0;
            string strSomeData = "";
            do
            {
                Console.WriteLine("[ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a threadRunMethod()] running.");
                intSomeCounter++;
                strSomeData = "abcdef" + intSomeCounter.ToString() + "|||";
                strBuilderBuffer.Append(strSomeData);
                strBuilderLog.Append(strSomeData);
                Thread.Sleep(200);
            } while(intSomeCounter < 15);

            Console.WriteLine(thread.Name + " terminating.");
        }
    }
    /// <summary>
    /// Description of BasicThreads_TestThreadSafety_v1a.
    /// </summary>
    public class BasicThreads_TestThreadSafety_v1a
    {
        public BasicThreads_TestThreadSafety_v1a()
        {
        }

        public void BufferAnalyze()
        {
            string strCurrentBuffer = ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.strBuilderBuffer.ToString();
            Console.WriteLine("[BufferAnalyze()]  ||<<  Thread 'Randomly' Slept due to comp resource scheduling");
            Thread.Sleep(1000);  //  Simulate poor timing of thread resourcing...
            ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.strBuilderBuffer.Length = 0;
            Console.WriteLine("[BufferAnalyze()]\r\nstrCurrentBuffer[{0}] == {1}", strCurrentBuffer.Length.ToString(), strCurrentBuffer);
        }

        public void TestBasicThreads_TestThreadSafety_v1a()
        {
            Console.Write("Starting TestBasicThreads_TestThreadSafety_v1a  >>>  Press any key to continue . . . ");
            Console.Read();

            // First, construct a MyThread object.
            ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a threadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a = new ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a("threadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a Child");

            do
            {
                Console.WriteLine("[TestBasicThreads_TestThreadSafety_v1a()]");
                Thread.Sleep(750);
                BufferAnalyze();
                //} while (ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.thread.IsAlive);
            } while (threadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.IsAlive);
            BufferAnalyze();
            Thread.Sleep(1250);
            Console.WriteLine("[TestBasicThreads_TestThreadSafety_v1a()]");
            Console.WriteLine("ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.strBuilderLog[{0}] == {1}", ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.strBuilderLog.Length.ToString(), ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.strBuilderLog);

            Console.Write("Completed TestBasicThreads_TestThreadSafety_v1a  >>>  Press any key to continue . . . ");
            Console.Read();
        }
    }
}

+3

stringbuilder c# thread-safety .net-3.5 buffer

George 2.0 Hope 08 '12 15:10

3

Brian Gideon · Answer 1 · 2012-05-08T16:11:52+0000

Reactive Extensions backport 3.5 . NuGet . , , System.Threading.dll .

.NET 4.0 .NET 3.5. BlockingCollection. , . , dequeue , .

StringBuilder. . , .

public class Example
{
  private BlockingCollection<string> buffer = new BlockingCollection<string>();

  public Example()
  {
    new Thread(ReadFromExternalDevice).Start();
    new Thread(BufferAnalyze).Start();
  }

  private void ReadFromExteneralDevice()
  {
    while (true)
    {
      string data = GetFromExternalDevice();
      buffer.Add(data);
      Thread.Sleep(200);
    }
  }

  private void BufferAnalyze()
  {
    while (true)
    {
      string data = buffer.Take(); // This blocks if nothing is in the queue.
      Console.WriteLine(data);
    }
  } 
}

BufferBlock<T> TPL Data Flow , BlockingCollection. .NET 4.5.

Vlad · Answer 2 · 2012-05-08T15:14:34+0000

StringBuffer , ConcurrentQueue<char>.

, .NET 4 , . http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd997305.aspx.

: .NET 3.5 . , Queue<char>, , .NET 4 ConcurrentQueue. StrignBuffer, lock /:

public static StringBuilder strBuilderBuffer = new StringBuilder("", 7500);
private object BufferLock = new object();

...

lock (BufferLock)
    strBuilderBuffer.Append(strSomeData);

...

string strCurrentBuffer;
lock (BufferLock)
{
    strCurrentBuffer = ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.strBuilderBuffer.ToString();
    ThreadWorker_TestThreadSafety_v1a.strBuilderBuffer.Clear();
}
Console.WriteLine("[BufferAnalyze()]  ||<<  Thread 'Randomly' Slept ...");
Thread.Sleep(1000);  //  Simulate poor timing of thread resourcing...

Edit:

, , . , , .

:

, , , - -
, , , , .

jjxtra · Answer 3 · 2012-05-08T15:38:38+0000

If you read a lot from the buffer, maybe this will help:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.threading.readerwriterlock.aspx

Several readers are possible, but only one writer.

It is available in .NET 1.X and higher ...

Backup buffer for .NET.

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