asked on

Passing variables to new threads

I want to start a new thread but I am getting an error.

Here is the code:

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Dim ss As Thread = New Thread(AddressOf SendPing)
ss.Start()
ss = Nothing
End Sub

Here is the sub:

Sub SendPing(ByVal ip As String, ByVal index As Integer)
'Code
End Sub

How do I start a thread from a subroutine that requires certain variables to be passed to it?

ZeonFlash

I found this article helpful when attempting to do the same thing: http://www.devx.com/dotnet/Article/11358

What I ended up doing, though, was to set a global to the value that I needed, and then had the thread snag it upon starting. Ofcourse, you should look into locking/unlocking the variables before doing that.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Bob Learned

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Mike Tomlinson

Threads can access anything in the object that contains them...be that a Form or a Class. So make the variables global, either literally as ZeonFlash suggests by placing them in a Module, or by placing them at your Form level.

Or encapsulate your thread in a Class as Bob suggests so that the thread can access those values. This is usually the preferred method since each thread can have its own set of "parameters"...

Bob Learned

I have been reading a lot about thread local storage (TLS) and the ThreadStatic attribute, and they don't quite get the job done IMHO. I love the encapsulation of a property and the thread Start method.

Bob

rbichon

ASKER

Thanks. That worked great!