Threads and channels

[jordan4ibanez]

I saw there were no examples linked on the wiki about threads and channels, so I created this visual example of what's going on when passing information into the thread through the channel for people new to threads to utilize.

main.lua

Code: Select all

-- main

--here we create a thread using "print.lua"
thread = love.thread.newThread("print.lua")

--starting a new channel called "channel"
channel = love.thread.getChannel("create")

--starting the thread
thread:start()

--a variable to count
x = 1


while x < 100 do

	x = x + 1
	
	--here we are pushing to the channel, which the thread will recieve
	channel:push({x,x+1,x+2,x+3,x+4})
	
end


--show how long the delay is from when the main program finishes
--to where the thread catches up
while thread:isRunning( ) == true do
	love.timer.sleep(0.1)
	print("print.lua is still running")
end


--shows when all threads are closed
print("print.lua is no longer running")

love.event.quit( )

print.lua

Code: Select all

--print.lua
--here we get the channel that has already been created
channel = love.thread.getChannel("create")

--a random  variable to repeat
repeatr = true

while repeatr == true do
	--when queue count is depleted, break loop
	if channel:getCount( ) == 0 then
		repeatr = false
		break
	end
	--here we recieve the variables from main.lua
	local x = channel:pop()
	
	--creating a string to display the table being sent
	local str = ""
	for i = 1,table.getn(x) do
		str = str..tostring(x[i]).."|"
	end
	
	--printing the string
	print(str.."\n")
	
	--printing the queues remaining
	print("queues:"..channel:getCount( ).."\n")
	--channel:clear()
end

--the end of the print thread
print("end of print.lua")

[zorg]

Code: Select all

-- main
thread = love.thread.newThread("print.lua")
channel = love.thread.newChannel()
thread:start(channel)
channel:push("test")

--print.lua
require(love.timer)
channel = ...

while true do
	local x = channel:pop()
	if x then print(x) end
	love.timer.sleep(0.001)
end