BackgroundWorker Class

Definition

Namespace:

System.ComponentModel

Assembly:

System.ComponentModel.EventBasedAsync.dll

Source:

BackgroundWorker.cs

Executes an operation on a separate thread.

public ref class BackgroundWorker : System::ComponentModel::Component

public class BackgroundWorker : System.ComponentModel.Component

type BackgroundWorker = class
    inherit Component

Public Class BackgroundWorker
Inherits Component

Inheritance

Object

MarshalByRefObject

Component

BackgroundWorker

Examples

The following code example demonstrates the basics of the BackgroundWorker class for executing a time-consuming operation asynchronously. The following illustration shows an example of the output.

To try this code, create a Windows Forms application. Add a Label control named resultLabel and add two Button controls named startAsyncButton and cancelAsyncButton. Create Click event handlers for both buttons. From the Components tab of the Toolbox, add a BackgroundWorker component named backgroundWorker1. Create DoWork, ProgressChanged, and RunWorkerCompleted event handlers for the BackgroundWorker. In the code for the form, replace the existing code with the following code.

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace BackgroundWorkerSimple
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            backgroundWorker1.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
            backgroundWorker1.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
        }

        private void startAsyncButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if (!backgroundWorker1.IsBusy)
            {
                // Start the asynchronous operation.
                backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync();
            }
        }

        private void cancelAsyncButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if (backgroundWorker1.WorkerSupportsCancellation)
            {
                // Cancel the asynchronous operation.
                backgroundWorker1.CancelAsync();
            }
        }

        // This event handler is where the time-consuming work is done.
        private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
        {
            BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;

            for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
            {
                if (worker.CancellationPending)
                {
                    e.Cancel = true;
                    break;
                }
                else
                {
                    // Perform a time consuming operation and report progress.
                    System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(500);
                    worker.ReportProgress(i * 10);
                }
            }
        }

        // This event handler updates the progress.
        private void backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            resultLabel.Text = (e.ProgressPercentage.ToString() + "%");
        }

        // This event handler deals with the results of the background operation.
        private void backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
        {
            if (e.Cancelled)
            {
                resultLabel.Text = "Canceled!";
            }
            else if (e.Error != null)
            {
                resultLabel.Text = "Error: " + e.Error.Message;
            }
            else
            {
                resultLabel.Text = "Done!";
            }
        }
    }
}

Imports System.ComponentModel

Public Class Form1

    Public Sub New()
        InitializeComponent()
        backgroundWorker1.WorkerReportsProgress = True
        backgroundWorker1.WorkerSupportsCancellation = True
    End Sub

    Private Sub startAsyncButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
    ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles startAsyncButton.Click
        If Not backgroundWorker1.IsBusy Then
            ' Start the asynchronous operation.
            backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync()
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub cancelAsyncButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
    ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cancelAsyncButton.Click
        If backgroundWorker1.WorkerSupportsCancellation Then
            ' Cancel the asynchronous operation.
            backgroundWorker1.CancelAsync()
        End If
    End Sub

    ' This event handler is where the time-consuming work is done.
    Private Sub backgroundWorker1_DoWork(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
    ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs) Handles backgroundWorker1.DoWork
        Dim worker As BackgroundWorker = CType(sender, BackgroundWorker)
        Dim i As Integer

        For i = 1 To 10
            If (worker.CancellationPending) Then
                e.Cancel = True
                Exit For
            Else
                ' Perform a time consuming operation and report progress.
                System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(500)
                worker.ReportProgress(i * 10)
            End If
        Next
    End Sub

    ' This event handler updates the progress.
    Private Sub backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
    ByVal e As ProgressChangedEventArgs) Handles backgroundWorker1.ProgressChanged
        resultLabel.Text = (e.ProgressPercentage.ToString() + "%")
    End Sub

    ' This event handler deals with the results of the background operation.
    Private Sub backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
    ByVal e As RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) Handles backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted
        If e.Cancelled Then
            resultLabel.Text = "Canceled!"
        ElseIf e.Error IsNot Nothing Then
            resultLabel.Text = "Error: " & e.Error.Message
        Else
            resultLabel.Text = "Done!"
        End If
    End Sub
End Class

The following code example demonstrates the use of the BackgroundWorker class for executing a time-consuming operation asynchronously. The following illustration shows an example of the output.

