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C# Waiting for an operation to complete prior to deleting a file [duplicate]

I have the Image of a PictureBox pointing to a certain file "A". At execution time I want to change the Image of the PictureBox to a different one "B" but I get the following error:
"A first chance exception of type 'System.IO.IOException' occurred in mscorlib.dll
Additional information: The process cannot access the file "A" because it is being used by another process."
I'm setting the Image as follows:
pbAvatar.Image = new Bitmap(filePath);
How can I unlock the first file?

Here is my approach to opening an image without locking the file...
public static Image FromFile(string path)
{
var bytes = File.ReadAllBytes(path);
var ms = new MemoryStream(bytes);
var img = Image.FromStream(ms);
return img;
}
UPDATE: I did some perf tests to see which method was the fastest. I compared it to #net_progs "copy from bitmap" answer (which seems to be the closest to correct, though does have some issues). I loaded the image 10000 times for each method and calculated the average time per image. Here are the results:
Loading from bytes: ~0.26 ms per image.
Copying from bitmap: ~0.50 ms per image.
The results seem to make sense since you have to create the image twice using the copy from bitmap method.
UPDATE:
if you need a BitMap you can do:
return (Bitmap)Image.FromStream(ms);

This is a common locking question widely discussed over the web.
The suggested trick with stream will not work, actually it works initially, but causes problems later. For example, it will load the image and the file will remain unlocked, but if you try to save the loaded image via Save() method, it will throw a generic GDI+ exception.
Next, the way with per pixel replication doesn't seem to be solid, at least it is noisy.
What I found working is described here: http://www.eggheadcafe.com/microsoft/Csharp/35017279/imagefromfile--locks-file.aspx
This is how the image should be loaded:
Image img;
using (var bmpTemp = new Bitmap("image_file_path"))
{
img = new Bitmap(bmpTemp);
}
I was looking for a solution to this problem and this method works fine for me so far, so I decided to describe it, since I found that many people advise the incorrect stream approach here and over the web.

Using a filestream will unlock the file once it has been read from and disposed:
using (var fs = new System.IO.FileStream("c:\\path to file.bmp", System.IO.FileMode.Open))
{
var bmp = new Bitmap(fs);
pct.Image = (Bitmap) bmp.Clone();
}
Edit: Updated to allow the original bitmap to be disposed, and allow the FileStream to be closed.
THIS ANSWER IS NOT SAFE - See comments, and see discussion in net_prog's answer. The Edit to use Clone does not make it any safer - Clone clones all fields, including the filestream reference, which in certain circumstances will cause a problem.

You can't dispose / close a stream while a bitmap object is still using it. (Whether the bitmap object will need access to it again is only deterministic if you know what type of file you are working with and exactly what operations you will be performing. -- for example for SOME .gif format images, the stream is closed before the constructor returns.)
Clone creates an "exact copy" of the bitmap (per documentation; ILSpy shows it calling native methods, so it's too much to track down right now) likely, it copies that Stream data as well -- or else it wouldn't be an exact copy.
Your best bet is creating a pixel-perfect replica of the image -- though YMMV (with certain types of images there may be more than one frame, or you may have to copy palette data as well.) But for most images, this works:
static Bitmap LoadImage(Stream stream)
{
Bitmap retval = null;
using (Bitmap b = new Bitmap(stream))
{
retval = new Bitmap(b.Width, b.Height, b.PixelFormat);
using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(retval))
{
g.DrawImage(b, Point.Empty);
g.Flush();
}
}
return retval;
}
And then you can invoke it like such:
using (Stream s = ...)
{
Bitmap x = LoadImage(s);
}

