Related
The name of the question is: "Updating the GUI from background worker", but the correct name world be: "Updating the GUI from background worker OR reporting multiple-variables (other than an integer) from background worker"
Please let me explain my situation. In a program I have a background worker which analyses the information.As the result of this analysis - form GUI elements should be populated with necessary data. In GUI I would like to update
2 datagridviews
1 listbox
5 labels
As I understand - I can only natively report 1 int value via ReportProgress() method of background worker.
So the question is - how can I pass a List<> ( + some other variables: string, int) via ReportProgress()? Basically - i want to update the GUI with the information but "1 integer" just won't do.. So either it should be possible to pass multiple variables via an ReportProgress() OR i can use an Invoke from inside the BackgroundWorker itself to update the GUI.. Personally I don't like the Invoke approach... What's your opinion?
Here is my code (see the comments):
private void button9_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) // start BW
{
bw.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(backgroundWorker1_DoWork);
bw.RunWorkerCompleted += new RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted);
bw.ProgressChanged += new ProgressChangedEventHandler(backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged);
bw.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
bw.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
bw.RunWorkerAsync(10);
}
private void button10_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) // cancel BW
{
bw.CancelAsync();
}
private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
int count = (int)e.Argument;
for (int i = 1; i <= count; i++)
{
if (bw.CancellationPending)
{
e.Cancel = true;
break;
}
List<List<string>> list_result = new List<List<string>>();
list_result = Proccess();
bw.ReportProgress(list_result.Count()); // right now I can only return a single INT
/////////// UPDATE GUI //////////////
// change datagridview 1 based on "list_result" values
// change datagridview 2
// change listbox
// change label 1
// change label ..
Thread.Sleep(20000);
}
MessageBox.Show("Complete!");
e.Result = sum;
}
private void backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
prog_count++;
listBox1.Items.Add("Count: (" + prog_count.ToString() + "/20). Found: " + e.ProgressPercentage.ToString() + ".");
}
There's a UserState parameter when calling ReportProgress.
var list_result = new List<List<string>>();
new backgroundWorker1.ReportProgress(0, list_result);
The parameter type is an object so you'll have to cast it back to the type you need:
void backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
var userState = (List<List<string>>)e.UserState;
}
The tricky issue with this is, how do you determine whether you're passing back a List, or a list of lists, or a single string, number, etc. You'll have to test for each possibility in the ProgressChanged event.
void backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
var myList = e.UserState as List<List<string>>;
if (myList != null)
{
// use list
return;
}
int myNumber;
if (Int32.TryParse(e.UserState.ToString(), out myNumber))
{
// use number
return;
}
var myString = e.UserState.ToString();
// use string
}
Alternatively, you could create a class that holds all the values you need (or use Tuple), run everything in the background to populate that class, then pass that to the RunWorkerCompleted event, and update your UI all at once from there.
I have written two very easy methods that enable you to invoke your code (only if required) and you only need to write your code once. I think this makes Invoke much friendlier to use:
1) BeginInvoke
public static void SafeBeginInvoke(System.Windows.Forms.Control control, System.Action action)
{
if (control.InvokeRequired)
control.BeginInvoke(new System.Windows.Forms.MethodInvoker(() => { action(); }));
else
action();
}
2) Invoke
public static void SafeInvoke(System.Windows.Forms.Control control, System.Action action)
{
if (control.InvokeRequired)
control.Invoke(new System.Windows.Forms.MethodInvoker(() => { action(); }));
else
action();
}
It can be called like this:
SafeInvoke(textbox, () => { textbox.Text = "text got changed"; });
Alternatively you could just
System.Windows.Forms.Form.CheckForIllegalCrossThreadCalls = false;
(which only changes behaviour in debug mode btw) and look if you run into problems.More often than not you actually don't. It took me quite some time to find cases very Invoke is really required for things not to get messed up.
The basic pattern for updating the UI from another thread is:
If controlItem.InvokeRequired Then
controlItem.Invoke(Sub() controlItem.Text = textUpdateValue)
Else
controlItem.Text = textUpdateValue
End If
This could update your list of controls without requiring you to pass anything through ReportProgress. If you would like to update your control from within the thread, I don't believe you need to check InvokeRequired, because it will always be required. However, best practices might be to expose the setting of a control via a property and then to do the full check so you can call it from anywhere.
