BackgroundWorker Class
Definition
Important
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Executes an operation on a separate thread.
public ref class BackgroundWorker : IDisposable
public ref class BackgroundWorker : System::ComponentModel::Component
public class BackgroundWorker : IDisposable
public class BackgroundWorker : System.ComponentModel.Component
type BackgroundWorker = class
interface IDisposable
type BackgroundWorker = class
inherit Component
Public Class BackgroundWorker
Implements IDisposable
Public Class BackgroundWorker
Inherits Component
- Inheritance
-
BackgroundWorker
- Inheritance
- Implements
Examples
The following code example demonstrates the basics of the BackgroundWorker class for executing a time-consuming operation asynchronously. The following illustration shows an example of the output.
To try this code, create a Windows Forms application. Add a Label control named resultLabel
and add two Button controls named startAsyncButton
and cancelAsyncButton
. Create Click event handlers for both buttons. From the Components tab of the Toolbox, add a BackgroundWorker component named backgroundWorker1
. Create DoWork, ProgressChanged, and RunWorkerCompleted event handlers for the BackgroundWorker. In the code for the form, replace the existing code with the following code.
using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace BackgroundWorkerSimple
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
backgroundWorker1.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
backgroundWorker1.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
}
private void startAsyncButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (backgroundWorker1.IsBusy != true)
{
// Start the asynchronous operation.
backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync();
}
}
private void cancelAsyncButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (backgroundWorker1.WorkerSupportsCancellation == true)
{
// Cancel the asynchronous operation.
backgroundWorker1.CancelAsync();
}
}
// This event handler is where the time-consuming work is done.
private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;
for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
{
if (worker.CancellationPending == true)
{
e.Cancel = true;
break;
}
else
{
// Perform a time consuming operation and report progress.
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(500);
worker.ReportProgress(i * 10);
}
}
}
// This event handler updates the progress.
private void backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
resultLabel.Text = (e.ProgressPercentage.ToString() + "%");
}
// This event handler deals with the results of the background operation.
private void backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Cancelled == true)
{
resultLabel.Text = "Canceled!";
}
else if (e.Error != null)
{
resultLabel.Text = "Error: " + e.Error.Message;
}
else
{
resultLabel.Text = "Done!";
}
}
}
}
Imports System.ComponentModel
Public Class Form1
Public Sub New()
InitializeComponent()
backgroundWorker1.WorkerReportsProgress = True
backgroundWorker1.WorkerSupportsCancellation = True
End Sub
Private Sub startAsyncButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles startAsyncButton.Click
If backgroundWorker1.IsBusy <> True Then
' Start the asynchronous operation.
backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync()
End If
End Sub
Private Sub cancelAsyncButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cancelAsyncButton.Click
If backgroundWorker1.WorkerSupportsCancellation = True Then
' Cancel the asynchronous operation.
backgroundWorker1.CancelAsync()
End If
End Sub
' This event handler is where the time-consuming work is done.
Private Sub backgroundWorker1_DoWork(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs) Handles backgroundWorker1.DoWork
Dim worker As BackgroundWorker = CType(sender, BackgroundWorker)
Dim i As Integer
For i = 1 To 10
If (worker.CancellationPending = True) Then
e.Cancel = True
Exit For
Else
' Perform a time consuming operation and report progress.
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(500)
worker.ReportProgress(i * 10)
End If
Next
End Sub
' This event handler updates the progress.
Private Sub backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As ProgressChangedEventArgs) Handles backgroundWorker1.ProgressChanged
resultLabel.Text = (e.ProgressPercentage.ToString() + "%")
End Sub
' This event handler deals with the results of the background operation.
Private Sub backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) Handles backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted
If e.Cancelled = True Then
resultLabel.Text = "Canceled!"
ElseIf e.Error IsNot Nothing Then
resultLabel.Text = "Error: " & e.Error.Message
Else
resultLabel.Text = "Done!"
End If
End Sub
End Class
The following code example demonstrates the use of the BackgroundWorker class for executing a time-consuming operation asynchronously. The following illustration shows an example of the output.
