Do I have to call Application.ExitThread()?

Question

using System.Windows.Forms;

public class App
{
    [STAThread]
    public static void Main()
    {
        string fname;
        using (var d = new OpenFileDialog())
        {
            if (d.ShowDialog() != DialogResult.OK)
            {
                return;
            }
            fname = d.FileName;
        }
        //Application.ExitThread();
        for (; ;)
            ;
    }
}

The above code shows me a file dialog. Once I select a file and press open, the for loop is executed, but the (frozen) dialog remains.

Once I uncomment Application.ExitThread() the dialog disappears as expected.

Does that work as intended? Why doesn't using make the window disappear? Where can I find more info about this?

Answer 1

You have discovered the primary problem with single-threaded applications... long running operations freeze the user interface.

Your DoEvents() call essentially "pauses" your code and gives other operations, like the UI, a chance to run, then resumes. The problem is that your UI is now frozen again until you call DoEvents() again. Actually, DoEvents() is a very problematic approach (some call it evil). You really should not use it.

You have better options.

Putting your long running operation in another thread helps to ensure that the UI remains responsive and that your work is done as efficiently as possible. The processor is able to switch back and forth between the two threads to give the illusion of simultaneous execution without the difficulty of full-blown multi-processes.

One of the easier ways to accomplish this is to use a BackgroundWorker, though they have generally fallen out of favor (for reasons I'm not going to get into in this post: further reading). They are still part of .NET however and have a lower learning curve then other approaches, so I'd still suggest that new developers play around with them in hobby projects.

The best approach currently is .NET's Tasks library. If your long running operation is already in a thread (for example, it's a database query and you are just waiting for it to complete), and if the library supports it, then you could take advantage of Tasks using the async keyword and not have to think twice about it. Even if it's not already in a thread or in a supported library, you could still spin up a new Task and have it executed in a separate Thread via Task.Run(). .NET Tasks have the advantage of baked in language support and a lot more, like coordinating multiple Tasks and chaining Tasks together.

Answer 2

JDB already explained in his answer why (generally speaking) your code doesn't work as expected. Let me add a small bit to suggest a workaround (for your specific case and for when you just need to use a system dialog and then go on like it was a console application).

You're trying to use Application.DoEvents(), OK it seems to work and in your case you do not have re-entrant code. However are you sure that all relevant messages are correctly processed? How many times you should call Application.DoEvents()? Are you sure you correctly initialize everything (I'm talking about the ApplicationContext)? Second problem is more pragmatic, OpenFileDialog needs COM, COM (here) needs STAThread, STAThread needs a message pump. I can't tell you in which way it will fail but for sure it may fail.

First of all note that usually applications start main message loop using Application.Run(). You don't expect to see new MyWindow().ShowDialog(), right? Your example is not different, let Application.Run(Form) overload creates the ApplicationContext for you (and handle HandleDestroyed event when form closes which will finally call - surprise - Application.ExitThread()). Unfortunately OpenFileDialog does not inherit from Form then you have to host it inside a dummy form to use Application.Run().

You do not need to explicitly call dlg.Dispose() (let WinForms manage objects lifetime) if you add the dialog inside the form with the designer.

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;

public class App
{
    [STAThread]
    public static void Main()
    {
        string fname = AskForFile();
        if (fname == null)
            return;

        LongRunningProcess(fname);
    }

    private static string AskForFile()
    {
        string fileName = null;

        var form = new Form() { Visible = false };
        form.Load += (o, e) => { 
            using (var dlg = new OpenFileDialog())
            {
                if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
                    fileName = dlg.FileName;
            }

            ((Form)o).Close();
        };

        Application.Run(form);

        return fileName;
    }
}

Answer 3

No, you don't have to call Application.ExitThread().

Application.ExitThread() terminates the calling thread's message loop and forces the destruction of the frozen dialog. Although "that works", it's better to unfreeze the dialog if the cause of the freeze is known.

In this case pressing open seems to fire a close-event which doesn't have any chance to finish. Application.DoEvents() gives it that chance and makes the dialog disappear.