Develop Reference

Async function freezes UI thread

I have an async function which still freezes / lags the UI thread for me when I execute it. This is my function calling it.
private void TcpListenerLogic(object sender, string e)
{
Application.Current.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke((Action)async delegate {
try
{
dynamic results = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(e);
if (results.test_id != null)
{
// Get properties for new anchor
string testInformation = await CommunicationCommands.getJsonFromURL(
"http://" + ServerIP + ":" + ServerPort + "/api/" + results.test_id);
}
}
catch (Exception exception)
{
// Writing some Trace.WriteLine()'s
}
});
}
And this is the async function that freezes my UI Thread
public static async Task<string> getJsonFromURL(string url)
{
try
{
string returnString = null;
using (System.Net.WebClient client = new System.Net.WebClient())
{
returnString = await client.DownloadStringTaskAsync(url);
}
return returnString;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Debug.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
return null;
}
}
I already tried to make everything in TcpListenerLogic run in a new Thread:
new Thread(() =>
{
Thread.CurrentThread.IsBackground = true;
}).Start();
Which resulted in the whole UI completely freezing. And I tried to make TcpListenerLogic async and await the dispatcher, which also made everything freeze permanently. I also tried to make TcpListenerLogic async and leave the dispatcher. The dispatcher is only there because I normally have some UI code in there, which I left out for my tests.
I have ventured far through the internet, but no BackgroundWorker, ThreadPool or other methods helped me in my endeavour.
If anyone has help for this particular problem, or a resource that would improve my understanding of async functions in C#, I would much appreciate it.
Edit
As requested a deeper insight in how this event handler is called.
I have System.Net.Websocket, which is connected to the Backend API I am working with and triggers an event, everytime he receives new Data. To guarantee the socket listens as longs as it is open, there is a while loop which checks for the client state:
public event EventHandler<string> TcpReceived;
public async void StartListener(string ip, int port, string path)
{
try
{
using (client = new ClientWebSocket())
{
try
{ // Connect to backend
Uri serverUri = new Uri("ws://" + ip + ":" + port.ToString() + path );
await client.ConnectAsync(serverUri, CancellationToken.None);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
BackendSettings.IsConnected = false;
Debug.WriteLine("Error connecting TCP Socket: " + ex.ToString());
}
state = client.State;
// Grab packages send in backend
while (client.State == WebSocketState.Open || client.State == WebSocketState.CloseSent)
{
try
{
// **Just formatting the received data until here and writing it into the "message" variable**//
TcpReceived(this, message);
// Close connection on command
if (result.MessageType == WebSocketMessageType.Close)
{
Debug.WriteLine("Closing TCP Socket.");
shouldstayclosed = true;
await client.CloseAsync(WebSocketCloseStatus.NormalClosure, string.Empty, CancellationToken.None);
break;
}
state = client.State;
}
catch
{
BackendSettings.IsConnected = false;
state = client.State;
}
}
state = client.State;
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// Some error messages and settings handling
}
}
The Event has a handler attached:
TcpReceived += TcpListener_TcpReceived;
And this is the Handler, which calls the previously seen "TcpListenereLogic".
private void TcpListener_TcpReceived(object sender, string e)
{
TcpListenerLogic(sender, e);
//App.Current.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(new Action(() => {
// TcpListenerLogic(sender, e);
//}));
//new Thread(() =>
//{
// Thread.CurrentThread.IsBackground = true;
// TcpListenerLogic(sender, e);
//}).Start();
}
I previously had the "TcpListenereLogic" as the handler, but I wanted to try different methods to call it. I also left in the commented out part, to show how the call of "TcpListenereLogic" looked already. All my attempts were with all mentioned setups and sadly lead to nothing.

