Develop Reference

WPF RichTextBox.AppendText from another thread

I've got a WPF RichTextBox that I'd like to get working as a log output for the app.
I have a static class Log with method to write to the WPF RTB. Of course, this doesnt work when a background thread call the method.
I've tried using BeginInvoke, which works until the app gets closed throwing an error 'System.Windows.Application.Current.get returned null'
What is the proper approach to updating WPF RichText from other threads. And further, I dont think this background thread is disposing properly, any recommendations?
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
Worker worker = new Worker();
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
Log.rtb_control = rtbLog; // pass RTB ref to Log
worker.Start();
}
}
public static class Log
{
public static RichTextBox rtb_Control;
public static void Add(string Text)
{
App.Current.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke((Action)(() =>
{
rtb_Control.AppendText($"{Text}\r");
}
}
}
public class Worker
{
bool _Enabled = false;
public Worker()
{
_Manager = new Thread(new ThreadStart(Thread_Manager));
_Manager.Start();
}
public void Start()
{
_Enabled = true;
}
void Thread_Manager()
{
while(true)
{
if(_Enabled) { Log.Add("Inside Thread"); }
Thread.Sleep(10000);
}
}
}

How do I guarantee execution of code only if and when optional main thread task and worker threads are finished?

Background:
I have an application I am developing that deals with a large number of addons for another application. One if its primary uses is to safely modify file records in files with fewer records so that they may be treated as one file (almost as if it is combing the files together into one set of records. To do this safely it keeps track of vital information about those files and changes made to them so that those changes can be undone if they don't work as expected.
When my application starts, it analyzes those files and keeps essential properties in a cache (to reduce load times). If a file is missing from the cache, the most important stuff is retrieved and then a background worker must process the file for more information. If a file that was previously modified has been updated with a new version of the file, the UI must confirm this with the user and its modification data removed. All of this information, including information on its modification is stored in the cache.
My Problem:
My problem is that neither of these processes are guaranteed to run (the confirmation window or the background file processor). If either of them run, then the cache must be updated by the main thread. I don't know enough about worker threads, and which thread runs the BackgroundWorker.RunWorkerCompleted event handler in order to effectively decide how to approach guaranteeing that the cache updater is run after either (or both) processes are completed.
To sum up: if either process is run, they both must finish and (potentially) wait for the other to be completed before running the cache update code. How can I do this?
ADJUNCT INFO (My current intervention that doesn't seem to work very well):
I have a line in the RunWorkerCompleted handler that waits until the form reference is null before continuing and exiting but maybe this was a mistake as it sometimes locks my program up.
SpinWait.SpinUntil(() => overwriteForm == null);
I haven't included any more code because I anticipate that this is more of a conceptual question than a code one. However, if necessary, I can supply code if it helps.

I think CountDownTask is what you need
using System;
using System.Threading;
public class Program
{
public class AtomicInteger
{
protected int value = 0;
public AtomicInteger(int value)
{
this.value = value;
}
public int DecrementAndGet()
{
int answer = Interlocked.Decrement(ref value);
return answer;
}
}
public interface Runnable
{
void Run();
}
public class CountDownTask
{
private AtomicInteger count;
private Runnable task;
private Object lk = new Object();
private volatile bool runnable;
private bool cancelled;
public CountDownTask(Int32 count, Runnable task)
{
this.count = new AtomicInteger(count);
this.task = task;
this.runnable = false;
this.cancelled = false;
}
public void CountDown()
{
if (count.DecrementAndGet() == 0)
{
lock (lk)
{
runnable = true;
Monitor.Pulse(lk);
}
}
}
public void Await()
{
lock (lk)
{
while (!runnable)
{
Monitor.Wait(lk);
}
if (cancelled)
{
Console.WriteLine("Sorry! I was cancelled");
}
else {
task.Run();
}
}
}
public void Cancel()
{
lock (lk)
{
runnable = true;
cancelled = true;
Monitor.Pulse(lk);
}
}
}
public class HelloWorldTask : Runnable
{
public void Run()
{
Console.WriteLine("Hello World, I'm last one");
}
}
public static void Main()
{
Thread.CurrentThread.Name = "Main";
Console.WriteLine("Current Thread: " + Thread.CurrentThread.Name);
CountDownTask countDownTask = new CountDownTask(3, new HelloWorldTask());
Thread worker1 = new Thread(() => {
Console.WriteLine("Worker 1 run");
countDownTask.CountDown();
});
Thread worker2 = new Thread(() => {
Console.WriteLine("Worker 2 run");
countDownTask.CountDown();
});
Thread lastThread = new Thread(() => countDownTask.Await());
lastThread.Start();
worker1.Start();
worker2.Start();
//countDownTask.Cancel();
Console.WriteLine("Main Thread Run");
countDownTask.CountDown();
Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
}
let me explain (but you can refer Java CountDownLatch)
1. To ensure a task must run after another tasks, we need create a Wait function to wait for they done, so I used
while(!runnable) {
Monitor.Wait(lk);
}
2. When there is a task done, we need count down, and if count down to zero (it means all of the tasks was done) we will need notify to blocked thread to wake up and process task
if(count.decrementAndGet() == 0) {
lock(lk) {
runnable = true;
Monitor.Pulse(lk);
}
}
Let read more about volatile, thanks

