The third use case is exactly the same scenario as the async listeners but with the exception that the caller will not wait for the spawned threads at all. This is accomplished by using the asyncAllJoin=false flag. This tells ColdBox to just spawn, return back a structure of thread information and continue execution of the calling code.

Configuration Arguments

You can also combine this call with the following arguments:

• asyncPriority : The priority level of each of the spawned threads. By default it uses normal priority level

The second use case is where you want to run the interception but multi-thread all the interceptor CFCs that are listening to that interception point. So let's say we have our onPageCreate announcement and we have 3 interceptors that are listening to that interception point. Then by using the asyncAll=true argument, ColdBox will create 3 separate threads, one for each of those interceptors and execute their methods in their appropriate threads. This is a great way to delegate long running processes simultaneously on a specific piece of data. Also, by default, the caller will wait for all of those 3 threads to finalize before continuing execution. So it is a great way to process data and wait until it has become available.

Caution Please remember that you are also sharing state between interceptors via the event and interceptData, so make sure you either lock or are careful in asynchronous land.

Configuration Arguments

You can also combine this call with the following arguments:

• asyncPriority : The priority level of each of the spawned threads. By default it uses normal priority level

• asyncJoinTimeout : The timeout in milliseconds to wait for all spawned threads. By default it is set to 0, which waits until ALL threads finalize no matter how long they take.

• asyncAllJoin : The flag that determines if the caller should wait for all spawned threads or should just spawn all threads and continue immediately. By default, it waits until all spawned threads finalize.

The first case involves where you want to completely detach an interception call into the background. You will accomplish this by using the async=true argument. This will then detach the execution of the interception into a separate thread and return to you a structure containing information about the thread it created for you. This is a great way to send work jobs, emails, processing and more to the background instead of having the calling thread wait for execution.

threadData = announceInterception(
    state           = "onPageCreate", 
    interceptData   = { page= local.page }, 
    asyncAll        = true
);

Configuration Arguments

You can also combine this call with the following arguments:

• asyncPriority : The priority level of the detached thread. By default it uses normal priority level.

threadData = announceInterception(
    state           = "onPageCreate", 
    interceptData   = { page= local.page }, 
    asyncAll        = true,
    asyncPriority   = "high"
);

In honor of one of my favorite bands and album, The Police - Synchronicity, we have some asynchronous capabilities in ColdBox Interceptors. These features are thanks to the sponsorship of Guardly, Inc, Alert, Connect, Stay Safe. So please make sure to check them out and thank them for sponsoring this great feature set. The core interceptor service and announcement methods have some arguments that can turn asynchronicity on or off and can return a structure of threading data.

any announceInterception(state, interceptData, async, asyncAll, asyncAllJoin, asyncJoinTimeout, asyncPriority);

The asynchronous arguments are listed in the table below:

All asynchronous calls will return a structure of thread information back to you when using the announceInterception() method or directly in the interceptor service, the processState() method. The structure contains information about all the threads that where created during the call and their respective information like: status, data, errors, monitoring, etc.

threadData = announceInterception(
    state           = "onLogin", 
    interceptData   = { user=user }, 
    asyncAll        = true
);

Now that you have seen all asynchronous arguments and their features, let's investigate each use case one by one.

We have also extended the interceptor registration process so you can annotate interception points to denote threading. You will do so with the following two annotations:

This allows you the flexibility to determine in code which points are threaded, which is a great way to use for emails, logging, etc.

function preProcess( event, interceptData ) async asyncPriority="low"{
    // Log current request information
    log.info("Executing request: #event.getCurrentEvent()#", getHTTPRequestData() );    
}

So if you have 3 interceptors in a chain and only 1 of them is threaded, then the 2 will execute in order while the third one in the background. Overall, your processing power and choices have now grown.