I am kind of new to c# and I am required to create a client server chat. Our professor gave us the following as a small hint to get us going. But I do not understand what the backgroundworker does.
private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e) // Receive data
{
while (client.Connected)
{
try
{
receive = streamreader.ReadLine();
this.textBox2.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(delegate() { textBox2.AppendText("You : " + receive + "\n"); }));
receive = "";
}
catch (Exception x)
{
MessageBox.Show(x.Message.ToString());
}
}
}
private void backgroundWorker2_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e) // Send data
{
if (client.Connected)
{
streamwriter.WriteLine(text_to_send);
this.textBox2.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(delegate() { textBox2.AppendText("Me : " + text_to_send + "\n"); }));
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("Send failed!");
}
backgroundWorker2.CancelAsync();
}
The BackgroundWorker class is designed to execute operations on a seperate thread, whilst reporting to the main thread through the ProgressChanged and RunWorkerCompleted events.
The example your professor provided is far from a typical implementation of the class, and a backgroundworker should probably not be used for something like that.
Related
I read/write data to serial port and I want to see reading on listbox right away. I created a new thread to send command to serial port. I keep the main thread empty, so, it can update the UI and also serial port event handler wont be interrupted with something else.(I am not sure is it right approach?)
The following code works with while (!dataRecieved) { Thread.Sleep(4000); } but does not works with while (!dataRecieved) { Thread.Sleep(100); }.
The problem is if I use 100ms sleep, serial port event handler fire only once and then program stops!(If I debug with breakpoint 100ms works because I create additional time when stepping into the code.) If I wait 4000ms the program works. Also, I check the time between sending data and receiving data from serial port is 200ms. So, 100ms is reasonable.
Here is the code:
public bool dataRecieved = false;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public void AppendTextBox(string value)
{
this.Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate { richTextBox1.Text += value + "\n";});
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
serialPort1.Open();
Thread testThread = new Thread(() => sendThread());
testThread.Start();
}
public void serialPort1_DataReceived(object sender, System.IO.Ports.SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
data = serialPort1.ReadLine();
dataRecieved = true;
}
public void sendThread()
{
for(int i = 0; i<10; i++)
{
serialPort1.WriteLine("AT" + i);
// Following line creates odd situation:
// if Thread.Sleep(100), I receive only first data, then program stops(serial port handler doesnt fire!).
// if Thread.Sleep(4000), I receive all data, successfuly works.
// But I do not want to wait 4000ms, because I receive answer from device in 200ms.
while (!dataRecieved) { Thread.Sleep(100); }
AppendTextBox("Received" + "AT" + i);
dataRecieved = false;
}
}
Where I am wrong? Can you please provide a solution?
I even didn't use a new Thead for write and read on SerialPort. You just need use update control in Invoke() is ok. Below is my update on richTextBox. You can change form richTextBox to your listbox.
public void update_RichTextBox(string message)
{
Invoke(new System.Action(() =>
{
txtReceivedData.Text += message;
txtReceivedData.Refresh();
txtReceivedData.SelectionStart = txtReceivedData.Text.Length;
txtReceivedData.ScrollToCaret();
}));
}
and the way to use above void:
if (ComPort.IsOpen)
{
ComPort.Write(_inputdata + "\r");
Form1._Form1.update_RichTextBox(_inputdata + "\r");
string _receviedData = ComPort.ReadExisting();
Form1._Form1.update_RichTextBox(respond);
ComPort.DiscardInBuffer();//delete all data in device's received buffer
ComPort.DiscardOutBuffer();// delete all data in transmit buffer
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("haven't yet open COM port");
return "FLASE";
}
I use something I call "Cross Thread Linker"
#region Cross Thread Linker
public bool ControlInvokeRequired(Control c, Action a)
{
if (c.InvokeRequired) c.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(delegate { a(); }));
else return false;
return true;
}
void Update_RichTextBox(RichTextBox rtb, string Text)
{
if (ControlInvokeRequired(rtb, () => Update_RichTextBox(rtb, Text))) return;
rtb.AppendText(Text + Environment.NewLine);
}
#endregion
Then:
Update_RichTextBox(richTextBox1, "Text to append");
first off I'd like to say I'm brand new to C# so I am not too aware with how the background worker is supposed to be implemented. I have a GUI program that basically pings a domain a returns the response to a textbox. I am able to get it to work normally, however, it freezes the code because it is running on the same thread which is why I am trying to implement a background worker.
Here is the basic setup
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
url = textBox1.Text;
button1.Enabled = false;
button2.Enabled = true;
bgWorker.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(bgWorker_DoWork);
bgWorker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
private void bgWorker_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
do
{
if (bgWorker.CancellationPending)
break;
Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate { monitor(); });
} while (true);
}
public void monitor()
{
textBox2.AppendText("Status of: " + url + "\n");
Status(url);
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(30000);
}
private void Status(string url)
{
// This method does all the ping work and also appends the status to the Text box as it goes through , as OK or down
}
I have not worked with bgworkers before and as you can imagine it's confusing. I've looked at tons of other articles and I can't seem to get it. Sorry if the code looks crazy, I'm trying to learn.
