Updating a control without interrupting

Question

I saw the post http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/uploadfile/835123/cross-thread-operations-in-C-Sharp/ that allows me to update a control using a new thread, but it still makes the program wait for the thread to complete. why is that? can't i constantly update a control without interrupting the rest of the program? for example, how could i make the listbox in that post count upward constantly but be able to do anything else i want to at the same time?

Sam Hobbs · Answer

I have not read all of that article but instead of saying that it does not do exactly what you need to do, it is better to state what you need to do. Thank you for looking for relevant articles. I am not sure what you need to do, so if my guess is wrong, then please don't blame me for misunderstanding. Probably what you want to use is a BackgroundWorker. It is designed to do what I think you wat to do and to make it as easy as possible. Using a BackgroundWorker, the DoWork event is the otehr thread. Everythig else is automatically executed in the thread that creates the BackgroundWorker. So you can use the ProgressChanged event to update the ListBox. Look for articles about BackgroundWorker.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

I am sorry for not replying sooner. I do think however that the articles here about BackgroundWorker will help you.

patrick · Answer

Ok, here is what i want to do. Lets say I have a form with label and 2 listboxes. I want to run setTime(){ while(true){ label.text = datetime.now.tostring();} } setBox1(){ while(true){ items = getitems(); listbox1.items.clear(); for(int i=0;i listbox1.items.add(items1[i]);} } setBox2(items2){ while(true){ items = getitems2(); listbox2.items.clear(); for(int i=0;i listbox2.items.add(items2[i]);} } I want to run these constantly without the rest of the program waiting, so i can always display relevant information to my user.

Updating a control without interrupting

Answers (3)