Using NSThread sleep in an NSOperation - objective-c

Working with some code, I'm coming across run loops, which I'm new to, inside NSOperations.
The NSOperations are busy downloading data - and whilst they are busy, there is code to wait for the downloads to complete, in the form of NSRunLoops and thread sleeping.
This code in particular is of interest to me:
while (aCertainConditionIsTrue && [self isCancelled]==NO) {
if(![[NSRunLoop currentRunLoop] runMode: NSDefaultRunLoopMode beforeDate:[NSDate dateWithTimeIntervalSinceNow:1.0]]){
[NSThread sleepForTimeInterval:1.0];
}
}
I've read about the run loops, and runMode:beforeDate: will wait for an input source or a timeout. Although I'm not 100% what counts as an input souce.
On the first execution of this it always returns NO and hits the sleepForTimeInterval:. Is this bad?
In a particular utility class, it's hitting the sleepForTimeInterval: a lot - once for each thread - which significantly hurts the performance.
Any better solutions for this, or advice?

Sleeping locks up the thread. Perhaps you change your code to use performSelector:withObject:afterDelay. That way your thread can continue to run.
...
done = NO;
[self checkDoneCondition:nil];
...
- (void)checkDoneCondition:(id)object {
if (aCertainConditionIsTrue && [self isCancelled]==NO) {
if(...) {
[self performSelector:#selector(checkDoneCondition:) withObject:[con error] afterDelay:1.0];
} else {
done = YES;
}
}
}

It looks like you need to use a concurrent NSOperation. Here is the relevant part in the Apple docs:
In contrast to a non-concurrent operation, which runs synchronously, a
concurrent operation runs asynchronously. In other words, when you
call the start method of a concurrent operation, that method could
return before the corresponding task is completed. This might happen
because the operation object created a new thread to execute the task
or because the operation called an asynchronous function. It does not
actually matter if the operation is ongoing when control returns to
the caller, only that it could be ongoing.
(...)
In a concurrent operation, your start method is responsible for
starting the operation in an asynchronous manner. Whether you spawn a
thread or call an asynchronous function, you do it from this method.
Upon starting the operation, your start method should also update the
execution state of the operation as reported by the isExecuting
method. You do this by sending out KVO notifications for the
isExecuting key path, which lets interested clients know that the
operation is now running. Your isExecuting method must also return the
status in a thread-safe manner.
(from https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Reference/NSOperation_class/Reference/Reference.html)
In other words, you can override the -start method in your NSOperation subclass, and have ivar for the executing and finished property. This method will start the download in a separate thread. When the download starts, you set the executing flag and trigger KVO. WHen it is finished in this thread, you do the same with finished and executing. It seems complicated but it's actually quite simple.
See also this question on Stack Overflow with a great explanation: Subclassing NSOperation to be concurrent and cancellable

Related

At which moment exactly is completionBlock executed on NSOperation?

I am just wondering at what exact moment a completionBlock is executed on a NSOperation owned by a NSOperationQueue.
On my newest project, a client for Amazon S3 (https://github.com/StudioIstanbul/SIAFAWSClient), I use a NSOperation with a completionBlock for requests to Amazon REST API. The client is able to monitor the status of all scheduled requests via a property on the main class called isBusy. In my operation's completion block I set the value for this property to NO if there are no other operations scheduled in my NSOperationQueue. I now figured out that in some rare cases my current NSOperation is still included in my NSOperationQueue when the completionBlock gets called. This seems a little strange to me. I ended up checking for existence of the current NSOperation in my queue to fix this, but this seems unnecessary from a design point of view.
__weak AWSOperation* thisOperation = operation;
[operation setCompletionBlock:^{
if (self.operationQueue.operationCount <= 0
|| (self.operationQueue.operationCount == 1
&& [self.operationQueue.operations objectAtIndex:0] == thisOperation)) {
[self willChangeValueForKey:#"isBusy"];
_isBusy = NO;
[self didChangeValueForKey:#"isBusy"];
}
}];
Does anybody have more information on this behavior?
From the docs:
The exact execution context for your completion block is not guaranteed but is typically a secondary thread. Therefore, you should not use this block to do any work that requires a very specific execution context.
So, you can't guarantee that it will be called before or after the operation is removed from the queue. It's sent after the trigger to remove the operation from the queue (because the operation is finished) but there is effectively a race between those 2 things.
Your best option is to push your consideration to the next iteration of the main runloop if you're interrogating the operation queue itself to determine the state.

