Using the BackgroundWorker Component

[jmcilhinney]

C# version here.

Create a new Windows Forms project. Add a Label, a ProgressBar and a BackgroundWorker to the form. Set the BackgroundWorker's WorkerReportsProgress property to True. Add the following code then run the project.

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
    'Raise the DoWork event in a worker thread.
    Me.BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync()
End Sub
 
'This method is executed in a worker thread.
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_DoWork(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                     ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.DoWork
    Dim worker As System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker)
 
    For i As Integer = 1 To 100
        'Raise the ProgressChanged event in the UI thread.
        worker.ReportProgress(i, i & " iterations complete")
 
        'Perform some time-consuming operation here.
        Threading.Thread.Sleep(250)
    Next i
End Sub
 
'This method is executed in the UI thread.
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                              ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.ProgressChangedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.ProgressChanged
    Me.ProgressBar1.Value = e.ProgressPercentage
    Me.Label1.Text = TryCast(e.UserState, String)
End Sub
 
'This method is executed in the UI thread.
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                                 ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted
    Me.Label1.Text = "Operation complete"
End Sub

[jmcilhinney]

E.g. Perform a loop in the worker thread with a number of iterations determined by the value set in a NumericUpDown:

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
    Me.BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync(CInt(Me.NumericUpDown1.Value))
End Sub
 
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_DoWork(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                     ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.DoWork
    Dim worker As BackgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, BackgroundWorker)
    Dim iterationCount As Integer = 0
 
    If TypeOf e.Argument Is Integer Then
        iterationCount = CInt(e.Argument)
    End If
 
    For i As Integer = 1 To iterationCount Step 1
        'Do something here.
    Next i
End Sub

[shakti5385]

How to fill multiple combo using the background worker component!

I done this for a single combo but for the multiple combo it is not working!
Please guide me

Private Sub BackgroundWorker_DoWork(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker.DoWork
        Dim worker As System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker)
        rawMaterialCategoryDataTable = rawMaterialCategory.ReturnDataTable(, "ORDER BY CategoryName") 'Returnning a Datatable
        Dim dataColumn As New DataColumn
        dataColumn.DataType = GetType(Integer)
        dataColumn.ColumnName = "SearchingCode"
        Dim searchingCode As Integer
        rawMaterialCategoryDataTable.Columns.Add(dataColumn)
        For Each dataRow As DataRow In rawMaterialCategoryDataTable.Rows
            worker.ReportProgress(0, dataRow("CategoryName"))
            rawMaterialCategoryDataTable.Rows(searchingCode).Item("SearchingCode") = searchingCode + 1
            searchingCode += 1
        Next dataRow
    End Sub
 
    Private Sub BackgroundWorker_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.ProgressChangedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker.ProgressChanged
        If Not e.UserState Is Nothing Then
            Me.sRawMaterialCategory.Items.Add(CStr(e.UserState).Trim) 'Adding In the combo Box
        Else
            'Me.ProgressBar1.Value = e.ProgressPercentage
        End If
    End Sub

[jmcilhinney]

Here are two examples that contrast using a BackgroundWorker to update the UI as the work is done and using it to update the UI only once the work is complete:

Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_DoWork(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                     ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.DoWork
    Dim worker As BackgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, BackgroundWorker)
 
    For Each filePath As String In IO.Directory.GetFiles(My.Computer.FileSystem.SpecialDirectories.MyDocuments)
        worker.ReportProgress(0, IO.Path.GetFileName(filePath))
    Next filePath
End Sub
 
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                              ByVal e As ProgressChangedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.ProgressChanged
    Dim fileName As String = DirectCast(e.UserState, String)
 
    Me.ListBox1.Items.Add(fileName)
End Sub

Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_DoWork(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                     ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.DoWork
    Dim worker As BackgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, BackgroundWorker)
    Dim fileNames As String() = IO.Directory.GetFiles(My.Computer.FileSystem.SpecialDirectories.MyDocuments)
 
    For index As Integer = 0 To fileNames.GetUpperBound(0) Step 1
        fileNames(index) = IO.Path.GetFileName(fileNames(index))
    Next index
 
    e.Result = fileNames
End Sub
 
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                                 ByVal e As RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted
    Dim fileNames As String() = DirectCast(e.Result, String())
 
    Me.ListBox1.Items.AddRange(fileNames)
End Sub

These examples show how you can pass data to the UI from a BackgroundWorker in two different ways without having to explicitly delegate, which is one of the first things everyone has trouble with when multi-threading.

