README.md

Description

Basic Free Threading

More Info

Submitted On
By	Petko Petkov
Level	Beginner
User Rating	5.0 (20 globes from 4 users)
Compatibility	VB.NET
Category	System Services/ Functions
World	.Net (C#, VB.net)
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Source Code

Free Threading

For the first time, VB.NET has given VB developers the ability to write truly freethreaded
applications. If your application is going to perform a task that could take a
long time, such as parsing through a large recordset or performing a complex series
of mathematical calculations, you can push that processing off to its own thread so
that the rest of your application is still accessible. In VB6, the best you could do to
keep the rest of the application from appearing to be locked was to use the DoEvents
method.

Examine this code, which is written for VB.NET. Here you have some code for
button1. This code calls the BeBusy routine, which has a loop in it to just to take up
time. However, while in this loop, you are consuming the thread for this application,
and the UI will not respond while the loop is running.

Open a new VB project. Add a button.

Private Sub button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
  ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles button1.Click
  BeBusy()
End Sub

Sub BeBusy()
Dim i As Decimal
  For i = 1 To 20000000
      ‘do nothing but tie up app
  Next
  Beep()
End Sub

To create a thread, you must use the System.Threading.Thread class.

Imports System.Threading.Thread

To fix the code and keep BeBusy from consuming the main program thread, you have
now created a new thread and will run BeBusy on that thread. However, that line of
code isn’t enough. Next, you must call the Start method on that new thread. With
VB.NET, calling BeBusy on its own thread would look like this:

Private Sub button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
  ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles button1.Click
  
   'Creatre a new thread
  Dim busyThread As New System.Threading.Thread(AddressOf BeBusy)
  busyThread.Start()
End Sub