The operation computes the selected Fibonacci number, reports progress updates as the calculation proceeds, and permits a pending calculation to be canceled.

#using <System.Drawing.dll>
#using <System.dll>
#using <System.Windows.Forms.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Collections;
using namespace System::ComponentModel;
using namespace System::Drawing;
using namespace System::Threading;
using namespace System::Windows::Forms;

public ref class FibonacciForm: public System::Windows::Forms::Form
{
private:

   int numberToCompute;
   int highestPercentageReached;

   System::Windows::Forms::NumericUpDown^ numericUpDown1;
   System::Windows::Forms::Button^ startAsyncButton;
   System::Windows::Forms::Button^ cancelAsyncButton;
   System::Windows::Forms::ProgressBar^ progressBar1;
   System::Windows::Forms::Label ^ resultLabel;
   System::ComponentModel::BackgroundWorker^ backgroundWorker1;

public:
   FibonacciForm()
   {
      InitializeComponent();
      numberToCompute = highestPercentageReached = 0;
      InitializeBackgoundWorker();
   }


private:

   // Set up the BackgroundWorker object by 
   // attaching event handlers. 
   void InitializeBackgoundWorker()
   {
      backgroundWorker1->DoWork += gcnew DoWorkEventHandler( this, &FibonacciForm::backgroundWorker1_DoWork );
      backgroundWorker1->RunWorkerCompleted += gcnew RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler( this, &FibonacciForm::backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted );
      backgroundWorker1->ProgressChanged += gcnew ProgressChangedEventHandler( this, &FibonacciForm::backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged );
   }

   void startAsyncButton_Click( System::Object^ /*sender*/, System::EventArgs^ /*e*/ )
   {
      
      // Reset the text in the result label.
      resultLabel->Text = String::Empty;

      // Disable the UpDown control until 
      // the asynchronous operation is done.
      this->numericUpDown1->Enabled = false;

      // Disable the Start button until 
      // the asynchronous operation is done.
      this->startAsyncButton->Enabled = false;

      // Enable the Cancel button while 
      // the asynchronous operation runs.
      this->cancelAsyncButton->Enabled = true;

      // Get the value from the UpDown control.
      numberToCompute = (int)numericUpDown1->Value;

      // Reset the variable for percentage tracking.
      highestPercentageReached = 0;

      // Start the asynchronous operation.
      backgroundWorker1->RunWorkerAsync( numberToCompute );
   }

   void cancelAsyncButton_Click( System::Object^ /*sender*/, System::EventArgs^ /*e*/ )
   {  
      // Cancel the asynchronous operation.
      this->backgroundWorker1->CancelAsync();
      
      // Disable the Cancel button.
      cancelAsyncButton->Enabled = false;
   }

   // This event handler is where the actual,
   // potentially time-consuming work is done.
   void backgroundWorker1_DoWork( Object^ sender, DoWorkEventArgs^ e )
   {
      // Get the BackgroundWorker that raised this event.
      BackgroundWorker^ worker = dynamic_cast<BackgroundWorker^>(sender);

      // Assign the result of the computation
      // to the Result property of the DoWorkEventArgs
      // object. This is will be available to the 
      // RunWorkerCompleted eventhandler.
      e->Result = ComputeFibonacci( safe_cast<Int32>(e->Argument), worker, e );
   }

   // This event handler deals with the results of the
   // background operation.
   void backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted( Object^ /*sender*/, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs^ e )
   {
      // First, handle the case where an exception was thrown.
      if ( e->Error != nullptr )
      {
         MessageBox::Show( e->Error->Message );
      }
      else
      if ( e->Cancelled )
      {
         // Next, handle the case where the user cancelled 
         // the operation.
         // Note that due to a race condition in 
         // the DoWork event handler, the Cancelled
         // flag may not have been set, even though
         // CancelAsync was called.
         resultLabel->Text = "Cancelled";
      }
      else
      {
         // Finally, handle the case where the operation 
         // succeeded.
         resultLabel->Text = e->Result->ToString();
      }

      // Enable the UpDown control.
      this->numericUpDown1->Enabled = true;

      // Enable the Start button.
      startAsyncButton->Enabled = true;

      // Disable the Cancel button.
      cancelAsyncButton->Enabled = false;
   }

   // This event handler updates the progress bar.
   void backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged( Object^ /*sender*/, ProgressChangedEventArgs^ e )
   {
      this->progressBar1->Value = e->ProgressPercentage;
   }