Note that for the first example to work the WorkerReportsProgress property must be set to True.

[scootabug]

I am trying to follow your first post and I get this error:

"This BackgroundWorker states that it doesn't report progress. Modify WorkerReportsProgress to state that it does report progress."

Everything works okay when I comment out the line that errors...

Do you have the quick solution to this problem?

Nicely done all the same. Cheers.

[jmcilhinney]

I am trying to follow your first post and I get this error:

"This BackgroundWorker states that it doesn't report progress. Modify WorkerReportsProgress to state that it does report progress."

Everything works okay when I comment out the line that errors...

Do you have the quick solution to this problem?

Nicely done all the same. Cheers.

The error message says this:

Modify WorkerReportsProgress to state that it does report progress.

In post #1 I said this:

Set the BackgroundWorker's WorkerReportsProgress property to True.

In post #4 I said this:

Note that for the first example to work the WorkerReportsProgress property must be set to True.

Are you noticing a theme here?

[scootabug]

Sorry, my bad. I noticed the property after I'd posted, hadn't got a chance to come back here until now to say 'nevermind!'. Thanks though, you are invaluable.

[zxed]

thanks for the outline., it helped me understand the concept of using dowork with triggering RunWorkerCompleted and progresschanged..

question... this was posted in 2007.. im guessing it has not really for .net 3.5... is it?

now., is it possible to tie in the background worker with the calls to a webservice? im sure there is.. i know i have seen the async calls somewhere., possibly with the buffer = false?.. i ask because... i have a handheld device, that queries a webservice for a dataset, the webservice generates the dataset, and it has around 20,000 records... surprisingly., it generates the data in about a minute,. and then the device inserts the data into its sqlce db.. so, im wondering if there is a way to turn off buffering on the webserice call and populate the database as data comes back... rather than., send command-> wait for entire dataset -> insert data set...... i want to do a send command -> wait a bit, ->do a bit -> loop a bit

sadly i have to communicate thru a web service... client needs top security and will not allow access to db's directly from desktop/work station... all db's must be accessed thru web serivce...

[jmcilhinney]

thanks for the outline., it helped me understand the concept of using dowork with triggering RunWorkerCompleted and progresschanged..

question... this was posted in 2007.. im guessing it has not really for .net 3.5... is it?

now., is it possible to tie in the background worker with the calls to a webservice? im sure there is.. i know i have seen the async calls somewhere., possibly with the buffer = false?.. i ask because... i have a handheld device, that queries a webservice for a dataset, the webservice generates the dataset, and it has around 20,000 records... surprisingly., it generates the data in about a minute,. and then the device inserts the data into its sqlce db.. so, im wondering if there is a way to turn off buffering on the webserice call and populate the database as data comes back... rather than., send command-> wait for entire dataset -> insert data set...... i want to do a send command -> wait a bit, ->do a bit -> loop a bit

sadly i have to communicate thru a web service... client needs top security and will not allow access to db's directly from desktop/work station... all db's must be accessed thru web serivce...

The BackgroundWorker class hasn't changed at all (as far as I'm aware) from .NET 2.0 to 3.5.

My knowledge of Web Services is not extensive but, as far as I'm aware, calling a web method is essentially the same as calling a local method. If your method returns a DataSet then you can't really do anything until that method returns because you have no data until then. If you can somehow access the data piecemeal then you can certainly use it as you receive it. That's beyond the scope of this thread though. I'd suggest you post a question relating to this specifically on the appropriate forum.

