Asynchronous threads in web app.

[ybao]

Given some database queries and server tasks that deals with large result sets and cause the calling application to be unresponsive, what is a good way to make asynchronous calls in ASP.NET web applications? For e.g. creating a background thread and use it to run a query to fill a DataSet or a thread that involves intense server side processing. The technique used in form application is not applicable here since Page class does not contain a BeginInvoke() method to make asynchronous calls. Anyone can offer some advice?
Yubo

[planoie]

I have just recently made a very crude attempt at this very task.

I created a thread object with the address of the method I wish to act upon. Then I start the thread and place the thread in an Application scope variable. This way the thread can be reloaded so you can check it's state. Any instance of that page will see the thread (because it's application scope). Only when the thread is not running can the process that starts it be run. I'm sure that this is not the best idea but it seemed to work for me. I'm not sure what the implications are regarding object cleanup and such.