QThread emits finished() signal but isRunning() returns true and isFinished() returns false

Question

Below is the code for my qthread implementation. I am trying to get gps data from satellite. QThread doesn't produce the finished() signal even when the programs exits gpsSearch() slot function. The function locateMe() is called whenever a button is clicked. The first time when the thread isnt started and the button is clicked it prints true value for isRunning() function and prints false value for isFinished() function. I had to call the quit() function of the QTherad to manually stop the thread. After that it goes to the connected threadQuit() function in the gnssProvider class. But even after that if I click the button it prints true value for isRunning and false for isFinished() in the locateMe() function.

GPSInfo::GPSInfo()
{
    hybridGPSFound = satelliteGPSFound = networkGPSFound = false;
    qDebug()<<"Thread Creating";
    gnssThread = new QThread;
    gnssProvider = new LocationFetcher(this,GEOLOCATION_PROVIDER_GNSS,1);
    gnssProvider->moveToThread(gnssThread);
    connect(gnssThread, SIGNAL(started()), gnssProvider, SLOT(gpsSearch()));
    connect(gnssThread, SIGNAL(finished()), gnssProvider, SLOT(threadQuit()));
}
void LocationFetcher::gpsSearch()
{
    if (BPS_SUCCESS != geolocation_request_events(0))
    {
       fprintf(stderr, "Error requesting geolocation events: %s", strerror(errno));
       return;
    }
    geolocation_set_provider(GPS_Search_Provider);
    geolocation_set_period(GPS_Search_Period);
    while (!stopThread)
    {
        bps_event_t *event = NULL;
        bps_get_event(&event, -1);

        if (event)
        {
            if (bps_event_get_domain(event) == geolocation_get_domain() && bps_event_get_code(event) == GEOLOCATION_INFO)
            {
                handle_geolocation_response(event);
                break;
            }
        }
    }
    geolocation_stop_events(0);

    this->quit();

}
void GPSInfo::LocateMe()
{
    qDebug()<<"Thread Running: "<<gnssThread->isFinished();
    qDebug()<<"Thread Running: "<<gnssThread->isRunning();

    gnssThread->start();
    hybridThread->start();
    networkThread->start();

 }

Answer 1

It's intended behavior that the thread doesn't quit until you manually terminate it. The thread object hosts an event loop, so it doesn't Finish until the event loop quits, as Sebastian explained.

In short, your signal-slot connections are backwards conceptually - the object should terminate the thread when it is finished doing its thing, not the other way around.

Answer 2

The way the QThread lifecycle works is like this:

1. You call QThread::start().
2. At this point, isRunning() should start returning true.
3. The thread internals start. They emit the started() signal.
4. The thread internals call run().
5. Unless you override this in a subclass, run() calls exec().
6. exec() enters an event loop and stays there until quit() or exit() is called.
7. exec() and run() return to the internals.
8. At this point, isFinished() should start returning true and isRunning() false.
9. The internals emit the finished() signal.
10. The internals do some final cleanups.
11. The thread terminates for real.

So you need to call quit() after your location fetcher is done - but this->quit() isn't calling quit() on the thread! This is probably why it's not doing anything.

Your code looks a bit like it was patterned after this article:

http://mayaposch.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/how-to-really-truly-use-qthreads-the-full-explanation/

Note how she gives her worker a finished() signal (not the same as QThread::finished) and connects it to the QThread::quit() slot.