Here is another multi-threading example (now with max child control Glenn ;))

This example has the parent and child code in the same script, and takes a list of hosts from the command line and/or a file.

The child code just does a ping on each host and returns the ping time to the parent. The parent displays the colour-coded ping time.

The parent monitors the child and will detect when one takes too long to start (10 seconds) - I haven't included any checks to determine if a child has exited unexpectedly, though you can use the child PID as a lookup in the process table if that is important to you.



Break ON
$=SetOption("Explicit","ON")

; YAPP.kix - Yet Another Parallel Pinger
;
; Pass a comma seperated lists of hostsnames / IP addresses or a list in a file.
; The hosts will be pinged asynchronously, and the results displayed.

; $iMaxChild may also be set on the command line to change the limit of child
; processes which may be active at any time.

; Amendment History
; -----------------
; 20071030.13:00    R. Howarth <rhowarth@harsco.com>
;                   Added code to limit active child processes.
;                   Allow debug state to be set on command line.
;                   Allow maxchild to be set on command line.

If Not IsDeclared($DEBUG)
    GLOBAL $DEBUG $DEBUG=0
EndIf
If Not IsDeclared($DEBUG)
    Global $iMaxChild $iMaxChild=20
EndIf

Dim $sINI,$sHost,$iChildActive,$vChildPID,$vResponseTime,$vStatusCode,$iStartTicks
Dim $iMaxTicks $iMaxTicks=5000
Dim $iInterval $iInterval="0.1"
Dim $iLastHost
Dim $sActiveList
Dim $sNewList

Dim $sErrorColour, $sNormColour, $sColour

Dim $aiTime   $aiTime=  Split("-1,100,250,500",",")
Dim $aiColour $aiColour=Split("g+/n,y+/n,y/n,r+/n",",")

Dim $iTimeout $iTimeout=10000   ; Wait 10 seconds for a response

$sErrorColour="r+/n"
$sNormColour="w/n"

