Customizing ActionBlock

Question

I want to implement a prioritised ActionBlock<T>. So that i can Conditionally give priority to some TInput items by using a Predicate<T>.
I read Parallel Extensions Extras Samples and Guide to Implementing Custom TPL Dataflow Blocks.
But Still don`t figure out how can i implement this scenario.
---------------------------- EDIT ---------------------------
There are some tasks, which 5 of them can be run simultaneously. When user push the button, some (depends on predicate function) tasks should run with the most priority.
In fact i write this code

TaskScheduler taskSchedulerHighPriority;
ActionBlock<CustomObject> actionBlockLow;
ActionBlock<CustomObject> actionBlockHigh;
...
queuedTaskScheduler = new QueuedTaskScheduler(TaskScheduler.Default, 5);
taskSchedulerHigh = queuedTaskScheduler.ActivateNewQueue(0);
taskSchedulerLow = queuedTaskScheduler.ActivateNewQueue(1);
...
actionBlockHigh = new ActionBlock<CustomObject>(new Action<CustomObject>(method), new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions { MaxDegreeOfParallelism = 5, SingleProducerConstrained = false, TaskScheduler = taskSchedulerHigh });
actionBlockLow = new ActionBlock<CustomObject>(new Action<CustomObject>(method), new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions { MaxDegreeOfParallelism = 5, MaxMessagesPerTask = 1, TaskScheduler = taskSchedulerLow });
...     
if (predicate(customObject))
    actionBlockHigh.Post(customObject);
else
    actionBlockLow.Post(customObject);

But it seems priority does not take effected at all.
---------------------------- EDIT ------------------
I find the fact that when i use this line of code:

actionBlockHigh = new ActionBlock<AvlHistory>(new Action<AvlHistory>(SemaphoreAction), new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions { TaskScheduler = taskSchedulerHigh });
actionBlockLow = new ActionBlock<AvlHistory>(new Action<AvlHistory>(SemaphoreAction), new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions { TaskScheduler = taskSchedulerLow });

Cause application observe priorities of the Tasks correctly but only one task can be execute at a time, meanwhile using the first code block that is shown in flowing, cause application run 5 tasks simultaneously but in inappropriate priority order.

actionBlockHigh = new ActionBlock<AvlHistory>(new Action<AvlHistory>(SemaphoreAction), new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions { MaxDegreeOfParallelism = 5, TaskScheduler = taskSchedulerHigh });
actionBlockLow = new ActionBlock<AvlHistory>(new Action<AvlHistory>(SemaphoreAction), new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions { MaxDegreeOfParallelism = 5, TaskScheduler = taskSchedulerLow });

Update:
Tanks to svick, i should specify MaxMessagesPerTask for taskSchedulerLow.

What is dictating the priority? Is it something not related to `T` at all? Or is the priority an inherent/derived property of `T`? — casperOne, Dec 12 '12 at 17:34
You can create a custom buffer block that uses a ConcurrentPriorityQueue or you can create a custom asynchronous transfromation block. Both options are non-trivial. Also agree with @casperOne, what does priority mean in your case? — Panagiotis Kanavos, Dec 14 '12 at 10:23

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 14 '12 at 22:17

Your question doesn't include many details, so the following is just a guess of what you might need.

I think the simplest way to do this is to have two ActionBlocks, running on different priorities on QueuedTaskScheduler from ParallelExtensionsExtras. You would link to the high-priority one using a predicate and then to the low-priority one. Also, to make sure high-priority Tasks aren't waiting, set MaxMessagesPerTask of the low-priority block.

In code, it would look something like:

static ITargetBlock<T> CreatePrioritizedActionBlock<T>(
    Action<T> action, Predicate<T> isPrioritizedPredicate)
{
    var buffer = new BufferBlock<T>();

    var scheduler = new QueuedTaskScheduler(1);

    var highPriorityScheduler = scheduler.ActivateNewQueue(0);
    var lowPriorityScheduler = scheduler.ActivateNewQueue(1);

    var highPriorityBlock = new ActionBlock<T>(
        action, new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
        {
            TaskScheduler = highPriorityScheduler
        });
    var lowPriorityBlock = new ActionBlock<T>(
        action, new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
        {
            TaskScheduler = lowPriorityScheduler,
            MaxMessagesPerTask = 1
        });

    buffer.LinkTo(highPriorityBlock, isPrioritizedPredicate);
    buffer.LinkTo(lowPriorityBlock);

    return buffer;
}

This is just a sketch of what you could do, for example, Completion of the returned block doesn't behave correctly.

In your code, you don't specify `MaxMessagesPerTask` for your low priority block. Like I said, doing that is quite imporant. — svick, Dec 15 '12 at 13:31

Customizing ActionBlock

1 Answers1