The operation computes the selected Fibonacci number, reports progress updates as the calculation proceeds, and permits a pending calculation to be canceled.
#using <System.Drawing.dll>
#using <System.dll>
#using <System.Windows.Forms.dll>
using namespace System;
using namespace System::Collections;
using namespace System::ComponentModel;
using namespace System::Drawing;
using namespace System::Threading;
using namespace System::Windows::Forms;
public ref class FibonacciForm: public System::Windows::Forms::Form
{
private:
int numberToCompute;
int highestPercentageReached;
System::Windows::Forms::NumericUpDown^ numericUpDown1;
System::Windows::Forms::Button^ startAsyncButton;
System::Windows::Forms::Button^ cancelAsyncButton;
System::Windows::Forms::ProgressBar^ progressBar1;
System::Windows::Forms::Label ^ resultLabel;
System::ComponentModel::BackgroundWorker^ backgroundWorker1;
public:
FibonacciForm()
{
InitializeComponent();
numberToCompute = highestPercentageReached = 0;
InitializeBackgoundWorker();
}
private:
// Set up the BackgroundWorker object by
// attaching event handlers.
void InitializeBackgoundWorker()
{
backgroundWorker1->DoWork += gcnew DoWorkEventHandler( this, &FibonacciForm::backgroundWorker1_DoWork );
backgroundWorker1->RunWorkerCompleted += gcnew RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler( this, &FibonacciForm::backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted );
backgroundWorker1->ProgressChanged += gcnew ProgressChangedEventHandler( this, &FibonacciForm::backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged );
}
void startAsyncButton_Click( System::Object^ /*sender*/, System::EventArgs^ /*e*/ )
{
// Reset the text in the result label.
resultLabel->Text = String::Empty;
// Disable the UpDown control until
// the asynchronous operation is done.
this->numericUpDown1->Enabled = false;
// Disable the Start button until
// the asynchronous operation is done.
this->startAsyncButton->Enabled = false;
// Enable the Cancel button while
// the asynchronous operation runs.
this->cancelAsyncButton->Enabled = true;
// Get the value from the UpDown control.
numberToCompute = (int)numericUpDown1->Value;
// Reset the variable for percentage tracking.
highestPercentageReached = 0;
// Start the asynchronous operation.
backgroundWorker1->RunWorkerAsync( numberToCompute );
}
void cancelAsyncButton_Click( System::Object^ /*sender*/, System::EventArgs^ /*e*/ )
{
// Cancel the asynchronous operation.
this->backgroundWorker1->CancelAsync();
// Disable the Cancel button.
cancelAsyncButton->Enabled = false;
}
// This event handler is where the actual,
// potentially time-consuming work is done.
void backgroundWorker1_DoWork( Object^ sender, DoWorkEventArgs^ e )
{
// Get the BackgroundWorker that raised this event.
BackgroundWorker^ worker = dynamic_cast<BackgroundWorker^>(sender);
// Assign the result of the computation
// to the Result property of the DoWorkEventArgs
// object. This is will be available to the
// RunWorkerCompleted eventhandler.
e->Result = ComputeFibonacci( safe_cast<Int32>(e->Argument), worker, e );
}
// This event handler deals with the results of the
// background operation.
void backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted( Object^ /*sender*/, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs^ e )
{
// First, handle the case where an exception was thrown.
if ( e->Error != nullptr )
{
MessageBox::Show( e->Error->Message );
}
else
if ( e->Cancelled )
{
// Next, handle the case where the user cancelled
// the operation.
// Note that due to a race condition in
// the DoWork event handler, the Cancelled
// flag may not have been set, even though
// CancelAsync was called.
resultLabel->Text = "Cancelled";
}
else
{
// Finally, handle the case where the operation
// succeeded.
resultLabel->Text = e->Result->ToString();
}
// Enable the UpDown control.
this->numericUpDown1->Enabled = true;
// Enable the Start button.
startAsyncButton->Enabled = true;
// Disable the Cancel button.
cancelAsyncButton->Enabled = false;
}
// This event handler updates the progress bar.
void backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged( Object^ /*sender*/, ProgressChangedEventArgs^ e )
{
this->progressBar1->Value = e->ProgressPercentage;
}
// This is the method that does the actual work. For this
// example, it computes a Fibonacci number and
// reports progress as it does its work.
long ComputeFibonacci( int n, BackgroundWorker^ worker, DoWorkEventArgs ^ e )
{
// The parameter n must be >= 0 and <= 91.
