How to make this better and faster?

21 Dec 2004 12:50 PM

ham-z

I have written the following Win app in VB.NET 2003 . The class is simply
picture boxes that behave in a random order after they have been
instantiated and added to a form. When I create 15 or more instances of my
class, the whole program runs slowly in a way that I have to close the
program. I have tried to create a new thread for each class, but that throws
an exception , because a separated thread can't be added to a form from a
child class.

My code is this ( please tell me if there are better ways for doing it)
coplile with :

vbc [filename]
/r:system.dll,system.windows.forms.dll,system.drawing.dll,microsoft.visualbasic.dll
/t:winexe /main:form1

'----------------------------------- Start of CODE

Imports System.Math
imports Microsoft.VisualBasic
imports System.drawing
imports system.windows.forms

Public Class Form1
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

#Region " Windows Form Designer generated code "

    Public Sub New()
        MyBase.New()

        'This call is required by the Windows Form Designer.
        InitializeComponent()

        'Add any initialization after the InitializeComponent() call

    End Sub

    'Form overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
    Protected Overloads Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
        If disposing Then
            If Not (components Is Nothing) Then
                components.Dispose()
            End If
        End If
        MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
    End Sub

    'Required by the Windows Form Designer
    Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer

    'NOTE: The following procedure is required by the Windows Form Designer
    'It can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.
    'Do not modify it using the code editor.
    <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()> Private Sub
InitializeComponent()
        '
        'Form1
        '
        Me.AutoScaleBaseSize = New System.Drawing.Size(5, 13)
        Me.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.White
        Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(384, 266)
        Me.Name = "Form1"
        Me.Text = "Form1"

    End Sub

#End Region

    Private Sub Form1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Click
        CreateOBJ()
    End Sub

    Sub CreateOBJ()
        Dim myRec As Rec = New Rec(Me.CreateGraphics, Me)
    End Sub
End Class

'--------------------------------------------------- Class Rec

Public Class Rec

    Dim Gr As Graphics
    Dim X, Y As Integer
    Dim frm As Form
    WithEvents TIMER As New Timer
    Dim bmp As Bitmap
    Dim PB As PictureBox

      Public Sub New(ByVal g As Graphics, ByVal form As Form)
        X = Rnd() * 100
        Y = Rnd() * 200
        Gr = g
        Me.frm = form
        ini()
        justAddX = True
        justAddY = True
    End Sub

    ' We could use the graphics object here to draw on the form. But since
GDI+
    ' lacks the ideal performance, we use picture boxes and add them to the
    ' spacified form instead of using the drawing object:

    Sub ini()
        TIMER.Interval = Rnd() * 10 + 1
        TIMER.Enabled = True
        PB = New PictureBox
        With PB
            .BackColor = Color.FromArgb(Rnd() * 150, Rnd() * 200, Rnd() *
230)
            .Left = X
            .Top = Y
            .Height = 6
            .Width = 6
        End With
        frm.Controls.Add(PB)
    End Sub

    ' Use these two boolean to know when to add or substarct numbers
    ' the movement of this class object.
    Dim justAddX, justAddY As Boolean

    Private Sub TIMER_Tick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
System.EventArgs) Handles TIMER.Tick
        MoveMe()
    End Sub

    ' CuurentNum X , Y are the numbers added to the speed of X ,Y
    ' which creates a kind of change when the Rec hits the walls:

    Dim CurrentNumX As Integer = 1
    Dim CurrentNumY As Integer = 1

    Sub MoveMe()
        If X > (frm.Width - PB.Width) - 10 Then
            justAddX = False
            CurrentNumX = Rnd() * 50
        End If

        If Y > (frm.Height - PB.Height) - 30 Then
            justAddY = False
            CurrentNumY = Rnd() * 40
        End If

        If X < 0 Then
            justAddX = True
            CurrentNumX = Rnd() * 80
        End If

        If Y < 0 Then
            justAddY = True
            CurrentNumY = Rnd() * 30
        End If

        If justAddX Then
            X += CurrentNumX
        Else
            X -= CurrentNumX
        End If

        If justAddY Then
            Y += CurrentNumY
        Else
            Y -= CurrentNumY
        End If

        PB.Left = X
        PB.Top = Y
    End Sub

End Class

'------------------------------------------------------- End of
CODE------------

21 Dec 2004 1:07 PM

Dennis

You might want to check into the API routine BitBlt. It copies rectangle
shapes from and to graphics objects. It's very, very fast. You could draw
your images directly on the form using the Paint event.

