ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem Method

Reference

Definition

Namespace:: System.Threading

Assemblies:: netstandard.dll, System.Threading.ThreadPool.dll

Assembly:: System.Threading.ThreadPool.dll

Assembly:: mscorlib.dll

Assembly:: netstandard.dll

Important

Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it’s released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

Queues a method for execution. The method executes when a thread pool thread becomes available.

Overloads

QueueUserWorkItem(WaitCallback)	Queues a method for execution. The method executes when a thread pool thread becomes available.
QueueUserWorkItem(WaitCallback, Object)	Queues a method for execution, and specifies an object containing data to be used by the method. The method executes when a thread pool thread becomes available.
QueueUserWorkItem<TState>(Action<TState>, TState, Boolean)	Queues a method specified by an Action<T> delegate for execution, and provides data to be used by the method. The method executes when a thread pool thread becomes available.

QueueUserWorkItem(WaitCallback)

Source:: ThreadPoolWorkQueue.cs

Source:: ThreadPoolWorkQueue.cs

Source:: ThreadPoolWorkQueue.cs

Queues a method for execution. The method executes when a thread pool thread becomes available.

public:
 static bool QueueUserWorkItem(System::Threading::WaitCallback ^ callBack);

public static bool QueueUserWorkItem(System.Threading.WaitCallback callBack);

static member QueueUserWorkItem : System.Threading.WaitCallback -> bool

Public Shared Function QueueUserWorkItem (callBack As WaitCallback) As Boolean

Parameters

callBack: WaitCallback

A WaitCallback that represents the method to be executed.

Returns

Boolean

true if the method is successfully queued; NotSupportedException is thrown if the work item could not be queued.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

callBack is null.

NotSupportedException

The common language runtime (CLR) is hosted, and the host does not support this action.

Examples

The following example uses the QueueUserWorkItem(WaitCallback) method overload to queue a task, which is represented by the ThreadProc method, to execute when a thread becomes available. No task information is supplied with this overload. Therefore, the information that is available to the ThreadProc method is limited to the object the method belongs to.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Threading;

ref class Example
{
public:

   // This thread procedure performs the task.
   static void ThreadProc(Object^ stateInfo)
   {
      
      // No state object was passed to QueueUserWorkItem, so stateInfo is 0.
      Console::WriteLine( "Hello from the thread pool." );
   }
};

int main()
{
   // Queue the task.
   ThreadPool::QueueUserWorkItem(gcnew WaitCallback(Example::ThreadProc));

   Console::WriteLine("Main thread does some work, then sleeps.");
   
   Thread::Sleep(1000);
   Console::WriteLine("Main thread exits.");
   return 0;
}
// The example displays output like the following:
//       Main thread does some work, then sleeps.
//       Hello from the thread pool.
//       Main thread exits.

using System;
using System.Threading;

public class Example 
{
    public static void Main() 
    {
        // Queue the task.
        ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(ThreadProc);
        Console.WriteLine("Main thread does some work, then sleeps.");
        Thread.Sleep(1000);

        Console.WriteLine("Main thread exits.");
    }

    // This thread procedure performs the task.
    static void ThreadProc(Object stateInfo) 
    {
        // No state object was passed to QueueUserWorkItem, so stateInfo is null.
        Console.WriteLine("Hello from the thread pool.");
    }
}
// The example displays output like the following:
//       Main thread does some work, then sleeps.
//       Hello from the thread pool.
//       Main thread exits.

Imports System.Threading

Public Module Example
    Public Sub Main()
        ' Queue the work for execution.
        ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(AddressOf ThreadProc)
        
        Console.WriteLine("Main thread does some work, then sleeps.")

        Thread.Sleep(1000)

        Console.WriteLine("Main thread exits.")
    End Sub

    ' This thread procedure performs the task.
    Sub ThreadProc(stateInfo As Object)
        ' No state object was passed to QueueUserWorkItem, so stateInfo is null.
        Console.WriteLine("Hello from the thread pool.")
    End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output like the following:
'       Main thread does some work, then sleeps.
'       Hello from the thread pool.
'       Main thread exits.

