I have a WinForms application in which my background worker is doing a sync task, adding new files, removing old ones etc.
In my background worker code I want to show a custom form to user telling him what will be deleted and what will be added if he continues, with YES/NO buttons to get his feedback.
I was wondering if it is ok to do something like this in background worker's doWork method?
If not, how should I do it?
Please advise..
private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
MyForm f = new MyForm();
f.FilesToAddDelete(..);
DialogResult result = f.ShowDialog();
if(No...)
return;
else
//keep working...
}
If you try this you will see for yourself that it will not work because the BackgroundWorker thread is not STA (it comes from the managed thread pool).
The essence of the matter is that you cannot show user interface from a worker thread¹, so you must work around it. You should pass a reference to a UI element of your application (the main form would be a good choice) and then use Invoke to marshal a request for user interaction to your UI thread. A barebones example:
class MainForm
{
// all other members here
public bool AskForConfirmation()
{
var confirmationForm = new ConfirmationForm();
return confirmationForm.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.Yes;
}
}
And the background worker would do this:
// I assume that mainForm has been passed somehow to BackgroundWorker
var result = (bool)mainForm.Invoke(mainForm.AskForConfirmation);
if (result) { ... }
¹ Technically, you cannot show user interface from a thread that is not STA. If you create a worker thread yourself you can choose to make it STA anyway, but if it comes from the thread pool there is no such possibility.
I usually create a method to execute a delegate on the UI thread:
private void DoOnUIThread(MethodInvoker d) {
if (this.InvokeRequired) { this.Invoke(d); } else { d(); }
}
With this, you can change your code to:
private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
DialogResult result = DialogResult.No;
DoOnUIThread(delegate() {
MyForm f = new MyForm();
f.FilesToAddDelete(..);
result = f.ShowDialog();
});
if(No...)
return;
else
//keep working...
}
IMO answers stating that you should launch a thread to handle this are misguided. What you need is to jump the window back to the main dispatcher thread.
In WPF
public ShellViewModel(
[NotNull] IWindowManager windows,
[NotNull] IWindsorContainer container)
{
if (windows == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("windows");
if (container == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("container");
_windows = windows;
_container = container;
UIDispatcher = Dispatcher.CurrentDispatcher; // not for WinForms
}
public Dispatcher UIDispatcher { get; private set; }
and then, when some event occurs on another thread (thread pool thread in this case):
public void Consume(ImageFound message)
{
var model = _container.Resolve<ChoiceViewModel>();
model.ForImage(message);
UIDispatcher.BeginInvoke(new Action(() => _windows.ShowWindow(model)));
}
WinForms equivalent
Don't set UIDispatcher to anything, then you can do have:
public void Consume(ImageFound message)
{
var model = _container.Resolve<ChoiceViewModel>();
model.ForImage(message);
this.Invoke( () => _windows.ShowWindow(model) );
}
DRYing it up for WPF:
Man, so much code...
public interface ThreadedViewModel
: IConsumer
{
/// <summary>
/// Gets the UI-thread dispatcher
/// </summary>
Dispatcher UIDispatcher { get; }
}
public static class ThreadedViewModelEx
{
public static void BeginInvoke([NotNull] this ThreadedViewModel viewModel, [NotNull] Action action)
{
if (viewModel == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("viewModel");
if (action == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("action");
if (viewModel.UIDispatcher.CheckAccess()) action();
else viewModel.UIDispatcher.BeginInvoke(action);
}
}
and in the view model:
public void Consume(ImageFound message)
{
var model = _container.Resolve<ChoiceViewModel>();
model.ForImage(message);
this.BeginInvoke(() => _windows.ShowWindow(model));
}
Hope it helps.
You should bring up the dialog before you run the backgroundworker. And in the progresschanged-event, you can update the dialog.
Related
I have created a tray application for controlling some hardware components. How can I invoke the UI thread without a main form or control?