Show quoteHide quote

"ham-z" wrote:

> I have written the following Win app in VB.NET 2003 . The class is simply
> picture boxes that behave in a random order after they have been
> instantiated and added to a form. When I create 15 or more instances of my
> class, the whole program runs slowly in a way that I have to close the
> program. I have tried to create a new thread for each class, but that throws
> an exception , because a separated thread can't be added to a form from a
> child class.
>
> My code is this ( please tell me if there are better ways for doing it)
> coplile with :
>
> vbc [filename]
> /r:system.dll,system.windows.forms.dll,system.drawing.dll,microsoft.visualbasic.dll
> /t:winexe /main:form1
>
> '----------------------------------- Start of CODE
>
> Imports System.Math
> imports Microsoft.VisualBasic
> imports System.drawing
> imports system.windows.forms
>
> Public Class Form1
>     Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form
>
> #Region " Windows Form Designer generated code "
>
>     Public Sub New()
>         MyBase.New()
>
>         'This call is required by the Windows Form Designer.
>         InitializeComponent()
>
>         'Add any initialization after the InitializeComponent() call
>
>     End Sub
>
>     'Form overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
>     Protected Overloads Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
>         If disposing Then
>             If Not (components Is Nothing) Then
>                 components.Dispose()
>             End If
>         End If
>         MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
>     End Sub
>
>     'Required by the Windows Form Designer
>     Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer
>
>     'NOTE: The following procedure is required by the Windows Form Designer
>     'It can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.
>     'Do not modify it using the code editor.
>     <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()> Private Sub
> InitializeComponent()
>         '
>         'Form1
>         '
>         Me.AutoScaleBaseSize = New System.Drawing.Size(5, 13)
>         Me.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.White
>         Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(384, 266)
>         Me.Name = "Form1"
>         Me.Text = "Form1"
>
>     End Sub
>
> #End Region
>
>     Private Sub Form1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
> System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Click
>         CreateOBJ()
>     End Sub
>
>
>     Sub CreateOBJ()
>         Dim myRec As Rec = New Rec(Me.CreateGraphics, Me)
>     End Sub
> End Class
>
> '--------------------------------------------------- Class Rec
>
> Public Class Rec
>
>     Dim Gr As Graphics
>     Dim X, Y As Integer
>     Dim frm As Form
>     WithEvents TIMER As New Timer
>     Dim bmp As Bitmap
>     Dim PB As PictureBox
>
>       Public Sub New(ByVal g As Graphics, ByVal form As Form)
>         X = Rnd() * 100
>         Y = Rnd() * 200
>         Gr = g
>         Me.frm = form
>         ini()
>         justAddX = True
>         justAddY = True
>     End Sub
>
>     ' We could use the graphics object here to draw on the form. But since
> GDI+
>     ' lacks the ideal performance, we use picture boxes and add them to the
>     ' spacified form instead of using the drawing object:
>
>     Sub ini()
>         TIMER.Interval = Rnd() * 10 + 1
>         TIMER.Enabled = True
>         PB = New PictureBox
>         With PB
>             .BackColor = Color.FromArgb(Rnd() * 150, Rnd() * 200, Rnd() *
> 230)
>             .Left = X
>             .Top = Y
>             .Height = 6
>             .Width = 6
>         End With
>         frm.Controls.Add(PB)
>     End Sub
>
>     ' Use these two boolean to know when to add or substarct numbers
>     ' the movement of this class object.
>     Dim justAddX, justAddY As Boolean
>
>     Private Sub TIMER_Tick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
> System.EventArgs) Handles TIMER.Tick
>         MoveMe()
>     End Sub
>
>     ' CuurentNum X , Y are the numbers added to the speed of X ,Y
>     ' which creates a kind of change when the Rec hits the walls:
>
>     Dim CurrentNumX As Integer = 1
>     Dim CurrentNumY As Integer = 1
>
>     Sub MoveMe()
>         If X > (frm.Width - PB.Width) - 10 Then
>             justAddX = False
>             CurrentNumX = Rnd() * 50
>         End If
>
>         If Y > (frm.Height - PB.Height) - 30 Then
>             justAddY = False
>             CurrentNumY = Rnd() * 40
>         End If
>
>         If X < 0 Then
>             justAddX = True
>             CurrentNumX = Rnd() * 80
>         End If
>
>         If Y < 0 Then
>             justAddY = True
>             CurrentNumY = Rnd() * 30
>         End If
>
>         If justAddX Then
>             X += CurrentNumX
>         Else
>             X -= CurrentNumX
>         End If
>
>         If justAddY Then
>             Y += CurrentNumY
>         Else
>             Y -= CurrentNumY
>         End If
>
>         PB.Left = X
>         PB.Top = Y
>     End Sub
>
> End Class
>
>
> '------------------------------------------------------- End of
> CODE------------
>
>
>
>