// Fib(n), with n > 91, overflows a long.
if ( (n < 0) || (n > 91) )
{
throw gcnew ArgumentException( "value must be >= 0 and <= 91","n" );
}
long result = 0;
// Abort the operation if the user has cancelled.
// Note that a call to CancelAsync may have set
// CancellationPending to true just after the
// last invocation of this method exits, so this
// code will not have the opportunity to set the
// DoWorkEventArgs.Cancel flag to true. This means
// that RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs.Cancelled will
// not be set to true in your RunWorkerCompleted
// event handler. This is a race condition.
if ( worker->CancellationPending )
{
e->Cancel = true;
}
else
{
if ( n < 2 )
{
result = 1;
}
else
{
result = ComputeFibonacci( n - 1, worker, e ) + ComputeFibonacci( n - 2, worker, e );
}
// Report progress as a percentage of the total task.
int percentComplete = (int)((float)n / (float)numberToCompute * 100);
if ( percentComplete > highestPercentageReached )
{
highestPercentageReached = percentComplete;
worker->ReportProgress( percentComplete );
}
}
return result;
}
void InitializeComponent()
{
this->numericUpDown1 = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::NumericUpDown;
this->startAsyncButton = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Button;
this->cancelAsyncButton = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Button;
this->resultLabel = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Label;
this->progressBar1 = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::ProgressBar;
this->backgroundWorker1 = gcnew System::ComponentModel::BackgroundWorker;
(dynamic_cast<System::ComponentModel::ISupportInitialize^>(this->numericUpDown1))->BeginInit();
this->SuspendLayout();
//
// numericUpDown1
//
this->numericUpDown1->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 16, 16 );
array<Int32>^temp0 = {91,0,0,0};
this->numericUpDown1->Maximum = System::Decimal( temp0 );
array<Int32>^temp1 = {1,0,0,0};
this->numericUpDown1->Minimum = System::Decimal( temp1 );
this->numericUpDown1->Name = "numericUpDown1";
this->numericUpDown1->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 80, 20 );
this->numericUpDown1->TabIndex = 0;
array<Int32>^temp2 = {1,0,0,0};
this->numericUpDown1->Value = System::Decimal( temp2 );
//
// startAsyncButton
//
this->startAsyncButton->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 16, 72 );
this->startAsyncButton->Name = "startAsyncButton";
this->startAsyncButton->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 120, 23 );
this->startAsyncButton->TabIndex = 1;
this->startAsyncButton->Text = "Start Async";
this->startAsyncButton->Click += gcnew System::EventHandler( this, &FibonacciForm::startAsyncButton_Click );
//
// cancelAsyncButton
//
this->cancelAsyncButton->Enabled = false;
this->cancelAsyncButton->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 153, 72 );
this->cancelAsyncButton->Name = "cancelAsyncButton";
this->cancelAsyncButton->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 119, 23 );
this->cancelAsyncButton->TabIndex = 2;
this->cancelAsyncButton->Text = "Cancel Async";
this->cancelAsyncButton->Click += gcnew System::EventHandler( this, &FibonacciForm::cancelAsyncButton_Click );
//
// resultLabel
//
this->resultLabel->BorderStyle = System::Windows::Forms::BorderStyle::Fixed3D;
this->resultLabel->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 112, 16 );
this->resultLabel->Name = "resultLabel";
this->resultLabel->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 160, 23 );
this->resultLabel->TabIndex = 3;
this->resultLabel->Text = "(no result)";
this->resultLabel->TextAlign = System::Drawing::ContentAlignment::MiddleCenter;
//
// progressBar1
//
this->progressBar1->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 18, 48 );
this->progressBar1->Name = "progressBar1";
this->progressBar1->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 256, 8 );
this->progressBar1->Step = 2;
this->progressBar1->TabIndex = 4;
//
// backgroundWorker1
//
this->backgroundWorker1->WorkerReportsProgress = true;
this->backgroundWorker1->WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
//
// FibonacciForm
//
this->ClientSize = System::Drawing::Size( 292, 118 );
this->Controls->Add( this->progressBar1 );
this->Controls->Add( this->resultLabel );
this->Controls->Add( this->cancelAsyncButton );
this->Controls->Add( this->startAsyncButton );
this->Controls->Add( this->numericUpDown1 );
this->Name = "FibonacciForm";
this->Text = "Fibonacci Calculator";