As far as I know, this is 100% safe, since the resulting image is 100% created in memory, without any linked resources, and with no open streams left behind in memory. It acts like any other Bitmap that's created from a constructor that doesn't specify any input sources, and unlike some of the other answers here, it preserves the original pixel format, meaning it can be used on indexed formats.
Based on this answer, but with extra fixes and without external library import.
/// <summary>
/// Clones an image object to free it from any backing resources.
/// Code taken from http://stackoverflow.com/a/3661892/ with some extra fixes.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="sourceImage">The image to clone</param>
/// <returns>The cloned image</returns>
public static Bitmap CloneImage(Bitmap sourceImage)
{
Rectangle rect = new Rectangle(0, 0, sourceImage.Width, sourceImage.Height);
Bitmap targetImage = new Bitmap(rect.Width, rect.Height, sourceImage.PixelFormat);
targetImage.SetResolution(sourceImage.HorizontalResolution, sourceImage.VerticalResolution);
BitmapData sourceData = sourceImage.LockBits(rect, ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, sourceImage.PixelFormat);
BitmapData targetData = targetImage.LockBits(rect, ImageLockMode.WriteOnly, targetImage.PixelFormat);
Int32 actualDataWidth = ((Image.GetPixelFormatSize(sourceImage.PixelFormat) * rect.Width) + 7) / 8;
Int32 h = sourceImage.Height;
Int32 origStride = sourceData.Stride;
Boolean isFlipped = origStride < 0;
origStride = Math.Abs(origStride); // Fix for negative stride in BMP format.
Int32 targetStride = targetData.Stride;
Byte[] imageData = new Byte[actualDataWidth];
IntPtr sourcePos = sourceData.Scan0;
IntPtr destPos = targetData.Scan0;
// Copy line by line, skipping by stride but copying actual data width
for (Int32 y = 0; y < h; y++)
{
Marshal.Copy(sourcePos, imageData, 0, actualDataWidth);
Marshal.Copy(imageData, 0, destPos, actualDataWidth);
sourcePos = new IntPtr(sourcePos.ToInt64() + origStride);
destPos = new IntPtr(destPos.ToInt64() + targetStride);
}
targetImage.UnlockBits(targetData);
sourceImage.UnlockBits(sourceData);
// Fix for negative stride on BMP format.
if (isFlipped)
targetImage.RotateFlip(RotateFlipType.Rotate180FlipX);
// For indexed images, restore the palette. This is not linking to a referenced
// object in the original image; the getter of Palette creates a new object when called.
if ((sourceImage.PixelFormat & PixelFormat.Indexed) != 0)
targetImage.Palette = sourceImage.Palette;
// Restore DPI settings
targetImage.SetResolution(sourceImage.HorizontalResolution, sourceImage.VerticalResolution);
return targetImage;
}
To call, simply use:
/// <summary>Loads an image without locking the underlying file.</summary>
/// <param name="path">Path of the image to load</param>
/// <returns>The image</returns>
public static Bitmap LoadImageSafe(String path)
{
using (Bitmap sourceImage = new Bitmap(path))
{
return CloneImage(sourceImage);
}
}
Or, from bytes:
/// <summary>Loads an image from bytes without leaving open a MemoryStream.</summary>
/// <param name="fileData">Byte array containing the image to load.</param>
/// <returns>The image</returns>
public static Bitmap LoadImageSafe(Byte[] fileData)
{
using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream(fileData))
using (Bitmap sourceImage = new Bitmap(stream)) {
{
return CloneImage(sourceImage);
}
}

Here's the technique I'm currently using, and seems to work best. It has the advantage of producing a Bitmap object with the same pixel format (24-bit or 32-bit) and resolution (72 dpi, 96 dpi, whatever) as the source file.
// ImageConverter object used to convert JPEG byte arrays into Image objects. This is static
// and only gets instantiated once.
private static readonly ImageConverter _imageConverter = new ImageConverter();
This can be used as often as needed, as follows:
Bitmap newBitmap = (Bitmap)_imageConverter.ConvertFrom(File.ReadAllBytes(fileName));
Edit:
Here's an update of the above technique: https://stackoverflow.com/a/16576471/253938