I have a background worker in my GUI class.
private void bw_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
ProgressClass obj = new ProgressClass();
Importer tradeImporter = e.Argument as Importer;
BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;
List<TradeUploadInfo> list = obj.AllocateTrades2(tradeImporter, false);
e.Result = list; //Passes the list for processing
}
Importer is my own class. Now, the AllocateTrades2 method has all the processing done in it.
My question is, how would I go about performing a bw.ProgressReport inside the AllocateTrades2 method, which is in a different class without passing the bw as a parameter?
Would be great if someone explained it to me how to do it with events, but if there is another elegant way. I'm open for ideas.
If you don't want to pass in the entire BGW (justifiably so) so as to not expose more than it needs to know, one option is to just pass in a delegate that you assign a ReportProgress call to.
Adjust the signature of AllocateTrades2 to be:
public List<TradeUploadInfo> AllocateTrades2(
Importer importer, bool flag, Action<int> reportProgress)
Invoke the reportProgress delegate as appropriate from within that method.
Then adjust the call to AllocateTrades2 like so:
obj.AllocateTrades2(tradeImporter, false,
progress => worker.ReportProgress(progress));
Well, given the fact that AllocateTrades2 runs in the context of the background worker, any events that it raises are also executed in that context.
So, all you need to do is add a new event in your ProgressClass, say NotifyProgress, and bind it to the class where you have the background worker.
So:
//In class ProgressClass.
public event EventHandler<ProgressClassEventArgs> NotifyProgress = (s, e) => {};
And next:
private void bw_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
ProgressClass obj = new ProgressClass();
//Here you hook up the event
obj.NotifyProgress += this.OnProgressChanged;
Importer tradeImporter = e.Argument as Importer;
BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;
List<TradeUploadInfo> list = obj.AllocateTrades2(tradeImporter, false);
e.Result = list; //Passes the list for processing
}
The event handler would look like this:
private void OnProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressClassEventArgs e)
{
worker.ReportProgress(e.Progress);
}
It's OK, since you can (or you already do) have the worker as a member in this class.
You will need to define the ProgressClassEventArgs (EventArgs subclass) and add a Progress property of type int in this case, to match the ReportProgress args.
If you are able/willing to modify the obj.AllocateTrades2 method, you can yield results and then add each item to your list in a loop.
Example:
public IEnumerable<TradeUploadInfo> AllocateTrades2(Importer tradeImporter, bool foo)
{
foreach( ... )
{
TradeUploadInfo bar; // = ...
// ...
yield return bar;
}
}
private void bw_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
ProgressClass obj = new ProgressClass();
Importer tradeImporter = e.Argument as Importer;
BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;
List<TradeUploadInfo> list = new List<TradeUploadInfo>();
foreach ( TradeUploadInfo info in obj.AllocateTrades2(tradeImporter, false) )
{
list.Add( info );
// ... progress
}
e.Result = list; //Passes the list for processing
}
The beauty here is that you can use AllocateTrades2 exactly as you did before (meaning you don't have to modify existing code or overload the function) (hmm.. actually, you would need to modify code that was explicitly expecting a List, probably by just adding .ToList() after the function call) and you don't need to add events (which can get a little tricky when it comes to garbage collection).
