Implementing a command queue in C# - c#

I'm making a backup system and dealing with the fact System.FileWatcher is raising multiple events per change (copying a file raises Created and Changed, for one) by queueing the commands.
Right now, I'm subscribing to events:
watcher.Changed += new FileSystemEventHandler(OnChanged);
and creating an object of a class:
private void OnChanged(object sender, FileSystemEventArgs e)
{
var now = DateTime.Now;
var change = new ChangeCommand(now, _fileLogPath, e.FullPath);
}
ChangeCommand is a class that implements the ICommand interface. My question is how and when to actually enqueue them. Since trying to access a file that is being accessed would throw an exception, I want to keep Peek-ing until it doesn't and then Dequeue.

Related

How to catch synchronization end of folders(send/receive) in Outlook VSTO add-in

Simple question, I need to load data(stored as storage items in the inbox folder) after Outlook finishes synchronization of this folder. My current code:
private Outlook.Explorer _currentExplorer;
private void ThisAddIn_Startup(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
_currentExplorer = Application.ActiveExplorer();
_currentExplorer.Session.SyncObjects[1].SyncEnd += SyncEnd_Event;
// also tried:
//_currentExplorer.Session.SyncObjects.AppFolders.SyncEnd += SyncEnd_Event;
}
private void SyncEnd_Event()
{
MyAddin.LoadData();
}
I used SyncObjects[1] because I found that it should be "Send/Receive All" But my SyncEnd_Event() is never fired.
Many thanks for any help!
SyncEnd event will not fire in your case because the object raising the events (SyncObject) is an implicit variable created by the compiler. Ass soon as GC releases it, no events will fire.
Store SyncObject object in a dedicated global (class) variable and set event handlers on it.

Need to copy file after it's creation and changing

I need to copy a file after it's been created and changed twice.
I have no idea how to do it, except by using 3 FileSystemWachers. First one on creation and two for changing.
Is there any easier way?
The FileSystemWatcher has several events that you can use to listen to different types of events on the file system. There is also a NotifyFilter property which you can use to specify which event types it should monitor.
So you don't need to use three different watchers; one would suffice. You just need some form of counter to keep track of how many changes were made to the file. Here's a quick example:
Dictionary<string, int> changeCounter = new Dictionary<string, int>();
...
FileSystemWatcher watcher = new FileSystemWatcher();
watcher.Path = #"C:\Path\To\Some\Folder";
watcher.NotifyFilter = NotifyFilters.CreationTime | NotifyFilters.LastWrite;
watcher.Created += OnCreated;
watcher.Changed += OnChanged;
...
private void OnCreated(object source, FileSystemEventArgs e)
{
changeCounter.Add(e.FullPath, 0);
}
private void OnChanged(object source, FileSystemEventArgs e)
{
if (changeCounter.ContainsKey(e.FullPath))
{
changeCounter[e.FullPath]++;
if (changeCounter[e.FullPath] == 2)
{
CopyFile(e.FullPath);
}
}
}
This would only call CopyFile after the watcher detected a file creation event and two file change events for a single file. You may also want to modify handle deletions, too, in case you are worried about files being created once, edited, deleted, recreated, and edited—this would trigger CopyFile even though, technically, the file has only been edited once after it was created.

Backgroundworker, not running the progressbar

How can I fix this issue ?
I am expecting the progressbar to load during process untill process it is done
Here is my code:
private void btnProcess_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
backgroundWorker.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
backgroundWorker.ProgressChanged += backgroundWorker_ProgressChanged;
backgroundWorker.DoWork += backgroundWorker_DoWork;
backgroundWorker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
private void backgroundWorker_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
//start transaction
DoTransaction();
}
private void backgroundWorker_ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
progressBar.Value = e.ProgressPercentage;
}
My transaction function:
private void DoTransaction()
{
string pathIdentifier;
pathIdentifier = func.checkthePathFile();
if (pathIdentifier == null)
{
MessageBox.Show("Path has no yet been specified!");
}
else
{
//create xml base from user inputs
XElement transactXML = new XElement("Transaction",
new XElement("CardNumber", txtCardNum.Text.Trim()),
new XElement("ExpireDate", txtExpDate.Text.Trim()),
new XElement("Cardtype", txtCardType.Text.Trim())
);
//save xml to a file
transactXML.Save(pathIdentifier + "/sample.xml");
}
}
How is the runtime supposed to know how far along your process is?
You need to tell it by calling backgroundWorker.ReportProgress from the background operation. No magic here.
MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ka89zff4.aspx
Break down your process into meaningful chunks and ReportProgress whenever it makes sense to do so.
public void DoTransaction()
{
part1();
backgroundWorker.ReportProgress(25);
part2();
backgroundWorker.ReportProgress(50);
part3();
backgroundWorker.ReportProgress(75);
part4();
backgroundWorker.ReportProgress(100);
}
Edit Based on Posting of Transaction() function
If you are not confident in writing multithreaded programs, then do not attempt to write multithreaded programs, even with the help of a BackgroundWorker which tries to abstract some of those details away from you.
A few issues:
Your provided Transaction() method attempts to launch a MessageBox and read the Text property of various controls from the background thread. This is going to cause problems as the runtime typically throws an Exception when UI elements are accessed from a thread other than the one which created them.
If you really want to do the XML saving in the BackgroundWorker, you should validate the filename and directory, and save the Text properties to an intermediate object before setting up the BackgroundWorker and calling RunWorkerAsync.
Furthermore, in my opinion, your Transaction method is not going to be time intensive enough to truly warrant a background thread. Even a relatively old PC will be able to create and save a 15 element XML file faster than you can blink. The runtime will probably waste more time marshalling data between the threads than it would to simply write the file out to disk. Just do your work in the button click event handler.
needs some reference to the BackgroundWorker instance.pass the reference to the class when instantiating it.
instantiate like this
BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;
then call like this
`worker.ReportProgress(...)`