   // This is the method that does the actual work. For this
   // example, it computes a Fibonacci number and
   // reports progress as it does its work.
   long ComputeFibonacci( int n, BackgroundWorker^ worker, DoWorkEventArgs ^ e )
   {
      // The parameter n must be >= 0 and <= 91.
      // Fib(n), with n > 91, overflows a long.
      if ( (n < 0) || (n > 91) )
      {
         throw gcnew ArgumentException( "value must be >= 0 and <= 91","n" );
      }

      long result = 0;
      
      // Abort the operation if the user has cancelled.
      // Note that a call to CancelAsync may have set 
      // CancellationPending to true just after the
      // last invocation of this method exits, so this 
      // code will not have the opportunity to set the 
      // DoWorkEventArgs.Cancel flag to true. This means
      // that RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs.Cancelled will
      // not be set to true in your RunWorkerCompleted
      // event handler. This is a race condition.
      if ( worker->CancellationPending )
      {
         e->Cancel = true;
      }
      else
      {
         if ( n < 2 )
         {
            result = 1;
         }
         else
         {
            result = ComputeFibonacci( n - 1, worker, e ) + ComputeFibonacci( n - 2, worker, e );
         }

         // Report progress as a percentage of the total task.
         int percentComplete = (int)((float)n / (float)numberToCompute * 100);
         if ( percentComplete > highestPercentageReached )
         {
            highestPercentageReached = percentComplete;
            worker->ReportProgress( percentComplete );
         }
      }

      return result;
   }

   void InitializeComponent()
   {
      this->numericUpDown1 = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::NumericUpDown;
      this->startAsyncButton = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Button;
      this->cancelAsyncButton = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Button;
      this->resultLabel = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Label;
      this->progressBar1 = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::ProgressBar;
      this->backgroundWorker1 = gcnew System::ComponentModel::BackgroundWorker;
      (dynamic_cast<System::ComponentModel::ISupportInitialize^>(this->numericUpDown1))->BeginInit();
      this->SuspendLayout();
      
      // 
      // numericUpDown1
      // 
      this->numericUpDown1->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 16, 16 );
      array<Int32>^temp0 = {91,0,0,0};
      this->numericUpDown1->Maximum = System::Decimal( temp0 );
      array<Int32>^temp1 = {1,0,0,0};
      this->numericUpDown1->Minimum = System::Decimal( temp1 );
      this->numericUpDown1->Name = "numericUpDown1";
      this->numericUpDown1->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 80, 20 );
      this->numericUpDown1->TabIndex = 0;
      array<Int32>^temp2 = {1,0,0,0};
      this->numericUpDown1->Value = System::Decimal( temp2 );

      // 
      // startAsyncButton
      // 
      this->startAsyncButton->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 16, 72 );
      this->startAsyncButton->Name = "startAsyncButton";
      this->startAsyncButton->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 120, 23 );
      this->startAsyncButton->TabIndex = 1;
      this->startAsyncButton->Text = "Start Async";
      this->startAsyncButton->Click += gcnew System::EventHandler( this, &FibonacciForm::startAsyncButton_Click );

      // 
      // cancelAsyncButton
      // 
      this->cancelAsyncButton->Enabled = false;
      this->cancelAsyncButton->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 153, 72 );
      this->cancelAsyncButton->Name = "cancelAsyncButton";
      this->cancelAsyncButton->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 119, 23 );
      this->cancelAsyncButton->TabIndex = 2;
      this->cancelAsyncButton->Text = "Cancel Async";
      this->cancelAsyncButton->Click += gcnew System::EventHandler( this, &FibonacciForm::cancelAsyncButton_Click );

      // 
      // resultLabel
      // 
      this->resultLabel->BorderStyle = System::Windows::Forms::BorderStyle::Fixed3D;
      this->resultLabel->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 112, 16 );
      this->resultLabel->Name = "resultLabel";
      this->resultLabel->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 160, 23 );
      this->resultLabel->TabIndex = 3;
      this->resultLabel->Text = "(no result)";
      this->resultLabel->TextAlign = System::Drawing::ContentAlignment::MiddleCenter;

      // 
      // progressBar1
      // 
      this->progressBar1->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 18, 48 );
      this->progressBar1->Name = "progressBar1";
      this->progressBar1->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 256, 8 );
      this->progressBar1->Step = 2;
      this->progressBar1->TabIndex = 4;

