Difference between custom event and SystemEvent - c#

In my application I was using SystemEvents to add objects to an ObservableCollection (code shortened for this example)
public partial class App : Application
{
private ObservableCollection<StateChanged> _messages = new ObservableCollection<StateChanged>();
public ObservableCollection<StateChanged> messages { get { return _messages; } }
protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
{
SystemEvents.SessionSwitch += SystemEvents_SessionSwitch;
}
private void SystemEvents_SessionSwitch(object sender, SessionSwitchEventArgs e)
{
messages.Insert(0, new StateChanged(DateTime.Now, State.Logoff));
}
}
Above code works without a problem.
Because I do not only have to handle SessionSwitch events, but also SessionEnding etc. I wrote a small class that should raise a 'unified' event for some of the SystemEvents (again shortened)
public class SystemEventArgs : EventArgs
{
public State newState { get; set; }
}
public delegate void SystemEventHandler(object sender, SystemEventArgs e);
class SystemEventCollector
{
public event SystemEventHandler SessionEvent;
protected virtual void RaiseSystemEvent(SystemEventArgs e)
{
SystemEventHandler handler = this.SessionEvent;
if (handler != null)
handler(this, e);
}
public SystemEventCollector()
{
SystemEvents.SessionSwitch += SystemEvents_SessionSwitch;
}
protected void SystemEvents_SessionSwitch(object sender, SessionSwitchEventArgs e)
{
SystemEventArgs ea = new SystemEventArgs();
ea.newState = State.Unknown;
RaiseSystemEvent(ea);
}
}
When I instanciate this class in my Application and subscribe to the SessionEvent, doing the same stuff, like this
public partial class App : Application
{
private ObservableCollection<StateChanged> _messages = new ObservableCollection<StateChanged>();
public ObservableCollection<StateChanged> messages { get { return _messages; } }
private SystemEventCollector _sysEventCollector = new SystemEventCollector();
protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
{
_sysEventCollector.SessionEvent += OnSessionEvent;
}
private void OnSessionEvent(object sender, SystemEventArgs e)
{
messages.Insert(0, new StateChanged(DateTime.Now, e.newState));
}
}
The messages.Insert() call raises an exception
This type of CollectionView does not support changes to its SourceCollection from a thread different from the Dispatcher thread.
I do understand that I can not update a GUI element from another thread than the one it was created on and have worked around this problem by using the extension method mentioned in this SO answer.
My question is to why this happens? My assumptions are that events are handled on the same thread as they are raised, so why is there a difference between handling the SessionSwitch event directly and my approach of raising an event when handling the SessionSwitch event? How are the SystemEvents different from my event? Do I have the correct solution to the problem? Is there a simpler solution?

From some testing it seems that the error lies in the non-working code is the instanciation of SystemEventCollector object.
MS does all the necessary marshalling in their SessionEvents.*** handlers, this is why the first example works without problems. In the non-working code SystemEventCollector is no instanciated in the OnStartup function (which is called from the UI thread) but basically with the constructor. When marshalling from the SessionEvents is done, it goes to the wrong thread, leading to the problem.
Apart from my original solution, the problem can also be solved by instanciating the SystemEventCollector in the OnStartup function.
protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
{
_sysEventCollector = new SystemEventCollector();
_sysEventCollector.SessionEvent += OnSessionEvent;
}

Related

DispatcherTimer ticking not working when started in ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem() method