While dung ta van's "CountDownTask" answer isn't quite what I needed, it heavily inspired the solution below (see it for more info). Basically all I did was add some extra functionality and most importantly: made it so that each task "vote" on the outcome (true or false). Thanks dung ta van!
To be fair, dung ta van's solution DOES work to guarantee execution which as it turns out isn't quite what I needed. My solution adds the ability to make that execution conditional.
This was my solution which worked:
public enum PendingBool
{
Unknown = -1,
False,
True
}
public interface IRunnableTask
{
void Run();
}
public class AtomicInteger
{
int integer;
public int Value { get { return integer; } }
public AtomicInteger(int value) { integer = value; }
public int Decrement() { return Interlocked.Decrement(ref integer); }
public static implicit operator int(AtomicInteger ai) { return ai.integer; }
}
public class TaskElectionEventArgs
{
public bool VoteResult { get; private set; }
public TaskElectionEventArgs(bool vote) { VoteResult = vote; }
}
public delegate void VoteEventHandler(object sender, TaskElectionEventArgs e);
public class SingleVoteTask
{
private AtomicInteger votesLeft;
private IRunnableTask task;
private volatile bool runTask = false;
private object _lock = new object();
public event VoteEventHandler VoteCast;
public event VoteEventHandler TaskCompleted;
public bool IsWaiting { get { return votesLeft.Value > 0; } }
public PendingBool Result
{
get
{
if (votesLeft > 0)
return PendingBool.Unknown;
else if (runTask)
return PendingBool.True;
else
return PendingBool.False;
}
}
public SingleVoteTask(int numberOfVotes, IRunnableTask taskToRun)
{
votesLeft = new AtomicInteger(numberOfVotes);
task = taskToRun;
}
public void CastVote(bool vote)
{
votesLeft.Decrement();
runTask |= vote;
VoteCast?.Invoke(this, new TaskElectionEventArgs(vote));
if (votesLeft == 0)
lock (_lock)
{
Monitor.Pulse(_lock);
}
}
public void Await()
{
lock(_lock)
{
while (votesLeft > 0)
Monitor.Wait(_lock);
if (runTask)
task.Run();
TaskCompleted?.Invoke(this, new TaskElectionEventArgs(runTask));
}
}
}
Implementing the above solution was as simple as creating the SingleVoteTask in the UI thread and then having each thread affecting the outcome cast a vote.

C# Cross threading. IRC stream thread to Main UI thread

I've been trying to get this little IRC program working but for some reason I'm having issues with VS and cross threading. I'm not sure if I'm not doing it the proper way or what. Here are the parts causing the issue.
Main Thread:
public partial class MainUI : Form
{
private static IRC irc = new IRC();
public MainUI()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public static void StartIRC()
{
irc.Start();
}
}
IRC Thread:
class IRC
{
private Thread ircThread;
private bool _running = true;
private NetworkStream stream;
private StreamWriter writer;
private StreamReader reader;
private TcpClient irc;
public IRC(){
ircThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(Run));
ircThread.IsBackground = true;
}
public void Run(){
while (_running) {
parseInStream(reader.ReadLine());
}
}
public void Start()
{
ircThread.Start();
}
private void parseInStream(String inText)
{
String[] text = inText.Split(' ');
String name;
String message;
if (text[1].Equals("PRIVMSG")) {
name = capsFirstChar(getUser(inText));
message = inText.Substring(inText.IndexOf(":", 1) + 1);
sendToChatBox(capsFirstChar(name) + ": " + message, Color.Black);
}
else if (text[1].Equals("JOIN")) {
name = getUser(inText);
sendToChatBox(capsFirstChar(name) + " has joined the channel.", Color.LimeGreen);
}
else if (text[1].Equals("PART")) {
name = getUser(inText);
sendToChatBox(capsFirstChar(name) + " has left the channel.", Color.Red);
}
}
public void sendToChatBox(String text, Color color)
{
//Trying to send the text to the chatbox on the MainUI
//Works if the MainUI.Designer.cs file has it set to static
if (MainUI.txtMainChat.InvokeRequired) {
MainUI.txtMainChat.Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate() {
sendToChatBox(text, color);
});
}
else {
MainUI.txtMainChat.SelectionColor = color;
MainUI.txtMainChat.AppendText(text);
}
}
private String getUser(String msg)
{
String[] split = msg.Split('!');
user = split[0].Substring(1);
return capsFirstChar(user);
}
private String capsFirstChar(String text)
{
return char.ToUpper(text[0]) + text.Substring(1).ToLower();
}
}
The only way I am able to get it to work is if I enter the MainUI.Designer.cs file and change the textbox to static and then change everything from this.txtMainChatto MainUI.txtMainChat.
My main problem is that when I make any changes on the visual side all the things labeled static or things named MainUI are deleted. I'm trying to figure out what I need to do to keep this from happening. Am I doing it the right way, or is there a better way? I tried using a background worker but it was using a lot of processing power to work that way for some reason.
I've looked around the web and can't seem to find out how one might relate to my setup. I see people calling a thread from the main thread and then sending things from the main thread to the thread it called but not the other way around. There is nothing else being written to the text box so there won't be an issue with it being used by two threads at the same time.

