Thread Interrupted sometimes works and sometimes not - java

Please help me with my problem. I have 2 JMenuItems, if I Click on Start it shall start and do stuff. If I click on Stop it shall stop :)
After i clicked on Start, I click on Stop and sometimes it stops and sometimes not. But I want that it always stops.
What have I done wrong? :/
class DiashowListener implements ActionListener {
Thread td;
boolean ok = false;
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
if (e.getActionCommand().equals("Start")) {
td = new Thread(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
if (bimg != null) {
while (!ok) {
try {
...
} catch (Exception e2) {
}
frame.repaint();
}
}
}
});
td.start();
} else if (e.getActionCommand().equals("Stop")) {
if (td != null){
ok = true;
}
}
}
}
EDIT: ok I changed something, its working now, but: If I click on Stop it shall stop immediately.

First of all, you are interrupting the wrong thread (should be td). Second, the contents of the try clause that you omitted is actually important (some operations are uninterruptible). Finally, Thread.isInterrupted is likely not what you want to use, as the flag may get cleared by some unrelated code. Depending on what exactly you are interrupting, it may (or may not) be a good idea to just catch InterruptedException, and terminate in case it is thrown. A better approach is to add your own flag, that the thread will check instead of isInterrupted, and the event handler will set instead of (or in addition to) interrupting the worker thread.

Related

SwingWorker done method throws cancellationexception with get()

I faced an issue of creating stop/start jbuttons for my gui, and after a LOT of googling, i realized i needed multi-threading. Upon further reading i discovered the swingworker class, and i managed to get my GUI to respond to the STOP button.
now my problem is this
The doinbackground() method executes a piece of code that captures packets in an infinite while loop with the condition (!isCancelled), and once it is cancelled (The STOP button executes worker.cancel()) it returns an ArrayList of packets which theoretically, i should be able to obtain inside the done() method using get(). right? But when i try to do this i get a CancellationException and this is driving me nuts right now.
any help would be highly appreaciated!
Thank you
edit: obj is an ArrayList declared outside of the class to store the return values.
here is my code executed by the START jbutton
private void jButton5ActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
final ArrayList packet_list = new ArrayList();
obj.clear();
try {
worker = new SwingWorker<ArrayList,Integer>(){//initialze swingworker class
#Override
protected void done(){
try {
obj = get();
}
catch (InterruptedException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(NewJFrame3.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
} catch (ExecutionException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(NewJFrame3.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
}
//opens up stuff required to capture the packets
NetworkInterface [] devices = JpcapCaptor.getDeviceList();
int index = (jComboBox5.getSelectedIndex()-1);
JpcapCaptor captor =JpcapCaptor.openDevice(devices[4], 65535, false, 20);
#Override
protected ArrayList doInBackground(){
while(!isCancelled()){
try {
Packet packets = captor.getPacket(); //captures packets
if (packets != null) //filters out null packets
{
//System.out.println(packets);
packet_list.add(packets); //adds each packet to ArrayList
}
Thread.sleep(100);
} catch (InterruptedException ex) {
return packet_list;
}
}
return packet_list;
}
};
worker.execute();
} catch (IOException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(NewJFrame3.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
}
The stop button simply executes
worker.cancel(); no errors there. and this is the swingworker declaration
private SwingWorker<ArrayList,Integer> worker;
cancel doesn't just set the isCancelled flag for you to read at your leisure. That would be pretty much useless. It prevents the task from starting if it hasn't already and may actively interrupt the thread if it's already running. As such, getting a CancellationException is the natural consequence of cancelling a running task.
To further the point, the Javadoc on isCancelled states:
Returns true if this task was cancelled before it completed normally.
Hence if this returns true, then your task cannot complete normally. You cannot cancel a task and expect it to continue as per normal.
SwingWorker docs say "An abstract class to perform lengthy GUI-interaction tasks in a background thread". However, the definition of "lengthly" is different for GUI and for an application lifetime. A 100ms task is very long for a GUI, and is best done by a SwingWorker. A 10 minute task is too long for a SwingWorker simply because it has a limited thread pool, that you may exhaust. Judging by your problem description, you have exactly that - a potentially very long running task. As such, you should rather make a proper background thread than use a SwingWorker.
In that thread, you would have either an AtomicBoolean or simply a volatile boolean flag that you can manually set from the EDT. The thread can then post an event to the EDT with the result.
Code:
class PacketCaptureWorker implements Runnable {
private volatile boolean cancelled = false;
public void cancel() {
cancelled = true;
}
public void run() {
while (!cancelled) {
//do work
}
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
//Use the result of your computation on the EDT
}
});
}
}
new Thread(new PacketCaptureWorker()).start();
I tried using a volatile boolean instead of using worker.cancel() for the swingworker thread while loop and it works beautifully. (atleast on surface) I managed to create a normal background thread as well and that too worked liked a charm :D Many thanks you saved me a major headache! Wondering what the best method is out of the two.
A follow up, i had to make the volatile boolean available for the whole class, because i had to create 2 seperate instances for the thread class, one to use the START and the other to use the STOP. Apparently two different instances does not address the same instance of the variable. is this bad practice?