I have create a backgroundworker in an class it works, but if i call and wait until the end run, call it for the second time it will do the same process twice
i thinks there is somthing wrong with bw.DoWork +=
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
nptest.test.start("null", "null");
}
namespace nptest
{
class test
{
public static void start(string str, string strb)
{
if (bw.IsBusy != true)
{
bw.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
bw.DoWork += (obj, e) => bw_DoWork(str, strb);
bw.RunWorkerCompleted += new RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(bw_RunWorkerCompleted);
bw.RunWorkerAsync();
}
}
private static BackgroundWorker bw = new BackgroundWorker();
private static void bw_DoWork(string str, string strb)
{
System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("initializing BackgroundWorker");
}
private static void bw_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
if ((e.Cancelled == true))
{
Console.WriteLine("Canceled");
}
else if (!(e.Error == null))
{
Console.WriteLine("Error: " + e.Error.Message);
}
bw.Dispose();
}
}
}
problem solved
class test
{
private static List<object> arguments = new List<object>();
// initializing with program startup
public static void bwinitializing()
{
bw.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
bw.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(bw_DoWork);
bw.RunWorkerCompleted += new RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(bw_RunWorkerCompleted);
}
public static void start(string str, string strb)
{
if (bw.IsBusy != true)
{
arguments.Clear();
arguments.Add(str);
arguments.Add(strb);
bw.RunWorkerAsync(arguments);
}
}
private static BackgroundWorker bw = new BackgroundWorker();
private static void bw_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
List<object> genericlist = e.Argument as List<object>;
System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("BackgroundWorker " + genericlist[0]);
}
I would suspect that multiple DoWork events are being inadvertently added.
That is, every time the start method is called it registers a new DoWork event handler. This adds and does not replace the existing handler DoWork handler. So then there will be multiple DoWork handlers called subsequent times .. 1, 2, 3, etc.
// creates a NEW delegate and adds a NEW handler
bw.DoWork += (obj, e) => bw_DoWork(str, strb);
I would recommend not using a closure here, but rather just use a Method Group (with implicit conversion to a delegate) and then pass the data to the RunWorkerAsync call (there is a form that takes an argument for data).
The RunWorkerCompleted += line doesn't have this issue because it is passed a delegate from a Method Group (which is guaranteed to always evaluate to the same delegate object1). Thus the repeated += calls for that line will replace the handler.
Example:
class MyData {
public string StrA { get; set; }
}
// These only need to be setup once (and should be for clarity).
// However it will be "ok" now if they are called multiple times
// as, since the delegates are the same, the += will
// act as a replacement (as it replaces the previous delegate with itself).
bw.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
bw.DoWork += bw_DoWork;
bw.RunWorkerCompleted += bw_RunWorkerCompleted;
// Pass data via argument
bw.RunWorkerAsync(new MyData {
StrA = str,
});
void bw_DoWork (object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e) {
var data = (MyData)e.Argument;
var str = data.StrA;
// stuff
}
1 I am not sure if it is guaranteed to be reference-equals equality, but using this approach allows for stable invoking of += and -= from the delegate from the Method Group even if obtained by new DelegateType(MethodGroup).
Wrt. my comment in the main post: if UI elements are accessed from a thread on which they were not created then there will fun "Cross-thread operation exceptions". I believe this usage of a Message Box is "okay" (when not created with an owner from another thread), but the practice of accessing the UI in a BackgroundWorker's DoWork is generally dubious.
Also, do not call bw.Dispose() here; dispose it with the owning container or context. It appears to be nice and benign in this case, but only do it when that BGW instance will never be used again. Calling it from an event handler is also dubious as the BGW is still "active".
I have encounter same problem as above commenter "Power-Mosfet"
and in the end, added a new BackgroundWorker() then assigned to the global bw value will fix my problem.
code is, change from:
private BackgroundWorker gBgwDownload;
private void yourFunction_bw(xxx)
{
// Create a background thread
gBgwDownload.DoWork += bgwDownload_DoWork;
gBgwDownload.RunWorkerCompleted += bgwDownload_RunWorkerCompleted;
//omited some code
gBgwDownload.RunWorkerAsync(paraObj);
}
to:
private BackgroundWorker gBgwDownload;
private void yourFunction_bw(xxx)
{
// Create a background thread
gBgwDownload = new BackgroundWorker(); /* added this line will fix problem */
gBgwDownload.DoWork += bgwDownload_DoWork;
gBgwDownload.RunWorkerCompleted += bgwDownload_RunWorkerCompleted;
//omited some code
gBgwDownload.RunWorkerAsync(paraObj);
}
There is also another reason. look for DoWorkEventHandler in its generated code InitializeComponent() If you have generated it through compnent UI properties and also registering it yourself.
Because if you register it again it will not override the previous one but will add another event and will call twice.