Use Microsoft's Reactive Framework (NuGet "System.Reactive.Windows.Forms" and add using System.Reactive.Linq;) and then you can do this:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var url = textBox1.Text;
Observable
.Interval(TimeSpan.FromMinutes(0.5))
.SelectMany(_ => Observable.Start(() => Status(url)))
.ObserveOn(this)
.Subscribe(status => textBox2.AppendText("Status of: " + status + "\n"));
}
You then just need to change Status to have this signature: string Status(string url).
That's it. No background worker. No invoking. And Status is nicely run on a background thread.
You've got several mistakes. First,
Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
monitor();
});
will call monitor() on your UI thread. In almost all cases you should not call methods on other threads. You especially should not call methods that block or do anything that takes more than a few milliseconds on your UI thread, and that is what this does:
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(30000);
Instead of calling a method on another thread; submit immutable data to the other thread and let the thread decide when to handle it. There is an event already built in to BackgroundWorker which does that. Before you call bgWorker.RunWorkerAsync() do this:
url = new Uri(something);
bgWorker.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
bgWorker.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
bgWorker.ProgressChanged += Bgw_ProgressChanged;
private void Bgw_ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
textBox2.AppendText("Status of: " + url + ": " + e.UserState.ToString()
+ Environment.NewLine);
}
Your bgWorker_DoWork should look more like this:
void bgWorker_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
while (!bgw.CancellationPending)
{
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(new TimeSpan(0, 0, 30));
var status = ResultOfPing(e.Argument as Uri);
bgw.ReportProgress(0, status);
}
e.Cancel = true;
}
and you should call it like this:
bgWorker.RunWorkerAsync(url);
You've got a second problem. BackgroundWorker creates a thread, and your thread is going to spend most of its time blocked on a timer or waiting for network responses. That is a poor use of a thread. You would be better off using completion callbacks or async/await.
The background worker is running on a thread pool thread, but your call to Status and Sleep is running on the UI thread. You need to move that stuff back into bgWorker_DoWork.
Try this code:
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
bool cancel;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public void StartPinging()
{
this.cancel = false;
startButton.Enabled = false;
stopButton.Enabled = true;
responseBox.Clear();
responseBox.AppendText("Starting to ping server.");
responseBox.AppendText(Environment.NewLine);
var bw = new BackgroundWorker
{
WorkerReportsProgress = false,
WorkerSupportsCancellation = true
};
bw.DoWork += (obj, ev) =>
{
while (!cancel)
{
// Ping Server Here
string response = Server.PingServer();
this.Invoke(new UiMethod(() =>
{
responseBox.AppendText(response);
responseBox.AppendText(Environment.NewLine);
}));
}
};
bw.RunWorkerCompleted += (obj, ev) =>
{
this.Invoke(new UiMethod(() =>
{
responseBox.AppendText("Stopped pinging the server.");
responseBox.AppendText(Environment.NewLine);
startButton.Enabled = true;
stopButton.Enabled = false;
}));
};
bw.RunWorkerAsync();
}
delegate void UiMethod();
private void startButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
StartPinging();
}
private void stopButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
responseBox.AppendText("Cancelation Pressed.");
responseBox.AppendText(Environment.NewLine);
cancel = true;
}
}
public class Server
{
static Random rng = new Random();
public static string PingServer()
{
int time = 1200 + rng.Next(2400);
Thread.Sleep(time);
return $"{time} ms";
}
}
Erwin, when dealing with C# - threads and UI elements usually you will come across cross-thread operations i.e. Background thread with UI threads. This interaction needs to be done in thread safe way with the help of Invoke to avoid invalid operations.
Please look into below resource: InvokeRequired section.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/winforms/controls/how-to-make-thread-safe-calls-to-windows-forms-controls
I have a problem with background worker, it gets called twice thus, increasing the time of execution for my long routine, I created background worker manually so, there is no chance for the DoWork to be initialized within the initializeComponent() method, any help is appreciated.
here is my code:
// constructor
public TeacherScheduleForm(Therapist therapist)
{
this.therapist = therapist;
InitializeComponent();
bw = new BackgroundWorker();
bw.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
bw.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
bw.DoWork += bw_DoWork;
bw.ProgressChanged += bw_ProgressChanged;
bw.RunWorkerCompleted += bw_RunWorkerCompleted;
load = new LoadingForm();
}
private void bw_ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
load.AppendProgress(e.ProgressPercentage);
// load.AppendText(e.ProgressPercentage.ToString() + "%");
Console.Write("Progress: " + e.ProgressPercentage);
// MessageBox.Show("Progress : " + e.ProgressPercentage);
}
private void bw_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
if ((e.Cancelled == true))
{
MessageBox.Show("Cancelled");
}
else if (!(e.Error == null))
{
MessageBox.Show("Error : " + e.Error);
}
else
{
updateUI();
load.Close();
Console.Write( "Done!");
}
}
// do work of background worker
private void bw_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;
for (int i = 1; (i <= 2); i++)
{
if ((worker.CancellationPending == true))
{
e.Cancel = true;
break;
}
else
{
// Perform a time consuming operation and report progress.
