Changing a Control's property via a delegate - vb.net

First off, pardon me if my English is bad, I'm not a native English speaker.
I'm fairly new to programming and I'm trying to teach myself VB.NET
I came across a problem while trying to learn about Delegates. (see code below)
What I'm trying to accomplish is to update a specified Control's text property via a thread. However, as soon as I start the thread, I get an ArgumentException Error. I have completely no idea what's wrong. Anybody have an idea what i've done wrong here?
Public Class Form1
Delegate Sub myDelegate1(ByVal s_Name As Control, ByVal s_txt As String)
Public txtUpdate As New myDelegate1(AddressOf upd_ControlTextProperty)
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Label1.Text = vbnullstring
End Sub
Private Sub upd_ControlTextProperty(ByVal ControlName As Control, ByVal txt As String)
ControlName.Text = txt
End Sub
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Dim thread1 As New Threading.Thread(AddressOf threadstart)
thread1.IsBackground = True
thread1.Start()
End Sub
Private Sub threadstart()
Me.Invoke(Me.txtUpdate, New Object(), {Label1, "This is Label 1"})
End Sub
End Class

As TheValyreanGroup said, your delegate is supposed to accept two arguments, and you pass it three :
Me.Invoke(Me.txtUpdate, New Object(), {Label1, "This is Label 1"})
^-1--------^ ^-2--------^ ^-3-----------------------^
So just remove the New Object() thing, and transform this {Label1, ...} into just a string :
Me.Invoke(Me.txtUpdate, "This is Label 1")
OK Better that way.
On a second hand, what you are doing is not very usefull.
You create a new Thread from your UI Thread.
With this new Thread, you invoke back the UI Thread and you stop your Thread...
Remember that a Control can be updated only by the Thread who created the Form (the UI thread).
Unless you have a good reason to work with your background thread, you can resume your code to :
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Label1.Text = vbnullstring
End Sub
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Label1.Text = "This is Label 1"
End Sub
End Class
UPDATE
(from comments)
To make it more clear, here is a schema (that I took on https://androidkennel.org/android-networking-tutorial-with-asynctask/, if any restrictions apply I will remove the image)
The Main UI Thread is used for things :
React to user events (clicks, inputs...) and start background threads that will do the process
Update the User Interface when the background thread is over or during the task.
When I say what you're doing is not usefull is because your background thread does not do any processing, it just signals the UI thread to update the UI...

I would try this approach. upd_ControlTextProperty can be called successfully either from the UI thread or your new thread.
Public Class Form1
Delegate Sub myDelegate1(ByVal s_Name As Control, ByVal s_txt As String)
Public txtUpdate As New myDelegate1(AddressOf upd_ControlTextProperty)
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Label1.Text = ""
End Sub
Private Sub upd_ControlTextProperty(ByVal ControlName As Control, ByVal txt As String)
If Me.InvokeRequired = True Then
Me.Invoke(txtUpdate, New Object() {ControlName, txt})
Else
ControlName.Text = txt
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Dim thread1 As New Threading.Thread(AddressOf threadstart)
thread1.IsBackground = True
thread1.Start()
End Sub
Private Sub threadstart()
upd_ControlTextProperty(Label1, "This is Label 1")
End Sub
End Class