Thank you very much #TheodorZoulias for helping me to find the solution to my problem.
It turns out it wasn't the async function itself, but rather how often it gets called. It got called roughly ~120 times every second.
My solution starts by calling the Listener method over a new Thread:
new Thread(() =>
{
Thread.CurrentThread.IsBackground = true;
MainWindow.tcpListener.StartListener(ip, portNumber, "/api/");
}).Start();
To limit the amount of calls that happen every second I added a dispatcher timer, that resets a bool after it has been used for a call, by my Event.
readonly System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherTimer packageIntervallTimer =
new System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherTimer();
bool readyForNewPackage = true;
private void ReadyForPackage(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
readyForNewPackage = true;
}
public async void StartListener(string ip, int port, string path)
{
packageIntervallTimer.Interval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(50);
packageIntervallTimer.Tick += (s, e) => { Task.Run(() => ReadyForPackage(s, e)); };
packageIntervallTimer.Start();
Then I wrapped everything inside the while loop into an if condition based on the bool, the most important part was to have my "event EventHandler TcpReceived" in there:
// Grab packages sent in backend
while (client.State == WebSocketState.Open || client.State == WebSocketState.CloseSent)
{
if (readyForNewPackage == true)
{
readyForNewPackage = false;
try
{
....
TcpReceived(this, message);
....
}
catch
{
...
}
}
}
I added my TcpListenerLogic to the Eventhandler:
TcpReceived += TcpListenerLogic;
And my TcpListenerLogic now looked like this (names have been changed):
private async void TcpListenerLogic(object sender, string e)
{
try
{
dynamic results = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(e);
if (results.test_id != null)
{
string testID = "";
if (results.test_id is JValue jValueTestId)
{
testID = jValueTestId.Value.ToString();
}
else if (results.test_id is string)
{
testID = results.test_id;
}
// Get properties for new object
string information = await CommunicationCommands.getJsonFromURL(
"http://" + ServerIP + ":" + ServerPort + "/api/" + testID );
if (information != null)
{
await App.Current.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(new Action(() =>
{
// Create object out of the json string
TestStatus testStatus = new TestStatus();
testStatus.Deserialize(information);
if (CommunicationCommands.isNameAlreadyInCollection(testStatus.name) == false)
{
// Add new object to the list
CommunicationCommands.allFoundTests.Add(testStatus);
}
}));
{
}
catch (Exception exception)
{
....
}
}
Adding a new Thread to execute any step results in problems, so keep in mind that all this uses the thread created at the beginning for "StartListener"

Reading data from serial Port is loosing packages

Hello i created a program which reads serial data from a scoreboard, then depending on the string the program separates the data into different boxes on the form and then to different txt files.The purpose of this, is to use those txt files for livestreaming purposes in basketball games.
It's the first time i work with serial data and i am not a very experienced programmer.
My problem, as the title of this post suggests is that every now and then without any reason i am loosing some packages. This is happening randomly , for example in 10 second period i could 1 package while the next one none or 4.
private void ReadData()
{
Thread MyThread = null;
{
try
{
ThreadStart ThreadMethod = new ThreadStart(ReadFromPort);
MyThread = new Thread(ThreadMethod);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Failed to create thread! " + e.Message);
return;
}
try
{
MyThread.Start();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("The thread failed to start! " + e.Message);
}
}
}
//Recieves data and write them on textbox (optionally on a txt)
private void ReadFromPort()
{
while (Receiver == true)
{
try
{
int count = ComPort.BytesToRead;
System.Windows.Forms.Application.DoEvents();
byte[] data = new byte[count];
ComPort.Read(data, 0, data.Length);
currentMessage = Combine(currentMessage, data);
ReceivedData = (BitConverter.ToString(data));
if (count > 0)
{
if (chBoxUpdate.Checked)
{
DataType = count;
tempData = ReceivedData;
this.Invoke(new EventHandler(DisplayText));
if (chboxTxt.Checked)
{
this.Invoke(new EventHandler(ExportData));
}
}
else if (chBoxPrevious.Checked)
{
DataType = count;
tempData = ReceivedData;
this.Invoke(new EventHandler(ClearData));
this.Invoke(new EventHandler(DisplayText));
if (chboxTxt.Checked)
{
this.Invoke(new EventHandler(ExportData));
}
}
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
}
}
}
//Displays Text
private void DisplayText(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string temp;
Console.WriteLine(tempData+ " (" + tempData.Length.ToString() + ")");
try
{
if (tempData.Length == 38)// && ReceivedData.Substring(12, 5) == "03-02")
{
if (tempData.Substring(12, 5) == "03-02")
{
DataText.AppendText(tempData.Substring(24, 8));
DataText.AppendText("\n");
Blink.Text = "Reading...";
timer1.Start();
timer1.Enabled = true;
}
}
else
if (tempData.Length == 35)
{
if (tempData.Substring(12, 5) == "45-02")
{
AttackTime.AppendText(tempData.Substring(24, 5));
Blink.Text = "Reading...";
AttackTime.AppendText("\n");
timer1.Start();
timer1.Enabled = true;
}
}
else
if (tempData.Length == 29)
{
if (tempData.Substring(12, 5) == "03-36")
{
HomeScore.AppendText(tempData.Substring(21, 2));
Blink.Text = "Reading...";
HomeScore.AppendText("\n");
timer1.Start();
timer1.Enabled = true;
}
else
if (tempData.Substring(12, 5) == "03-46")
{
AwayScore.AppendText(tempData.Substring(21, 2));
Blink.Text = "Reading...";
AwayScore.AppendText("\n");
timer1.Start();
timer1.Enabled = true;
}
}
}
catch (ArgumentOutOfRangeException)
{
}
}
Keep in mind that tempData and ReceivedData are the same here and as the programs appears now there's not any particular reason to set tempData=ReceivedData.This is a part of a different,older code i used in the begining which i never changed but it doesn't effect the program.
At first i am using a thread to enable the ReadFromPort then if the program finds that there are available data in line it displays them with the DisplayText and it's using the ExportData to export the data to a txt.I think the problem is somewhere there but as i am not very experienced i can't tell where.
Are there any suggestions on how to improve my code? If you more details or information i can provide them.

