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"

Different behaviors when instantiated from button or timer in c#

I have a function called getMessages that can be called by a Button click (using the RelayCommand trigger) or that is called in a timer every 15s.
The desired behavior is:
webservice > deserialize answer > system notification > updatelistview > insert localDB
But when the function is called by the timer the updatelistview is not done. Why does this happen if the function is the same and works perfectly in the button command?
CODE:
// Get messages for the logged in user
public async void getMessages()
{
try
{
List<FriendGetMessage> msg = new List<FriendGetMessage>();
var response = await CommunicationWebServices.GetCHAT("users/" + au.idUser + "/get", au.token);
if (response.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.OK) // If there are messages for me.
{
var aux = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
IEnumerable<FriendGetMessage> result = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IEnumerable<FriendGetMessage>>(aux);
if (result != null)
{
foreach (var m in result)
{
msg.Add(m);
}
//MsgList=msg;
foreach (var f in Friends)
{
if (f.msg == null || f.msg.Count() == 0)
{
f.msg = new ObservableCollection<Messages>();
}
foreach (var mess in msg)
{
if (mess.idUser == f.idUser)
{
Messages mm = new Messages();
mm.received = mess.message;
mm.timestamp = "Received " + mess.serverTimestamp;
mm.align = "Right";
// Add to the friend list.
f.msg.Add(mm);
// Add to Local DB
InsertMessage(null, au.idUser.ToString(), f.idUser, mess.message, mess.serverTimestamp);
var notification = new System.Windows.Forms.NotifyIcon()
{
Visible = true,
Icon = System.Drawing.SystemIcons.Information,
BalloonTipIcon = System.Windows.Forms.ToolTipIcon.Info,
BalloonTipTitle = "New Message from " + f.name,
BalloonTipText = "Message: " + mess.message,
};
// Display for 5 seconds.
notification.ShowBalloonTip(5);
// The notification should be disposed when you don't need it anymore,
// but doing so will immediately close the balloon if it's visible.
notification.Dispose();
}
}
}
counterChat = 1; // resets the counter
}
}
else {
counterChat = counterChat * 2;
}
//var sql = "select * from chat";
//var respo = GetFromDatabase(sql);
OnPropertyChanged("Friends");
}
catch (Exception e)
{
MessageBox.Show("GetMessages: " + e);
Debug.WriteLine("{0} Exception caught.", e);
}
}
CODE TIMER:
public void chatUpdate()
{
_timerChat = new DispatcherTimer(DispatcherPriority.Render);
_timerChat.Interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15);
_timerChat.Tick += new EventHandler(timerchat_Tick);
_timerChat.Start();
}
public void timerchat_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (counterChat != incChat)
{
incChat++;
}
else
{
getMessages();
OnPropertyChanged("Friends");
incChat = 0;
}
}
ADDED - I've also tried this and didn't worked (it seems that is some kind of concurrency problem to the ObservableCollection called Friends (is a friendslist) each friend has an ObservableCollection of messages (is a chat))
public void chatUpdate()
{
_timerChat = new DispatcherTimer(DispatcherPriority.Render);
_timerChat.Interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15);
_timerChat.Tick += new EventHandler(timerchat_Tick);
_timerChat.Start();
}
public async void timerchat_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (counterChat != incChat)
{
incChat++;
}
else
{
Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke((Action)async delegate { await getMessages(); });
incChat = 0;
}
}
Best regards,

I think you need to make the timer handler be an async method as follows:
public async void timerchat_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (counterChat != incChat)
{
incChat++;
}
else
{
await getMessages();
OnPropertyChanged("Friends");
incChat = 0;
}
}
This way OnPropertyChanged("Friends") is guaranteed to fire after the work in getMessages is done.
The methods need to change to:
DispatcherTimer _timerChat = new DispatcherTimer(DispatcherPriority.Render);
_timerChat.Interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15);
_timerChat.Tick += new EventHandler(timerchat_Tick);
_timerChat.Start();
public async void timerchat_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//...
await getMessages();
//...
}
public async Task getMessages()
{
try
{
// ... your code here
string result = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
// .... rest of your code
}
catch (Exception e)
{
MessageBox.Show("GetMessages: " + e);
}
}

It is solved. The problem was in my ViewModels I was opening multiple threads and sometimes the right one would update the UI and sometimes no.
Thanks for all the answers.

