How Can I Safely Update WPF Controls from a Non-UI Thread?

WPF Threading: Safely Updating Controls from Background Threads

WPF's single-threaded nature necessitates careful handling of UI updates from non-main threads. The Dispatcher class provides the solution.

Leveraging the Dispatcher.Invoke Method

Dispatcher.Invoke allows execution of a delegate on the main UI thread, crucial for safely accessing and modifying WPF controls from background threads.

Implementation Steps:

1. Initiate a background thread for data retrieval.
2. Within the background thread, use Dispatcher.Invoke to execute a delegate responsible for UI updates.
3. Supply an Action or Func delegate as the argument to Dispatcher.Invoke.

Illustrative Example:

<code class="language-csharp">// Launch a background thread for data fetching
Thread dataThread = new Thread(RetrieveData);
dataThread.Start();

// Background thread function
private void RetrieveData()
{
    // ... Data retrieval from a web server ...

    // Update the UI via Dispatcher.Invoke
    Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(() =>
    {
        // Update WPF controls with the fetched data
    });
}</code>

Important Note:

Refrain from executing lengthy operations within Dispatcher.Invoke to prevent UI freezes. For time-consuming tasks, utilize a BackgroundWorker instead.

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