      // 
      // backgroundWorker1
      // 
      this->backgroundWorker1->WorkerReportsProgress = true;
      this->backgroundWorker1->WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;

      // 
      // FibonacciForm
      // 
      this->ClientSize = System::Drawing::Size( 292, 118 );
      this->Controls->Add( this->progressBar1 );
      this->Controls->Add( this->resultLabel );
      this->Controls->Add( this->cancelAsyncButton );
      this->Controls->Add( this->startAsyncButton );
      this->Controls->Add( this->numericUpDown1 );
      this->Name = "FibonacciForm";
      this->Text = "Fibonacci Calculator";
      (dynamic_cast<System::ComponentModel::ISupportInitialize^>(this->numericUpDown1))->EndInit();
      this->ResumeLayout( false );
   }
};

[STAThread]
int main()
{
   Application::Run( gcnew FibonacciForm );
}

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Threading;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace BackgroundWorkerExample
{	
    public class FibonacciForm : System.Windows.Forms.Form
    {	
        private int numberToCompute = 0;
        private int highestPercentageReached = 0;

        private System.Windows.Forms.NumericUpDown numericUpDown1;
        private System.Windows.Forms.Button startAsyncButton;
        private System.Windows.Forms.Button cancelAsyncButton;
        private System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar progressBar1;
        private System.Windows.Forms.Label resultLabel;
        private System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker backgroundWorker1;

        public FibonacciForm()
        {	
            InitializeComponent();

            InitializeBackgroundWorker();
        }

        // Set up the BackgroundWorker object by 
        // attaching event handlers. 
        private void InitializeBackgroundWorker()
        {
            backgroundWorker1.DoWork += 
                new DoWorkEventHandler(backgroundWorker1_DoWork);
            backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted += 
                new RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(
            backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted);
            backgroundWorker1.ProgressChanged += 
                new ProgressChangedEventHandler(
            backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged);
        }
    
        private void startAsyncButton_Click(System.Object sender, 
            System.EventArgs e)
        {
            // Reset the text in the result label.
            resultLabel.Text = String.Empty;

            // Disable the UpDown control until 
            // the asynchronous operation is done.
            this.numericUpDown1.Enabled = false;

            // Disable the Start button until 
            // the asynchronous operation is done.
            this.startAsyncButton.Enabled = false;

            // Enable the Cancel button while 
            // the asynchronous operation runs.
            this.cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = true;

            // Get the value from the UpDown control.
            numberToCompute = (int)numericUpDown1.Value;

            // Reset the variable for percentage tracking.
            highestPercentageReached = 0;

            // Start the asynchronous operation.
            backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync(numberToCompute);
        }

        private void cancelAsyncButton_Click(System.Object sender, 
            System.EventArgs e)
        {   
            // Cancel the asynchronous operation.
            this.backgroundWorker1.CancelAsync();

            // Disable the Cancel button.
            cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = false;
        }

        // This event handler is where the actual,
        // potentially time-consuming work is done.
        private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(object sender, 
            DoWorkEventArgs e)
        {   
            // Get the BackgroundWorker that raised this event.
            BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;

            // Assign the result of the computation
            // to the Result property of the DoWorkEventArgs
            // object. This is will be available to the 
            // RunWorkerCompleted eventhandler.
            e.Result = ComputeFibonacci((int)e.Argument, worker, e);
        }

        // This event handler deals with the results of the
        // background operation.
        private void backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(
            object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
        {
            // First, handle the case where an exception was thrown.
            if (e.Error != null)
            {
                MessageBox.Show(e.Error.Message);
            }
            else if (e.Cancelled)
            {
                // Next, handle the case where the user canceled 
                // the operation.
                // Note that due to a race condition in 
                // the DoWork event handler, the Cancelled
                // flag may not have been set, even though
                // CancelAsync was called.
                resultLabel.Text = "Canceled";
            }
            else
            {
                // Finally, handle the case where the operation 
                // succeeded.
                resultLabel.Text = e.Result.ToString();
            }

            // Enable the UpDown control.
            this.numericUpDown1.Enabled = true;

            // Enable the Start button.
            startAsyncButton.Enabled = true;

            // Disable the Cancel button.
            cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = false;
        }

        // This event handler updates the progress bar.
        private void backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged(object sender,
            ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            this.progressBar1.Value = e.ProgressPercentage;
        }

