Pass complex objects from thead to UI (WPF, C#) - c#

I have a Thread that retrieves objects from a third party API and stores them in a TreeView list List<TreeView>. My intention is that the TreeView inside the GUI displays the nodes, but I've had no success so far.
Since I've tried almost all kinds of Dispatcher.Invoke stuff, I think I need to raise an event and somehow pass the List<TreeView> object, but I have no clue on how to do so.
Anyhow, my goal is to update the TreeView from a thread different from the UI one.
Thanks in advance.
PS: I'm on WPF .NET 4.
My latest attempt:
private void runButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
if (PfUtils.isAPIConnected() && !GUIlocked)
{
this.lockGUI();
paralell_thread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(RunPowerFlowSimulation));
paralell_thread.IsBackground = true;
paralell_thread.Name = "RunPowerFlow";
paralell_thread.ApartmentState = ApartmentState.STA;
paralell_thread.Start();
mainTabPanel.SelectedIndex = 1;
}
}
private void RunPowerFlowSimulation()
{
PfUtilsUtilsExtended pf = new PfUtilsUtilsExtended();
pf.performLoadFlow(statusLabel, pgbar1);
TreeView tv = pf.gerRelevantObjects(PfUtils.GetActiveProject(), statusLabel, pgbar1);
tv.Dispatcher.Invoke(new Action(() => { objectTreeView.ItemsSource = tv.Items; }));
this.UnLockGUI();
}

Related

System.InvalidOperationException: 'The calling thread cannot access this object because the object is owned by another thread.' [duplicate]

My code is as below
public CountryStandards()
{
InitializeComponent();
try
{
FillPageControls();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "Country Standards", MessageBoxButton.OK, MessageBoxImage.Error);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Fills the page controls.
/// </summary>
private void FillPageControls()
{
popUpProgressBar.IsOpen = true;
lblProgress.Content = "Loading. Please wait...";
progress.IsIndeterminate = true;
worker = new BackgroundWorker();
worker.DoWork += new System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventHandler(worker_DoWork);
worker.ProgressChanged += new System.ComponentModel.ProgressChangedEventHandler(worker_ProgressChanged);
worker.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
worker.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
worker.RunWorkerCompleted += new System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(worker_RunWorkerCompleted);
worker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
private void worker_DoWork(object sender, System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
GetGridData(null, 0); // filling grid
}
private void worker_ProgressChanged(object sender, System.ComponentModel.ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
progress.Value = e.ProgressPercentage;
}
private void worker_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
worker = null;
popUpProgressBar.IsOpen = false;
//filling Region dropdown
Standards.UDMCountryStandards objUDMCountryStandards = new Standards.UDMCountryStandards();
objUDMCountryStandards.Operation = "SELECT_REGION";
DataSet dsRegionStandards = objStandardsBusinessLayer.GetCountryStandards(objUDMCountryStandards);
if (!StandardsDefault.IsNullOrEmptyDataTable(dsRegionStandards, 0))
StandardsDefault.FillComboBox(cmbRegion, dsRegionStandards.Tables[0], "Region", "RegionId");
//filling Currency dropdown
objUDMCountryStandards = new Standards.UDMCountryStandards();
objUDMCountryStandards.Operation = "SELECT_CURRENCY";
DataSet dsCurrencyStandards = objStandardsBusinessLayer.GetCountryStandards(objUDMCountryStandards);
if (!StandardsDefault.IsNullOrEmptyDataTable(dsCurrencyStandards, 0))
StandardsDefault.FillComboBox(cmbCurrency, dsCurrencyStandards.Tables[0], "CurrencyName", "CurrencyId");
if (Users.UserRole != "Admin")
btnSave.IsEnabled = false;
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets the grid data.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="sender">The sender.</param>
/// <param name="pageIndex">Index of the page.( used in case of paging) </pamam>
private void GetGridData(object sender, int pageIndex)
{
Standards.UDMCountryStandards objUDMCountryStandards = new Standards.UDMCountryStandards();
objUDMCountryStandards.Operation = "SELECT";
objUDMCountryStandards.Country = txtSearchCountry.Text.Trim() != string.Empty ? txtSearchCountry.Text : null;
DataSet dsCountryStandards = objStandardsBusinessLayer.GetCountryStandards(objUDMCountryStandards);
if (!StandardsDefault.IsNullOrEmptyDataTable(dsCountryStandards, 0) && (chkbxMarketsSearch.IsChecked == true || chkbxBudgetsSearch.IsChecked == true || chkbxProgramsSearch.IsChecked == true))
{
DataTable objDataTable = StandardsDefault.FilterDatatableForModules(dsCountryStandards.Tables[0], "Country", chkbxMarketsSearch, chkbxBudgetsSearch, chkbxProgramsSearch);
dgCountryList.ItemsSource = objDataTable.DefaultView;
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("No Records Found", "Country Standards", MessageBoxButton.OK, MessageBoxImage.Information);
btnClear_Click(null, null);
}
}
The step objUDMCountryStandards.Country = txtSearchCountry.Text.Trim() != string.Empty ? txtSearchCountry.Text : null; in get grid data throws exception
The calling thread cannot access this object because a different
thread owns it.