You are using Invoke, this blocks the caller thread until the event has been processed, and since you are updating the UI this can take some time. This probably causes some buffer to overflow and data to be discarded. So you should do as little work as possible on the reading thread.
There are a few alternatives
Put the data on a concurrentQueue, and let the UI thread have a timer that periodically triggers a method that reads from the queue and updates the UI.
Put the data on a concurrentQueue, wrapped in a blocking collection, have another background thread iterate over the blocking collection, using GetConsumingEnumerable, and post the result to the main thread once done. This would be suitable if there is significant processing to be done.
Use BeginInvoke to post the received data to the main-thread, this does not wait for the call to complete, but probably have slightly higher overhead that the previous alternatives. I would recommend not accessing any UI properties from the background thread, since by default no property of a UI class is threadsafe. Even if you might get away with it if you are only reading, I would not take the chance.

Windows Service: The calling thread cannot access this object because a different thread owns it

Trying to convert XML files using XSL and printing the output. However, receiving the following message: The calling thread cannot access this object because a different thread owns it.
To set an interval for checking files, added a timer to the OnStart.
if (findPrinter() > 0)
{
System.Timers.Timer printNetterCheck = new System.Timers.Timer();
printNetterCheck.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(OnTimedEvent);
printNetterCheck.Interval = 30000;
printNetterCheck.Enabled = true;
}
The OnTimedEvent:
private void OnTimedEvent(object source, ElapsedEventArgs e)
{
getFiles();
}
If any files available, call print:
foreach (string file in files)
{
try
{
StringWriter xslTransformResult = new StringWriter();
XslCompiledTransform xslt = new XslCompiledTransform();
xslt.Load(xslPath);
xslt.Transform(file, null, xslTransformResult);
if (print(xslTransformResult) == 1)
{
//do some things
The print function:
private int print(StringWriter transformedXML)
{
//assume OK
int rc = 1;
try
{
StringReader printNetterStreamReader = new StringReader(transformedXML.ToString());
PrintSystemJobInfo printNetterJob = printer.AddJob("PrintNetterPrint");
Stream printNetterStream = printNetterJob.JobStream;
Byte[] printNetterByteBuffer = UnicodeEncoding.Unicode.GetBytes(printNetterStreamReader.ReadToEnd());
printNetterStream.Write(printNetterByteBuffer, 0, printNetterByteBuffer.Length);
printNetterStream.Close();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
//return fail
rc = -1;
eventLog.WriteEntry("Error printing: " + e.Message, EventLogEntryType.Error);
}
return rc;
}
When calling print I receive the thread error. Found some stuff about Dispatchers etc.. but those are not available when using services.

Check PrintQueue.AddJob.
The method makes a COM call which requires the application be running in a single apartment (STA). The easiest way to fix that is to add STAThreadAttribute to Main which will force the application to run in a single thread. If you need multithreading in your application then you will need to implement the necessary plumbing to run the PrintQueue separately on an STA Thread.
// Create a factory to hold your printer configuration
// So that it can be retrieved on demand
// You might need to move the findPrinter() logic
public class PrintQueueFactory
{
private static PrintQueue _instance = new PrinterQueue(/* Details */);
public static PrintQueue PrintQueue { get { return _instance; } }
}
private int print(StringWriter transformedXML)
{
//assume OK
int rc = 1;
try
{
var printer = PrintQueueFactory.PrintQueue;
var staThread = new Thread(() => Print(printer, transformedXML.ToString()));
staThread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
staThread.Start();
staThread.Join();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
//return fail
rc = -1;
eventLog.WriteEntry("Error printing: " + e.Message, EventLogEntryType.Error);
}
return rc;
}
private static void Print(PrintQueue printer, string lines)
{
using(var printNetterJob = printer.AddJob("PrintNetterPrint"))
using(var printNetterStreamReader = new StringReader(lines))
using(var printNetterStream = printNetterJob.JobStream)
{
Byte[] printNetterByteBuffer = UnicodeEncoding.Unicode.GetBytes(printNetterStreamReader.ReadToEnd());
printNetterStream.Write(printNetterByteBuffer, 0, printNetterByteBuffer.Length);
}
}

maybe, as you are using a Timer control, it is related with multi-threading, maybe you should check if an Invoke is Required (InvokeRequired) in the Timer.Elapsed event handler.
If so, you should create a delegate to call this function, so it can be executed in the right thread.
Check this Invoke-Required question

