How to escape a while loop in C#

I am trying to escape a while loop. Basically, if the "if" condition is met, I would like to be able to exit this loop:

private void CheckLog()
{
    while (true)
    {
        Thread.Sleep(5000);
        if (!System.IO.File.Exists("Command.bat"))
            continue;

        using (System.IO.StreamReader sr = System.IO.File.OpenText("Command.bat"))
        {
            string s = "";
            while ((s = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
            {
                if (s.Contains("mp4:production/CATCHUP/"))
                {
                    RemoveEXELog();

                    Process p = new Process();
                    p.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = "dump";
                    p.StartInfo.FileName = "test.exe";
                    p.StartInfo.Arguments = s;
                    p.Start();

                    << Escape here - if the "if" condition is met, escape the loop here >>
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Use break; to escape the first loop:

if (s.Contains("mp4:production/CATCHUP/"))
{
   RemoveEXELog();
   Process p = new Process();
   p.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = "dump";
   p.StartInfo.FileName = "test.exe"; 
   p.StartInfo.Arguments = s; 
   p.Start();
   break;
}

If you want to also escape the second loop, you might need to use a flag and check in the out loop's guard:

        boolean breakFlag = false;
        while (!breakFlag)
        {
            Thread.Sleep(5000);
            if (!System.IO.File.Exists("Command.bat")) continue;
            using (System.IO.StreamReader sr = System.IO.File.OpenText("Command.bat"))
            {
                string s = "";
                while ((s = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
                {
                    if (s.Contains("mp4:production/CATCHUP/"))
                    {

                        RemoveEXELog();

                        Process p = new Process();
                        p.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = "dump";
                        p.StartInfo.FileName = "test.exe"; 
                        p.StartInfo.Arguments = s; 
                        p.Start();

                        breakFlag = true;
                        break;
                    }
                }
            }

Or, if you want to just exit the function completely from within the nested loop, put in a return; instead of a break;.

But these aren't really considered best practices. You should find some way to add the necessary Boolean logic into your while guards.


break or goto

while ( true ) {
  if ( conditional ) {
    break;
  }
  if ( other conditional ) {
    goto EndWhile;
  }
}
EndWhile:

But you might also want to look into a very different approach, listening for file-system events.


If you need to continue with additional logic use...

break;

or if you have a value to return...

return my_value_to_be_returned;

However, looking at your code, I believe you will control the loop with the revised example below without using a break or return...

private void CheckLog()
        {
            bool continueLoop = true;
            while (continueLoop)
            {
                Thread.Sleep(5000);
                if (!System.IO.File.Exists("Command.bat")) continue;
                using (System.IO.StreamReader sr = System.IO.File.OpenText("Command.bat"))
                {
                    string s = "";
                    while (continueLoop && (s = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
                    {
                        if (s.Contains("mp4:production/CATCHUP/"))
                        {
                            RemoveEXELog();

                            Process p = new Process();
                            p.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = "dump";
                            p.StartInfo.FileName = "test.exe"; 
                            p.StartInfo.Arguments = s; 
                            p.Start();
                            continueLoop = false;
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }

Which loop are you trying to exit? A simple break; will exit the inner loop. For the outer loop, you could use an outer loop-scoped variable (e.g. boolean exit = false;) which is set to true just before you break your inner loop. After the inner loop block check the value of exit and if true use break; again.