Develop Reference

Show Loading animation during loading data in other thread

I have an application running with the database. When I load a tables in the datagridview, my form freezes. How to ensure the smooth load animation during loading tables?
I run two threads for animation and load data into the tables, but the animation still does not always work.
private volatile bool threadRun;
private void UpdateTab()
{
// Create panel for animation
Panel loadingPanel = new Panel();
// Label, where the text will change
Label loadingLabel = new Label();
loadingLabel.Text = "Loading";
loadingPanel.Controls.Add(loadingLabel);
this.Controls.Add(loadingPanel);
// thread loading animation
threadRun = true;
Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
int i = 0;
string labelText;
while (threadRun)
{
Thread.Sleep(500);
switch (i)
{
case 0:
labelText = "Loading.";
i = 1;
break;
case 1:
labelText = "Loading..";
i = 2;
break;
default:
labelText = "Loading...";
i = 0;
break;
}
loadingLabel.BeginInvoke(new Action(() => loadingLabel.Text = labelText));
}
});
// thread update DataGridView
Thread update = new Thread(ThreadUpdateTab);
update.Start();
}
private void ThreadUpdateTab()
{
// SQL Query...
myDataGridView1.Invoke(new Action(() => myDataGridView1.DataSource = myDataSet1.Tables[0]));
// ...
myDataGridView10.Invoke(new Action(() => myDataGridView10.DataSource = myDataSet10.Tables[0]));
threadRun = false;
}

When the form is frozen, it means the UI thread is too busy and so even if you try to show a loading animation, it will not animate. You should load data asynchronously.
You can have an async method which returns Task<DataTable> like the GetDataAsync method which you can see in this post. Then call it in an async event handler. In the event handler, first show the loading image, then load data asynchronously and then hide the loading image.
You can simply use a normal PictureBox showing a gif animation as loading control. Also you may want to take a look at this post to show a transparent loading image.
public async Task<DataTable> GetDataAsync(string command, string connection)
{
var dt = new DataTable();
using (var da = new SqlDataAdapter(command, connection))
await Task.Run(() => { da.Fill(dt); });
return dt;
}
private async void LoadDataButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
loadingPictureBox.Show();
loadingPictureBox.Update();
try
{
var command = #"SELECT * FROM Category";
var connection = #"Your Connection String";
var data = await GetDataAsync(command, connection);
dataGridView1.DataSource = data;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// Handle Exception
}
loadingPictureBox.Hide();
}

Increment ProgressBar within another class

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();
};

c# threads and cannot call invoke

I have start c# a few time ago, so there is somethings that are totally diferent from java, a few time ago I face a problem about a thread changing the UI (add rows to a DataGridView) and I found that I had to call the method Invoke to make that happen. I did and all works fine, but now I'm facing a new problem. So, I have a frame that will display some labels added dynamically and in Java i would like this:
Thread t = new Thread() {
public void run() {
while (true) {
// for each label
for (it = labels.iterator(); it.hasNext();) {
JLabel lb = it.next();
if (lb.getLocation().x + lb.getWidth() < 0) {
if (msgsRemover.contains(lb.getText().toString())) {
it.remove();
MyPanel.this.remove(lb);
msgsRemover.remove(lb.getText().toString());
} else {
// if there is no message to be removed, this will just continue
// going to the end of the queue
MyPanel.this.remove(lb);
MyPanel.this.add(lb);
}
MyPanel.this.repaint();
MyPanel.this.validate();
}
lb.setLocation(lb.getLocation().x - 3, 0);
}
MyPanel.this.repaint();
try {
SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait(running);
sleep(30);
} catch (InterruptedException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(MyPanel.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
} catch (InvocationTargetException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(MyPanel.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
}
}
};
But in C# I have a problem when the thread does:
MyPanel.this.remove(lb);
MyPanel.this.add(lb);
So I did:
if (lb.Location.X + lb.Width < 0) {
if (msgsRemover.Contains(lb.Text.ToString())) {
labels.Remove(label);
this.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(() => { this.Controls.Remove(lb); }));
msgsRemover.Remove(lb.Text.ToString());
} else {
// if there is no message to be removed, this will just continue
// going to the end of the queue
this.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(() => { this.Controls.Remove(lb); }));
this.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(() => { this.Controls.Add(lb); }));
}
this.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(() => { this.Refresh(); }));
But know I'm getting an error called "Can not call Invoke or BeginInvoke on a control until the window handle has been created."
I have searched for solutions but I didn't find out what can I do to solve this.
Thank you in advance for your help!
Edit: start the thread is the last thing I do in the constructor... There is the code:
public MyPanel(Color corLabel, Color back, Font text){
this.color = corLabel;
this.backg = back;
this.textFont = text;
this.Width = 500000;
texto = new LinkedList<string>();
msgs = new LinkedList<MensagemParaEcra>();
labels = new LinkedList<Label>();
var it = labels.GetEnumerator();
var it2 = msgsRemover.GetEnumerator();
this.FlowDirection = FlowDirection.LeftToRight;
this.BackColor = backg;
this.Size = new Size(500000, 30);
this.Refresh();
startThread();
}