        // This is the method that does the actual work. For this
        // example, it computes a Fibonacci number and
        // reports progress as it does its work.
        long ComputeFibonacci(int n, BackgroundWorker worker, DoWorkEventArgs e)
        {
            // The parameter n must be >= 0 and <= 91.
            // Fib(n), with n > 91, overflows a long.
            if ((n < 0) || (n > 91))
            {
                throw new ArgumentException(
                    "value must be >= 0 and <= 91", "n");
            }

            long result = 0;

            // Abort the operation if the user has canceled.
            // Note that a call to CancelAsync may have set 
            // CancellationPending to true just after the
            // last invocation of this method exits, so this 
            // code will not have the opportunity to set the 
            // DoWorkEventArgs.Cancel flag to true. This means
            // that RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs.Cancelled will
            // not be set to true in your RunWorkerCompleted
            // event handler. This is a race condition.

            if (worker.CancellationPending)
            {   
                e.Cancel = true;
            }
            else
            {   
                if (n < 2)
                {   
                    result = 1;
                }
                else
                {   
                    result = ComputeFibonacci(n - 1, worker, e) + 
                             ComputeFibonacci(n - 2, worker, e);
                }

                // Report progress as a percentage of the total task.
                int percentComplete = 
                    (int)((float)n / (float)numberToCompute * 100);
                if (percentComplete > highestPercentageReached)
                {
                    highestPercentageReached = percentComplete;
                    worker.ReportProgress(percentComplete);
                }
            }

            return result;
        }

        #region Windows Form Designer generated code
        
        private void InitializeComponent()
        {
            this.numericUpDown1 = new System.Windows.Forms.NumericUpDown();
            this.startAsyncButton = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
            this.cancelAsyncButton = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
            this.resultLabel = new System.Windows.Forms.Label();
            this.progressBar1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar();
            this.backgroundWorker1 = new System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker();
            ((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.numericUpDown1)).BeginInit();
            this.SuspendLayout();
            // 
            // numericUpDown1
            // 
            this.numericUpDown1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(16, 16);
            this.numericUpDown1.Maximum = new System.Decimal(new int[] {
            91,
            0,
            0,
            0});
            this.numericUpDown1.Minimum = new System.Decimal(new int[] {
            1,
            0,
            0,
            0});
            this.numericUpDown1.Name = "numericUpDown1";
            this.numericUpDown1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(80, 20);
            this.numericUpDown1.TabIndex = 0;
            this.numericUpDown1.Value = new System.Decimal(new int[] {
            1,
            0,
            0,
            0});
            // 
            // startAsyncButton
            // 
            this.startAsyncButton.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(16, 72);
            this.startAsyncButton.Name = "startAsyncButton";
            this.startAsyncButton.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(120, 23);
            this.startAsyncButton.TabIndex = 1;
            this.startAsyncButton.Text = "Start Async";
            this.startAsyncButton.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.startAsyncButton_Click);
            // 
            // cancelAsyncButton
            // 
            this.cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = false;
            this.cancelAsyncButton.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(153, 72);
            this.cancelAsyncButton.Name = "cancelAsyncButton";
            this.cancelAsyncButton.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(119, 23);
            this.cancelAsyncButton.TabIndex = 2;
            this.cancelAsyncButton.Text = "Cancel Async";
            this.cancelAsyncButton.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.cancelAsyncButton_Click);
            // 
            // resultLabel
            // 
            this.resultLabel.BorderStyle = System.Windows.Forms.BorderStyle.Fixed3D;
            this.resultLabel.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(112, 16);
            this.resultLabel.Name = "resultLabel";
            this.resultLabel.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(160, 23);
            this.resultLabel.TabIndex = 3;
            this.resultLabel.Text = "(no result)";
            this.resultLabel.TextAlign = System.Drawing.ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter;
            // 
            // progressBar1
            // 
            this.progressBar1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(18, 48);
            this.progressBar1.Name = "progressBar1";
            this.progressBar1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(256, 8);
            this.progressBar1.Step = 2;
            this.progressBar1.TabIndex = 4;
            // 
            // backgroundWorker1
            // 
            this.backgroundWorker1.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
            this.backgroundWorker1.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
            // 
            // FibonacciForm
            // 
            this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 118);
            this.Controls.Add(this.progressBar1);
            this.Controls.Add(this.resultLabel);
            this.Controls.Add(this.cancelAsyncButton);
            this.Controls.Add(this.startAsyncButton);
            this.Controls.Add(this.numericUpDown1);
            this.Name = "FibonacciForm";
            this.Text = "Fibonacci Calculator";
            ((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.numericUpDown1)).EndInit();
            this.ResumeLayout(false);
        }
        #endregion