21 Dec 2004 1:16 PM

Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]

"Dennis" <Den***@discussions.microsoft.com> schrieb:
> You might want to check into the API routine BitBlt. It copies rectangle
> shapes from and to graphics objects. It's very, very fast. You could
> draw
> your images directly on the form using the Paint event.

I doubt that this will be much faster than 'Graphics.DrawImage[Unscaled]'.

--
M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
V B <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/dotnet/faqs/>

22 Dec 2004 1:25 PM

Dennis

Are you saying that BitBlt is not any faster than .drawimage? It seems
faster to me and I have read articles on the web that also say it's much
faster.

Show quoteHide quote

"Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]" wrote:

> "Dennis" <Den***@discussions.microsoft.com> schrieb:
> > You might want to check into the API routine BitBlt. It copies rectangle
> > shapes from and to graphics objects. It's very, very fast. You could
> > draw
> > your images directly on the form using the Paint event.
>
> I doubt that this will be much faster than 'Graphics.DrawImage[Unscaled]'.
>
> --
> M S Herfried K. Wagner
> M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
> V B <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/dotnet/faqs/>
>
>

22 Dec 2004 2:25 PM

Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]

"Dennis" <Den***@discussions.microsoft.com> schrieb:
> Are you saying that BitBlt is not any faster than .drawimage? It seems
> faster to me and I have read articles on the web that also say it's much
> faster.

I didn't check it in all details, but I assume that 'DrawImageUnscaled' is
approx. as fast as 'BitBlt' because it is a wrapper around 'BitBlt'.

--
M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
V B <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/dotnet/faqs/>

23 Dec 2004 1:41 PM

Tommy

Don't assume.
DrawImageUnscaled is not a wrapper around BitBlt. DrawImageUnscaled
just calls DrawImage. DrawImage calls the native function
GdipDrawImageI, which isn't as fast as BitBlt.
GdipDrawImageI uses GDI+, BitBlt uses GDI. GDI+ isn't hardware
accelerated, GDI is.

23 Dec 2004 2:03 PM

Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]

"Tommy" <tommy.carl***@telenet.be> schrieb:
> Don't assume.
> DrawImageUnscaled is not a wrapper around BitBlt. DrawImageUnscaled
> just calls DrawImage. DrawImage calls the native function
> GdipDrawImageI

You are right. IIRC what I said was written in "Professional C#" published
by Wrox. ILDASM shows that 'DrawImageUnscaled' simply calls 'DrawImage',
and 'DrawImage' is a wrapper around 'GdipDrawImageRectI'. Thank you for
making me aware of that.

--
M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
V B <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/dotnet/faqs/>

23 Dec 2004 3:40 PM

Tommy

I don't use ILDASM, I use Reflector. It's much better than ILDASM, and
it decompiles the assembly in the language you want (included
languages: C#, VB.NET, IL, Delphi). http://www.aisto.com/roeder/dotnet

23 Dec 2004 4:04 PM

Tommy

I don't use ILDASM, I use Reflector. It's much better than ILDASM, and
it decompiles the assembly in the language you want (included
languages: C#, VB.NET, IL, Delphi). http://www.aisto.com/roeder/dotnet

21 Dec 2004 1:18 PM

Cor Ligthert

Ham,

Nice crossposting, however the in my opinion most right newsgroup for this
question is not in it.

microsoft.public.dotnet.framework.drawing

I saw your problem, however I think because the fact that the most is
graphics you can place it the best in that newsgroup.