The tray app is started with Application.Run(new MyTrayApp()):
class MyTrayApp : ApplicationContext
{
private NotifyIcon trayIcon;
public MyTrayApp()
{
trayIcon = new NotifyIcon()
{
Icon = Resources.app_icon,
ContextMenu = new ContextMenu(new MenuItem[] {
new MenuItem("Exit", Exit)
}),
Visible = true
};
// context is still null here
var context = SynchronizationContext.Current;
// but I want to invoke UI thread in hardware events
MyHardWareController controller= new MyHardWareController(context);
}
void Exit(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// context is accessible here because this is a UI event
// too late tho
var context = SynchronizationContext.Current;
trayIcon.Visible = false;
Application.Exit();
}
}
Control.Invoke() is not available as there are no controls
Searching suggests that SynchronizationContext.Current should be saved for later invoke but there is no ApplicationContext.Load() event...?
I've noticed that MainForm is null in the whole cycle. I wonder how does SynchronizationContext initialized in this case?
Edit:
Just to add some background info on why I would like to invoke UI thread. It is because System.Threading.ThreadStateException will be thrown when attempt to access Windows resources such as Clipboard or SendKeys in another thread:
HResult=0x80131520
Message=Current thread must be set to single thread apartment (STA) mode before OLE calls can be made. Ensure that your Main function has STAThreadAttribute marked on it.
Source=System.Windows.Forms
StackTrace:
...
It's another can of worms but just for information:
[STAThreadAttribute] is already set for Main function (no effect)
Creating a new STA thread would result in anti-virus deleting my application upon compile
Thus Form.Invoke() or the equivalent to invoke main thread should be the easiest.
Edit 2:
Add a gist for reproducing the error:
https://gist.github.com/jki21/eb950df7b88c06cc5c6d46f105335bbf
Solved it with Application.Idle as mentioned by Loathing! Thanks everyone for your advice!
TrayApp:
class MyTrayApp: ApplicationContext {
private MyHardwareController controller = null;
public MyTrayApp() {
Application.Idle += new EventHandler(this.OnApplicationIdle);
// ...
}
private void OnApplicationIdle(object sender, EventArgs e) {
// prevent duplicate initialization on each Idle event
if (controller == null) {
var context = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext();
controller = new MyHardwareController((f) => {
Task.Factory.StartNew(
() => {
f();
},
CancellationToken.None,
TaskCreationOptions.None,
context);
});
}
}
// ...
}
MyHardwareController:
class MyHardwareController {
private Action < Action > UIInvoke;
public MyHardwareController(Action < Action > UIInvokeRef) {
UIInvoke = UIInvokeRef;
}
void hardware_Event(object sender, EventArgs e) {
// Invoke UI thread
UIInvoke(() => Clipboard.SetText("I am in UI thread!"));
}
}
An alternative solution would be to create a dummy form (which will never be shown, but should be stored somewhere. You just have to access the Handle property of the Form to be able to invoke it from now on.
public static DummyForm Form { get; private set; }
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Form = new DummyForm();
_ = Form.Handle;
Application.Run();
}
Now it is possible to invoke into the UI thread:
Form.Invoke((Action)(() => ...);
Working on a C# project which I would like to implement a "waiting" (throbber) indicator in a separate form. After much research and trial and error it appears as the suggested method of doing this is to load a form using a separate thread from the one from the current form/thread.
The reason I went with this method was because initially using the Show() method on the throbber form produced a transparent form. I cannot use ShowDialog because I need to run some code after the throbber is displayed, after which that completes I would like to close the throbber form.
Anyway .. after trying many different methods to load the throbber form in a separate thread I still get an error about trying to access it from a thread which is different from the one it was created in. Here is a skelton version of the project code that should shed some light on my issue:
the example I was working off of for multithreading was this popular link for creating your own spashscreen in a separate thread ... http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/5454/A-Pretty-Good-Splash-Screen-in-C
public class Main
{
public void CheckData()
{
try
{
ProgressBar pb = new ProgressBar();
pb.ShowProgressBar();
//do data checking here
pb.CloseForm()
}
catch(Exception e)
{
}
}
}
public partial class ProgressBar : Form
{
static Thread ms_oThread = null;
public bool shouldStop = false;
static ProgressBar ms_ProgBar = null;
public ProgressBar()
{
InitializeComponent();
//DoWork();
}
public void ShowForm()
{
ms_ProgBar = new ProgressBar();
Application.Run(ms_ProgBar);
}
public void CloseForm()
{
ms_ProgBar.Close();
}
public void ShowProgressBar()
{
// Make sure it is only launched once.
if (ms_ProgBar != null)
return;
ms_oThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(ShowForm));
ms_oThread.IsBackground = true;
ms_oThread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
ms_oThread.Start();
while (ms_ProgBar == null || ms_ProgBar.IsHandleCreated == false)
{
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
}
}
You are creating your ProgressBar twice. Once in your main function, and once in your new thread. You are also calling your CloseWindow method from your main function (and on the window that is never shown), rather than on your new thread window.