        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            Application.Run(new FibonacciForm());
        }
    }
}

Imports System.Collections
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class FibonacciForm
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

    Private numberToCompute As Integer = 0
    Private highestPercentageReached As Integer = 0

    Private numericUpDown1 As System.Windows.Forms.NumericUpDown
    Private WithEvents startAsyncButton As System.Windows.Forms.Button
    Private WithEvents cancelAsyncButton As System.Windows.Forms.Button
    Private progressBar1 As System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar
    Private resultLabel As System.Windows.Forms.Label
    Private WithEvents backgroundWorker1 As System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker


    Public Sub New()
        InitializeComponent()
    End Sub

    Private Sub startAsyncButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
    ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
    Handles startAsyncButton.Click

        ' Reset the text in the result label.
        resultLabel.Text = [String].Empty

        ' Disable the UpDown control until 
        ' the asynchronous operation is done.
        Me.numericUpDown1.Enabled = False

        ' Disable the Start button until 
        ' the asynchronous operation is done.
        Me.startAsyncButton.Enabled = False

        ' Enable the Cancel button while 
        ' the asynchronous operation runs.
        Me.cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = True

        ' Get the value from the UpDown control.
        numberToCompute = CInt(numericUpDown1.Value)

        ' Reset the variable for percentage tracking.
        highestPercentageReached = 0


        ' Start the asynchronous operation.
        backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync(numberToCompute)
    End Sub 

    Private Sub cancelAsyncButton_Click( _
    ByVal sender As System.Object, _
    ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
    Handles cancelAsyncButton.Click
        
        ' Cancel the asynchronous operation.
        Me.backgroundWorker1.CancelAsync()

        ' Disable the Cancel button.
        cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = False
        
    End Sub

    ' This event handler is where the actual work is done.
    Private Sub backgroundWorker1_DoWork( _
    ByVal sender As Object, _
    ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs) _
    Handles backgroundWorker1.DoWork

        ' Get the BackgroundWorker object that raised this event.
        Dim worker As BackgroundWorker = _
            CType(sender, BackgroundWorker)

        ' Assign the result of the computation
        ' to the Result property of the DoWorkEventArgs
        ' object. This is will be available to the 
        ' RunWorkerCompleted eventhandler.
        e.Result = ComputeFibonacci(e.Argument, worker, e)
    End Sub

    ' This event handler deals with the results of the
    ' background operation.
    Private Sub backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted( _
    ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) _
    Handles backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted

        ' First, handle the case where an exception was thrown.
        If (e.Error IsNot Nothing) Then
            MessageBox.Show(e.Error.Message)
        ElseIf e.Cancelled Then
            ' Next, handle the case where the user canceled the 
            ' operation.
            ' Note that due to a race condition in 
            ' the DoWork event handler, the Cancelled
            ' flag may not have been set, even though
            ' CancelAsync was called.
            resultLabel.Text = "Canceled"
        Else
            ' Finally, handle the case where the operation succeeded.
            resultLabel.Text = e.Result.ToString()
        End If

        ' Enable the UpDown control.
        Me.numericUpDown1.Enabled = True

        ' Enable the Start button.
        startAsyncButton.Enabled = True

        ' Disable the Cancel button.
        cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = False
    End Sub

    ' This event handler updates the progress bar.
    Private Sub backgroundWorker1_ProgressChanged( _
    ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As ProgressChangedEventArgs) _
    Handles backgroundWorker1.ProgressChanged

        Me.progressBar1.Value = e.ProgressPercentage

    End Sub

    ' This is the method that does the actual work. For this
    ' example, it computes a Fibonacci number and
    ' reports progress as it does its work.
    Function ComputeFibonacci( _
        ByVal n As Integer, _
        ByVal worker As BackgroundWorker, _
        ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs) As Long

        ' The parameter n must be >= 0 and <= 91.
        ' Fib(n), with n > 91, overflows a long.
        If n < 0 OrElse n > 91 Then
            Throw New ArgumentException( _
                "value must be >= 0 and <= 91", "n")
        End If