(dynamic_cast<System::ComponentModel::ISupportInitialize^>(this->numericUpDown1))->EndInit();
this->ResumeLayout( false );
}
};
[STAThread]
int main()
{
Application::Run( gcnew FibonacciForm );
}
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Threading;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace BackgroundWorkerExample
{
public class FibonacciForm : System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
private int numberToCompute = 0;
private int highestPercentageReached = 0;
private System.Windows.Forms.NumericUpDown numericUpDown1;
private System.Windows.Forms.Button startAsyncButton;
private System.Windows.Forms.Button cancelAsyncButton;
private System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar progressBar1;
private System.Windows.Forms.Label resultLabel;
private System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker backgroundWorker1;
public FibonacciForm()
{
InitializeComponent();
InitializeBackgroundWorker();
}
// Set up the BackgroundWorker object by
// attaching event handlers.
private void InitializeBackgroundWorker()
{
backgroundWorker1.DoWork +=
new DoWorkEventHandler(backgroundWorker1_DoWork);
backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted +=
new RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(
backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted);
backgroundWorker1.ProgressChanged +=
new ProgressChangedEventHandler(
backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged);
}
private void startAsyncButton_Click(System.Object sender,
System.EventArgs e)
{
// Reset the text in the result label.
resultLabel.Text = String.Empty;
// Disable the UpDown control until
// the asynchronous operation is done.
this.numericUpDown1.Enabled = false;
// Disable the Start button until
// the asynchronous operation is done.
this.startAsyncButton.Enabled = false;
// Enable the Cancel button while
// the asynchronous operation runs.
this.cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = true;
// Get the value from the UpDown control.
numberToCompute = (int)numericUpDown1.Value;
// Reset the variable for percentage tracking.
highestPercentageReached = 0;
// Start the asynchronous operation.
backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync(numberToCompute);
}
private void cancelAsyncButton_Click(System.Object sender,
System.EventArgs e)
{
// Cancel the asynchronous operation.
this.backgroundWorker1.CancelAsync();
// Disable the Cancel button.
cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = false;
}
// This event handler is where the actual,
// potentially time-consuming work is done.
private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender,
DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
// Get the BackgroundWorker that raised this event.
BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;
// Assign the result of the computation
// to the Result property of the DoWorkEventArgs
// object. This is will be available to the
// RunWorkerCompleted eventhandler.
e.Result = ComputeFibonacci((int)e.Argument, worker, e);
}
// This event handler deals with the results of the
// background operation.
private void backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(
object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
// First, handle the case where an exception was thrown.
if (e.Error != null)
{
MessageBox.Show(e.Error.Message);
}
else if (e.Cancelled)
{
// Next, handle the case where the user canceled
// the operation.
// Note that due to a race condition in
// the DoWork event handler, the Cancelled
// flag may not have been set, even though
// CancelAsync was called.
resultLabel.Text = "Canceled";
}
else
{
// Finally, handle the case where the operation
// succeeded.
resultLabel.Text = e.Result.ToString();
}
// Enable the UpDown control.
this.numericUpDown1.Enabled = true;
// Enable the Start button.
startAsyncButton.Enabled = true;
// Disable the Cancel button.
cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = false;
}
// This event handler updates the progress bar.
private void backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(object sender,
ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{
this.progressBar1.Value = e.ProgressPercentage;
}
// This is the method that does the actual work. For this
// example, it computes a Fibonacci number and
// reports progress as it does its work.
long ComputeFibonacci(int n, BackgroundWorker worker, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
// The parameter n must be >= 0 and <= 91.