(The accepted answer is wrong. When you try to LockBits(...) on the cloned bitmap eventually you will encounter GDI+ errors.)
I see only 3 ways to get out of this:
copy your file to a temporary file and open that the easy way new Bitmap(temp_filename)
open your file, read image, create a pixel-size-pixelformat copy (don't Clone()) and dispose the first bitmap
(accept the locked-file-feature)

I suggest to use PixelMap (available on NuGet)
or Github
Very easy to use and much faster than standard Bitmap from .NET
PixelMap pixelMap = new PixelMap(bild);
pictureBox1.Image = pixelMap.GetBitmap();

Read it into the stream, create bitmap, close the stream.

Issue serializing new bitmap image in xml file [duplicate]

i've got some binary data which i want to save as an image. When i try to save the image, it throws an exception if the memory stream used to create the image, was closed before the save. The reason i do this is because i'm dynamically creating images and as such .. i need to use a memory stream.
this is the code:
[TestMethod]
public void TestMethod1()
{
// Grab the binary data.
byte[] data = File.ReadAllBytes("Chick.jpg");
// Read in the data but do not close, before using the stream.
Stream originalBinaryDataStream = new MemoryStream(data);
Bitmap image = new Bitmap(originalBinaryDataStream);
image.Save(#"c:\test.jpg");
originalBinaryDataStream.Dispose();
// Now lets use a nice dispose, etc...
Bitmap2 image2;
using (Stream originalBinaryDataStream2 = new MemoryStream(data))
{
image2 = new Bitmap(originalBinaryDataStream2);
}
image2.Save(#"C:\temp\pewpew.jpg"); // This throws the GDI+ exception.
}
Does anyone have any suggestions to how i could save an image with the stream closed? I cannot rely on the developers to remember to close the stream after the image is saved. In fact, the developer would have NO IDEA that the image was generated using a memory stream (because it happens in some other code, elsewhere).
I'm really confused :(

As it's a MemoryStream, you really don't need to close the stream - nothing bad will happen if you don't, although obviously it's good practice to dispose anything that's disposable anyway. (See this question for more on this.)
However, you should be disposing the Bitmap - and that will close the stream for you. Basically once you give the Bitmap constructor a stream, it "owns" the stream and you shouldn't close it. As the docs for that constructor say:
You must keep the stream open for the
lifetime of the Bitmap.
I can't find any docs promising to close the stream when you dispose the bitmap, but you should be able to verify that fairly easily.

A generic error occurred in GDI+.
May also result from incorrect save path!
Took me half a day to notice that.
So make sure that you have double checked the path to save the image as well.

Perhaps it is worth mentioning that if the C:\Temp directory does not exist, it will also throw this exception even if your stream is still existent.

Copy the Bitmap. You have to keep the stream open for the lifetime of the bitmap.
When drawing an image: System.Runtime.InteropServices.ExternalException: A generic error occurred in GDI
public static Image ToImage(this byte[] bytes)
{
using (var stream = new MemoryStream(bytes))
using (var image = Image.FromStream(stream, false, true))
{
return new Bitmap(image);
}
}
[Test]
public void ShouldCreateImageThatCanBeSavedWithoutOpenStream()
{
var imageBytes = File.ReadAllBytes("bitmap.bmp");
var image = imageBytes.ToImage();
image.Save("output.bmp");
}

I had the same problem but actually the cause was that the application didn't have permission to save files on C. When I changed to "D:\.." the picture has been saved.

You can try to create another copy of bitmap:
using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
{
// write to memory stream here
memoryStream.Position = 0;
using (var bitmap = new Bitmap(memoryStream))
{
var bitmap2 = new Bitmap(bitmap);
return bitmap2;
}
}

This error occurred to me when I was trying from Citrix. The image folder was set to C:\ in the server, for which I do not have privilege. Once the image folder was moved to a shared drive, the error was gone.