[JuggaloBrotha]

question... this was posted in 2007.. im guessing it has not really for .net 3.5... is it?

The 3.5 framework literally sits on top of the 3.0 framework and the 3.0 framework literally sits on top of the 2.0 framework which means unless there's a new backgroundworker in the 3.5 framework (which you would know about it if you were using it because you would have to explicitly reference it) the only background worker is the 2.0 one.

Another interesting tip: the 3.0 and 3.5 frameworks don't have a CLR, it's the 2.0 framework that has the CLR we all use and love.

[zxed]

thanks for getting back to me., i will figure out the web service thingy, and create a sep thread with code + examples.

[Xancholy]

I have a question. When a large number of files are being copied, how can I accurately show overall process progressbar feedback ? Update the form's progressbar from the backgroundworker...

Thanks for any help.

[jmcilhinney]

I have a question. When a large number of files are being copied, how can I accurately show overall process progressbar feedback ? Update the form's progressbar from the backgroundworker...

Thanks for any help.

This thread already shows you how to update a ProgressBar to indicate the progress of a background operation so I'm not going to go over that. Your issue is determining what constitutes 100% and determining what your current percentage is.

Now, the first thing to note is that progress does NOT have to represent a percentage. You can, if you want, set the Maximum of your ProgressBar to 100 and then set the Value to a percentage. Alternatively you could set the Maximum to the number files you need to process and then increment the Value by 1 each time a file is processed. Another alternative would be to set the Maximum to the total size of all the files to be processed and then increment the Value by the size of the file each time one is processed.

[Xancholy]

OK thanks.

[jmcilhinney]

The other option would be to measure total of filesizes being copied and progressbar it in a linear way, yes ?

The only time you can update the ProgressBar is after each file has been processed because copying a file is a synchronous operation. You can't provide any feedback during the copy operation.

[doran_doran]

See the other post.

[jmcilhinney]

doran, you're going to have to tidy that post up before I'll even consider looking at it.

[sauronsmatrix]

I found that I didn't even need the Sleep from the Threading. The worker seems to use just the right amount of resources to get the task done without crashing or overloading.

[jmcilhinney]

Here is a new example based on the code from the first post. Follow the same instructions as before but this time also set the WorkerSupportsCancellation property of the BackgroundWorker to True and add a Button to the form. Now add this code to your form:

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
    'Raise the DoWork event in a worker thread.
    Me.BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync()
End Sub
 
'This method is executed in a worker thread.
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_DoWork(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                     ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.DoWork
    Dim worker As System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker)
 
    For i As Integer = 1 To 100
        If worker.CancellationPending Then
            'The user has cancelled the background operation.
            e.Cancel = True
            Exit For
        End If
 
        'Raise the ProgressChanged event in the UI thread.
        worker.ReportProgress(i, i & " iterations complete")
 
        'Perform some time-consuming operation here.
        Threading.Thread.Sleep(250)
    Next i
End Sub
 
'This method is executed in the UI thread.
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                              ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.ProgressChangedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.ProgressChanged
    Me.ProgressBar1.Value = e.ProgressPercentage
    Me.Label1.Text = TryCast(e.UserState, String)
End Sub
 
'This method is executed in the UI thread.
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                                 ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted
    If e.Cancelled Then
        'The background operation was cancelled.
        Me.Label1.Text = "Operation cancelled"
    Else
        'The background operation completed normally.
        Me.Label1.Text = "Operation complete"
    End If
End Sub
 
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, _
                          ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
    'Only cancel the background opertion if there is a background operation in progress.
    If Me.BackgroundWorker1.IsBusy Then
        Me.BackgroundWorker1.CancelAsync()
    End If
End Sub

If you run the project and let it go then the ProgressBar will fill and eventually the Label will report that the operation completed. If, however, you click the Button at some point, the Progressbar will halt and the Label will report that the operation was cancelled.

[Xancholy]

nice

[numbskull77]

Create a new Windows Forms project. Add a Label, a ProgressBar and a BackgroundWorker to the form. Set the BackgroundWorker's WorkerReportsProgress property to True. Add the following code then run the project.