No problem at all that crossposting by the way.

Cor

Show quoteHide quote

"ham-z" <hamz-3e@/**/yahoo.com>.
>I have written the following Win app in VB.NET 2003 . The class is simply
> picture boxes that behave in a random order after they have been
> instantiated and added to a form. When I create 15 or more instances of my
> class, the whole program runs slowly in a way that I have to close the
> program. I have tried to create a new thread for each class, but that
> throws
> an exception , because a separated thread can't be added to a form from a
> child class.
>
> My code is this ( please tell me if there are better ways for doing it)
> coplile with :
>
> vbc [filename]
> /r:system.dll,system.windows.forms.dll,system.drawing.dll,microsoft.visualbasic.dll
> /t:winexe /main:form1
>
> '----------------------------------- Start of CODE
>
> Imports System.Math
> imports Microsoft.VisualBasic
> imports System.drawing
> imports system.windows.forms
>
> Public Class Form1
>    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form
>
> #Region " Windows Form Designer generated code "
>
>    Public Sub New()
>        MyBase.New()
>
>        'This call is required by the Windows Form Designer.
>        InitializeComponent()
>
>        'Add any initialization after the InitializeComponent() call
>
>    End Sub
>
>    'Form overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
>    Protected Overloads Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
>        If disposing Then
>            If Not (components Is Nothing) Then
>                components.Dispose()
>            End If
>        End If
>        MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
>    End Sub
>
>    'Required by the Windows Form Designer
>    Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer
>
>    'NOTE: The following procedure is required by the Windows Form Designer
>    'It can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.
>    'Do not modify it using the code editor.
>    <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()> Private Sub
> InitializeComponent()
>        '
>        'Form1
>        '
>        Me.AutoScaleBaseSize = New System.Drawing.Size(5, 13)
>        Me.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.White
>        Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(384, 266)
>        Me.Name = "Form1"
>        Me.Text = "Form1"
>
>    End Sub
>
> #End Region
>
>    Private Sub Form1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
> System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Click
>        CreateOBJ()
>    End Sub
>
>
>    Sub CreateOBJ()
>        Dim myRec As Rec = New Rec(Me.CreateGraphics, Me)
>    End Sub
> End Class
>
> '--------------------------------------------------- Class Rec
>
> Public Class Rec
>
>    Dim Gr As Graphics
>    Dim X, Y As Integer
>    Dim frm As Form
>    WithEvents TIMER As New Timer
>    Dim bmp As Bitmap
>    Dim PB As PictureBox
>
>      Public Sub New(ByVal g As Graphics, ByVal form As Form)
>        X = Rnd() * 100
>        Y = Rnd() * 200
>        Gr = g
>        Me.frm = form
>        ini()
>        justAddX = True
>        justAddY = True
>    End Sub
>
>    ' We could use the graphics object here to draw on the form. But since
> GDI+
>    ' lacks the ideal performance, we use picture boxes and add them to the
>    ' spacified form instead of using the drawing object:
>
>    Sub ini()
>        TIMER.Interval = Rnd() * 10 + 1
>        TIMER.Enabled = True
>        PB = New PictureBox
>        With PB
>            .BackColor = Color.FromArgb(Rnd() * 150, Rnd() * 200, Rnd() *
> 230)
>            .Left = X
>            .Top = Y
>            .Height = 6
>            .Width = 6
>        End With
>        frm.Controls.Add(PB)
>    End Sub
>
>    ' Use these two boolean to know when to add or substarct numbers
>    ' the movement of this class object.
>    Dim justAddX, justAddY As Boolean
>
>    Private Sub TIMER_Tick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
> System.EventArgs) Handles TIMER.Tick
>        MoveMe()
>    End Sub
>
>    ' CuurentNum X , Y are the numbers added to the speed of X ,Y
>    ' which creates a kind of change when the Rec hits the walls:
>
>    Dim CurrentNumX As Integer = 1
>    Dim CurrentNumY As Integer = 1
>
>    Sub MoveMe()
>        If X > (frm.Width - PB.Width) - 10 Then
>            justAddX = False
>            CurrentNumX = Rnd() * 50
>        End If
>
>        If Y > (frm.Height - PB.Height) - 30 Then
>            justAddY = False
>            CurrentNumY = Rnd() * 40
>        End If
>
>        If X < 0 Then
>            justAddX = True
>            CurrentNumX = Rnd() * 80
>        End If
>
>        If Y < 0 Then
>            justAddY = True
>            CurrentNumY = Rnd() * 30
>        End If
>
>        If justAddX Then
>            X += CurrentNumX
>        Else
>            X -= CurrentNumX
>        End If
>
>        If justAddY Then
>            Y += CurrentNumY
>        Else
>            Y -= CurrentNumY
>        End If
>
>        PB.Left = X
>        PB.Top = Y
>    End Sub
>
> End Class
>
>
> '------------------------------------------------------- End of
> CODE------------
>
>
>

