[DrJava] [ drjava-Feature Requests-1550769 ] Interactive threads in Interactions

[SourceForge.net <no...@so...>]

Feature Requests item #1550769, was opened at 2006-09-01 16:41
Message generated for change (Tracker Item Submitted) made by Item Submitter
You can respond by visiting: 
https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=438938&aid=1550769&group_id=44253

Please note that this message will contain a full copy of the comment thread,
including the initial issue submission, for this request,
not just the latest update.
Category: Interactions
Group: None
Status: Open
Priority: 5
Submitted By: Dan Smith (dlsmith)
Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody)
Summary: Interactive threads in Interactions

Initial Comment:
The Interactions pane isn't very useful when it comes to experimenting 
with multi-threaded programs that rely on the wait/notify paradigm.  Any 
action that leads the main thread to sleep essentially freezes the 
Interactions, unless there is some thread running in the background that 
will eventually trigger a notify.  So, ultimately, the only way to experiment 
with the program is to revert to a batch-processing approach -- write a 
"main" method (or an anonymous Thread object), then see what happens.

The Debugger provides a list of threads, and allows switching between 
them during a debug session.  I haven't used it much, and it's not obvious 
to me how it might be put to good use.  Clever use of breakpoints would 
probably be required.  I believe in this case it's still difficult to perform 
on-the-fly experiments.

What I'd like to see is facilities to execute code in multiple threads on-
the-fly.  For example:

- I define and connect a PipedReader and PipedWriter in the interactions
- I invoke the reader's read() method, then realize it's blocking, waiting 
for input from the writer.
- I click a "new thread" button.  There is some visual cue that I'm running 
in a different thread (perhaps by using multiple tabs, by putting the 
threads in a chooseable list, or by highlighting the "active thread" code 
differently).
- I invoke the writer's write() method (I have access to the same scope as 
the original thread at the time of thread creation)
- The original thread can now complete its evaluation, and I see the 
output (in the other tab, or highlighted as "original thread" output)
- I switch back to the original thread (clicking on a tab or choosing from a 
list) and continue my session


----------------------------------------------------------------------

You can respond by visiting: 
https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=438938&aid=1550769&group_id=44253