NSOperationqueue and postnotification when finished

I realize that this is a problem others have had before me but I seem unable to find a good solution. My problem is that I want to loop through a number of operations stored in a NSOperationQueue, and when all operations have finished I would like to post a notification. The notification starts a final process that relies on all of the operations to have finished. However, my notification is sent several times prior to the operations have finished. This is my approach:
self.queueFinished=FALSE;
[self createFileobjectsForDirectories:self.mymode];
This results in an array of operations (self.arrayOfOperations) which is further used:
[self.myFileobjectsQueue addOperations:self.arrayOfOperations waitUntilFinished:NO];
NSInvocationOperation *completionOperation = [[NSInvocationOperation alloc] initWithTarget:self
selector:#selector(runLastOperation:)
object:start];
for (NSOperation *myOp in self.myFileobjectsQueue.operations){
[completionOperation addDependency:myOp];
}
[completionOperation setQueuePriority:NSOperationQueuePriorityVeryLow];
[self.myFileobjectsQueue addOperation:completionOperation];
-(void) runLastOperation:(NSDate*) start {
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:kCompareFinished object:nil userInfo:nil];
self.queueFinished=TRUE;
}
I have tried several approaches to observing when my queue has finished as suggested elsewhere, without success. It is almost like the notifications are called when the queue is empty, but prior to operations have finished their tasks. But according to Apple documentation the operation will not be removed from the queue until the isFinished flag is TRUE. I am running concurrent operations using the regular main function in a subclass of NSOperation. Perhaps I am misunderstanding something here, but suggestions for how to make sure that not only the queue is empty, but to also make sure that the operations have finished would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Trond
It doesn't seem like you need a notification (at least not to trigger the final processing). Instead, create a new operation, make it dependent upon all of the other operations that you add for your processing and then add it to the queue. Then it will run only once all of the other operations are complete.
You're correct about isFinished determining when the operation is finished. One thing to consider is that any completionBlock added to an operation is run after the operation has completed (not just before it completes).

dispatch_async vs dispatch_sync execution order

I have a serial dispatch queue created with:
dispatch_queue_t serialQueue = dispatch_queue_create("com.unique.name.queue", DISPATCH_QUEUE_SERIAL);
I want to use this serial queue to ensure thread safety for class access, while automatically doing work asynchronously that doesn't need to return to the calling thread.
- (void)addObjectToQueue:(id)object
{
dispatch_async(serialQueue, ^{
// process object and add to queue
});
}
- (BOOL)isObjectInQueue:(id)object
{
__block BOOL returnValue = NO;
dispatch_sync(serialQueue, ^{
// work out return value
});
return returnValue;
}
If I call the addObjectToQueue: method, then immediately call the isObjectInQueue: method, are they guaranteed to be executed in the same order, or will/could the isObjectInQueue execute first?
In other words, does dispatch_async perform exactly the same as dispatch_sync (scheduling the block immediately) except that it doesn't block the calling thread?
I have seen similar questions with answers going both ways, so I am looking for a definitive answer, preferably backed with Apple documentation.
Are they guaranteed to be executed in the same order?
Yes.
Will / could the isObjectInQueue execute first?
Yes.
The reason for the yes to both answers is you should consider threading. Which is presumably why you are using the serial queue in the first place. You are making access to that queue thread safe.
Basically, the blocks will execute in the order in which they are put on the serial queue. That is 100% guaranteed. However, if multiple threads are hammering away at this then one thread may get in first to read something from the queue before another has had chance to add it.
In other words, does dispatch_async perform exactly the same as dispatch_sync (scheduling the block immediately) except that it doesn't block the calling thread?
That's right. In both cases the block is added to the queue. It is added immediately. dispatch_sync just waits for the block to finish before returning whereas dispatch_async returns immediately.
I guess your question is, will the main thread keep running while dispatch_async is still executing the queue operation? I assume it won't, because that would deserve a explicit mention. If anything, I found this in dispatch_async.3 which suggests this is the case:
Conceptually, dispatch_sync() is a convenient wrapper around
dispatch_async() with the addition of a semaphore to wait for
completion of the block, and a wrapper around the block to signal its
completion.
And indeed, if you follow the source code for dispatch_async in queue.c you'll see that the block is queued on the foreground, and only after that, execution returns to the code that called dispatch_async. Therefore if the queue is serial, dispatch_async followed by a dispatch_sync from the same thread will queue the blocks in order.
Because dispatch_sync will block until the block (and all blocks before in a serial queue) are done executing, then your code would be right. isObjectInQueue: will correctly report if the object added before is in the queue.
edit: on a multithreaded environment I would write the code above as:
- (void)addObjectToQueue:(id)object
{
dispatch_barrier_async(_queue, ^{
// process object and add to queue
});
}
- (BOOL)isObjectInQueue:(id)object
{
__block BOOL returnValue = NO;
dispatch_sync(_queue, ^{
// work out return value
});
return returnValue;
}
because execution of each method can be deferred at any point in favor of another thread.