21 Dec 2004 3:13 PM

Rulin Hong

It's OK on my machine even when I created 200 instances of rec. My machine
is: Intel(R) Pentium (R) 4 CPU 2.40GHZ | AT/AT COMPATIBLE | 1G RAM

21 Dec 2004 5:13 PM

ham-z

You got plenty of RAM.... mine is only 256 MB...though I can't figure out
what 1 GB RAM might do for this ( almost no relation) comparing with
256.....
Show quoteHide quote

"Rulin Hong" <RulinH***@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:DC5D3BAD-0BD3-4255-8B5B-3EFB8175F4CD@microsoft.com...
> It's OK on my machine even when I created 200 instances of rec. My machine
> is: Intel(R) Pentium (R) 4 CPU 2.40GHZ | AT/AT COMPATIBLE | 1G RAM
>

21 Dec 2004 3:13 PM

Nick Malik

OK, so you have a form that **VERY QUICKLY** moves boxes at random around
the screen.
Realize that your timer ticks are happening so quickly that the system will
be queueing events and colliding with itself on each form, and that will
only get worse with additional forms.

I'm not sure what you are trying to prove with this graphics exercise. If
you want to see how fast graphics can move, than causing a timer conflict is
probably not the best way to go about it. If you are trying to see how the
OS handles PAINT events, then you may want to have a single form and stress
it, rather than using a timer at all.

Also, your timer is declared in the object, not in the form. The means that
every new object you create will create a new timer. This may be a trivial
point, but I'd recommend that you move the timer to the form.

More importantly, to make your window perform, I'd suggest you change a
single line.
from: TIMER.Interval = Rnd() * 10 + 1
from: TIMER.Interval = Rnd() * 10 + 100

That will give you 10 Paint events per second per form, which is still
plenty fast enough but is less likely to cause a pile-up.

--
--- Nick Malik [MSFT]
    MCSD, CFPS, Certified Scrummaster
    http://blogs.msdn.com/nickmalik

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this forum are my own, and not
representative of my employer.
   I do not answer questions on behalf of my employer. I'm just a
programmer helping programmers.

Show quoteHide quote

"ham-z" <hamz-3e@/**/yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Ot3Btv15EHA.2608@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> I have written the following Win app in VB.NET 2003 . The class is simply
> picture boxes that behave in a random order after they have been
> instantiated and added to a form. When I create 15 or more instances of my
> class, the whole program runs slowly in a way that I have to close the
> program. I have tried to create a new thread for each class, but that
throws
> an exception , because a separated thread can't be added to a form from a
> child class.
>
> My code is this ( please tell me if there are better ways for doing it)
> coplile with :
>
> vbc [filename]
>

/r:system.dll,system.windows.forms.dll,system.drawing.dll,microsoft.visualba
sic.dll
Show quoteHide quote