I've created a TimerManager class for my WPF application.
This class handles the start and stop the dispatcher timer.
Here is the class:
public static class TimerManager
{
static DispatcherTimer disTimer;
static Model m = Model.GetInstance();
static TimerManager()
{
disTimer = new DispatcherTimer();
disTimer.Tick += disTimer_tick;
disTimer.Interval = new TimeSpan(0, 0, 1);
}
public static void StartTimer()
{
disTimer.Start();
}
public static void StopTimer()
{
disTimer.Stop();
}
private static void disTimer_tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
m.Tick++;
}
}
And I've created a Model class that represents the ticking in the UI.
(Binding in MainWindow.xaml -> xy textbox text field "{Binding Tick}").
class Model : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private Model()
{
}
static Model instance;
public static Model GetInstance()
{
if (instance == null)
{
instance = new Model();
}
return instance;
}
int tick;
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public void OnNotifyPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
PropertyChangedEventArgs e = new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName);
PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, e);
}
}
public int Tick
{
get
{
return tick;
}
set
{
tick = value;
OnNotifyPropertyChanged();
}
}
}
And here is the MainWindow class:
Model m;
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
m = Model.GetInstance();
this.DataContext = m;
}
private void startButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(o =>
{
TimerManager.StartTimer();
});
//TimerManager.StartTimer();
}
private void stopButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
TimerManager.StopTimer();
}
When I click the start button I use the ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem() method. In that method, I start the timer but the timer tick is not run at every one second.
When I don't use ThreadPool this works. But this solution is not good for me; ThreadPool is important for me because I use an HTTP web server (in local).
My question is: why is the ticking not working if I use ThreadPool?
The DispatcherTimer object has thread affinity. That is, it is tied to a specific thread. In particular, it is designed specifically to raise its Tick event in the thread in which it was created, using the Dispatcher for that thread.
Your ThreadManager class's static constructor will be called when the type is first used. In your non-working example, this occurs in the queued work item method, causing the static constructor to be executed in the thread pool thread used to execute that work item method. This in turn causes the DispatcherTimer object you create to be owned by that thread, and to have its Tick event raised in that thread by the Dispatcher for that thread.
Except, thread pool threads don't have Dispatchers. So there's no Dispatcher there to raise the Tick event for the DispatcherTimer object. Even if there was, without a call to Application.Run() to have the dispatcher loop executed, the Dispatcher wouldn't actually get to dispatch anything, including the Tick event.
What you need is to make sure that when you create the DispatcherTimer object, the code that creates that object is executed in the dispatcher thread, which is your main UI thread.
There are a couple of ways to do that. IMHO, the best way is to make your ThreadManager class not a static class and to create an instance of it in your MainWindow constructor. For example:
class TimerManager
{
DispatcherTimer disTimer;
Model m = Model.GetInstance();
public TimerManager()
{
disTimer = new DispatcherTimer();
disTimer.Tick += disTimer_tick;
disTimer.Interval = new TimeSpan(0, 0, 1);
}
public void StartTimer()
{
disTimer.Start();
}
public void StopTimer()
{
disTimer.Stop();
}
private void disTimer_tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
m.Tick++;
}
}
and:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
TimerManager _timerManager = new TimerManager();
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = Model.GetInstance();
}
private void startButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(o =>
{
_timerManager.StartTimer();
});
}
private void stopButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
_timerManager.StopTimer();
}
}
Since you know your MainWindow object has to be created in the dispatcher thread, and you know that non-static field initialization happens at the same time the constructor is called, in that same dispatcher thread, the above ensures that your TimerManager object is created in the dispatcher thread.
This gives you complete control over the lifetime of the TimerManager object, particularly when it's created but of course also when it can be discarded. Given the nature of the DispatcherTimer object itself, it's my opinion that this is better than maintaining a statically-held instance.
This approach also gives you the option of having a manager object for each dispatcher thread (in rare cases, a program might have more than one…you should try very hard to avoid getting into that situation, but it can be useful for types to at least be compatible with such a situation).
That said, if you really want to keep the static implementation, you can do that by providing a method that can be called explicitly when you want to initialize the class, so you can make sure that the initialization happens in the right thread:
static class TimerManager
{
static DispatcherTimer disTimer;
static Model m = Model.GetInstance();
public static void Initialize()
{
disTimer = new DispatcherTimer();
disTimer.Tick += disTimer_tick;
disTimer.Interval = new TimeSpan(0, 0, 1);
}
public static void StartTimer()
{
disTimer.Start();
}
public static void StopTimer()
{
disTimer.Stop();
}
private static void disTimer_tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
m.Tick++;
}
}
Then in your MainWindow class:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = Model.GetInstance();
StaticTimerManager.Initialize();
}
private void startButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(o =>
{
StaticTimerManager.StartTimer();
});
}
private void stopButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
StaticTimerManager.StopTimer();
}
}
All you need to do here is make sure you call the Initialize() method from the main UI thread where you actually have a running dispatcher, before you attempt to call either of the other two static methods in the class.
This approach could also be made to work with multiple threads (i.e. if you have more than one dispatcher thread), but it would be trickier, especially if you want to be able to call the StartTimer() method from a different thread that actually owns the timer object. I'd recommend against the static class approach if you really did wind up in that situation.