A generic error occurred in GDI+. It can occur because of image storing paths issues,I got this error because my storing path is too long, I fixed this by first storing the image in a shortest path and move it to the correct location with long path handling techniques.

I was getting this error, because the automated test I was executing, was trying to store snapshots into a folder that didn't exist. After I created the folder, the error resolved

One strange solution which made my code to work.
Open the image in paint and save it as a new file with same format(.jpg). Now try with this new file and it works. It clearly explains you that the file might be corrupted in someway.
This can help only if your code has every other bugs fixed

It has also appeared with me when I was trying to save an image into path
C:\Program Files (x86)\some_directory
and the .exe wasn't executed to run as administrator, I hope this may help someone who has same issue too.

For me the code below crashed with A generic error occurred in GDI+on the line which Saves to a MemoryStream. The code was running on a web server and I resolved it by stopping and starting the Application Pool that was running the site.
Must have been some internal error in GDI+
private static string GetThumbnailImageAsBase64String(string path)
{
if (path == null || !File.Exists(path))
{
var log = ContainerResolver.Container.GetInstance<ILog>();
log.Info($"No file was found at path: {path}");
return null;
}
var width = LibraryItemFileSettings.Instance.ThumbnailImageWidth;
using (var image = Image.FromFile(path))
{
using (var thumbnail = image.GetThumbnailImage(width, width * image.Height / image.Width, null, IntPtr.Zero))
{
using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
{
thumbnail.Save(memoryStream, ImageFormat.Png); // <= crash here
var bytes = new byte[memoryStream.Length];
memoryStream.Position = 0;
memoryStream.Read(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
return Convert.ToBase64String(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
}
}
}
}

I came across this error when I was trying a simple image editing in a WPF app.
Setting an Image element's Source to the bitmap prevents file saving.
Even setting Source=null doesn't seem to release the file.
Now I just never use the image as the Source of Image element, so I can overwrite after editing!
EDIT
After hearing about the CacheOption property(Thanks to #Nyerguds) I found the solution:
So instead of using the Bitmap constructor I must set the Uri after setting CacheOption BitmapCacheOption.OnLoad.(Image1 below is the Wpf Image element)
Instead of
Image1.Source = new BitmapImage(new Uri(filepath));
Use:
var image = new BitmapImage();
image.BeginInit();
image.CreateOptions = BitmapCreateOptions.IgnoreImageCache;
image.CacheOption = BitmapCacheOption.OnLoad;
image.UriSource = new Uri(filepath);
image.EndInit();
Image1.Source = image;
See this: WPF Image Caching

Try this code:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
byte[] data = null;
string fullPath = #"c:\testimage.jpg";
using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
using (Bitmap tmp = (Bitmap)Bitmap.FromFile(fullPath))
using (Bitmap bm = new Bitmap(tmp))
{
bm.SetResolution(96, 96);
using (EncoderParameters eps = new EncoderParameters(1))
{
eps.Param[0] = new EncoderParameter(System.Drawing.Imaging.Encoder.Quality, 100L);
bm.Save(ms, GetEncoderInfo("image/jpeg"), eps);
}
data = ms.ToArray();
}
File.WriteAllBytes(fullPath, data);
}
private static ImageCodecInfo GetEncoderInfo(string mimeType)
{
ImageCodecInfo[] encoders = ImageCodecInfo.GetImageEncoders();
for (int j = 0; j < encoders.Length; ++j)
{
if (String.Equals(encoders[j].MimeType, mimeType, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
return encoders[j];
}
return null;
}

I used imageprocessor to resize images and one day I got "A generic error occurred in GDI+" exception.
After looked up a while I tried to recycle the application pool and bingo it works. So I note it here, hope it help ;)
Cheers

I was getting this error today on a server when the same code worked fine locally and on our DEV server but not on PRODUCTION. Rebooting the server resolved it.