> /t:winexe /main:form1
>
> '----------------------------------- Start of CODE
>
> Imports System.Math
> imports Microsoft.VisualBasic
> imports System.drawing
> imports system.windows.forms
>
> Public Class Form1
>     Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form
>
> #Region " Windows Form Designer generated code "
>
>     Public Sub New()
>         MyBase.New()
>
>         'This call is required by the Windows Form Designer.
>         InitializeComponent()
>
>         'Add any initialization after the InitializeComponent() call
>
>     End Sub
>
>     'Form overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
>     Protected Overloads Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
>         If disposing Then
>             If Not (components Is Nothing) Then
>                 components.Dispose()
>             End If
>         End If
>         MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
>     End Sub
>
>     'Required by the Windows Form Designer
>     Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer
>
>     'NOTE: The following procedure is required by the Windows Form
Designer
>     'It can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.
>     'Do not modify it using the code editor.
>     <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()> Private Sub
> InitializeComponent()
>         '
>         'Form1
>         '
>         Me.AutoScaleBaseSize = New System.Drawing.Size(5, 13)
>         Me.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.White
>         Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(384, 266)
>         Me.Name = "Form1"
>         Me.Text = "Form1"
>
>     End Sub
>
> #End Region
>
>     Private Sub Form1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
> System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Click
>         CreateOBJ()
>     End Sub
>
>
>     Sub CreateOBJ()
>         Dim myRec As Rec = New Rec(Me.CreateGraphics, Me)
>     End Sub
> End Class
>
> '--------------------------------------------------- Class Rec
>
> Public Class Rec
>
>     Dim Gr As Graphics
>     Dim X, Y As Integer
>     Dim frm As Form
>     WithEvents TIMER As New Timer
>     Dim bmp As Bitmap
>     Dim PB As PictureBox
>
>       Public Sub New(ByVal g As Graphics, ByVal form As Form)
>         X = Rnd() * 100
>         Y = Rnd() * 200
>         Gr = g
>         Me.frm = form
>         ini()
>         justAddX = True
>         justAddY = True
>     End Sub
>
>     ' We could use the graphics object here to draw on the form. But since
> GDI+
>     ' lacks the ideal performance, we use picture boxes and add them to
the
>     ' spacified form instead of using the drawing object:
>
>     Sub ini()
>         TIMER.Interval = Rnd() * 10 + 1
>         TIMER.Enabled = True
>         PB = New PictureBox
>         With PB
>             .BackColor = Color.FromArgb(Rnd() * 150, Rnd() * 200, Rnd() *
> 230)
>             .Left = X
>             .Top = Y
>             .Height = 6
>             .Width = 6
>         End With
>         frm.Controls.Add(PB)
>     End Sub
>
>     ' Use these two boolean to know when to add or substarct numbers
>     ' the movement of this class object.
>     Dim justAddX, justAddY As Boolean
>
>     Private Sub TIMER_Tick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
> System.EventArgs) Handles TIMER.Tick
>         MoveMe()
>     End Sub
>
>     ' CuurentNum X , Y are the numbers added to the speed of X ,Y
>     ' which creates a kind of change when the Rec hits the walls:
>
>     Dim CurrentNumX As Integer = 1
>     Dim CurrentNumY As Integer = 1
>
>     Sub MoveMe()
>         If X > (frm.Width - PB.Width) - 10 Then
>             justAddX = False
>             CurrentNumX = Rnd() * 50
>         End If
>
>         If Y > (frm.Height - PB.Height) - 30 Then
>             justAddY = False
>             CurrentNumY = Rnd() * 40
>         End If
>
>         If X < 0 Then
>             justAddX = True
>             CurrentNumX = Rnd() * 80
>         End If
>
>         If Y < 0 Then
>             justAddY = True
>             CurrentNumY = Rnd() * 30
>         End If
>
>         If justAddX Then
>             X += CurrentNumX
>         Else
>             X -= CurrentNumX
>         End If
>
>         If justAddY Then
>             Y += CurrentNumY
>         Else
>             Y -= CurrentNumY
>         End If
>
>         PB.Left = X
>         PB.Top = Y
>     End Sub
>
> End Class
>
>
> '------------------------------------------------------- End of
> CODE------------
>
>
>

21 Dec 2004 5:24 PM

ham-z

Nick Malik [MSFT] wrote:

> OK, so you have a form that **VERY QUICKLY** moves boxes at random around
> the screen.
> Realize that your timer ticks are happening so quickly that the system
> will
> be queueing events and colliding with itself on each form, and that will
> only get worse with additional forms.