You must start the thread after the control has a handle created in order to be able to do Invoke, the easiest way to do that is override the OnHandleCreated method and start your thread there instead.
public MyPanel(Color corLabel, Color back, Font text)
{
this.color = corLabel;
this.backg = back;
this.textFont = text;
this.Width = 500000;
texto = new LinkedList<string>();
msgs = new LinkedList<MensagemParaEcra>();
labels = new LinkedList<Label>();
var it = labels.GetEnumerator();
var it2 = msgsRemover.GetEnumerator();
this.FlowDirection = FlowDirection.LeftToRight;
this.BackColor = backg;
this.Size = new Size(500000, 30);
this.Refresh();
}
protected override void OnHandleCreated(EventArgs e)
{
base.OnHandleCreated(e);
startThread();
}

The error you are receiving indicates that the target Window hasn't fully created yet. Probably the constructor hasn't finished. Try to hook up to one of the default events (Load, Show etc.) of the target window and make the invoke calls after these are handled.

Updating UI with BackgroundWorker in WPF

I am currently writing a simple WPF 3.5 application that utilizes the SharePoint COM to make calls to SharePoint sites and generate Group and User information. Since this process takes awhile I want to show a ProgressBar while the groups are being generated. The desired process is as follows:
User enters url and clicks button to fetch site data.
ProgressBar begins animation
Groups are generated and names are added to a ListView
Upon completion ProgressBar animation ends
The problem I am running into is that the UI is never updated. Neither the ProgressBar or the ListView makes any changes. If anyone has any ideas to help with the code below it would be greatly appreciated.
private void GetGroupsAndUsersButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
siteUrl = "";
if (SiteURLTextBox.Text.Length > 0)
{
FetchDataProgressBar.IsIndeterminate = true;
mWorker = new BackgroundWorker();
mWorker.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(worker_DoWork);
mWorker.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
mWorker.RunWorkerCompleted += new RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(worker_RunWorkerCompleted);
mWorker.RunWorkerAsync();
}
else
{
System.Windows.MessageBox.Show("Please enter a URL for the SharePoint site you wish to retrieve data");
}
}
private void worker_DoWork(object sender, System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
siteUrl = SiteURLTextBox.Text;
GroupListView.ItemsSource = null;
try
{
using (SPSite site = new SPSite(siteUrl))
{
SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb();
SPGroupCollection collGroups = web.SiteGroups;
if (GroupNames == null)
GroupNames = new List<string>();
foreach (SPGroup oGroup in collGroups)
{
GroupListView.Items.Add(new ListViewItem() { Content = oGroup.Name });
}
foreach (ListViewItem item in GroupListView.Items)
{
item.MouseLeftButtonUp += item_MouseLeftButtonUp;
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
System.Windows.MessageBox.Show("Unable to locate a SharePoint site at: " + siteUrl);
}
}
private void worker_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
FetchDataProgressBar.Dispatcher.Invoke(System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherPriority.Normal,
new Action(
delegate()
{
FetchDataProgressBar.IsIndeterminate = false;
}
));
}

At first you need to support ProgressChanged events.
Update your BackgroundWorker initialization to:
GroupListView.ItemSource = null;
mWorker = new BackgroundWorker();
mWorker.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler(worker_DoWork);
mWorker.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
mWorker.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
mWorker.ProgressChanged += OnProgressChanged;
mWorker.RunWorkerCompleted +=
new RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(worker_RunWorkerCompleted);
mWorker.RunWorkerAsync(SiteURLTextBox.Text);
After that you have to add a OnProgressChanged handler:
private void OnProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
FetchDataProgressBar.Value = e.ProgressPercentage;
ListViewItem toAdd = (ListViewItem)e.UserState;
toAdd.MouseLeftButtonUp += item_MouseLeftButtonUp;
GroupListView.Items.Add(toAdd);
}
Therefore you have to change your DoWork:
private void worker_DoWork(object sender, System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
BackgroundWorker worker = (BackgroundWorker)sender;
try
{
using (SPSite site = new SPSite((String)e.Argument))
{
SPWeb web = site.OpenWeb();
SPGroupCollection collGroups = web.SiteGroups;
if(GroupNames == null)
GroupNames = new List<string>();
int added = 0;
foreach(SPGroup oGroup in collGroups)
{
added++;
ListViewItem tmp = new ListViewItem() {
Content = oGroup.Name
};
worker.ReportProgress((added * 100)/collGroups.Count,tmp);
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show("Unable to locate a SharePoint site at: " + siteUrl);
}
}
That's because you're not allowed to change GUI on DoWork.
After that, each ListViewItem is added separately to your ListView. I would also recommend, that your URL is passed as an argument to RunWorkerAsync.
Edit: Add percentage to OnProgressChanged.

