Programming Forums > Application Development > Visual Basic .NET

PhilBon · Jul 4th, 2007, 3:30 PM

So currently I am working on a program to backup files. What it does is search through each directory recursively like so:

 vbnet Syntax (Toggle Plain Text) 
  Public Sub BackUp(ByVal root As String)
        Dim FoundFile, FoundDirectory As String
        'Loop thru each of the files in this directory
        For Each FoundFile In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles(root)
            If (IO.File.GetAttributes(FoundFile) = IO.FileAttributes.Archive) Or RootCreated Then
                ListBox1.Items.Add(FoundFile)
                ListBox1.Update()
                Dim FileName As String
                FileName = RemoveSource(FoundFile, Source)
                Try
                    IO.File.Copy(FoundFile, Destination & FileName)
                Catch ex As Exception
                    Dim DestFile As String = Destination & FileName
                    Dim DestFileArr() As String = DestFile.Split("\")
                    Dim l As Integer
                    Dim folder As String
                    folder = DestFileArr(0)
                    For l = 1 To DestFileArr.GetUpperBound(0) - 1
                        folder = folder & "\" & DestFileArr(l)
                        If Not IO.Directory.Exists(folder) Then
                            IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(folder)
                        End If
                    Next
                    Try
                        IO.File.Copy(FoundFile, Destination & FileName)
                    Catch ex1 As Exception
                        MsgBox("Error:" & Chr(13) & ex1.Message & Chr(13) & " No Folder for the file to be placed in")
                    End Try
                End Try
                ' IO.File.SetAttributes(FoundFile, IO.FileAttributes.Normal)
                IO.File.SetCreationTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetCreationTime(FoundFile))
                IO.File.SetLastAccessTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetLastAccessTime(FoundFile))
                IO.File.SetAccessControl(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetAccessControl(FoundFile))
                IO.File.SetLastWriteTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetLastWriteTime(FoundFile))
            End If
        Next
        'Loop thru each directory in this directory
        For Each FoundDirectory In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetDirectories(root)
            'Give the user feedback about progress
            'LabelSearch.Text = "Scanning: " & FoundDirectory
            'LabelSearch.Update()
 
            'Recursively call this very same sub procedure!
            BackUp(FoundDirectory)
        Next
    End Sub
  Public Sub BackUp(ByVal root As String)
        Dim FoundFile, FoundDirectory As String
        'Loop thru each of the files in this directory
        For Each FoundFile In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles(root)
            If (IO.File.GetAttributes(FoundFile) = IO.FileAttributes.Archive) Or RootCreated Then
                ListBox1.Items.Add(FoundFile)
                ListBox1.Update()
                Dim FileName As String
                FileName = RemoveSource(FoundFile, Source)
                Try
                    IO.File.Copy(FoundFile, Destination & FileName)
                Catch ex As Exception
                    Dim DestFile As String = Destination & FileName
                    Dim DestFileArr() As String = DestFile.Split("\")
                    Dim l As Integer
                    Dim folder As String
                    folder = DestFileArr(0)
                    For l = 1 To DestFileArr.GetUpperBound(0) - 1
                        folder = folder & "\" & DestFileArr(l)
                        If Not IO.Directory.Exists(folder) Then
                            IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(folder)
                        End If
                    Next
                    Try
                        IO.File.Copy(FoundFile, Destination & FileName)
                    Catch ex1 As Exception
                        MsgBox("Error:" & Chr(13) & ex1.Message & Chr(13) & " No Folder for the file to be placed in")
                    End Try
                End Try
                ' IO.File.SetAttributes(FoundFile, IO.FileAttributes.Normal)
                IO.File.SetCreationTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetCreationTime(FoundFile))
                IO.File.SetLastAccessTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetLastAccessTime(FoundFile))
                IO.File.SetAccessControl(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetAccessControl(FoundFile))
                IO.File.SetLastWriteTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetLastWriteTime(FoundFile))
            End If
        Next
        'Loop thru each directory in this directory
        For Each FoundDirectory In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetDirectories(root)
            'Give the user feedback about progress
            'LabelSearch.Text = "Scanning: " & FoundDirectory
            'LabelSearch.Update()

            'Recursively call this very same sub procedure!
            BackUp(FoundDirectory)
        Next
    End Sub

I have a problem after I hit about the 100th file, it "dies" and the compiler is like it's taking to long. It then asks me if I want to continue and I say yes. How do I stop that? I've tried GC.KeepAlive(me), for each file but that didn't seem to work. This is going to be used for directories that could possibly have over 100k files and I don't want to have to sit and hit yes every so many times.

melbolt · Jul 5th, 2007, 1:01 PM

maybe try putting it in a new thread and see what happens

PhilBon · Jul 5th, 2007, 1:30 PM

What do you mean? Like have something that starts a new thread for each sub folder? If so how would I go about doing that? and What if that folder has 1000 files in it too?

Dameon · Jul 5th, 2007, 2:12 PM

Is this function running on the main thread (it is if you didn't create any) in a WinForms app?

