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ThreadStart Delegate

.NET Framework (current version)
 

Represents the method that executes on a Thread.

Namespace:   System.Threading
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

C#
C++
F#
VB
Copy 
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public delegate void ThreadStart()

When a managed thread is created, the method that executes on the thread is represented by a ThreadStart delegate or a ParameterizedThreadStart delegate that is passed to the Thread constructor. The thread does not begin executing until the Thread::Start method is called. Execution begins at the first line of the method represented by the ThreadStart or ParameterizedThreadStart delegate.

System_CAPS_noteNote

Visual Basic and C# users can omit the ThreadStart or ParameterizedThreadStart delegate constructor when creating a thread. In Visual Basic, use the AddressOf operator when passing your method to the Thread constructor; for example, Dim t As New Thread(AddressOf ThreadProc). In C#, simply specify the name of the thread procedure. The compiler selects the correct delegate constructor.

[C++]

System_CAPS_noteNote

In version 2.0 of the .NET Framework, creating a ThreadStart delegate for a static method in C++ requires only one parameter: the address of the callback method, qualified by the class name. In earlier versions two parameters were required when creating a delegate for a static method: zero (null) and the method address. For an instance method, all versions require two parameters: the instance variable and the method address.

The following code example shows the syntax for creating and using a ThreadStart delegate with an instance method and with a static method.

For another simple example that demonstrates how to create a ThreadStart delegate, see the Thread::Start() method overload. For more information about thread creation, see Creating Threads and Passing Data at Start Time.

C#
C++
VB
Copy 
using namespace System;
using namespace System::Threading;
ref class Work
{
public:
   static void DoWork()
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "Static thread procedure." );
   }

   int Data;
   void DoMoreWork()
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "Instance thread procedure. Data={0}", Data );
   }

};

int main()
{

   // To start a thread using an instance method for the thread 
   // procedure, specify the object as the first argument of the
   // ThreadStart constructor.
   //
   Work^ w = gcnew Work;
   w->Data = 42;
   ThreadStart^ threadDelegate = gcnew ThreadStart( w, &Work::DoMoreWork );
   Thread^ newThread = gcnew Thread( threadDelegate );
   newThread->Start();

   // To start a thread using a static thread procedure, specify
   // only the address of the procedure. This is a change from 
   // earlier versions of the .NET Framework, which required 
   // two arguments, the first of which was null (0).
   //
   threadDelegate = gcnew ThreadStart( &Work::DoWork );
   newThread = gcnew Thread( threadDelegate );
   newThread->Start();
}

/* This code example produces the following output (the order 
   of the lines might vary):
Static thread procedure.
Instance thread procedure. Data=42
 */

.NET Framework
Available since 1.1
Silverlight
Available since 2.0
Windows Phone Silverlight
Available since 7.0
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