In C# what is the recommended way of passing data between 2 threads?

Question

I have my main GUI thread, and a second thread running inside it\'s own ApplicationContext (to keep it alive, even when there is no work to be done). I want to call a method

Answer 1

The convenience of Control.BeginInvoke() is hard to pass up. You don't have to. Add a new class to your project and paste this code:

using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Windows.Forms;

public partial class frmWorker : Form {
  public frmWorker() {
    // Start the worker thread
    Thread t = new Thread(new ParameterizedThreadStart(WorkerThread));
    t.IsBackground = true;
    t.Start(this);
  }
  public void Stop() {
    // Synchronous thread stop
    this.Invoke(new MethodInvoker(stopWorker), null);
  }
  private void stopWorker() {
    this.Close();
  }
  private static void WorkerThread(object frm) {
    // Start the message loop
    frmWorker f = frm as frmWorker;
    f.CreateHandle();
    Application.Run(f);
  }
  protected override void SetVisibleCore(bool value) {
    // Shouldn't become visible
    value = false;
    base.SetVisibleCore(value);
  }
}

Here's some sample code to test it:

  public partial class Form1 : Form {
    private frmWorker mWorker;
    public Form1() {
      InitializeComponent();
      mWorker = new frmWorker();
    }

    private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {
      Console.WriteLine(System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
      mWorker.BeginInvoke(new MethodInvoker(RunThisOnThread));
    }
    private void RunThisOnThread() {
      Console.WriteLine(System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
    }

    private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {
      mWorker.Stop();
    }
  }