Remarks

You can place data required by the queued method in the instance fields of the class in which the method is defined, or you can use the QueueUserWorkItem(WaitCallback, Object) overload that accepts an object containing the necessary data.

Note

Visual Basic users can omit the WaitCallback constructor, and simply use the AddressOf operator when passing the callback method to QueueUserWorkItem. Visual Basic automatically calls the correct delegate constructor.

The Thread.CurrentPrincipal property value is propagated to worker threads queued using the QueueUserWorkItem method.

Applies to

.NET 10 and other versions

Product	Versions
.NET	Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
.NET Framework	1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard	2.0, 2.1

QueueUserWorkItem(WaitCallback, Object)

Source:: ThreadPoolWorkQueue.cs

Source:: ThreadPoolWorkQueue.cs

Source:: ThreadPoolWorkQueue.cs

Queues a method for execution, and specifies an object containing data to be used by the method. The method executes when a thread pool thread becomes available.

public:
 static bool QueueUserWorkItem(System::Threading::WaitCallback ^ callBack, System::Object ^ state);

public static bool QueueUserWorkItem(System.Threading.WaitCallback callBack, object? state);

public static bool QueueUserWorkItem(System.Threading.WaitCallback callBack, object state);

static member QueueUserWorkItem : System.Threading.WaitCallback * obj -> bool

Public Shared Function QueueUserWorkItem (callBack As WaitCallback, state As Object) As Boolean

Parameters

callBack: WaitCallback

A WaitCallback representing the method to execute.

state: Object

An object containing data to be used by the method.

Returns

Boolean

true if the method is successfully queued; NotSupportedException is thrown if the work item could not be queued.

Exceptions

NotSupportedException

The common language runtime (CLR) is hosted, and the host does not support this action.

ArgumentNullException

callBack is null.

Examples

The following example uses the .NET thread pool to calculate the Fibonacci result for five numbers between 20 and 40. Each Fibonacci result is represented by the Fibonacci class, which provides a method named ThreadPoolCallback that performs the calculation. An object that represents each Fibonacci value is created, and the ThreadPoolCallback method is passed to QueueUserWorkItem, which assigns an available thread in the pool to execute the method.

Because each Fibonacci object is given a semi-random value to compute, and because each thread will be competing for processor time, you cannot know in advance how long it will take for all five results to be calculated. That is why each Fibonacci object is passed an instance of the ManualResetEvent class during construction. Each object signals the provided event object when its calculation is complete, which allows the primary thread to block execution with WaitAll until all five Fibonacci objects have calculated a result. The Main method then displays each Fibonacci result.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Threading;

public ref class Fibonacci
{
private:
    ManualResetEvent^ _doneEvent;

    int Calculate(int n)
    {
        if (n <= 1)
        {
            return n;
        }
        return Calculate(n - 1) + Calculate(n - 2);
    }

public:
    
    int ID;
    int N;
    int FibOfN;

    Fibonacci(int id, int n, ManualResetEvent^ doneEvent)
    {
        ID = id;
        N = n;
        _doneEvent = doneEvent;
    }

    void Calculate()
    {
        FibOfN = Calculate(N);
    }

    void SetDone()
    {
        _doneEvent->Set();
    }
};

public ref struct Example
{
public:

    static void ThreadProc(Object^ stateInfo)
    {
        Fibonacci^ f = dynamic_cast<Fibonacci^>(stateInfo);
        Console::WriteLine("Thread {0} started...", f->ID);
        f->Calculate();
        Console::WriteLine("Thread {0} result calculated...", f->ID);
        f->SetDone();
    }
};


void main()
{
    const int FibonacciCalculations = 5;

    array<ManualResetEvent^>^ doneEvents = gcnew array<ManualResetEvent^>(FibonacciCalculations);
    array<Fibonacci^>^ fibArray = gcnew array<Fibonacci^>(FibonacciCalculations);
    Random^ rand = gcnew Random();