In my case, BackgroundWorker was running twice because in the constructor class of my form I declared the DoWork, ProgressChanged and RunWorkerCompleted event handlers, but it was already declared by Visual Studio 2013 in Designer part of this form class.
So, I just deleted my declarations and it worked fine.
thank you....this code is working fine... creating new intance for backroundworker is good idea....
Now we can call this function in for/while loop and can run multiple backgroundworker process.
I coded like this
when button click is done.. without distrubting the main thread flow... multiple process will be running back side....
i just used messagebox to pop up..but we can do timetaking process to run in "bgwDownload_DoWork" function... and multiple process will be created... and her we need not check the BackgroundWorker is busy or not...
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
yourFunction_bw(i);
}
private BackgroundWorker gBgwDownload;
private void yourFunction_bw(int i)
{
// Create a background thread
gBgwDownload = new BackgroundWorker(); // added this line will fix problem
gBgwDownload.DoWork += bgwDownload_DoWork;
gBgwDownload.RunWorkerAsync(i);
}
private void bgwDownload_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
int stre = (int)e.Argument;
MessageBox.Show(stre.ToString ()); // time taken process can be added here
}
I ran into this problem today, I put a background worker on a popup form that was doing a long running task when I noticed that every time I showed the form the background worker RunWorkerCompleted event was being called multiple times.
My problem was that I was not disposing of the form after closing it, which meant every time I showed the form it added another handler to the even each time.
Disposing of the form when finished with it solved my problem. Just wanted to mention it here as I came across this page when I went looking for a solution for my situation.
I removed the control from the designer and instantiate a new WorkerProcess in Code:
example:
var bwProcess = new BackgroundWorker();
bwProcess.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(bwProcess_DoWork);
bwProcess.RunWorkerCompleted += bwProcess_RunWorkerCompleted;
I have a WPF application that executes external programs to process media files, and so that the GUI doesn't freeze when the media files are being processed, I execute the process on a separate thread through backgroundworker.
private void BackgroundWorkerExecProcess(Process process)
{
BackgroundWorker worker = new BackgroundWorker();
worker.WorkerReportsProgress = false;
worker.DoWork += DoWork;
worker.RunWorkerCompleted += WorkerCompleted;
worker.RunWorkerAsync(process);
}
void DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;
Process process = e.Argument as Process;
process.Start();
string stderr = process.StandardError.ReadToEnd();
//I want to display stderr on main thread
process.WaitForExit();
}
void WorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
//some code to update gui telling user that process has finished
}
so, if there is something printed to stderr, I can see it in the debugger, but if I try to do anything with the string stderr, such as if I have a textbox called "_tbLog" and did
_tbLog.Text+=stderr;
I get an error from the compiler about them being on separate threads. is there a way to pass the object from the worker thread to the main thread?
In DoWork, set e.Result to your object. In the WorkerCompleted you can get that object back out... it will once again be e.Result of type object. Just cast it to the object it was. The WorkerCompleted should be on the correct thread.
Here is one of mine:
private void workerUpdateBuildHistory_DoWork(object sender, System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
UpdateStatusModel model = (UpdateStatusModel)e.Argument;
BuildService buildService = new BuildService(model.TFSUrl);
e.Result = buildService.UpdateBuildHistoryList(model);
}
private void workerUpdateBuildHistory_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
BuildHistoryListModel model = (BuildHistoryListModel)e.Result;
if (model != null)
{
listViewPastBuilds.Items.Clear();
foreach (var item in model.Builds)
{
listViewPastBuilds.Items.Add(item);
}
}
}
Use your WorkerCompleted event handler to make changes the UI, it runs on the right thread. All you have to do is pass the string to the event handler. Which is what DoWorkEventArgs.Result was designed to do. You'll retrieve it in the event handler from e.Result. Thus:
void DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
//...
e.Result = stderr;
}
void WorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Error != null) DisplayError(e.Error);
else _tbLog.Text += (string)e.Result;
}
First you need to place whatever result object (in this example, a list of strings) in the DoWorkEventArgs.Result property, then retrieve this object via the RunWorkerCompletedArgs.Result property
Then, hook up an event handler RunWorkedCompleted event of the Background worker and have it pass back whatever object you want in the RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs.Result property.