You only want to create ProgressBar and show it using your new thread. Make your static ProgressBar field public so you can call close on it directly from Main, but make sure to use Invoke to do it since it's not on that Window's GUI thread.
Also, ShowProgressBar should be static.
Here's a rewrite attempt:
public class Main
{
public void CheckData()
{
try
{
ProgressBar.ShowProgressBar();
//do data checking here
ProgressBar.CloseForm();
}
catch(Exception e)
{
}
}
}
public partial class ProgressBar : Form
{
static ProgressBar _progressBarInstance;
public ProgressBar()
{
InitializeComponent();
//DoWork();
}
static void ShowForm()
{
_progressBarInstance = new ProgressBar();
Application.Run(ms_ProgressBar);
}
public static void CloseForm()
{
_progressBarInstance.Invoke(new Action(_progressBarInstance.Close));
_progressBarInstance= null;
}
public static void ShowProgressBar()
{
// Make sure it is only launched once.
if (_progressBarInstance != null)
return;
var ms_oThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(ShowForm));
ms_oThread.IsBackground = true;
ms_oThread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
ms_oThread.Start();
}
}
I am looking for a solution for interthread communication.
Thread A is the main thread of a windows app. I starts a Thread B that is working independant of thread a, they do not share code. But thread A has to get some feedback about status of thread b. I try to solve this with a delegate.
I am very sorry, I forgot to add that I have to work on .net 3.5, c#, WEC7
It is important that the code
public void OnMyEvent(string foo)
{
MessageBox.Show(foo);
}
is executed in context of thread a, how can I achieve this
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
//...
public void StartThread(Object obj)
{
new ClassForSecondThread(obj as Parameters);
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//ParameterizedThreadStart threadstart = new ParameterizedThreadStart(startThread);
ParameterizedThreadStart threadstart = new ParameterizedThreadStart(StartThread);
Thread thread = new Thread(threadstart);
Parameters parameters = new Parameters(){MyEventHandler = OnMyEvent};
thread.Start(parameters);
}
public void OnMyEvent(string foo)
{
MessageBox.Show(foo);
}
}
//This code is executed in Thread B
public class ClassForSecondThread
{
public ClassForSecondThread(Parameters parameters)
{
if (parameters == null)
return;
MyEventhandler += parameters.MyEventHandler;
DoWork();
}
private void DoWork()
{
//DoSomething
if (MyEventhandler != null)
MyEventhandler.DynamicInvoke("Hello World");// I think this should be executed async, in Thread A
Thread.Sleep(10000);
if (MyEventhandler != null)
MyEventhandler.DynamicInvoke("Hello World again"); // I think this should be executed async, in Thread A
}
public event MyEventHandler MyEventhandler;
}
public class Parameters
{
public MyEventHandler MyEventHandler;
}
public delegate void MyEventHandler(string foo);
As you want to call the MessageBox on the main UI thread, you can achieve what you want using Control.Invoke.
Invoke((MethodInvoker)(() => MessageBox.Show(foo)));
The Invoke method can be called directly on the Form and you won't be in the context of Thread B within the delegate - the code will run on the same thread as the Form.
EDIT:
OP question: if I understood Control.Invoke correctly, it always acts in the context of a control?
Although the Invoke method uses a Control (in this case the form) to get a handle to the UI thread it is running on, the code within the delegate is not specific to the UI. If you want to add more statements and expand it to include more stuff, just do this:
string t = "hello"; //declared in the form
//Thread B context - Invoke called
Invoke((MethodInvoker)(() =>
{
//Back to the UI thread of the Form here == thread A
MessageBox.Show(foo);
t = "dd";
}));
Also, if you are updating things in a multi threaded environment where the data is accessible to more than one thread, then you will need to investigate sychronization - applying locks to data etc.
For what it is worth you can simplify your code considerably by using the new async and await keywords in C# 5.0.
public class Form1 : Form
{
private async void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs args)
{
OnMyEvent("Hello World");
await Task.Run(
() =>
{
// This stuff runs on a worker thread.