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
    'Raise the DoWork event in a worker thread.
    Me.BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync()
End Sub
 
'This method is executed in a worker thread.
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_DoWork(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                     ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.DoWork
    Dim worker As System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker)
 
    For i As Integer = 1 To 100
        'Raise the ProgressChanged event in the UI thread.
        worker.ReportProgress(i, i & " iterations complete")
 
        'Perform some time-consuming operation here.
        Threading.Thread.Sleep(250)
    Next i
End Sub
 
'This method is executed in the UI thread.
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                              ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.ProgressChangedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.ProgressChanged
    Me.ProgressBar1.Value = e.ProgressPercentage
    Me.Label1.Text = TryCast(e.UserState, String)
End Sub
 
'This method is executed in the UI thread.
Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                                 ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted
    Me.Label1.Text = "Operation complete"
End Sub

hi, i used the above code .. and i got this error:

Cross-thread operation not valid: Control 'Label1' accessed from a thread other than the thread it was created on.

need your advise...

[jmcilhinney]

hi, i used the above code .. and i got this error:

Cross-thread operation not valid: Control 'Label1' accessed from a thread other than the thread it was created on.

need your advise...

You certainly didn't use just that code. If you go back to post #4 I specifically demonstrate how to access controls using a BackgroundWorker, i.e. either from the ProgressChanged event handler or the RunWorkerCompleted event handler. That's because they are both executed in the UI thread. You cannot access controls from the DoWork event handler, as you must be, because it is executed in a background thread.

If you can't use those two aforementioned events for some reason then you will need to use explicit delegation. Follow the Controls & Multi-threading link in my signature for an explanation of why and how.

[killer7k]

Hi John ,

i have a problem with stopping the BackgroundWorker
i have 2 button start & stop
so basically the start button download some data using webclient

bgwkdata.RunWorkerAsync()

and for stop button i have

bgwkdata.CancelAsync()

so the problem is the stop button not doing the job the BackgroundWorker is still running
btw i have set option true to Workersupportcancellation and also

If bgwkdata.CancellationPending Then

            e.Cancel = True

            Exit Sub

        End If

Thanks

[jmcilhinney]

Hi John ,

i have a problem with stopping the BackgroundWorker
i have 2 button start & stop
so basically the start button download some data using webclient

bgwkdata.RunWorkerAsync()

and for stop button i have

bgwkdata.CancelAsync()

so the problem is the stop button not doing the job the BackgroundWorker is still running
btw i have set option true to Workersupportcancellation and also

If bgwkdata.CancellationPending Then

            e.Cancel = True

            Exit Sub

        End If

Thanks

Presumably that code is never being hit during your time-consuming operation. For instance, there's not much point doing this:

If myBGW.CancellationPending Then
    e.Cancel = True
    Exit Sub
End If
 
For count As Integer = 1 To 100
    'Do something.
Next
 
If myBGW.CancellationPending Then
    e.Cancel = True
    Exit Sub
End If

because you don't ever check whether the operation needs to be cancelled anywhere in the loop. You'd need to check inside the loop. If you don't have a loop then you'll just have to check in between the steps of your operation. You can only check whether the operation needs to be cancelled while the background thread is not busy doing something else. If your background thread simply makes one synchronous method call then you're out of luck. It simply can't be cancelled. There need to be breaks somewhere in your code that you can insert those checks.

[killer7k]

Hi John ,

here you what i have done

   Private Sub bgwkdata_DoWork(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs) Handles bgwkdata.DoWork
      
  If bgwkdata.CancellationPending Then

            e.Cancel = True

            Exit Sub

        End If

//my boucle here

 If bgwkdata.CancellationPending Then

            e.Cancel = True

            Exit Sub

        End If

and on btnstop :

Private Sub btnStop_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnStop.Click


        bgwkdata.CancelAsync()






