send-a-message

C++11 inter-thread message passing library.

Features

• Uses only C++11 and standard library
• Crossplatform. Tested with:
  • Apple LLVM version 7.3.0 (clang-703.0.29)
  • GCC 4.9.2
  • MinGW 4.9.3
  • Microsoft Visual Studio 2015
• Free for all (MIT license)

Example

Code:

#include "send-a-message.hpp"

// receiver-thread function
void receiver()
{
	// run message receving-handling loop
	sam::receive(
		// handler for "int" and "double" values sent to thread
		[](int i, double d)
		{
			printf("message: %i and %f\n", i, d);
		},

		// handler for "const char *" value sent to thread
		[](const char *c_string)
		{
			printf("message: '%s'\n", c_string);
		}
	);
}

// start "std::thread" and associate message queue with it
std::thread thread {sam::receivable_thread(receiver)};

// get mailbox for the thread
sam::mailbox mailbox {thread};

// send messages
mailbox.send(42, M_PI);
mailbox.send("hellomoto!");

Output:

message: 42 and 3.141593
message: 'hellomoto!'

Usage

First, start your thread using sam::receivable_thread function:

template <typename Callable_t, typename ...Arguments_t>
std::thread sam::receivable_thread(Callable_t &&callable, Arguments_t &&...arguments);

This function creates new thread, associates new message queue with it and calls callable with forwarded arguments.... After callable returns the message queue is destroyed automatically.

Second, call sam::receive or sam::receive_for function anywhere in your thread to run message receiving-handling loop:

template <typename ...Callables_t>
void sam::receive(Callables_t &&...callables);

template <typename Rep_t, typename Period_t, typename ...Callables_t>
void sam::receive_for(const std::chrono::duration<Rep_t, Period_t> &timeout, Callables_t &&...callables);

These functions accept any number of Callables. These Callables should return void or sam::ctlcode_t values which affect loop execution:

• sam::CONTINUE – continue running message receiving loop (void functions behave the same)
• sam::STOP – stop running message receiving loop

Third, to send a message get thread's mailbox and call member function sam::mailbox::send on it.

sam::mailbox::mailbox(const std::thread &thread);

template <typename ...Arguments_t>
sam::mailbox::send(Arguments_t &&...arguments);

Parameters of sam::mailbox::send are forwarded to internal storage, so they are copied/moved only once.

Notes

There is a default handler for sam::ctlcode_t in sam::receive and sam::receive_for that simply returns it's argument. So you can stop message receiving-handling loop from the outside by sending control code sam::STOP. This handler can be overriden by adding callable that accepts sam::ctlcode_t as it's argument.

There is a default handler for sam::timeout_error that is called if sam::receive_for function hasn't received any messages during timeout period. This handler calls std::this_thread::yield() function. This handler can be overriden by adding callable that accepts sam::timeout_error as it's argument.

Matching message to a handler is done by matching argument types ignoring reference specifiers. These types are packed to std::type_index value and the matching itself is a hash table search.