Thread.Sleep(10000);
});
OnMyEvent("Hello World again");
}
private void OnMyEvent(string foo)
{
Message.Show(foo);
}
}
In the code above OnMyEvent is executed on the UI thread in both cases. The first call be executed before the task starts and the second call will be executed after the task completes.
I developing multithreading application with main form and another form in which progress is shown.
At first: I create ProgressForm in MainForm
Progress p=new Progress();
Second: I create new instance of class Model (whith all data in my app).
Model m = new Model();
And subscribe for event:
m.OperationStarted += new EventHandler(OnCopyStarted);
private void OnCopyStarted(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
p.Show();
}
Third: I run some operation in another thread where I change property in another Model
private bool isStarted;
public bool IsStarted
{
get{return isStarted;}
set
{
isStarted = value;
if (isStarted && OperationStarted != null)
{
OperationStarted(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
}
My questoin is: Why Progress form is show not in Main Thread? How can I run it without lockups?
All UI operations must run on the main UI thread.
The OnCopyStarted method is being called on another thread, so it must switch to the UI thread before before showing the dialog.
You can use your form's BeginInvoke to switch to the UI thread. Such as:
void OnCopyStarted(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
p.BeginInvoke((Action) (() => p.Show()));
}
Try it :
var t = new Thread(() => {
Application.Run(new Progress ());
});
t.Start();
I have two forms, the main form and one that pops up as a modal dialog. From a process spawned in the main form, I want to dynamically update the text on the modal dialog. Here's what I have:
In the main form, I do this:
// show the wait modal
var modal = new WaitDialog { Owner = this };
// thread the packaging
var thread = new Thread(() => Packager.PackageUpdates(clients, version, modal));
thread.Start();
// hopefully it worked ...
if (modal.ShowDialog() != DialogResult.OK)
{
throw new Exception("Something failed, miserably.");
}
The PackageUpdates method takes the modal dialog, and does this:
// quick update and sleep for a sec ...
modal.SetWaitLabelText("Downloading update package...");
Thread.Sleep(2000);
modal.SetWaitLabelText("Re-packaging update...");
To be thread safe, I do this in the modal dialog:
public void SetWaitLabelText(string text)
{
if (lblWaitMessage.InvokeRequired)
{
Invoke(new Action<string>(SetWaitLabelText), text);
}
else
{
lblWaitMessage.Text = text;
}
}
Everything works great ... most of the time. Every three or four times that the modal pops up, I get an exception on the lblWaitMessage.Text = text; and it's not invoking the command.
Am I missing something in this setup?
Like #Hans Passant pointed out, you should wait for the modal.Load-event. One good option is to use the ManualResetEvent to inform your thread to wait until that happens.
The WaitOne method will block the thread until the Set method is called. Here's a very simple setup which should do the trick.
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
ManualResetEvent m_ResetEvent;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
m_ResetEvent = new ManualResetEvent(false);
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Dialog d = new Dialog { Owner = this, ResetEvent = m_ResetEvent };
var thread = new Thread(new ParameterizedThreadStart(DoSomething));
thread.Start(d);
if (d.ShowDialog() != System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK)
{
throw new Exception("Something terrible happened");
}
}
private void DoSomething(object modal)
{
Dialog d = (Dialog)modal;
// Block the thread!
m_ResetEvent.WaitOne();
for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
{
d.SetWaitLabelText(i.ToString());
Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
}
}
And here is the modal form
public partial class Dialog : Form
{
public Form Owner { get; set; }
public ManualResetEvent ResetEvent { get; set; }
public Dialog()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public void SetWaitLabelText(string text)
{
if (label1.InvokeRequired)
{
Invoke(new Action<string>(SetWaitLabelText), text);
}
else
{
label1.Text = text;
}
}
private void Dialog_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Set the event, thus unblocking the other thread
ResetEvent.Set();
}
}
I think you should rewrite the code to let thread.Start() isn't called before modal.ShowDialog().
As a workaround, you can try this:
public void SetWaitLabelText(string text) {
Invoke(new Action<string>(SetWaitLabelText2), text);
}
void SetWaitLabelText2(string text) {
lblWaitMessage.Text = text;
}
The first method always uses Invoke, regardless the value of InvokeRequired. The second method actually does the thing. This pattern is usable when you always call the function from another thread.