Question

I am receiving data from UdpClient via the usual async callback:

private void OnUdpData(IAsyncResult result)
{
    byte[] data = _udpReceive.EndReceive(result, ref _receiveEndPoint);

    //Snip doing stuff with data

    _udpReceive.BeginReceive(OnUdpData, null);
}

When I Close() the UdpClient in the main thread, the callback fires as I would expect, but at this point _udpReceive is already disposed and I get an ObjectDisposedException when I try and call EndReceive(). I was expecting to just get an empty buffer.

What is the correct way to handle this? Is there some member of UdpClient I can check before trying to use it, or it the only way to wrap it all in a try{} and catch the ObjectDisposedException? That seems pretty nasty for a normal close.

Answer 1

This is entirely by design. You did something exceptional, you closed the socket even though you expected data to be received. So you’ll get an exception. The .NET framework always makes sure that asynchronous calls are completed and that the abort reason is signaled in the callback when you call EndXxx(). Good idea, that lets you clean up any state associated with the callback.

You can make it non-exceptional by waiting until the transfer is complete, stop calling BeginReceive() and then close the socket. But that isn’t always practical or sometimes you really want to terminate early. Not a problem, simply catch the ObjectDisposedException and get out. Of course, do consider what happens to the app on the other end of the wire. Anything it sends afterward is going to fall in the bit-bucket with no way for it to find out.