C# : Show dialog on UI thread from another thread - c#

I'm new to C#, but i've done a lots of java. Here's my problem : I'm trying to open a "SaveFileDialog" from a thread that is not the UI thread.
This is exactly what I try to do:
public partial class Form1: Form
{
public string AskSaveFile()
{
var sfd = new SaveFileDialog();
sfd.Filter = "Fichiers txt (*.txt)|*.txt|Tous les fichiers (*.*)|*.*";
sfd.FilterIndex = 1;
sfd.RestoreDirectory = true;
DialogResult result = (DialogResult) Invoke(new Action(() => sfd.ShowDialog(this)));
if(result == DialogResult.OK)
{
return sfd.FileName;
}
return null;
}
}
This method will always be called from a thread different from the one who owns the Form. The problem is that when I execute this code, the "Form1" freeze and the "SaveFileDialog" doesn't show up.
Do you have some clue to help me to show the dialog from an independant thread?

Make it look like this:
public string AskSaveFile() {
if (this.InvokeRequired) {
return (string)Invoke(new Func<string>(() => AskSaveFile()));
}
else {
var sfd = new SaveFileDialog();
sfd.Filter = "Fichiers txt (*.txt)|*.txt|Tous les fichiers (*.*)|*.*";
sfd.FilterIndex = 1;
sfd.RestoreDirectory = true;
return sfd.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK ? sfd.FileName : null;
}
}
If you still get deadlock then be sure to use the debugger's Debug + Windows + Threads window and look at what the UI thread is doing. Control.Invoke() cannot complete unless the UI thread is idle and pumping the message loop. Waiting for the worker thread to finish is always going to cause deadlock.
Also consider that this kind of code is risky, the user might not expect this dialog to suddenly show up and accidentally close it while mousing or keyboarding in the window(s) owned by the UI thread.

Try this:
public partial class Form1: Form
{
public string AskSaveFile()
{
if (this.InvokeRequired)
{
Invoke( new MethodInvoker( delegate() { AskSaveFile(); } ) );
}
else
{
var sfd = new SaveFileDialog();
sfd.Filter = "Fichiers txt (*.txt)|*.txt|Tous les fichiers (*.*)|*.*";
sfd.FilterIndex = 1;
sfd.RestoreDirectory = true;
if(sfd.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK) return sfd.FileName;
}
return null;
}
}

Related

Block concurrent threads only when Windows was closed

I have code
private void AbrirConexao(string strConexao)
{
try
{
conexao = new NpgsqlConnection(strConexao);
conexao.Open();
}
catch (Exception)
{
ReconectarDB(null, strConexao);
}
}
public bool ReconectarDB(string strConexao)
{
bool erroConexao = false;
BackgroundWorker bw = new BackgroundWorker();
bw.DoWork += (obj, ea) =>
{
int erro = 0;
while (erro <= 4)
{
Thread.Sleep(1000);
try
{
conexao = new NpgsqlConnection(strConexao);
conexao.Open();
