SmtpClient.SendAsync - How to ensure my application doesn't finish before callback?

Question

Hi,

I need to send emails asychronously through a console application. I need to do some DB updates on the callback but my application is exiting before the callback code gets run!

How can I stop this from happening in a nice manner rather than simply guessing how long to wait before exiting. I would imagine the Async calls get placed in some form of thread? Is it possible to check if any are waiting to be called?

Sample Code

private static void SendCompletedCallback(object sender, AsyncCompletedEventArgs e)
{
   // Get the unique identifier for this asynchronous operation.
   String token = (string) e.UserState;
   if (e.Cancelled)
   {
      Console.WriteLine("[{0}] Send canceled.", token);
   }
   if (e.Error != null)
   {
      Console.WriteLine("[{0}] {1}", token, e.Error.ToString());
   } 
   else
   {
       // update DB
       Console.WriteLine("Message sent.");
   }
}

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    var users = Repository.GetUsers();
    SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient("Host");
    client.SendCompleted += new SendCompletedEventHandler(SendCompletedCallback);
    MailAddress from = new MailAddress("[email protected]", "System", Encoding.UTF8);
    foreach (var user in users)
    {
        MailAddress to = new MailAddress(user.Email);
        MailMessage message = new MailMessage(from, to);
        message.Body = "This is a test";
        message.BodyEncoding =  System.Text.Encoding.UTF8;
        message.Subject = "test message 1" + someArrows;
        message.SubjectEncoding = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8;
        string userState = String.Format("Message for user id {0}", user.ID);
        client.SendAsync(message, userState);
        message.Dispose();   
    }

    // need to wait here until I have received a callback for each message
    // otherwise the application will exit
}

Answer 1

Create a ManualResetEvent call WaitOne one it on it before exiting. When the last email/dbupdate is performed, call Set on the ManualResetEvent.

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    object someArrows = ">>>";
    var users = Repository.GetUsers();
    SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient("Host");
    client.SendCompleted += SendCompletedCallback;
    MailAddress from = new MailAddress("[email protected]", "System", Encoding.UTF8);
    int numRemaining = users.Length;
    using(ManualResetEvent waitHandle = new ManualResetEvent(numRemaining == 0))
    {
        object numRemainingLock = new object();
        foreach(var user in users)
        {
            MailAddress to = new MailAddress(user.Email);
            MailMessage message = new MailMessage(from, to);
            try
            {
                message.Body = "This is a test";
                message.BodyEncoding = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8;
                message.Subject = "test message 1" + someArrows;
                message.SubjectEncoding = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8;
                string userState = String.Format("Message for user id {0}", user.ID);
                client.SendCompleted += delegate
                {
                    lock(numRemainingLock)
                    {
                        if(--numRemaining == 0)
                        {
                            waitHandle.Set();
                        }
                    }
                };
                client.SendAsync(message, userState);
            }
            catch
            {
                message.Dispose();
                throw;
            }
        }
        waitHandle.WaitOne();
    }
}

Answer 2

I have this message: An asynchronous call is already in progress. It must be completed or canceled before you can call this method.

Answer 3

I found that i had to create a neu instant SmtpClient in loop: Foreach, now it works perfectly