How to add breakpoints to Runnable classes

My while(true) is only running once, so I'm trying to add breakpoints to see what's going on, but they never seem to be reached within my run(). I'm using IntelliJ. In the debugger there's a "Threads" tab. Do I need to do something in that tab like select the right thread in order for my breakpoint to be reached? I also see thread names and am wondering how I can find the right thread in this list.
public class MyClass extends ServerWorkflowProcess<OtherClass> {
private ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();
...
#Override
public void bootup() {
logger.info("Booting up: " + this);
BackgroundProcess backgroundImpositioner = new BackgroundProcess(this.getCollection());
executorService.submit(backgroundImpositioner);
}
#Override
public void shutdown() {
executorService.shutdown();
}
}
Background process
public class BackgroundProcess implements Runnable {
protected volatile Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(BackgroundImpositioner.class.getName());
Collection<ImpositionWorkstation> impositionWorkstations;
public BackgroundImpositioner(Collection<ImpositionWorkstation> impositionWorkstation) {
this.impositionWorkstations = impositionWorkstation;
}
public void run() {
while(true) {
logger.info("looping");
for (ImpositionWorkstation workstation : impositionWorkstations) {
if (workstation.canAcceptWork()) {
//go do work in another thread so we're not blocking this
workstation.getWorkFromQueue();
try {
workstation.doWork();
} catch (ImpositionException e) {
logger.severe(e.getMessage());
}
}
}
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
logger.severe("Background impositioner was interrupted");
}
}
}
}
Side note: the console shows "looping", so I know it gets executed once. The breakpoint never gets hit and it doesn't execute more than once.
It happened to me once that i couldn't make Intellij Idea stop in breakpoints. Basically the problem is that once a thread is stopped in a breakpoint the others won't stop.
There is a setting in the breakpoints properties dialog that prevents this.
Right click on a breakpoint and select 'View Breakpoints'.
On the dialog select a breakpoint.
You will notice on the right of suspend checkbox 2 radio buttons: All and Thread. Select All. Aditionally you can make that the default (Make Default button on the right). The default value will be used for any new breakpoints you add. The old ones need to be changed manually.
EDIT
Additional info on the Intellij help site: Breakpoint options
Don’t let exceptions slip through silently. Use the Future returned by the submit method.
Future<?> f=executorService.submit(backgroundImpositioner);
try {
f.get();
} catch(Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
Then you know more.
The code above is just for finding your actual problem. For production environments you wouldn’t wait for completion but rather log the exception when it occurred, e.g.:
executorService.execute(new FutureTask<Object>(backgroundImpositioner, null)
{
#Override
protected void done() {
if(!isCancelled()) try {
get();
} catch(InterruptedException ex) {
throw new AssertionError("on completed task", ex);
} catch(ExecutionException ex) {
logger.log(Level.SEVERE, "in background task", ex.getCause());
}
}
});
For a reason beyond me, I was not able to breakpoint the while(true) line, but was able to drop breakpoints elsewhere within the run().
If there's no exception thrown inside the run method, i can only assume that one of the calls never returns.
Can you put output statements after every single call to see how far you get?
I guess either workstation.canAcceptWork() or workstation.doWork() is the culprit.
I've met a similar problem that IntelliJ never hits my breakpoint in the run() method of a Runnable class. I found that the only position for the breakpoint to be hit is at the line of public void run() {.

