How to: Download a File in the Background
Downloading a file is a common task, and it is often useful to run this potentially time-consuming operation on a separate thread. Use the BackgroundWorker component to accomplish this task with very little code.
Example
The following code example demonstrates how to use a BackgroundWorker component to load an XML file from a URL. When the user clicks the Download button, the Click event handler calls the RunWorkerAsync method of a BackgroundWorker component to start the download operation. The button is disabled for the duration of the download, and then enabled when the download is complete. A MessageBox displays the contents of the file.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Threading;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Xml;
public class Form1 : Form
{
private BackgroundWorker backgroundWorker1;
private Button downloadButton;
private ProgressBar progressBar1;
private XmlDocument document = null;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
// Instantiate BackgroundWorker and attach handlers to its
// DoWork and RunWorkerCompleted events.
backgroundWorker1 = new System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker();
backgroundWorker1.DoWork += new System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventHandler(this.backgroundWorker1_DoWork);
backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted += new System.ComponentModel.RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler(this.backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted);
}
private void downloadButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Start the download operation in the background.
this.backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync();
// Disable the button for the duration of the download.
this.downloadButton.Enabled = false;
// Once you have started the background thread you
// can exit the handler and the application will
// wait until the RunWorkerCompleted event is raised.
// Or if you want to do something else in the main thread,
// such as update a progress bar, you can do so in a loop
// while checking IsBusy to see if the background task is
// still running.
while (this.backgroundWorker1.IsBusy)
{
progressBar1.Increment(1);
// Keep UI messages moving, so the form remains
// responsive during the asynchronous operation.
Application.DoEvents();
}
}
private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(
object sender,
DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
document = new XmlDocument();
// Uncomment the following line to
// simulate a noticeable latency.
//Thread.Sleep(5000);
// Replace this file name with a valid file name.
document.Load(@"http://www.tailspintoys.com/sample.xml");
}
private void backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(
object sender,
RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
// Set progress bar to 100% in case it's not already there.
progressBar1.Value = 100;
if (e.Error == null)
{
MessageBox.Show(document.InnerXml, "Download Complete");
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show(
"Failed to download file",
"Download failed",
MessageBoxButtons.OK,
MessageBoxIcon.Error);
}
// Enable the download button and reset the progress bar.
this.downloadButton.Enabled = true;
progressBar1.Value = 0;
}
#region Windows Form Designer generated code
/// <summary>
/// Required designer variable.
/// </summary>
private System.ComponentModel.IContainer components = null;
/// <summary>
/// Clean up any resources being used.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="disposing">true if managed resources should be disposed; otherwise, false.</param>
protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
if (disposing && (components != null))
{
components.Dispose();
}
base.Dispose(disposing);
}
/// <summary>
/// Required method for Designer support
/// </summary>
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.downloadButton = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.progressBar1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// downloadButton
//
this.downloadButton.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(12, 12);
this.downloadButton.Name = "downloadButton";
this.downloadButton.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(100, 23);
this.downloadButton.TabIndex = 0;
this.downloadButton.Text = "Download file";
this.downloadButton.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
this.downloadButton.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.downloadButton_Click);
//
// progressBar1
//
this.progressBar1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(12, 50);
this.progressBar1.Name = "progressBar1";
this.progressBar1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(100, 26);
this.progressBar1.TabIndex = 1;
//
// Form1
//
this.AutoScaleDimensions = new System.Drawing.SizeF(6F, 13F);
this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(133, 104);
this.Controls.Add(this.progressBar1);
this.Controls.Add(this.downloadButton);
this.Name = "Form1";
this.Text = "Form1";
this.ResumeLayout(false);
}
#endregion
}
static class Program
{
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
}
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports System.Xml
Public Class Form1
Inherits Form
Private WithEvents downloadButton As Button
Private WithEvents progressBar1 As ProgressBar
Private WithEvents backgroundWorker1 As BackgroundWorker
Private document As XmlDocument = Nothing
Public Sub New()
InitializeComponent()
Me.backgroundWorker1 = New System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker()
End Sub
Private Sub downloadButton_Click( _
ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As EventArgs) _
Handles downloadButton.Click
' Start the download operation in the background.
Me.backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync()
' Disable the button for the duration of the download.
Me.downloadButton.Enabled = False
' Once you have started the background thread you
' can exit the handler and the application will
' wait until the RunWorkerCompleted event is raised.
' If you want to do something else in the main thread,
' such as update a progress bar, you can do so in a loop
' while checking IsBusy to see if the background task is
' still running.
While Me.backgroundWorker1.IsBusy
progressBar1.Increment(1)
' Keep UI messages moving, so the form remains
' responsive during the asynchronous operation.
Application.DoEvents()
End While
End Sub
Private Sub backgroundWorker1_DoWork( _
ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs) _
Handles backgroundWorker1.DoWork
document = New XmlDocument()
' Replace this file name with a valid file name.
document.Load("http://www.tailspintoys.com/sample.xml")
' Uncomment the following line to
' simulate a noticeable latency.
'Thread.Sleep(5000);
End Sub
Private Sub backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted( _
ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) _
Handles backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted
' Set progress bar to 100% in case it isn't already there.
progressBar1.Value = 100
If e.Error Is Nothing Then
MessageBox.Show(document.InnerXml, "Download Complete")
Else
MessageBox.Show("Failed to download file", "Download failed", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error)
End If
' Enable the download button and reset the progress bar.
Me.downloadButton.Enabled = True
progressBar1.Value = 0
End Sub
#Region "Windows Form Designer generated code"
' Required designer variable.
Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer = Nothing
' Clean up any resources being used.