GCD: How to remove waiting tasks from serial queue?

First I create a serial queue like this
static dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_queue_create("myQueue", DISPATCH_QUEUE_SERIAL);
then, at some unknown point in time a task gets added to the queue like this
dispatch_async(queue, ^{
// do something, which takes some time
});
If the first task hasn't finished yet, the new task will wait until the first completes (that's of course what a serial queue is for).
But if I add 5 new tasks to the queue, while the original first one is still running, I don't want to execute new task no.1, then no.2, then no.3 and so on, but want to get rid of tasks 1 to 4 and directly start executing task no.5 after the original first task has finished.
In other words, I want to pop any waiting task (not the one that is currently running) off the queue, if I add a new one.
Is there a build in mechanism for this or do I have to implement this myself? And for the latter, how would I identify single tasks inside a queue and remove them?
Once a block has been submitted to a GCD dispatch queue, it will run. There is no way to cancel it. You can, as you know, implement your own mechanism to "abort" the block execution early.
An easier way to do this would be to use NSOperationQueue, as it already provides an implementation for canceling pending operations (i.e., those not yet running), and you can easily enqueue a block with the new-ish addOperationWithBlock method.
Though NSOperationQueue is implemented using GCD, I find GCD much easier to use in most cases. However, in this case, I would seriously consider using NSOperationQueue because it already handles canceling pending operations.
With Davids answer getting me on track I succeeded in doing this like so
taskCounter++;
dispatch_async(queue, ^{
if (taskCounter > 1) {
taskCounter--;
NSLog(#"%#", #"skip");
return;
}
NSLog(#"%#", #"start");
// do stuff
sleep(3);
taskCounter--;
NSLog(#"%#", #"done");
});
taskCounter has to be either an ivar or a property (initialize it with 0). In that case it doesn't even need the __block attribute.
The way you handle this is to use an ivar that indicates to the queued blocks they should just return:
^{
if(!canceled) {
... do work
}
}
You don't need to use a simple boolean either - you can make this more complex - but the general idea is to use one or more ivars that the block queries before doing anything.
I use this technique (but did not invent it) with great success.
If instead of adding a closure in you add a DispatchWorkItem, you can cancel it as long as it hasn't started executing yet.
In the following code, backgroundWorkItem will never run, because it is cancelled before it starts executing.
let backgroundWorkItem = DispatchWorkItem {
print("Background work item executed")
}
DispatchQueue.main.async(execute: backgroundWorkItem)
backgroundWorkItem.cancel()

Why can't we use a dispatch_sync on the current queue?