erroConexao = false;
break;
}
catch
{
erro++;
erroConexao = true;
}
}
};
bw.RunWorkerCompleted += (obj, ea) =>
{
if (erroConexao)
DialogReconectando.AlterarTela(ErroConexao.SemConexao);
else
DialogReconectando.Close();
};
bw.RunWorkerAsync();
Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(new Action(() =>
{
if (DialogReconectando == null || Conexao.DialogReconectando.IsLoaded == false)
DialogReconectando = new DialogErroConexao(ErroConexao.Reconectando);
if(DialogReconectando.ShowActivated)
{
DialogReconectando.ShowActivated = true;
DialogReconectando.ShowDialog();
}
}));
return erroConexao;
}
I am using the Open Connection method to connect to the database. and when the connection fails, ReconnectDB is trying to reconnect with the database. If it fails, a Window is opened that there are two buttons, Retry and Abort the System.
The problem is that there are situations that I use other concurrent threads that makes requests with the database. In those cases, I would not want it to display a new Window. So if there is a Window open, I would like the Thread to lock until the Window is closed. I tried to solve the problem using EventWaitHandle. However, Window is also caught in this situation. Would you have any idea how you could solve this problem?
It depends on what you want the second thread to do. If you want the second thread to simply skip over showing the window, you can use a semaphore to ensure that only a single thread shows the window, like this:
SemaphoreSlim semaphore = new SemaphoreSlim(1, 1);
private void ShowWindowNonBlocking()
{
bool acquiredLock = false;
try
{
acquiredLock = semaphore.Wait(0);
if (acquiredLock)
{
// This thread now has exclusive access to the isWindowShown variable
var result = MessageBox.Show(
"Retry the connection?",
"Connection Failed",
MessageBoxButtons.RetryCancel);
if (result == DialogResult.Retry)
{
// Retry the connection
}
}
else
{
// Another thread is showing the window
}
}
finally
{
if (acquiredLock)
{
semaphore.Release();
}
}
}
Here is a good site that I refer back to from time to time on locking mechanisms: http://www.albahari.com/threading/part2.aspx#_Semaphore
If however, you want the second thread to block until the first window is finished (for example, if you want to know what the result of the window was in order to know whether to retry on the second thread), you can use a lock, like this:
private object windowLock = new object();
private void ShowWindowBlocking()
{
lock (windowLock)
{
var result = MessageBox.Show(
"Retry the connection?",
"Connection Failed",
MessageBoxButtons.RetryCancel);
if (result == DialogResult.Retry)
{
// Retry the connection
}
}
}
If you need further clarification, let me know and I will try to expand the answer.