What's wrong here?
This is a common problem with people getting started. Whenever you update your UI elements from a thread other than the main thread, you need to use:
this.Dispatcher.Invoke(() =>
{
...// your code here.
});
You can also use control.Dispatcher.CheckAccess() to check whether the current thread owns the control. If it does own it, your code looks as normal. Otherwise, use above pattern.
To add my 2 cents, the exception can occur even if you call your code through System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.CurrentDispatcher.Invoke(). The point is that you have to call Invoke() of the Dispatcher of the control that you're trying to access, which in some cases may not be the same as System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.CurrentDispatcher. So instead you should use YourControl.Dispatcher.Invoke() to be safe. I was banging my head for a couple of hours before I realized this.
Update
For future readers, it looks like this has changed in the newer versions of .NET (4.0 and above). Now you no longer have to worry about the correct dispatcher when updating UI-backing properties in your VM. WPF engine will marshal cross-thread calls on the correct UI thread. See more details here. Thanks to #aaronburro for the info and link. You may also want to read our conversation below in comments.
Update 2
Since this is a popular post now, I thought I'd share my experience that I had in the following years. The behavior seems to be that any property bindings will update correctly in cross-thread calls (no marshalling required; WPF will handle it for you). OTOH command bindings will need to be delegated to the UI dispatcher. I have tested it with both MVVM Light and the relatively new Community Toolkit and it seems to be the case with both the old Framework and the new .NET 5 and 6. AsyncRelayCommand fails to update the UI when invoked from non-UI thread (This happens when CanExecuteChanged is fired from a worker thread which updates, for example, button's Enabled property). The solution of course is to store UI dispatcher somewhere in the global space in your VM upon startup and then use it when updating the UI.
If you encounter this problem and UI Controls were created on a separate worker thread when working with BitmapSource or ImageSource in WPF, call Freeze() method first before passing the BitmapSource or ImageSource as a parameter to any method. Using Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke() does not work in such instances
this happened with me because I tried to access UI component in another thread insted of UI thread
like this
private void button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
new Thread(SyncProcces).Start();
}
private void SyncProcces()
{
string val1 = null, val2 = null;
//here is the problem
val1 = textBox1.Text;//access UI in another thread
val2 = textBox2.Text;//access UI in another thread
localStore = new LocalStore(val1);
remoteStore = new RemoteStore(val2);
}
to solve this problem, wrap any ui call inside what Candide mentioned above in his answer
private void SyncProcces()
{
string val1 = null, val2 = null;
this.Dispatcher.Invoke((Action)(() =>
{//this refer to form in WPF application
val1 = textBox.Text;
val2 = textBox_Copy.Text;
}));
localStore = new LocalStore(val1);
remoteStore = new RemoteStore(val2 );
}
You need to do it on the UI thread. Use:
Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(new Action(() => {GetGridData(null, 0)}));
For some reason Candide's answer didn't build. It was helpful, though, as it led me to find this, which worked perfectly:
System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.CurrentDispatcher.Invoke((Action)(() =>
{
//your code here...
}));
This works for me.
new Thread(() =>
{
Thread.CurrentThread.IsBackground = false;
Application.Current.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(DispatcherPriority.Background, (SendOrPostCallback)delegate {
//Your Code here.
}, null);
}).Start();
As mentioned here, Dispatcher.Invoke could freeze the UI. Should use Dispatcher.BeginInvoke instead.
Here is a handy extension class to simplify the checking and calling dispatcher invocation.
