Browse All Articles > Asynchronous programming with UI
Mulithreading is a wonderful concept but it is one of the most complex way to achieve a task. Microsoft had provided probably the most efficient way to handle this problem by using async calls and thread pool. This provides an easy way to handle more than one task in an efficient way. But the biggest problem is thread creation and disposal of thread in this programming scenario. A common problem we are facing with UI programming is we are executing a task which takes a long time.
And if we are trying to do the same in Main Thread of application it freezes the UI until the completion of job. For example in the given program we are trying to run infinite loop and trying the display the count on textbox
One of the better ways to solve this is pushing the time consuming task to a different thread and update the UI with callback method.
One of best way to achieve this is by using BackgroundWorker class
And similar thing can be achieved with Task Class from .net 4.0 onwards.
and making it more compact:
Please note that in all these method Thread is taken from ThreadPool
And if we are trying to do the same in Main Thread of application it freezes the UI until the completion of job. For example in the given program we are trying to run infinite loop and trying the display the count on textbox
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication2
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private TextBox textBox1;
private Button btnStart;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.btnStart = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.textBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TextBox();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// btnStart
//
this.btnStart.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(134, 27);
this.btnStart.Name = "btnStart";
this.btnStart.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
this.btnStart.TabIndex = 0;
this.btnStart.Text = "Start";
this.btnStart.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
this.btnStart.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.btnStart_Click);
//
// textBox1
//
this.textBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(12, 29);
this.textBox1.Name = "textBox1";
this.textBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(100, 20);
this.textBox1.TabIndex = 1;
//
// Form1
//
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 273);
this.Controls.Add(this.textBox1);
this.Controls.Add(this.btnStart);
this.Name = "Form1";
this.ResumeLayout(false);
this.PerformLayout();
}
/// <summary>
/// Updates the textbox
/// </summary>
/// <param name="i">Value to be updated</param>
private void UpdateTextBox(int i)
{
textBox1.Text = i.ToString();
}
/// <summary>
/// Start counting
/// </summary>
/// <param name="i">Intial value</param>
private void Count(int i)
{
while (true)
{
i++;
UpdateTextBox(i);
}
}
private void btnStart_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Count(0);
}
}
}One of the better ways to solve this is pushing the time consuming task to a different thread and update the UI with callback method.
One of best way to achieve this is by using BackgroundWorker class
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication2
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private TextBox textBox1;
private System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker backgroundWorker1;
private Button btnStart;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.btnStart = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.textBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TextBox();
this.backgroundWorker1 = new System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// btnStart
//
this.btnStart.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(134, 27);
this.btnStart.Name = "btnStart";
this.btnStart.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
this.btnStart.TabIndex = 0;
this.btnStart.Text = "Start";
this.btnStart.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
this.btnStart.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.btnStart_Click);
//
// textBox1
//
this.textBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(12, 29);
this.textBox1.Name = "textBox1";
this.textBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(100, 20);
this.textBox1.TabIndex = 1;
//
// backgroundWorker1
//
this.backgroundWorker1.DoWork += new System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventHandler(this.backgroundWorker1_DoWork);
//
// Form1
//
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 273);
this.Controls.Add(this.textBox1);
this.Controls.Add(this.btnStart);
this.Name = "Form1";
this.ResumeLayout(false);
this.PerformLayout();
}
/// <summary>
/// Updates the textbox
/// </summary>
/// <param name="i">Value to be updated</param>
private void UpdateTextBox(int i)
{
textBox1.Text = i.ToString();
}
/// <summary>
/// Start counting
/// </summary>
/// <param name="i">Intial value</param>
private void Count(int i)
{
while (true)
{
i++;
this.Invoke(new Action<int>((x) => textBox1.Text = x.ToString()), i);
}
}
private void btnStart_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync();
}
private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
Count(0);
}
}
}using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication2
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private TextBox textBox1;
private Button btnStart;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.btnStart = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.textBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TextBox();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// btnStart
//
this.btnStart.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(134, 27);
this.btnStart.Name = "btnStart";
this.btnStart.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
this.btnStart.TabIndex = 0;
this.btnStart.Text = "Start";
this.btnStart.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
this.btnStart.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.btnStart_Click);
//
// textBox1
//
this.textBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(12, 29);
this.textBox1.Name = "textBox1";
this.textBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(100, 20);
this.textBox1.TabIndex = 1;
//
// Form1
//
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 273);
this.Controls.Add(this.textBox1);
this.Controls.Add(this.btnStart);
this.Name = "Form1";
this.ResumeLayout(false);
this.PerformLayout();
}
private void UpdateTextBox(int i)
{
textBox1.Text = i.ToString();
}
private void Count(int i)
{
while (true)
{
i++;
this.Invoke(new Action<int>((x) => textBox1.Text = x.ToString()), i);
}
}
private void btnStart_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
int i = 0;
new Action<int>(Count).BeginInvoke(i, null, null);
}
}
}And similar thing can be achieved with Task Class from .net 4.0 onwards.
using System;
using System.Timers;
using System.Threading;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication2
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private TextBox textBox1;
private Button btnStart;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.btnStart = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.textBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TextBox();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// btnStart
//
this.btnStart.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(134, 27);
this.btnStart.Name = "btnStart";
this.btnStart.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
this.btnStart.TabIndex = 0;
this.btnStart.Text = "Start";
this.btnStart.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
this.btnStart.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.btnStart_Click);
//
// textBox1
//
this.textBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(12, 29);
this.textBox1.Name = "textBox1";
this.textBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(100, 20);
this.textBox1.TabIndex = 1;
//
// Form1
//
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 273);
this.Controls.Add(this.textBox1);
this.Controls.Add(this.btnStart);
this.Name = "Form1";
this.ResumeLayout(false);
this.PerformLayout();
}
private void UpdateTextBox(int i)
{
textBox1.Text = i.ToString();
}
private void Count()
{
int i=0;
while (true)
{
this.Invoke(new Action<int>((x) => textBox1.Text = x.ToString()), i++);
}
}
private void btnStart_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Task.Factory.StartNew(new Action(Count));
}
}
}and making it more compact:
using System;
using System.Timers;
using System.Threading;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication2
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private TextBox textBox1;
private Button btnStart;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.btnStart = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.textBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TextBox();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// btnStart
//
this.btnStart.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(134, 27);
this.btnStart.Name = "btnStart";
this.btnStart.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
this.btnStart.TabIndex = 0;
this.btnStart.Text = "Start";
this.btnStart.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
this.btnStart.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.btnStart_Click);
//
// textBox1
//
this.textBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(12, 29);
this.textBox1.Name = "textBox1";
this.textBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(100, 20);
this.textBox1.TabIndex = 1;
//
// Form1
//
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 273);
this.Controls.Add(this.textBox1);
this.Controls.Add(this.btnStart);
this.Name = "Form1";
this.ResumeLayout(false);
this.PerformLayout();
}
private void btnStart_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Task.Factory.StartNew((Action)delegate()
{
int i = 0;
while (true)
{
this.Invoke(new Action<int>((x) => textBox1.Text = x.ToString()), i++);
}
});
}
}
}Please note that in all these method Thread is taken from ThreadPool
Have a question about something in this article? You can receive help directly from the article author. Sign up for a free trial to get started.
Comments (0)