My code is designed to be a control system for a 2-axis motion system. I have 2 drives that each output a count of their steps. I can read the device, update a property, and update the text field of a label. However, it does not update the form. When I use a message box, I can display the text value being correct, but nothing updates the label.
I'm happy to try any suggestions, but I've been fighting this for about 16 hours and I'm at my wits end - as evidenced by the clear overkill/terrible coding that is shown in the code. I can't understand why it's not updating.
Additionally, a manual button with all versions seen below to refresh a form doesn't update the control.
Direction, recommendations?
Private Sub PositionChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
If TraverseController.InvokeRequired Then
TraverseController.Invoke(
New EventHandler(Of EventArgs)(AddressOf PositionChanged), sender, e)
Return
End If
'RaiseEvent PropertyChanged(TraverseController, New System.ComponentModel.PropertyChangedEventArgs("Position"))
MessageBox.Show(TraverseController.lblLinearDrivePosDisp.Text)
TraverseController.lblLinearDrivePosDisp.Text = CStr(_position)
Application.DoEvents()
TraverseController.lblLinearDrivePosDisp.ResetBindings()
TraverseController.GBDrivePositionDisp.Refresh()
TraverseController.lblLinearDrivePosDisp.Refresh()
TraverseController.Refresh()
TraverseController.Invalidate()
TraverseController.Update()
Application.DoEvents()
MessageBox.Show(TraverseController.lblLinearDrivePosDisp.Text)
End Sub
Assumption: TraverseController is form's class name.
This looks like a VB default form instance issue. It is apparent that you are trying to properly marshal control interaction back to the UI thread by using checking TraverseController.InvokeRequired. However, due to the way these default instance are created, TraverseController.InvokeRequired is creating a new instance of TraverseController on the secondary thread and all subsequent code is modifying that instance and not the one created on the UI thread.
One way to deal with this is to pass a synchronizing control instance to the class where PositionChanged changed method is defined and check that control's InvokeRequired method instead of TraverseController.InvokeRequired. If the containing class is itself a UI control, then use that class instance (Me.InvokeRequired).
Related
Consider a simple .NET form with a couple of radio buttons and a checkbox.
Each of the radio buttons has a CheckedChanged handler setup that performs some action based on the state of the checkbox.
My problem is, when I initialize on the default radiobutton to be checked (from the designer properties window) the CheckedChanged event is fired for that radio button, but the Checkbox hasn't been initialized yet so I either get a null pointer exception or the wrong value is used in the handler. Either way, I don't want that handler code to be run unless the user picks a radio button after the form has been loaded.
I currently get around this by not initializing the radio button, but I need to set that default eventually and the best place is from the designer. I also can add a boolean field that's not set to true until the form is fully loaded and not process the events if that is false, but it's a dirty hack.
What can I do to prevent that handler from running its code?
To make it feel slightly less dirty, if you initialize the controls in the constructor of the form you might be able to use the forms IsHandleCreated property rather than your own bool to check if it should actually validate or not.
I would think that normally you wouldn't want to validate anything before it's been shown for the first time and handle isn't created until it is.
Code Example:
Private Sub myRadioButton_CheckedChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles myRadioButton.CheckedChanged
If myRadioButton.Checked AndAlso myRadioButton.IsHandleCreated Then
'Do Work
End If
End Sub
"I also can put a boolean field that's not set to true until the form is fully loaded and not process the events if that is false, but it's a dirty hack."
It's also the easist and best way to do it!
Lets say .NET provides a neat way to turn an and off all the event handlers until the form is loaded. Even just the ones YOU are handling. It would still not be sufficiently flexible to disable what you wanted to enable but disable what you didn't. Often form setups happen and you want the events to fire. Also the form won't build right if no events fire.
The easy solution is to declare an initializing variable:
Private Initializing as boolean = True
Private Sub rb_CheckedChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles rbNuevos.CheckedChanged, RbDesaparecidos.CheckedChanged, RbModificados.CheckedChanged, RbNoDesap.CheckedChanged, RbDesHoy.CheckedChanged, RbChT.CheckedChanged
if Initializing then return
'Your Code
End Sub
Public Sub New()
' Llamada necesaria para el Diseñador de Windows Forms.
InitializeComponent()
' Agregue cualquier inicialización después de la llamada a InitializeComponent().
initializing = false
end sub
Most sophisticated: Remove the "handles" from the method, and use AddHandler on the new method.
Public Sub New()
' Llamada necesaria para el Diseñador de Windows Forms.
InitializeComponent()
' Agregue cualquier inicialización después de la llamada a InitializeComponent().
