Returning a value from thread?

Question

How do I return a value from a thread?

Answer 1

With the latest .NET Framework, it is possible to return a value from a separate thread using a Task, where the Result property blocks the calling thread until the task finishes:

  Task<MyClass> task = Task<MyClass>.Factory.StartNew(() =>
  {
      string s = "my message";
      double d = 3.14159;
      return new MyClass { Name = s, Number = d };
  });
  MyClass test = task.Result;

For details, please see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd537613(v=vs.110).aspx

Answer 2

Can use This Code:

 private Object MyThread(Object Data)
      {
        Object response = null;
        Thread newThread = new Thread(() =>
        {
            response = MyFunction(Data);
            //MyFunction Is Function that you Define
        });
        newThread.Start();
        newThread.Join();
        return response;
      }

Answer 3

My favorite class, runs any method on another thread with just 2 lines of code.

class ThreadedExecuter<T> where T : class
{
    public delegate void CallBackDelegate(T returnValue);
    public delegate T MethodDelegate();
    private CallBackDelegate callback;
    private MethodDelegate method;

    private Thread t;

    public ThreadedExecuter(MethodDelegate method, CallBackDelegate callback)
    {
        this.method = method;
        this.callback = callback;
        t = new Thread(this.Process);
    }
    public void Start()
    {
        t.Start();
    }
    public void Abort()
    {
        t.Abort();
        callback(null); //can be left out depending on your needs
    }
    private void Process()
    {
        T stuffReturned = method();
        callback(stuffReturned);
    }
}

usage

    void startthework()
    {
        ThreadedExecuter<string> executer = new ThreadedExecuter<string>(someLongFunction, longFunctionComplete);
        executer.Start();
    }
    string someLongFunction()
    {
        while(!workComplete)
            WorkWork();
        return resultOfWork;
    }
    void longFunctionComplete(string s)
    {
        PrintWorkComplete(s);
    }

Beware that longFunctionComplete will NOT execute on the same thread as starthework.

For methods that take parameters you can always use closures, or expand the class.

Answer 4

If you don't want to use a BackgroundWorker, and just use a regular Thread, then you can fire an event to return data like this:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Threading;

namespace ThreadWithDataReturnExample
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        private Thread thread1 = null;

        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            thread1 = new Thread(new ThreadStart(this.threadEntryPoint));
            Thread1Completed += new AsyncCompletedEventHandler(thread1_Thread1Completed);
        }

        private void startButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            thread1.Start();
            //Alternatively, you could pass some object
            //in such as Start(someObject);
            //With apprioriate locking, or protocol where
            //no other threads access the object until
            //an event signals when the thread is complete,
            //any other class with a reference to the object 
            //would be able to access that data.
            //But instead, I'm going to use AsyncCompletedEventArgs 
            //in an event that signals completion
        }

        void thread1_Thread1Completed(object sender, AsyncCompletedEventArgs e)
        {
            if (this.InvokeRequired)
            {//marshal the call if we are not on the GUI thread                
                BeginInvoke(new AsyncCompletedEventHandler(thread1_Thread1Completed),
                  new object[] { sender, e });
            }
            else
            {
                //display error if error occurred
                //if no error occurred, process data
                if (e.Error == null)
                {//then success

                    MessageBox.Show("Worker thread completed successfully");
                    DataYouWantToReturn someData = e.UserState as DataYouWantToReturn;
                    MessageBox.Show("Your data my lord: " + someData.someProperty);

                }
                else//error
                {
                    MessageBox.Show("The following error occurred:" + Environment.NewLine + e.Error.ToString());
                }
            }
        }

        #region I would actually move all of this into it's own class
            private void threadEntryPoint()
            {
                //do a bunch of stuff

                //when you are done:
                //initialize object with data that you want to return
                DataYouWantToReturn dataYouWantToReturn = new DataYouWantToReturn();
                dataYouWantToReturn.someProperty = "more data";

                //signal completion by firing an event
                OnThread1Completed(new AsyncCompletedEventArgs(null, false, dataYouWantToReturn));
            }

            /// <summary>
            /// Occurs when processing has finished or an error occurred.
            /// </summary>
            public event AsyncCompletedEventHandler Thread1Completed;
            protected virtual void OnThread1Completed(AsyncCompletedEventArgs e)
            {
                //copy locally
                AsyncCompletedEventHandler handler = Thread1Completed;
                if (handler != null)
                {
                    handler(this, e);
                }
            }
        #endregion

    }
}

Answer 5

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string returnValue = null;
       new Thread(
          () =>
          {
              returnValue =test() ; 
          }).Start();
        Console.WriteLine(returnValue);
        Console.ReadKey();
    }

    public static string test()
    {
        return "Returning From Thread called method";
    }
}

Answer 6

Here is a simple example using a delegate ...

void Main()
{
   DoIt d1 = Doer.DoThatThang;
   DoIt d2 = Doer.DoThatThang;

   IAsyncResult r1 = d1.BeginInvoke( 5, null, null );
   IAsyncResult r2 = d2.BeginInvoke( 10, null, null );

   Thread.Sleep( 1000 );

   var s1 = d1.EndInvoke( r1 );
   var s2 = d2.EndInvoke( r2 );

   s1.Dump(); // You told me 5
   s2.Dump(); // You told me 10
}

public delegate string DoIt( int x );

public class Doer
{
  public static string DoThatThang( int x  )
  {
    return "You told me " + x.ToString();
  }
}

There's a terrific series on threading at Threading in C#.