IAsyncResult.AsyncWaitHandle Property
Gets a WaitHandle that is used to wait for an asynchronous operation to complete.
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Property Value
Type: System.Threading.WaitHandleA WaitHandle that is used to wait for an asynchronous operation to complete.
The return value allows the client to wait for an asynchronous operation to complete instead of polling IsCompleted until the operation concludes. The return value can be used to perform a WaitOne, WaitAny, or WaitAll operation.
The common language runtime supplies a number of waitable objects, such as ManualResetEvent, AutoResetEvent, and Mutex, all of which mirror Win32 synchronization primitives.
Notes to Implementers:
The object that implements IAsyncResult does not need to create the WaitHandle until the AsyncWaitHandle property is read. It is the choice of the IAsyncResult implementer. However, if the implementer creates AsyncWaitHandle, it is the responsibility of the implementer to signal the WaitHandle that will terminate the wait at the appropriate time. For example, System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging.AsyncResult terminates the wait on behalf of the caller when an asynchronously invoked method returns. Once created, AsyncWaitHandle should be kept alive until the user calls the method that concludes the asynchronous operation. At that time the object behind AsyncWaitHandle can be discarded.
Notes to Callers:
Clients that wait for the operation to complete (as opposed to polling) use this property to obtain a synchronization object to wait on.
Note |
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When you use the BeginInvoke method of a delegate to call a method asynchronously and obtain a wait handle from the resulting IAsyncResult, we recommend that you close the wait handle as soon as you are finished using it, by calling the WaitHandle.Close method. If you simply release all references to the wait handle, system resources are freed when garbage collection reclaims the wait handle, but garbage collection works more efficiently when disposable objects are explicitly closed or disposed. For more information, see the AsyncResult.AsyncWaitHandle property. |
The following example demonstrates how to use the AsyncWaitHandle property to get a WaitHandle, and how to wait for an asynchronous call on a delegate. The WaitHandle is signaled when the asynchronous call completes, and you can wait for it by calling the WaitOne method.
The example consists of two classes: the class that contains the method that is called asynchronously, and the class that contains the Main method that makes the call.
For more information and more examples of calling methods asynchronously by using delegates, see Calling Synchronous Methods Asynchronously.
Imports System Imports System.Threading Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices Namespace Examples.AdvancedProgramming.AsynchronousOperations Public Class AsyncDemo ' The method to be executed asynchronously. Public Function TestMethod(ByVal callDuration As Integer, _ <Out> ByRef threadId As Integer) As String Console.WriteLine("Test method begins.") Thread.Sleep(callDuration) threadId = Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId() return String.Format("My call time was {0}.", callDuration.ToString()) End Function End Class ' The delegate must have the same signature as the method ' it will call asynchronously. Public Delegate Function AsyncMethodCaller(ByVal callDuration As Integer, _ <Out> ByRef threadId As Integer) As String End Namespace
Imports System Imports System.Threading Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices Namespace Examples.AdvancedProgramming.AsynchronousOperations Public Class AsyncMain Shared Sub Main() ' The asynchronous method puts the thread id here. Dim threadId As Integer ' Create an instance of the test class. Dim ad As New AsyncDemo() ' Create the delegate. Dim caller As New AsyncMethodCaller(AddressOf ad.TestMethod) ' Initiate the asynchronous call. Dim result As IAsyncResult = caller.BeginInvoke(3000, _ threadId, Nothing, Nothing) Thread.Sleep(0) Console.WriteLine("Main thread {0} does some work.", _ Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId) ' Perform additional processing here and then ' wait for the WaitHandle to be signaled. result.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne() ' Call EndInvoke to retrieve the results. Dim returnValue As String = caller.EndInvoke(threadId, result) ' Close the wait handle. result.AsyncWaitHandle.Close() Console.WriteLine("The call executed on thread {0}, with return value ""{1}"".", _ threadId, returnValue) End Sub End Class End Namespace 'This example produces output similar to the following: ' 'Main thread 1 does some work. 'Test method begins. 'The call executed on thread 3, with return value "My call time was 3000.".
Available since 8
.NET Framework
Available since 1.1
Portable Class Library
Supported in: portable .NET platforms
Silverlight
Available since 2.0
Windows Phone Silverlight
Available since 7.0
Windows Phone
Available since 8.1
