Delphi ... the higher, the better!

All Windows platforms

&

Register Now
€75 thinking...

Under construction

Threads: Multithreaded Application Model.

I downloaded many multithreaded applications from various sites. None of them was reliable as I wished. I read lots of stuff about race conditions, deadlocks, how can threads corrupt data or starve. And practically all gurus out there are saying more or less along the lines of 'it is dangerous', 'don't you dare do it', 'use with caution', 'use my stuff'. I didn't find an entire application (source code) which will implement good protection and threads synchronization, database access, etc. This is a project that started back in the year 2000.

What I tried to accomplish in this application is to create a model, which than can be used to start many other multithreaded apps. If you need badly to see some multithreaded code, Threads is for you. If you are in a hurry to deliver a multithread application, here you go; get Threads and I believe in shortest time you will come up with your problem solved. How can you use this stuff? In two ways: learning and/or adding your own code to it. What the sources will give you:

• threaded database access, using FireDAC (with MSSQL and Firebird), DBISAM, ElevateDB
• threaded Indy sending/receiving email, ftp downloading or uploading;
• threaded Indy or WMI pings (you can setup a list of web servers you want to ping);
• threaded dynamic reports using ReportBuilder or FastReport;
• a lot (and I mean a lot) of thread management: threads waiting for other threads to process things, threads sharing resources, threads running standalone forcing other threads to quit or blocking other threads from running; multiprocessor thread distribution;
• threaded folder changes monitor;
• threaded PDF file conversion. Currently, Threads can convert Word, Excel and Postscript files to PDF. It uses Ghostscript for that matter; conversion requests can arrive via file copy, email monitoring, or directly through database records. Customers have a table and conversion can happen based on some plan. This feature is implemented currently with MSSQL database;
• threaded WMI events monitoring (in-the-box Win32__PingStatus, or, you can setup anything else at run-time from whatever namespace);
• threaded XML processing using own XML parser (no external DLL);
• REST server. Since REST requests are anyway threaded by the Vcl, I chose not to have UI for it. However it is fully functional, the Client app makes true REST requests and Threads processes the requests using threaded database access (MSSQL)
• threaded launching secondary apps or batches and monitor them closely, terminate them on a timer, etc;
• core internal wrapper classes that can do the email stuff;
• core internal sources for processing strings (yeah, we do have SysUtils, StrUtils, but there is still stuff that you can’t find there);
• core internal sources for directly using WinInet library;
• core internal sources for using WBEM (WMI stuff made easy);
• core stuff to monitor application threads, memory, cpu usage, handles and other things;
• threads  can now work in various modes: normal (execute something and exit), loop (repeatedly execute something until application terminates), pulse (wait for some external signal(s) to execute something until application terminates) or worker (repeatedly wait until a new work item is passed and execute it, as long as it didn't expire or application terminated) - see the last column in Threads screenshot;
• message processing in secondary threads;
• just for fun I added a few StarShip threads: HAL (a  controller) and various slaves (Life Support, Shields, Engine, Weapons, Bridge, etc). They all use power when working and can be refueled by the controller. The starship can travel using various warp speeds and its weapons system is fully loaded with torpedoes and phasers; the progress bar for these threads indicates power left in the banks, nicely drawn in a 3-color gradient;
• stuff that I probably forgot about...

Threads is getting upgdated to use runtime packages. So, the worker threads have been grouped in some external packages which then can be loaded and unloaded at runtime with a simple click on a checkbox or, automatically from an updater thread worker. In other words, Threads can now update its modules while is running!

Click here to view image (gif  256KB), or check the version history here (jpg 140KB).

Or even better: take a look at my other applications, based entirely on my own threading engine. Take a look at EZ News Reader (jpg 138KB - however, since I'm not in the business of writing a news reader, this project is dead. There are too many newsreaders out there already).  Or the Printer Usage Monitor application.

Mike Lischke's VirtualTrees are heavily used in this application. Mike's old web site is here.
Have fun !

Built projects:

The application: setup (4 MB) 2015.12.27. The demo is 64 bits and compiled with Delphi 12.1 - under construction.

If you like Threads, register it to get full source code and then adapt it even more to suit your needs.

( p.s. I like Martin Harvey's thread tutorial. )

Preparing version 11 for download! This new edition compiles in both 32/64 bits flavors. Threads 11 will only be supported for Delphi 11 or higher.

Tested under Windows 10. Existing users: this is not a free upgrade.