Example:
void DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs arg)
{
List<string> results = new List<string>();
results.Add("one");
results.Add("two");
results.Add("three");
arg.Results = results;
}
void WorkComplete(object sender, runWorkerCompelteEventArgs arg)
{
//Get our result back as a list of strings
List<string> results = (List<string>)arg.Result;
PrintResults(results);
}
Note: I have not tested this code, but I believe it should compile.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.componentmodel.runworkercompletedeventargs.result.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.componentmodel.doworkeventargs.aspx
you can also use the dispatcher as #Zembi mentiones:
this.Dispatcher.Invoke( new Action( () => {
_tbLog.Text+=stderr;
} ) );
you can also use TPL to make sure things get run on the right thread
-edit-
Here is a good article on diffrent ways to do ui updates, including using TPL
I have spent the whole day trying to make my application use threads but with no luck. I have read much documentation about it and I still get lots of errors, so I hope you can help me.
I have one big time consuming method which calls the database and updates the GUI. This has to happen all the time(or about every 30 seconds).
public class UpdateController
{
private UserController _userController;
public UpdateController(LoginController loginController, UserController userController)
{
_userController = userController;
loginController.LoginEvent += Update;
}
public void Update()
{
BackgroundWorker backgroundWorker = new BackgroundWorker();
while(true)
{
backgroundWorker.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(backgroundWorker_DoWork);
backgroundWorker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
}
public void backgroundWorker_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
_userController.UpdateUsersOnMap();
}
}
With this approach I get an exception because the backgroundworker is not and STA thread(but from what I can understand this is what I should use). I have tried with a STA thread and that gave other errors.
I think the problem is because I try to update the GUI while doing the database call(in the background thread). I should only be doing the database call and then somehow it should switch back to the main thread. After the main thread has executed it should go back to the background thread and so on. But I can't see how to do that.
The application should update the GUI right after the database call. Firering events don't seem to work. The backgroundthread just enters them.
EDIT:
Some really great answers :) This is the new code:
public class UpdateController{
private UserController _userController;
private BackgroundWorker _backgroundWorker;
public UpdateController(LoginController loginController, UserController userController)
{
_userController = userController;
loginController.LoginEvent += Update;
_backgroundWorker = new BackgroundWorker();
_backgroundWorker.DoWork += backgroundWorker_DoWork;
_backgroundWorker.RunWorkerCompleted += backgroundWorker_RunWorkerCompleted;
}
public void _backgroundWorker_ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
_userController.UpdateUsersOnMap();
}
public void Update()
{
_backgroundWorker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
void backgroundWorker_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
//UI update
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(10000);
Update();
}
public void backgroundWorker_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
// Big database task
}
}
But how can I make this run every 10 second? System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(10000) will just make my GUI freeze and while(true) loop in Update() as suggested gives an exception(Thread too busy).
You need to declare and configure the BackgroundWorker once - then Invoke the RunWorkerAsync method within your loop...
public class UpdateController
{
private UserController _userController;
private BackgroundWorker _backgroundWorker;
public UpdateController(LoginController loginController, UserController userController)
{
_userController = userController;
loginController.LoginEvent += Update;
_backgroundWorker = new BackgroundWorker();
_backgroundWorker.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(backgroundWorker_DoWork);
_backgroundWorker.ProgressChanged += new ProgressChangedEventHandler(backgroundWorker_ProgressChanged);
_backgroundWorker.WorkerReportsProgress= true;
}
public void Update()
{
_backgroundWorker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
public void backgroundWorker_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
while (true)
{
// Do the long-duration work here, and optionally
// send the update back to the UI thread...
int p = 0;// set your progress if appropriate
object param = "something"; // use this to pass any additional parameter back to the UI
_backgroundWorker.ReportProgress(p, param);
}
}
// This event handler updates the UI
private void backgroundWorker_ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
// Update the UI here
// _userController.UpdateUsersOnMap();
}
}
You have to use the Control.InvokeRequired property to determine if you are on a background thread. Then you need to invoke your logic that modified your UI via the Control.Invoke method to force your UI operations to occur on the main thread. You do this by creating a delegate and passing it to the Control.Invoke method. The catch here is you need some object derived from Control to call these methods.
