Invalid Cross-Thread Operations from BackgroundWorker2_RunWorkerCompleted in C#

Question

Hello. I'm getting an error that does not make sense.

Cross-thread operation not valid: Control 'buttonOpenFile' accessed from a thread other than the thread it was created on.

In my application, the UI thread fires off backgroundWorker1, which when almost complete fires off backgroundWorker2 and waits for it to complete. backgroundWorker1 waits for backgroundWorker2 to complete, before it completes. AutoResetEvent variables are used to flag when each of the workers complete. In backgroundWorker2_RunWorkerComplete a function is called that resets the form controls. It is in this ResetFormControls() function where the exception is thrown. I thought it was safe to modify form controls in the RunWorkerCompleted function. Both background workers are instantiated from the UI thread. Here is a greatly summarized version of what I am doing:

  AutoResetEvent evtProgrammingComplete_c = new AutoResetEvent(false);
  AutoResetEvent evtResetComplete_c = new AutoResetEvent(false);

  private void ResetFormControls()
  {
     toolStripProgressBar1.Enabled = false;
     toolStripProgressBar1.RightToLeftLayout = false;
     toolStripProgressBar1.Value = 0;

     buttonInit.Enabled = true;
     buttonOpenFile.Enabled = true; // Error occurs here.
     buttonProgram.Enabled = true;
     buttonAbort.Enabled = false;
     buttonReset.Enabled = true;
     checkBoxPeripheryModule.Enabled = true;
     checkBoxVerbose.Enabled = true;
     comboBoxComPort.Enabled = true;
     groupBoxToolSettings.Enabled = true;
     groupBoxNodeSettings.Enabled = true;
  }

  private void buttonProgram_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
  {
     while (backgroundWorkerProgram.IsBusy)
        backgroundWorkerProgram.CancelAsync();

     backgroundWorkerProgram.RunWorkerAsync();
  }

  private void backgroundWorkerProgram_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
  {
     // Does a bunch of stuff...

     if (tProgramStat_c == eProgramStat_t.DONE)
     {
        tProgramStat_c = eProgramStat_t.RESETTING;

        while (backgroundWorkerReset.IsBusy)
           backgroundWorkerReset.CancelAsync();

        backgroundWorkerReset.RunWorkerAsync();
        evtResetComplete_c.WaitOne(LONG_ACK_WAIT * 2);

        if (tResetStat_c == eResetStat_t.COMPLETED)
           tProgramStat_c = eProgramStat_t.DONE;
     }
  }

  private void backgroundWorkerProgram_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
  {
     // Updates form to report complete.  No problems here.

     evtProgrammingComplete_c.Set();
     backgroundWorkerProgram.Dispose();
  }

  private void backgroundWorkerReset_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
  {
     // Does a bunch of stuff...

     if (tResetStat_c == eResetStat_t.COMPLETED)
        if (tProgramStat_c == eProgramStat_t.RESETTING)
           evtProgrammingComplete_c.WaitOne();
  }

  private void backgroundWorkerReset_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
  {
     CloseAllComms();
     ResetFormControls();
     evtResetComplete_c.Set();
     backgroundWorkerReset.Dispose();
  }

Any thoughts or suggestions you may have would be appreciated. I am using Microsoft Visual C# 2008 Express Edition. Thanks.

Answer 1

BackgroundWorker objects cannot be nested. I recommend using .NET 4.0 Tasks if at all possible, since they do nest.

Nesting BGWs is only possible by using something like ActionDispatcher from the Nito.Async library.

Answer 2

Accessing controls within another thread will never be threadsafe.

Your question is: "How can I access a control created by the UI thread using another thread?"

The answer is by invoking your control. Here's a link where you can see a code sample allowing it.

Does this do what you need?

Answer 3

RunWorkerCompleted is going to execute on the thread that started the BackgroundWorker. Since you're chaining BackgroundWorkers (starting 2 from 1), 2's RunWorkerCompleted is executing on 1's thread, not the UI thread.

You'll want to marshall back to the UI thread with Invoke or move the UI update to 1's RunWorkerCompleted.

My suggestion would be to always check for InvokeRequired when updating the UI, that way you don't need to worry about what thread it's coming from.