FileSystemWatcher Invalid data Exception error

I want to refresh my datagridview if there are changes in a particular xml file. I got a FileSystemWatcher to look for any changes in the file and call the datagirdview function to reload the xml data.
When i tried, i'm getting Invalid data Exception error Somebody please tell what is the mistake am i doing here??
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
FileSystemWatcher watcher = new FileSystemWatcher();
watcher.Path = #"C:\test";
watcher.Changed += fileSystemWatcher1_Changed;
watcher.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
//watches only Person.xml
watcher.Filter = "Person.xml";
//watches all files with a .xml extension
watcher.Filter = "*.xml";
}
private const string filePath = #"C:\test\Person.xml";
private void LoadDatagrid()
{
try
{
using (XmlReader xmlFile = XmlReader.Create(filePath, new XmlReaderSettings()))
{
DataSet ds = new DataSet();
ds.ReadXml(xmlFile);
dataGridView1.DataSource = ds.Tables[0]; //Here is the problem
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString());
}
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
LoadDatagrid();
}
private void fileSystemWatcher1_Changed(object sender, FileSystemEventArgs e)
{
LoadDatagrid();
}
This is because the FileSystemWatcher runs on a distinct thread, not the UI thread. On winforms apps only the UI thread - the main thread of the program - can interact with visual constrols. If you need to interact with visual controls from another thread - like this case - you must call Invoke on the target control.
// this event will be fired from the thread where FileSystemWatcher is running.
private void fileSystemWatcher1_Changed(object sender, FileSystemEventArgs e)
{
// Call Invoke on the current form, so the LoadDataGrid method
// will be executed on the main UI thread.
this.Invoke(new Action(()=> LoadDatagrid()));
}
The FileSystemWatcher is running in a seperate thread and not in the UI thread. To maintain thread safety, .NET prevents you from updating the UI from the non-UI thread (i.e. the one that created the Form components).
To resolve the issue easily, call the MethodInvoker method of the target Form from your fileSystemWatcher1_Changed event. See MethodInvoker Delegate for more details on how to do this. There are other options on how to do this, incl. setting up a synchronized (i.e. thread-safe) object for holding the results/flag of any event, but this requires no changes to the Form code (i.e. in case of games, one could just poll the synchronized object in the main game loop etc).
private void fileSystemWatcher1_Changed(object sender, FileSystemEventArgs e)
{
// Invoke an anonymous method on the thread of the form.
this.Invoke((MethodInvoker) delegate
{
this.LoadDataGrid();
});
}
Edit: Corrected previous answer which had a problem within the delegate, the LoadDataGrid was missing this. and it would not resolve as such.

