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);
}
Related
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"
it's my first question I'm asking here, so please be gentle with me ;)
So I've actually got two WinForms in my C# application I'm writing at the moment (I'm quite new to C#).
This window has a button, which saves photos from an usb device you selected before in a list box to another folder.
After clicking on this button my main thread is of course busy with copying, so I decided to create another WinForm which contains my ProgressBar.
Foreach completed copy, I want to increment my ProgressBar accordingly.
So I count the number of copies I have to do and give it the progressbar as maximum. But my problem at the moment is, that I really don't know how to increment the ProgressBar without getting a Thread Unsafe Exception.
Here's my ProgressWindow code:
public partial class ProgressWindow : Form
{
BackgroundWorker updateProgressBarThread = new BackgroundWorker();
private Boolean _isThreadRunning = false;
public Boolean IsThreadRunning
{
get { return _isThreadRunning; }
set { _isThreadRunning = value; }
}
private int _progressbarLength;
public int ProgressbarLength
{
get { return _progressbarLength; }
set { _progressbarLength = value; }
}
private int progress = 1;
public ProgressWindow()
{
Show();
InitializeComponent();
}
private void StartUpdateThread(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;
// Reports progress to the ProgressChangedEvent function. (Thread Safe)
}
private void FinishProgressThread(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
if (!_isThreadRunning)
{
MessageBox.Show("Erfolgreich kopiert");
Close();
}
}
private void ProgressChangedEvent(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
this.copyProgressbar.Value = e.ProgressPercentage;
this.progressStatus.Text = e.ProgressPercentage.ToString();
}
public void CallUpdateThread()
{
updateProgressBarThread.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
updateProgressBarThread.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(StartUpdateThread);
updateProgressBarThread.ProgressChanged += new ProgressChangedEventHandler(ProgressChangedEvent);
updateProgressBarThread.RunWorkerCompleted += new RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(FinishProgressThread);
updateProgressBarThread.RunWorkerAsync();
}
}
I want to increment my ProgressBar with 1 after each succesful copy.
How do I do this from my main thread?
This is the function which actually handles the copy process
private void SaveFile(System.IO.DirectoryInfo root)
{
try
{
IEnumerable<DirectoryInfo> directoriesNames = root.EnumerateDirectories();
// New instance of thread ProgressWindow.
ProgressWindow progress = new ProgressWindow();
progress.CallUpdateThread();
foreach (DirectoryInfo element in directoriesNames)
{
// Query all subdirectories and count everything with the in the configuration made settings.
if (!element.Attributes.ToString().Contains("System"))
{
// Now we insert the configuration we applied.
String fileExtension = null;
if (Properties.Settings.Default._configPhoto)
{
fileExtension = "*.jpg";
}
if (Properties.Settings.Default._configWordDocument)
{
fileExtension = "*.odt";
}
FileInfo[] jpgList = element.GetFiles(fileExtension, SearchOption.AllDirectories);
// set the size of the progress bar
progress.ProgressbarLength = jpgList.Count();
// Now we go through all our results and save them to our backup folder.
foreach (FileInfo tmp in jpgList)
{
string sourceFilePath = tmp.FullName;
string destFilePath = PATHTOBACKUP + "\\" + tmp.Name;
progress.IsThreadRunning = true;
try
{
System.IO.File.Copy(sourceFilePath, destFilePath, true);
}
catch (IOException ioe)
{
MessageBox.Show(ioe.Message);
}
}
}
}
// progress.IsThreadRunning = false;
}
catch (UnauthorizedAccessException e)
{
MessageBox.Show(e.Message);
}
}
It's pretty obvious that I have to do this after this function
System.IO.File.Copy(sourceFilePath, destFilePath, true);
But how do I report this to my ProgressWindow?
I really hope I explained it well enough, not sure if I'm missing something important.
Thanks in advance guys
Here is a compact example of the key components:
Clicking button starts new thread worker
Progress is done by file lengths, not by number of files
BeginInvoke used to update the progress bar (avoid cross Thread exception)
ProgressBar pb = new ProgressBar() { Minimum = 0, Maximum = 100 };
Button btn = new Button();
btn.Click += delegate {
Thread t = new Thread(() => {
DirectoryInfo dir = new DirectoryInfo("C:\\temp\\");
var files = dir.GetFiles("*.txt");
long totalLength = files.Sum(f => f.Length);
long length = 0;
foreach (var f in files) {
length += f.Length;
int percent = (int) Math.Round(100.0 * length / totalLength);
pb.BeginInvoke((Action) delegate {
pb.Value = percent;
});
File.Copy(f.FullName, "...");
}
});
t.IsBackground = true;
t.Start();
};
lets say I have a GroupBox with several Labels. In these Labels, various IP-related information are displayed. One info is the external IP address of the machine.
