Displaying random GIF images from a specified location

Question

I have been working on my AI for a while now, but i can't seem to get my AI to display a random GIF image into my Picture Box from this location.

C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\

Example of what's needed.

string[] imagePaths1 = Directory.GetFiles(@"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\images", "*.gif", SearchOption.AllDirectories);

But instead of Audio files I need GIF images.

This is a sample of the code I have been using.

case "test":
                int image1;
                Random randim = new Random();
                image1 = randim.Next(0, 4);

                switch (image1)
                {
                    case 0:
                        pictureBox2.Image = Image.FromFile(@"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\giphy.gif");
                        pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
                        pictureBox1.CancelAsync();
                        break;
                    case 1:
                        pictureBox2.Image = Image.FromFile(@"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\Party!.gif");
                        pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
                        pictureBox1.CancelAsync();
                        break;
                    case 2:
                        pictureBox2.Image = Image.FromFile(@"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\Staredown.gif");
                        pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
                        pictureBox1.CancelAsync();
                        break;

                    case 3:
                        pictureBox2.Image = Image.FromFile(@"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\tenor.gif");
                        pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
                        pictureBox1.CancelAsync();
                        break;

                    case 4:
                        pictureBox2.Image = Image.FromFile(@"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\idgaf-obama.gif");
                        pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
                        pictureBox1.CancelAsync();
                        break;

                    case 5:
                        pictureBox2.Image = Image.FromFile(@"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\homealone.gif");
                        pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
                        pictureBox1.CancelAsync();
                        break;

                    case 6:
                        pictureBox2.Image = Image.FromFile(@"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\giphy.gif");
                        pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
                        pictureBox1.CancelAsync();
                        break;

                    case 7:
                        pictureBox2.Image = Image.FromFile(@"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\fastsoccer.gif");
                        pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
                        pictureBox1.CancelAsync();
                        break;

                    case 8:
                        pictureBox2.Image = Image.FromFile(@"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\wallstreet.gif");
                        pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
                        pictureBox1.CancelAsync();
                        break;


                    case 9:
                        pictureBox2.Image = Image.FromFile(@"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\DYjbX.gif");
                        pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
                        pictureBox1.CancelAsync();
                        break;



                }

What does your code do now? What do you want it to do instead? — mjwills, May 16 '18 at 03:36
and i'm still learning, i was guessing it was the amount it will randomize threw that i added in the ' switch (image1) { case 0: pictureBox2.Image = Image.FromFile(@"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\giphy.gif"); pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage; pictureBox1.CancelAsync(); break;' — smokey johnson, May 16 '18 at 03:44
Right now it only randomizes the images i add in 'case 1, case 2, case 3 i want it to randomize all images in a folder instead. @mjwills — smokey johnson, May 16 '18 at 03:46
My question was how can i randomize the gif images in a folder to a picture box instead of the way i was originaly doing, i have tried multiple times so i thought i would ask for help, and the community was more than helpful, thank you for everyone's help so many great ideas! and pointers i can thank you enough. — smokey johnson, May 16 '18 at 04:15

mjwills · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-16T04:16:34.017

This code may get you started:

var random = new Random();
var folder = @"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\images";

var fileNames = Directory.EnumerateFiles(folder, "*.gif", SearchOption.AllDirectories)
    .Select((file, index) => new {file, index})
    .ToDictionary(z => z.index, y => y.file);

var randomPic = fileNames[random.Next(0, fileNames.Count)];
pictureBox2.Image = MediaTypeNames.Image.FromFile(Path.Combine(folder, randomPic));
pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
pictureBox1.CancelAsync();

The main thing is getting the filenames into a data structure. I use a Dictionary - you could just as easily use a List using:

var random = new Random();
var folder = @"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\images";

var fileNames = Directory.EnumerateFiles(folder, "*.gif", SearchOption.AllDirectories).ToList();

var randomPic = fileNames[random.Next(0, fileNames.Count)];
pictureBox2.Image = MediaTypeNames.Image.FromFile(Path.Combine(folder, randomPic));
pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
pictureBox1.CancelAsync();

Then randomly choose a filename and populate pictureBox2 with that filename.

You should also strongly consider moving random to be a static field.

Why create a dictionary from an index? Why not just create an array (from which you can just index naturally)? — Enigmativity, May 16 '18 at 04:14
That would also work @Enigmativity. I used `Dictionary` partly to try and teach something new to the OP. I'll change the answer to show the `List` code explicitly - thanks for asking. — mjwills, May 16 '18 at 04:15

Keith Nicholas · Answer 2 · 2018-05-16T03:51:05.820

0

you can use the following :-

var basePath =
    @"C:\Users\scatt\Desktop\Marvel-J.A.R.V.I.S-Personal-Assistant-Winform-C--master\Marvel J.A.R.V.I.S Personal Assistant\Resources\AIPICS\";

var pics = System.IO.Directory.EnumerateFiles(basePath, "*.gif").ToArray();
var randomPic = pics.OrderBy(p => Guid.NewGuid()).First();
pictureBox2.Image = MediaTypeNames.Image.FromFile(randomPic);
pictureBox2.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
pictureBox1.CancelAsync();

edited May 16 '18 at 03:51

answered May 16 '18 at 03:45

Keith Nicholas

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Wow that is a much easier visual, not exactly what i mean but easier thank you!!! – smokey johnson May 16 '18 at 04:01
I didn't mean to i pressed the wrong button. @ Keith Nicholas – smokey johnson May 16 '18 at 04:01
Sorry, i fixed it. – smokey johnson May 16 '18 at 04:02
you didn't downvote me :) you don't have enough reputation to do that yet – Keith Nicholas May 16 '18 at 04:02
1

Please don't use `Guid.NewGuid()` to generate entropy. A `Guid` is guaranteed to be unique, not random. Always use a RNG instead. – Enigmativity May 16 '18 at 04:13
@Enigmativity I just did some randomness tests for using it to sort vs random, and it is pretty indistinguishable. – Keith Nicholas May 16 '18 at 05:11
if anything, random seems a bit less random :) – Keith Nicholas May 16 '18 at 07:19
@KeithNicholas - It may well currently be random, but that's not the point. It's not guaranteed to be random, just unique. You shouldn't rely on any apparent randomness in guids. – Enigmativity May 16 '18 at 07:20
been like that for nearly 20 years :) I'm all good with using it :) – Keith Nicholas May 16 '18 at 07:56
I suspect the main issue with this solution, as is, is performance. The way this is done means you need to take the hit of producing `n` number of `Guid`s (gets slower as the number of files increases) *and* sort the `Guid`s. That is likely slower than generating a single random number. _To reduce the memory consumption, you could consider using https://github.com/morelinq/MoreLINQ/blob/master/MoreLinq/MinBy.cs rather than `OrderBy` and `First`._ – mjwills May 16 '18 at 08:06
given this is loading files, the performance cost of a shuffle isn't even significant – Keith Nicholas May 16 '18 at 08:26

Displaying random GIF images from a specified location

2 Answers2