problem
i'm currently putting FUSE together with qt5. there is no bridge between Qt and FUSE yet, both the FUSE main thread (which is spawning the other working FUSE threads) and the QCoreApplication are simply running side by side.
but i want to be able to send and receive data between a QObject based object and the pthread's Read(..) function shown in [0] using Qt's SIGNALS and SLOTS.
question
now i want to alter the Read(..) function from [0] to retrieve data using Qt's SIGNALS and SLOTS from a QObject based class. sending a signal from a pthread works but without an explicit QEventLoop i can't receive the reply. therefore i was looking at the code from [1] which is excellent in design but i didn't get it working yet.
pseudo code (taken from [1]):
QNetworkAccessManager qnam;
QNetworkReply *reply = qnam.get(QNetworkRequest(QUrl(...)));
QEventLoop loop;
QObject::connect(reply, SIGNAL(finished()), &loop, SLOT(quit()));
loop.exec();
/* reply has finished, use it */
looks interesting, all i would need is a QObject deriving class similar to the QNetworkReply which would handle the request.
when i was playing with that code i had the problem that my implementation of QNetworkReply wouldn't wait for loop.exec() to be running and then the finished() SIGNAL wouldn't be received by the loop.
but isn't there something easier than to spawn a QEventLoop?
NOTE: the QNetworkReply and QNetworkAccessManager in the example from [1] is spawned inside the pthread, i however, need to be able to communicate with the QCoreApplication's even queue using SIGNALS and SLOTS since the object with the data in it comes from a different QThread (in this either the QCoreApplication or a special QThread).
using a Qt::QueuedConnection
i've also found [2] and maybe:
connect(src, SIGNAL(signal-signature), dest, SLOT(slot-signature), Qt::QueuedConnection);
is all i want but i doubt that.
links
[0] https://github.com/qknight/qt-fuse-example/blob/4d92a74fad22fd559588e58be67f766174c7efb8/qt-fuse/examplefs.cc#L74
[1] http://qt-project.org/wiki/ThreadsEventsQObjects#7494f2b4836907fc1c09311e3a0305e6
[2] emit Qt signal from non Qt Thread or ouside Qt main event loop with at 4.5
What you're likely facing is that QNetworkAccessManager internally uses threads to process http requests. That's why it "doesn't wait" for you. There's a rather simple modification needed to fix it:
QNetworkAccessManager qnam;
QEventLoop loop;
QNetworkReply *reply = qnam.get(QNetworkRequest(QUrl(...)));
QObject::connect(reply, SIGNAL(finished()), &loop, SLOT(quit()));
if (!reply->isFinished()) loop.exec();
Things to note when using QObjects in Multiple Threads
When the object that is the source of a signal lives (is instantiated in) a thread different than the thread of the object with slots, the connection will be of the QueuedConnection type automatically.
The real issue is: Each QObject has a thread affinity. The default affinity is the thread where the object was instantiated. You're not supposed to use such objects directly from other threads.
What you're likely doing is instantiating the sender and receiver objects in the same thread, but then emitting the signal from another thread. This is a source of potential errors error and leads to undefined behavior if the user of such an object is forcing a non-automatic direct connection.
Whenever you do emit object->signal(...), the following invariant should hold:
Q_ASSERT(QThread::currentThread() == object->thread());
Feel free to add those invariant checks in front of every emit() that you explicitly perform.
If the assertion fails, you need to use QObject::moveToThread to move the object to the thread where you want to fire its signals. You can get a QThread for a given pthread by calling QThread::currentThread() from the code that runs in the pthread. An instance of a QThread will be created automagically for you :)
Yes, you want the Qt::QueuedConnection method. But also ensure that you are using the multithreading Qt library. IIRC it is a build-time option.
See also: Qt documentation
Related
I have a class ParentThread deriving from QThread with the following run() method that roughly looks as follows:
void ParentThread::run()
{
QThread *childThread = new QThread;
QObject::connect(childThread, SIGNAL(finished()), this, SLOT(onChildThreadFinished());
QObject::connect(childThread, SIGNAL(finished()), childThread, SLOT(deleteLater());
childThread->start();
exec();
}
The slot onChildThreadFinished() is defined on ParentThread, and should run in the context of ParentThread. However, using the code above, onChildThreadFinished only gets called in case the signal/slot connection is a Qt::DirectConnection, but then runs in the context of the child thread. In case the signal/slot connection is defined as a Qt::QueuedConnection, the slot never gets called. I am using Qt 4.8.5. Any idea what the issue is here?