    End Sub

Edit : i get it to work i placed the code in the boucle

Thanks

[kuldevbhasin]

hi jmc
can we use background worker on smart device application ?
i am developing a app. in vb.net 2008 for a smart device.
i am trying to locate the background worker that u mentioned to be added to the form but am not able to find it.
do i have to import something to get that option or what ?
pls. guide
thankx a lot

[JuggaloBrotha]

hi jmc
can we use background worker on smart device application ?
i am developing a app. in vb.net 2008 for a smart device.
i am trying to locate the background worker that u mentioned to be added to the form but am not able to find it.
do i have to import something to get that option or what ?
pls. guide
thankx a lot

The location of the BW is this: System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker

So I would start by looking for it in the System.ComponentModel namespace

[jmcilhinney]

hi jmc
can we use background worker on smart device application ?
i am developing a app. in vb.net 2008 for a smart device.
i am trying to locate the background worker that u mentioned to be added to the form but am not able to find it.
do i have to import something to get that option or what ?
pls. guide
thankx a lot

The CF contains less than the full Framework and the BackgroundWorker class is simply not necessary. It's convenient but it doesn't do anything you can't do yourself with the Thread class and delegates.

[kuldevbhasin]

thankx for ur reply
i have developed a prog. for bills generation on a smart device. the smart device is using GPRS and web service to connect to the data stored on the server.
what i was thinking was that if GPRS is not available then the prog. should generate and store the data on the device itself as sqlce is available on the device. now as soon as the GPRS is available i was thinking of sending the data to the web server in the background.
for this reason was trying for background worker. so that while the bills get generated the local bills r also getting posted simultaniously in the background.
am i right in this thinking or is there any other way.
pls. guide.
thankx

[jmcilhinney]

thankx for ur reply
i have developed a prog. for bills generation on a smart device. the smart device is using GPRS and web service to connect to the data stored on the server.
what i was thinking was that if GPRS is not available then the prog. should generate and store the data on the device itself as sqlce is available on the device. now as soon as the GPRS is available i was thinking of sending the data to the web server in the background.
for this reason was trying for background worker. so that while the bills get generated the local bills r also getting posted simultaniously in the background.
am i right in this thinking or is there any other way.
pls. guide.
thankx

That is not the topic of this thread. You should ask such questions in new threads in the appropriate forum.

[snakeman]

hey jim
why do you declare a new worker:-

Dim worker As System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker)

you already have one
i couldn't understand it
and why you didn't dispose the backgroundworker?

[jmcilhinney]

hey jim
why do you declare a new worker:-

Dim worker As System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker)

you already have one
i couldn't understand it
and why you didn't dispose the backgroundworker?

There's a difference between "declaring" and "creating". That code declares a BackgroundWorker variable but it does NOT create a BackgroundWorker object. It simply takes the 'sender' parameter, which is the object that raised the event, and casts it as type BackgroundWorker. By assigning that to the local variable I am then able to access members of the BackgroundWorker type, which I couldn't do on 'sender' because it is type Object.

Yes, I could have simply used the existing member variable, i.e. Me.BackgroundWorker1, and had the same result. The reason that casting the 'sender' is useful is that it allows you to handle events for multiple BackgroundWorkers with the same method. If you only have one BackgroundWorker then it's not required, although it is considered best practice.

[snakeman]

thx jim

[Tommi]

Cant seem to figure out what Im doing wrong here, I get a type expected error from vb when I try to compile from the first backgroundWorker part of this (it automatically makes it a lowercase "b" could that have something to do with this?)

 Dim worker As backgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, backgroundWorker)

entire code

Public Class Form1
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        'Raise the DoWork event in a worker thread.
        Me.BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Me.BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync(CInt(Me.NumericUpDown1.Value))
    End Sub
    'This method is executed in a worker thread.
    Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_DoWork(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                     ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.DoWork
        Dim worker As backgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, backgroundWorker)
        Dim iterationCount As Integer = 0

        If TypeOf e.Argument Is Integer Then
            iterationCount = CInt(e.Argument)
        End If

        For i As Integer = 1 To iterationCount Step 1
            'Do something here.
        Next i
    End Sub

    'This method is executed in the UI thread.
    Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                                        ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.ProgressChangedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.ProgressChanged
        Me.ProgressBar1.Value = e.ProgressPercentage
        Me.Label1.Text = TryCast(e.UserState, String)

    End Sub

    'This method is executed in the UI thread.
    Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                                           ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted
        Me.Label1.Text = "Operation complete"
    End Sub
End Class

Thanks in advance for any help!