In your DoWork method, you are manipulating WPF controls in code on a background thread, which you are not supposed to do. Actually, you should receive errors like "Cannot access control from other thread". Probably those exceptions are caught by your catch-all error handler, and maybe even the MessageBox doesn't work from the background thread.
As a quick fix, you would have to make siteURL and collGroups class fields, move everything before the using block to your GetGroupsAndUsersButton_Click method, and everything starting with the first foreach loop to the RunworkerCompleted event, so that all code which accesses controls runs on the UI thread.
Another thing you should change is that you should not create ListViewItems in code, but use a DataTemplate instead... this is not connected to your problem, though.

You'll need:
mWorker.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
mWorker.ProgressChanged +=
new ProgressChangedEventHandler(worker_ProgressChanged);
Then in your DoWork you'll need to call:
var worker = (BackgroundWorker)sender;
worker.ReportProgress(progressAmount);
Good worked example here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc221403(v=vs.95).aspx

Want to use Task Parallel Library with progress reporting for updating database

i developed a application where multiple connection string are stored. i just iterate in for loop and connect each db and execute sql against each db. in this way i update multiple database with bulk sql statement.
Now i need to use now Task Parallel Library to update multiple db simultaneously instead of updating one after one in loop. i also want to handle exception and also want to show multiple progress bar for multiple database operation. pause & resume functionality should be there.
when i will click on button then multiple db connection will be open and for each task a new progress bar will be added in my form. each progress bar will show each db operation progress. when any task will be finish then that corresponding progress bar will be removed from form.
any one can guide me with sample code how to do it using TPL.
here i got one code which update one progressbar but i need to update multiple progress bar.
int iterations = 100;
ProgressBar pb = new ProgressBar();
pb.Maximum = iterations;
pb.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
Controls.Add(pb);
Task.Create(delegate
{
Parallel.For(0, iterations, i =>
{
Thread.SpinWait(50000000); // do work here
BeginInvoke((Action)delegate { pb.Value++; });
});
});
UPDATE Question
i did it in this way. code works but all progress bar value increase sequentially.
i have one form and one user control in winform apps. please have a look at my code and tell me what is wrong there.
main for code
public partial class Main : Form
{
public Main()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DoubleBuffered = true;
}
private void btnStart_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Progress ucProgress = null;
Dictionary<string, string> dicList = new Dictionary<string, string>();
dicList.Add("GB", "conn1");
dicList.Add("US", "conn2");
dicList.Add("DE", "conn3");
fpPanel.Controls.Clear();
Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
foreach (KeyValuePair<string, string> entry in dicList)
{
ucProgress = new Progress();
ucProgress.Country = entry.Key;
ucProgress.DBConnection = entry.Value;
fpPanel.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
fpPanel.Controls.Add(ucProgress);
ucProgress.Process();
});
//fpPanel.Controls.Add(ucProgress);
System.Threading.Thread.SpinWait(5000000);
}
});
}
private void Main_Resize(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.Invalidate();
}
private void Main_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
using (LinearGradientBrush brush = new LinearGradientBrush(this.ClientRectangle,
Color.WhiteSmoke,
Color.LightGray,
90F))
{
e.Graphics.FillRectangle(brush, this.ClientRectangle);
}
}
}
user control code
public partial class Progress : UserControl
{
public Progress()
{
InitializeComponent();
lblMsg.Text = "";
pbStatus.Minimum = 0;
pbStatus.Maximum = 100;
}
public string Country { get; set; }
public string DBConnection { get; set; }
public string Sql { get; set; }
public void SetMessage(string strMsg)
{
lblMsg.Text = strMsg;
}
public void Process()
{
var uiScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext();
Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
lblMsg.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
lblMsg.Text = "Connecting country " + Country;
});
pbStatus.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
pbStatus.Value = 30;
});
System.Threading.Thread.SpinWait(50000000);
//***********
lblMsg.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
lblMsg.Text = "executing sql for country " + Country;
});
pbStatus.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
pbStatus.Value = 60;
});
System.Threading.Thread.SpinWait(50000000);
//***********
lblMsg.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
lblMsg.Text = "sql executed successfully for country " + Country;
});
pbStatus.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
pbStatus.Value = 100;
});
System.Threading.Thread.SpinWait(50000000);
});
//System.Threading.Thread.SpinWait(50000000); // do work here
}
}