While loop keeps running after break

I need to download a file and use it to connect to a server. If the connection fails, it restarts the loop. Somehow the while loop keeps running and downloading the file constantly. I think that something weird happens with the boolean Globals.sockRetry but I can't find what's really happening.
public class Globals
{
public static string serverIp;
public static int serverPort;
public static int sockConn = 0;
public static bool sockRetry = false;
public static TcpClient client;
public static NetworkStream nwStream;
public static StreamReader reader;
public static StreamWriter writer;
}
static void connect(Globals g)
{
Globals.sockConn = 1;
try
{
Globals.client = new TcpClient(Globals.serverIp, Globals.serverPort);
Globals.nwStream = Globals.client.GetStream();
Globals.reader = new StreamReader(Globals.nwStream);
Globals.writer = new StreamWriter(Globals.nwStream);
Globals.sockConn = 2;
string inputLine;
while ((inputLine = Globals.reader.ReadLine()) != null)
{
// ParseMessage(Globals.writer, inputLine, g);
}
}
catch
{
Globals.sockRetry = true;
Globals.sockConn = 0;
return;
}
}
static void getInfo()
{
while (true)
{
try
{
WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(INFO_HOST + INFO_PATH);
WebResponse response = request.GetResponse();
string content;
using (var sr = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream()))
{
content = sr.ReadToEnd();
}
string[] contentArray = content.Split(':');
string serverIp = contentArray[0];
string serverPortStr = contentArray[1];
int serverPort = 5000;
Int32.TryParse(serverPortStr, out serverPort);
Globals g = new Globals();
Globals.serverIp = serverIp;
Globals.serverPort = serverPort;
while (Globals.sockConn == 0)
{
if (Globals.sockRetry == false)
{
connect(g);
}
else
{
// error connecting
// wait and retry
Globals.sockRetry = false;
Thread.Sleep(60000);
break;
}
}
continue;
}
catch
{
// error downloading file
// wait and retry
Thread.Sleep(60000);
continue;
}
}
}

The only place there you terminate the loop is here:
if (Globals.sockRetry == false)
{
connect(g);
}
else
{
...
break;
}
So it happens only if Globals.sockRetry == true. Globals.sockRetry is assigned true only if an exception is thrown. If no exception is thrown, the loop never ends.
Change it like this:
if (Globals.sockRetry == false)
{
connect(g);
break;
}
Otherwise after you connect you will connect again, and then again till an exception is thrown (hopefully).

continue continues to the next iteration in the loop.
break stops the loop. So, the loop never ends.
You set sockRetry to false when you want to stop the loop, so you could do this: while (sockRetry)

Check tag for content with Overwrite warning

void device_DeviceArrived(ProximityDevice sender)
{
//Compatible Device enters area
if (stance == WriteStage.PREP)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Writestages won");
//Perhaps here
updateStatusRectangle(Colors.Yellow);
stance = WriteStage.WRITING;
updateStatusText("Writing...");
writeToTag(msg);
}
else
{
updateReceivedText("Device connected!");
}
}
private void MessageReceivedHandler(ProximityDevice sender, ProximityMessage message)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Handler ran");
var rawMsg = message.Data.ToArray();
var ndefMessage = NdefMessage.FromByteArray(rawMsg);
foreach (NdefRecord record in ndefMessage)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Record type: " + Encoding.UTF8.GetString(record.Type, 0, record.Type.Length));
var specType = record.CheckSpecializedType(false);
if (specType == typeof(NdefTextRecord))
{
var textrec = new NdefTextRecord(record);
updateReceivedText(textrec.Text);
}
}
}
The above event and handler are executed when the phone comes into contact with an NFC device. For intents and purposes in this app, I need to ensure that before writing to a card, if it already has content, it will prompt the user to verify overwriting the data. I commented where I think it should go, but as far as checking for the Message, I'm not sure how to go about it. I can't call the handler without the ProximityMessage, and I don't know of another way to view the message.
The Question: Is it possible to call the MessageReceivedHandler (or check the message at all), from device_DeviceArrived?
(Note: Debug.Writelines are for test purposes, and this is just a quick NFC writer I'm throwing together).
UPDATE: In attempting to find a work around, I ran into a different problem.
public bool promptUserForOverwrite()
{
bool response = false;
Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(() =>
{
MessageBoxResult cc = MessageBox.Show("You are about to overwrite data. Proceed?", "Overwrite?", MessageBoxButton.OKCancel);
if (cc == MessageBoxResult.OK)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("MessageBox OK result");
response = true;
}
});
return response;
}
private void MessageReceivedHandler(ProximityDevice sender, ProximityMessage message)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Handler ran");
var rawMsg = message.Data.ToArray();
var ndefMessage = NdefMessage.FromByteArray(rawMsg);
foreach (NdefRecord record in ndefMessage)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Record type: " + Encoding.UTF8.GetString(record.Type, 0, record.Type.Length));
var specType = record.CheckSpecializedType(false);
if (specType == typeof(NdefTextRecord))
{
var textrec = new NdefTextRecord(record);
updateReceivedText(textrec.Text);
}
}
bool pow = promptUserForOverwrite();
if (!pow)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Prompt returned");
//This always hits - pow is always false.
}
if (stance == WriteStage.WRITING && pow)
{
//writeToTag(msg);
}
}
This would work as a work around; the problem is the beginInvoke method. I need it for cross thread access, but used like this seems to make it run at a later time (when the thread is free?). The bool pow is always false, even after I click ok on the messagebox (debugged, and it does get the result, but after I can no longer use it). Is there an alternative that I can use for the Dispatcher?

