Question

I have a program that downloads a binary file, from another PC.
I also have a another standalone program that can convert this binary file to a human readable CSV.

I would like to bring the conversion tool “into” the download tool, creating a thread in the download tool that kicks off the conversion code (so it can start converting while it is downloading, reducing the total time of download and convert independently).

I believe I can successfully kick off another thread but how do I synchronize the conversion thread with the main download?

i.e. The conversion catches up with the download, needs to wait for more to download, then start converting again, etc.

Is this similar to the Synchronizing Execution of Multiple Threads ? If so does this mean the downloaded binary needs to be a resource accessed by semaphores?

Am I on the right path or should i be pointed in another direction before I start?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thank You.

Answer 1

This is a classic case of the producer-consumer problem with the download thread as the producer and the conversion thread as the consumer.

Google around and you’ll find an implementation for your language of choice. Here are some from MSDN: How to: Implement Various Producer-Consumer Patterns.