Question

I want to make 10 asynchronous http requests at once and only process the results when all have completed and in a single callback function. I also do not want to block any threads using WaitAll (it is my understanding that WaitAll blocks until all are complete). I think I want to make a custom IAsyncResult which will handle multiple calls. Am I on the right track? Are there any good resources or examples out there that describe handling this?

Answer 1

I like Darin’s solution. But, if you want something more traditional, you can try this.

I would definitely use an array of wait handles and the WaitAll mechanism:

static void Main(string[] args)
{

    WaitCallback del = state =>
    {
        ManualResetEvent[] resetEvents = new ManualResetEvent[10];
        WebClient[] clients = new WebClient[10];

        Console.WriteLine("Starting requests");
        for (int index = 0; index < 10; index++)
        {
            resetEvents[index] = new ManualResetEvent(false);
            clients[index] = new WebClient();

            clients[index].OpenReadCompleted += new OpenReadCompletedEventHandler(client_OpenReadCompleted);

            clients[index].OpenReadAsync(new Uri(@"http:\\www.google.com"), resetEvents[index]);
        }

        bool succeeded = ManualResetEvent.WaitAll(resetEvents, 10000);
        Complete(succeeded);

        for (int index = 0; index < 10; index++)
        {
            resetEvents[index].Dispose();
            clients[index].Dispose();
        }
    };

    ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(del);

    Console.WriteLine("Waiting...");
    Console.ReadKey();
}

static void client_OpenReadCompleted(object sender, OpenReadCompletedEventArgs e)
{
    // Do something with data...Then close the stream
    e.Result.Close();

    ManualResetEvent readCompletedEvent = (ManualResetEvent)e.UserState;
    readCompletedEvent.Set();
    Console.WriteLine("Received callback");
}


static void Complete(bool succeeded)
{
    if (succeeded)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Yeah!");
    }
    else
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Boohoo!");
    }
}