C++ Delay For-Loop without pausing Console - c++

I am trying to create a function that will be done many times over and over but with a pause in between each cycle.
I have tried to use "sleep" but that pauses the console. And I have searched online and only found answers that paused the console during usual.
Code:
int i;
for(i=0; i<500; i++) {
std::cout << "Hello" << std::endl;
}
How can I make it print "Hello" 500 times and as well allow the user to use the console while it is doing the said function?

As some people commented, you need to create an async task in order to do some work while still handling user input.
The following is a minimal, working example about how to acomplish this task by using a thread. It is based on boost so you'll have to link it using -lboost_thread lboost_system:
g++ test.cpp -lboost_thread -lboost_system -o test
The code has several comments in order to explain what you should do:
#include <queue>
#include <iostream>
#include <boost/thread.hpp>
// set by the main thread when the user enters 'quit'
bool stop = false;
boost::mutex stopMutex; // protect the flag!
// the function that runs in a new thread
void thread_function() {
// the following is based on the snippet you wrote
int i;
for(i=0; i<500; i++) {
// test if I have to stop on each loop
{
boost::mutex::scoped_lock lock(stopMutex);
if (stop) {
break;
}
}
// your task
std::cout << "Hello" << std::endl;
// sleep a little
::usleep(1000000);
}
}
int main() {
std::string str;
boost::thread t(thread_function);
while(true) {
std::cout << "Type 'quit' to exit: ";
// will read user input
std::getline(std::cin, str);
if (str == "quit") {
// the user wants to quit the program, set the flag
boost::mutex::scoped_lock lock(stopMutex);
stop = true;
break;
}
}
// wait for the async task to finish
t.join();
return 0;
}

Related

Optimal infinite C++ while loop with interval

I have a question about the correctness of my code.
I'm making a app which is run as a daemon, it do some code in interval, code looks:
#include <iostream>
#include <thread>
using namespace std;
int main() {
thread([=]() {
while (true) {
try {
cout << "log" << endl;
this_thread::sleep_for(chrono::milliseconds(3000));
}
catch (...) {
cout << "Some errors here :/" << endl;
}
}
}).detach();
while (true);
}
I'm worried weather this code is optimal, because in top I can see, that this program uses about 80% of the CPU.
Can I correct something?
Is my code equivalent to this one:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/21058232/5334833?
It appears that while(true); is UB.
You might just get rid of thread BTW:
int main() {
while (true) {
try {
std::cout << "log" << std::endl;
std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(3000));
}
catch (...) {
std::cout << "Some errors here :/" << std::endl;
}
}
}
while(true); will cause your main thread to continuously loop and use 100% of a single CPU.
Assuming you are on Linux you can just call pause() instead which will suspend your main thread until a signal arrives.
As you aren't actually using your main thread is there a reason you are spawning a new thread at all? Can you just do your work in the main thread?

Exiting an infinite loop with a key in c++ on linux

i have an infinite loop that should be ended if i pressed any key. The program runs in linux. I have stumbled upon a function Here is a bit of my code :
int main(){
While(1){
ParseData(); //writing data to a text file
}
return 0;
}
so i know that i can terminate the process by using ctrl + c in terminal, but it seems that it will interrupt the writing process so the datas are not written completely halfway through the process. I read that i need to use function from ncurses library , but i can't quite understand any.
Can someone help me with it? Thanks!
You can declare an atomic_bool and move your main loop to another thread. Now you can wait with a simple cin, once the user presses any key you exit your loop.
std::atomic_boolean stop = false;
void loop() {
while(!stop)
{
ParseData(); // your loop body here
}
}
int main() {
std::thread t(loop); // Separate thread for loop.
// Wait for input character (this will suspend the main thread, but the loop
// thread will keep running).
std::cin.get();
// Set the atomic boolean to true. The loop thread will exit from
// loop and terminate.
stop = true;
t.join();
return 0;
}
Why do you need a key to exit a program that didn't finish writing to a file, even if you make the loop exits on key press it will interrupt the file writing too if not finished.
Why you just exit the loop when the data finishes writing to the file, like the following:
isFinished = false;
While(!isFinished ){
ParseData(); //writing data to a text file
//after data finsihes
isFinished = false;
}
thread.cpp
#include <atomic>
#include <iostream>
#include <thread>
std::atomic<bool> dataReady(false);
void waitingForWork(){
std::cout << "Waiting... " << std::endl;
while ( !dataReady.load() ){
std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(5));
}
std::cout << "Work done " << std::endl;
}
int main(){
std::cout << std::endl;
std::thread t1(waitingForWork);
std::cout << "Press Enter to Exit" << std::endl;
std::cin.get();
dataReady= true;
t1.join();
std::cout << "\n\n";
}
g++ -o thread thread.cpp -std=c++11 -pthread
The C way actually (include conio.h ):
char key;
while (1)
{
key = _getch();
// P to exit
if (key == 'p' || key == 'P')
{
writer.close();
exit(1);
}
}

