C# in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Name

ProcessThread

Synopsis

This class represents a thread, the smallest unit of execution under Win32. Use Process.Threads to get an array of all the threads contained within a given process. As with processes, a thread runs with a given priority. BasePriority represents the base priority for a thread. From time to time, the operating system changes a thread’s priority; a thread’s current priority is available from CurrentPriority. Threads in background applications run with a lower priority, as do threads that are sleeping. BasePriorityPriorityLevel specifies a range of appropriate priorities for a thread.

If a process is ProcessPriorityClass.Normal, ProcessPriorityClass.High, or ProcessPriorityClass.RealTime, you can set a thread’s PriorityBoostEnabled to true. This gives the thread an extra boost whenever the user is interacting with the program’s user interface. You can make a thread prefer one processor over another by setting the value of IdealProcessor. ProcessorAffinity allows you to set up a bitfield that represents one or more preferred processors. Bit 0 represents the first processor, bit 1 the second, and so on. For example, a ProcessorAffinity of 0x0005 (bits 0 and 2 on) indicates that the first and third processor are preferred. Use ResetIdealProcessor( ) to tell the thread that it can run on any processor, leaving the processor choice up to the operating system.

The current state of a thread is returned by ThreadState. If a thread is waiting, you can retrieve the reason ...