You state that The slot onChildThreadFinished() is defined on ParentThread, and should run in the context of ParentThread. This assumption is wrong. This is one of the reasons why subclassing QThread is discouraged.
If you want to use slots in your threads, subclassing QThread is not what you want to do. Use worker-object method instead. Subclass QObject and call QObject::moveToThread to move your object to a new thread.
Here is what Qt docs say about this:
It is important to remember that a QThread instance lives in the old thread that instantiated it, not in the new thread that calls run(). This means that all of QThread's queued slots will execute in the old thread. Thus, a developer who wishes to invoke slots in the new thread must use the worker-object approach; new slots should not be implemented directly into a subclassed QThread.
I'm trying to use signals and slots to pass information to the GUI thread from another thread, as I can't modify a pixmap from any other thread. I'm encountering a runtime error:
Object::connect: No such signal QThread::image_change(std::string) in visualiser.cpp:33
Judging from this, though I may be wrong, it looks like the signal is being searched for in the wrong namespace, as it is actually defined in Visualiser::image_change().
My code is as follows:
Visualiser.cpp:
QFutureWatcher<void> watcher;
connect(watcher.thread(), SIGNAL(image_change(std::string)), QCoreApplication::instance()->thread(), SLOT(update_image(std::string)), Qt::QueuedConnection);
QFuture<void> update_thread = QtConcurrent::run(this, &Visualiser::update_state);
watcher.setFuture(update_thread);
...
emit(image_change(imageSrc));
...
void Visualiser::update_image(std::string src)
{
QImage image;
image.load(src.c_str());
ui->visualContainer->setPixmap(QPixmap::fromImage(image));
}
visualiser.h:
signals:
void image_change(std::string src);
public slots:
void update_image(std::string src);
Don't pass thread pointers into connect - pass pointers to the sender and receiver of the event (like this). Because you're giving it QThread pointers instead, Qt is looking for those signals and slots in QThread, where they don't exist. If you give it Visualizer pointers instead, Qt will look for those functions in Visualizer, where they really are, and everything will work.
Hope that helps!
The source and the target of the connection are the same object, this, so the connect call should be:
connect(this, SIGNAL(image_change(std::string)), this, SLOT(update_image(std::string)));
Since the signal will be emitted from another thread than the one the Visualizer has an affinity with (see QObject::moveToThread()), the connection with the slot will automatically be queued, and the slot will be executed by the correct thread.
But for queued connection to work, Qt has to store temporarily the parameter until it can actually call the slot, which is done by converting it to QVariant, storing it somewhere, and then reconverting it to the actual type when the receiving thread is ready to execute the slot.
So you need to register std::string to Qt's metatype system with Q_DECLARE_METATYPE or change the signal and slot parameter type to one that is already registered to (like QString or QByteArray).
Is it possible for this Qt code to run into an infinite loop?
QNetworkAccessManager m;
QNetworkReply *reply = m.get(QNetworkRequest(QUrl("http://www.example.org/")));
QEventLoop loop;
QObject::connect(reply, SIGNAL(finished()), &loop, SLOT(quit()));
loop.exec();
qDebug() << reply->readAll();
delete reply;
This is basically a "synchronous" way to display the contents of a webpage.
I have not observed any issues using it, but I considered the following scenario:
The finished signal of reply is emitted before the event loop is created and the signal-slot connection between finished and quit is made
No signal will be emitted from that point forward thus never triggering quit
loop.exec() will continually loop
Is it possible for that to occur, or am I not understanding something about how the Qt event loop works?
While Qt executes your own code (the code above, for example), it can't process new signals and call slots. Every signal was emitted while your method is executing will be processed later. If you want to force processing of signals in middle of your method, you can call QCoreApplication::processEvents to process signals in your current event loop or QEventLoop::exec to do it in another loop.