// Fib(n), with n > 91, overflows a long.
if ((n < 0) || (n > 91))
{
throw new ArgumentException(
"value must be >= 0 and <= 91", "n");
}
long result = 0;
// Abort the operation if the user has canceled.
// Note that a call to CancelAsync may have set
// CancellationPending to true just after the
// last invocation of this method exits, so this
// code will not have the opportunity to set the
// DoWorkEventArgs.Cancel flag to true. This means
// that RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs.Cancelled will
// not be set to true in your RunWorkerCompleted
// event handler. This is a race condition.
if (worker.CancellationPending)
{
e.Cancel = true;
}
else
{
if (n < 2)
{
result = 1;
}
else
{
result = ComputeFibonacci(n - 1, worker, e) +
ComputeFibonacci(n - 2, worker, e);
}
// Report progress as a percentage of the total task.
int percentComplete =
(int)((float)n / (float)numberToCompute * 100);
if (percentComplete > highestPercentageReached)
{
highestPercentageReached = percentComplete;
worker.ReportProgress(percentComplete);
}
}
return result;
}
#region Windows Form Designer generated code
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.numericUpDown1 = new System.Windows.Forms.NumericUpDown();
this.startAsyncButton = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.cancelAsyncButton = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.resultLabel = new System.Windows.Forms.Label();
this.progressBar1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar();
this.backgroundWorker1 = new System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker();
((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.numericUpDown1)).BeginInit();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// numericUpDown1
//
this.numericUpDown1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(16, 16);
this.numericUpDown1.Maximum = new System.Decimal(new int[] {
91,
0,
0,
0});
this.numericUpDown1.Minimum = new System.Decimal(new int[] {
1,
0,
0,
0});
this.numericUpDown1.Name = "numericUpDown1";
this.numericUpDown1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(80, 20);
this.numericUpDown1.TabIndex = 0;
this.numericUpDown1.Value = new System.Decimal(new int[] {
1,
0,
0,
0});
//
// startAsyncButton
//
this.startAsyncButton.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(16, 72);
this.startAsyncButton.Name = "startAsyncButton";
this.startAsyncButton.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(120, 23);
this.startAsyncButton.TabIndex = 1;
this.startAsyncButton.Text = "Start Async";
this.startAsyncButton.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.startAsyncButton_Click);
//
// cancelAsyncButton
//
this.cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = false;
this.cancelAsyncButton.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(153, 72);
this.cancelAsyncButton.Name = "cancelAsyncButton";
this.cancelAsyncButton.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(119, 23);
this.cancelAsyncButton.TabIndex = 2;
this.cancelAsyncButton.Text = "Cancel Async";
this.cancelAsyncButton.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.cancelAsyncButton_Click);
//
// resultLabel
//
this.resultLabel.BorderStyle = System.Windows.Forms.BorderStyle.Fixed3D;
this.resultLabel.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(112, 16);
this.resultLabel.Name = "resultLabel";
this.resultLabel.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(160, 23);
this.resultLabel.TabIndex = 3;
this.resultLabel.Text = "(no result)";
this.resultLabel.TextAlign = System.Drawing.ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter;
//
// progressBar1
//
this.progressBar1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(18, 48);
this.progressBar1.Name = "progressBar1";
this.progressBar1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(256, 8);
this.progressBar1.Step = 2;
this.progressBar1.TabIndex = 4;
//
// backgroundWorker1
//
this.backgroundWorker1.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
this.backgroundWorker1.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
//
// FibonacciForm
//
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 118);
this.Controls.Add(this.progressBar1);
this.Controls.Add(this.resultLabel);
this.Controls.Add(this.cancelAsyncButton);
this.Controls.Add(this.startAsyncButton);
this.Controls.Add(this.numericUpDown1);
this.Name = "FibonacciForm";
this.Text = "Fibonacci Calculator";
((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.numericUpDown1)).EndInit();
this.ResumeLayout(false);
}
#endregion
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
Application.Run(new FibonacciForm());
}
}
}
Imports System.Collections
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Public Class FibonacciForm
Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form
Private numberToCompute As Integer = 0
Private highestPercentageReached As Integer = 0
Private numericUpDown1 As System.Windows.Forms.NumericUpDown
Private WithEvents startAsyncButton As System.Windows.Forms.Button
Private WithEvents cancelAsyncButton As System.Windows.Forms.Button
Private progressBar1 As System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar
Private resultLabel As System.Windows.Forms.Label
Private WithEvents backgroundWorker1 As System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker
Public Sub New()
InitializeComponent()
End Sub
Private Sub startAsyncButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
Handles startAsyncButton.Click
' Reset the text in the result label.
