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Synchronizing Threads and GUI in Delphi application

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Delphi
Synchronizing Threads and GUI in Delphi application
From Zarko Gajic, former About.com Guide
C ode subm itte d by Je ns Borrisholt

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Multi-threading in Delphi lets you create applications that include several simultaneous paths of execution. A "normal" Delphi application is single-threaded: all (VCL) objects access their properties and execute their methods within this single thread. Threads and GUI To speed up data processing in your application you can decide to include one or more "secondary" threads.

Synchronizing Thre ads and GUI

When several threads are running in the application a question arises: how to update your GUI (user interface) as a result of a thread execution. The question lies in the TThread class Synchronize method. To update your application's user interface - main thread - from a secondary thread you need to call the Synchronize method - a thread-safe method that avoids multi-threading conflicts that can arise from accessing object properties or methods that are not thread-safe, or using resources not in the main thread of execution. An example demo uses several buttons with progress bar, each progress bar displaying the current "state" of the thread execution... Download source code u n i tM a i n U ; i n t e r f a c e u s e s W i n d o w s ,M e s s a g e s ,S y s U t i l s ,V a r i a n t s ,C l a s s e s ,G r a p h i c s ,C o n t r o l s ,F o r m s , D i a l o g s ,C o m C t r l s ,S t d C t r l s ,E x t C t r l s ; t y p e / / i n t e r c e p t o rc l a s s T B u t t o n=c l a s s ( S t d C t r l s . T B u t t o n ) O w n e d T h r e a d :T T h r e a d ; P r o g r e s s B a r :T P r o g r e s s B a r ; e n d ; T M y T h r e a d=c l a s s ( T T h r e a d ) p r i v a t e F C o u n t e r :I n t e g e r ; F C o u n t T o :I n t e g e r ; F P r o g r e s s B a r :T P r o g r e s s B a r ; F O w n e r B u t t o n :T B u t t o n ; p r o c e d u r eD o P r o g r e s s ; p r o c e d u r eS e t C o u n t T o ( c o n s tV a l u e :I n t e g e r ); p r o c e d u r eS e t P r o g r e s s B a r ( c o n s tV a l u e :T P r o g r e s s B a r ); p r o c e d u r eS e t O w n e r B u t t o n ( c o n s tV a l u e :T B u t t o n ); p r o t e c t e d p r o c e d u r eE x e c u t e ;o v e r r i d e ; p u b l i c c o n s t r u c t o rC r e a t e ( C r e a t e S u s p e n d e d :B o o l e a n ); p r o p e r t yC o u n t T o :I n t e g e rr e a dF C o u n t T ow r i t eS e t C o u n t T o ; p r o p e r t yP r o g r e s s B a r :T P r o g r e s s B a rr e a dF P r o g r e s s B a rw r i t eS e t P r o g r e s s B a r ; p r o p e r t yO w n e r B u t t o n :T B u t t o nr e a dF O w n e r B u t t o nw r i t eS e t O w n e r B u t t o n ; e n d ; T M a i n F o r m=c l a s s ( T F o r m ) B u t t o n 1 :T B u t t o n ; P r o g r e s s B a r 1 :T P r o g r e s s B a r ; B u t t o n 2 :T B u t t o n ;

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P r o g r e s s B a r 2 :T P r o g r e s s B a r ; B u t t o n 3 :T B u t t o n ; P r o g r e s s B a r 3 :T P r o g r e s s B a r ; B u t t o n 4 :T B u t t o n ; P r o g r e s s B a r 4 :T P r o g r e s s B a r ; B u t t o n 5 :T B u t t o n ; P r o g r e s s B a r 5 :T P r o g r e s s B a r ;