I ran into a scenario where I had a delegate callback which could occur on either the main thread or another thread, and I wouldn't know which until runtime (using StoreKit.framework).
I also had UI code that I needed to update in that callback which needed to happen before the function executed, so my initial thought was to have a function like this:
-(void) someDelegateCallback:(id) sender
{
dispatch_sync(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
// ui update code here
});
// code here that depends upon the UI getting updated
}
That works great, when it is executed on the background thread. However, when executed on the main thread, the program comes to a deadlock.
That alone seems interesting to me, if I read the docs for dispatch_sync right, then I would expect it to just execute the block outright, not worrying about scheduling it into the runloop, as said here:
As an optimization, this function invokes the block on the current thread when possible.
But, that's not too big of a deal, it simply means a bit more typing, which lead me to this approach:
-(void) someDelegateCallBack:(id) sender
{
dispatch_block_t onMain = ^{
// update UI code here
};
if (dispatch_get_current_queue() == dispatch_get_main_queue())
onMain();
else
dispatch_sync(dispatch_get_main_queue(), onMain);
}
However, this seems a bit backwards. Was this a bug in the making of GCD, or is there something that I am missing in the docs?
dispatch_sync does two things:
queue a block
blocks the current thread until the block has finished running
Given that the main thread is a serial queue (which means it uses only one thread), if you run the following statement on the main queue:
dispatch_sync(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^(){/*...*/});
the following events will happen:
dispatch_sync queues the block in the main queue.
dispatch_sync blocks the thread of the main queue until the block finishes executing.
dispatch_sync waits forever because the thread where the block is supposed to run is blocked.
The key to understanding this issue is that dispatch_sync does not execute blocks, it only queues them. Execution will happen on a future iteration of the run loop.
The following approach:
if (queueA == dispatch_get_current_queue()){
block();
} else {
dispatch_sync(queueA, block);
}
is perfectly fine, but be aware that it won't protect you from complex scenarios involving a hierarchy of queues. In such case, the current queue may be different than a previously blocked queue where you are trying to send your block. Example:
dispatch_sync(queueA, ^{
dispatch_sync(queueB, ^{
// dispatch_get_current_queue() is B, but A is blocked,
// so a dispatch_sync(A,b) will deadlock.
dispatch_sync(queueA, ^{
// some task
});
});
});
For complex cases, read/write key-value data in the dispatch queue:
dispatch_queue_t workerQ = dispatch_queue_create("com.meh.sometask", NULL);
dispatch_queue_t funnelQ = dispatch_queue_create("com.meh.funnel", NULL);
dispatch_set_target_queue(workerQ,funnelQ);
static int kKey;
// saves string "funnel" in funnelQ
CFStringRef tag = CFSTR("funnel");
dispatch_queue_set_specific(funnelQ,
&kKey,
(void*)tag,
(dispatch_function_t)CFRelease);
dispatch_sync(workerQ, ^{
// is funnelQ in the hierarchy of workerQ?
CFStringRef tag = dispatch_get_specific(&kKey);
if (tag){
dispatch_sync(funnelQ, ^{
// some task
});
} else {
// some task
}
});
Explanation:
I create a workerQ queue that points to a funnelQ queue. In real code this is useful if you have several “worker” queues and you want to resume/suspend all at once (which is achieved by resuming/updating their target funnelQ queue).
I may funnel my worker queues at any point in time, so to know if they are funneled or not, I tag funnelQ with the word "funnel".
Down the road I dispatch_sync something to workerQ, and for whatever reason I want to dispatch_sync to funnelQ, but avoiding a dispatch_sync to the current queue, so I check for the tag and act accordingly. Because the get walks up the hierarchy, the value won't be found in workerQ but it will be found in funnelQ. This is a way of finding out if any queue in the hierarchy is the one where we stored the value. And therefore, to prevent a dispatch_sync to the current queue.
If you are wondering about the functions that read/write context data, there are three:
dispatch_queue_set_specific: Write to a queue.
dispatch_queue_get_specific: Read from a queue.
dispatch_get_specific: Convenience function to read from the current queue.
The key is compared by pointer, and never dereferenced. The last parameter in the setter is a destructor to release the key.
If you are wondering about “pointing one queue to another”, it means exactly that. For example, I can point a queue A to the main queue, and it will cause all blocks in the queue A to run in the main queue (usually this is done for UI updates).
I found this in the documentation (last chapter):
Do not call the dispatch_sync function from a task that is executing
on the same queue that you pass to your function call. Doing so will
deadlock the queue. If you need to dispatch to the current queue, do
so asynchronously using the dispatch_async function.
Also, I followed the link that you provided and in the description of dispatch_sync I read this:
Calling this function and targeting the current queue results in deadlock.
So I don't think it's a problem with GCD, I think the only sensible approach is the one you invented after discovering the problem.
I know where your confusion comes from:
As an optimization, this function invokes the block on the current
thread when possible.
Careful, it says current thread.
Thread != Queue
A queue doesn't own a thread and a thread is not bound to a queue. There are threads and there are queues. Whenever a queue wants to run a block, it needs a thread but that won't always be the same thread. It just needs any thread for it (this may be a different one each time) and when it's done running blocks (for the moment), the same thread can now be used by a different queue.