resultLabel.Text = [String].Empty
' Disable the UpDown control until
' the asynchronous operation is done.
Me.numericUpDown1.Enabled = False
' Disable the Start button until
' the asynchronous operation is done.
Me.startAsyncButton.Enabled = False
' Enable the Cancel button while
' the asynchronous operation runs.
Me.cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = True
' Get the value from the UpDown control.
numberToCompute = CInt(numericUpDown1.Value)
' Reset the variable for percentage tracking.
highestPercentageReached = 0
' Start the asynchronous operation.
backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync(numberToCompute)
End Sub
Private Sub cancelAsyncButton_Click( _
ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
Handles cancelAsyncButton.Click
' Cancel the asynchronous operation.
Me.backgroundWorker1.CancelAsync()
' Disable the Cancel button.
cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = False
End Sub
' This event handler is where the actual work is done.
Private Sub backgroundWorker1_DoWork( _
ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs) _
Handles backgroundWorker1.DoWork
' Get the BackgroundWorker object that raised this event.
Dim worker As BackgroundWorker = _
CType(sender, BackgroundWorker)
' Assign the result of the computation
' to the Result property of the DoWorkEventArgs
' object. This is will be available to the
' RunWorkerCompleted eventhandler.
e.Result = ComputeFibonacci(e.Argument, worker, e)
End Sub
' This event handler deals with the results of the
' background operation.
Private Sub backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted( _
ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) _
Handles backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted
' First, handle the case where an exception was thrown.
If (e.Error IsNot Nothing) Then
MessageBox.Show(e.Error.Message)
ElseIf e.Cancelled Then
' Next, handle the case where the user canceled the
' operation.
' Note that due to a race condition in
' the DoWork event handler, the Cancelled
' flag may not have been set, even though
' CancelAsync was called.
resultLabel.Text = "Canceled"
Else
' Finally, handle the case where the operation succeeded.
resultLabel.Text = e.Result.ToString()
End If
' Enable the UpDown control.
Me.numericUpDown1.Enabled = True
' Enable the Start button.
startAsyncButton.Enabled = True
' Disable the Cancel button.
cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = False
End Sub
' This event handler updates the progress bar.
Private Sub backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged( _
ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As ProgressChangedEventArgs) _
Handles backgroundWorker1.ProgressChanged
Me.progressBar1.Value = e.ProgressPercentage
End Sub
' This is the method that does the actual work. For this
' example, it computes a Fibonacci number and
' reports progress as it does its work.
Function ComputeFibonacci( _
ByVal n As Integer, _
ByVal worker As BackgroundWorker, _
ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs) As Long
' The parameter n must be >= 0 and <= 91.
' Fib(n), with n > 91, overflows a long.
If n < 0 OrElse n > 91 Then
Throw New ArgumentException( _
"value must be >= 0 and <= 91", "n")
End If
Dim result As Long = 0
' Abort the operation if the user has canceled.
' Note that a call to CancelAsync may have set
' CancellationPending to true just after the
' last invocation of this method exits, so this
' code will not have the opportunity to set the
' DoWorkEventArgs.Cancel flag to true. This means
' that RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs.Cancelled will
' not be set to true in your RunWorkerCompleted
' event handler. This is a race condition.