Sample usage: (call from WPF window)
this Dispatcher.InvokeIfRequired(new Action(() =>
{
logTextbox.AppendText(message);
logTextbox.ScrollToEnd();
}));
Extension class:
using System;
using System.Windows.Threading;
namespace WpfUtility
{
public static class DispatcherExtension
{
public static void InvokeIfRequired(this Dispatcher dispatcher, Action action)
{
if (dispatcher == null)
{
return;
}
if (!dispatcher.CheckAccess())
{
dispatcher.BeginInvoke(action, DispatcherPriority.ContextIdle);
return;
}
action();
}
}
}
I also found that System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.CurrentDispatcher.Invoke() is not always dispatcher of target control, just as dotNet wrote in his answer. I didn't had access to control's own dispatcher, so I used Application.Current.Dispatcher and it solved the problem.
The problem is that you are calling GetGridData from a background thread. This method accesses several WPF controls which are bound to the main thread. Any attempt to access them from a background thread will lead to this error.
In order to get back to the correct thread you should use SynchronizationContext.Current.Post. However in this particular case it seems like the majority of the work you are doing is UI based. Hence you would be creating a background thread just to go immediately back to the UI thread and do some work. You need to refactor your code a bit so that it can do the expensive work on the background thread and then post the new data to the UI thread afterwards
There are definitely different ways to do this depending on your needs.
One way I use a UI-updating thread (that's not the main UI thread) is to have the thread start a loop where the entire logical processing loop is invoked onto the UI thread.
Example:
public SomeFunction()
{
bool working = true;
Thread t = new Thread(() =>
{
// Don't put the working bool in here, otherwise it will
// belong to the new thread and not the main UI thread.
while (working)
{
Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(() =>
{
// Put your entire logic code in here.
// All of this code will process on the main UI thread because
// of the Invoke.
// By doing it this way, you don't have to worry about Invoking individual
// elements as they are needed.
});
}
});
}
With this, code executes entirely on main UI thread. This can be a pro for amateur programmers that have difficulty wrapping their heads around cross-threaded operations. However, it can easily become a con with more complex UIs (especially if performing animations). Really, this is only to fake a system of updating the UI and then returning to handle any events that have fired in lieu of efficient cross-threading operations.
Also, another solution is ensuring your controls are created in UI thread, not by a background worker thread for example.
I kept getting the error when I added cascading comboboxes to my WPF application, and resolved the error by using this API:
using System.Windows.Data;
private readonly object _lock = new object();
private CustomObservableCollection<string> _myUiBoundProperty;
public CustomObservableCollection<string> MyUiBoundProperty
{
get { return _myUiBoundProperty; }
set
{
if (value == _myUiBoundProperty) return;
_myUiBoundProperty = value;
NotifyPropertyChanged(nameof(MyUiBoundProperty));
}
}
public MyViewModelCtor(INavigationService navigationService)
{
// Other code...
BindingOperations.EnableCollectionSynchronization(AvailableDefectSubCategories, _lock );
}
For details, please see https://msdn.microsoft.com/query/dev14.query?appId=Dev14IDEF1&l=EN-US&k=k(System.Windows.Data.BindingOperations.EnableCollectionSynchronization);k(TargetFrameworkMoniker-.NETFramework,Version%3Dv4.7);k(DevLang-csharp)&rd=true
Sometimes it can be the object you created that throws the exception, not the target where I was obviously looking at.
In my code here:
xaml file:
<Grid Margin="0,0,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" >
<TextBlock x:Name="tbScreenLog" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Background="Black" FontSize="12" Foreground="#FF919191" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"/>
</Grid>
xaml.cs file:
System.Windows.Documents.Run rnLine = new System.Windows.Documents.Run(Message.Item2 + "\r\n");
rnLine.Foreground = LineAlternate ? Brushes.Green : Brushes.Orange;
Dispatcher.Invoke(()=> {
tbScreenLog.Inlines.Add(rnLine);
});
LineAlternate = !LineAlternate;
I got the exception about accessing an object from a different thread but I was invoking it on the UI thread??
After a while it daunted on me that it was not about the TextBlock object but about the Run object I created before invoking.
Changing the code to this solved my problem:
Dispatcher.Invoke(()=> {
Run rnLine = new Run(Message.Item2 + "\r\n");
rnLine.Foreground = LineAlternate ? Brushes.Green : Brushes.Orange;
tbScreenLog.Inlines.Add(rnLine);
});
LineAlternate = !LineAlternate;
I encountered this error strangely on the second item selected from a WPF Control.
The reason was that I loaded the data into a RX SourceCache, and the loaded elements had ObservableCollections as Navigation Properties wrapped into a CollectionView. The ObservableCollections are connected to the UIThread and the data was loaded by the WorkerThread. As the CollectionView was only populated on displaying the first element, the issue with the different thread only occured on the second item being selected.
Solution would be to move the sublists to the ViewModel as ReadOnlyObservableCollections and filter the full list of the sub element table by the currently selected main element.