simultaneously run different thread without waiting for other thread to complete

The thing is i want to use c++ library which runs different threads simultaneously without having other threads to wait until the preceding thread is complete and their functionality within each thread is run simultaneuslly,I am talking about the code which is to be run in the thread;the sample code is shown below.
while(condition is true<it is infinite loop >){
running sleep here with random time
sleep(random time(sec))
rest of the code is here
}
This infinite while loop is run in each thread. I want to run this while loop in each thread to be run simultaneously without being stuck at the first thread to be completed. In other words all the infinite while loop(in each thread context) is to be run simultaneously. How do I achieve that? If you can please share some sample code actually I have used future with async but I get the same behavior as normal <thread> using join().
The issue you are encountering is because of the rather silly definition of std::async (in my opinion) that it doesn't have to execute your code asynchronously, but can instead run it when you attempt to get from its std::future return value.
No matter. If you set the first parameter of your call to std::launch::async you force it to run asynchronously. You can then save the future in a container, and if you retire futures from this container regularly, you can run as many threads as the system will let you.
Here's an example:
#include <iostream>
#include <thread>
#include <future>
#include <chrono>
#include <vector>
#include <mutex>
using future_store = std::vector<std::future<void>>;
void retireCompletedThreads(future_store &threadList)
{
for (auto i = threadList.begin(); i != threadList.end(); /* ++i */)
{
if (i->wait_for(std::chrono::seconds(0)) == std::future_status::ready)
{
i->get();
i = threadList.erase(i);
}
else
{
++i;
}
}
}
void waitForAllThreads(future_store &threadList)
{
for (auto& f : threadList)
{
f.get();
}
}
std::mutex coutMutex;
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
future_store threadList;
// No infinite loop here, but you can if you want.
// You do need to limit the number of threads you create in some way though,
// for example, only create new threads if threadList.size() < 20.
for (auto i = 0; i < 20; ++i)
{
auto f = std::async(std::launch::async,
[i]() {
{
std::lock_guard<std::mutex> l(coutMutex);
std::cout << "Thread " << i << " started" << std::endl;
}
std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(1));
{
std::lock_guard<std::mutex> l(coutMutex);
std::cout << "Thread " << i << " completed" << std::endl;
}
});
threadList.push_back(std::move(f));
// Existing threads need to be checked for completion every so often
retireCompletedThreads(threadList);
}
waitForAllThreads(threadList);
}

Breaking out of an infinite loop

Is there a way to break out of an infinite loop while it's running without using Ctrl + C? I would like to implement such a method in other programs. Like in this example program:
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
int x = 0;
for(;;)
cout << x;
}
is there a way to keep the for loop going but break it with some key at any time. I should also explain I understand using break;, but I want the loop to keep going. If I use a break condition like this, the for-loop would stop and wait for a response.
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
int x = 0;
for(;;)
{
cout << x;
if(getch()=='n')
break;
}
}
Find some condition that you wish to break out of the loop when encountered then use the break keyword:
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
int x = 0;
for(;;)
cout << x;
if(/* break condition*/){
break;
}
}
There's nothing stopping you from implementing the break condition by detecting a particular keyboard input from a user.
EDIT: From your edited question it appears you want to have loop continue running all the time and not stopping waiting for user input. The only way I can think of doing this is to spawn a new thread that listens for user input that alters a variable that gets detected in the break condition of your main thread.
If you have access to c++11 and the new thread library you could do something like this:
#include <iostream>
#include <thread>
bool break_condition = false;
void looper(){
for(;;){
std::cout << "loop running" << std::endl;
if(break_condition){
break;
}
}
}
void user_input(){
if(std::cin.get()=='n'){
break_condition = true;
}
}
int main(){
//create a thread for the loop and one for listening for input
std::thread loop_thread(looper);
std::thread user_input_thread(user_input);
//synchronize threads
loop_thread.join();
user_input_thread.join();
std::cout << "loop successfully broken out of" << std::endl;
return 0;
}
If you do decide to take a threading approach be careful as there's issues in multithreaded code that don't exist in single threaded code and they can sometimes be really nasty.
You are looking for continue I think
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
int x = 0;
for(;;)
{
cout << x;
if(getch()=='n')
continue;
}
}