        Dim result As Long = 0

        ' Abort the operation if the user has canceled.
        ' Note that a call to CancelAsync may have set 
        ' CancellationPending to true just after the
        ' last invocation of this method exits, so this 
        ' code will not have the opportunity to set the 
        ' DoWorkEventArgs.Cancel flag to true. This means
        ' that RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs.Cancelled will
        ' not be set to true in your RunWorkerCompleted
        ' event handler. This is a race condition.
        If worker.CancellationPending Then
            e.Cancel = True
        Else
            If n < 2 Then
                result = 1
            Else
                result = ComputeFibonacci(n - 1, worker, e) + _
                         ComputeFibonacci(n - 2, worker, e)
            End If

            ' Report progress as a percentage of the total task.
            Dim percentComplete As Integer = _
                CSng(n) / CSng(numberToCompute) * 100
            If percentComplete > highestPercentageReached Then
                highestPercentageReached = percentComplete
                worker.ReportProgress(percentComplete)
            End If

        End If

        Return result

    End Function


    Private Sub InitializeComponent()
        Me.numericUpDown1 = New System.Windows.Forms.NumericUpDown
        Me.startAsyncButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button
        Me.cancelAsyncButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button
        Me.resultLabel = New System.Windows.Forms.Label
        Me.progressBar1 = New System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar
        Me.backgroundWorker1 = New System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker
        CType(Me.numericUpDown1, System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize).BeginInit()
        Me.SuspendLayout()
        '
        'numericUpDown1
        '
        Me.numericUpDown1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(16, 16)
        Me.numericUpDown1.Maximum = New Decimal(New Integer() {91, 0, 0, 0})
        Me.numericUpDown1.Minimum = New Decimal(New Integer() {1, 0, 0, 0})
        Me.numericUpDown1.Name = "numericUpDown1"
        Me.numericUpDown1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(80, 20)
        Me.numericUpDown1.TabIndex = 0
        Me.numericUpDown1.Value = New Decimal(New Integer() {1, 0, 0, 0})
        '
        'startAsyncButton
        '
        Me.startAsyncButton.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(16, 72)
        Me.startAsyncButton.Name = "startAsyncButton"
        Me.startAsyncButton.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(120, 23)
        Me.startAsyncButton.TabIndex = 1
        Me.startAsyncButton.Text = "Start Async"
        '
        'cancelAsyncButton
        '
        Me.cancelAsyncButton.Enabled = False
        Me.cancelAsyncButton.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(153, 72)
        Me.cancelAsyncButton.Name = "cancelAsyncButton"
        Me.cancelAsyncButton.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(119, 23)
        Me.cancelAsyncButton.TabIndex = 2
        Me.cancelAsyncButton.Text = "Cancel Async"
        '
        'resultLabel
        '
        Me.resultLabel.BorderStyle = System.Windows.Forms.BorderStyle.Fixed3D
        Me.resultLabel.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(112, 16)
        Me.resultLabel.Name = "resultLabel"
        Me.resultLabel.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(160, 23)
        Me.resultLabel.TabIndex = 3
        Me.resultLabel.Text = "(no result)"
        Me.resultLabel.TextAlign = System.Drawing.ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter
        '
        'progressBar1
        '
        Me.progressBar1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(18, 48)
        Me.progressBar1.Name = "progressBar1"
        Me.progressBar1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(256, 8)
        Me.progressBar1.TabIndex = 4
        '
        'backgroundWorker1
        '
        Me.backgroundWorker1.WorkerReportsProgress = True
        Me.backgroundWorker1.WorkerSupportsCancellation = True
        '
        'FibonacciForm
        '
        Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(292, 118)
        Me.Controls.Add(Me.progressBar1)
        Me.Controls.Add(Me.resultLabel)
        Me.Controls.Add(Me.cancelAsyncButton)
        Me.Controls.Add(Me.startAsyncButton)
        Me.Controls.Add(Me.numericUpDown1)
        Me.Name = "FibonacciForm"
        Me.Text = "Fibonacci Calculator"
        CType(Me.numericUpDown1, System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize).EndInit()
        Me.ResumeLayout(False)

    End Sub

    <STAThread()> _
    Shared Sub Main()
        Application.Run(New FibonacciForm)
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

The BackgroundWorker class allows you to run an operation on a separate, dedicated thread. Time-consuming operations like downloads and database transactions can cause your user interface (UI) to seem as though it has stopped responding while they are running. When you want a responsive UI and you are faced with long delays associated with such operations, the BackgroundWorker class provides a convenient solution.