[jmcilhinney]

Cant seem to figure out what Im doing wrong here, I get a type expected error from vb when I try to compile from the first backgroundWorker part of this (it automatically makes it a lowercase "b" could that have something to do with this?)

 Dim worker As backgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, backgroundWorker)

entire code

Public Class Form1
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        'Raise the DoWork event in a worker thread.
        Me.BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Me.BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync(CInt(Me.NumericUpDown1.Value))
    End Sub
    'This method is executed in a worker thread.
    Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_DoWork(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                                     ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.DoWork
        Dim worker As backgroundWorker = DirectCast(sender, backgroundWorker)
        Dim iterationCount As Integer = 0

        If TypeOf e.Argument Is Integer Then
            iterationCount = CInt(e.Argument)
        End If

        For i As Integer = 1 To iterationCount Step 1
            'Do something here.
        Next i
    End Sub

    'This method is executed in the UI thread.
    Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                                        ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.ProgressChangedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.ProgressChanged
        Me.ProgressBar1.Value = e.ProgressPercentage
        Me.Label1.Text = TryCast(e.UserState, String)

    End Sub

    'This method is executed in the UI thread.
    Private Sub BackgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(ByVal sender As Object, _
                                                           ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) Handles BackgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted
        Me.Label1.Text = "Operation complete"
    End Sub
End Class

Thanks in advance for any help!

The BackgroundWorker class is a member of the System.ComponentModel namespace. If you haven't imported that namespace then you'll need to qualify the class name with the namespace, as for all the 'e' parameters in the event handlers.

[Tommi]

The BackgroundWorker class is a member of the System.ComponentModel namespace. If you haven't imported that namespace then you'll need to qualify the class name with the namespace, as for all the 'e' parameters in the event handlers.

It's working now, thanks for the help!

[Lasering]

Excellent post! It has helped me a lot!! Keep up the always great work jmcilhinney!

[cengineer]

I have tried to adapt your code to a console application and it seems to working as far as running the background worker, and I do have the ProgressChanged and RunWorkerCompleted functions to monitor it, the process ends after one cycle of its do work process.

  
While Not response.Equals("3")
                Try

                    Console.Write("Enter choice: ")
                    response = Console.ReadLine()
                    Console.WriteLine()
                    If response.Equals("1") Then
                        Console.WriteLine("Thread 1 doing work" & vbNewLine)
                        engine.LoadFile()
                        'tm.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA)
                        'tm.Start()

                        response = String.Empty
                    ElseIf response.Equals("2") Then
                        Console.WriteLine("Starting a second Thread")
                        'ts.Start()
                        report()
                        response = String.Empty
                    End If

                    'ts.Join()
                    'tm.Join()

                Catch ex As Exception

as you can see the commented parts was an attempt to try threads; wasnt successful.

Here is where the background worker is being called from, sub engine.loadfile()

bgw.WorkerReportsProgress = True

       AddHandler bgw.DoWork, New DoWorkEventHandler(AddressOf Search)
       bgw.RunWorkerAsync()
      AddHandler bgw.ProgressChanged, New ProgressChangedEventHandler(AddressOf ProgressChanged)
      AddHandler bgw.RunWorkerCompleted, New RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(AddressOf RunWorkerComplete)

the actual do work process

Private Sub Search(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs)
...
              BloObj.Main(connectionString, userAgent, fileName, clientName, clientProj)
                Dim i As Integer
                For i = 1 To 100
                    CType(sender, BackgroundWorker).ReportProgress(i)
                    Thread.Sleep(100)
                Next
                Console.ResetColor()
                Console.Write("Search Complete, Do you wish to generate queries, y or n? ")
reply = Console.ReadLine()
                If reply = "y" Then
                    report()
                ElseIf reply = "n" Then
                    Console.Clear()
                    main()
                End If
            Catch ex As Exception
                errormessage = ex.Message

            End Try

Any ideas appreciated.

