System.Timers .Timer and Callbacks

Unity Engine
1

Hi
Am I correct that the callback method from a System.Timers.Timer cannot be used as is in Unity because the callback does not execute in the Main thread?

If so, is there a good workaround?

Before anyone suggest I DON’T use System.Timers.Timer this is for a non MonoBehaviour server Class, part of a Unity ad playing application I am building.
System.Timers.Timer seems to be the most precise solution based on the documentation I have read.

2

If you’re on a different thread, and you need to get back to the main thread, you need to hook back into it.

A common simple way of doing this is having a singleton MonoBehaviour that stores a System.Action delegate, and every update it sees if it exists and calls it.

Something like this:

public class MainThreadHook : MonoBehaviour
{

    #region Singleton
   
    //implement your singleton in some manner
    private static MainThreadHook _instance;
   
    void Awake()
    {
        _instance = this;
    }
   
    #endregion
   
    #region Fields
   
    private System.Action _callback;
   
    #endregion
   
    #region Methods
   
    void Update()
    {
        var a = _callback;
        _callback = null;
        if(a != null)
        {
            a();
        }
    }
   
    public static void Invoke(System.Action a)
    {
        _callback += a;
    }
   
    #endregion

}

There are various other techniques.

Also that’s mostly psuedo-code, I don’t fully implement the singleton, nor is it thread safe. You need to beef it up, I just slapped it together here in the browser as a guide.

3

Hey, thanks! I just came across another possible solution.

Would appreciate your thoughts on possible pros, cons vs your solution.
UnityThread’ >

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/41330771/use-unity-api-from-another-thread-or-call-a-function-in-the-main-thread/41333540#41333540

4

PS, I DID finally get the solution for the TCP server in Unity on another old thread here in the forums, but very much appreciate your feedback! TCP server in Unity - Unity Engine - Unity Discussions

5

I mean honestly, that is just what I wrote with some extra bells and whistles added and a lock to make it more thread safe, and the singleton fully implemented (I just slap dashed with some notation).

So yeah, it should work.