perhaps it can be starting point. Handling pause/resume depends from your needs and can be tweaked.
var cancellationTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();
var cancellation = cancellationTokenSource.Token;
void UpdateDatabases(IEnumerable<...> databases, CancellationToken cancellation)
{
foreach(db in databases)
{
//create as many ProgressBar instances as databases you want to update
//check if ProgressBar exist, then return it and reuse, otherwise create new
ProgressBar pb = new ProgressBar();
pb.Maximum = iterations;
pb.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
Controls.Add(pb);
//start thread for every database/progress bar
Task.Factory.StartNew(progressBar =>
{
var start = (ProgressBar)progressBar).Value; //use last value in case of pause
Parallel.For(start, iterations,
new ParallelOptions(){CancellationToken = cancellation}
(i, loopState) =>
{
if (loopState.ShouldExitCurrentIteration)
return;
//perhaps check loopState.ShouldExitCurrentIteration inside worker method
Thread.SpinWait(50000000); // do work here
BeginInvoke((Action)delegate { ((ProgressBar)progressBar).Value++; });
});
},
pb, cancellation)
.ContinueWith(task =>
{
//to handle exceptions use task.Exception member
var progressBar = (ProgressBar)task.AsyncState;
if (!task.IsCancelled)
{
//hide progress bar here and reset pb.Value = 0
}
},
TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext() //update UI from UI thread
);
}
}
//.........
//Call
UpdateDatabases(databases, cancellation)
//To suspend, call
cancellationTokenSource.Cancel();
//To resume - simply call UpdateDatabases again
cancellationTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();
cancellation = cancellationTokenSource.Token;
UpdateDatabases(databases, cancellation)
Update
I've reviewed your code. Take a look at the revisited code and adapt it to your needs. Main mistakes - mess with closures and creating the Progress from non-ui thread. To enable parallel processing you can use Parallel.ForEach (see MSND for possible overloads). Also the design looks little bit strange for me(you're mixing data and logic in the Progress ). From UI perspective it's also strange that progress bars will appear in order of processing but not in original order as they are in list (it will be a problem if you decide to sort the list alphabetically)
I hope it help.
main for code
private void btnStart_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Progress ucProgress = null;
Dictionary<string, string> dicList = new Dictionary<string, string>();
dicList.Add("GB", "conn1");
dicList.Add("US", "conn2");
dicList.Add("DE", "conn3");
fpPanel.Controls.Clear();
Func<KeyValuePair<string, string>, object> createProgress = entry =>
{
var tmp = new Progress {Country = entry.Key, DBConnection = entry.Value};
fpPanel.Controls.Add(tmp);
return tmp;
};
Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
//foreach (KeyValuePair<string, string> entry in dicList)
Parallel.ForEach(dicList,
entry =>
{
//create and add the Progress in UI thread
var ucProgress = (Progress)fpPanel.Invoke(createProgress, entry);
//execute ucProgress.Process(); in non-UI thread in parallel.
//the .Process(); must update UI by using *Invoke
ucProgress.Process();
System.Threading.Thread.SpinWait(5000000);
});
});
}
user control code
public void Process()
{
//uiScheduler - Not used
//var uiScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext();
//The Task is not necessary because the Process() called from Parallel.ForEach
//Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
//{
//BeginInvoke or Invoke required
lblMsg.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
lblMsg.Text = "Connecting country " + Country;
});
pbStatus.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
pbStatus.Value = 30;
});
System.Threading.Thread.SpinWait(50000000);
//***********
lblMsg.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
lblMsg.Text = "executing sql for country " + Country;
});
pbStatus.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
pbStatus.Value = 60;
});
System.Threading.Thread.SpinWait(50000000);
//***********
lblMsg.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
lblMsg.Text = "sql executed successfully for country " + Country;
});
pbStatus.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)delegate
{
pbStatus.Value = 100;
});
System.Threading.Thread.SpinWait(50000000);
//});
//System.Threading.Thread.SpinWait(50000000); // do work here
}