System.InvalidOperationException when creating new instance of window in WPF [duplicate]

My code is as below
public CountryStandards()
{
InitializeComponent();
try
{
FillPageControls();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "Country Standards", MessageBoxButton.OK, MessageBoxImage.Error);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Fills the page controls.
/// </summary>
private void FillPageControls()
{
popUpProgressBar.IsOpen = true;
lblProgress.Content = "Loading. Please wait...";
progress.IsIndeterminate = true;
worker = new BackgroundWorker();
worker.DoWork += new System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventHandler(worker_DoWork);
worker.ProgressChanged += new System.ComponentModel.ProgressChangedEventHandler(worker_ProgressChanged);
worker.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
worker.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
worker.RunWorkerCompleted += new System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(worker_RunWorkerCompleted);
worker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
private void worker_DoWork(object sender, System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
GetGridData(null, 0); // filling grid
}
private void worker_ProgressChanged(object sender, System.ComponentModel.ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
progress.Value = e.ProgressPercentage;
}
private void worker_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
worker = null;
popUpProgressBar.IsOpen = false;
//filling Region dropdown
Standards.UDMCountryStandards objUDMCountryStandards = new Standards.UDMCountryStandards();
objUDMCountryStandards.Operation = "SELECT_REGION";
DataSet dsRegionStandards = objStandardsBusinessLayer.GetCountryStandards(objUDMCountryStandards);
if (!StandardsDefault.IsNullOrEmptyDataTable(dsRegionStandards, 0))
StandardsDefault.FillComboBox(cmbRegion, dsRegionStandards.Tables[0], "Region", "RegionId");
//filling Currency dropdown
objUDMCountryStandards = new Standards.UDMCountryStandards();
objUDMCountryStandards.Operation = "SELECT_CURRENCY";
DataSet dsCurrencyStandards = objStandardsBusinessLayer.GetCountryStandards(objUDMCountryStandards);
if (!StandardsDefault.IsNullOrEmptyDataTable(dsCurrencyStandards, 0))
StandardsDefault.FillComboBox(cmbCurrency, dsCurrencyStandards.Tables[0], "CurrencyName", "CurrencyId");
if (Users.UserRole != "Admin")
btnSave.IsEnabled = false;
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets the grid data.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="sender">The sender.</param>
/// <param name="pageIndex">Index of the page.( used in case of paging) </pamam>
private void GetGridData(object sender, int pageIndex)
{
Standards.UDMCountryStandards objUDMCountryStandards = new Standards.UDMCountryStandards();
objUDMCountryStandards.Operation = "SELECT";
objUDMCountryStandards.Country = txtSearchCountry.Text.Trim() != string.Empty ? txtSearchCountry.Text : null;
DataSet dsCountryStandards = objStandardsBusinessLayer.GetCountryStandards(objUDMCountryStandards);
if (!StandardsDefault.IsNullOrEmptyDataTable(dsCountryStandards, 0) && (chkbxMarketsSearch.IsChecked == true || chkbxBudgetsSearch.IsChecked == true || chkbxProgramsSearch.IsChecked == true))
{
DataTable objDataTable = StandardsDefault.FilterDatatableForModules(dsCountryStandards.Tables[0], "Country", chkbxMarketsSearch, chkbxBudgetsSearch, chkbxProgramsSearch);
dgCountryList.ItemsSource = objDataTable.DefaultView;
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("No Records Found", "Country Standards", MessageBoxButton.OK, MessageBoxImage.Information);
btnClear_Click(null, null);
}
}
The step objUDMCountryStandards.Country = txtSearchCountry.Text.Trim() != string.Empty ? txtSearchCountry.Text : null; in get grid data throws exception
The calling thread cannot access this object because a different
thread owns it.
What's wrong here?
This is a common problem with people getting started. Whenever you update your UI elements from a thread other than the main thread, you need to use:
this.Dispatcher.Invoke(() =>
{
...// your code here.
});
You can also use control.Dispatcher.CheckAccess() to check whether the current thread owns the control. If it does own it, your code looks as normal. Otherwise, use above pattern.
To add my 2 cents, the exception can occur even if you call your code through System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.CurrentDispatcher.Invoke(). The point is that you have to call Invoke() of the Dispatcher of the control that you're trying to access, which in some cases may not be the same as System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.CurrentDispatcher. So instead you should use YourControl.Dispatcher.Invoke() to be safe. I was banging my head for a couple of hours before I realized this.