So this code is safe. If a signal comes too fast, it will wait in the event queue.
If you're emitting a signal and there are slots connected to this signal using Qt::DirectConnection, these slots will be executed immediately. But this doesn't match your case. Qt have to execute some internal code before the singal will be emitted. It can't execute this code while your method is executing. There are only one thread and only one call stack.
Note that when you're using Qt threads event loops' behaviour is more complicated.
Just before running loop.exec(), you could check reply->isFinished(). If it is, just don't execute the loop.
I need to be able make a request GET request, which requires the use of signals to process the replies, and return the reply back in a a processed form. I've structured the code as described in Threading Wihtout the Headache, but when I run the reply is never received or processed.
// Set-up request
QNetworkAccessManager* pConnection(new QNetworkAccessManager());
connect(pConnection,
SIGNAL(finished(QNetworkReply*)),
this,
SLOT(process(QNetworkReply*)));
QUrl url;
url.setUrl(HOST);
url.addQueryItem("P1", "Hi");
url.addQueryItem("P2", "Bob");
// Send request
QNetworkRequest request(url);
pConnection->get(request);
// Wait for reply
QThread* pResponce(new QThread(this));
connect(this,
SIGNAL(processingFinished()),
pResponce,
SLOT(quit()));
pConnection->moveToThread(pResponce);
pResponce->start();
pResponce->wait();
pConnection->deleteLater();
pResponce->deleteLater();
return this->processedReply;
Obviously I'm missing something, but what? It works when I'm not using the threads (and the deletes), so it's not the URL or server.
Only the main/gui thread receives signals if you don't set up an event loop in the other threads.
If no event loop is running, events won't be delivered to the object. For example, if you create a QTimer object in a thread but never call exec(), the QTimer will never emit its timeout() signal. Calling deleteLater() won't work either. (These restrictions apply to the main thread as well.)
Source: http://doc.qt.digia.com/4.6/threads-qobject.html
See QThread::exec(). That's why in the example you're linking the QThreadEx class is introduced, and used (not in your code snipplet, though!)...
I will keep the code simple so that you guys can see what I'm trying to do ;)
I am aware of all of the locking issues, etc. I'm trying to figure out how signals and slots play with threads.
In main.cpp:
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
QApplication app(argc, argv);
MyConsole c; // Subclasses QThread and implements run()
MyReceiver r(app); // We pass app to MyReceiver for later (see below)
QObject::connect(&c, SIGNAL(sendit()),
&r, SLOT(gotit()));
c.start(); // Start the worker thread
app.exec();
}
Assume that the signals and slots were properly set up in the header files (I've tested and they are). Now, here's the issue:
In MyReceiver.cpp:
void MyReceiver::gotit()
{
QLabel *label = new QLabel(0, "Hello"); // Some GUI element, any will do
app.setMainWidget(*label); // Some GUI action, any will do
}
The question is: Because the MyReceiver object was created in main(), which is on the main thread, does that mean that the slots (e.g., gotit()) will run on the main thread and are therefore safe for doing GUI stuff? Even in cases where the signal was raised from a different QThread (like MyConsole in this example)?
Is there a better way to allow worker threads to interact with the GUI (for example, Obj-C/Cocoa have a "send message on main thread" type of approach). What is "The Qt way" of doing this?
Thanks in advance!
By default (Qt::AutoConnection), slots will run in the thread the QObject was created in. So, no matter from what thread you emit the signal, the slot will be run always in the thread, the QObject "lives" in (if a Qt event loop is running in that thread, otherwise the event can't be delivered). Since the main thread will become the Qt GUI thread, this will work as expected. This is indeed the Qt way of interacting with the GUI.
See also: http://doc.qt.nokia.com/4.7/thread-basics.html (look for thread affinity).
The "Qt way" to emit a signal from one thread and receive it in a different thread is to use a Queued connection
connect( obj, SIGNAL(foo()), other_obj, SLOT(bar()), Qt::QueuedConnection )
From the Qt documentation for Qt::QueuedConnection:
The slot is invoked when control returns to the event loop of the receiver's thread. The slot is executed in the receiver's thread.