Where to dispose resources in a System.Windows.Form-derived class?

Question

I've got a form that creates a couple of disposable resources in its constructor that I need to dispose of. However, the C# form designer already produces a Dispose() method in the Designer.cs file that doesn't appear to have any type of user hook in it. So I'm at a loss as to how I'm supposed to implement the typical IDisposable pattern.

This form is occasionally created but never shown, so using the Close event won't help.

The objects in question are not IComponents, so I can't just add them to this.components.

Where can I put this clean-up code and be sure it will run when the form is disposed?

It's a bit of a mistake in the project template. Easy to fix, just cut and paste the method from the designer file to the source code file. — Hans Passant, Jun 27 '11 at 23:28
So the form designer isn't going to replace it when I change the form? I had just assumed it rewrote the entire Designer.cs file. — Michael Edenfield, Jun 28 '11 at 16:59
No. Only the stuff after "Windows Form Designer generated code" region matters. — Hans Passant, Jun 28 '11 at 19:08
Awesome, that worked; can you put this into an answer so I can mark it? :) — Michael Edenfield, Jun 29 '11 at 17:59

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 29 '11 at 20:47

You can move the Dispose() method from the Designer.cs file to your source code file. And alter it to add dispose calls for any disposable members in your form class. This is one of the few cases where it is okay to edit the designer file, you only need to stay away from the code that inside the #region marked "Windows Form Designer generated code".

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 27 '11 at 22:30

2

I've often wondered about this though I never actually ran into an issue with it. You can use the Disposed event, although there might be a better way to hook into Dispose that I missed.

answered Jun 27 '11 at 22:30

configurator

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 27 '11 at 22:28

1

Form and Control provide a "Disposed" event that may be used to dispose any resources they use.

answered Jun 27 '11 at 22:28

supercat

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Where to dispose resources in a System.Windows.Form-derived class?

3 Answers3

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