Non-blocking console input C++

I'm looking for a (multiplatform) way to do non-blocking console input for my C++ program, so I can handle user commands while the program continually runs. The program will also be outputting information at the same time.
What's the best/easiest way to do this? I have no problem using external libraries like boost, as long as they use a permissive license.
Example using C++11:
#include <iostream>
#include <future>
#include <thread>
#include <chrono>
static std::string getAnswer()
{
std::string answer;
std::cin >> answer;
return answer;
}
int main()
{
std::chrono::seconds timeout(5);
std::cout << "Do you even lift?" << std::endl << std::flush;
std::string answer = "maybe"; //default to maybe
std::future<std::string> future = std::async(getAnswer);
if (future.wait_for(timeout) == std::future_status::ready)
answer = future.get();
std::cout << "the answer was: " << answer << std::endl;
exit(0);
}
online compiler: https://rextester.com/GLAZ31262
I would do this by creating separate a thread which calls normal blocking IO functions and pass it a callback function which it would call when it got input. Are you sure you need to do what you said you want to do?
As for outputting information at the same time, what would happen if the user was in the middle of typing some input and you printed something?
I've done this on QNX4.5 that doesn't support threads or Boost by using select. You basically pass select STDIN as the file descriptor to use and select will return when a new line is entered. I've added a simplified example loop below. It's platform independent, at least for Unix like systems. Not sure about Windows though.
while (!g_quit)
{
//we want to receive data from stdin so add these file
//descriptors to the file descriptor set. These also have to be reset
//within the loop since select modifies the sets.
FD_ZERO(&read_fds);
FD_SET(STDIN_FILENO, &read_fds);
result = select(sfd + 1, &read_fds, NULL, NULL, NULL);
if (result == -1 && errno != EINTR)
{
cerr << "Error in select: " << strerror(errno) << "\n";
break;
}
else if (result == -1 && errno == EINTR)
{
//we've received and interrupt - handle this
....
}
else
{
if (FD_ISSET(STDIN_FILENO, &read_fds))
{
process_cmd(sfd);
}
}
}
There is one easy way:
char buffer[512];
int point = 0;
...
while (_kbhit()) {
char cur = _getch();
if (point > 511) point = 511;
std::cout << cur;
if (cur != 13) buffer[point++] = cur;
else{
buffer[point] = '\0';
point = 0;
//Run(buffer);
}
}
No block, all in 1 thread. As for me, this works.
Non-blocking console input C++ ?
Ans: do console IO on a background thread and provide a means of communicating between threads.
Here's a complete (but simplistic) test program that implements async io by deferring the io to a background thread.
the program will wait for you to enter strings (terminate with newline) on the console and then perform a 10-second operation with that string.
you can enter another string while the operation is in progress.
enter 'quit' to get the program to stop on the next cycle.
#include <iostream>
#include <memory>
#include <string>
#include <future>
#include <thread>
#include <mutex>
#include <condition_variable>
#include <deque>
int main()
{
std::mutex m;
std::condition_variable cv;
std::string new_string;
bool error = false;
auto io_thread = std::thread([&]{
std::string s;
while(!error && std::getline(std::cin, s, '\n'))
{
auto lock = std::unique_lock<std::mutex>(m);
new_string = std::move(s);
if (new_string == "quit") {
error = true;
}
lock.unlock();
cv.notify_all();
}
auto lock = std::unique_lock<std::mutex>(m);
error = true;
lock.unlock();
cv.notify_all();
});
auto current_string = std::string();
for ( ;; )
{
auto lock = std::unique_lock<std::mutex>(m);
cv.wait(lock, [&] { return error || (current_string != new_string); });
if (error)
{
break;
}
current_string = new_string;
lock.unlock();
// now use the string that arrived from our non-blocking stream
std::cout << "new string: " << current_string;
std::cout.flush();
for (int i = 0 ; i < 10 ; ++i) {
std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(1));
std::cout << " " << i;
std::cout.flush();
}
std::cout << ". done. next?\n";
std::cout.flush();
}
io_thread.join();
return 0;
}
sample test run:
$ ./async.cpp
first
new string: first 0 1las 2t 3
4 5 6 7 8 9. done. next?
new string: last 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8quit 9. done. next?
ncurses can be a good candidate.
The StdinDataIO class of the BSD-licensed MUSCLE networking library supports non-blocking reads from stdin under Windows, MacOS/X, and Linux/Unix ... you could use that (or just examine the code as an example of how it can be done) if you want.
You can use the tinycon library to do this. Just spawn a tinycon object in a new thread, and you are pretty much done. You can define the trigger method to fire off whatever you'd like when enter is pressed.
You can find it here:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/tinycon/
Also, the license is BSD, so it will be the most permissive for your needs.