public static byte[] SetImageToByte(Image img)
{
ImageConverter converter = new ImageConverter();
return (byte[])converter.ConvertTo(img, typeof(byte[]));
}
public static Bitmap SetByteToImage(byte[] blob)
{
MemoryStream mStream = new MemoryStream();
byte[] pData = blob;
mStream.Write(pData, 0, Convert.ToInt32(pData.Length));
Bitmap bm = new Bitmap(mStream, false);
mStream.Dispose();
return bm;
}

GDI+ Error converting 24bpp JPG to 8bpp Indexed format (PNG or GIF)

I need a generic function to convert images to a target format. (Format8bppIndexed in this case) The goal is to be able to handle a reasonable range of regular .NET supported images. We have many clients with hundreds of Terabytes of images of varying types and I plan to loop through them all with this code.
Here is an example Image I am trying to convert which throws the errors:
I realize this code has multiple inner try-catches, however I wanted to illustrate the problem.
Within each try below I have comments showing the exception and error I receive.
public static Bitmap ConvertToFormat(this Bitmap Source, PixelFormat TargetFormat)
{
try
{
//This throws OutOfMemoryException: "Out of memory."
return Source.Clone(new Rectangle(0, 0, Source.Width, Source.Height), TargetFormat);
}
catch (OutOfMemoryException)
{
try
{
MemoryStream ResultStream = new MemoryStream();
// This throws ExternalException: "A generic error occurred in GDI+"
Source.Save(ResultStream, ImageFormat.Gif);
ResultStream.Position = 0;
return new Bitmap(ResultStream);
}
catch (ExternalException)
{
// this is just an attempt to break the process down further to try and find the cause:
ImageCodecInfo myImageCodecInfo = GetCodecInfo(ImageFormat.Gif);
EncoderParameters myEncoderParameters = new EncoderParameters(2);
myEncoderParameters.Param[0] = new EncoderParameter(Encoder.Compression, (long)EncoderValue.CompressionLZW); ;
myEncoderParameters.Param[1] = new EncoderParameter(Encoder.Quality, 0L);
MemoryStream ResultStream = new MemoryStream();
// This throws ExternalException: "A generic error occurred in GDI+"
Source.Save(ResultStream, myImageCodecInfo, myEncoderParameters);
ResultStream.Position = 0;
return new Bitmap(ResultStream);
}
}
}
private static ImageCodecInfo GetCodecInfo(ImageFormat TargetFormat)
{
return ImageCodecInfo.GetImageEncoders().ToList().Find(
delegate (ImageCodecInfo codec)
{ return codec.FormatID == TargetFormat.Guid; });
}
I know the source image is good as I can read the pixels just fine using LockBits(). I am considering using a loop to create a new image pixel by pixel using this, but I would prefer to use the more direct clone option as it automatically handles color palette creation, color matching and dithering.
UPDATE:
I found the code causing the issue, but I am unsure why.
I did not want the file to be locked, so I was using the code below to load the image into memory and then unlock the file. Apparently this was causing issues, but only when calling the Clone() method. When I use that same image with LockBits() it allows me to access every pixel via the memory pointer just fine and also it displays just fine in a PictureBox. Does anyone know why this method is causing a .Clone() error and also how can I load an Image file into memory and then immediatly release the file?
using (Stream s = File.OpenRead(SourceFileName))
{
return (Bitmap)Bitmap.FromStream(s);
}