Update
For future readers, it looks like this has changed in the newer versions of .NET (4.0 and above). Now you no longer have to worry about the correct dispatcher when updating UI-backing properties in your VM. WPF engine will marshal cross-thread calls on the correct UI thread. See more details here. Thanks to #aaronburro for the info and link. You may also want to read our conversation below in comments.
Update 2
Since this is a popular post now, I thought I'd share my experience that I had in the following years. The behavior seems to be that any property bindings will update correctly in cross-thread calls (no marshalling required; WPF will handle it for you). OTOH command bindings will need to be delegated to the UI dispatcher. I have tested it with both MVVM Light and the relatively new Community Toolkit and it seems to be the case with both the old Framework and the new .NET 5 and 6. AsyncRelayCommand fails to update the UI when invoked from non-UI thread (This happens when CanExecuteChanged is fired from a worker thread which updates, for example, button's Enabled property). The solution of course is to store UI dispatcher somewhere in the global space in your VM upon startup and then use it when updating the UI.
If you encounter this problem and UI Controls were created on a separate worker thread when working with BitmapSource or ImageSource in WPF, call Freeze() method first before passing the BitmapSource or ImageSource as a parameter to any method. Using Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke() does not work in such instances
this happened with me because I tried to access UI component in another thread insted of UI thread
like this
private void button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
new Thread(SyncProcces).Start();
}
private void SyncProcces()
{
string val1 = null, val2 = null;
//here is the problem
val1 = textBox1.Text;//access UI in another thread
val2 = textBox2.Text;//access UI in another thread
localStore = new LocalStore(val1);
remoteStore = new RemoteStore(val2);
}
to solve this problem, wrap any ui call inside what Candide mentioned above in his answer
private void SyncProcces()
{
string val1 = null, val2 = null;
this.Dispatcher.Invoke((Action)(() =>
{//this refer to form in WPF application
val1 = textBox.Text;
val2 = textBox_Copy.Text;
}));
localStore = new LocalStore(val1);
remoteStore = new RemoteStore(val2 );
}
You need to do it on the UI thread. Use:
Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(new Action(() => {GetGridData(null, 0)}));
For some reason Candide's answer didn't build. It was helpful, though, as it led me to find this, which worked perfectly:
System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.CurrentDispatcher.Invoke((Action)(() =>
{
//your code here...
}));
This works for me.
new Thread(() =>
{
Thread.CurrentThread.IsBackground = false;
Application.Current.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(DispatcherPriority.Background, (SendOrPostCallback)delegate {
//Your Code here.
}, null);
}).Start();
As mentioned here, Dispatcher.Invoke could freeze the UI. Should use Dispatcher.BeginInvoke instead.
Here is a handy extension class to simplify the checking and calling dispatcher invocation.
Sample usage: (call from WPF window)
this Dispatcher.InvokeIfRequired(new Action(() =>
{
logTextbox.AppendText(message);
logTextbox.ScrollToEnd();
}));
Extension class:
using System;
using System.Windows.Threading;
namespace WpfUtility
{
public static class DispatcherExtension
{
public static void InvokeIfRequired(this Dispatcher dispatcher, Action action)
{
if (dispatcher == null)
{
return;
}
if (!dispatcher.CheckAccess())
{
dispatcher.BeginInvoke(action, DispatcherPriority.ContextIdle);
return;
}
action();
}
}
}
I also found that System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.CurrentDispatcher.Invoke() is not always dispatcher of target control, just as dotNet wrote in his answer. I didn't had access to control's own dispatcher, so I used Application.Current.Dispatcher and it solved the problem.
The problem is that you are calling GetGridData from a background thread. This method accesses several WPF controls which are bound to the main thread. Any attempt to access them from a background thread will lead to this error.
In order to get back to the correct thread you should use SynchronizationContext.Current.Post. However in this particular case it seems like the majority of the work you are doing is UI based. Hence you would be creating a background thread just to go immediately back to the UI thread and do some work. You need to refactor your code a bit so that it can do the expensive work on the background thread and then post the new data to the UI thread afterwards
There are definitely different ways to do this depending on your needs.
One way I use a UI-updating thread (that's not the main UI thread) is to have the thread start a loop where the entire logical processing loop is invoked onto the UI thread.
Example:
public SomeFunction()
{
bool working = true;
Thread t = new Thread(() =>
{
// Don't put the working bool in here, otherwise it will
// belong to the new thread and not the main UI thread.
while (working)
{
Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(() =>
{
// Put your entire logic code in here.
// All of this code will process on the main UI thread because
// of the Invoke.