How to raise an event from an object that uses a timer back to the UI thread

I have an object that uses a timer to occasionally poll for a resource and then raises an event whenever the poll finds something of note. I have looked at several other examples but can't seem to find a method to marshall the event back to the UI thread without extra code on the event handler on the UI thread. So my question is:
Is there any way to hide this extra effort from the users of my object?
For the purpose of discussion I will include a trivial example:
Imagine I have a form with 1 richtextbox:
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var listener = new PollingListener();
listener.Polled += new EventHandler<EventArgs>(listener_Polled);
}
void listener_Polled(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
richTextBox1.Text += "Polled " + DateTime.Now.Second.ToString();
}
Also I have this object:
public class PollingListener
{
System.Timers.Timer timer = new System.Timers.Timer(1000);
public event EventHandler<EventArgs> Polled;
public PollingListener()
{
timer.Elapsed +=new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(PollNow);
timer.Start();
}
void PollNow(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var temp = Polled;
if (temp != null) Polled(this, new EventArgs());
}
}
If I run this, as expected it yields the exception
"Cross-thread operation not valid: Control 'richTextBox1' accessed
from a thread other than the thread it was created on"
This makes sense to me, and I can wrap the event handler method differently as so:
void listener_Polled(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.BeginInvoke(new Action(() => { UpdateText() }));
}
void UpdateText()
{
richTextBox1.Text += "Polled " + DateTime.Now.Second.ToString();
}
But now the user of my object has to do this for any event that is raised from the timer event in my control. So, is there anything I can add to my PollingListener class that doesn't change the signature of it's methods to pass in extra references that would allow the user of my object to be oblivious of the marshaling event in the background to the UI thread?
Thanks for any input you may have.
Added after comment:
You would need to pickup some latent detail that you can exploit to be able to accomplish that goal.
One thing that comes to mind is creating your own Forms/WPF timer at construction time and then use this and some synchronization to hide the details of coordination across threads. We can infer from your sample that construction of your poller should always happen in context of your consumer's thread.
This is a rather hack-ish way to accomplish what you want, but it can accomplish the deed because the construction of your poll-listener happens from the consumer's thread (which has a windows message pump to fuel the dispatches of Forms/WPF timers), and the rest of the operation of the class could occur from any thread as the forms Timer's tick will heartbeat from the original thread. As other comments and answers have noted, it would be best to reassess and fix the operating relationship between your polling operations and the consumer.
Here is an updated version of the class, PollingListener2 that uses a ManualResetEvent and a concealed System.Windows.Forms.Timer to ferry the polling notice across threads. Cleanup code is omitted for the sake of brevity. Requiring the use of IDisposable for explicit cleanup would be recommended in a production version of this class.
ManualResetEvent # MSDN
public class PollingListener2
{
System.Timers.Timer timer = new System.Timers.Timer(1000);
public event EventHandler<EventArgs> Polled;
System.Windows.Forms.Timer formsTimer;
public System.Threading.ManualResetEvent pollNotice;
public PollingListener2()
{
pollNotice = new System.Threading.ManualResetEvent(false);
formsTimer = new System.Windows.Forms.Timer();
formsTimer.Interval = 100;
formsTimer.Tick += new EventHandler(formsTimer_Tick);
formsTimer.Start();
timer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(PollNow);
timer.Start();
}
void formsTimer_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (pollNotice.WaitOne(0))
{
pollNotice.Reset();
var temp = Polled;
if (temp != null)
{
Polled(this, new EventArgs());
}
}
}
void PollNow(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
pollNotice.Set();
}
}
This has some precedent in the distant Win32 past where some people would use hidden windows and the like to maintain one foot in the other thread without requiring the consumer to make any significant changes to their code (sometimes no changes are necessary).
Original:
You could add a member variable on your helper class of type Control or Form and use that as the scope for a BeginInvoke() / Invoke() call on your event dispatch.
Here's a copy of your sample class, modified to behave in this manner.
public class PollingListener
{
System.Timers.Timer timer = new System.Timers.Timer(1000);
public event EventHandler<EventArgs> Polled;
public PollingListener(System.Windows.Forms.Control consumer)
{
timer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(PollNow);
timer.Start();
consumerContext = consumer;
}
System.Windows.Forms.Control consumerContext;
void PollNow(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var temp = Polled;
if ((temp != null) && (null != consumerContext))
{
consumerContext.BeginInvoke(new Action(() =>
{
Polled(this, new EventArgs());
}));
}
}
}
Here's a sample that shows this in action. Run this in debug mode and look at your output to verify that it is working as expected.
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
listener = new PollingListener(this);
}
PollingListener listener;
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
listener.Polled += new EventHandler<EventArgs>(listener_Poll);
}
void listener_Poll(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("ding.");
}
}
If the processing work inside your PollNow is fairly small then you do not need to perform it on a separate thread. If WinForms use Timer, in WPF you use DispatchTimer and then you are performing the test on the same thread as the UI and there is no cross-thread issue.
This SO question prompted this comment:
I think this excerpt is enlightening: "Unlike the
System.Windows.Forms.Timer, the System.Timers.Timer class will, by
default, call your timer event handler on a worker thread obtained
from the common language runtime (CLR) thread pool. [...] The
System.Timers.Timer class provides an easy way to deal with this
dilemma—it exposes a public SynchronizingObject property. Setting this
property to an instance of a Windows Form (or a control on a Windows
Form) will ensure that the code in your Elapsed event handler runs on
the same thread on which the SynchronizingObject was instantiated."
And System.Times.Timer doc says of SynchronizingObject:
Gets or sets the object used to marshal event-handler calls that are
issued when an interval has elapsed.
Both of which implie that if you pass a control created on the UI thread as the sync object then the timer will effectively marshal the timer event calls to the UI thread.

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