Async.SwitchToContext Method (F#)

Article
05/30/2013

Creates an asynchronous computation that runs its continuation using the Post method on the synchronization context object.

Namespace/Module Path: Microsoft.FSharp.Control

Assembly: FSharp.Core (in FSharp.Core.dll)

// Signature:
static member SwitchToContext : SynchronizationContext -> Async<unit>

// Usage:
Async.SwitchToContext (syncContext)

Parameters

syncContext
Type: SynchronizationContext

The synchronization context to accept the posted computation.

Return Value

An asynchronous computation that uses the syncContext context to execute.

Remarks

If syncContext is null then the asynchronous computation is equivalent to Async.SwitchToThreadPool.

Example

The following code example illustrates how to use Async.SwitchToContext to switch to the UI thread to update the UI. In this, case a progress bar that indicates the state of completion of a computation is updated.

open System.Windows.Forms

let form = new Form(Text = "Test Form", Width = 400, Height = 400)
let syncContext = System.Threading.SynchronizationContext()
let button1 = new Button(Text = "Start")
let label1 = new Label(Text = "", Height = 200, Width = 200,
                       Top = button1.Height + 10)
form.Controls.AddRange([| button1; label1 |] )

let async1(syncContext, form : System.Windows.Forms.Form) =
    async {
        let label1 = form.Controls.[1]
        // Do something. 
        do! Async.Sleep(10000)
        let threadName = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.Name
        let threadNumber = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId
        label1.Text <- label1.Text + sprintf "Something [%s] [%d]" threadName threadNumber

        // Switch to the UI thread and update the UI. 
        do! Async.SwitchToContext(syncContext)
        let threadName = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.Name
        let threadNumber = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId
        label1.Text <- label1.Text + sprintf "Here [%s] [%d]" threadName threadNumber

        // Switch back to the thread pool. 
        do! Async.SwitchToThreadPool()
        // Do something. 
        do! Async.Sleep(10000)
        let threadName = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.Name
        let threadNumber = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId
        label1.Text <- label1.Text +
                       sprintf "Switched to thread pool [%s] [%d]" threadName threadNumber
    }

let buttonClick(sender:obj, args) =
    let button = sender :?> Button
    Async.Start(async1(syncContext, button.Parent :?> Form))
    let threadName = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.Name
    let threadNumber = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId
    button.Parent.Text <- sprintf "Started asynchronous workflow [%s] [%d]" threadName threadNumber
    ()

button1.Click.AddHandler(fun sender args -> buttonClick(sender, args))
Application.Run(form)

Platforms

Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2

Version Information

F# Core Library Versions

Supported in: 2.0, 4.0, Portable