c# PLinq AsParallel Select hangs

I want to process a large ammount of data stored in a text file. Here is the code I use to make it work faster:
var result = File
.ReadLines(textBox1.Text)
.AsParallel()
.WithDegreeOfParallelism(100)
.Select(line => ProcessLine(line));
The method ProcessLine gets the line then processes it and add it to an ArrayList.
After all the processing is done I load the ArrayList into a Datagrid,
but sometimes it completes all the lines and sometimes it hangs, I don't know why.
Any suggestions ?
Update
Here is the Method ProcessLine
private string ProcessLine(string domain)
{
ProcessStartInfo cmdinfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
cmdinfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
cmdinfo.Arguments = "/c nslookup";
cmdinfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
cmdinfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
cmdinfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
cmdinfo.UseShellExecute = false;
cmdinfo.RedirectStandardError = false;
Process cmdd = new Process();
cmdd = Process.Start(cmdinfo);
string spf = "none";
createproc:
try
{
cmdd.StandardInput.WriteLine("set q=txt");
cmdd.StandardInput.Flush();
cmdd.StandardInput.WriteLine(domain);
cmdd.StandardInput.WriteLine("exit");
cmdd.StandardInput.WriteLine("exit");
StreamReader r = cmdd.StandardOutput;
//cmdd.WaitForExit();
cmdd.Close();
spf = "";
string rdl = string.Empty;
bool spffound = false;
while (rdl != null)
{
try
{
rdl = r.ReadLine();
if (rdl.Contains("v=spf"))
{
spffound = true;
spf = rdl.Trim();
this.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(delegate
{
textBox2.AppendText("domain found : " + domain + Environment.NewLine + "SPF = " + spf + Environment.NewLine);
textBox2.Update();
}));
break;
}
}
catch (Exception)
{
}
}
if (!spffound)
spf = "none";
nbrDoms++;
this.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(delegate
{
DomsElapsed.Text = nbrDoms + " Domains Elapsed";
DomsElapsed.Update();
}));
SPFRecord srx = new SPFRecord((string)spf.Clone(), (string)domain.Clone());
if (srx == null)
{
cmdd.Kill();
cmdinfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
cmdinfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
cmdinfo.Arguments = "/c nslookup";
cmdinfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
cmdinfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
cmdinfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
cmdinfo.UseShellExecute = false;
cmdinfo.RedirectStandardError = false;
cmdd = new Process();
cmdd.StartInfo = cmdinfo;
cmdd.Start();
goto createproc;
}
lock (pageManager)
{
pageManager.AddRecord(srx);
}
//this.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(delegate
//{
//}));
}
catch(Exception exc)
{
cmd.Kill();
cmdinfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
cmdinfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
cmdinfo.Arguments = "/c nslookup";
cmdinfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
cmdinfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
cmdinfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
cmdinfo.UseShellExecute = false;
cmdinfo.RedirectStandardError = false;
cmdd = new Process();
cmdd.StartInfo = cmdinfo;
cmdd.Start();
Thread.Sleep(10);
goto createproc;
}
return "";
}
Read the lines of text into a string, with something like file.readalllines(psudo code)
Basically each thread is locking the other, are you trying this for speed or because the file is too large to fit into memory?
Ok, a few things to mention:
Do not use goto statements - it's hard to understand what your method does. Just move the creation of the Process into a separate method and call that method instead of using goto
Processes do take time to load and quite a lot for what you want to do. To avoid this load penalty, instead of creating and calling a process try to replace that with a method which does the same. There's an example of nslookup without calling the process. Try adapting it to your needs
Remove the locks - if your application somehow gets to use 100 threads the lock is a waste of time. You'll have 99 threads waiting for the other single thread to push its data to the pageManager. As #Mrinal Kamboj pointed out, you can use a thread-safe collection. In this case, use a BlockingCollection<T> and add the results there. At the other end of the queue have the pageManager listening and consuming each item as it arrives.
The UI needs its separate cycles to refresh which also takes time. If pageManager.AddRecord() somehow has to refresh the UI then the other threads won't wait just for the add operation.
UI updates must be done in the thread that created the controls and that thread can't update the UI if it's waiting for another thread.
The overall algorithm should look like this:
public class Engine
{
private readonly BlockingCollection<string> _messagePipeline = new BlockingCollection<string>();
public BlockingCollection<string> MessagePipeline
{
get { return _messagePipeline; }
}
public void Process(string file)
{
File.ReadLines(file)
.AsParallel()
.ForAll(line =>
{
var nsLookupResult = NsLookupMethod(line);
if(nsLookupResult.HasInfoYouNeed)
_messagePipeline.Add(nsLookupResult.DisplayInfo);
});
}
}
public class MainForm : Form
{
private readonly Engine _engine; // ...
private void OnStartButtonClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
_engine.Process(textbox1.Text);
Task.Factory.StartNew(()=>
{
foreach(var message in _engine.MessagePipeline.GetConsumingEnumerable())
{
// show the message
Application.DoEvents(); // allow the app to process other events not just pushing messages.
}
}, cts.Token,
TaskCreationOptions.PreferFairness,
// Specify that you want UI updates to be done on the UI thread
// and not on any other thread
TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext());
}
}
And that should do it. I do have a (more or less academic) example of this kind of logic in action. The UI update logic is in the MainForm of the application and the processing logic is in an Engine class; have a look there.