Edit: As another user posted, if yo you can wait to the BackgroundWorker.Completed event to update your UI then you can subscribe to that event and call your UI code directly. BackgroundWorker_Completed is called on the main app thread. my code assumes you want to do updates during the operation. One alternative to my method is to subscribe to the BwackgroundWorker.ProgressChanged event, but I believe you'll need to still call Invoke to update your UI in that case.
for example
public class UpdateController
{
private UserController _userController;
BackgroundWorker backgroundWorker = new BackgroundWorker();
public UpdateController(LoginController loginController, UserController userController)
{
_userController = userController;
loginController.LoginEvent += Update;
}
public void Update()
{
// The while loop was unecessary here
backgroundWorker.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(backgroundWorker_DoWork);
backgroundWorker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
public delegate void DoUIWorkHandler();
public void backgroundWorker_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
// You must check here if your are executing on a background thread.
// UI operations are only allowed on the main application thread
if (someControlOnMyForm.InvokeRequired)
{
// This is how you force your logic to be called on the main
// application thread
someControlOnMyForm.Invoke(new
DoUIWorkHandler(_userController.UpdateUsersOnMap);
}
else
{
_userController.UpdateUsersOnMap()
}
}
}
You should remove the while(true), you are adding infinite event handlers and invoking them infinite times.
You can use the RunWorkerCompleted event on the backgroundWorker class to define what should be done when the background task has completed. So you should do the database call in the DoWork handler, and then update the interface in the RunWorkerCompleted handler, something like this:
BackgroundWorker bgw = new BackgroundWorker();
bgw.DoWork += (o, e) => { longRunningTask(); }
bgw.RunWorkerCompleted += (o, e) => {
if(e.Error == null && !e.Cancelled)
{
_userController.UpdateUsersOnMap();
}
}
bgw.RunWorkerAsync();
In addition to previous comments, take a look at www.albahari.com/threading - best doc on threading you will ever find. It will teach you how to use the BackgroundWorker properly.
You should update the GUI when the BackgroundWorker fires Completed event (which is invoked on UI thread to make it easy for you, so that you don't have to do Control.Invoke yourself).
Here's a source code pattern you can use based on some WinForms example code, but you can apply it for WPF as well very easily. In this example, I am redirecting output to a Console which I then use to let the background worker write some messages to a textbox while it is processing.
It consists of:
A helper class TextBoxStreamWriter used to redirect console output to a textbox
A background worker writing to the redirected console
A progress bar which needs to be reset after completion of background worker
Some text boxes (txtPath and txtResult), and a "Start" button
In other words, there is some background task which needs to interact with the UI. Now I am going to show how that is done.
From the context of the background task, you need to use Invoke to access any UI element. I believe the simplest way to do that is to use lambda expression syntax, like
progressBar1.Invoke((Action) (() =>
{ // inside this context, you can safely access the control
progressBar1.Style = ProgressBarStyle.Continuous;
}));
To update the ProgressBar, a local method like
private void UpdateProgress(int value)
{
progressBar1.Invoke((Action)(() => { progressBar1.Value = value; }));
}
helps. It is passing the value parameter to the progress bar as a closure.
This is the helper class TextBoxStreamWriter, which is used to redirect console output:
public class TextBoxStreamWriter : TextWriter
{
TextBox _output = null;
public TextBoxStreamWriter(TextBox output)
{
_output = output;
}
public override void WriteLine(string value)
{
// When character data is written, append it to the text box.
// using Invoke so it works in a different thread as well
_output.Invoke((Action)(() => _output.AppendText(value+"\r\n")));
}
}
You need to use it in the form load event as follows (where txtResult is a textbox, to which the output will be redirected):
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Instantiate the writer and redirect the console out
var _writer = new TextBoxStreamWriter(txtResult);
Console.SetOut(_writer);
}
There is also a button on the form which starts the background worker, it passes a path to it:
private void btnStart_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync(txtPath.Text);
}
This is the workload of the background worker, note how it uses the console to output messages to the textbox (because of the redirection that was set up earlier):
private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
var selectedPath = e.Argument as string;
Console.Out.WriteLine("Processing Path:"+selectedPath);
// ...