string externalIP = "";
try
{
WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create("http://checkip.dyndns.org/");
request.Timeout = 3000;
System.Threading.Tasks.Task<System.Net.WebResponse> response = request.GetResponseAsync();
using (StreamReader stream = new StreamReader(response.Result.GetResponseStream()))
{
if (response.Result.ContentLength != -1)
{
externalIP = stream.ReadToEnd();
}
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
externalIP = "Error.";
}
if (externalIP == "")
{
return "No service.";
}
else
{
return externalIP = (new Regex(#"\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}")).Matches(externalIP)[0].ToString();
}
This method is called from following code:
private void updateNetworkIP()
{
string ip4e = "External IPv4: " + getExternalIPv4();
lblIP4external.Text = ip4e;
//Get some more info here.
}
How do I execute the code after getExternalIPv4() even when it's not finished yet? It works when setting a TimeOut like I did above but sometimes the request just takes a little longer but still completes successfully. So I want to still be able to display the external IP but continue to execute the other methods for refreshing the GroupBox.
The BackgroundWorker will deliver what you are after. Sample code:
BackgroundWorker bg = new BackgroundWorker();
bg.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(getExternalIPv4Back);
bg.RunWorkerCompleted += new RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(writeLabel);
bg.RunWorkerAsync();
//The code below this point will be executed while the BackgroundWorker does its work
You have to define getExternalIPv4Back as a DoWork Event Method and include inside it the code to be executed in parallel; also writeLabel as a RunWorkerCompleted Event(required to edit the label without provoking muti-threading-related errors). That is:
private void getExternalIPv4Back(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
IP = "External IPv4: " + getExternalIPv4(); //IP -> Globally defined variable
}
private void writeLabel(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
lblIP4external.Text = IP;
}
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
I divided my programme in 3 layers; GUI, BL, IO and tried to grap files from my server to my pc. I made it multi threaded and zorks fine, but when i tried to add a delegate to it for sending messages from my IO to my GUI, it troubels me. It said something like:
It is not allowed to perform an operation through various threads: it
was from another thread had access to the control label download
progress than the thread on which the element is created.
What i have is this:
GUI
private void buttonDownload_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
download = new BL_DataTransfer(Wat.FILM, titel, this.downloadDel);
t = new Thread(new ThreadStart(download.DownLoadFiles));
t.Start();
}
private void UpdateDownloadLabel(string File)
{
labelDownloadProgress.Text = "Downloading: " + File;
}
BL
public void DownLoadFiles()
{
//bestanden zoeken op server
string map = BASEDIR + this.wat.ToString() + #"\" + this.titel + #"\";
string[] files = IO_DataTransfer.GrapFiles(map);
//pad omvormen
string[] downloadFiles = this.VeranderNaarDownLoadPad(files,this.titel);
IO_DataTransfer.DownloadFiles(#".\" + this.titel + #"\", files, downloadFiles, this.obserdelegate);
}
IO
public static void DownloadFiles(string map, string[] bestanden, string[] uploadPlaats, ObserverDelegate observerDelegete)
{
try
{
Directory.CreateDirectory(map);
for (int i = 0; i < bestanden.Count(); i++)
{
observerDelegete(bestanden[i]);
File.Copy(bestanden[i], uploadPlaats[i]);
}
}
catch (UnauthorizedAccessException uoe) { }
catch (FileNotFoundException fnfe) { }
catch (Exception e) { }
}
Delgate
public delegate void ObserverDelegate(string fileName);
Assuming that it's the update of the label that's failing you need to marshal the event onto the UI thread. To do this change your update code to be:
private void UpdateDownloadLabel(string File)
{
if (labelDownloadProgress.InvokeRequired)
{
labelDownloadProgress.Invoke(new Action(() =>
{
labelDownloadProgress.Text = "Downloading: " + File;
});
}
else
{
labelDownloadProgress.Text = "Downloading: " + File;
}
}
I've ended up creating an extension method for this that I can call - thus reducing the amount of repeated code in my applications:
public static void InvokeIfRequired(this Control control, Action action)
{
if (control.InvokeRequired)
{
control.Invoke(action);
}
else
{
action();
}
}
Which is then called like this:
private void UpdateDownloadLabel(string File)
{
this.labelDownloadProgress.InvokeIfRequired(() =>
labelDownloadProgress.Text = "Downloading: " + File);
}
if UpdateDownloadLabel function is in some control code-file, use pattern like this:
private void UpdateDownloadLabel(string File)
{
this.Invoke(new Action(()=> {
labelDownloadProgress.Text = "Downloading: " + File;
})));
}
You need to invoke assignment on UI thread in order to be able to change something on label.