[solved] How to make a code to wait while a file is written on hard drive?

[peterm]

I need to save frequently QPixmap or QImage into a file on a hard drive, while the image is constantly changing, so eventually I’ll have a set of image files, which I could then convert to animated gif or to some other animated format. I am using the pixmap.save(“filename”) or qimage.save(“filename”) methods. However, the code crashes with the following message: Fatal IO error 11 (Resource temporarily unavailable) on X server. I believe I need to wait while the image is saved into a file and then the image could be changed and only then saved again. Does anyone know how to make a code to wait till a file is saved on a hard drive and then continue to run? Thank you.

[mlong]

As I understand it, the QPixmap/QImage save commands should block until the IO is complete. By the time the save() call returns, the file should be written.

[peterm]

I imagine 2 different possibilities: (1) the next save() command comes too soon before the previous save() command was completed, or (2) the image changes during the save() operation before save() completed. I do not know which possibility actually realizes, but the code crushes with Fatal IO error 11. Any advise to fix this problem? Thanks.

[mlong]

FWIW, the error message you're getting is from the X Server, and shouldn't have anything to do with File IO .

Can you post a code snippet of the section of code which is doing the processing/saving of the images?

[reactive]

http://doc.qt.nokia.com/4.7/qpixmap.html#save
Since save() blocks until finished as mlong pointed out, the only way for save() to be called
again simultaneously is if it's from another thread. In which case, you will have to make
your code thread-safe, either by using flags/locks or queued slot connections.

http://doc.qt.nokia.com/4.7/qtconcurrent.html
http://doc.qt.nokia.com/qq/qq14-threading.html

[mlong]

Of course, if you're using QPixmap outside the main thread, then you're bound to have troubles.

[peterm]

There is no much to show, the code is very simple. And it works fine when I need to save a single image. It leads to the crush only when image savings happen very frequently.

@
int AppWind::updateImage()
{
...

if (iterCurrent%iterPerOut==0) {
frame2d.saveImage();
...
}
}

bool Tp2dFrame::saveImage()
{
QPixmap* pm = getPixmap();
return pm->save(imageFileName);
}
@

[EDIT: code formatting, please wrap in @-tags, Volker]

[mlong]

(Please wrap your code in @ tags.)

Have you tried running the program under the debugger to find out exactly where the crash is occurring?

Again, just double checking... this is not running in a separate thread, correct?

[peterm]

Actually, there is a question about threads, because AppWind::updateImage() is a time consuming routine and is run by a separate thread. Any advice? Thanks.

[mlong]

Is that separate thread using QPixmaps? If it is, that's going to cause you problems.

QImages should be safe, if I remember correctly, though.

[peterm]

Debugging does not help in this case. When doing debugging step-by-step, then everything goes just fine, no crashes, I think because it's not fast enough. If I allow the code to run then it crashes with the error message "Fatal IO error 11 (Resource temporarily unavailable) on X server", and no other information can be obtained.

[peterm]

A separate thread calls AppWind::updateImage(), which in turn calls Tp2dFrame::saveImage(), which gets pixmap and saves it to a file: QPixmap* pm = getPixmap(); pm->save(imageFileName);

[reactive]

Then you need a traffic cop so cars don't crash into one another at the intersection. See my links above.

[peterm]

I tried to use the safe-thread methods as well, by using QMutexLocker locker(&mutex), but nothing helps. Maybe the problem is that the image changes too fast while the save() operation is still in process. Could it cause a crash?

[mlong]

Again, if you're using QPixmaps in another thread (or in code that's called from another thread) you're going to have issues, whether you're using mutexes or not.

[peterm]

mlong,
I've fixed the problem as you advised: the main thread should operate on QPixmaps. Thank you so much.

[mlong]

Good deal. Glad to help! Please be sure and edit the title of the thread to add [Solved]. Thanks!