How to name a thread?

Question

How can I name this Thread?

    override val t: Thread = Thread {
        try {
            transmit()
        } catch (e: Exception) {
            println("Transmitter throws exception: $e")
        }
    }

Answer 1

You can create a named thread using the thread function from stdlib:

fun thread(
    start: Boolean = true, 
    isDaemon: Boolean = false, 
    contextClassLoader: ClassLoader? = null, 
    name: String? = null, 
    priority: Int = -1, 
    block: () -> Unit
): Thread

Just change your code:

override val t: Thread = thread(name = "transmitter thread") {
        try {
            transmit()
        } catch (e: Exception) {
            println("Transmitter throws exception: $e")
        }
    }

In order to set the thread's name from within the thread, you can't use Thread's constructor that receives Runnable. You need to subclass the Thread class using the object expression:

val thread = object : Thread() {
  override fun run() {
       name = "thread with random name: ${Math.random()}"
  }
}

Answer 2

You can use Thread's constructor, although due to how its arguments are ordered, you'll have to do this:

override val t: Thread = Thread({
    try {
        transmit()
    } catch (e: Exception) {
        println("Transmitter throws exception: $e")
    }}, "Your name here")
}