Can a server handle threads?

Question

I have a server that
a) recieves data
b) updates a database
c) sends data to clients
I tried putting the database update into a separate
thread :
Runnable task = new Runnable() {
public void run() {
//i have a print statement here
//which is not reached
//database update in here
so now the server recieves data and sends it to the clients
but it never updates the database.
Are there any issues that you are aware of with starting threads on
a server?
thanks,
zeke

Answer 1

Thanks for responding.
Here is some more detail...
static class TaskRunner {
                private final static int TIME_TO_WAIT = 60000;    
                private Queue q = new Queue();
                class MonitorThread extends Thread {
                        private Thread t;
                        private boolean go;
                        private boolean timeout;
                        MonitorThread(String name, Thread t) {
                                super(name + " monitor");
                                this.t = t;
                                this.start();
                        public void run() {
                                while (true) {
                                   // wait for tick off
                                   synchronized(this) {
                                        go = false;
                                        while (go == false) {
                                                try {
                                                        wait();
                                                catch (InterruptedException ex)
                                                        //ignore
                                        // get out of this wait either in timeou
t or reset
                                        try {
                                                wait(TIME_TO_WAIT);
                                        catch (InterruptedException ex) {}
                                        if (timeout == true) {
                                                CoreUtil.beep();
                                                printDebugMessage("***** " + t.g
etName() + " timeout " + TIME_TO_WAIT + "ms !!!!!!!!");
                        synchronized void begin() {
                                go = true;
                                notify();
                class TaskRunnerThread extends Thread {
                        private MonitorThread monitor;
                        TaskRunnerThread(String name, boolean monitorOn) {
                                super(name);
                                if (monitorOn) {
                                        this.monitor = new MonitorThread(name, t
his);
                                        yield();
                                CoreUtil.setPriority(this, Thread.MIN_PRIORITY +
2);
                                CoreUtil.setDaemon(this, true);
                                this.start();
                        * Get a message from the queue, block if there is no mes
sage.
                        * @return the message.
                        public void run() {
                                while (true) {
                                        if (monitor != null) {
                                                monitor.reset();
                                        Runnable task;
                                        synchronized(TaskRunner.this) {
                                                while (q.isEmpty()) {
                                                        try {
                                                                TaskRunner.this.
wait();
                                                        catch (InterruptedExcept
ion e) { }
                                                task = (Runnable) q.pop();
                                        // a null task signal for exit
                                        if (task == null) {
                                                return;
                                        if (monitor != null) {
                                                monitor.begin();
                                        try {
                                                task.run();
                                        catch (Exception ex) {
                                                printDebugMessage("Exception in
runnerTask: " + ex);
                                                ex.printStackTrace();
                                        task = null;       // null out so we don
't hold reference here
                // create a TaskRunner object with the specified number of work
threads
                TaskRunner(String name, int n) {
                        this(name, n, false);
                // create a TaskRunner object with the specified number of work
threads
                TaskRunner(String name, int n, boolean monitorOn) {
                        // create a pool of RunnerThread so in case one is block
ed
                        // we are not block totally.  It's a very bad sign if an
y
                        // of these thread a block for a long time
                        for (int i = 0 ; i < n ; i++) {
                                new TaskRunnerThread(name + " " + i, monitorOn);
                * Execute the subribe command
                * @param m the messsage
                synchronized void execute(Runnable task) {
                        q.push(task);
                         notify();
        public static void runTask(Runnable task) {
                printDebugMessage("in runTask "+task);
                if(taskRunner == null)
          taskRunner = new                                   TaskRunner("CoreUtil.TaskRunner Thread", 3);
                taskRunner.execute(task);
        public static void close(){
                taskRunner = null;
//then i call this
runTask(new Runnable() {
     public void run() {
          //update database
});do you see any reason why the thread wouldn't start?