How do I execute code AFTER a form has loaded?

Question

You could use the "Shown" event: MSDN - Form.Shown

"The Shown event is only raised the first time a form is displayed; subsequently minimizing, maximizing, restoring, hiding, showing, or invalidating and repainting will not raise this event."

I sometimes use (in Load)

this.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker) delegate {
  // some code
});

or

this.BeginInvoke((MethodInvoker) this.SomeMethod);

(change "this" to your form variable if you are handling the event on an instance other than "this").

This pushes the invoke onto the windows-forms loop, so it gets processed when the form is processing the message queue.

[updated on request]

The Control.Invoke/Control.BeginInvoke methods are intended for use with threading, and are a mechanism to push work onto the UI thread. Normally this is used by worker threads etc. Control.Invoke does a synchronous call, where-as Control.BeginInvoke does an asynchronous call.

Normally, these would be used as:

SomeCodeOrEventHandlerOnAWorkerThread()
{
  // this code running on a worker thread...
  string newText = ExpensiveMethod(); // perhaps a DB/web call

  // now ask the UI thread to update itself
  this.Invoke((MethodInvoker) delegate {
      // this code runs on the UI thread!
      this.Text = newText;
  });
}

It does this by pushing a message onto the windows message queue; the UI thread (at some point) de-queues the message, processes the delegate, and signals the worker that it completed... so far so good ;-p

OK; so what happens if we use Control.Invoke / Control.BeginInvoke on the UI thread? It copes... if you call Control.Invoke, it is sensible enough to know that blocking on the message queue would cause an immediate deadlock - so if you are already on the UI thread it simply runs the code immediately... so that doesn't help us...

But Control.BeginInvoke works differently: it always pushes work onto the queue, even it we are already on the UI thread. This makes a really simply way of saying "in a moment", but without the inconvenience of timers etc (which would still have to do the same thing anyway!).

First time it WILL NOT start "AfterLoading",
It will just register it to start NEXT Load.

private void Main_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    //Register it to Start in Load 
    //Starting from the Next time.
    this.Activated += AfterLoading;
}

private void AfterLoading(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    this.Activated -= AfterLoading;
    //Write your code here.
}

I had the same problem, and solved it as follows:

Actually I want to show Message and close it automatically after 2 second. For that I had to generate (dynamically) simple form and one label showing message, stop message for 1500 ms so user read it. And Close dynamically created form. Shown event occur After load event. So code is

Form MessageForm = new Form();
MessageForm.Shown += (s, e1) => { 
    Thread t = new Thread(() => Thread.Sleep(1500)); 
    t.Start(); 
    t.Join(); 
    MessageForm.Close(); 
};

You could also try putting your code in the Activated event of the form, if you want it to occur, just when the form is activated. You would need to put in a boolean "has executed" check though if it is only supposed to run on the first activation.

This an old question and depends more upon when you need to start your routines. Since no one wants a null reference exception it is always best to check for null first then use as needed; that alone may save you a lot of grief.

The most common reason for this type of question is when a container or custom control type attempts to access properties initialized outside of a custom class where those properties have not yet been initialized thus potentially causing null values to populate and can even cause a null reference exceptions on object types. It means your class is running before it is fully initialized - before you have finished setting your properties etc. Another possible reason for this type of question is when to perform custom graphics.

To best answer the question about when to start executing code following the form load event is to monitor the WM_Paint message or hook directly in to the paint event itself. Why? The paint event only fires when all modules have fully loaded with respect to your form load event. Note: This.visible == true is not always true when it is set true so it is not used at all for this purpose except to hide a form.

The following is a complete example of how to start executing you code following the form load event. It is recommended that you do not unnecessarily tie up the paint message loop so we'll create an event that will start executing your code outside that loop.

using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace MyProgramStartingPlaceExample {

/// <summary>
/// Main UI form object
/// </summary>
public class Form1 : Form
{

    /// <summary>
    /// Main form load event handler
    /// </summary>
    public Form1()
    {
        // Initialize ONLY. Setup your controls and form parameters here. Custom controls should wait for "FormReady" before starting up too.
        this.Text = "My Program title before form loaded";
        // Size need to see text. lol
        this.Width = 420;

        // Setup the sub or fucntion that will handle your "start up" routine
        this.StartUpEvent += StartUPRoutine;

        // Optional: Custom control simulation startup sequence:
        // Define your class or control in variable. ie. var MyControlClass new CustomControl;
        // Setup your parameters only. ie. CustomControl.size = new size(420, 966); Do not validate during initialization wait until "FormReady" is set to avoid possible null values etc. 
        // Inside your control or class have a property and assign it as bool FormReady - do not validate anything until it is true and you'll be good! 
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// The main entry point for the application which sets security permissions when set.
    /// </summary>
    static void Main()
    {
        Application.EnableVisualStyles();
        Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
        Application.Run(new Form1());
    }


    #region "WM_Paint event hooking with StartUpEvent"            
    //
    // Create a delegate for our "StartUpEvent"
    public delegate void StartUpHandler();
    //
    // Create our event handle "StartUpEvent"
    public event StartUpHandler StartUpEvent;
    //
    // Our FormReady will only be set once just he way we intendded
    // Since it is a global variable we can poll it else where as well to determine if we should begin code execution !!
    bool FormReady;
    //
    // The WM_Paint message handler: Used mostly to paint nice things to controls and screen
    protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
    {
        // Check if Form is ready for our code ?
        if (FormReady == false) // Place a break point here to see the initialized version of the title on the form window
        {
            // We only want this to occur once for our purpose here.
            FormReady = true;
            //
            // Fire the start up event which then will call our "StartUPRoutine" below.
            StartUpEvent();
        }
        //
        // Always call base methods unless overriding the entire fucntion
        base.OnPaint(e);
    }
    #endregion


    #region "Your StartUp event Entry point"
    //
    // Begin executuing your code here to validate properties etc. and to run your program. Enjoy!
    // Entry point is just following the very first WM_Paint message - an ideal starting place following form load
    void StartUPRoutine()
    {
        // Replace the initialized text with the following
        this.Text = "Your Code has executed after the form's load event";
        //
        // Anyway this is the momment when the form is fully loaded and ready to go - you can also use these methods for your classes to synchronize excecution using easy modifications yet here is a good starting point. 
        // Option: Set FormReady to your controls manulaly ie. CustomControl.FormReady = true; or subscribe to the StartUpEvent event inside your class and use that as your entry point for validating and unleashing its code.
        //
        // Many options: The rest is up to you!
    }
    #endregion

}

}