Nice hint, but my PB object is responsible for it's own movement. It should
have a built-in timer in order to move

> I'm not sure what you are trying to prove with this graphics exercise.

creating sth alive...look at this if you have MSDN 2003 installed:
ms-help://MS.MSDNQTR.2003APR.1033/dndllpro/html/msdn_frogfly1.htm

> Also, your timer is declared in the object, not in the form. The means
> that
> every new object you create will create a new timer. This may be a
> trivial
> point, but I'd recommend that you move the timer to the form.

How? each object is responsible for its own movement....

> More importantly, to make your window perform, I'd suggest you change a
> single line.
> from: TIMER.Interval = Rnd() * 10 + 1
> from: TIMER.Interval = Rnd() * 10 + 100
>
> That will give you 10 Paint events per second per form, which is still
> plenty fast enough but is less likely to cause a pile-up.

Nice suggestion.
Thanks anyway for help.

21 Dec 2004 7:16 PM

Frank Hileman

I looked at the MSDN reference. This is a good example of all the problems
you can have by using mutiple threads when they are not needed. It is a poor
article. The author believes mutiple threads are needed to update internal
state, even though the output is serialized to a single thread -- he is
perpetuating common misunderstandings.

In a simulation of multiple actors, the simplest single threaded approach is
to loop through all the actors when a Windows.Forms.Timer fires, updating
their internal state, then force a paint event to occur (invalidate modified
areas). The paint cannot occur faster than the timer in any circumstance, so
intermediate state changes are wasteful. If you need the state changes to be
dependent on the passage of time, you can use the Win32 high performance
timer to accurately determine elapsed time from the beginning of the
simulation, QueryPerformanceCounter (a wrapper class is in the sample I
mentioned).

In the unlikely event the number of actors is so large that updating
internal state causes the UI to become unresponsive, you can process a
fixed, smaller number of actors on each timer tick, incrementing a processed
actor counter, avoiding invalidation of the control until all have been
processed. This is a second technique for avoiding multi-threading when it
is not needed, while maintaining a responsive UI. If you use this approach,
you should determine elapsed time, for the purpose of state changes, at the
first tick after a complete update, so that all actors work with a
consistent time base.

To get great drawing performance use multiple graphical objects drawn on a
single control, instead of multiple controls.

Regards,
Frank Hileman

check out VG.net: http://www.vgdotnet.com
Animated vector graphics system
Integrated Visual Studio .NET graphics editor

Show quoteHide quote

"ham-z" <hamz-3e@/**/yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:eO7oaI45EHA.3820@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Nick Malik [MSFT] wrote:
> creating sth alive...look at this if you have MSDN 2003 installed:
> ms-help://MS.MSDNQTR.2003APR.1033/dndllpro/html/msdn_frogfly1.htm

21 Dec 2004 4:43 PM

Frank Hileman

What you need is a single control, not multiple PictureBoxes, that you draw
on. Create a custom control class, double buffered, that draws everything
you need. Multi-threading is unnecessary and will only cause tragedy.

To see the maximum performance you can get from GDI+ try the Scalability
sample source in the VG.net Lite installation. It uses an optimized run-time
engine layered on GDI+. You can create and time 1K-100K rectangles. The
timing framework can be reused to benchmark other implementations.

Regards,
Frank Hileman

check out VG.net: http://www.vgdotnet.com
Animated vector graphics system
Integrated Visual Studio .NET graphics editor