Cancelling event invoking sequence in previous invoked method

I made a derived class from Button control class. When I use the control, I need to make to be prevented from invocation in some situation. The situation is already defined in the derived class, myClick function. I guessed there is a way like setting e.Cancel = true, but I can't. Can you give a simple suggestion to solve this task?
public class SButton : Button
{
public SButton() : base()
{
Click += new System.EventHandler(myClick);
}
private void myClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if( meHandsome )
{
// here I want to prevent no more event invocation!
}
}
}
public partial class UTeachAdvanced : DevExpress.XtraEditors.XtraUserControl
{
private void UTeachAdvanced_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
SButton btn = new SButton();
Controls.Add(btn);
btn.Click += new EventHandler(delegate(object sender, EventArgs args)
{
Console.Write("ugly");
}
}
}
The situation is already defined in the derived class.
The Click event raises by Control.OnClick method. To prevent raising Click event, you can override OnClick and call base.OnClick only if the criteria to prevent the click is not true:
public class SampleButton : Button
{
protected override void OnClick(EventArgs e)
{
if(!criteriaToPrevent)
base.OnClick(e);
}
}

C# - How to update Main UI from a thread in another class

I'm actually learning (the hard way) c# and been fighting for days with a problem :
I'm writing my first c# application with WPF (dotNet 4.0). When I click on a button, a BackgroundWorker thread is used and call a method from an external class, this way my UI don't freeze -> my method run as expected.
Then I tried to update a ListView control from thos external class to get some kind of progress (text) and I miserably failed.
I understand that I need to use a delegate and the dispatcher to update my control.
I tried to use the solution offered here How to update UI from another thread running in another class . (I cannot comment on it because of my low rep) and I miss some parts of the puzzle.
What the YourEventArgs(status) is referring to ? I just don't get the way to fire an event and pass the content back to my UI while my method is running inside the BGW.
So far I have this piece of code (Updated from answer):
namespace AppMain
{
public partial class MainWindow
{
BackgroundWorker AppWorker = new BackgroundWorker();
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
AppWorker.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
AppWorker.DoWork += AppWorker_DoWork;
AppWorker.RunWorkerCompleted += AppWorker_RunWorkerCompleted;
}
private void btnLoad_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
lstTest.Items.Add("Processing data...");
AppWorker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
public void AppWorker_DoWork(object sender, System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
SetXmlData xml = new SetXmlData();
xml.ProgressUpdate += (s, evt) =>
{
Dispatcher.BeginInvoke((Action)(() =>
{
lstTest.Items.Add("this is a test : " + evt.myData); //how to retrieve the myData property from evt ?
}));
};
xml.FlushData();
}
public void AppWorker_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
if (!(e.Cancelled))
{
lstTest.Items.Add("Done");
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("Cancelled");
}
}
}
}
SetXmlData.cs
namespace AppMain
{
public class SetXmlData
{
public event EventHandler ProgressUpdate;
//update method
public void update(object input)
{
if (ProgressUpdate != null)
ProgressUpdate(this, new YourEventArgs { myData = (string)input });
}
//calculation method
public void FlushData()
{
MessageBox.Show("this is a test !");
update("test");
}
}
public class YourEventArgs : EventArgs
{
public string myData { get; set; }
}
}
Thanks for your help.
You can simply Invoke the ProgressUpdate event from the FlushData() method.
Simply call:
If (ProgressUpdate !=null )
{
ProgressUpdate(this,new YourEventArgs())
}
this is the source instance where the event originated from.
You could just create YourEventArgs by inheriting from EventArgs class.
public class YourEventArgs : EventArgs
{
//Put any property that you want to pass back to UI here.
}
When the event gets raised in the UI:
RaiseEvent.ProgressUpdate += (s, e) =>
{
Dispatcher.BeginInvoke((Action)(() =>
{
lstTest.Items.Add("this is a test : ");
//Add items to your UI control here...
}));
};
e will be of type YourEventArgs.
On a side note, you should never touch UI thread from a diffent thread (like background worker thread in your example). Since your event-handler already does the Dispatcher.BeginInvoke, that's safe.
Also, your ProgressUpdate event should be inside of your class SetXmlData.
try get;set; Example:
Form1:
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
static public string gettext { get; set; }
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Class1.send(); //call to class function
textBox1.Text = gettext; //items.add(gettext)
}
}
Class1:
class Class1
{
static public void send()
{
Form1.gettext = "Marko"; //Set gettext to string "Marko"
}
}