On my main UI thread I passed in "this" so I could reference the main window from my IRC Class. MainUI.txtMainChat
irc = new IRC(this);
Then in my IRC class
MainUI main;
public IRC(MainUI main){
this.main = main;
ircThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(Run));
ircThread.IsBackground = true;
}
Then I was able to Change
//MainUI.txtMainChat to
main.txtMainChat
Like Cameron said, Though I know I was told it's not the best approach it gets me started.

Your designer file is rebuilt every time you change your UI in the designer.
You'll need to pass your MainUi to your IRC class, or give it an abstraction of it using an interface (best option).
public interface IMainUI
{
void AddText(string text, Color color);
void UiThread(Action code);
}
public class MainUI : IMainUI
{
// Whatever else
public void AddText(string text, Color color)
{
UiThread( () =>
{
// Same code that was in your Irc.SendToChatBox method.
});
}
public void UiThread(Action code)
{
if (InvokeRequired)
{
BeginInvoke(code);
return;
}
code.Invoke();
}
}
public class IRC
{
IMainUI _mainUi;
//Other properties, and fields
public IRC(IMainUI mainUi)
{
this._mainUi = mainUi;
// Other constructor stuff.
}
// Other logic and methods
}

WinForm asynchronously update UI status from console application call

I want to asynchronously update UI status when doing a long-time task . The program is a console application , however , when I execute the async operations , the UI thread will exit soon after the task begins .
How should I let the UI thread wait when my long-time task finish ?
I simplify my code as below :
public static class Program
{
static void Main()
{
WorkerWrapper wp = new WorkerWrapper();
wp.ProcessData();
}
}
public class WorkerWrapper
{
private RateBar bar;
public void ProcessData()
{
bar = new RateBar();
bar.Show();
Worker wk = new Worker();
wk.WorkProcess += wk_WorkProcess;
Action handler = new Action(wk.DoWork);
var result = handler.BeginInvoke(new AsyncCallback(this.AsyncCallback), handler);
}
private void AsyncCallback(IAsyncResult ar)
{
Action handler = ar.AsyncState as Action;
handler.EndInvoke(ar);
}
private void wk_WorkProcess(object sender, PrecentArgs e)
{
if (e.Precent < 100)
{
bar.Precent = e.Precent;
}
}
}
public class Worker
{
public event EventHandler<PrecentArgs> WorkProcess;
public void DoWork()
{
for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++)
{
WorkProcess(this, new PrecentArgs(i));
Thread.Sleep(100);
}
}
}
public class PrecentArgs : EventArgs
{
public int Precent { get; set; }
public PrecentArgs(int precent)
{
Precent = precent;
}
}
public partial class RateBar : Form
{
public int Precent
{
set
{
System.Windows.Forms.MethodInvoker invoker = () => this.progressBar1.Value = value;
if (this.progressBar1.InvokeRequired)
{
this.progressBar1.Invoke(invoker);
}
else
{
invoker();
}
}
}
public RateBar()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
}
However , in method ProcessData() , if I add result.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne() in the end to wait my operation to complete , the Form will freeze .
Is there anything wrong with my way to wait the thread to complete ?