Background Worker Locking Main Thread - Windows Forms C#

I have a background worker that I use to create files in the background.
I had it working so that the files were created and the UI was still responsive.
I made some changes and now I can't figure out why the background worker is locking my main thread.
Here are my background worker methods. I don't have a progress changed event.
private void filecreator_bgw_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
if (filecreator_bgw.CancellationPending == true)
{
e.Cancel = true;
}
else
{
myManager.createFiles((SelectedFileTypes) e.Argument);
}
}
private void filecreator_bgw_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Cancelled == true)
{
//status_label.Text = "Canceled!";
}
else if (e.Error != null)
{
//status_label.Text = "Error: " + e.Error.Message;
}
else
{
// Check the file manager object to see if the files were created successfully
status_label.Text = "COMPLETE";
file_statusLabel.Text = "Files Created: " + DateTime.Now.ToShortTimeString();
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(5000);
status_label.Text = "Click Create Files to Begin";
createfiles_button.Enabled = true;
}
}
Here is the method to create the files.
public void createFiles(SelectedFileTypes x)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(Filename) || (x.isCSV == false && x.isTAB == false && x.isXML == false))
{
filesCreated = false;
return;
}
// Declare the streams and xml objects used to write to the output files
XDocument xmlFile;
StreamWriter swCSV;
StreamWriter swTAB;
CSVFilename = Path.GetDirectoryName(Filename) + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar.ToString() +
Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(Filename) + "CSV_TEST.csv";
swCSV = new StreamWriter(CSVFilename);
TABFilename = Path.GetDirectoryName(Filename) + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar.ToString() +
Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(Filename) + "TAB_TEST.csv";
swTAB = new StreamWriter(TABFilename);
XMLFilename = Path.GetDirectoryName(Filename) + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar.ToString() +
Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(Filename) + "XML_TEST.csv";
xmlFile = new XDocument(
new XDeclaration("1.0", "utf-8", "yes"),
new XComment("Crosswalk"));
xmlFile.Add(new XElement("ACCOUNTS"));
// String array for use when creating xml nodes
string[] splits;
// String used to read in a line from the input file
string line = "";
// Use a try and catch block, if any errors are caught, return false
try
{
// Read each line in the file and write to the output files
using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(Filename))
{
int i = 0;
while ((line = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
{
if (x.isCSV)
{
swCSV.WriteLine(line.Replace(delim, ","));
}
if (x.isTAB)
{
swTAB.WriteLine(line.Replace(delim, "\t"));
}
if (x.isXML)
{
if (i <= 0)
{
i++;
continue;
}
splits = line.Split(new string[] { delim }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
xmlFile.Root.Add(
new XElement("ACCOUNTS",
from s in header
select new XElement(s, splits[Array.IndexOf(header, header.Where(z => z.Equals(s, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase)).FirstOrDefault())])
)
);
}
}
// Dispose of all objects
swCSV.Close();
swCSV.Dispose();
swTAB.Close();
swTAB.Dispose();
if (x.isXML)
{
//xmlFile.Save(Path.GetFullPath(Filename) + Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(Filename) + "_TEST.xml");
xmlFile.Save(XMLFilename);
}
}
}
catch (Exception)
{
filesCreated = false;
return;
}
// Return true if file creation was successfull
filesCreated = true;
}
In the do work method, I build a simple struct to determine what output file types should be made and then I pass it to the method. If I comment out that call to create the files, the UI still does not respond.
In the create files method, I build out the files based on the input file that I am transforming. I do use a LINQ statement to help build out XML tags, but the arrays holding the tags values are small, 3-5 elements depending on the file chosen.
Is there a simple solution, or should I re-design the method. If I have to re-design, what are things I should keep in mind to avoid locking the main thread.
Thanks
Here is how I call the runworkerasync method:
private void createfiles_button_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
SelectedFileTypes selVal = new SelectedFileTypes();
foreach (var structVal in outputformats_checkedListBox.CheckedItems)
{
if (structVal.ToString().Equals("CSV", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
selVal.isCSV = true;
if (structVal.ToString().Equals("TAB", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
selVal.isTAB = true;
if (structVal.ToString().Equals("XML", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
selVal.isXML = true;
}
// Call the FileManager object's create files method
createfiles_button.Enabled = false;
filecreator_bgw.RunWorkerAsync(selVal);
}
UPDATE:
I updated the call to start the worker and then the call to create the files using the argument passed into the worker.
You cannot interact with most UI controls directly from a BackgroundWorker. You need to access outputformats_checkedListBox.CheckedItems from the UI thread and pass the resulting SelectedFileTypes object into the BackgroundWorker as a parameter.
Also, pleas enote that your cancellation logic really didn't do much. In order for it to work well, you need to check CancellationPending throughout the process, not just when starting.
Here is a rough example of how you should start the worker:
private void StartWorker()
{
SelectedFileTypes selVal = new SelectedFileTypes();
foreach (var structVal in outputformats_checkedListBox.CheckedItems)
{
if (structVal.ToString().Equals("CSV", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
selVal.isCSV = true;
if (structVal.ToString().Equals("TAB", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
selVal.isTAB = true;
if (structVal.ToString().Equals("XML", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
selVal.isXML = true;
}
filecreator_bgw.RunWorkerAsync(selVal);
}
private void filecreator_bgw_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
SelectedFileTypes selVal = (SelectedFileTypes)e.Argument;
myManager.createFiles(selVal);
}

How do I make it so that when the user clicks cancel, it cancels the dialog?

