2 out of 7 rated this helpful - Rate this topic

Thread.Join Method

Blocks the calling thread until a thread terminates, while continuing to perform standard COM and SendMessage pumping.

Namespace:  System.Threading
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
[HostProtectionAttribute(SecurityAction.LinkDemand, Synchronization = true, 
	ExternalThreading = true)]
public void Join()
Exception Condition
ThreadStateException

The caller attempted to join a thread that is in the ThreadState.Unstarted state.

ThreadInterruptedException

The thread is interrupted while waiting.

Use this method to ensure a thread has terminated. The caller will block indefinitely if the thread does not terminate. If the thread has already terminated when Join is called, the method returns immediately.

This method changes the state of the calling thread to include ThreadState.WaitSleepJoin. You cannot invoke Join on a thread that is in the ThreadState.Unstarted state.

Note Note

The HostProtectionAttribute attribute applied to this type or member has the following Resources property value: Synchronization | ExternalThreading. The HostProtectionAttribute does not affect desktop applications (which are typically started by double-clicking an icon, typing a command, or entering a URL in a browser). For more information, see the HostProtectionAttribute class or SQL Server Programming and Host Protection Attributes.

The following code example shows how to use Join to wait for a thread to terminate.


using System;
using System.Threading;

class IsThreadPool
{
    static void Main()
    {
        AutoResetEvent autoEvent = new AutoResetEvent(false);

        Thread regularThread = 
            new Thread(new ThreadStart(ThreadMethod));
        regularThread.Start();
        ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(new WaitCallback(WorkMethod), 
            autoEvent);

        // Wait for foreground thread to end.
        regularThread.Join();

        // Wait for background thread to end.
        autoEvent.WaitOne();
    }

    static void ThreadMethod()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("ThreadOne, executing ThreadMethod, " +
            "is {0}from the thread pool.", 
            Thread.CurrentThread.IsThreadPoolThread ? "" : "not ");
    }

    static void WorkMethod(object stateInfo)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("ThreadTwo, executing WorkMethod, " +
            "is {0}from the thread pool.", 
            Thread.CurrentThread.IsThreadPoolThread ? "" : "not ");

        // Signal that this thread is finished.
        ((AutoResetEvent)stateInfo).Set();
    }
}


.NET Framework

Supported in: 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1

Portable Class Library

Supported in: Portable Class Library

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
Did you find this helpful?
(1500 characters remaining)
Community Content Add
Annotations FAQ
Thread Join Question
What if i dont have anything except thread ids and i would like to join the threads of the app at a certain point?