If worker.CancellationPending Then
e.Cancel = True
Else
If n < 2 Then
result = 1
Else
result = ComputeFibonacci(n - 1, worker, e) + _
ComputeFibonacci(n - 2, worker, e)
End If
' Report progress as a percentage of the total task.
Dim percentComplete As Integer = _
CSng(n) / CSng(numberToCompute) * 100
If percentComplete > highestPercentageReached Then
highestPercentageReached = percentComplete
worker.ReportProgress(percentComplete)
End If
End If
Return result
End Function
Private Sub InitializeComponent()
Me.numericUpDown1 = New System.Windows.Forms.NumericUpDown
Me.startAsyncButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button
Me.cancelAsyncButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button
Me.resultLabel = New System.Windows.Forms.Label
Me.progressBar1 = New System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar
Me.backgroundWorker1 = New System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker
CType(Me.numericUpDown1, System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize).BeginInit()
Me.SuspendLayout()
'
'numericUpDown1
'
Me.numericUpDown1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(16, 16)
Me.numericUpDown1.Maximum = New Decimal(New Integer() {91, 0, 0, 0})
Me.numericUpDown1.Minimum = New Decimal(New Integer() {1, 0, 0, 0})
Me.numericUpDown1.Name = "numericUpDown1"
Me.numericUpDown1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(80, 20)
Me.numericUpDown1.TabIndex = 0
Me.numericUpDown1.Value = New Decimal(New Integer() {1, 0, 0, 0})
'
'startAsyncButton
'
Me.startAsyncButton.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(16, 72)
Me.startAsyncButton.Name = "startAsyncButton"
Me.startAsyncButton.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(120, 23)
Me.startAsyncButton.TabIndex = 1
Me.startAsyncButton.Text = "Start Async"
'
'cancelAsyncButton
'
Me.cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = False
Me.cancelAsyncButton.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(153, 72)
Me.cancelAsyncButton.Name = "cancelAsyncButton"
Me.cancelAsyncButton.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(119, 23)
Me.cancelAsyncButton.TabIndex = 2
Me.cancelAsyncButton.Text = "Cancel Async"
'
'resultLabel
'
Me.resultLabel.BorderStyle = System.Windows.Forms.BorderStyle.Fixed3D
Me.resultLabel.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(112, 16)
Me.resultLabel.Name = "resultLabel"
Me.resultLabel.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(160, 23)
Me.resultLabel.TabIndex = 3
Me.resultLabel.Text = "(no result)"
Me.resultLabel.TextAlign = System.Drawing.ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter
'
'progressBar1
'
Me.progressBar1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(18, 48)
Me.progressBar1.Name = "progressBar1"
Me.progressBar1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(256, 8)
Me.progressBar1.TabIndex = 4
'
'backgroundWorker1
'
Me.backgroundWorker1.WorkerReportsProgress = True
Me.backgroundWorker1.WorkerSupportsCancellation = True
'
'FibonacciForm
'
Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(292, 118)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.progressBar1)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.resultLabel)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.cancelAsyncButton)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.startAsyncButton)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.numericUpDown1)
Me.Name = "FibonacciForm"
Me.Text = "Fibonacci Calculator"
CType(Me.numericUpDown1, System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize).EndInit()
Me.ResumeLayout(False)
End Sub
<STAThread()> _
Shared Sub Main()
Application.Run(New FibonacciForm)
End Sub
End Class
Remarks
The BackgroundWorker class allows you to run an operation on a separate, dedicated thread. Time-consuming operations like downloads and database transactions can cause your user interface (UI) to seem as though it has stopped responding while they are running. When you want a responsive UI and you are faced with long delays associated with such operations, the BackgroundWorker class provides a convenient solution.
To execute a time-consuming operation in the background, create a BackgroundWorker and listen for events that report the progress of your operation and signal when your operation is finished. You can create the BackgroundWorker programmatically or you can drag it onto your form from the Components tab of the Toolbox. If you create the BackgroundWorker in the Windows Forms Designer, it will appear in the Component Tray, and its properties will be displayed in the Properties window.
