Long Running Action Timeout in .Net Core

Question

How can I implement a timeout for a potentially long running action lambda? I have tried wrapping the action in a Task and then using a cancellation token to enforce the timeout but to no avail.

    public void LongRunningTask()
    {
        ExecuteSafely(() => //do something );
    }

    private void ExecuteSafely(Action action)
    {
        try
        {
            action();
        }
        catch
        {
            // just don't crash 
        }
    }

New implementation as per 1st answer:

public void Information<T>(string messageTemplate, T propertyValue)
{
    ExecuteSafely(() => _logger.Information(messageTemplate, propertyValue));
}        

private void ExecuteSafely(Action action)
{
    try
    {
        var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
        cts.CancelAfter(new TimeSpan(0, 0, 1));

        try
        {
            Task.Run(action, cts.Token).Wait();
        }
        catch (TaskCanceledException e)
        {
            System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(e.ToString());
            //here you know the task is cancelled due to timeout
        }
    }
    catch (Exception e)
    {
        System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(e.ToString());
        // just don't crash 
    }
}

This is only working correctly when I step into Task.Run but not when I step over or let it run. Perhaps there is some closure issue with the lambda being passed into the action?

Answer 1

You should use CancellationTokenSource

    void Execute(Action action, TimeSpan timeout)
    {
        var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
        cts.CancelAfter(timeout);

        try
        {
            Task.Run(action, cts.Token).Wait();
        }
        catch (TaskCanceledException e)
        {
            //here you know the task is cancelled due to timeout
        }
    }