Automating the InvokeRequired code pattern

Question

I have become painfully aware of just how often one needs to write the following code pattern in event-driven GUI code, where

private void DoGUISwitch() {
           


        

Answer 1

Here's an improved/combined version of Lee's, Oliver's and Stephan's answers.

public delegate void InvokeIfRequiredDelegate<T>(T obj)
    where T : ISynchronizeInvoke;

public static void InvokeIfRequired<T>(this T obj, InvokeIfRequiredDelegate<T> action)
    where T : ISynchronizeInvoke
{
    if (obj.InvokeRequired)
    {
        obj.Invoke(action, new object[] { obj });
    }
    else
    {
        action(obj);
    }
} 

The template allows for flexible and cast-less code which is much more readable while the dedicated delegate provides efficiency.

progressBar1.InvokeIfRequired(o => 
{
    o.Style = ProgressBarStyle.Marquee;
    o.MarqueeAnimationSpeed = 40;
});

Answer 2

I Kind of like to do it a bit different, i like to call "myself" if needed with an Action,

    private void AddRowToListView(ScannerRow row, bool suspend)
    {
        if (IsFormClosing)
            return;

        if (this.InvokeRequired)
        {
            var A = new Action(() => AddRowToListView(row, suspend));
            this.Invoke(A);
            return;
        }
         //as of here the Code is thread-safe

this is a handy pattern, the IsFormClosing is a field that i set to True when I am closing my form as there might be some background threads that are still running...

Answer 3

Usage:

control.InvokeIfRequired(c => c.Visible = false);

return control.InvokeIfRequired(c => {
    c.Visible = value

    return c.Visible;
});

Code:

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;

namespace Extensions
{
    public static class SynchronizeInvokeExtensions
    {
        public static void InvokeIfRequired<T>(this T obj, Action<T> action)
            where T : ISynchronizeInvoke
        {
            if (obj.InvokeRequired)
            {
                obj.Invoke(action, new object[] { obj });
            }
            else
            {
                action(obj);
            }
        }

        public static TOut InvokeIfRequired<TIn, TOut>(this TIn obj, Func<TIn, TOut> func) 
            where TIn : ISynchronizeInvoke
        {
            return obj.InvokeRequired
                ? (TOut)obj.Invoke(func, new object[] { obj })
                : func(obj);
        }
    }
}

Answer 4

I'd rather use a single instance of a method Delegate instead of creating a new instance every time. In my case i used to show progress and (info/error) messages from a Backroundworker copying and casting large data from a sql instance. Everywhile after about 70000 progress and message calls my form stopped working and showing new messages. This didn't occure when i started using a single global instance delegate.

delegate void ShowMessageCallback(string message);

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    ShowMessageCallback showMessageDelegate = new ShowMessageCallback(ShowMessage);
}

private void ShowMessage(string message)
{
    if (this.InvokeRequired)
        this.Invoke(showMessageDelegate, message);
    else
        labelMessage.Text = message;           
}

void Message_OnMessage(object sender, Utilities.Message.MessageEventArgs e)
{
    ShowMessage(e.Message);
}

Answer 5

Here's the form I've been using in all my code.

private void DoGUISwitch()
{ 
    Invoke( ( MethodInvoker ) delegate {
        object1.Visible = true;
        object2.Visible = false;
    });
} 

I've based this on the blog entry here. I have not had this approach fail me, so I see no reason to complicate my code with a check of the InvokeRequired property.

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Lee's approach can be simplified further

public static void InvokeIfRequired(this Control control, MethodInvoker action)
{
    // See Update 2 for edits Mike de Klerk suggests to insert here.

    if (control.InvokeRequired) {
        control.Invoke(action);
    } else {
        action();
    }
}

And can be called like this

richEditControl1.InvokeIfRequired(() =>
{
    // Do anything you want with the control here
    richEditControl1.RtfText = value;
    RtfHelpers.AddMissingStyles(richEditControl1);
});

There is no need to pass the control as parameter to the delegate. C# automatically creates a closure.

---

UPDATE:

According to several other posters Control can be generalized as ISynchronizeInvoke:

public static void InvokeIfRequired(this ISynchronizeInvoke obj,
                                         MethodInvoker action)
{
    if (obj.InvokeRequired) {
        var args = new object[0];
        obj.Invoke(action, args);
    } else {
        action();
    }
}

DonBoitnott pointed out that unlike Control the ISynchronizeInvoke interface requires an object array for the Invoke method as parameter list for the action.

---

UPDATE 2

Edits suggested by Mike de Klerk (see comment in 1st code snippet for insert point):

// When the form, thus the control, isn't visible yet, InvokeRequired  returns false,
// resulting still in a cross-thread exception.
while (!control.Visible)
{
    System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(50);
}

See ToolmakerSteve's comment below for concerns about this suggestion.