Concurrent Run

To run a function in another thread, use QtConcurrent::run():

extern void aFunction();
QFuture<void> future = QtConcurrent::run(aFunction);

This will run aFunction in a separate thread obtained from the default QThreadPool. You can use the QFuture and QFutureWatcher classes to monitor the status of the function.

To use a dedicated thread pool, you can pass the QThreadPool as the first argument:

extern void aFunction();
QThreadPool pool;
QFuture<void> future = QtConcurrent::run(&pool, aFunction);

Passing arguments to the function is done by adding them to the QtConcurrent::run() call immediately after the function name. For example:

extern void aFunctionWithArguments(int arg1, double arg2, const QString &string);

int integer = ...;
double floatingPoint = ...;
QString string = ...;

QFuture<void> future = QtConcurrent::run(aFunctionWithArguments, integer, floatingPoint, string);

A copy of each argument is made at the point where QtConcurrent::run() is called, and these values are passed to the thread when it begins executing the function. Changes made to the arguments after calling QtConcurrent::run() are not visible to the thread.

Any return value from the function is available via QFuture:

extern QString functionReturningAString();
QFuture<QString> future = QtConcurrent::run(functionReturningAString);
...
QString result = future.result();

As documented above, passing arguments is done like this:

extern QString someFunction(const QByteArray &input);

QByteArray bytearray = ...;

QFuture<QString> future = QtConcurrent::run(someFunction, bytearray);
...
QString result = future.result();

Note that the QFuture::result() function blocks and waits for the result to become available. Use QFutureWatcher to get notification when the function has finished execution and the result is available.

Using Member Functions▲

// call 'QList<QByteArray>  QByteArray::split(char sep) const' in a separate thread
QByteArray bytearray = "hello world";
QFuture<QList<QByteArray> > future = QtConcurrent::run(bytearray, &QByteArray::split, ',');
...
QList<QByteArray> result = future.result();

// call 'void QImage::invertPixels(InvertMode mode)' in a separate thread
QImage image = ...;
QFuture<void> future = QtConcurrent::run(&image, &QImage::invertPixels, QImage::InvertRgba);
...
future.waitForFinished();
// At this point, the pixels in 'image' have been inverted

Using Lambda Functions▲

QFuture<void> future = QtConcurrent::run([=]() {
    // Code in this block will run in another thread
});
...