Cooperative Interruption of a Thread in C++20: Callbacks

I introduced in my last post “Cooperative Interruption of a Thread in C++20” callbacks. Today, I dive deeper.

First , here’s a short reminder.

Reminder

In my last post “Cooperative Interruption of a Thread in C++20“, I presented the following program.

// invokeCallback.cpp

#include <chrono>
#include <iostream>
#include <thread>
#include <vector>

using namespace::std::literals;

auto func = [](std::stop_token stoken) {                             // (1)
        int counter{0};
        auto thread_id = std::this_thread::get_id();
        std::stop_callback callBack(stoken, [&counter, thread_id] {  // (2)
            std::cout << "Thread id: " << thread_id 
                      << "; counter: " << counter << '\n';
        });
        while (counter < 10) {
            std::this_thread::sleep_for(0.2s);
            ++counter;
        }
    };

int main() {
    
    std::cout << '\n';
    
    std::vector<std::jthread> vecThreads(10);
    for(auto& thr: vecThreads) thr = std::jthread(func);
    
    std::this_thread::sleep_for(1s);                              // (3)
    
    for(auto& thr: vecThreads) thr.request_stop();                // (4)

    std::cout << '\n';
    
}

Each of the ten threads invokes the lambda function func (1). The callback (2) displays the thread id and the counter. Due to the one-second sleeping of the main thread (3) and the sleeping of the child threads, the counter is 4 when the callbacks are invoked. The call thr.request_stop() triggers the callback on each thread.

One question was not answered in my last post:

Where does the callback run?

The std::stop_callback constructor registers the callback function for the std::stop_token given by the associated std::stop_source. This callback function is either invoked in the thread invoking request_stop() or the thread constructing the std::stop_callback. If the request to stop happens prior to the registration of the std::stop_callback, the callback is invoked in the thread constructing the std::stop_callback. Otherwise, the callback is invoked in the thread invoking request_stop.  If the call request_stop()happens after the execution of the thread constructing the std::stop_callback, the registered callback will never be called.  

You can register more than one callback for one or more threads using the same std::stop_token. The C++ standard does not guarantee the order in which they are executed.

More than one callback

// invokeCallbacks.cpp

#include <chrono>
#include <iostream>
#include <thread>

using namespace std::literals;

void func(std::stop_token stopToken) {
    std::this_thread::sleep_for(100ms);
    for (int i = 0; i <= 9; ++i) {
       std::stop_callback cb(stopToken, [i] { std::cout << i; });
    }
    std::cout << '\n';
}

int main() {
    
    std::cout << '\n';
    
    std::jthread thr1 = std::jthread(func);
    std::jthread thr2 = std::jthread(func);
    thr1.request_stop();
    thr2.request_stop();

    std::cout << '\n';
    
}

A General Mechanism to Send Signals

The pair std::stop_source and std::stop_token can be considered as a general mechanism to send a signal. By copying the std::stop_token, you can send the signal to any entity executing something. In the following example, I use std::async, std::promise, std::thread, and std::jthread in various combinations.

// signalStopRequests.cpp

#include <iostream>
#include <thread>
#include <future>

using namespace std::literals;

void function1(std::stop_token stopToken, const std::string& str){
    std::this_thread::sleep_for(1s);
    if (stopToken.stop_requested()) std::cout << str << ": Stop requested\n";
}

void function2(std::promise<void> prom, 
               std::stop_token stopToken, const std::string& str) {
    std::this_thread::sleep_for(1s);
    std::stop_callback callBack(stopToken, [&str] { 
        std::cout << str << ": Stop requested\n"; 
    });
    prom.set_value();
}

int main() {

    std::cout << '\n';

    std::stop_source stopSource;                                                // (1)

    std::stop_token stopToken = std::stop_token(stopSource.get_token());        // (2)

    std::thread thr1 = std::thread(function1, stopToken, "std::thread");        // (3)
    
    std::jthread jthr = std::jthread(function1, stopToken, "std::jthread");     // (4)
    
    auto fut1 = std::async([stopToken] {                                        // (5)
        std::this_thread::sleep_for(1s);
        if (stopToken.stop_requested()) std::cout << "std::async: Stop requested\n";
    });

    std::promise<void> prom;                                                    // (6)
    auto fut2 = prom.get_future();
    std::thread thr2(function2, std::move(prom), stopToken, "std::promise");

    stopSource.request_stop();                                                  // (7)
    if (stopToken.stop_requested()) std::cout << "main: Stop requested\n";      // (8)

    thr1.join();
    thr2.join();

    std::cout << '\n';

}

Thanks to the stopSource (line 1), I can create the stopToken (line 2) for each running entity, such as std::thread (line 3), std::jthread (line 4), std::async (line 5), or std::promise (line 6). A std::stop_token is cheap to copy. Line 7 triggers stopSource.request_stop. Also, the main thread (line 8) gets the signal. I use in this example std::jthread. std::jthread, and std::condition_variable_any has explicit member functions to deal with cooperative interruption more conveniently. Read more about it in the following post: “An Improved Thread with C++20“.

What’s next?

I will take a break in the next two weeks. Afterward, I will jump again in C++23 and add the first time in C++26.

 

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