AddHandler RbChT.CheckedChanged, AddressOf rb_CheckedChanged
end sub
For radiobutton see Hans Olsson answer
For numeric up down, do it like this
Private Sub myNumeric_ValueChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles myNumeric.ValueChanged
If myNumeric.Value >= 0 AndAlso myNumeric.IsHandleCreated Then
'Do the work
End If
End Sub
The keyword is myNumeric.Value and IsHandleCreated
Yet another way:
Private Sub dgvGroups_CellValueChanged(sender As System.Object, e As System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewCellEventArgs) Handles dgvGroups.CellValueChanged
If Me.Visible = False Then Exit Sub ' Sub gets called on form load which causes problems
wksGroups.Cells(e.RowIndex + 1, 1) = dgvGroups.Item(e.ColumnIndex, e.RowIndex).Value
wksGroups.Cells(1, 5) = dgvGroups.RowCount
One thing I've found that works is adding the events manually after you load the form.
To do this you can simply go into the generated form code found in the designer file of that form, and pull out the lines that add the event. It would look something like this:
this.controlName.CheckedChanged += new System.EventHandler(this.controlName_CheckedChanged);
Then put all of these calls into a method that you call after the InitializeComponent call in your form's constructor.
Just in case anyone is still searching for this the event is fired upon initializing the form BUT the form is not yet visible, Also Say that you have a foreign key relationship upon which you have a default value needed issue that gets fired every row update too. So the following code worked for me....
if (Visible && !(e.ColumnIndex == 0))
{
phoneEdited = true;
MessageBox.Show("A Phone entry has been entered");
}
Don't set checked on a control that really does much in designer.
The global flag and conditional exits where needed.
Try..Catch the sore spots to ignore a meaningless exception.
(Using VS 2017) It appears to me that it is an annoyance but not a bug. It is consistent with the model in use. The event is fired by normal operation of code, but code I did not write (but can access where fools fear to tread) and where there appears to be no (decent) place earlier in the normal flow to anticipate it.
The cleanest answer seems to be not to check radio button or checkbox controls in the designer at all if they trigger any significant code. Instead these controls should be changed by code (e.g. checked = true) in the Load event (for example) AFTER all the initialization is done.
There is no loss of flexibility here since both are fixed before the build, only in different places. The event handlers will handle it exactly as if a user had clicked the control in the natural flow of a well designed GUI application. (This reminds me of the ancient RPG proverb "Don't buck the cycle". (Anyone here remember RPG? I, not part of IBM-oriented team, never used it but had interesting discussions with some who did. ) Pre-checking controls hits the wrong part of the VS cycle.)
If for any reason that will not work, the next best thing is the kludge suggested elsewhere of a single status boolean initialized false and set true at the appropriate time with conditional exits in the necessary places to prevent them from crashing until then. It will get the job done, but it's ugly. Better than failure.
Another thing I tried before I decided that designer level pre-set checks were the problem and there was a very acceptable alternative was to put the danger spots in a Try..Catch to be able to ignore the exception. Also a kludge.
For the cleanest code, reverse the True/False approach used in some other examples. Focus on 'ready' rather than 'busy'. Here's an example for a Windows Form:
At the Class level, add Private app_ready As Boolean (it will be False by default).
At the end of the Form.Shown event handler, add app_ready = True.
In each control event handler where it's needed, add:
If app_ready Then
' code
End If
Starting a routine with something like If initialising Then Exit Sub just doesn't feel right!
Maybe for some functionality you can use the click event instead of the check changed event.
I put a public variable in the Module1 file
Dim Public bolForm_LoadingTF as Boolean = True
In each formLoad event I put
bolForm_LoadingTF = True
In each control with an OnSelectedIndexChanged
event I put if bolForm_LoadingTF = True then Exit Sub
At the end of the form load event I put
bolForm_LoadingTF = False
I am probably breaking a bunch of rules but this works
for me.
I have extended on the FileSystemWatcher class to incorporate a FolderCount monitor and FolderEmpty monitor that raise events if a folder reaches a specified amount of files or if a folder returns to an empty status. I seem to have this working and I'm getting events raised when these conditions occur.
However, my problem is that when my FileSystemWatcher first initializes, it automatically goes in to check the folder contents of the specified folder to get a file count. If the limit is already reached, I need to raise an event immediately rather than wait for the FileSystemWatcher to report it.
Currently I can only seem to raise events by plugging into the .Created and .Deleted calls, however, because no files are getting created or deleted, I don't know how to raise my event manually.