The optimization this sentence talks about is about threads, not about queues. E.g. consider you have two serial queues, QueueA and QueueB and now you do the following:
dispatch_async(QueueA, ^{
someFunctionA(...);
dispatch_sync(QueueB, ^{
someFunctionB(...);
});
});
When QueueA runs the block, it will temporarily own a thread, any thread. someFunctionA(...) will execute on that thread. Now while doing the synchronous dispatch, QueueA cannot do anything else, it has to wait for the dispatch to finish. QueueB on the other hand, will also need a thread to run its block and execute someFunctionB(...). So either QueueA temporarily suspends its thread and QueueB uses some other thread to run the block or QueueA hands its thread over to QueueB (after all it won't need it anyway until the synchronous dispatch has finished) and QueueB directly uses the current thread of QueueA.
Needless to say that the last option is much faster as no thread switch is required. And this is the optimization the sentence talks about. So a dispatch_sync() to a different queue may not always cause a thread switch (different queue, maybe same thread).
But a dispatch_sync() still cannot happen to the same queue (same thread, yes, same queue, no). That's because a queue will execute block after block and when it currently executes a block, it won't execute another one until the currently executed is done. So it executes BlockA and BlockA does a dispatch_sync() of BlockB on the same queue. The queue won't run BlockB as long as it still runs BlockA, but running BlockA won't continue until BlockB has ran. See the problem? It's a classical deadlock.
The documentation clearly states that passing the current queue will cause a deadlock.
Now they don’t say why they designed things that way (except that it would actually take extra code to make it work), but I suspect the reason for doing things this way is because in this special case, blocks would be “jumping” the queue, i.e. in normal cases your block ends up running after all the other blocks on the queue have run but in this case it would run before.
This problem arises when you are trying to use GCD as a mutual exclusion mechanism, and this particular case is equivalent to using a recursive mutex. I don’t want to get into the argument about whether it’s better to use GCD or a traditional mutual exclusion API such as pthreads mutexes, or even whether it’s a good idea to use recursive mutexes; I’ll let others argue about that, but there is certainly a demand for this, particularly when it’s the main queue that you’re dealing with.
Personally, I think that dispatch_sync would be more useful if it supported this or if there was another function that provided the alternate behaviour. I would urge others that think so to file a bug report with Apple (as I have done, ID: 12668073).
You can write your own function to do the same, but it’s a bit of a hack:
// Like dispatch_sync but works on current queue
static inline void dispatch_synchronized (dispatch_queue_t queue,
dispatch_block_t block)
{
dispatch_queue_set_specific (queue, queue, (void *)1, NULL);
if (dispatch_get_specific (queue))
block ();
else
dispatch_sync (queue, block);
}
N.B. Previously, I had an example that used dispatch_get_current_queue() but that has now been deprecated.
Both dispatch_async and dispatch_sync perform push their action onto the desired queue. The action does not happen immediately; it happens on some future iteration of the run loop of the queue. The difference between dispatch_async and dispatch_sync is that dispatch_sync blocks the current queue until the action finishes.
Think about what happens when you execute something asynchronously on the current queue. Again, it does not happen immediately; it puts it in a FIFO queue, and it has to wait until after the current iteration of the run loop is done (and possibly also wait for other actions that were in the queue before you put this new action on).
Now you might ask, when performing an action on the current queue asynchronously, why not always just call the function directly, instead of wait until some future time. The answer is that there is a big difference between the two. A lot of times, you need to perform an action, but it needs to be performed after whatever side effects are performed by functions up the stack in the current iteration of the run loop; or you need to perform your action after some animation action that is already scheduled on the run loop, etc. That's why a lot of times you will see the code [obj performSelector:selector withObject:foo afterDelay:0] (yes, it's different from [obj performSelector:selector withObject:foo]).
As we said before, dispatch_sync is the same as dispatch_async, except that it blocks until the action is completed. So it's obvious why it would deadlock -- the block cannot execute until at least after the current iteration of the run loop is finished; but we are waiting for it to finish before continuing.
In theory it would be possible to make a special case for dispatch_sync for when it is the current thread, to execute it immediately. (Such a special case exists for performSelector:onThread:withObject:waitUntilDone:, when the thread is the current thread and waitUntilDone: is YES, it executes it immediately.) However, I guess Apple decided that it was better to have consistent behavior here regardless of queue.
Found from the following documentation.
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/Performance/Reference/GCD_libdispatch_Ref/index.html#//apple_ref/c/func/dispatch_sync
Unlike dispatch_async, "dispatch_sync" function does not return until the block has finished. Calling this function and targeting the current queue results in deadlock.
Unlike with dispatch_async, no retain is performed on the target queue. Because calls to this function are synchronous, it "borrows" the reference of the caller. Moreover, no Block_copy is performed on the block.
As an optimization, this function invokes the block on the current thread when possible.