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c#.nettask-parallel-librarywaitcancellation

Task.Wait unexpected behavior in case of OperationCanceledException

Consider the following piece of code:

CancellationTokenSource cts0 = new CancellationTokenSource(), cts1 = new CancellationTokenSource();
try
{
    var task = Task.Run(() => { throw new OperationCanceledException("123", cts0.Token); }, cts1.Token);
    task.Wait();
}
catch (AggregateException ae) { Console.WriteLine(ae.InnerException); }

Due to MSDN task should be in Faulted state because it's token does not match exception's token (and also IsCancellationRequested is false):

If the token's IsCancellationRequested property returns false or if the exception's token does not match the Task's token, the OperationCanceledException is treated like a normal exception, causing the Task to transition to the Faulted state.

When I launch this code in console app using .NET 4.5.2 I get task in Canceled state (aggregate exception contains unknown TaskCanceledExeption, not the original). And all information of original exception is lost (message, inner exception, custom data).

I also noticed that behavior of Task.Wait differs from await task in case of OperationCanceledException.

try { Task.Run(() => { throw new InvalidOperationException("123"); }).Wait(); } // 1
catch (AggregateException ae) { Console.WriteLine(ae.InnerException); }

try { await Task.Run(() => { throw new InvalidOperationException("123"); }); } // 2
catch (InvalidOperationException ex) { Console.WriteLine(ex); }

try { Task.Run(() => { throw new OperationCanceledException("123"); }).Wait(); } // 3 
catch (AggregateException ae) { Console.WriteLine(ae.InnerException); }

try { await Task.Run(() => { throw new OperationCanceledException("123"); }); } // 4
catch (OperationCanceledException ex) { Console.WriteLine(ex); }

Cases 1 and 2 produce almost identical result (differ only in StackTrace), but when I change exception to OperationCanceledException, then I get very different results: an unknown TaskCanceledException in case 3 without original data, and expected OpeartionCanceledException in case 4 with all original data (message, etc.).

So the question is: Does MSDN contain incorrect information? Or is it a bug in .NET? Or maybe it's just I don't understand something?

Solution

  • It is a bug. Task.Run under the hood calls Task<Task>.Factory.StartNew. This internal Task is getting the right Status of Faulted. The wrapping task is not.

    You can work around this bug by calling

    Task.Factory.StartNew(() => { throw new OperationCanceledException("123", cts0.Token); }, cts1.Token, TaskCreationOptions.DenyChildAttach, TaskScheduler.Default);

    Though, you'll lose the other feature of Task.Run which is unwrapping. See:
    Task.Run vs Task.Factory.StartNew

    More Details:

    Here's the code of Task.Run where you see that it is creating a wrapping UnwrapPromise (which derives from Task<TResult>:

    public static Task Run(Func<Task> function, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
{
    // Check arguments
    if (function == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("function");
    Contract.EndContractBlock();

    cancellationToken.ThrowIfSourceDisposed();

    // Short-circuit if we are given a pre-canceled token
    if (cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
        return Task.FromCancellation(cancellationToken);

    // Kick off initial Task, which will call the user-supplied function and yield a Task.
    Task<Task> task1 = Task<Task>.Factory.StartNew(function, cancellationToken, TaskCreationOptions.DenyChildAttach, TaskScheduler.Default);

    // Create a promise-style Task to be used as a proxy for the operation
    // Set lookForOce == true so that unwrap logic can be on the lookout for OCEs thrown as faults from task1, to support in-delegate cancellation.
    UnwrapPromise<VoidTaskResult> promise = new UnwrapPromise<VoidTaskResult>(task1, lookForOce: true);

    return promise;
}

    The Task constructor which it calls does not take a cancellation token (and thus it does not know about the inner Task's cancellation token). Notice it creates a default CancellationToken instead. Here's the ctor it calls:

    internal Task(object state, TaskCreationOptions creationOptions, bool promiseStyle)
{
    Contract.Assert(promiseStyle, "Promise CTOR: promiseStyle was false");

    // Check the creationOptions. We only allow the AttachedToParent option to be specified for promise tasks.
    if ((creationOptions & ~TaskCreationOptions.AttachedToParent) != 0)
    {
        throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("creationOptions");
    }

