System.OutOfMemoryException issue in visual studio VB.net forms file

Question

I get hit with this System.OutOfMemoryException every time I try the project.

This was supposed to change the picture box to different pictures (ads). I tried changing the picture formats, they were .png files and now .jpg files.

Here is the code:

Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
    Dim gen As Random = New Random()

    Dim choice As Integer = gen.Next(0, 4)
    If choice = 0 Then
        PictureBox1.Image = Image.FromFile("Screenshot 2023-03-25 102759.jpg")
    ElseIf choice = 1 Then
        PictureBox1.Image = Image.FromFile("ad2.jpg")
    ElseIf choice = 2 Then
        PictureBox1.Image = Image.FromFile("ad4.jpg")
    Else
        PictureBox1.Image = Image.FromFile("ad5.jpg")
    End If
End Sub

and here is the stack trace:

StackTrace
   at System.Drawing.Image.FromFile(String filename, Boolean useEmbeddedColorManagement)
   at System.Drawing.Image.FromFile(String filename)
   at Word_game_prototype.Form1.Timer1_Tick(Object sender, EventArgs e) in C:\Visual studio (delete this junk)\Word game prototype\Word game prototype\Form1.vb:line 20
   at System.Windows.Forms.Timer.OnTick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Timer.TimerNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.DebuggableCallback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)
   at System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.DispatchMessageW(MSG& msg)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ComponentManager.System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.IMsoComponentManager.FPushMessageLoop(IntPtr dwComponentID, Int32 reason, Int32 pvLoopData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoopInner(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoop(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
   at Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.WindowsFormsApplicationBase.OnRun()
   at Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.WindowsFormsApplicationBase.DoApplicationModel()
   at Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices.WindowsFormsApplicationBase.Run(String[] commandLine)
   at Word_game_prototype.My.MyApplication.Main(String[] Args) in :line 83

Are you sure the exception occurs in this method? What is the stack trace of the exception? — Peter Macej, Apr 17 '23 at 12:43
it says something about system.drawing.image honestly i am new to visual basic so i have a tough time looking at all this. — Highlight Productions, Apr 17 '23 at 12:51
@HighlightProductions please add the stack trace to the question. Also did you look at the docs for Image.FromFile? An OutOfMemoryException can be thrown, if your image does not have a valid format. — Ascendise, Apr 17 '23 at 13:31
And which line is number 83? Please review the [help] and in particular [How to ask](/help/how-to-ask) as well as the guidance for providing a [mre]. — tripleee, Apr 17 '23 at 13:50
alright sorry i didn't properly look through the stack let me find line number 83 — Highlight Productions, Apr 17 '23 at 13:52

Joel Coehoorn · Answer 1 · 2023-04-17T13:56:55.707

1

Do this, to avoid re-loading the file from disk on every tick:

' Define these at the class level, not in the method
Private Images As New List(Of Image) From {
      Image.FromFile("Screenshot 2023-03-25 102759.jpg"),
      Image.FromFile("ad2.jpg"),
      Image.FromFile("ad4.jpg"),
      Image.FromFile("ad5.jpg")
}

' Random objects should be Long-lived
Private gen As New Random()

' And suddenly this can be a one-liner, too
Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
    PictureBox1.Image = Images(gen.Next(0, 4))
End Sub

edited Apr 17 '23 at 13:56

answered Apr 17 '23 at 13:54

Joel Coehoorn

399,467
113
570
794

alright thank you let me try this quickly – Highlight Productions Apr 17 '23 at 13:56
where should i put the stuff that should be in the class level – Highlight Productions Apr 17 '23 at 14:00
As a member of the class. – Joel Coehoorn Apr 17 '23 at 14:01
alright i have to go offline for a bit but i will respond when i try this fix. thank you. – Highlight Productions Apr 17 '23 at 14:03

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 17 '23 at 14:31

According to the Image.FromFile documentation, a OutOfMemoryException is thrown if:

The file does not have a valid image format.

or

GDI+ does not support the pixel format of the file.

And there are multiple other reasons. One of the most likely is that the file is open multiple times, in which case it's better to use Image.FromStream() instead of Image.FromFile, see https://stackoverflow.com/a/2216338/217666.

So as an alternative to the answer suggesting caching the image objects, you can define and use a safe function for loading image files:

Private Shared Function OpenImage(imageFile As String) As Image
    Using fs As FileStream = New FileStream(imageFile, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite)
        Return Image.FromStream(fs)
    End Using
End Function


Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
    Dim gen As Random = New Random()

    Dim choice As Integer = gen.Next(0, 4)
    If choice = 0 Then
        PictureBox1.Image = OpenImage("Screenshot 2023-03-25 102759.jpg")
    ElseIf choice = 1 Then
        PictureBox1.Image = OpenImage("ad2.jpg")
    ElseIf choice = 2 Then
        PictureBox1.Image = OpenImage("ad4.jpg")
    Else
        PictureBox1.Image = OpenImage("ad5.jpg")
    End If
End Sub

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 24 '23 at 08:42

0

Fixed the issues looked like the images didn't survive the conversion so i had to get a fresh copy of the images and now they work. thanks for all of the helpful tips tho.

answered Apr 24 '23 at 08:42

Highlight Productions

11
4

System.OutOfMemoryException issue in visual studio VB.net forms file

3 Answers3