C# need 2 threads for long execution

Question

I have a program that loads data from a SharePoint site. It loads txt files, xml files, etc. Any of these "load" actions can take a lot of time because of the user's connectivity to the SharePoint. Therefore the whole windows form UI gets unresponsive until the data is loaded.

So I would like to know how can I easily create a thread for that "retrieval" of information while the whole windows forms UI still works and is operative.

[Asynchronous Programming with Async and Await](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh191443.aspx) — Max, Jun 19 '15 at 20:03
Don't create multiple threads, just perform the network query asynchronously. — Servy, Jun 19 '15 at 20:04
@Servy isn't an asynchronous network call just a lightweight call to a separate thread? — JustWannaFly, Jun 19 '15 at 20:07
@jdkorv11 No, it is not. When done properly *there is no thread* doing any work while the network request is going on. — Servy, Jun 19 '15 at 20:08

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 19 '15 at 20:05

You have a few options. I'm not going to provide exact code for any of them, but, I will provide you with research topics.

You can use a BackgroundWorker, Task.Run() or manage your own threading by doing Thread.Start(). Do you need to fire off an event when the downloading is finished? If so, you can do something like this:

var task = new Task(() => DoSomething());
task.ContinueWith(() => SignalDone(), TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext());
task.Run();

The ContinueWith and TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext will ensure that the signaling will be done on the UI thread to minimize race conditions. You're on your own if you're doing databinding to anything being populated.

C# need 2 threads for long execution

1 Answers1