Color $sNormColour

If IsDeclared($iParentPID)
    ; -------------------------------------------------
    ; CHILD PAYLOAD - code executed for child process
    ; -------------------------------------------------
    $sHost=$sHostList
    myDEBUG("Child started for "+$sHostList)
    $sINI=@SCRIPTDIR+"\YAPP_"+$iParentPID+".ini"
    myDEBUG("Child started for "+$sHostList+", INI="+$sINI)
    $=WriteProfileString($sINI,$sHost,"PID",@PID)
    $vResponseTime=wmiPing($sHostList,$iTimeout)
    $vStatusCode=@ERROR
    If $vStatusCode
        $vStatusCode=$vResponseTime
        $vResponseTime=(-1)
    EndIf
    $=WriteProfileString($sINI,$sHost,"ResponseTime",$vResponseTime)
    $=WriteProfileString($sINI,$sHost,"StatusCode",$vStatusCode)
Else
    ; -------------------------------------------------
    ; PARENT PAYLOAD - code executed for parent process
    ; -------------------------------------------------
    $sINI=@SCRIPTDIR+"\YAPP_"+@PID+".ini"
    Del $sINI
    If Not IsDeclared($sHostList) AND Not IsDeclared($sFile)
        "You must supply a comma seperated list of hosts to ping or a file containing a list"+@CRLF
        " Usage: kix32 "+@SCRIPTNAME+" [$$DEBUG=0|1] [$$iMaxChild=20] $$sHostList=hostname[,hostname...] $$sFile=path_to_file"+@CRLF
        Exit 0
    EndIf
    If Not IsDeclared($sHostLIst) Global $sHostList EndIf
    If IsDeclared($sFile)
        Dim $fhFile
        $fhFile=FreeFileHandle()
        If Open($fhFile,$sFile)
            "Cannot open "+$sFile+" for reading"+@CRLF
            Exit 1
        EndIf
        $sHost=ReadLine($fhFile)
        While Not @ERROR
            $sHostList=$sHostList+","+$sHost
            $sHost=ReadLine($fhFile)
        Loop
    EndIf
    $sHostList=Split($sHostList,",")
    While $iChildActive OR $iLastHost<UBound($sHostList)
        If ($iChildActive<$iMaxChild) AND $iLastHost<UBound($sHostList)
            $iLastHost=$iLastHost+1
            $sHost=$sHostList[$iLastHost]
            If $sHost
                myDEBUG("Starting "+$sHost)
                $=WriteProfileString($sINI,$sHost,"PID","Pending")
                $=WriteProfileString($sINI,$sHost,"StartTicks",@TICKS)
                RUN @SCRIPTEXE+" "+@SCRIPTNAME+" $$iParentPID="+@PID+" $$sHostList="+$sHost
                $iChildActive=$iChildActive+1
                $sActiveList=$sActiveList+","+$sHost
            EndIf
        EndIf
        myDEBUG("Active list: "+$sActiveList)
        $sNewList=""
        For Each $sHost in Split(SubStr($sActiveList,2),",")
            If $sHost
                $vStatusCode=ReadProfileString($sINI,$sHost,"StatusCode")
                $vResponseTime=ReadProfileString($sINI,$sHost,"ResponseTime")
                $vChildPID=ReadProfileString($sINI,$sHost,"PID")
                $iStartTicks=ReadProfileString($sINI,$sHost,"StartTicks")
                myDEBUG($sHost+": Status   "+$vStatusCode)
                myDEBUG($sHost+": Response "+$vResponseTime)
                myDEBUG($sHost+": PID      "+$vChildPID)
                Select
                Case $vChildPID="Completed"
                    ; No action for completed processes
                Case $vChildPID="Pending" AND (@TICKS-$iStartTicks)>$iMaxTicks
                    Color $sErrorColour "Child process for "+$sHost+" has failed to start in time" Color $sNormColour @CRLF
                    $iChildActive=$iChildActive-1
                    $=WriteProfileString($sINI,$sHost,"PID","Completed")
                Case $vChildPID<>"0" AND $vStatusCode<>""
                    $=WriteProfileString($sINI,$sHost,"PID","Completed")
                    $iChildActive=$iChildActive-1
                    If $vStatusCode="0"
                        $sColour=$aiColour[0]
                        For $ = 0 To UBound($aiTime)
                            If CINT($vResponseTime)>=$aiTime[$] $sColour=$aiColour[$] EndIf
                        Next
                        Color $sColour $sHost+" responded in "+$vResponseTime+" ms" Color $sNormColour @CRLF
                    Else
                        Color $sErrorColour $sHost+" failed to respond, error code is "+$vStatusCode Color $sNormColour @CRLF
                    EndIf
                Case "StillRunningOrPending"
                    $sNewList=$sNewList+","+$sHost
                EndSelect
            EndIf
        Next
        $sActiveList=$sNewList
        If $iChildActive Sleep($iInterval) EndIf
    Loop
    Del $sINI
EndIf

Exit 0

Function wmiPing($sHost,Optional $Timeout)
    Dim $sQuery,$oWMI,$oItem,$cItems
    $sQuery = "Select ResponseTime,StatusCode From Win32_PingStatus where Address='" + $sHost + "'"
    If $Timeout
        $sQuery = $sQuery + " And TimeOut=" + $Timeout
    EndIf
    $oWMI = GetObject("winmgmts:root\cimv2")
    $cItems = $oWMI.ExecQuery($sQuery)
    For Each $oItem In $cItems
        If (VarTypeName($oItem.StatusCode) = 'Null') $wmiPing=1 Exit 1 EndIf
        If $oItem.StatusCode $wmiPing=$oItem.StatusCode Exit 1 EndIf
        $wmiPing = $oItem.ResponseTime
    Next
    Exit 0
EndFunction

Function myDEBUG($s)
    If $DEBUG "DEBUG: "+$s+@CRLF EndIf
EndFunction
; vim: sw=4 ts=4