Show quoteHide quote

"ham-z" <hamz-3e@/**/yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Ot3Btv15EHA.2608@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>I have written the following Win app in VB.NET 2003 . The class is simply
> picture boxes that behave in a random order after they have been
> instantiated and added to a form. When I create 15 or more instances of my
> class, the whole program runs slowly in a way that I have to close the
> program. I have tried to create a new thread for each class, but that
> throws
> an exception , because a separated thread can't be added to a form from a
> child class.
>
> My code is this ( please tell me if there are better ways for doing it)
> coplile with :
>
> vbc [filename]
> /r:system.dll,system.windows.forms.dll,system.drawing.dll,microsoft.visualbasic.dll
> /t:winexe /main:form1
>
> '----------------------------------- Start of CODE
>
> Imports System.Math
> imports Microsoft.VisualBasic
> imports System.drawing
> imports system.windows.forms
>
> Public Class Form1
>    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form
>
> #Region " Windows Form Designer generated code "
>
>    Public Sub New()
>        MyBase.New()
>
>        'This call is required by the Windows Form Designer.
>        InitializeComponent()
>
>        'Add any initialization after the InitializeComponent() call
>
>    End Sub
>
>    'Form overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
>    Protected Overloads Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
>        If disposing Then
>            If Not (components Is Nothing) Then
>                components.Dispose()
>            End If
>        End If
>        MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
>    End Sub
>
>    'Required by the Windows Form Designer
>    Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer
>
>    'NOTE: The following procedure is required by the Windows Form Designer
>    'It can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.
>    'Do not modify it using the code editor.
>    <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()> Private Sub
> InitializeComponent()
>        '
>        'Form1
>        '
>        Me.AutoScaleBaseSize = New System.Drawing.Size(5, 13)
>        Me.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.White
>        Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(384, 266)
>        Me.Name = "Form1"
>        Me.Text = "Form1"
>
>    End Sub
>
> #End Region
>
>    Private Sub Form1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
> System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Click
>        CreateOBJ()
>    End Sub
>
>
>    Sub CreateOBJ()
>        Dim myRec As Rec = New Rec(Me.CreateGraphics, Me)
>    End Sub
> End Class
>
> '--------------------------------------------------- Class Rec
>
> Public Class Rec
>
>    Dim Gr As Graphics
>    Dim X, Y As Integer
>    Dim frm As Form
>    WithEvents TIMER As New Timer
>    Dim bmp As Bitmap
>    Dim PB As PictureBox
>
>      Public Sub New(ByVal g As Graphics, ByVal form As Form)
>        X = Rnd() * 100
>        Y = Rnd() * 200
>        Gr = g
>        Me.frm = form
>        ini()
>        justAddX = True
>        justAddY = True
>    End Sub
>
>    ' We could use the graphics object here to draw on the form. But since
> GDI+
>    ' lacks the ideal performance, we use picture boxes and add them to the
>    ' spacified form instead of using the drawing object:
>
>    Sub ini()
>        TIMER.Interval = Rnd() * 10 + 1
>        TIMER.Enabled = True
>        PB = New PictureBox
>        With PB
>            .BackColor = Color.FromArgb(Rnd() * 150, Rnd() * 200, Rnd() *
> 230)
>            .Left = X
>            .Top = Y
>            .Height = 6
>            .Width = 6
>        End With
>        frm.Controls.Add(PB)
>    End Sub
>
>    ' Use these two boolean to know when to add or substarct numbers
>    ' the movement of this class object.
>    Dim justAddX, justAddY As Boolean
>
>    Private Sub TIMER_Tick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As
> System.EventArgs) Handles TIMER.Tick
>        MoveMe()
>    End Sub
>
>    ' CuurentNum X , Y are the numbers added to the speed of X ,Y
>    ' which creates a kind of change when the Rec hits the walls:
>
>    Dim CurrentNumX As Integer = 1
>    Dim CurrentNumY As Integer = 1
>
>    Sub MoveMe()
>        If X > (frm.Width - PB.Width) - 10 Then
>            justAddX = False
>            CurrentNumX = Rnd() * 50
>        End If
>
>        If Y > (frm.Height - PB.Height) - 30 Then
>            justAddY = False
>            CurrentNumY = Rnd() * 40
>        End If
>
>        If X < 0 Then
>            justAddX = True
>            CurrentNumX = Rnd() * 80
>        End If
>
>        If Y < 0 Then
>            justAddY = True
>            CurrentNumY = Rnd() * 30
>        End If
>
>        If justAddX Then
>            X += CurrentNumX
>        Else
>            X -= CurrentNumX
>        End If
>
>        If justAddY Then
>            Y += CurrentNumY
>        Else
>            Y -= CurrentNumY
>        End If
>
>        PB.Left = X
>        PB.Top = Y
>    End Sub
>
> End Class
>
>
> '------------------------------------------------------- End of
> CODE------------
>
>
>