' <param name="disposing">true if managed resources should be disposed; otherwise, false.</param>
Protected Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
If disposing AndAlso (components IsNot Nothing) Then
components.Dispose()
End If
MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
End Sub
' Required method for Designer support - do not modify
' the contents of this method with the code editor.
Private Sub InitializeComponent()
Me.downloadButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button
Me.progressBar1 = New System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar
Me.SuspendLayout()
'
'downloadButton
'
Me.downloadButton.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(12, 12)
Me.downloadButton.Name = "downloadButton"
Me.downloadButton.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(100, 23)
Me.downloadButton.TabIndex = 0
Me.downloadButton.Text = "Download file"
Me.downloadButton.UseVisualStyleBackColor = True
'
'progressBar1
'
Me.progressBar1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(12, 50)
Me.progressBar1.Name = "progressBar1"
Me.progressBar1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(100, 26)
Me.progressBar1.TabIndex = 1
'
'Form1
'
Me.AutoScaleDimensions = New System.Drawing.SizeF(6.0!, 13.0!)
Me.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font
Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(136, 104)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.downloadButton)
Me.Controls.Add(Me.progressBar1)
Me.Name = "Form1"
Me.Text = "Form1"
Me.ResumeLayout(False)
End Sub
#End Region
End Class
Public Class Program
' The main entry point for the application.
<STAThread()> _
Shared Sub Main()
Application.EnableVisualStyles()
Application.Run(New Form1())
End Sub
End Class
Downloading the file
The file is downloaded on the BackgroundWorker component's worker thread, which runs the DoWork event handler. This thread starts when your code calls the RunWorkerAsync method.
private void backgroundWorker1_DoWork(
object sender,
DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
document = new XmlDocument();
// Uncomment the following line to
// simulate a noticeable latency.
//Thread.Sleep(5000);
// Replace this file name with a valid file name.
document.Load(@"http://www.tailspintoys.com/sample.xml");
}
Private Sub backgroundWorker1_DoWork( _
ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As DoWorkEventArgs) _
Handles backgroundWorker1.DoWork
document = New XmlDocument()
' Replace this file name with a valid file name.
document.Load("http://www.tailspintoys.com/sample.xml")
' Uncomment the following line to
' simulate a noticeable latency.
'Thread.Sleep(5000);
End Sub
Waiting for a BackgroundWorker to finish
The downloadButton_Click event handler demonstrates how to wait for a BackgroundWorker component to finish its asynchronous task.
If you only want the application to respond to events and do not want to do any work in the main thread while you wait for the background thread to complete, just exit the handler.
If you want to continue doing work in the main thread, use the IsBusy property to determine whether the BackgroundWorker thread is still running. In the example, a progress bar is updated while the download is processing. Be sure to call the Application.DoEvents method to keep the UI responsive.
private void downloadButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Start the download operation in the background.
this.backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync();
// Disable the button for the duration of the download.
this.downloadButton.Enabled = false;
// Once you have started the background thread you
// can exit the handler and the application will
// wait until the RunWorkerCompleted event is raised.
// Or if you want to do something else in the main thread,
// such as update a progress bar, you can do so in a loop
// while checking IsBusy to see if the background task is
// still running.
while (this.backgroundWorker1.IsBusy)
{
progressBar1.Increment(1);
// Keep UI messages moving, so the form remains
// responsive during the asynchronous operation.
Application.DoEvents();
}
}
Private Sub downloadButton_Click( _
ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As EventArgs) _
Handles downloadButton.Click
' Start the download operation in the background.
Me.backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerAsync()
' Disable the button for the duration of the download.
Me.downloadButton.Enabled = False
' Once you have started the background thread you
' can exit the handler and the application will
' wait until the RunWorkerCompleted event is raised.
' If you want to do something else in the main thread,
' such as update a progress bar, you can do so in a loop
' while checking IsBusy to see if the background task is
' still running.
While Me.backgroundWorker1.IsBusy
progressBar1.Increment(1)
' Keep UI messages moving, so the form remains
' responsive during the asynchronous operation.
Application.DoEvents()
End While
End Sub
Displaying the result
The backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted method handles the RunWorkerCompleted event and is called when the background operation is completed. This method first checks the AsyncCompletedEventArgs.Error property. If AsyncCompletedEventArgs.Error is null, then this method displays the contents of the file. It then enables the download button, which was disabled when the download began, and it resets the progress bar.
private void backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted(
object sender,
RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
// Set progress bar to 100% in case it's not already there.
progressBar1.Value = 100;
if (e.Error == null)
{
MessageBox.Show(document.InnerXml, "Download Complete");
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show(
"Failed to download file",
"Download failed",
MessageBoxButtons.OK,
MessageBoxIcon.Error);
}
// Enable the download button and reset the progress bar.
this.downloadButton.Enabled = true;
progressBar1.Value = 0;
}
Private Sub backgroundWorker1_RunWorkerCompleted( _
ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs) _
Handles backgroundWorker1.RunWorkerCompleted
' Set progress bar to 100% in case it isn't already there.
progressBar1.Value = 100
If e.Error Is Nothing Then
MessageBox.Show(document.InnerXml, "Download Complete")
Else
MessageBox.Show("Failed to download file", "Download failed", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error)
End If
' Enable the download button and reset the progress bar.
Me.downloadButton.Enabled = True
progressBar1.Value = 0
End Sub
Compiling the Code
This example requires:
- References to the System.Drawing, System.Windows.Forms, and System.Xml assemblies.
Robust Programming
Always check the AsyncCompletedEventArgs.Error property in your RunWorkerCompleted event handler before attempting to access the RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs.Result property or any other object that may have been affected by the DoWork event handler.
See also
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