Console.Write("Before Doing work");
setup(therapist.therapistID + "", schoolYear);// the time consuming operation
Console.Write("Doing work");
//System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(100);
worker.ReportProgress((i*5));
}
}
}
The background worker is called when the user selects the school year through a combo box which is in this code below:
private void comboBoxSchoolYear_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//load = new LoadingForm();
schoolYear = int.Parse(comboBoxSchoolYear.SelectedValue + "");
try{
if (!bw.IsBusy)
{
bw.RunWorkerAsync();
load.ShowDialog();
}
else
{
bw.CancelAsync();
}
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
Console.Write("Error : " + ex.Message);
}
}
You are loading the form after creating the event-handler. Thats the only point I can think off doing the trouble. Try to load the form first and then create the handler.
Reason: At InitializeComponent(); the IndexChanged normally will fire up because the control is set at this point with its index. I havnt noticed this behaviour on FormLoad till now. But as I cant see any other problem in here its worth a try.
IF this doesnt solves it, you should also take care if TeacherScheduleForm is being called twice.
Something handy for debugging-purposes:
MessageBox.Show((new StackTrace().GetFrame(0).GetMethod().Name));
Paste this into your event/method or whatever. It will popup a messagebox with the method-name which called your current method. In this case (from comments) it would've raised 2 messageBoxes saying TeacherScheduleForm for both.
I've saved this to my code-snippets.
I'm facing a bit of problem, it's giving error "Cross-thread operation not valid" even though I'm using Invoke method.
Here's the code snipit.
Method to update log box
private void updateStatus(String msg)
{
if (logBox.InvokeRequired)
logBox.Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate()
{
logBox.SelectionStart = logBox.Text.Length;
logBox.Text += "\n";
logBox.Text += msg;
});
else
logBox.SelectionStart = logBox.Text.Length;
logBox.Text += "\n";
logBox.Text += msg;
}
And this Run method is being run by a thread.
private void Run()
{
int port;
try
{
port = Int32.Parse(broadcastPortTextBox.Text);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MetroFramework.MetroMessageBox.Show(this, ex.Message);
return;
}
updateStatus("Starting server at port: " + port.ToString());
server = new HTTPServer.HTTPServer(port);
server.Start();
} //function
It runs fine for the first time but when I click stop, it gives an exception.
private void stopButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
updateStatus("Stoping server");
th.Abort();
updateStatus("Server stoped!");
}
I would try using the direct cast for the invoke. There's no need to check whether the invoke is required or not. If you invoke something it should always happen (in your context). Just remove the updateStatus(String msg) method so and try to cast your update like this:
void Run() {
// stuff
broadcastPortTextBox.Invoke(() => {
port = Int32.Parse(broadcastPortTextBox.Text);
});
// stuff..
logBox.Invoke(() => {
logBox.SelectionStart = logBox.Text.Length;
logBox.Text += string.Format("{0}{1}", Environment.NewLine, "Your message text..");
});
// stuff..
}
Note: If you manipulate any non thread owned element use the invoke method. Otherwise you'll end up with exceptions (see 'broadcastPortTextBox');
Edit: Accidently saved before I was done.
I was moving over a method to my winforms project from a wpf project.
Everything but this section was moved without issue:
private void ServerProcErrorDataReceived(object sender, DataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
// You have to do this through the Dispatcher because this method is called by a different Thread
Dispatcher.Invoke(new Action(() =>
{
richTextBox_Console.Text += e.Data + Environment.NewLine;
richTextBox_Console.SelectionStart = richTextBox_Console.Text.Length;
richTextBox_Console.ScrollToCaret();
ParseServerInput(e.Data);
}));
}
I have no idea how to convert over Dispatcher to winforms.
Can anyone help me out?
You should use Invoke to replace the Dispatcher.
private void ServerProcErrorDataReceived(object sender, DataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
if (richTextBox_Console.InvokeRequired)
{
richTextBox_Console.Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
ServerProcErrorDataReceived(sender, e);
});
}
else
{
richTextBox_Console.Text += e.Data + Environment.NewLine;
richTextBox_Console.SelectionStart = richTextBox_Console.Text.Length;
richTextBox_Console.ScrollToCaret();
ParseServerInput(e.Data);
}
}