ReaderWriterLock.WriterSeqNum Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Threading

Assembly:

System.Threading.dll

Source:

ReaderWriterLock.cs

Gets the current sequence number.

public:
 property int WriterSeqNum { int get(); };

public int WriterSeqNum { get; }

member this.WriterSeqNum : int

Public ReadOnly Property WriterSeqNum As Integer

Property Value

Int32

The current sequence number.

Examples

The following code example shows how to use the WriterSeqNum property and the AnyWritersSince method to determine whether another thread acquired the writer lock on the protected resource since the current thread last held the writer lock.

This code is part of a larger example provided for the ReaderWriterLock class.

// The complete code is located in the ReaderWriterLock
// class topic.
using namespace System;
using namespace System::Threading;
public ref class Test
{
public:

   // Declaring the ReaderWriterLock at the class level
   // makes it visible to all threads.
   static ReaderWriterLock^ rwl = gcnew ReaderWriterLock;

   // For this example, the shared resource protected by the
   // ReaderWriterLock is just an integer.
   static int resource = 0;

// The complete code is located in the ReaderWriterLock class topic.
using System;
using System.Threading;

public class Example
{
   static ReaderWriterLock rwl = new ReaderWriterLock();
   // Define the shared resource protected by the ReaderWriterLock.
   static int resource = 0;

' The complete code is located in the ReaderWriterLock class topic.
Imports System.Threading

Public Module Example
   Private rwl As New ReaderWriterLock()
   ' Define the shared resource protected by the ReaderWriterLock.
   Private resource As Integer = 0

// Shows how to release all locks and later restore
// the lock state. Shows how to use sequence numbers
// to determine whether another thread has obtained
// a writer lock since this thread last accessed the
// resource.
static void ReleaseRestore( Random^ rnd, int timeOut )
{
   int lastWriter;
   try
   {
      rwl->AcquireReaderLock( timeOut );
      try
      {

         // It is safe for this thread to read from
         // the shared resource. Cache the value. (You
         // might do this if reading the resource is
         // an expensive operation.)
         int resourceValue = resource;
         Display( String::Format( "reads resource value {0}", resourceValue ) );
         Interlocked::Increment( reads );

         // Save the current writer sequence number.
         lastWriter = rwl->WriterSeqNum;

         // Release the lock, and save a cookie so the
         // lock can be restored later.
         LockCookie lc = rwl->ReleaseLock();

         // Wait for a random interval (up to a
         // quarter of a second), and then restore
         // the previous state of the lock. Note that
         // there is no timeout on the Restore method.
         Thread::Sleep( rnd->Next( 250 ) );
         rwl->RestoreLock( lc );

         // Check whether other threads obtained the
         // writer lock in the interval. If not, then
         // the cached value of the resource is still
         // valid.
         if ( rwl->AnyWritersSince( lastWriter ) )
         {
            resourceValue = resource;
            Interlocked::Increment( reads );
            Display( String::Format( "resource has changed {0}", resourceValue ) );
         }
         else
         {
            Display( String::Format( "resource has not changed {0}", resourceValue ) );
         }
      }
      finally
      {

         // Ensure that the lock is released.
         rwl->ReleaseReaderLock();
      }

   }
   catch ( ApplicationException^ )
   {

      // The reader lock request timed out.
      Interlocked::Increment( readerTimeouts );
   }

}

// Release all locks and later restores the lock state.
// Uses sequence numbers to determine whether another thread has
// obtained a writer lock since this thread last accessed the resource.
static void ReleaseRestore(Random rnd, int timeOut)
{
   int lastWriter;

   try {
      rwl.AcquireReaderLock(timeOut);
      try {
         // It's safe for this thread to read from the shared resource,
         // so read and cache the resource value.
         int resourceValue = resource;     // Cache the resource value.
         Display("reads resource value " + resourceValue);
         Interlocked.Increment(ref reads);

         // Save the current writer sequence number.
         lastWriter = rwl.WriterSeqNum;

         // Release the lock and save a cookie so the lock can be restored later.
         LockCookie lc = rwl.ReleaseLock();

         // Wait for a random interval and then restore the previous state of the lock.
         Thread.Sleep(rnd.Next(250));
         rwl.RestoreLock(ref lc);

         // Check whether other threads obtained the writer lock in the interval.
         // If not, then the cached value of the resource is still valid.
         if (rwl.AnyWritersSince(lastWriter)) {
            resourceValue = resource;
            Interlocked.Increment(ref reads);
            Display("resource has changed " + resourceValue);
         }
         else {
            Display("resource has not changed " + resourceValue);
         }
      }
      finally {
         // Ensure that the lock is released.
         rwl.ReleaseReaderLock();
      }
   }
   catch (ApplicationException) {
      // The reader lock request timed out.
      Interlocked.Increment(ref readerTimeouts);
   }
}

' Release all locks and later restores the lock state.
' Uses sequence numbers to determine whether another thread has
' obtained a writer lock since this thread last accessed the resource.
Sub ReleaseRestore(rnd As Random ,timeOut As Integer)
   Dim lastWriter As Integer
   
   Try
      rwl.AcquireReaderLock(timeOut)
      Try
         ' It's safe for this thread to read from the shared resource,
         ' so read and cache the resource value.
         Dim resourceValue As Integer = resource
         Display("reads resource value " & resourceValue)
         Interlocked.Increment(reads)
         
         ' Save the current writer sequence number.
         lastWriter = rwl.WriterSeqNum
         
         ' Release the lock and save a cookie so the lock can be restored later.
         Dim lc As LockCookie = rwl.ReleaseLock()
         
         ' Wait for a random interval and then restore the previous state of the lock.
         Thread.Sleep(rnd.Next(250))
         rwl.RestoreLock(lc)
        
         ' Check whether other threads obtained the writer lock in the interval.
         ' If not, then the cached value of the resource is still valid.
         If rwl.AnyWritersSince(lastWriter) Then
            resourceValue = resource
            Interlocked.Increment(reads)
            Display("resource has changed " & resourceValue)
         Else
            Display("resource has not changed " & resourceValue)
         End If
      Finally
         ' Ensure that the lock is released.
         rwl.ReleaseReaderLock()
      End Try
   Catch ex As ApplicationException
      ' The reader lock request timed out.
      Interlocked.Increment(readerTimeouts)
   End Try
End Sub

};

}

End Module

Remarks

The sequence number increases whenever a thread acquires the writer lock. You can save the sequence number and pass it to AnyWritersSince at a later time, if you want to determine whether other threads have acquired the writer lock in the meantime.

You can use WriterSeqNum to improve application performance. For example, a thread might cache the information it obtains while holding a reader lock. After releasing and later reacquiring the lock, the thread can determine whether other threads have written to the resource by calling AnyWritersSince; if not, the cached information can be used. This technique is useful when reading the information protected by the lock is expensive; for example, running a database query.

The caller must be holding a reader lock or a writer lock in order for the sequence number to be useful.

See also

• Managed Threading
• ReaderWriterLock