Kill one thread in sleep mode in android

I have an android application, that have one thread, which will run after each 1 minute.
So my problem is, when i click one button, i have to reset the app, that means, it'll be
a fresh app.
So now when i clicked on that button, all the database and shared preference will clear.
But the thread will start again.
Now am using like this
if (killthread.isAlive()) {
killthread.interrupt();
}else {
// Here what'll i do, I mean how to kill that thread, which in sleep mode.
}
Thank you
vishnu
Thanks for the reply, Here when i click that button, that will come to the else part, but after 1 minute, the thread will start.So how to stop that in stage?
That will be something to do with the thread itself. My bet is that you have coded it to ignore the interrupt.
OK, here's the code from your comment.
public void run() {
while (true) {
try {
Thread.sleep(60000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
}
}
}
What this does is to catch and silently ignore the exception that occurs when the thread is interrupted ... and just keep going.
If you want it to stop on an interrupt it should be this ... or something equivalent.
public void run() {
while (true) {
try {
Thread.sleep(60000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
return;
}
}
}
If a Thread is not alive it means
1) it's dead / finished. You cannot / dont need to do anything.
2) it is newly created / havent started yet. That is Thread.start() has not been called yet. In this case Thread.interrupt() will have no effect. The only thing you can do is some custom logic - notify the code that is going to start the thread that it's not needed anymore

Learning Threads - Running a method only after the other has finished

In my button execution, I am calling 2 methods.
plotButton.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent e) {
startPrinterListOperation();
showAplotPlotterDialog();
}
});
The startPrinterListOperation(); takes some time to complete its task. But I do not want the method showAplotPlotterDialog(); to run until the first one has completed. So I am trying to use thread management to achieve this. Here is what I have tried.
plotButton.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent e) {
Thread t = new Thread() {
public void run() {
startPrinterListOperation();
}
};
t.start();
try {
t.join();
}
catch (InterruptedException e1) {
e1.printStackTrace();
}
showAplotPlotterDialog();
}
});
But the second method stills starts before the first one has finished.
Extending on my comment: Seems like startPrinterListOperation launches an asynchronous operation and finishes instantly, evidented by the join succeeding.
If the launched async op is out of your control, then you might be able to observe it finishing via some callback, polling, etc. Then you may employ something like the following in startPrinterListOperation:
void startPrinterListOperation() {
final CountDownLatch c1 = new CountDownLatch(1);
launchTheAsyncOp(new SomeCallback() {
void x() {
c1.countDown();
}
});
try {
c1.await(999, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
}
catch (InterruptedException e) {
throw new MyRuntimeException("user didn't finish the op in 999 seconds, fail");
}
}
I would not bother with threads, this will just make your program overly complicated.
Can you edit the startPrinterListOperation() method?
I would instead add showAplotPlotterDialog(); to the end of the startPrinter method, and the last last thing the method does.
Answering your general question in the title, you have a master thread that calls your two methods directly, so that the second method waits for the first method to complete.
I understand that in your specific case, the first method runs for a while, and you would prefer that the user not have to wait.
You should call a generatePrinterList() method in a separate thread while you're constructing the GUI. You do this because your GUI users are very likely to print or plot, and the printer list is not likely to change while the user is using your GUI.
Odds are that the generatePrinterList() thread will finish long before your user has to print or plot. But just to be sure, the thread has to have a way of reporting back that the thread is completed. I use a boolean isCompleted that can be read with a public isCompleted() method.
The isCompleted() method could have a thread sleep loop if you want, so it always returns true. In this case the method doesn't have to return anything.

Is it a good way to close a thread?

