I'm updating an ObservableCollection of a WPF ViewModel in a WCF Data Service asynchronous query callback method:
ObservableCollection<Ent2> mymodcoll = new ObservableCollection<Ent2>();
...
query.BeginExecute(OnMyQueryComplete, query);
...
private void OnMyQueryComplete(IAsyncResult result)
{
...
var repcoll = query.EndExecute(result);
if (mymodcoll.Any())
{
foreach (Ent c in repcoll)
{
var myItem = mymodcoll.Where(p => p.EntID == c.EntID).FirstOrDefault();
if (myItem != null)
{
myItem.DateAndTime = c.DateAndTime; // here no problems
myItem.Description = c.Description;
...
}
else
{
mymodcoll.Add(new Ent2 //here I get a runtime error
{
EntID = c.EntID,
Description = c.Description,
DateAndTime = c.DateAndTime,
...
});
}
}
}
else
{
foreach (Ent c in repcoll)
{
mymodcoll.Add(new Ent2 //here, on initial filling, there's no error
{
EntID = c.EntID,
Description = c.Description,
DateAndTime = c.DateAndTime,
...
});
}
}
}
The problem is, when a query result collection contains an item which is not present in the target collection and I need to add this item, I get a runtime error: The calling thread cannot access this object because a different thread owns it. (I pointed out this line of code by a comment)
Nevertheless, if the target collection is empty (on initial filling) all items have been added without any problem. (This part of code I also pointed out by a comment). When an item just needs to update some of its fields, there are no problems as well, the item gets updated ok.
How could I fix this issue?
First case: Here you a modifying an object in the collection, not the collection itself - thus the CollectionChanged
event isn't fired.
Second case: here you are adding a new element into the collection from a different thread, the CollectionChanged
event is fired. This event needs to be executed in the UI thread due to data binding.
I encountered that problem several times already, and the solution isn't pretty (if somebody has a better solution, please tell me!). You'll have to derive from ObservableCollection<T>
and pass it a delegate to the BeginInvoke
or Invoke
method on the GUI thread's dispatcher.
Example:
public class SmartObservableCollection<T> : ObservableCollection<T>
{
[DebuggerStepThrough]
public SmartObservableCollection(Action<Action> dispatchingAction = null)
: base()
{
iSuspendCollectionChangeNotification = false;
if (dispatchingAction != null)
iDispatchingAction = dispatchingAction;
else
iDispatchingAction = a => a();
}
private bool iSuspendCollectionChangeNotification;
private Action<Action> iDispatchingAction;
[DebuggerStepThrough]
protected override void OnCollectionChanged(NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (!iSuspendCollectionChangeNotification)
{
using (IDisposable disposeable = this.BlockReentrancy())
{
iDispatchingAction(() =>
{
base.OnCollectionChanged(e);
});
}
}
}
[DebuggerStepThrough]
public void SuspendCollectionChangeNotification()
{
iSuspendCollectionChangeNotification = true;
}
[DebuggerStepThrough]
public void ResumeCollectionChangeNotification()
{
iSuspendCollectionChangeNotification = false;
}
[DebuggerStepThrough]
public void AddRange(IEnumerable<T> items)
{
this.SuspendCollectionChangeNotification();
try
{
foreach (var i in items)
{
base.InsertItem(base.Count, i);
}
}
finally
{
this.ResumeCollectionChangeNotification();
var arg = new NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs(NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Reset);
this.OnCollectionChanged(arg);
}
}
}
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