PhilBon · Jul 5th, 2007, 2:46 PM

it's a windows from, here is all the code:

 vbnet Syntax (Toggle Plain Text) 
Public Class Form1
    Private Source, Destination As String
    Private RootCreated As Boolean
    Private Sub BTNSelSour_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles BTNSelSour.Click
        FBD.ShowDialog()
        If Not (FBD.SelectedPath = Nothing) Then
            Source = FBD.SelectedPath
            TXTSour.Text = Source
        End If
        FBD.SelectedPath = Nothing
 
    End Sub
 
    Private Sub BTNSelDest_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles BTNSelDest.Click
        FBD.ShowDialog()
        If Not (FBD.SelectedPath = Nothing) Then
            Destination = FBD.SelectedPath
            TXTDest.Text = Destination
        End If
        FBD.SelectedPath = Nothing
    End Sub
 
    Private Sub BTNBackUp_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles BTNBackUp.Click
        If Source = Nothing Then
            MsgBox("The Source is missing")
            Exit Sub
        End If
        If Destination = Nothing Then
            MsgBox("The Destination is missing")
            Exit Sub
        End If
        If IO.Directory.Exists(Destination & "\root") Then
            Dim CurrentTime As DateTime = Now()
            Dim CurrentBackUp As String = CurrentTime
            CurrentBackUp = CurrentBackUp.Replace(" ", "_")
            CurrentBackUp = CurrentBackUp.Replace("/", "-")
            CurrentBackUp = CurrentBackUp.Replace(":", "--")
            Destination = Destination & "\" & CurrentBackUp
        Else
            Destination = Destination & "\root"
            RootCreated = True
        End If
        IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(Destination)
        BackUp(Source)
    End Sub
    Public Sub BackUp(ByVal root As String)
        Dim FoundFile, FoundDirectory As String
        'Loop thru each of the files in this directory
        Try
            For Each FoundFile In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles(root)
 
 
                If (IO.File.GetAttributes(FoundFile) = IO.FileAttributes.Archive) Or RootCreated Then
                    'ListBox1.Items.Add(FoundFile)
                    'ListBox1.Update()
                    Dim FileName As String
                    FileName = RemoveSource(FoundFile, Source)
                    Try
                        IO.File.Copy(FoundFile, Destination & FileName)
                    Catch ex As Exception
                        Dim DestFile As String = Destination & FileName
                        Dim DestFileArr() As String = DestFile.Split("\")
                        Dim l As Integer
                        Dim folder As String
                        folder = DestFileArr(0)
                        For l = 1 To DestFileArr.GetUpperBound(0) - 1
                            folder = folder & "\" & DestFileArr(l)
                            If Not IO.Directory.Exists(folder) Then
                                IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(folder)
                            End If
                        Next
                        Try
                            IO.File.Copy(FoundFile, Destination & FileName)
                        Catch ex1 As Exception
                            MsgBox("Error:" & Chr(13) & ex1.Message & Chr(13) & " No Folder for the file to be placed in")
                        End Try
                    End Try
                    Try
                        ' IO.File.SetAttributes(FoundFile, IO.FileAttributes.Normal)
                        IO.File.SetCreationTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetCreationTime(FoundFile))
                        IO.File.SetLastAccessTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetLastAccessTime(FoundFile))
                        IO.File.SetAccessControl(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetAccessControl(FoundFile))
                        IO.File.SetLastWriteTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetLastWriteTime(FoundFile))
                    Catch
 
                    End Try
                End If
            Next
        Catch
        End Try
        Try
            'Loop thru each directory in this directory
            For Each FoundDirectory In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetDirectories(root)
                'Give the user feedback about progress
                'LabelSearch.Text = "Scanning: " & FoundDirectory
                'LabelSearch.Update()
 
                'Recursively call this very same sub procedure!
                BackUp(FoundDirectory)
            Next
        Catch
        End Try
    End Sub
    Function RemoveSource(ByVal Input As String, ByVal Source As String) As String
        Dim SourceRootLen As Integer
        SourceRootLen = Source.Length
        Return Input.Substring(SourceRootLen)
    End Function
 
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        RootCreated = False
    End Sub
End Class
Public Class Form1
    Private Source, Destination As String
    Private RootCreated As Boolean
    Private Sub BTNSelSour_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles BTNSelSour.Click
        FBD.ShowDialog()
        If Not (FBD.SelectedPath = Nothing) Then
            Source = FBD.SelectedPath
            TXTSour.Text = Source
        End If
        FBD.SelectedPath = Nothing

    End Sub

    Private Sub BTNSelDest_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles BTNSelDest.Click
        FBD.ShowDialog()
        If Not (FBD.SelectedPath = Nothing) Then
            Destination = FBD.SelectedPath
            TXTDest.Text = Destination
        End If
        FBD.SelectedPath = Nothing
    End Sub