I have a short version of the question:
I start a thread like that: counter.start();, where counter is a thread.
At the point when I want to stop the thread I do that: counter.interrupt()
In my thread I periodically do this check: Thread.interrupted(). If it gives true I return from the thread and, as a consequence, it stops.
And here are some details, if needed:
If you need more details, they are here. From the invent dispatch thread I start a counter thread in this way:
public static void start() {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
showGUI();
counter.start();
}
});
}
where the thread is defined like that:
public static Thread counter = new Thread() {
public void run() {
for (int i=4; i>0; i=i-1) {
updateGUI(i,label);
try {Thread.sleep(1000);} catch(InterruptedException e) {};
}
// The time for the partner selection is over.
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
frame.remove(partnerSelectionPanel);
frame.add(selectionFinishedPanel);
frame.invalidate();
frame.validate();
}
});
}
};
The thread performs countdown in the "first" window (it shows home much time left). If time limit is over, the thread close the "first" window and generate a new one. I want to modify my thread in the following way:
public static Thread counter = new Thread() {
public void run() {
for (int i=4; i>0; i=i-1) {
if (!Thread.interrupted()) {
updateGUI(i,label);
} else {
return;
}
try {Thread.sleep(1000);} catch(InterruptedException e) {};
}
// The time for the partner selection is over.
if (!Thread.interrupted()) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
frame.remove(partnerSelectionPanel);
frame.add(selectionFinishedPanel);
frame.invalidate();
frame.validate();
}
});
} else {
return;
}
}
};
ADDED:
Because of some reasons it does not work. I have a method which interrupts the thread:
public static void partnerSelected() {
System.out.println("The button is pressed!!!!");
counter.interrupt();
}
This method is activated when a button is pressed. When I press the button I see the corresponding output in the terminal (so this method is activated and it does something). But because of some reasons it does not interrupt the thread. Here is the code for the thread:
public static Thread counter = new Thread() {
public void run() {
for (int i=40; i>0; i=i-1) {
if (Thread.interrupted()) {
System.out.println("Helloo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!");
return;
}
updateGUI(i,label);
try {Thread.sleep(1000);} catch(InterruptedException e) {};
}
// The time for the partner selection is over.
if (Thread.interrupted()) {
System.out.println("Helloo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!");
return;
}
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
frame.remove(partnerSelectionPanel);
frame.add(selectionFinishedPanel);
frame.invalidate();
frame.validate();
}
});
}
};
P.S. I do not see "Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!" in the terminal...
Pretty close to the right idea. However, in your catch (InterruptedException) you should have:
Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
so that the interrupted status goes on again, and doesn't do the stuff in the second block.
Edit to make my point clearer (because the OP's edit seems to have missed my initial point :-P): you should write your code like this:
try {
for (int = 40; i > 0; --i) {
updateGUI(i, label);
Thread.sleep(1000);
}
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
Thread.currentThread().interrupt(); // <-- THIS LINE IS IMPORTANT
}
Second edit to explain what interruption does. :-)
When you call thread.interrupt(), that thread's interrupted flag is set. That flag doesn't do anything on its own; it's just a variable. The reason for this is because interruption supports something called "cooperative thread management", where the thread's running code decides what to do when interrupted (rather than being forced to quit on the spot).
Some functions built into the JDK, like Thread.sleep, or Object.wait, or Lock.lockInterruptibly, will check the flag, and if it's set, then it'll throw an InterruptedException after clearing the flag.
So, if you're calling one of those functions, you don't need to manually check the interrupted flag. But if you're not, e.g., if you're doing intensive processing instead of waiting for something, then you should periodically check the flag.
There are two ways to check the flag:
interrupted()
isInterrupted()
The first one clears the interrupted flag; the second one doesn't. You have to decide which version is "more correct" for your application logic.
Yes it is the way to go
It's considered a better way (link) to use separate volatile variable (boolean isStopped) for this purpose.
Assume that interrupted() method changes value from true to false if your thread was interrupted, i.e.:
System.out.println (Thread.interrupted()); //true
System.out.println (Thread.interrupted()); //false
The alternative is isInterrupted() method.
Check out this article from the JavaSpecialists newsletter, which covers how to interrupt() threads and manage this properly.
Edit/Preamble
I'd like to edit and note that I've learned a lesson here today. There's no reason to implement a boolean as I explain in the following two paragraphs; the interrupt mechanism does that for me. For some reason I had assumed that "interrupt" stops the thread dead in its tracks (I don't know what I thought isInterrupted() did then!).
So, here is an example of what not to do. Keep on using your interrupt technique!
Original answer
I tend to avoid interrupt, but especially to stop a thread. In your case, you're trying to use interrupt() as an alternative to stop(), which has been deprecated for good reason. All you need to do is declare a boolean which represents whether the thread should stop counting, and have the thread continuously check that boolean value. Then, when the parent thread is ready for the counter to stop, it should set the boolean to true (stop), which will cause the counter thread to stop as soon as it checks the value again.
In your Counter thread's anonymous class definition, add public volatile boolean shouldStop;. At the beginning of run(), set shouldStop = false;. Then replace all Thread.interrupted() with shouldStop (in your if statements). Finally, instead of calling counter.interrupt(), just say counter.shouldStop = true;. You can additionally call counter.join() right after setting shouldStop=true if you want to ensure that counter has stopped before continuing.

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