get filesystemwatcher events to occur on main UI thread

Question

Can i get filesystemwatcher events to occur on the main UI thread ?. Currently file changes are fired off on their own threads.

WPF or WinForms? WinForms use `Control.Invoke()`, WPF use `Dispatcher.BeginInvoke()` from your event handler to pass the event off to your UI thread. — Steve, Mar 17 '14 at 20:58
winforms - what i mean is a change event - not how do i update the GUI — user1438082, Mar 17 '14 at 20:59
You don't have to update the GUI, but the controls know what thread they're on, and this will get some code to execute on that thread. What you do is up to you. — Steve, Mar 17 '14 at 21:00
@steve you are correct. Do you want to add as an answer so i can accept? — user1438082, Mar 17 '14 at 22:28
Go with Hans Passant's answer - I was unaware of this solution. — Steve, Mar 19 '14 at 19:01

Hans Passant · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-18T21:56:17.530

16

Simply set the FileSystemWatcher.SynchronizingObject property to the form instance. Same thing as calling BeginInvoke() but done automatically for you. Boilerplate code:

public Form1() {
    InitializeComponent();
    fileSystemWatcher1.SynchronizingObject = this;
}

edited Mar 18 '14 at 21:56

answered Mar 18 '14 at 21:17

Hans Passant

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It is a one-liner, hard to see the problem you have with it. – Hans Passant Mar 18 '14 at 22:16
thanks Hans - i think alot of people will benefit from your wisdom – user1438082 Mar 19 '14 at 19:52
1

If you add the FileSystemWatcher in the designer, the SynchronizingObject is set automatically in the code behind file. – Paul Williams May 02 '20 at 00:05

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 18 '14 at 20:29

2

this.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker)(() => SomeMethod())); // Check files in the Main thread otherwise threading issues occur

answered Mar 18 '14 at 20:29

user1438082

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get filesystemwatcher events to occur on main UI thread

2 Answers2

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