libuv is a cross-platform C library for asynchronous I/O. It uses an event loop to do things like read from standard input without blocking the thread. libuv is what powers Node.JS and others.
In a sense, this answer is incomplete. But yet, I think it can be useful even for people who have different platforms or circumstances, giving the idea, what to look for in their platform.
As I just wrote some scripting engine integration into an SDL2 main event loop (which is supposed to read lines from stdin if there are lines to be read), here is how I did it (on linux (debian bullseye 64 bit)). See below.
But even if you are not on linux, but on some other posix system, you can use the equivalent platform APIs of your platform. For example, you can use kqueue on FreeBSD. Or you can consider using libevent for a bit more portable approach (still will not really work on Windows).
This approach might also work on Windows if you do some special fiddling with the rather new-ish ConPTY. In traditional windows console applications, the problem is, that stdin is not a real file handle and as such, passing it to libevent or using IOCP (IO completion ports) on it will not work as expected.
But, this approach should also work on posix systems, if there is redirection at play. As long as there is a file handle available.
So how does it work?
Use epoll_wait() to detect if there is data available on stdin. While consoles can be configured in all sorts of ways, typically, they operate on a line by line basis (should also apply for ssh etc.).
Use your favorite getline() function to read the line from stdin. Which will work, because you know, there is data and it will not block (unless your console is not defaulting to line by line handling).
Rince and repeat.
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/epoll.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <array>
using EpollEvent_t = struct epoll_event;
int main(int argc, const char* argv[]) {
//
// create epoll instance
//
int epollfd = epoll_create1(0);
if (epollfd < 0) {
std::cout << "epoll_create1(0) failed!" << std::endl;
return -1;
}
//
// associate stdin with epoll
//
EpollEvent_t ev;
ev.data.ptr = nullptr;
ev.data.fd = STDIN_FILENO; // from unistd.h
ev.data.u32 = UINT32_C(0);
ev.data.u64 = UINT64_C(0);
ev.events = EPOLLIN;
if (epoll_ctl(epollfd, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, STDIN_FILENO, &ev) < 0) {
std::cout
<< "epoll_ctl(epollfd, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, fdin, &ev) failed."
<< std::endl;
return -1;
}
//
// do non-blocking line processing in your free running
// main loop
//
std::array<EpollEvent_t,1> events;
bool running = true;
while (running) {
int waitret = epoll_wait(epollfd,
events.data(),
events.size(),
0); // 0 is the "timeout" we want
if (waitret < 0) {
std::cout << "epoll_wait() failed." << std::endl;
running = false;
}
if (0 < waitret) { // there is data on stdin!
std::string line;
std::getline(std::cin, line);
std::cout
<< "line read: [" << line << "]" << std::endl;
if (line == "quit")
running = false;
}
// ... Do what you usually do in your main loop ...
}
//
// cleanup of epoll etc.
//
close(epollfd);
return 0;
}
You could do:
#include <thread>
#include <chrono>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
int main() {
std::cout << "Type exit to quit." << std::endl;
// initialize other std::thread handlers here
std::string input;
while (input != "exit") {
std::getline(std::cin, input);
std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(500));
}
std::cout << "Cleaning up and quitting" << std::endl;
return 0;
};
A simple answer with thread/future and reading a single char at a time (you can replace getchar with cin as required)
Timeout is set to zero and a new future is created every time the previous call is completed.
Like cin, getchar requires that the user hits the RETURN key to end the function call.
#include <chrono>
#include <cstdio>
#include <future>
#include <iostream>
#include <thread>
static char get_usr_in()
{
return std::getchar();
}
int main()
{
std::chrono::seconds timeout(0);
std::future<char> future = std::async(std::launch::async, get_usr_in);
char ch = '!';
while(ch!='q') {
if(future.wait_for(timeout) == std::future_status::ready) {
ch = future.get();
if(ch!='q') {
future = std::async(std::launch::async, get_usr_in);
}
if(ch >= '!' && ch <'~')
std::cout << "ch:" << ch << std::endl;
}
std::cout << "." << std::endl;
}
exit(0);
}
Why not use promises?
#include <iostream>
#include <istream>
#include <thread>
#include <future>
#include <chrono>
void UIThread(std::chrono::duration<int> timeout) {
std::promise<bool> p;
std::thread uiWorker([&p]() {
bool running = true;
while(running) {
std::string input;
std::cin >> input;
if(input == "quit") {
p.set_value(true);
running = false;
}
}
});
auto future = p.get_future();
if (future.wait_for(timeout) != std::future_status::ready) {
std::cout << "UI thread timed out" << std::endl;
uiWorker.detach();
return;
}
uiWorker.join();
}
int main()
{
std::thread uiThread(UIThread, std::chrono::seconds(3));
std::cout << "Waiting for UI thread to complete" << std::endl;
uiThread.join();
}
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