[jmcilhinney]

I have tried to adapt your code to a console application and it seems to working as far as running the background worker, and I do have the ProgressChanged and RunWorkerCompleted functions to monitor it, the process ends after one cycle of its do work process.

  
While Not response.Equals("3")
                Try

                    Console.Write("Enter choice: ")
                    response = Console.ReadLine()
                    Console.WriteLine()
                    If response.Equals("1") Then
                        Console.WriteLine("Thread 1 doing work" & vbNewLine)
                        engine.LoadFile()
                        'tm.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA)
                        'tm.Start()

                        response = String.Empty
                    ElseIf response.Equals("2") Then
                        Console.WriteLine("Starting a second Thread")
                        'ts.Start()
                        report()
                        response = String.Empty
                    End If

                    'ts.Join()
                    'tm.Join()

                Catch ex As Exception

as you can see the commented parts was an attempt to try threads; wasnt successful.

Here is where the background worker is being called from, sub engine.loadfile()

bgw.WorkerReportsProgress = True

       AddHandler bgw.DoWork, New DoWorkEventHandler(AddressOf Search)
       bgw.RunWorkerAsync()
      AddHandler bgw.ProgressChanged, New ProgressChangedEventHandler(AddressOf ProgressChanged)
      AddHandler bgw.RunWorkerCompleted, New RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(AddressOf RunWorkerComplete)

the actual do work process

Private Sub Search(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs)
...
              BloObj.Main(connectionString, userAgent, fileName, clientName, clientProj)
                Dim i As Integer
                For i = 1 To 100
                    CType(sender, BackgroundWorker).ReportProgress(i)
                    Thread.Sleep(100)
                Next
                Console.ResetColor()
                Console.Write("Search Complete, Do you wish to generate queries, y or n? ")
reply = Console.ReadLine()
                If reply = "y" Then
                    report()
                ElseIf reply = "n" Then
                    Console.Clear()
                    main()
                End If
            Catch ex As Exception
                errormessage = ex.Message

            End Try

Any ideas appreciated.

Your code doesn't really make sense to me. I don't see why you have a BGW at all. You seem to be prompting the user for data from the background thread. Usually the point of background threads is to perform time-consuming processing in the background so that the user can still interact with the application in the foreground. What's the point of having multiple threads in your case?

[cengineer]

Sorry about the confusion... I need to implement threads on the menu options I have and the one process is a long search crawling process which after it starts does not involve any user interaction.
I figured the background process would work well here.

Console.ResetColor()
            Console.Write("Begin Search -- Discovery Search, y or n? ")
            response1 = Console.ReadLine()
            If response1 = "y" Then
                Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.White
                Console.WriteLine()

                Console.Write("Enter client name: ")
                clientName = Console.ReadLine()
                Console.WriteLine()
                Console.Write("Enter client project: ")
                clientProj = Console.ReadLine()
                ' This is where I would like to call the background process
                bgw.WorkerReportsProgress = True

                AddHandler bgw.DoWork, New DoWorkEventHandler(AddressOf Search)
                bgw.RunWorkerAsync()
                AddHandler bgw.ProgressChanged, New ProgressChangedEventHandler(AddressOf ProgressChanged)
                AddHandler bgw.RunWorkerCompleted, New RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(AddressOf RunWorkerComplete)
                'bgw.ReportProgress(80)
                ' I was unable to make sure the process returned to the menu options so I put in a return here to the main where its called from
                Return
                'Search()

The actual search process only contains a user response after it supposed to complete. The background process is not only one function but involves calling other classes and functions to the crawling process. As i mentioned before I tried using threads but found that it did not run in the background as I intended. Also the background process is stopping before completion without any indication. I placed breakpoints to catch the possible errors but the app just ends after a while.