Related

Switching forms in vb.net

I am a volunteer for the National Park Service trying to convert an interactive display originally created 20 years ago in a language called ToolBook into Visual Basic. The program consists of several projects under a single solution. The starting project, called "MainMenu", can be thought of as a library, with buttons that bring up “books.” The project called Geology is an example “book” and GeologyMenu can be thought of as the index of a book. The buttons on GeologyMenu connect to “chapters” that explain and show examples of geologic processes in the park. The “chapters” are within the project “Geology” and work fine within the project. All forms used in the program have timers that allow the program to re-set itself to MainMenu when not in use.
In a previous post, with the help of Idle Mind (thank you again), the following code for works fine for going from MainMenu to GeologyMenu and in the reverse direction as long as no button is pushed on GeologyMenu. However, if I go to a “chapter” I can no longer get back to the MainMenu from the GeologyMenu. Here is the relevant code:
MainMenu
Public Class frmMainMenu
Private Sub BtnGeology_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnGeology.Click
Dim formNew As New Geology.frmGeologyMenu
AddHandler formNew.FormClosed, AddressOf formNew_FormClosed
TimerMain.Stop()
formNew.Show()
Me.Hide()
End Sub
Private Sub formNew_FormClosed(Sender As Object, e As FormClosedEventArgs)
lblTime.Text = 8
TimerMain.Start()
Me.Show()
End Sub
GeologyMenu
Public Class frmGeologyMenu
Public Sub frmGeologyMenu_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
lblTime.Text = 6
TimerGeologyMenu.Enabled = True
Me.Show()
End Sub
Private Sub BtnErosion_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnErosion.Click
TimerGeologyMenu.Stop()
frmErosionP01.Show()
Me.Hide()
End Sub
The code below for takes the viewer to the Erosion “chapter”
Private Sub BtnErosion_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnErosion.Click
TimerGeologyMenu.Stop()
frmErosionP01.Show()
Me.Hide()
End Sub
Erosion “Chapter” . This is the code for the button on every form in Erosion that takes the program back to GeologyMenu
Public Class frmErosionP02
Private Sub BtnGeologyMenu_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnGeologyMenu.Click
My.Computer.Audio.Stop()
frmGeologyMenu.lblTime.Text = 10
frmGeologyMenu.TimerGeologyMenu.Enabled = True
frmGeologyMenu.Show()
Me.Close()
End Sub
The code for forms within Erosion takes me back to GeologyMenu, but then MainMenu won’t show when I close GeologyMenu and I don’t understand why or how to fix it. Thank you in advance for your help!
Simply, pass the previous menu/Form to the new one in a parameterized constructor and keep it in a class variable, then handle the Form.Closed event of the new menu to show the previous one.
Example for the relevant code:
Public Class frmMainMenu
Inherits Form
Private Sub BtnGeology_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnGeology.Click
Dim formNew As New frmGeologyMenu(Me)
Me.Hide()
formNew.Show()
End Sub
End Class
Public Class frmGeologyMenu
Inherits Form
Private PreviousMenu As Form
Private Sub New()
InitializeComponent()
'...
End Sub
Sub New(prevMenu As Form)
Me.New()
PreviousMenu = prevMenu
AddHandler FormClosed,
Sub(s, e)
PreviousMenu.Show()
End Sub
End Sub
Private Sub BtnErosion_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnErosion.Click
Dim frmErosion As New frmErosionP02(Me)
Me.Hide()
frmErosion.Show()
End Sub
End Class
Public Class frmErosionP02
Inherits Form
Private PreviousMenu As Form
Private Sub New()
InitializeComponent()
'...
End Sub
Public Sub New(prevMenu As Form)
Me.New()
PreviousMenu = prevMenu
AddHandler FormClosed,
Sub(s, e)
PreviousMenu.Show()
End Sub
End Sub
End Class

VB.net BackgroundWorker UI

I am trying to create an app that produces an excel document based on user input. The document can become quite extensive (multiple sheets), so I want to put the creation of the document on a BackgroundWorker and pass the progress to a ProgressBar.
I'm having problems accessing UI controls while creating the document.
How can I access multiple UI controls from a BackgroundWorker?
This is a very basic example of two of the many things that i want to do in the BackgroundWorker:
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_DoWork(sender As Object, e As System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.DoWork
OpenWorkbook()
Dim Combobox() As ComboBox = {ComboBox1, ComboBox2, ComboBox3, ComboBox4}
With xlWorkBook.Sheets("Cover1")
.Range("E5").Value = TextBox1.Text
.Range("E6").Value = TextBox2.Text
.Range("E7").Value = TextBox3.Text
.Range("E8").Value = TextBox4.Text
For i = 0 To Combobox.Count - 1
.Range("A" & i + 1).Value = Combobox(i).Text
Next
End With
CloseWorkBook()
End Sub
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync()
End Sub
I'm not experienced at all and after researching on this subject, I'm still not getting along with the Delegate/Invoke. Any help would be awesome. Thanks in advance.
As pointed out by Heinzi you cant just pass reference to a control into a bgw. instead you pass the values.
Option Strict On
Public Class FormControls
WithEvents Bgw As New ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker With {.WorkerReportsProgress = True}
Public Class BgwArgs
Public TxtBx1Txt As String = FormControls.TextBox1.Text
Public TxtBx2Txt As String = FormControls.TextBox2.Text
Public CmbBx1Txt As String = FormControls.ComboBox1.SelectedText
End Class
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Dim BgwArgs As New BgwArgs
Bgw.RunWorkerAsync(BgwArgs)
End Sub
Private Sub Bgw_DoWork(sender As Object, e As ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs) Handles Bgw.DoWork
Dim BgwArgs As BgwArgs = DirectCast(e.Argument, BgwArgs)
.Range("E5").Value = BgwArgs.TxtBx1Txt 'etc
End Sub
End Class
I assume the OpenWorkbook is a sub that uses interop to create xlWorkBook where you would instead want to do that within the thread also, same with CloseWorkbook all that should be handled in the DoWork event and not in their own separate routines.