Control.BeginInvoke does not call delegate when UI function is idle

I am modifying a windows desktop application that works with some external hardware. When the user activates the hardware from the application a progress (UI) form is started. This form creates a thread that performs all of the work with the hardware. The problem comes when I try to report progress back to the UI thread. It appears that the first of my Control.BeginInvoke ("Negotiating message") works fine. However, the second one (first adjustment to progressbar) never seems to call it's delegate and as a result the application locks up on the subsequent endinvoke. I believe the issue is that the GUI is now in an idle state, but I am not sure how to fix the situation. Any help would be appreciated. Code found below:
In the UI Load Method Thread:
private void frmTwainAquire_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
try
{
//Show the GUI
this.Visible = showGUI;
pbScanningProgress.Value = 0;
btnCancel.Enabled = false;
btnCancel.Visible = false;
// Set the delegates.
SetScanMessageDelegate = new SetScanMessage(this.SetScanMessageMethod);
SetRegistrationMessageDelegate = new SetRegistrationMessage(this.SetRegistrationMessageMethod);
AddScanProgressDelegate = new AddScanProgress(this.AddScanProgressMethod);
AddRecogProgressDelegate = new AddRecogProgress(this.AddRecogProgressMethod);
// Set progress bars.
pbScanningProgress.Value = 0;
pbRecognition.Value = 0;
abortScan = false;
// Create thread here!
twainInstance = new rScan.Twain();
rScanning = new rScanThread(this, twainInstance);
// Start the thread.
rScanning.tScan = new Thread(rScanning.Scan);
rScanning.tScan.Start();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// Error checking here.
}
}
Delegate Methods:
public void SetScanMessageMethod(string scanMessage)
{
this.lblScanMessage.Text = scanMessage;
}
public void SetRegistrationMessageMethod(string recogMessage)
{
this.lblRecognition.Text = recogMessage;
}
public void AddScanProgressMethod(int progress)
{
this.pbScanningProgress.Value += progress;
}
public void AddRecogProgressMethod(int progress)
{
this.pbRecognition.Value += progress;
}
Thread method that is giving the problem. Please note that the thread is in a different class then the previous two code blocks (both are in the UI class):
public class rScanThread : IMessageFilter
public void Scan()
{
// Set progress bar message.
IAsyncResult result;
if (frmTwainAquireInstance.lblScanMessage.IsHandleCreated && frmTwainAquireInstance.lblScanMessage.InvokeRequired)
{
result = frmTwainAquireInstance.lblScanMessage.BeginInvoke(frmTwainAquireInstance.SetScanMessageDelegate, "Negotiating Capabilities with Scanner.");
frmTwainAquireInstance.lblScanMessage.EndInvoke(result);
}
else
{
frmTwainAquireInstance.lblScanMessage.Text = "Negotiating Capabilities with Scanner.";
}
// Start the intialization of the rScan process.
bool intializeSuccess = twainInstance.Initialize(frmTwainAquireInstance.Handle);
// If the process could not be started then quit.
if (!intializeSuccess)
{
frmTwainAquireInstance.Close();
return;
}
if (frmTwainAquireInstance.pbScanningProgress.IsHandleCreated && frmTwainAquireInstance.pbScanningProgress.InvokeRequired)
{
result = frmTwainAquireInstance.pbScanningProgress.BeginInvoke(frmTwainAquireInstance.AddScanProgressDelegate, 33);
frmTwainAquireInstance.pbScanningProgress.EndInvoke(result); // Lock up here.
}
else
{
frmTwainAquireInstance.pbScanningProgress.Value += 33;
}
// Do more work after. The code never makes it this far.
} // End of rScanThread.Scan()