To set up for a background operation, add an event handler for the DoWork event. Call your time-consuming operation in this event handler. To start the operation, call RunWorkerAsync. To receive notifications of progress updates, handle the ProgressChanged event. To receive a notification when the operation is completed, handle the RunWorkerCompleted event.
Note
You must be careful not to manipulate any user-interface objects in your DoWork event handler. Instead, communicate to the user interface through the ProgressChanged and RunWorkerCompleted events.
BackgroundWorker events are not marshaled across AppDomain boundaries. Do not use a BackgroundWorker component to perform multithreaded operations in more than one AppDomain.
If your background operation requires a parameter, call RunWorkerAsync with your parameter. Inside the DoWork event handler, you can extract the parameter from the DoWorkEventArgs.Argument property.
For more information about BackgroundWorker, see How to: Run an Operation in the Background.
Constructors
BackgroundWorker() |
Initializes a new instance of the BackgroundWorker class. |
Properties
CancellationPending |
Gets a value indicating whether the application has requested cancellation of a background operation. |
CanRaiseEvents |
Gets a value indicating whether the component can raise an event. (Inherited from Component) |
Container |
Gets the IContainer that contains the Component. (Inherited from Component) |
DesignMode |
Gets a value that indicates whether the Component is currently in design mode. (Inherited from Component) |
Events |
Gets the list of event handlers that are attached to this Component. (Inherited from Component) |
IsBusy |
Gets a value indicating whether the BackgroundWorker is running an asynchronous operation. |
Site |
Gets or sets the ISite of the Component. (Inherited from Component) |
WorkerReportsProgress |
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the BackgroundWorker can report progress updates. |
WorkerSupportsCancellation |
Gets or sets a value indicating whether the BackgroundWorker supports asynchronous cancellation. |
Methods
CancelAsync() |
Requests cancellation of a pending background operation. |
CreateObjRef(Type) |
Creates an object that contains all the relevant information required to generate a proxy used to communicate with a remote object. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject) |
Dispose() |
Performs application-defined tasks associated with freeing, releasing, or resetting unmanaged resources. |
Dispose() |
Releases all resources used by the Component. (Inherited from Component) |
Dispose(Boolean) |
This method does not do anything. |
Dispose(Boolean) |
Releases the unmanaged resources used by the Component and optionally releases the managed resources. (Inherited from Component) |
Equals(Object) |
Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object. (Inherited from Object) |
GetHashCode() |
Serves as the default hash function. (Inherited from Object) |
GetLifetimeService() |
Obsolete.
Retrieves the current lifetime service object that controls the lifetime policy for this instance. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject) |
GetService(Type) |
Returns an object that represents a service provided by the Component or by its Container. (Inherited from Component) |
GetType() |
Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object) |
InitializeLifetimeService() |
Obsolete.
Obtains a lifetime service object to control the lifetime policy for this instance. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject) |
MemberwiseClone() |
Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object) |
MemberwiseClone(Boolean) |
Creates a shallow copy of the current MarshalByRefObject object. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject) |
OnDoWork(DoWorkEventArgs) |
Raises the DoWork event. |
OnProgressChanged(ProgressChangedEventArgs) |
Raises the ProgressChanged event. |
OnRunWorkerCompleted(RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) |
Raises the RunWorkerCompleted event. |
ReportProgress(Int32, Object) |
Raises the ProgressChanged event. |
ReportProgress(Int32) |
Raises the ProgressChanged event. |
RunWorkerAsync() |
Starts execution of a background operation. |
RunWorkerAsync(Object) |
Starts execution of a background operation. |
ToString() |
Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object) |
ToString() |
Returns a String containing the name of the Component, if any. This method should not be overridden. (Inherited from Component) |
Events
Disposed |
Occurs when the component is disposed by a call to the Dispose() method. (Inherited from Component) |
DoWork |
Occurs when RunWorkerAsync() is called. |
ProgressChanged |
Occurs when ReportProgress(Int32) is called. |
RunWorkerCompleted |
Occurs when the background operation has completed, has been canceled, or has raised an exception. |