Public Sub Initialize()
SetFolderCountStatus() 'Set the isFolderEmpty flag based on file contents
If Not isFolderEmpty Then
If options.WatchForFolderCount Then
If FileCountReached(options.FileCountToWatch) Then
RaiseEvent EventFolderCount(sender, e) 'Sender and e are never defined
End If
End If
End If
End Sub
My problem is that both sender and e are never populated with anything because they sit outside of my WatcherEventArgs.
I'm sure this can be done a better way, but I am unsure. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Do you actually use the sender and EventArgs in your EventFolderCount method? You can pass Me for the sender and an empty EventArgs object.
However What are the event arguments “sender” and “e” suggests attempting to raise the event isn't preferred. Instead you should have a single method that accomplishes the task and have that called in both places.
I actually resolved this by changing my EventHandler to only require a String variable, rather than EventArgs:
Public Event EventFolderCount(filename As String)
This way I could call it easily inside and outside of the FileSystemWatcher like so:
RaiseEvent EventFolderCount(filename)
Thanks #Dave Anderson for pointing me in the right direction.
How can I set the FocusedItem property programatically?
I've tried this so far with no success:
If lvw.FocusedItem Is Nothing Then
If lvw.Items.Count > 0 Then
lvw.Focus()
lvw.HideSelection = False
lvw.Items(0).Selected = True
lvw.Items(0).Focused = True
lvw.FocusedItem = lvw.Items(0)
lvw.Select()
End If
End If
btw the form where the listview is has not called the ShowDialog method yet.
Can this be the reason for this not to work?
You have to understand that each control on the Form and the Form itself is a window and for the window to have focus it must first be created and assigned a handle.
For a basic description of this, I refer you to: All About Handles in Windows Forms The following excerpts are from the referenced article.
What is a Handle?
A handle (HWND) is the return value from CreateWindowEx which the Windows Operating System uses to identify a window. A "window" in win32 is a much broader concept than you may think - each individual button, combobox, listbox etc comprises a window. (For more information see About Window Classes ) NOTE: there are other things known as "Handles" in the Framework - e.g. GDI Handles from a Bitmap or Handles to Device Contexts (HDCs) - this article discusses HWNDs only.
...
When does a Control create its handle? (When does a control call CreateWindowEx?)
A control tries as much as possible to defer creating its handle. This is because setting properties forces chatty interop between the CLR and user32.
Typically the handles for all the controls are created before the
Form.Load event is called. Handles can also be created if the "Handle"
property is called and the handle has not yet been created, or
CreateControl() is called.
So a window's handle is not immediately created when you instantiate a control. However, you can force a control to create its handle by referencing its Handle property.
So if you first get the ListView to create its handle, then when you set those properties that you wanted.
Dim f2 As New Form2
' you do not need this condition, it is here only for demonstration purposes
' so that you can step through the code in the debugger and observe the
' code execution.
If Not f2.ListView1.IsHandleCreated Then
' retrieval of the Handle will cause a handle to be created
' if it has not yet been created
' if you delete the If-Then block, you will need to retain the
' following statement
Dim h As IntPtr = f2.ListView1.Handle
End If
f2.ListView1.FocusedItem = f2.ListView1.Items(2)
f2.ListView1.Items(2).Selected = True
f2.ListView1.Items(2).Focused = True
f2.ActiveControl = f2.ListView1
f2.ShowDialog()
As others have commented, your code should work as written. If all you need is to programmatically access the focused item in your code, you shouldn't be experiencing any difficulties. (If you are, please describe them.)
If you are looking for a visual effect (the row being highlighted), my guess is that your code is in another control's event and the focus is being set back to that control automatically the instant after your code runs. More than likely your code needs to be where it is and trying to move it elsewhere to prevent this issue would be a waste of time.
However, there are other ways to set a row apart visually. When a list view isn't likely to stay focused, my preferred method is to distinguish the selected item with a different fore/back color. (You can use the focused item if you prefer, but I find the selected item more useful. Your call.)
Here is an example which visually highlights the selected row, regardless of focus:
Private Sub lvw_SelectedIndexChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles lvw.SelectedIndexChanged
If lvw.Items Is Nothing Then Exit Sub
For Each lvi As ListViewItem In lvw.Items
If lvi.Selected = True Then
lvi.ForeColor = Color.DarkGray
lvi.BackColor = Color.LightCyan
Else
lvi.ForeColor = Color.Black
lvi.BackColor = Color.White
End If
Next
End Sub
EDIT:
In response to the added information that this form is being displayed using ShowDialog, yes, that is likely the source of your problem.
ShowDialog creates a new instance of the form. Therefore, if you have set any properties of a form or its controls, and later call ShowDialog to display that form, the form displayed is a new copy of the original form and will not reflect the changes you made programatically.