C# Making a program finish processes before advancing

In C#, how do you make a program only process one thing at a time? I've been working on a patching system, and I think I have the coding all correct but can't test it because a lot of the functions are trying to process all at once when they need to be processing in an order. The program doesn't even let the display shown up before it starts trying to process everything. Because none of them return a value other then the main function all the functions are set to void. I thought about maybe using a return value inside of a loop to make sure the program is finished with that step first before moving on but it still leaves the problem of the program not even showing up until everything is done processing which its suppose to show the progress of everything. Any suggestions of tips?
Edit: I don't know what to post in the code, so im posting all the main functions:
public void DSP_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (v1 >= v2)
{
File_Progress_Title.Text = "100%";
Update_Status.Text = "Divine Shadows is currently up to date.";
Application.DoEvents();
Process.Start("Divine Shadows.exe");
Close();
}
else
{
Update_Status.Text = "Checking For Updates...";
Application.DoEvents();
if (!Directory.Exists(tempFilePath))
{
Directory.CreateDirectory(tempFilePath);
}
using (SqlCon = new MySqlConnection(connString))
{
SqlCon.Open();
string command = "SELECT * FROM version where version > '" + v1 + "' ORDER BY version LIMIT 1";
MySqlCommand GetLatestVersion = new MySqlCommand(command, SqlCon);
using (MySqlDataReader DR = GetLatestVersion.ExecuteReader())
{
while(DR.Read())
{
do
{
string LatestVersion = Convert.ToString(DR.GetValue(1));
string WebURL = Convert.ToString(DR.GetValue(2));
update.DownloadFileAsync(new Uri(WebURL), tempFilePath + "patch" + LatestVersion + ".zip");
update.DownloadProgressChanged += new DownloadProgressChangedEventHandler(download);
update.DownloadFileCompleted += new AsyncCompletedEventHandler(extration);
Application.Restart();
}
while (v1 < v2);
Process.Start("Divine Shadows.exe");
Close();
}
}
}
}
}
public void download(object sender, DownloadProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (v1 >= v2)
{
File_Progress_Title.Text = "100%";
Update_Status.Text = "Divine Shadows is currently up to date.";
Application.DoEvents();
Process.Start("Divine Shadows.exe");
Close();
}
else
{
Update_Status.Text = "Downloading Updates...";
Application.DoEvents();
File_Progress_Display.Value = e.ProgressPercentage;
File_Progress_Title.Text = Convert.ToString(e.ProgressPercentage) + "%";
}
}
public void extration(object sender, AsyncCompletedEventArgs e)
{
if (v1 >= v2)
{
File_Progress_Title.Text = "100%";
Update_Status.Text = "Divine Shadows is currently up to date.";
Application.DoEvents();
Process.Start("Divine Shadows.exe");
Close();
}
else
{
Update_Status.Text = "Installing Updates, Please Wait...";
Application.DoEvents();
UnzipFile(extactFile, extractLocation);
}
}
public static void UnzipFile(string extactFile, string extractLocation)
{
try
{
FastZip fastZip = new FastZip();
fastZip.CreateEmptyDirectories = false;
fastZip.ExtractZip(extactFile, extractLocation, FastZip.Overwrite.Always, null, null, null, false);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception("Error unzipping file \"" + extactFile + "\"", ex);
}
File.Delete(extactFile);
}

Your problem is not WebClient() specific, its about how your application is working with threads.
In general, winforms applications have one GUI Thread. This thread is used to executed your methods and also updating the user interface. If you start a long term process, the gui thread gets locked till the operation is finished. Thats the reason why your display is not shown.
You can solve that problem by implementing the BackgroundWorker. On that website you can also find an example how to implement it. Let the BackgroundWorker do your patching process and use events inside the BackgroundWorker.RunWorkerAsync() method to update your GUI.

If you are using c#4 or newer you can use the Task Parallel Library to perform tasks asynchronously, thus leaving your UI response while thing are being downloaded. First of all you need a reference:
using System.Threading.Tasks;
And some code:
public void YourMainFunction()
{
var urls = new List<string>();
urls.Add("http://google.com");
urls.Add("http://yahoo.com");
foreach(var url in urls)
{
Task.Factory.StartNew<DownloadResult>(() =>
DownloadIt(url))
.ContinueWith(WorkDone, TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext());
}
}
private class DownloadResult
{
public string Url {get; set;}
public string Result {get; set;}
}
private DownloadResult DownloadIt(string url)
{
var downloadResult = new DownloadResult{ Url = url };
var client = new WebClient();
downloadResult.Result = client.DownloadString(url);
return downloadResult;
}
private void WorkDone(Task<DownloadResult> task)
{
if(task.IsFaulted)
{
//An exception was thrown
MessageBox.Show(task.Exception.ToString());
return;
}
//Everything went well
var downloadResult = task.Result;
//Here you can update your UI to reflect progress.
MessageBox.Show(downloadResult.Result);
}