    Console::WriteLine("Launching {0} tasks...", FibonacciCalculations);

    for (int i = 0; i < FibonacciCalculations; i++)
    {
        doneEvents[i] = gcnew ManualResetEvent(false);
        Fibonacci^ f = gcnew Fibonacci(i, rand->Next(20, 40), doneEvents[i]);
        fibArray[i] = f;
        ThreadPool::QueueUserWorkItem(gcnew WaitCallback(Example::ThreadProc), f);
    }

    WaitHandle::WaitAll(doneEvents);
    Console::WriteLine("All calculations are complete.");

    for (int i = 0; i < FibonacciCalculations; i++)
    {
        Fibonacci^ f = fibArray[i];
        Console::WriteLine("Fibonacci({0}) = {1}", f->N, f->FibOfN);
    }
}
// Output is similar to:
// Launching 5 tasks...
// Thread 3 started...
// Thread 2 started...
// Thread 1 started...
// Thread 0 started...
// Thread 4 started...
// Thread 4 result calculated...
// Thread 1 result calculated...
// Thread 2 result calculated...
// Thread 0 result calculated...
// Thread 3 result calculated...
// All calculations are complete.
// Fibonacci(30) = 832040
// Fibonacci(24) = 46368
// Fibonacci(26) = 121393
// Fibonacci(36) = 14930352
// Fibonacci(20) = 6765

using System;
using System.Threading;

public class Fibonacci
{
    private ManualResetEvent _doneEvent;

    public Fibonacci(int n, ManualResetEvent doneEvent)
    {
        N = n;
        _doneEvent = doneEvent;
    }

    public int N { get; }

    public int FibOfN { get; private set; }

    public void ThreadPoolCallback(Object threadContext)
    {
        int threadIndex = (int)threadContext;
        Console.WriteLine($"Thread {threadIndex} started...");
        FibOfN = Calculate(N);
        Console.WriteLine($"Thread {threadIndex} result calculated...");
        _doneEvent.Set();
    }

    public int Calculate(int n)
    {
        if (n <= 1)
        {
            return n;
        }
        return Calculate(n - 1) + Calculate(n - 2);
    }
}

public class ThreadPoolExample
{
    static void Main()
    {
        const int FibonacciCalculations = 5;

        var doneEvents = new ManualResetEvent[FibonacciCalculations];
        var fibArray = new Fibonacci[FibonacciCalculations];
        var rand = new Random();

        Console.WriteLine($"Launching {FibonacciCalculations} tasks...");
        for (int i = 0; i < FibonacciCalculations; i++)
        {
            doneEvents[i] = new ManualResetEvent(false);
            var f = new Fibonacci(rand.Next(20, 40), doneEvents[i]);
            fibArray[i] = f;
            ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(f.ThreadPoolCallback, i);
        }

        WaitHandle.WaitAll(doneEvents);
        Console.WriteLine("All calculations are complete.");

        for (int i = 0; i < FibonacciCalculations; i++)
        {
            Fibonacci f = fibArray[i];
            Console.WriteLine($"Fibonacci({f.N}) = {f.FibOfN}");
        }
    }
}
// The output is similar to:
// Launching 5 tasks...
// Thread 3 started...
// Thread 4 started...
// Thread 2 started...
// Thread 1 started...
// Thread 0 started...
// Thread 2 result calculated...
// Thread 3 result calculated...
// Thread 4 result calculated...
// Thread 1 result calculated...
// Thread 0 result calculated...
// All calculations are complete.
// Fibonacci(35) = 9227465
// Fibonacci(27) = 196418
// Fibonacci(25) = 75025
// Fibonacci(25) = 75025
// Fibonacci(27) = 196418

Imports System.Threading

Public Class Fibonacci
    Private _doneEvent As ManualResetEvent

    Public Sub New(n As Integer, doneEvent As ManualResetEvent)
        Me.N = n
        _doneEvent = doneEvent
    End Sub

    Public ReadOnly Property N As Integer
    Public Property FibOfN As Integer

    Public Sub ThreadPoolCallback(threadContext As Object)
        Dim threadIndex As Integer = CType(threadContext, Integer)
        Console.WriteLine($"Thread {threadIndex} started...")
        FibOfN = Calculate(N)
        Console.WriteLine($"Thread {threadIndex} result calculated...")
        _doneEvent.Set()
    End Sub