Reason that your application exiting before your "background threads" completed is when there are multiple threads application exists soon after there are not any foreground threads. This is explained more in here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.threading.thread.isbackground(v=vs.110).aspx
You should add proper waiting mechanisms to your background threads to be completed. There are multiple ways of letting other threads know that the thread is complete. Please refer here. How to wait for thread to finish with .NET?

You shouldn't block the UI thread waiting for the result, but rather retrieve the result from EndInvoke. Your deadlock probably occurs because you are using both result.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne() and EndInvoke, both will block until the result is available.
In my opinion the best option is to not call result.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne() and just retrieve the result in the AsyncCallback
private void AsyncCallback(IAsyncResult ar)
{
Action handler = ar.AsyncState as Action;
var result = handler.EndInvoke(ar);
}
More information here. Also if you are using .net 4.0 or higher, this sort of thing can be done much easier with async/await.

I write down this solution and hope it may helps others with same question .
The key to this problem is to use a new thread to run RateBar's ShowDialog function .
public void ProcessData()
{
new Thread(() => new RateBar().ShowDialog()).Start();
Worker wk = new Worker();
wk.WorkProcess += wk_WorkProcess;
Action handler = new Action(wk.DoWork);
var result = handler.BeginInvoke(new AsyncCallback(this.AsyncCallback), handler);
}

Progress bar working but label is not updating

I have a library with an Interface.
Public Interface Progress
{
int ProgressValue{get;set;},
string ProgressText{get;set;},
}
Library has a method Create (dummy code):
Public Class TestLibrary
{
Progress _progress;
Public void Create()
{
foreach(var n in TestList)
{
// Do Something
_progress.ProgressValue = GetIndex(n);
_progress.ProgressText = "Updating..." + n;
}
}
}
I have a project that references this library and calls Create method. It even Implements Interface Progress.
Public Class TestProject : Progress
{
public int ProgressValue
{
get{return progressBar1.Value;}
set{progressBar1.Value = value;}
}
public int ProgressText
{
get{return label1.Text;}
set{label1.Text = value;}
}
}
Now when I run the application, Progress Bar behaves properly and shows the progress correctly, but the Text of label1 does not change at all. But it do change in the end of for loop and shows the last item in loop. Can anyone help me out in this?
Note: All these codes are written directly without testing as I don't have my application now with me. Sorry for any syntax errors.

It sounds like all your work is being done on the UI thread. Don't do that.
Instead, run the loop itself in a background thread, and use Control.Invoke or Control.BeginInvoke (probably in the Progress implementation) to marshal a call across to the UI thread just to update the UI. This will leave your UI responsive (and able to update labels etc) while it's still processing.

Used a Label instead of ProgressBar. You can try this code [using BackGroundWorker] -
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
public partial class Form3 : Form
{
private BackgroundWorker _worker;
BusinessClass _biz = new BusinessClass();
public Form3()
{
InitializeComponent();
InitWorker();
}
private void InitWorker()
{
if (_worker != null)
{
_worker.Dispose();
}
_worker = new BackgroundWorker
{
WorkerReportsProgress = true,
WorkerSupportsCancellation = true
};
_worker.DoWork += DoWork;
_worker.RunWorkerCompleted += RunWorkerCompleted;
_worker.ProgressChanged += ProgressChanged;
_worker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
void DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
int highestPercentageReached = 0;
if (_worker.CancellationPending)
{
e.Cancel = true;
}
else
{
double i = 0.0d;
int junk = 0;
for (i = 0; i <= 199990000; i++)
{
int result = _biz.MyFunction(junk);
junk++;
// Report progress as a percentage of the total task.
var percentComplete = (int)(i / 199990000 * 100);
if (percentComplete > highestPercentageReached)
{
highestPercentageReached = percentComplete;
// note I can pass the business class result also and display the same in the LABEL
_worker.ReportProgress(percentComplete, result);
_worker.CancelAsync();
}
}
}
}
void RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Cancelled)
{
// Display some message to the user that task has been
// cancelled
}
else if (e.Error != null)
{
// Do something with the error
}
}
void ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
label1.Text = string.Format("Result {0}: Percent {1}",e.UserState, e.ProgressPercentage);
}
}
public class BusinessClass
{
public int MyFunction(int input)
{
return input+10;
}
}
}
Posted the same a few days ago here

The code you posted uses one thread. That means every operation is excuted in sequence right after the previous one finished.
Since you can update GUI elements right away, I suppose the code to be run from main thread (a.k.a "GUI thread"). Blocking the GUI thread results in the GUI ("Graphical User Interface") not updating until there is some idle time for it.
Use following example to refresh your label every iteration so that it updates your UI.
label1.Text = i.ToString();
label1.Refresh();