    // m_parent is readonly, and so must be set in the constructor.
    // Only set a parent if AttachedToParent is specified.
    if ((creationOptions & TaskCreationOptions.AttachedToParent) != 0)
        m_parent = Task.InternalCurrent;

    TaskConstructorCore(null, state, default(CancellationToken), creationOptions, InternalTaskOptions.PromiseTask, null);
}

    The outer task (the UnwrapPromise adds a continuation). The continuation examines the inner task. In the case of the inner task being faulted, it consideres finding a a OperationCanceledException as indicating cancellation (regardless of a matching token). Below is the UnwrapPromise<TResult>.TrySetFromTask (below is also the call stack showing where it gets called). Notice the Faulted state:

    private bool TrySetFromTask(Task task, bool lookForOce)
{
    Contract.Requires(task != null && task.IsCompleted, "TrySetFromTask: Expected task to have completed.");

    bool result = false;
    switch (task.Status)
    {
        case TaskStatus.Canceled:
            result = TrySetCanceled(task.CancellationToken, task.GetCancellationExceptionDispatchInfo());
            break;

        case TaskStatus.Faulted:
            var edis = task.GetExceptionDispatchInfos();
            ExceptionDispatchInfo oceEdi;
            OperationCanceledException oce;
            if (lookForOce && edis.Count > 0 &&
                (oceEdi = edis[0]) != null &&
                (oce = oceEdi.SourceException as OperationCanceledException) != null)
            {
                result = TrySetCanceled(oce.CancellationToken, oceEdi);
            }
            else
            {
                result = TrySetException(edis);
            }
            break;

        case TaskStatus.RanToCompletion:
            var taskTResult = task as Task<TResult>;
            result = TrySetResult(taskTResult != null ? taskTResult.Result : default(TResult));
            break;
    }
    return result;
}

    Call stack:

        mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Tasks.Task<System.Threading.Tasks.VoidTaskResult>.TrySetCanceled(System.Threading.CancellationToken tokenToRecord, object cancellationException) Line 645 C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Tasks.UnwrapPromise<System.Threading.Tasks.VoidTaskResult>.TrySetFromTask(System.Threading.Tasks.Task task, bool lookForOce) Line 6988 + 0x9f bytes   C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Tasks.UnwrapPromise<System.Threading.Tasks.VoidTaskResult>.ProcessCompletedOuterTask(System.Threading.Tasks.Task task) Line 6956 + 0xe bytes  C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Tasks.UnwrapPromise<System.Threading.Tasks.VoidTaskResult>.InvokeCore(System.Threading.Tasks.Task completingTask) Line 6910 + 0x7 bytes   C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Tasks.UnwrapPromise<System.Threading.Tasks.VoidTaskResult>.Invoke(System.Threading.Tasks.Task completingTask) Line 6891 + 0x9 bytes   C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Tasks.Task.FinishContinuations() Line 3571    C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Tasks.Task.FinishStageThree() Line 2323 + 0x7 bytes   C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Tasks.Task.FinishStageTwo() Line 2294 + 0x7 bytes C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Finish(bool bUserDelegateExecuted) Line 2233   C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ExecuteWithThreadLocal(ref System.Threading.Tasks.Task currentTaskSlot) Line 2785 + 0xc bytes  C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ExecuteEntry(bool bPreventDoubleExecution) Line 2728   C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.Tasks.Task.System.Threading.IThreadPoolWorkItem.ExecuteWorkItem() Line 2664 + 0x7 bytes   C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading.ThreadPoolWorkQueue.Dispatch() Line 829   C#
    mscorlib.dll!System.Threading._ThreadPoolWaitCallback.PerformWaitCallback() Line 1170 + 0x5 bytes   C#

    It notices the OperationCanceledException and calls TrySetCanceled to put the task into the cancelled state.

    An aside:

    Another thing to note is that when you start using async methods, there isn't really a way to register a cancellation token with an async method. Thus, any OperationCancelledException that gets encountered in an async methods is considered a cancellation. See Associate a CancellationToken with an async method's Task