"System.InvalidOperationException: The object is currently in use elsewhere" - how do I resolve this?

Question

I got this error when trying to update an image. It was a cross-thread update, but I used .Invoke(), so that shouldn't be the problem, should it.

Answer 1

(Answering my own question, for others, and for future reference)

I think (not yet entirely sure) that this is because InvokeRequired will always return false if the control has not yet been loaded/shown. I have done a workaround which seems to work for the moment, which is to simple reference the handle of the associated control in its creator, like so:

var x = this.Handle; 

(See http://ikriv.com:8765/en/prog/info/dotnet/MysteriousHang.html - down? cached version)

(Related question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/192980/boiler-plate-code-replacement-is-there-anything-bad-about-this-code)

Answer 2

If the handle doesn't yet exist, you can force it by subclassing the control and calling CreateHandle; however, the bigger question is: why are you doing things with a form that hasn't been loaded? Personally I'd only start such an operation after Load.