Background Workers and Successive Events

I'm back again, with more code than last time. I may reference my previous questions here and there but this question is independent
I managed to convince my employer to drop the proprietary serial port communications library I was made to use, so now I am starting from scratch with SerialPorts and BackgroundWorkers so that I know how they work.
Here is my code:
Imports System
Imports System.IO.Ports
Public Class Form1
'SerialPort Port and BackgroundWorker Worker declared in form
Delegate Sub AppendText_Delegate(ByVal txtBox As TextBox, ByVal str As String)
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Port.PortName = ("COM9")
Port.BaudRate = 115200
Port.Parity = Parity.None
Port.StopBits = StopBits.One
Port.Handshake = Handshake.None
Port.ReadTimeout = 1000
Port.WriteTimeout = 1000
Port.Open()
AddHandler Port.DataReceived, AddressOf DataReceived
Worker.WorkerReportsProgress = True
Worker.WorkerSupportsCancellation = True
End Sub
Private Sub btnSend_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnSend.Click
Port.Write(txtInput.Text & vbCrLf)
End Sub
Private Sub DataReceived(sender As Object, e As SerialDataReceivedEventArgs)
Worker.RunWorkerAsync()
End Sub
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_DoWork(sender As System.Object, e As System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs) Handles Worker.DoWork
If Worker.CancellationPending Then
e.Cancel = True
End If
AppendText_ThreadSafe(Me.txtOutput, Port.ReadLine())
End Sub
Private Sub AppendText_ThreadSafe(ByVal txtBox As TextBox, ByVal str As String)
If txtBox.InvokeRequired Then
Dim MyDelegate As New AppendText_Delegate(AddressOf AppendText_ThreadSafe)
Me.Invoke(MyDelegate, New Object() {txtBox, str})
Else
txtBox.AppendText(str)
End If
End Sub
End Class
At this moment I really not sure how the DataReceived event and the BackgroundWorker work together. Where should I put Worker.RunWorkerAsync() so that it calls DoWork() only when the DataReceived event is raised? Should I bind both events to the same method?
Thanks for your help, and apologies for the simplicity of this question. I've only just started with BackgroundWorkers and am still finding my footing, so to speak.
The DataReceived event of the SerialPort class is raised on a background thread, so it will not block the UI thread and you therefore don't need to use a BackgroundWorker in this case. Because DataReceived is called on a background thread, you will need to use Invoke if you need to update any UI controls from that handler.