// By doing it this way, you don't have to worry about Invoking individual
// elements as they are needed.
});
}
});
}
With this, code executes entirely on main UI thread. This can be a pro for amateur programmers that have difficulty wrapping their heads around cross-threaded operations. However, it can easily become a con with more complex UIs (especially if performing animations). Really, this is only to fake a system of updating the UI and then returning to handle any events that have fired in lieu of efficient cross-threading operations.
Also, another solution is ensuring your controls are created in UI thread, not by a background worker thread for example.
I kept getting the error when I added cascading comboboxes to my WPF application, and resolved the error by using this API:
using System.Windows.Data;
private readonly object _lock = new object();
private CustomObservableCollection<string> _myUiBoundProperty;
public CustomObservableCollection<string> MyUiBoundProperty
{
get { return _myUiBoundProperty; }
set
{
if (value == _myUiBoundProperty) return;
_myUiBoundProperty = value;
NotifyPropertyChanged(nameof(MyUiBoundProperty));
}
}
public MyViewModelCtor(INavigationService navigationService)
{
// Other code...
BindingOperations.EnableCollectionSynchronization(AvailableDefectSubCategories, _lock );
}
For details, please see https://msdn.microsoft.com/query/dev14.query?appId=Dev14IDEF1&l=EN-US&k=k(System.Windows.Data.BindingOperations.EnableCollectionSynchronization);k(TargetFrameworkMoniker-.NETFramework,Version%3Dv4.7);k(DevLang-csharp)&rd=true
Sometimes it can be the object you created that throws the exception, not the target where I was obviously looking at.
In my code here:
xaml file:
<Grid Margin="0,0,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" >
<TextBlock x:Name="tbScreenLog" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Background="Black" FontSize="12" Foreground="#FF919191" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"/>
</Grid>
xaml.cs file:
System.Windows.Documents.Run rnLine = new System.Windows.Documents.Run(Message.Item2 + "\r\n");
rnLine.Foreground = LineAlternate ? Brushes.Green : Brushes.Orange;
Dispatcher.Invoke(()=> {
tbScreenLog.Inlines.Add(rnLine);
});
LineAlternate = !LineAlternate;
I got the exception about accessing an object from a different thread but I was invoking it on the UI thread??
After a while it daunted on me that it was not about the TextBlock object but about the Run object I created before invoking.
Changing the code to this solved my problem:
Dispatcher.Invoke(()=> {
Run rnLine = new Run(Message.Item2 + "\r\n");
rnLine.Foreground = LineAlternate ? Brushes.Green : Brushes.Orange;
tbScreenLog.Inlines.Add(rnLine);
});
LineAlternate = !LineAlternate;
I encountered this error strangely on the second item selected from a WPF Control.
The reason was that I loaded the data into a RX SourceCache, and the loaded elements had ObservableCollections as Navigation Properties wrapped into a CollectionView. The ObservableCollections are connected to the UIThread and the data was loaded by the WorkerThread. As the CollectionView was only populated on displaying the first element, the issue with the different thread only occured on the second item being selected.
Solution would be to move the sublists to the ViewModel as ReadOnlyObservableCollections and filter the full list of the sub element table by the currently selected main element.

Wait message while populating a datagrid control

I have a C# WinForms application with a tab control and several tabs. One of the tabs contains a data grid control - it only has about 10 elements in it but the data is populated by querying multiple servers and thus is slow to load.
When I run my application and select the tab with the datagrid control, the application appears to hang, while its trying to query all the servers and populate the grid.
Instead of hanging I'd like the application to be responsive and for it to display a "please wait..." message which will disappear after the datagrid is populated.
