c# - Starting multiple threads and keeping track of them from my .NET application

Question

I would like to start x number of threads from my .NET application, and I would like to keep track of them as I will need to terminate them manually or when my application closes my application later on.

Example ==> Start Thread Alpha, Start Thread Beta .. then at any point in my application I should be able to say Terminate Thread Beta ..

What is the best way to keep track of opened threads in .NET and what do I need to know ( an id ? ) about a thread to terminate it ?

Answer 1

You could save yourself the donkey work and use this Smart Thread Pool. It provides a unit of work system which allows you to query each thread's status at any point, and terminate them.

If that is too much bother, then as mentioned anIDictionary<string,Thread> is probably the simplest solution. Or even simpler is give each of your thread a name, and use an IList<Thread>:

public class MyThreadPool
{
    private IList<Thread> _threads;
    private readonly int MAX_THREADS = 25;

    public MyThreadPool()
    {
        _threads = new List<Thread>();
    }

    public void LaunchThreads()
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < MAX_THREADS;i++)
        {
            Thread thread = new Thread(ThreadEntry);
            thread.IsBackground = true;
            thread.Name = string.Format("MyThread{0}",i);

            _threads.Add(thread);
            thread.Start();
        }
    }

    public void KillThread(int index)
    {
        string id = string.Format("MyThread{0}",index);
        foreach (Thread thread in _threads)
        {
            if (thread.Name == id)
                thread.Abort();
        }
    }

    void ThreadEntry()
    {

    }
}

You can of course get a lot more involved and complicated with it. If killing your threads isn't time sensitive (for example if you don't need to kill a thread in 3 seconds in a UI) then a Thread.Join() is a better practice.

And if you haven't already read it, then Jon Skeet has this good discussion and solution for the "don't use abort" advice that is common on SO.