How to timeout a thread

Question

I want to run a thread for some fixed amount of time. If it is not completed within that time, I want to either kill it, throw some exception, or handle it in some way. How

Answer 1

I had the same problem. So i came up with a simple solution like this.

public class TimeoutBlock {

 private final long timeoutMilliSeconds;
    private long timeoutInteval=100;

    public TimeoutBlock(long timeoutMilliSeconds){
        this.timeoutMilliSeconds=timeoutMilliSeconds;
    }

    public void addBlock(Runnable runnable) throws Throwable{
        long collectIntervals=0;
        Thread timeoutWorker=new Thread(runnable);
        timeoutWorker.start();
        do{ 
            if(collectIntervals>=this.timeoutMilliSeconds){
                timeoutWorker.stop();
                throw new Exception("<<<<<<<<<<****>>>>>>>>>>> Timeout Block Execution Time Exceeded In "+timeoutMilliSeconds+" Milli Seconds. Thread Block Terminated.");
            }
            collectIntervals+=timeoutInteval;           
            Thread.sleep(timeoutInteval);

        }while(timeoutWorker.isAlive());
        System.out.println("<<<<<<<<<<####>>>>>>>>>>> Timeout Block Executed Within "+collectIntervals+" Milli Seconds.");
    }

    /**
     * @return the timeoutInteval
     */
    public long getTimeoutInteval() {
        return timeoutInteval;
    }

    /**
     * @param timeoutInteval the timeoutInteval to set
     */
    public void setTimeoutInteval(long timeoutInteval) {
        this.timeoutInteval = timeoutInteval;
    }
}

Guarantees that if block didn't execute within the time limit. the process will terminate and throws an exception.

example :

try {
        TimeoutBlock timeoutBlock = new TimeoutBlock(10 * 60 * 1000);//set timeout in milliseconds
        Runnable block=new Runnable() {

            @Override
            public void run() {
                //TO DO write block of code 
            }
        };

        timeoutBlock.addBlock(block);// execute the runnable block 

    } catch (Throwable e) {
        //catch the exception here . Which is block didn't execute within the time limit
    }

Answer 2

I think you should take a look at proper concurrency handling mechanisms (threads running into infinite loops doesn't sound good per se, btw). Make sure you read a little about the "killing" or "stopping" Threads topic.

What you are describing,sound very much like a "rendezvous", so you may want to take a look at the CyclicBarrier.

There may be other constructs (like using CountDownLatch for example) that can resolve your problem (one thread waiting with a timeout for the latch, the other should count down the latch if it has done it's work, which would release your first thread either after a timeout or when the latch countdown is invoked).

I usually recommend two books in this area: Concurrent Programming in Java and Java Concurrency in Practice.

Answer 3

Indeed rather use ExecutorService instead of Timer, here's an SSCCE:

package com.stackoverflow.q2275443;

import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
import java.util.concurrent.Future;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        ExecutorService executor = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();
        Future<String> future = executor.submit(new Task());

        try {
            System.out.println("Started..");
            System.out.println(future.get(3, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
            System.out.println("Finished!");
        } catch (TimeoutException e) {
            future.cancel(true);
            System.out.println("Terminated!");
        }

        executor.shutdownNow();
    }
}

class Task implements Callable<String> {
    @Override
    public String call() throws Exception {
        Thread.sleep(4000); // Just to demo a long running task of 4 seconds.
        return "Ready!";
    }
}

Play a bit with the timeout argument in Future#get() method, e.g. increase it to 5 and you'll see that the thread finishes. You can intercept the timeout in the catch (TimeoutException e) block.

Update: to clarify a conceptual misunderstanding, the sleep() is not required. It is just used for SSCCE/demonstration purposes. Just do your long running task right there in place of sleep(). Inside your long running task, you should be checking if the thread is not interrupted as follows:

while (!Thread.interrupted()) {
    // Do your long running task here.
}

Answer 4

Consider using an instance of ExecutorService. Both invokeAll() and invokeAny() methods are available with a timeout parameter.

The current thread will block until the method completes (not sure if this is desirable) either because the task(s) completed normally or the timeout was reached. You can inspect the returned Future(s) to determine what happened.

Answer 5

Here is my really simple to use helper class to run or call piece of Java code :-)

This is based on the excellent answer from BalusC

package com.mycompany.util.concurrent;

import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
import java.util.concurrent.Future;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;

/**
 * Calling {@link Callable#call()} or Running {@link Runnable#run()} code
 * with a timeout based on {@link Future#get(long, TimeUnit))}
 * @author pascaldalfarra
 *
 */
public class CallableHelper
{

    private CallableHelper()
    {
    }

    public static final void run(final Runnable runnable, int timeoutInSeconds)
    {
        run(runnable, null, timeoutInSeconds);
    }

    public static final void run(final Runnable runnable, Runnable timeoutCallback, int timeoutInSeconds)
    {
        call(new Callable<Void>()
        {
            @Override
            public Void call() throws Exception
            {
                runnable.run();
                return null;
            }
        }, timeoutCallback, timeoutInSeconds); 
    }

    public static final <T> T call(final Callable<T> callable, int timeoutInSeconds)
    {
        return call(callable, null, timeoutInSeconds); 
    }

    public static final <T> T call(final Callable<T> callable, Runnable timeoutCallback, int timeoutInSeconds)
    {
        ExecutorService executor = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();
        try
        {
            Future<T> future = executor.submit(callable);
            T result = future.get(timeoutInSeconds, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
            System.out.println("CallableHelper - Finished!");
            return result;
        }
        catch (TimeoutException e)
        {
            System.out.println("CallableHelper - TimeoutException!");
            if(timeoutCallback != null)
            {
                timeoutCallback.run();
            }
        }
        catch (InterruptedException e)
        {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        catch (ExecutionException e)
        {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        finally
        {
            executor.shutdownNow();
            executor = null;
        }

        return null;
    }

}

Answer 6

Now , l meet a issue like this. It happens to decode picture. The process of decode takes too much time that the screen keep black. l add a time controler: when the time is too long, then pop up from the current Thread. The following is the diff:

   ExecutorService executor = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();
   Future<Bitmap> future = executor.submit(new Callable<Bitmap>() {
       @Override
       public Bitmap call() throws Exception {
       Bitmap bitmap = decodeAndScaleBitmapFromStream(context, inputUri);// do some time consuming operation
       return null;
            }
       });
       try {
           Bitmap result = future.get(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
       } catch (TimeoutException e){
           future.cancel(true);
       }
       executor.shutdown();
       return (bitmap!= null);