}
The variable selectedPath consists of the path that was passed to the backgroundWorker1 earlier via the parameter txtPath.Text, it is being accessed via e.Argument.
If you need to reset some controls afterwards, do it in the following way (as already mentioned above):
private void backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
progressBar1.Invoke((Action) (() =>
{
progressBar1.MarqueeAnimationSpeed = 0;
progressBar1.Style = ProgressBarStyle.Continuous;
}));
}
In this example, after completion, a progress bar is being reset.
Important: Whenever you access a GUI control, use Invoke as I did in the examples above.
Using Lambda's makes it easy, as you could see in the code.
And here's the complete example, which runs in LinqPad 6 (just copy and paste it into an empty C# Program query) - I decided to use LinqPad this time so you can learn something new, because you all know how to create a new Windows Forms project in Visual Studio (and if you still want to do so, just copy the events below and drag and drop the controls to the form):
// see: https://stackoverflow.com/a/27566468/1016343
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
BackgroundWorker backgroundWorker1 = new System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker();
ProgressBar progressBar1 = new ProgressBar() { Text = "Progress", Width = 250, Height=20, Top=10, Left=0 };
TextBox txtPath = new TextBox() { Text =#"C:\temp\", Width = 100, Height=20, Top=30, Left=0 };
TextBox txtResult = new TextBox() { Text = "", Width = 200, Height=250, Top=70, Left=0, Multiline=true, Enabled=false };
Button btnStart = new Button() { Text = "Start", Width = 100, Height=30, Top=320, Left=0 };
void Main()
{
// see: https://www.linqpad.net/CustomVisualizers.aspx
// Instantiate the writer and redirect the console out
var _writer = new TextBoxStreamWriter(txtResult);
Console.SetOut(_writer);
// wire up events
btnStart.Click += (object sender, EventArgs e) => btnStart_Click(sender, e);
backgroundWorker1.DoWork += (object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e) => backgroundWorker1_DoWork(sender, e);
backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted += (object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
=> backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(sender, e);
using var frm = new Form() {Text="Form", Width = 300, Height=400, Top=0, Left=0};
frm.Controls.Add(progressBar1);
frm.Controls.Add(txtPath);
frm.Controls.Add(txtResult);
frm.Controls.Add(btnStart);
// display controls
frm.ShowDialog();
}
private void btnStart_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync(txtPath.Text);
}
private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
InitProgress();
var selectedPath = e.Argument as string;
Console.Out.WriteLine("Processing Path: " + selectedPath);
UpdateProgress(0); Thread.Sleep(300); UpdateProgress(30); Thread.Sleep(300);
UpdateProgress(50); Thread.Sleep(300);
Console.Out.WriteLine("Done.");
// ...
}
private void UpdateProgress(int value)
{
progressBar1.Invoke((Action)(() =>
{
progressBar1.Value = value;
}));
}
private void InitProgress()
{
progressBar1.Invoke((Action)(() =>
{
progressBar1.MarqueeAnimationSpeed = 0;
progressBar1.Style = ProgressBarStyle.Continuous;
}));
}
private void backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
UpdateProgress(100); // always show 100% when done
}
// You can define other methods, fields, classes and namespaces here
public class TextBoxStreamWriter : TextWriter
{
TextBox _output = null;
public TextBoxStreamWriter(TextBox output)
{
_output = output;
}
public override Encoding Encoding => throw new NotImplementedException();
public override void WriteLine(string value)
{
// When character data is written, append it to the text box.
// using Invoke so it works in a different thread as well
_output.Invoke((Action)(() => _output.AppendText(value + "\r\n")));
}
}
The if-statement in #Lee's answer should look like:
bgw.RunWorkerCompleted += (o, e) => {
if(e.Error == null && !e.Cancelled)
{
_userController.UpdateUsersOnMap();
}
}
...if you want to invoke UpdateUsersOnMap(); when there are no errors and BgWorker hasn't been cancelled.