Imagine you sit down at a computer where a blank Word document is already open. You type something in it and then open a new document. The text you typed in the first document is not copied to the second. I think this is the root of your troubles here.
I'm trying to set up a button that does the following:
Checks to see if a form is open (and has lost focus). If so, it brings that form to the front.
If not, it opens a new instance of the form.
However, I've tried a few different methods and it will always either create a new form (if I use frm_About.visible as the check) or simply not do anything (with the following code).
Private Sub counter_aboutClick(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles counter_About.Click
If Application.OpenForms().OfType(Of frm_About).Any Then
frm_About.BringToFront()
Else
Dim oAbout As frm_About
oAbout = New frm_About()
oAbout.Show()
oAbout = Nothing
End If
End Sub
I've heard that there's a bug with BringToFront in certain scenarios, am I hitting that bug?
VB.Net does a terrible thing and creates a default instance of a form (which can be referred to by its class name). This creates endless confusion and headaches - I suggest you read up on default instances (google can find a lot to read about, surely)
In this case, you have a class called frm_About as well as a default instance of that form which is also called frm_About. If you've created a new form of type frm_About then the following code
If Application.OpenForms().OfType(Of frm_About).Any Then
frm_About.BringToFront()
will search your open forms to look for a form of type frm_About and, if it finds one, will attempt to bring the default instance of frm_About to the front - note that the open form can be (an in your case is most likely) not the default instance but any instance created with New frm_About().
To find the actual instance of the form you would have to do something like :
For Each openForm In Application.OpenForms()
If TypeOf (openForm) Is frm_About Then _
CType(openForm, frm_About).BringToFront()
Next
Team,
I have build a VB.Net windows application which does uploads data into database and basically updates two controls:
1. A textbox which is constantly updated with one line per database record upload.
2. A label which keeps track of the count of database record uploaded.
I have used BackgroundWorker thread concept, where the thread's bgwWorker_DoWork() method contains the business logic for upload and bgwWorker_ProgressChanged() updates the 2 UI controls based on uploads.
But the issue I am facing is that I do not get complete updates on both the UI controls. Sometimes the thread bypasses update of textbox and sometimes of label. I could resolve this issue by adding System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(25) before each UI control update code. Is this correct way of solving the issue? OR is there something I am missing?
Kindly suggest.
Below is the code in both these methods:
Private Sub bgwWorker_DoWork(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs) Handles bgwWorker.DoWork
.................
.................
'Updates database record related update in textbox
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(25)
updater.eventName = "UpdateStatusBox"
updater.errorMessageToLog = String.Empty
updater.errorMessageToLog += GetErrorMessage(dataTable(rowNumber)("Name").ToString(), ExceptionData)
bgwWorker.ReportProgress(1, updater)
.................
.................
'Updates Status Count in LABEL
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(25)
updater.eventName = "UpdateStatusBar"
updater.successCount = successCount.ToString()
updater.failureCount = failureCount.ToString()
bgwWorker.ReportProgress(2, updater)
End Sub
Private Sub bgwWorker_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As ProgressChangedEventArgs) Handles bgwWorker.ProgressChanged
Dim updater As UIUpdater = TryCast(e.UserState, UIUpdater)
..........................................
If updater.eventName = "UpdateStatusBar" Then
UpdateStatusBar(updater.successCount, updater.failureCount)
ElseIf updater.eventName = "UpdateStatusBox" Then
txtUpdates.Text = txtUpdates.Text & updater.errorMessageToLog
End If
.....................................
End Sub
I'm almost positive that your problem is your instance of the UIUpdater object called updater. This object appears to be declared globally and is thus shared between calls.
Omitting a little bit of code this is what you have:
updater.eventName = "UpdateStatusBox"
bgwWorker.ReportProgress(1, updater)
updater.eventName = "UpdateStatusBar"
bgwWorker.ReportProgress(2, updater)
Although you call ReportProgress() linearly, it doesn't fire your ProgressChanged event immediately nor does it block until that method completed. To do so would defeat the purpose of threading if you think about it.
To put it another way, you have a global object that you are setting a property on. You then say "when someone gets a chance, do something with this". You then change a property on that global object and sometimes this happens before "someone has done something" happens.
The solution is either to create two global variables, one for each possible event or to just create an instance variable when needed. I'm not sure that its thread safe to use a global variable the way you are so I would recommend just creating an instance variable. In fact, the state object you pass to ReportProgress could just be a string.
I would NOT use a sleep in your DoWork event.
Have you tried refreshing the control after you update it? Each control has a Refresh method which forces a redraw. This may result in flickering though.
Another option is to include the information needed for both controls (textbox and label) in a single call to ReportProgress rather than trying to make two calls.