I have the following code:
Open File Code
OpenFileDialog ofd = new OpenFileDialog();
ofd.Title = "Open File";
ofd.FileName = "";
ofd.Filter = "Rich Text Files (*.rtf)|*.rtf|Text Document (*.txt)|*.txt|Microsoft Word Document (*.doc)|*.doc|Hypertext Markup Language Document (*.html)|*.html"; StreamReader sr = null;
if (ofd.ShowDialog() != DialogResult.Yes) return;
{
NewFile();
}
try
{
sr = new StreamReader(ofd.FileName);
this.Text = string.Format("{0} - Basic Word Processor", Path.GetFileName(ofd.FileName));
richTextBoxPrintCtrl1.Text = ofd.FileName;
richTextBoxPrintCtrl1.Text = sr.ReadToEnd();
filepath = ofd.FileName;
richTextBoxPrintCtrl1.LoadFile(fileName, RichTextBoxStreamType.RichText);
}
catch
{
}
finally
{
if (sr != null) sr.Close();
}
New File Code
if (richTextBoxPrintCtrl1.Modified)
{
DialogResult r = MessageBox.Show(this, "Save Current Document?", "Save?", MessageBoxButtons.YesNoCancel, MessageBoxIcon.Question);
if (r == DialogResult.Yes) SaveFile();
if (r == DialogResult.Cancel) return;
}
this.Text = string.Format("Untitled - Basic Word Processor");
richTextBoxPrintCtrl1.Text = "";
filepath = null;
}
}
SaveFileAs Code
SaveFileDialog sfdSaveFile = new SaveFileDialog();
sfdSaveFile.Title = "Save File";
sfdSaveFile.FileName = "Untitled";
sfdSaveFile.Filter = "Rich Text Files (*.rtf)|*.rtf|Text Document (*.txt)|*.txt|Microsoft Word Document (*.doc)|*.doc|Hypertext Markup Language Document (*.html)|*.html";
if (sfdSaveFile.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
try
{
filepath = sfdSaveFile.FileName;
SaveFile();
this.Text = string.Format("{0} - Basic Word Processor", Path.GetFileName(sfdSaveFile.FileName));
}
catch (Exception exc)
{
}
SaveFile Code
if (filepath == null)
{
SaveFileAs();
return;
}
StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(filepath);
//StreamWriter stwrite = null;
try
{
sw.WriteLine(richTextBoxPrintCtrl1.Text);
richTextBoxPrintCtrl1.Modified = false;
sw.Close();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
MessageBox.Show("Failed to save file. \n" + e.Message);
}
finally
{
if (sw != null) sw.Close();
}
Currently, the program skips the NewFile event (even if the text has been modified). How can I make it so that when I click "Open", it asks me if I would like to save (if the text is modified). Then if I click cancel, it returns me to the form?
Sorry. I'm really new to programming so this is all a learning curve.
Okay, I think I see what's going on here. First off I don't believe return; works the way you think it does.
if (ofd.ShowDialog() != DialogResult.Yes) return;
{
NewFile();
}
You have a return; call that happens if the show dialog is not yes. The { newFile() } code doesn't need braces around it. So those lines are really:
if (ofd.ShowDialog() != DialogResult.Yes) return;
NewFile();
Now, given your requirement, NewFile is called WAY too late in the game anyway. You want that to happen before you ask them what to open; just like most other windows programs work.
But, there's another issue. Your return statement in the NewFile method is simply returning from NewFile. It's not telling the previous method to bail out.
So the NewFile method needs a return type to indicate whether to allow the calling method to go forward or not.
And, looking at your save file you have a return method there too. What's with all of the return; calls?
Which brings us back to how do we fix this?
Answer: rewrite the whole thing. Starting with the following method:
private Boolean CanClear() {
Boolean result = false;
if (richTextBoxPrintCtrl1.Modified)
{
DialogResult r = MessageBox.Show(this, "Save Current Document?", "Save?", MessageBoxButtons.YesNoCancel, MessageBoxIcon.Question);
if (r == DialogResult.Yes) {
SaveFile();
result = true;
}
} else {
result = true;
}
return result;
}
Now, in your Open and New file methods do the following (assuming these are the method headers)
protected void OpenFile(...) {
if (!CanClear()) return;
.... now execute the code to load the open dialog and the selected file.
}
protected void NewFile(...) {
if (!CanClear()) return;
this.Text = string.Format("Untitled - Basic Word Processor");
richTextBoxPrintCtrl1.Text = "";
filepath = null;
}
The problem is here:
if (ofd.ShowDialog() != DialogResult.Yes) return;
{
NewFile();
}
remove that return. But, as #Chris says, you should ask whether to save the current file or not before the user selects the new file to open.

