Thread query.

Question

i have the program below. I want to add in the ability to input data from the keyboard and still run the current thread. What do i do? Do i set the current thread as a background thread, then create another thread to handle keyboard input?? How do i get them to run together??
Any tips appreciated.
N.
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
public class EmailListener implements Runnable{
     private Thread task = null;
     public EmailListener(){
          if (task == null) {
              task = new Thread(this, "Email");
              task.start();
     public void run() {
          Thread myThread = Thread.currentThread();
         while (task == myThread) {
               try{
                    EmailRetriver er = new EmailRetriver("nemo.compsoc.com","nduggan","christmas",2110,"[email protected]");
                    er.readMail();
                    er.sendMail();
                    er.close();
               catch(Exception e){
                    e.printStackTrace();
                    task = null;
              try {
                        Thread.sleep(10000);
              } catch (Exception e){}
     public static void main (String args[]) throws Exception {
          System.out.println("Intelligent Text Procesor Email Client ");
          new EmailListener();
}

Answer 1

Ah the wonders of concurrent programming. You're probably going to want some resources on it. These things are a bit more involved then you first think. Doug Lea's book is a great place to start. http://java.sun.com/docs/books/cp/ go from there.
-Spinoza