Emit thread safety

[flavio]

@class MyServer: public QTcpServer
{
//...
public:
MyServer(/.../)
/.../
{
connect(this, SIGNAL(internalShutdown()), SLOT(doShutdown()), Qt::QueuedConnection);
}
//...
void shutdown()
{
emit internalShutdown();
}
//...
signals:
void internalShutdown();
//...
private slots:
void doShutdown();
//...
};@
//==============================================================
MyServer instance created in main thread context and work with main thread events processing (app.exec()). And now, myServerInstance->shutdown() executed from other thread (not from main thread) -- executed from Control-C Handler (which is executed in temporary thread created by OS). Question is: is it safe that emit internalShutdown() inside MyServer::shutdown() executed in another thread context? (I mean emit keyword safety). Sorry for my English

[Franzk]

The emit keyword itself doesn't do much. It is there for the looks of it. Essentially emitting a signal is calling a specific function. Signal/slot connections are by default made with the thread auto-detection enabled. The meta object will notice that different threads are being used and automatically a queued connection will be chosen. It is possible that a direct connection is enforced. In that case the called slot is executed in the emitting thread's context.

I believe there is an article on the wiki explaining this more in detail.

Bottom line is that signal/slot connections are locked, and therefore thread safe.