c++node.jsmultithreadingnode.js-addonn-api

How can you call an emitter callback from separate c++ thread in an addon?


For context, I started with this question. I need to call the callback for the emitter in another thread. I made a minimal example but it segfaults on emit.Call({cb, result}); My first instinct is that I have a problem with the lifetimes of env or the emit function.

addon.cpp

#include <napi.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <thread>
#include <memory>
#include <functional>
#include <chrono>

std::shared_ptr<std::thread> thread;
bool running = true;

void generate(Napi::Env& env, Napi::Function& emit)
{
  while(running)
  {
    Napi::Array result = Napi::Array::New(env);

    for(int i = 0; i < 3; ++i)
    {
      result[i] = rand()%100;
    }

    auto cb = Napi::String::New(env, "onFeedData");

    emit.Call({cb, result});

    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(1));
  }
}

Napi::Value Start(const Napi::CallbackInfo& info)
{
  Napi::Env env = info.Env();
  Napi::Function emit = info[0].As<Napi::Function>();

  auto cb = std::bind(generate, env, emit);
  thread = std::make_shared<std::thread>(cb);

  return Napi::String::New(env, "OK");
}

Napi::Value Stop(const Napi::CallbackInfo& info)
{
  Napi::Env env = info.Env();
  Napi::Function emit = info[0].As<Napi::Function>();

  running = false;
  thread->join();

  return Napi::String::New(env, "OK");
}

Napi::Object Init(Napi::Env env, Napi::Object exports)
{
  exports.Set(
      Napi::String::New(env, "Start"),
      Napi::Function::New(env, Start));

  exports.Set(Napi::String::New(env, "Stop"),
      Napi::Function::New(env, Stop));

  return exports;
}

NODE_API_MODULE(addon, Init)

index.js

'use strict'

const EventEmitter = require('events').EventEmitter;
const addon = require('./build/addon.node');

function Main() {
  const emitter = new EventEmitter();

  emitter.on('onFeedData', (evt) => {
    console.log(evt);
  })

  setTimeout(() => {
    addon.Stop( emitter.emit.bind(emitter) );
  }, 5000);

  addon.Start( emitter.emit.bind(emitter) );
}

Main();

Solution

  • We can achieve this by utilizing napi_create_threadsafe_function() function; such usage is explained in detail in the StackOverflow posting How to use napi_threadsafe_function for NodeJS Native Addon

    Here is the node.js documentation for Asynchronous Thread-safe Function Calls