    Public Function Calculate(n As Integer) As Integer
        If (n <= 1) Then
            Return n
        End If
        Return Calculate(n - 1) + Calculate(n - 2)
    End Function
End Class

Public Class ThreadPoolExample

    <MTAThread>
    Public Shared Sub Main()

        Const FibonacciCalculations As Integer = 5

        Dim doneEvents(FibonacciCalculations - 1) As ManualResetEvent
        Dim fibArray(FibonacciCalculations - 1) As Fibonacci
        Dim rand As Random = New Random()

        Console.WriteLine($"Launching {FibonacciCalculations} tasks...")

        For i As Integer = 0 To FibonacciCalculations - 1
            doneEvents(i) = New ManualResetEvent(False)
            Dim f As Fibonacci = New Fibonacci(rand.Next(20, 40), doneEvents(i))
            fibArray(i) = f
            ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(AddressOf f.ThreadPoolCallback, i)
        Next

        WaitHandle.WaitAll(doneEvents)
        Console.WriteLine("All calculations are complete.")

        For i As Integer = 0 To FibonacciCalculations - 1
            Dim f As Fibonacci = fibArray(i)
            Console.WriteLine($"Fibonacci({f.N}) = {f.FibOfN}")
        Next
    End Sub
End Class
' Output is similar to
' Launching 5 tasks...
' Thread 1 started...
' Thread 2 started...
' Thread 3 started...
' Thread 4 started...
' Thread 0 started...
' Thread 4 result calculated...
' Thread 2 result calculated...
' Thread 3 result calculated...
' Thread 0 result calculated...
' Thread 1 result calculated...
' All calculations are complete.
' Fibonacci(37) = 24157817
' Fibonacci(38) = 39088169
' Fibonacci(29) = 514229
' Fibonacci(32) = 2178309
' Fibonacci(23) = 28657

Remarks

If the callback method requires complex data, you can define a class to contain the data.

Note

Applies to

.NET 10 and other versions

Product	Versions
.NET	Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
.NET Framework	1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard	2.0, 2.1

QueueUserWorkItem<TState>(Action<TState>, TState, Boolean)

Source:: ThreadPoolWorkQueue.cs

Source:: ThreadPoolWorkQueue.cs

Source:: ThreadPoolWorkQueue.cs

Queues a method specified by an Action<T> delegate for execution, and provides data to be used by the method. The method executes when a thread pool thread becomes available.

public:
generic <typename TState>
 static bool QueueUserWorkItem(Action<TState> ^ callBack, TState state, bool preferLocal);

public static bool QueueUserWorkItem<TState>(Action<TState> callBack, TState state, bool preferLocal);

static member QueueUserWorkItem : Action<'State> * 'State * bool -> bool

Public Shared Function QueueUserWorkItem(Of TState) (callBack As Action(Of TState), state As TState, preferLocal As Boolean) As Boolean

Type Parameters

TState

The type of elements of state.

Parameters

callBack: Action<TState>

An Action<T> representing the method to execute.

state: TState

An object containing data to be used by the method.

preferLocal: Boolean

true to prefer queueing the work item in a queue close to the current thread; false to prefer queueing the work item to the thread pool's shared queue.

Returns

Boolean

true if the method is successfully queued; NotSupportedException is thrown if the work item could not be queued.

Applies to

.NET 10 and other versions

Product	Versions
.NET	Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
.NET Standard	2.1

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ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem Method

Definition

Overloads

QueueUserWorkItem(WaitCallback)

Parameters

Returns

Exceptions

Examples

Remarks

See also

Applies to

QueueUserWorkItem(WaitCallback, Object)

Parameters

Returns

Exceptions

Examples

Remarks

See also

Applies to

QueueUserWorkItem<TState>(Action<TState>, TState, Boolean)

Type Parameters

Parameters

Returns

Applies to

Additional resources