"For Each" loop : Application Freeze in Vb.net - vb.net

Question

I am using the following code to get the size of files inside a directory
and put it in Label1:
For Each foundFile As String In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles( _
"\windows",Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.SearchOption.SearchTopLevelOnly,_
"*.*")
Dim filesizelabel As System.IO.FileInfo = My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFileInfo(foundFile)
Label1.Text = Label1.Text + filesizelabel.Length
Next
The problem is that i have more than 50 for each loops (a system cleaning app).
When I run the loops my app freezes until the loops finish, even if I run one loop.
Is there a solution to make it show the name of the current file? I tried this as well, but it also froze my application:
label2.text = foundfile
The application does not respond to any click, until it finishes the loops. It shows the size in Label1 and the last scanned file in Label2. This also freezes the application:
system.threading.thread.sleep(100)
Is there any alternative to foreach or a solution to fix this issue?

Answer 1

Here's a quick example using Async/Await with a Button Click() Handler:
Private Async Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Button1.Enabled = False
Await Task.Run(Sub()
' this runs in a different thread without blocking the GUI:
For Each foundFile As String In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles(
"\windows", Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.SearchOption.SearchTopLevelOnly, "*.*")
Dim filesizelabel As System.IO.FileInfo = My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFileInfo(foundFile)
' when you need to update the GUI:
Me.Invoke(Sub()
' ... do it in here ...
Label1.Text = Label1.Text + filesizelabel.Length
End Sub)
Next
End Sub)
Button1.Enabled = True
End Sub
For VB.Net 2010, try this instead:
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Button1.Enabled = False
Dim T As New System.Threading.Thread(AddressOf Worker)
T.Start()
End Sub
Private Sub Worker()
' this runs in a different thread without blocking the GUI:
For Each foundFile As String In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles(
"\windows", Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.SearchOption.SearchTopLevelOnly, "*.*")
Dim filesizelabel As System.IO.FileInfo = My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFileInfo(foundFile)
' when you need to update the GUI:
Me.Invoke(Sub()
' ... do it in here ...
Label1.Text = Label1.Text + filesizelabel.Length
End Sub)
Next
Me.Invoke(Sub()
Button1.Enabled = True
End Sub)
End Sub

Answer 2

This is a prime candidate for a background worker.
Have a read about how they work, but at a high level the task is run in another thread with some events that you access in your main UI thread.
Private bw As BackgroundWorker = New BackgroundWorker
Private Sub buttonStart_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.RoutedEventArgs)
If Not bw.IsBusy = True Then
' this will start the work
bw.RunWorkerAsync()
End If
End Sub
Private Sub buttonCancel_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.RoutedEventArgs)
If bw.WorkerSupportsCancellation = True Then
' this will allow the user to cancel the work part way through
bw.CancelAsync()
End If
End Sub
Private Sub bw_DoWork(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs)
' your slow code goes here
End Sub
Private Sub bw_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As ProgressChangedEventArgs)
' you can update the UI here to show progress
End Sub
Private Sub bw_RunWorkerCompleted(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs)
' your 'I've finished notification' code goes here
End Sub

Answer 3

Derek has put a bad code, it's not working and Idle mind code does not work on .NET 2.0
Dereks approach is working if code is complete, as below:
Private bw As BackgroundWorker = New BackgroundWorker
Private Sub app_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
AddHandler bw.DoWork, AddressOf bw_DoWork
AddHandler bw.ProgressChanged, AddressOf bw_ProgressChanged
AddHandler bw.RunWorkerCompleted, AddressOf bw_RunWorkerCompleted
..
End sub
Private Sub Btn_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Btn.Click
If Not bw.IsBusy = True Then
' this will start the work
bw.RunWorkerAsync()
End If
End Sub
Private Sub bw_DoWork(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs)
'your work to not freeze form
end sub
Private Sub bw_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As ProgressChangedEventArgs)
' you can update the UI here to show progress
End Sub
Private Sub bw_RunWorkerCompleted(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs)
' your 'I've finished notification' code goes here
End Sub