Update ui thread

I have a ListBox which I put some files, if the file is not AVI I automatically converts it but I want when the files converting message will write on a label that the files are now converted to another format, i know i need use Dispatcher in order to update the UI thread but i use now Winform instead of WPF, and i need help with this.
BTW i cannot use Task because i am using .Net 3.5
private void btnAdd_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
System.IO.Stream myStream;
OpenFileDialog thisDialog = new OpenFileDialog();
thisDialog.InitialDirectory = "c:\\";
thisDialog.Filter = "All files (*.*)|*.*";
thisDialog.FilterIndex = 1;
thisDialog.RestoreDirectory = false;
thisDialog.Multiselect = true; // Allow the user to select multiple files
thisDialog.Title = "Please Select Source File";
thisDialog.FileName = lastPath;
List<string> list = new List<string>();
if (thisDialog.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
foreach (String file in thisDialog.FileNames)
{
try
{
if ((myStream = thisDialog.OpenFile()) != null)
{
using (myStream)
{
listBoxFiles.Items.Add(file);
lastPath = file;
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show("Error: Could not read file from disk. Original error: " + ex.Message);
}
}
for (int i = 0; i < listBoxFiles.Items.Count; i++)
{
string path = (string)listBoxFiles.Items[i];
FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(path);
if (fileInfo.Extension != ".AVI")
{
listToRemove.Add(path);
}
}
(new System.Threading.Thread(sendFilesToConvertToPcap)).Start();
foreach (string file in listToRemove) //remove all non .AVI files from listbox
{
listBoxFiles.Items.Remove(file);
}
}
}
this function need to change the Label:
public void sendFilesToConvertToPcap()
{
if (listToRemove.Count == 0) // nothing to do
{
return;
}
lblStatus2.Content = "Convert file to .AVI...";
foreach (String file in listToRemove)
{
FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(file);
myClass = new (class who convert the files)(fileInfo);
String newFileName = myClass.mNewFileName;
listBoxFiles.Items.Add(myClass._newFileName);
}
lblStatus2.Content = "Finished...";
}
From your question, it seems that you'd like to convert several files. You may want to consider using the BackgroundWorker class and overwrite the DoWork and ProgressChanged events as described in this article. You can update the label and other controls in the ProgressChanged event.
public void sendFilesToConvertToPcap()
{
.....
....
this.Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate {
lblStatus2.Text = "Convert file to .AVI..."; });
....
}
This is a very common requirement for long-running processes. If you don't explicitly call methods on a separate thread, they will automatically run on the main (see: UI) thread and cause your UI to hand (as I suspect you already know).
http://www.dotnetperls.com/backgroundworker
Here is an old, but excellent link with an example on how to use the background worker to handle the threadpool for you.
This way, you can just create a worker to manage running your conversion process on a separate thread, and I believe there is even an example for creating a process bar.

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