What I've tried to do is create a background worker as such:
if (tabctrl.SelectedTab == tabctrl.TabPages["tabServices"])
{
this.dgrdServices.RowPrePaint += new DataGridViewRowPrePaintEventHandler(dgrdServices_RowPrePaint);
this.dgrdServices.CellContentClick += new DataGridViewCellEventHandler(dgrdServices_CellClick);
BackgroundWorker bw = new BackgroundWorker();
lblLoading.Visible = true;
bw.RunWorkerAsync();
bw.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(bw_DoWork);
bw.RunWorkerCompleted += new RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(bw_RunWorkerCompleted);
}
private void bw_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
PopulateServicesDataGrid();
}
private void bw_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
lblLoading.Visible = false;
}
private void PopulateServicesDataGrid()
{
int x = 0;
foreach (Service Service in Globals.Services)
{
// Add a row to the datagrid for each service
this.dgrdServices.Rows.Add();
// Update the current service status
Service.Status = Service.Query(Service.Server, Service.Name);
if (Service.Status == "running")
{
this.dgrdServices.Rows[x].Cells[0].Value = Properties.Resources.green_dot;
this.dgrdServices.Rows[x].Cells[4].Value = Properties.Resources.stop_enabled;
}
else
{
this.dgrdServices.Rows[x].Cells[0].Value = Properties.Resources.grey_dot;
this.dgrdServices.Rows[x].Cells[4].Value = Properties.Resources.start_enabled;
}
this.dgrdServices.Rows[x].Cells[1].Value = Service.Server.ToUpper();
this.dgrdServices.Rows[x].Cells[2].Value = Service.FreindlyName;
this.dgrdServices.Rows[x].Cells[3].Value = Service.Status;
this.dgrdServices.Rows[x].Cells[5].Value = "Uninstall";
this.dgrdServices.Rows[x].Cells[6].Value = Service.Name;
x++;
}
}
PopulateServicesDataGrid() contains code which iterates through some objects and queries several different servers for service status.
When I try and run the above though the grid doesn't get populated. If I don't use a background worker and just call PopulateServicesDataGrid directly it does work (albeit the app hangs).
Why isn't the background worker/datagrid populate working?
In your PopulateServicesDataGrid I imagine you're interacting with a UI control, which doesn't work out because the background worker is operating on a different thread than your UI context. You'll need to work out a mechanism to do the work in a way that returns the information you want to put in the grid and then back in your UI thread context (RunWorkerCompleted), populate the grid with the information you come up with in DoWork.
Anytime you're using a background worker, you'll need to split out your interactions with the UI controls, and after the backgroundworker completes resume interaction with your UI.
You're also hooking up the events after calling RunWorkerAsync, hook up your events first then call RunWorkerAsync.
Edit to reflect comment with an example:
Rough example of how you could do this, based on the code I see.
private void bw_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
QueryServices()
}
private void QueryServices()
{
foreach (Service Service in Globals.Services)
{
Service.Status = Service.Query(Service.Server, Service.Name);
}
}
private void bw_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
PopulateServicesDataGrid();
lblLoading.Visible = false;
}
private void PopulateServicesDataGrid()
{
//Do everything else you are doing originally in this method minus the Service.Query calls.
}
Method bw_DoWork running in another thread from ThreadPool. Accessing WinForms object from other threads requires synchronization. The best way to do this - use AsyncOperationManager. You should create AsyncOperation in GUI thread and use it inside PopulateServicesDataGrid to send or post results.
Another way - update DataGrid by prepared data inside bw_RunWorkerComplete - it's already synchronized by BackgroundWorker component.
More modern way to do the same - use async tasks, but it requires base level of TPL knowledge.

Threads with UI (Canvas)

I'm trying to generate a Thread for the redrawing-function of my existing poly-drawing. I read here it is possible that UI can be realized in Threads see here LINK but I cant use it on my redrawSingelPoly() function.... Any ideas how I can use redrawSingelPoly() as an thread ?
In my MainWindow.xaml.cs:
Is called when the user press a button on my main window:
private void SingleSelectedMeasurement(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
System.Windows.Controls.Button button = (System.Windows.Controls.Button)sender;
RedrawSingelMeasurement(Convert.ToInt16(button.Tag));
}
private void RedrawSingelMeasurement(int selectedMeasurement)
{
selectedMeasurement = selectedMeasurement - 1;
for (int i = 0; i < measurements.Length; i++)
{
if (selectedMeasurement != i)
{
measurements[i].draw = false; //block drawing
}
else
{
measurements[i].draw = true; // remove block for drawing
}
}
measurements[selectedMeasurement].redrawSingelPoly();
}
In my Measurement.cs:
public void redrawSingelPoly()
{
Polyline poly = new Polyline();
poly.Stroke = colorBrush;
poly.StrokeThickness = basicLineThick;
//first clean all
coordinateSystem.Children.Clear();
poly.Points = points;
//draw
coordinateSystem.Children.Add(poly);
}
You cannot access to DependencyProperties of DependencyObject (in your case: coordinateSystem) from the thread different to the one it's related to.
If you want to speed up your application, you should create custom control, override its OnRender method and draw your custom graphics there: it will remove a lot of logical and visual tree logic and will work a lot faster.