Delegate doesn't notify the method

Would you look at my code and tell me where I went wrong? in following code I am trying to send a notification to myMethod() method when Form1 gets maximized.
Thanks!
namespace WindowsDelegate1
{
public delegate void ChangedEventHandler(object sender, EventArgs e);
class myForm : Form
{
public event ChangedEventHandler Changed;
protected virtual void OnChanged(EventArgs e)
{
if (Changed != null)
Changed(this,e);
}
public override System.Drawing.Size MaximumSize
{
//get
//{
// return base.MaximumSize;
//}
set
{
base.MaximumSize = value;
OnChanged(EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
}
}
namespace WindowsDelegate1
{
class EventListener
{
private myForm TheForm;
public EventListener(myForm theform)
{
TheForm = theform;
TheForm.Changed += new ChangedEventHandler(myMethod);
}
private void myMethod(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("hey, window should be maximized now!");
}
public void Detach()
{
TheForm.Changed -= new ChangedEventHandler(myMethod);
TheForm = null;
}
}
}
Here is the testing unit / or main()
namespace WindowsDelegate1
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
myForm f = new myForm();
EventListener listener = new EventListener(f);
f.ShowDialog();
f.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized;
listener.Detach();
}
}
}
What's probably happening is the event is either fired after your .Detach() call, or is never fired at all. I would start by removing the listener.Detach() call. Generally, you attach to events when the form is created or when it loads and detach when it is unloading.
Other than that, your Detach method is problematic because it tries to remove a different ChangedEventHandler instance than the one added. If you're wrapping your methods in ChangedEventHandler you need to store the instance you added.
Thank you for sharing your ideas!
I fixed it by removing the property (not idea why I used that!!) and using method instead by:
protected override void OnActivated(EventArgs e)
{
base.OnActivated(e);
OnChanged(EventArgs.Empty);
}
I have updated my source code above too

How to subscribe to other class' events in C#?

A simple scenario: a custom class that raises an event. I wish to consume this event inside a form and react to it.
How do I do that?
Note that the form and custom class are separate classes.
public class EventThrower
{
public delegate void EventHandler(object sender, EventArgs args) ;
public event EventHandler ThrowEvent = delegate{};
public void SomethingHappened() => ThrowEvent(this, new EventArgs());
}
public class EventSubscriber
{
private EventThrower _Thrower;
public EventSubscriber()
{
_Thrower = new EventThrower();
// using lambda expression..could use method like other answers on here
_Thrower.ThrowEvent += (sender, args) => { DoSomething(); };
}
private void DoSomething()
{
// Handle event.....
}
}
Inside your form:
private void SubscribeToEvent(OtherClass theInstance) => theInstance.SomeEvent += this.MyEventHandler;
private void MyEventHandler(object sender, EventArgs args)
{
// Do something on the event
}
You just subscribe to the event on the other class the same way you would to an event in your form. The three important things to remember:
You need to make sure your method (event handler) has the appropriate declaration to match up with the delegate type of the event on the other class.
The event on the other class needs to be visible to you (ie: public or internal).
Subscribe on a valid instance of the class, not the class itself.
Assuming your event is handled by EventHandler, this code works:
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var myObj = new MyClass();
myObj.MyEvent += new EventHandler(this.HandleCustomEvent);
}
private void HandleCustomEvent(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// handle the event
}
If your "custom event" requires some other signature to handle, you'll need to use that one instead.

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