Execute a method in main thread from event handler

Question

I have a custom Queue class inherited from Queue class. It has an event ItemAdded. In the event handler of this event i am executing a method. But it is running other than main thread, though i want it in main thread. I don't know how to do it. Any suggestion ?

//My custom class


using System;
using System.Collections; //Required to inherit non-generic Queue class.

namespace QueueWithEvent
{
    public class SmartQueue:Queue
    {

        public delegate void ItemAddedEventHandler(object sender, EventArgs e);

        public event ItemAddedEventHandler ItemAdded;

        protected virtual void OnItemAdded(EventArgs e)
        {
           if (ItemAdded != null)
           {
              ItemAdded(this, e);
           }
    }

    public override void Enqueue(object Item)
    {
        base.Enqueue(Item);
        OnItemAdded(EventArgs.Empty);
    }        

   }
}



 //Winform application

 using System;
 using System.ComponentModel;
 using System.Windows.Forms;
 using QueueWithEvent;

 namespace TestApp
 {
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {

    SmartQueue qTest = new SmartQueue();

    public Form1()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        qTest.ItemAdded += new SmartQueue.ItemAddedEventHandler(this.QChanged);
    }

    private void btnStartBgw_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        DisplayThreadName();
        bgwTest.RunWorkerAsync();
    }

    private void bgwTest_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
    {
        try
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < 11; i++)
            {
                string valueTExt = i.ToString();
                qTest.Enqueue(valueTExt);
                System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(5000);
            }
        }
        catch (Exception Ex)
        {
            MessageBox.Show(Ex.Message);

        }
    }


    private void DisplayThreadName()
    {
        string tName = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId.ToString();
        txtThreadName.Text = tName;           
    }

    private void QChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        //#########I want this method to run on main thread #############
        DisplayThreadName();
    }
}
}

Thanks in advance. SKPaul.

Answer 1

You are enqueueing items on background thread (DoWork event handler runs on background thread), thus your event raised also in background thread.

Use InvokeRequired method to verify if you are on UI thread. And if not, then use Invoke to run code on UI thread:

 private void QChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
 {
     if (InvokeRequired)
     {
         Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate { QChanged(sender, e); });
         return;
     }
     // this code will run on main (UI) thread 
     DisplayThreadName();
 }

Another option for you - use ProgressChanged event to enqueue items (don't forget to set WorkerReportsProgress to true). This event handler runs on UI thread:

private void bgwTest_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
    BackgroundWorker worker = (BackgroundWorker)sender;

    for (int i = 0; i < 11; i++)
    { 
        // use user state for passing data
        // which is not reflecting progress percentage
        worker.ReportProgress(0, i);
        System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(5000);
    }
}

private void bgwTest_ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
     string valueTExt = e.UserState.ToString();
     qTest.Enqueue(valueTExt);
}

Answer 2

You can use the same approach as the BackgroundWorker, that is incorporating AsyncOperation as a member in your class, which can dispatch operations to a thread it has been created in.

protected AsyncOperation AsyncOp;

Instantiate it in your constructor with "null" argument. That creates an async operation "bound" to the current thread.

public SmartQueue()
{
    AsyncOp = AsyncOperationManager.CreateOperation(null);
}

Then you can use the AsyncOp to Post your event.

public override void Enqueue(object Item)
{
    base.Enqueue(Item);
    AsyncOp.Post(OnItemAdded, EventArgs.Empty);
}

That will execute the OnItemAdded handlers (subscribers) on the same thread that created the SmartQueue instance.

Answer 3

Try with this code in main thread:

SmartQueue smartQueue = new SmartQueue();

public Form1()
{
    InitializeComponent();
    smartQueue.ItemAdded += new SmartQueue.ItemAddedEventHandler(smartQueue_ItemAdded);
}

void smartQueue_ItemAdded(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    // add your code in here
}