Synchronizing Threads and GUI in Delphi application

p r o c e d u r eB u t t o n 1 C l i c k ( S e n d e r :T O b j e c t ); e n d ; v a r M a i n F o r m :T M a i n F o r m ; i m p l e m e n t a t i o n { $ R* . d f m } {T M y T h r e a d} c o n s t r u c t o rT M y T h r e a d . C r e a t e ( C r e a t e S u s p e n d e d :B o o l e a n ); b e g i n i n h e r i t e d ; F C o u n t e r: =0 ; F C o u n t T o: =M A X I N T ; e n d ; p r o c e d u r eT M y T h r e a d . D o P r o g r e s s ; v a r P c t D o n e :E x t e n d e d ; b e g i n P c t D o n e: =( F C o u n t e r/F C o u n t T o ); F P r o g r e s s B a r . P o s i t i o n: =R o u n d ( F P r o g r e s s B a r . S t e p*P c t D o n e ); F O w n e r B u t t o n . C a p t i o n: =F o r m a t F l o a t ( ' 0 . 0 0% ' ,P c t D o n e*1 0 0 ); e n d ; p r o c e d u r eT M y T h r e a d . E x e c u t e ; c o n s t I n t e r v a l=1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ; b e g i n F r e e O n T e r m i n a t e: =T r u e ; F P r o g r e s s B a r . M a x: =F C o u n t T od i vI n t e r v a l ; F P r o g r e s s B a r . S t e p: =F P r o g r e s s B a r . M a x ; w h i l eF C o u n t e r<F C o u n t T od o b e g i n i fF C o u n t e rm o dI n t e r v a l=0t h e nS y n c h r o n i z e ( D o P r o g r e s s ); I n c ( F C o u n t e r ); e n d ; F O w n e r B u t t o n . C a p t i o n: =' S t a r t ' ; F O w n e r B u t t o n . O w n e d T h r e a d: =n i l ; F P r o g r e s s B a r . P o s i t i o n: =F P r o g r e s s B a r . M a x ; e n d ; p r o c e d u r eT M y T h r e a d . S e t C o u n t T o ( c o n s tV a l u e :I n t e g e r ); b e g i n F C o u n t T o: =V a l u e ; e n d ; p r o c e d u r eT M y T h r e a d . S e t O w n e r B u t t o n ( c o n s tV a l u e :T B u t t o n ); b e g i n F O w n e r B u t t o n: =V a l u e ; e n d ; p r o c e d u r eT M y T h r e a d . S e t P r o g r e s s B a r ( c o n s tV a l u e :T P r o g r e s s B a r ); b e g i n F P r o g r e s s B a r: =V a l u e ; e n d ; p r o c e d u r eT M a i n F o r m . B u t t o n 1 C l i c k ( S e n d e r :T O b j e c t ); v a r a B u t t o n :T B u t t o n ; a T h r e a d :T M y T h r e a d ; a P r o g r e s s B a r :T P r o g r e s s B a r ; b e g i n a B u t t o n: =T B u t t o n ( S e n d e r ); i fn o tA s s i g n e d ( a B u t t o n . O w n e d T h r e a d )t h e n b e g i n

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a T h r e a d: =T M y T h r e a d . C r e a t e ( T r u e ); a B u t t o n . O w n e d T h r e a d: =a T h r e a d ;

Synchronizing Threads and GUI in Delphi application

a P r o g r e s s B a r: =T P r o g r e s s B a r ( F i n d C o m p o n e n t ( S t r i n g R e p l a c e ( a B u t t o n . N a m e ,' B u t t o n ' ,' P r o g r e s s B a r ' ,[ ] ) ) ); a T h r e a d . P r o g r e s s B a r: =a P r o g r e s s B a r ; a T h r e a d . O w n e r B u t t o n: =a B u t t o n ; a T h r e a d . R e s u m e ; a B u t t o n . C a p t i o n: =' P a u s e ' ; e n d e l s e b e g i n i fa B u t t o n . O w n e d T h r e a d . S u s p e n d e dt h e n a B u t t o n . O w n e d T h r e a d . R e s u m e e l s e a B u t t o n . O w n e d T h r e a d . S u s p e n d ; a B u t t o n . C a p t i o n: =' R u n ' ; e n d ; e n d ; e n d .

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