Controlling Task execution order with ExecutorService

Question

I have a process which delegates asynch tasks to a pool of threads. I need to ensure that certain tasks are executed in order. So for example

Tasks arrive in order

Tasks a1, b1, c1, d1 , e1, a2, a3, b2, f1

Tasks can be executed in any order except where there is a natural dependancy, so a1,a2,a3 must be processed in that order by either allocating to the same thread or blocking these until I know the previous a# task was completed.

Currently it doesn't use the Java Concurrency package, but I'm considering changing to take avantage of the thread management.

Does anyone have a similar solution or suggestions of how to achieve this

Answer 1

I write own Executor that warrants task ordering for tasks with same key. It uses map of queues for order tasks with same key. Each keyed task execute next task with the same key.

This solution don't handle RejectedExecutionException or other exceptions from delegated Executor! So delegated Executor should be "unlimited".

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.LinkedList;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Queue;
import java.util.concurrent.Executor;

/**
* This Executor warrants task ordering for tasks with same key (key have to implement hashCode and equal methods correctly).
*/
public class OrderingExecutor implements Executor{

    private final Executor delegate;
    private final Map<Object, Queue<Runnable>> keyedTasks = new HashMap<Object, Queue<Runnable>>();

    public OrderingExecutor(Executor delegate){
        this.delegate = delegate;
    }

    @Override
    public void execute(Runnable task) {
        // task without key can be executed immediately
        delegate.execute(task);
    }

    public void execute(Runnable task, Object key) {
        if (key == null){ // if key is null, execute without ordering
            execute(task);
            return;
        }

        boolean first;
        Runnable wrappedTask;
        synchronized (keyedTasks){
            Queue<Runnable> dependencyQueue = keyedTasks.get(key);
            first = (dependencyQueue == null);
            if (dependencyQueue == null){
                dependencyQueue = new LinkedList<Runnable>();
                keyedTasks.put(key, dependencyQueue);
            }

            wrappedTask = wrap(task, dependencyQueue, key);
            if (!first)
                dependencyQueue.add(wrappedTask);
        }

        // execute method can block, call it outside synchronize block
        if (first)
            delegate.execute(wrappedTask);

    }

    private Runnable wrap(Runnable task, Queue<Runnable> dependencyQueue, Object key) {
        return new OrderedTask(task, dependencyQueue, key);
    }

    class OrderedTask implements Runnable{

        private final Queue<Runnable> dependencyQueue;
        private final Runnable task;
        private final Object key;

        public OrderedTask(Runnable task, Queue<Runnable> dependencyQueue, Object key) {
            this.task = task;
            this.dependencyQueue = dependencyQueue;
            this.key = key;
        }

        @Override
        public void run() {
            try{
                task.run();
            } finally {
                Runnable nextTask = null;
                synchronized (keyedTasks){
                    if (dependencyQueue.isEmpty()){
                        keyedTasks.remove(key);
                    }else{
                        nextTask = dependencyQueue.poll();
                    }
                }
                if (nextTask!=null)
                    delegate.execute(nextTask);
            }
        }
    }
}