// https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/ConcurrencyProgrammingGuide/OperationQueues/OperationQueues.html
// for details see chapter of Apple's iOS Developer Library's Concurrency Programming Guide
//create dispatch group
dispatch_group_t group = dispatch_group_create();
dispatch_group_async(group,dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0), ^ {
// block1
NSLog(@"Block1");
[NSThread sleepForTimeInterval:5.0];
NSLog(@"Block1 End");
});
dispatch_group_async(group,dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0), ^ {
// block2
NSLog(@"Block2");
[NSThread sleepForTimeInterval:8.0];
NSLog(@"Block2 End");
});
dispatch_group_notify(group,dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0), ^ {
// block3
NSLog(@"Block3");
});
dispatch_release(group);
and could produce output like this:
2012-08-11 16:10:18.049 Dispatch[11858:1e03] Block1
2012-08-11 16:10:18.052 Dispatch[11858:1d03] Block2
2012-08-11 16:10:23.051 Dispatch[11858:1e03] Block1 End
2012-08-11 16:10:26.053 Dispatch[11858:1d03] Block2 End
2012-08-11 16:10:26.054 Dispatch[11858:1d03] Block3
If you do not have control over the dispatch_async calls for your blocks, as might be the case for async completion blocks, you can use the GCD groups using dispatch_group_enter and dispatch_group_leave directly.
// create a group
dispatch_group_t group = dispatch_group_create();
// pair a dispatch_group_enter for each dispatch_group_leave
dispatch_group_enter(group); // pair 1 enter
[self computeInBackground:1 completion:^{
NSLog(@"1 done");
dispatch_group_leave(group); // pair 1 leave
}];
// again... (and again...)
dispatch_group_enter(group); // pair 2 enter
[self computeInBackground:2 completion:^{
NSLog(@"2 done");
dispatch_group_leave(group); // pair 2 leave
}];
// dispatch your final block after all the dispatch_group_enters
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
dispatch_group_wait(group, DISPATCH_TIME_FOREVER);
NSLog(@"finally!");
});
In this example, computeInBackground:completion: is implemented as:
- (void)computeInBackground:(int)no completion:(void (^)(void))block {
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0), ^{
NSLog(@"%d starting", no);
sleep(no*2);
block();
});
}
Output (with timestamps from a run):
12:57:02.574 2 running
12:57:02.574 1 running
12:57:04.590 1 done
12:57:06.590 2 done
12:57:06.591 finally!