A Generic error occured in GDI+ on Server Machine

I Tried many solutions to remove Generic error Occured in GDI + but nothing is working for me , I am posting Codes that i had used.This error occured in server machine
Images bytes are stored successfully in Database but doesnt retrieve on PictureBox.
1st Method :
ODetail.InsuranceCardImages Contains Bytes of Images From Database.
pcinsurance is my PictureBox
System.Byte[] imagefront = (byte[])oDetail.InsuranceCardImage;
//this.pcInsurance.Image = Utility.byteArrayToImage(oDetail.InsuranceCardImage);
MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(imagefront);
try
{
//Process currentProcess1 = Process.GetCurrentProcess();
Image returnImage = Image.FromStream(ms);
pcInsurance.Image= returnImage;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}
finally
{
try
{
ms.Flush();
ms.SetLength(0);
ms.Close();
ms.Dispose();
ms = null;
//GC.Collect();
}
catch
{
}
}
2nd Method :
where pcinsurance is my PictureBox
byte[] byteArray = oDetail.InsuranceCardImage;
var imageStream = new MemoryStream(byteArray);
var image = (Bitmap)Bitmap.FromStream(imageStream);
pcInsurance.Image = image;
Still cant fix this issue ,
Kindly provide your solutions so that i will carry on my work
Thank You.

Why do you use ms.Close();,ms.Dispose(); and ms = null;?
You dispose this stream twice and afterwards set it to null.
Finally is performed always so MemoryStream is always disposed.
I suspect that all resources are released before they're used by GDI. I experienced similar problem some time ago.
According to MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/93z9ee4x.aspx
You must keep the stream open for the lifetime of the Image.
The solution was a creation a Bitmap object:
Bitmap bmp = new Bitmap(ms);
this.pcInsurance.Image = bmp;
In fact I used using statement to simplify code, closing stream before final braces. Works exactly the same but is shorter and in my opinion more readable.
Bitmap and picturebox.Imageobjects must be disposed before setting another picture.
Hope this helps.

WriteableBitmap PixelBuffer Stream Length Too Small

I'm running into an issue where I'm trying to copy the pixel buffer for one WriteableBitmap over to another WriteableBitmap essentially giving a copy of the WriteableBitmap object. However, when I try to do this I run into an issue where the second WriteableBitmap's stream length is too short to hold all the values of the first WriteableBitmap.
I posted my code below. Keep in mind that I'm capturing the original data from a webcam. However, when I compare the "ps" object's stream size to wb1 and wb2, ps's size is much smaller than both of them. What I'm confused about is why wb2 stream size is smaller than wb1's. Thanks for any help.
private MemoryStream originalStream = new MemoryStream();
WriteableBitmap wb1 = new WriteableBitmap((int)photoBox.Width, (int)photoBox.Height);
WriteableBitmap wb2 = new WriteableBitmap((int)photoBox.Width, (int)photoBox.Height);
ImageEncodingProperties imageProperties = ImageEncodingProperties.CreateJpeg();
var ps = new InMemoryRandomAccessStream();
await mc.CapturePhotoToStreamAsync(imageProperties, ps);
await ps.FlushAsync();
ps.Seek(0);
wb1.SetSource(ps);
(wb1.PixelBuffer.AsStream()).CopyTo(originalStream); // this works
originalStream.Position = 0;
originalStream.CopyTo(wb2.PixelBuffer.AsStream()); // this line gives me the error: "Unable to expand length of this stream beyond its capacity"
Image img = new Image();
img.Source = wb2; // my hope is to treat this as it's own entity and modify this image independently of wb1 or originalStream
photoBox.Source =wb1;

Note that when you do new WriteableBitmap(w, h) and then call SetSource() to an image of a different resolution - the bitmap's size will change (it won't be the w x h passed in the constructor). It's likely that your photoBox.Width/Height are different than what your CapturePhotoToStreamAsync() call returns (I am assuming the image is captured at the default or preconfigured camera settings, while photoBox is just a control on screen).
How about just doing someting like this
ps.Seek(0);
wb1.SetSource(ps);
ps.Seek(0);
wb2.SetSource(ps);

I think you should create a writter from the PixelBuffer and use it to copy the stream.
The AsStream method should be used to read the buffer, not to write into it.
Have a look to
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-NZ/winappswithcsharp/thread/2b499ac5-8bc8-4259-a144-842bd756bfe2
for a piece of code