BackgroundWorker freezes GUI

I have read other posts about this but I still can't seem to get it to work right.
Whenever my BackgroundWorker begins to do work, my function API.CheckForUpdate causes the GUI to hang. I can't click on anything. It only freezes for half a second, but is enough to notice.
How can I fix this? Should I dive deeper into API.CheckForUpdate and run individual threads on particular statements, or can I just have an all-inclusive thread that handles this? API.CheckForUpdate does not reference anything in Form1.
Also, I presume Form1_Load is not the best place to put the RunWorkerAsync call. Where is a better spot?
'Declarations
Dim ApplicationUpdate As BackgroundWorker = New BackgroundWorker
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
ApplicationUpdate.WorkerSupportsCancellation = True
ApplicationUpdate.WorkerReportsProgress = True
AddHandler ApplicationUpdate.DoWork, AddressOf ApplicationUpdate_DoWork
AddHandler ApplicationUpdate.ProgressChanged, AddressOf ApplicationUpdate_ProgressChanged
AddHandler ApplicationUpdate.RunWorkerCompleted, AddressOf ApplicationUpdate_RunWorkerCompleted
ApplicationUpdate.RunWorkerAsync()
End Sub
Private Sub ApplicationUpdate_DoWork(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs)
'Check for an update (get the latest version)
Dim LatestVersion = API.CheckForUpdate
End Sub
Private Sub ApplicationUpdate_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As ProgressChangedEventArgs)
'Nothing here
End Sub
Private Sub ApplicationUpdate_RunWorkerCompleted(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs)
'Work completed
MsgBox("Done")
End Sub
Its not a background worker Fix but if you don't mind walking around and not finding the answer, you can code like so:
Keep in mind when you first Start a Thread and you are coding in a Model you MUST pass (me) into the initial thread because of VB having a concept of "Default Form Instances". For every Form in the application's namespace, there will be a default instance created in the My namespace under the Forms property.
and that is just adding an additional parameter like so
----------------------/ Starting Main Thread /-----------------------------------
Private Sub FindCustomerLocation()
Dim Findcontractor_Thread As New Thread(AddressOf **FindContractor_ThreadExecute**)
Findcontractor_Thread.Priority = ThreadPriority.AboveNormal
Findcontractor_Thread.Start(me)
End Sub
------------------/ Running Thread /---------------
Private Sub **FindContractor_ThreadExecute**(beginform as *NameOfFormComingFrom*)
Dim threadControls(1) As Object
threadControls(0) = Me.XamDataGrid1
threadControls(1) = Me.WebBrowserMap
**FindContractor_WorkingThread**(threadControls,beginform) ' ANY UI Calls back to the Main UI Thread MUST be delegated and Invoked
End Sub
------------------/ How to Set UI Calls from a Thread / ---------------------
Delegate Sub **FindContractor_WorkingThread**(s As Integer,beginform as *NameOfFormComingFrom*)
Sub **FindContractor_WorkingThreadInvoke**(ByVal s As Integer,beginform as *NameOfFormComingFrom*)
If beginform.mouse.InvokeRequired Then
Dim d As New FindContractor_WorkingThread(AddressOf FindContractor_WorkingThreadInvoke)
beginform.Invoke(d, New Object() {s,beginform})
Else
beginform.Mouse.OverrideCursor = Cursors.Wait
'Do something...
beginform.Mouse.OverrideCursor = Nothing
End If
End Sub
Sources From Pakks Answer Tested!
Try starting the process outside the Load event. Create a Timer and start it on the Load event, and then handle the event for the tick:
Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
Timer1.Enabled = False
ApplicationUpdate.RunWorkerAsync()
End Sub

how to run a function/sub after loading the form window in VB?

I have a function that gets User ID from USB badge reader, used to log in an application.
when I run the app, the log in window does not appear until I swipe the tag.
I need to know if it`s possible to load the windows, then to start running the function that gets the data from the USB.
Thanks :)
Private Sub SerialPort1_DataReceived()
'Threading.Thread.SpinWait(1000)
OpenPort()
If SerialPort1.IsOpen() Then
byteEnd = SerialPort1.NewLine.ToCharArray
'read entire string until .Newline
readBuffer = SerialPort1.ReadLine()
readBuffer = readBuffer.Remove(0, 1)
readBuffer = readBuffer.Remove(8, 1)
WWIDTextBox.AppendText(readBuffer)
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Form1_Activated(ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Activated
SerialPort1_DataReceived()
End Sub
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
'SerialPort1_DataReceived()
End Sub
The problem is that you are calling the ReadLine method, which is a blocking (synchronous) method. In other words, when you call it, the method does not return the value until it has the value to return. Because of that, it stops execution on the current thread until a complete line is read (when the badge is swiped). Since you are on the UI thread when you call it, it will lock up the UI until the badge is swiped.
Instead of calling your SerialPort1_DataReceived method from the UI thread, you can do the work from a different thread. The easiest way to do that is to drag a BackgroundWorker component onto your form in the designer. Then you can add code like this:
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync()
End Sub
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_DoWork(sender As Object, e As DoWorkEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.DoWork
OpenPort()
If SerialPort1.IsOpen() Then
byteEnd = SerialPort1.NewLine.ToCharArray
Dim readBuffer As String = SerialPort1.ReadLine()
readBuffer = readBuffer.Remove(0, 1)
readBuffer = readBuffer.Remove(8, 1)
e.Result = readBuffer
End If
End Sub
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(sender As Object, e As RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted
WWIDTextBox.AppendText(CStr(e.Result))
End Sub
Working on VS2013, I came across the same issue, I needed to to a datagridview refresh (colors in the gridrows). This worked for me.
Sub MyForm_VisibleChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.VisibleChanged
If Me.Visible Then
'do action...
End If
End Sub
Try Form Activated Event
Private Sub Form1_Activated(ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Activated
'Call your function here
End Sub
It call the function After the Form Loads...
Private Sub loadCombo()
Dim sqlconn As New OleDb.OleDbConnection
Dim connString As String
connString = ""
Dim access As String
access = "select slno from atable"
Dim DataTab As New DataTable
Dim DataAdap As New OleDbDataAdapter(access, connString)
DataAdap.Fill(DataTab)
ComboBox1.DataSource = DataTab
ComboBox1.DisplayMember = "slno"
End Sub