Help: set_thread_mode()

Showing help on 'set_thread_mode()'

Syntax: set_thread_mode() => INT
set_thread_mode(INT <mode>) => none

With no arguments specified, set_thread_mode will return the current thread mode for the verb. A value of 1 indicates that threading is enabled for functions that support it. A value of 0 indicates that threading is disabled and all functions will execute in the main MOO thread, as functions have done in default LambdaMOO since version 1.

If you specify an argument, you can control the thread mode of the current verb. A <mode> of 1 will enable threading and a <mode> of 0 will disable it. This form returns no value. You can invoke this function multiple times if you want to disable threading for a single function call and enable it for the rest.

When should you disable threading? In general, threading should be disabled in verbs where it would be undesirable to suspend(). Each threaded function will immediately suspend the verb while the thread carries out its work. This can have a negative effect when you want to use these functions in verbs that cannot or should not suspend, like $sysobj:do_command or $sysobj:do_login_command.

Note that the threading mode affects the current verb only and does NOT affect verbs called from within that verb.