Ugly, but I have this working. You need to get a TaskScheduler from the UI thread, so declare a
private TaskScheduler sched;
and then on the OnLoaded event for the page
sched = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext();
Then your methods
public async Task<bool> promptUserForOverwrite()
{
return false;
}
private async void MessageReceivedHandler(ProximityDevice sender, ProximityMessage message)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Handler ran");
var rawMsg = message.Data.ToArray();
var ndefMessage = NdefMessage.FromByteArray(rawMsg);
foreach (NdefRecord record in ndefMessage)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Record type: " + Encoding.UTF8.GetString(record.Type, 0, record.Type.Length));
var specType = record.CheckSpecializedType(false);
if (specType == typeof(NdefTextRecord))
{
var textrec = new NdefTextRecord(record);
updateReceivedText(textrec.Text);
}
}
var task = promptUserForOverwrite();
var pow = await task.ContinueWith(t =>
{
MessageBoxResult cc = MessageBox.Show("You are about to overwrite data. Proceed?", "Overwrite?", MessageBoxButton.OKCancel);
if (cc == MessageBoxResult.OK)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("MessageBox OK result");
return true;
}
else
{
return false;
}
}, CancellationToken.None, TaskContinuationOptions.OnlyOnFaulted, sched);
if (!pow)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Prompt returned");
//This always hits - pow is always false.
}
if (stance == WriteStage.WRITING && pow)
{
//writeToTag(msg);
}
}

WebClient async stuck

I have this code:
autoResetEvent = new AutoResetEvent(false);
clien = new WebClient();
clien.Encoding = Encoding.UTF8;
clien.DownloadDataCompleted += new DownloadDataCompletedEventHandler(clien_DownloadDataCompleted);
clien.DownloadDataAsync(new Uri("http://www.classoneequipment.com/"));
autoResetEvent.WaitOne();
void clien_DownloadDataCompleted(object sender, DownloadDataCompletedEventArgs e)
{
Encoding enc = Encoding.UTF8;
myString = enc.GetString(e.Result);
autoResetEvent.Set();
}
When I run this code in a button click event - It works fine. but when I run the code from big class it gets stucked and don't arrive to the func: clien_DownloadDataCompleted.

You approach it all wrong. If you want to download 3000 or more pages you got to be a bit more efficient and not wait on the event from each download.
Implementation (just a rough draft, you have to complete it)
public class Downloader
{
ConcurrentQueue<Uri> _queue = new ConcurrentQueue<Uri>();
int _maxWorkers = 10;
long _currentWorkers = 0;
ManualResetEvent _completed;
public void Enqueue(Uri uri)
{
_queue.Enqueue(uri);
if (Interlocked.Read(_currentWorkers) < _maxWorkers)
{
// not very thread safe, but we just want to limit the workers
// within a reasonable limit. 1 or 2 more doesn't really matter.
Interlocked.Increment(_currentWorkers);
// yes, i'm a bit old fashioned.
TriggerJob();
}
}
private void TriggerJob()
{
Uri uri;
if (!_queue.TryDequeue(out uri))
{
Interlocked.Decrement(_currentWorkers);
return;
}
var client = new WebClient();
client.Encoding = Encoding.UTF8;
client.DownloadDataCompleted += DownloadDataCompleted;
client.DownloadDataAsync(uri);
}
private void DownloadDataCallback(object sender, DownloadDataCompletedEventArgs e)
{
try
{
// If the request was not canceled and did not throw
// an exception, display the resource.
if (!e.Cancelled && e.Error == null)
{
var args = new DownloadedEventArgs { uri = e.Uri, data = (byte[])e.result};
DownloadCompleted(this, args)
}
else
{
var args = new DownloadFailedEventArgs { uri = e.Uri, error = e.Error };
DownloadFailed(this, args);
}
}
catch (Exception err)
{
var args = new DownloadFailedEventArgs { uri = e.Uri, error = err };
DownloadFailed(this, args);
}
TriggerJob();
}
public event EventHandler<DownloadedEventArgs> DownloadCompleted = delegate{};
public event EventHandler<DownloadFailedEventArgs> DownloadFailed = delegate{};
}
public class DownloadedEventArgs
{
public Uri uri;
public byte[] data;
}
public class DownloadFailedEventArgs
{
public Uri uri;
public Exception error;
}
Usage:
var downloader = new Downloader();
downloader.Completed += (o,e) { Console.WriteLine("Whoohoho, completed: " + e.Uri); };
for (x = 1; x < 100000; x++)
{
downloader.Enqueue(new Uri("http://somewhere.com));
}