To execute a time-consuming operation in the background, create a BackgroundWorker and listen for events that report the progress of your operation and signal when your operation is finished. You can create the BackgroundWorker programmatically or you can drag it onto your form from the Components tab of the Toolbox. If you create the BackgroundWorker in the Windows Forms Designer, it will appear in the Component Tray, and its properties will be displayed in the Properties window.

To set up for a background operation, add an event handler for the DoWork event. Call your time-consuming operation in this event handler. To start the operation, call RunWorkerAsync. To receive notifications of progress updates, handle the ProgressChanged event. To receive a notification when the operation is completed, handle the RunWorkerCompleted event.

Note

You must be careful not to manipulate any user-interface objects in your DoWork event handler. Instead, communicate to the user interface through the ProgressChanged and RunWorkerCompleted events.

BackgroundWorker events are not marshaled across AppDomain boundaries. Do not use a BackgroundWorker component to perform multithreaded operations in more than one AppDomain.

If your background operation requires a parameter, call RunWorkerAsync with your parameter. Inside the DoWork event handler, you can extract the parameter from the DoWorkEventArgs.Argument property.

For more information about BackgroundWorker, see How to: Run an Operation in the Background.

Constructors

BackgroundWorker()

Initializes a new instance of the BackgroundWorker class.

Properties

CancellationPending	Gets a value indicating whether the application has requested cancellation of a background operation.
CanRaiseEvents	Gets a value indicating whether the component can raise an event. (Inherited from Component)
Container	Gets the IContainer that contains the Component. (Inherited from Component)
DesignMode	Gets a value that indicates whether the Component is currently in design mode. (Inherited from Component)
Events	Gets the list of event handlers that are attached to this Component. (Inherited from Component)
IsBusy	Gets a value indicating whether the BackgroundWorker is running an asynchronous operation.
Site	Gets or sets the ISite of the Component. (Inherited from Component)
WorkerReportsProgress	Gets or sets a value indicating whether the BackgroundWorker can report progress updates.
WorkerSupportsCancellation	Gets or sets a value indicating whether the BackgroundWorker supports asynchronous cancellation.

Methods

CancelAsync()	Requests cancellation of a pending background operation.
CreateObjRef(Type)	Creates an object that contains all the relevant information required to generate a proxy used to communicate with a remote object. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject)
Dispose()	Releases all resources used by the Component. (Inherited from Component)
Dispose(Boolean)	This method does not do anything.
Equals(Object)	Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object. (Inherited from Object)
GetHashCode()	Serves as the default hash function. (Inherited from Object)
GetLifetimeService()	Obsolete. Retrieves the current lifetime service object that controls the lifetime policy for this instance. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject)
GetService(Type)	Returns an object that represents a service provided by the Component or by its Container. (Inherited from Component)
GetType()	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object)
InitializeLifetimeService()	Obsolete. Obtains a lifetime service object to control the lifetime policy for this instance. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject)
MemberwiseClone()	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object)
MemberwiseClone(Boolean)	Creates a shallow copy of the current MarshalByRefObject object. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject)
OnDoWork(DoWorkEventArgs)	Raises the DoWork event.
OnProgressChanged(ProgressChangedEventArgs)	Raises the ProgressChanged event.
OnRunWorkerCompleted(RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs)	Raises the RunWorkerCompleted event.
ReportProgress(Int32, Object)	Raises the ProgressChanged event.
ReportProgress(Int32)	Raises the ProgressChanged event.
RunWorkerAsync()	Starts execution of a background operation.
RunWorkerAsync(Object)	Starts execution of a background operation.
ToString()	Returns a String containing the name of the Component, if any. This method should not be overridden. (Inherited from Component)

Events

Disposed	Occurs when the component is disposed by a call to the Dispose() method. (Inherited from Component)
DoWork	Occurs when RunWorkerAsync() is called.
ProgressChanged	Occurs when ReportProgress(Int32) is called.
RunWorkerCompleted	Occurs when the background operation has completed, has been canceled, or has raised an exception.

See also

• How to: Run an Operation in the Background
• Managed Threading Best Practices
• How to: Download a File in the Background