Ideally one window only can run on one Dispatcher, however you can put different visuals in different threads by HostVisual but in very limited scenarios. Maybe this article can help you:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dwayneneed/archive/2007/04/26/multithreaded-ui-hostvisual.aspx
What the article you mention talks about is actually just having one thread for each window. Drawing dedicated elements in a different thread is not possible.
private void SingleSelectedMeasurement(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var button = (System.Windows.Controls.Button)sender;
Task.Factory.StartNew (
() => OnUi(RedrawSingelMeasurement(Convert.ToInt16(button.Tag))));
}
//here's a sample on how to get despatcher for the ui thread
private void OnUi (Action action)
{
if (_dispatchService == null)
_dispatchService = ServiceLocator.Current.GetInstance<IDispatchService>();
//or _dispatchService = Application.Current.Dispatcher - whatever is suitable
if (_dispatchService.CheckAccess())
action.Invoke ();
else
_dispatchService.Invoke(action);
}

How can I create WPF controls in a background thread?

I have method which create background thread to make some action. In this background thread I create object. But this object while creating in runtime give me an exception :
The calling thread must be STA, because many UI components require this.
I know that I must use Dispatcher to make reflect something to UI. But in this case I just create an object and dont iteract with UI. This is my code:
public void SomeMethod()
{
BackgroundWorker worker = new BackgroundWorker();
worker.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(Background_Method);
worker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
void Background_Method(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
TreeView tv = new TreeView();
}
How can I create objects in background thread?
I use WPF application
TreeView is a UI control. You can only create and manipulate UI controls on a UI thread, so what you're trying to do is not possible.
What you want to do is do all of the time-consuming work on the background thread, and then "call back" to the UI thread to manipulate the UI. This is actually quite easy:
void Background_Method(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
// ... time consuming stuff...
// call back to the window to do the UI-manipulation
this.BeginInvoke(new MethodInvoker(delegate {
TreeView tv = new TreeView();
// etc, manipulate
}));
}
I may have got the syntax wrong for BeginInvoke (it's off the top of my head), but there you go anyway...
HTH:
void Background_Method(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
// Time Consuming operations without using UI elements
// Result of timeconsuming operations
var result = new object();
App.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(new Action<object>((res) =>
{
// Working with UI
TreeView tv = new TreeView();
}), result);
}
No one is discussing the case of a separate STA thread in details (even though the concept is exactly the same).
So let's imagine a simple tab control added at a button click
private void button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
TabItem newTab = new TabItem() { Header = "New Tab" };
tabMain.Items.Add(newTab);
}
If we move it to another STA thread
private void button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
Thread newThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(ThreadStartingPoint));
newThread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
newThread.IsBackground = true;
newThread.Start();
}
private void ThreadStartingPoint()
{
TabItem newTab = new TabItem() { Header = "New Tab" };
tabMain.Items.Add(newTab);
}
of course we get a System.InvalidOperationException
Now, what happens if we add the control
private void AddToParent(string header)
{
TabItem newTab = new TabItem() { Header = header };
tabMain.Items.Add(newTab);
}
using a delegate method?
public void DelegateMethod(string header)
{
tabMain.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(
new Action(() => {
this.AddToParent(header);
}), null);
}
it does work if you call it
private void button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
Thread newThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(ThreadStartingPoint));
newThread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
newThread.IsBackground = true;
newThread.Start();
}
private void ThreadStartingPoint()
{
DelegateMethod("new tab");
}
because of course now we keep the visual tree in the same original thread.
To make your code simply work, you must join a STA COM apartment by calling Thread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA). Since BackgroundWorker is probably using some shared thread pool, joining a particular apartment may affect other users of this thread pool or may even fail if it has already been set to e.g. MTA before. Even if it all worked out, your newly created TreeView would be locked to this worker thread. You wouldn't be able to use it in your main UI thread.
If you explained in a bit more detail about your true intentions, you would surely get better help.
Try following Code:
public void SomeMethod()
{
System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker myWorker = new System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker();
myWorker.DoWork += myWorker_DoWork;
myWorker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
private void myWorker_DoWork(object sender,
System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
// Do time-consuming work here
}
void Background_Method(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
TreeView tv = new TreeView();
// Generate your TreeView here
UIDispatcher.BeginInvoke(DispatcherPriority.Normal, new Action(() =>
{
someContainer.Children.Add(tv);
};
}
I solved my problem. I just used e.Result property of RunWorkerCompleted method. I get data in background thread and then use this data when thread completed. Thank every body for useful methods. Special thank to Veer to give a recommendation about e.Result property.
See the answer on this question:
How to run something in the STA thread?
When you define your thread, set the ApartmentState to STA:
thread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
This should do the trick!

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