Sequential Mode Example

In this example, the sample below shows how to simply configure an Ultra Messaging application how to configure and run in the "sequential" mode of operation.

When you create a context (lbm_context_create()) with the operational_mode set to sequential, the context thread is NOT created. It becomes the application's responsibility to donate a thread to UM by calling lbm_context_process_events() regularly, typically in a tight loop. Use Sequential mode for circumstances where your application wants control over the attributes of the context thread. For example, some applications raise the priority of the context thread so as to obtain more consistent latencies. In sequential mode, no separate thread is spawned when a context is created.

Important things to note when using sequential mode

• Processing events consistently is a must - spending time on the thread processing events, outside of processing events, can have undesirable effects on UM components (message loss, transport timeouts, message recovery, etc.)
• Context event callbacks must still be processed in a timely manner for the same reason as above. For context level events that might possibly take time to process, consider using an event queue

This example very simply sets the attirbute to enable sequential mode, spawns a thread that spins on processing context events, while the main application thread waits forever.

There is one program source file:

• SequentialMode.cs - (right-click and save as "SequentialMode.cs") main program.

Program explanation: SequentialMode.cs

Initialize and Create Context

Standard API's to create a context object. The important thing to note here is the fact that the operational_mode is being set to "sequential". Setting the operational_mode is required to take advantage of the sequential mode of operation.

00015                  /* Initialization: create necessary UM objects. */
00016                  try {
00017                          LBMContextAttributes ctxAttr = new LBMContextAttributes();
00018                          ctxAttr.setValue("operational_mode", "sequential");
00019                          ctx = new LBMContext(ctxAttr);
00020                  }
00021                  catch(LBMException ex)
00022                  {
00023                          System.Console.Error.WriteLine("Error initializing LBM objects: " + ex.Message);
00024                          System.Environment.Exit(1);
00025                  }

Spawn a New Thread

In this example, the application spawns a new thread whose sole purpose will be to process context events. The application could use this to set a higher thread priority, or possibly set the process affinity to offer better performance for message delivery. Notice the thread function is "seq_thread", which will be explained in the next block.

00027                  SeqThread ThreadHandler = new SeqThread(ctx);
00028                  ThreadHandler.start();

Sequential Context Thread

Here is where the function is declared that will be the thread that processes context events. This function very simply calls the process events API, ensures there are no errors, and repeats.

00042          public class SeqThread
00043          {
00044                  private LBMContext _ctx;
00045                  private Thread myThread;
00046  
00047                  public SeqThread(LBMContext ctx)
00048                  {
00049                          _ctx = ctx;
00050                  }
00051  
00052                  public void start()
00053                  {
00054                      myThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(run));
00055                      myThread.Start();
00056                  }
00057  
00058                  public void run()
00059                  {
00060                          while (true)
00061                          {
00062                                  try {
00063                                      _ctx.processEvents(500);
00064                                  }
00065                                  catch(LBMException ex)
00066                                  {
00067                                      System.Console.Error.WriteLine("Error processing context events: " + ex.Message);
00068                                      System.Environment.Exit(1);
00069                                  }
00070                          }
00071                  }
00072          }