Do C# Timers elapse on a separate thread?

Solution 1:

It depends. The System.Timers.Timer has two modes of operation.

If SynchronizingObject is set to an ISynchronizeInvoke instance then the Elapsed event will execute on the thread hosting the synchronizing object. Usually these ISynchronizeInvoke instances are none other than plain old Control and Form instances that we are all familiar with. So in that case the Elapsed event is invoked on the UI thread and it behaves similar to the System.Windows.Forms.Timer. Otherwise, it really depends on the specific ISynchronizeInvoke instance that was used.

If SynchronizingObject is null then the Elapsed event is invoked on a ThreadPool thread and it behaves similar to the System.Threading.Timer. In fact, it actually uses a System.Threading.Timer behind the scenes and does the marshaling operation after it receives the timer callback if needed.

Solution 2:

For System.Timers.Timer:

See Brian Gideon's answer below

For System.Threading.Timer:

MSDN Documentation on Timers states:

The System.Threading.Timer class makes callbacks on a ThreadPool thread and does not use the event model at all.

So indeed the timer elapses on a different thread.

Solution 3:

Each elapsed event will fire in the same thread unless a previous Elapsed is still running.

So it handles the collision for you

try putting this in a console

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    Debug.WriteLine(Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
    var timer = new Timer(1000);
    timer.Elapsed += timer_Elapsed;
    timer.Start();
    Console.ReadLine();
}

static void timer_Elapsed(object sender, ElapsedEventArgs e)
{
    Thread.Sleep(2000);
    Debug.WriteLine(Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
}

you will get something like this

10
6
12
6
12

where 10 is the calling thread and 6 and 12 are firing from the bg elapsed event. If you remove the Thread.Sleep(2000); you will get something like this

10
6
6
6
6

Since there are no collisions.

But this still leaves u with a problem. if u are firing the event every 5 seconds and it takes 10 seconds to edit u need some locking to skip some edits.