    Private Sub BTNBackUp_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles BTNBackUp.Click
        If Source = Nothing Then
            MsgBox("The Source is missing")
            Exit Sub
        End If
        If Destination = Nothing Then
            MsgBox("The Destination is missing")
            Exit Sub
        End If
        If IO.Directory.Exists(Destination & "\root") Then
            Dim CurrentTime As DateTime = Now()
            Dim CurrentBackUp As String = CurrentTime
            CurrentBackUp = CurrentBackUp.Replace(" ", "_")
            CurrentBackUp = CurrentBackUp.Replace("/", "-")
            CurrentBackUp = CurrentBackUp.Replace(":", "--")
            Destination = Destination & "\" & CurrentBackUp
        Else
            Destination = Destination & "\root"
            RootCreated = True
        End If
        IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(Destination)
        BackUp(Source)
    End Sub
    Public Sub BackUp(ByVal root As String)
        Dim FoundFile, FoundDirectory As String
        'Loop thru each of the files in this directory
        Try
            For Each FoundFile In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles(root)


                If (IO.File.GetAttributes(FoundFile) = IO.FileAttributes.Archive) Or RootCreated Then
                    'ListBox1.Items.Add(FoundFile)
                    'ListBox1.Update()
                    Dim FileName As String
                    FileName = RemoveSource(FoundFile, Source)
                    Try
                        IO.File.Copy(FoundFile, Destination & FileName)
                    Catch ex As Exception
                        Dim DestFile As String = Destination & FileName
                        Dim DestFileArr() As String = DestFile.Split("\")
                        Dim l As Integer
                        Dim folder As String
                        folder = DestFileArr(0)
                        For l = 1 To DestFileArr.GetUpperBound(0) - 1
                            folder = folder & "\" & DestFileArr(l)
                            If Not IO.Directory.Exists(folder) Then
                                IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(folder)
                            End If
                        Next
                        Try
                            IO.File.Copy(FoundFile, Destination & FileName)
                        Catch ex1 As Exception
                            MsgBox("Error:" & Chr(13) & ex1.Message & Chr(13) & " No Folder for the file to be placed in")
                        End Try
                    End Try
                    Try
                        ' IO.File.SetAttributes(FoundFile, IO.FileAttributes.Normal)
                        IO.File.SetCreationTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetCreationTime(FoundFile))
                        IO.File.SetLastAccessTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetLastAccessTime(FoundFile))
                        IO.File.SetAccessControl(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetAccessControl(FoundFile))
                        IO.File.SetLastWriteTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetLastWriteTime(FoundFile))
                    Catch

                    End Try
                End If
            Next
        Catch
        End Try
        Try
            'Loop thru each directory in this directory
            For Each FoundDirectory In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetDirectories(root)
                'Give the user feedback about progress
                'LabelSearch.Text = "Scanning: " & FoundDirectory
                'LabelSearch.Update()

                'Recursively call this very same sub procedure!
                BackUp(FoundDirectory)
            Next
        Catch
        End Try
    End Sub
    Function RemoveSource(ByVal Input As String, ByVal Source As String) As String
        Dim SourceRootLen As Integer
        SourceRootLen = Source.Length
        Return Input.Substring(SourceRootLen)
    End Function

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        RootCreated = False
    End Sub
End Class

Dameon · Jul 5th, 2007, 6:20 PM

The Click event is called from the message loop. Control will not return to the message loop until BackUp returns, and it's going to take a while. Since the form can not process messages until then, you cannot interact with it and it will shortly be reported as unresponsive as a result of the queue filling up. The best solution would be to move the backup operations to a separate thread. Look in to the BackgroundWorker component. You will of course need to be wary of synchronization issues.

Jul 4th, 2007, 3:30 PM	#1
PhilBon Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 171 Rep Power: 3	Preventing Timeout Message During Long Processes So currently I am working on a program to backup files. What it does is search through each directory recursively like so: vbnet Syntax (Toggle Plain Text) Public Sub BackUp(ByVal root As String) Dim FoundFile, FoundDirectory As String 'Loop thru each of the files in this directory For Each FoundFile In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles(root) If (IO.File.GetAttributes(FoundFile) = IO.FileAttributes.Archive) Or RootCreated Then ListBox1.Items.Add(FoundFile) ListBox1.Update() Dim FileName As String FileName = RemoveSource(FoundFile, Source) Try IO.File.Copy(FoundFile, Destination & FileName) Catch ex As Exception Dim DestFile As String = Destination & FileName Dim DestFileArr() As String = DestFile.Split("\") Dim l As Integer Dim folder As String folder = DestFileArr(0) For l = 1 To DestFileArr.GetUpperBound(0) - 1 folder = folder & "\" & DestFileArr(l) If Not IO.Directory.Exists(folder) Then IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(folder) End If Next Try IO.File.Copy(FoundFile, Destination & FileName) Catch ex1 As Exception MsgBox("Error:" & Chr(13) & ex1.Message & Chr(13) & " No Folder for the file to be placed in") End Try End Try ' IO.File.SetAttributes(FoundFile, IO.FileAttributes.Normal) IO.File.SetCreationTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetCreationTime(FoundFile)) IO.File.SetLastAccessTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetLastAccessTime(FoundFile)) IO.File.SetAccessControl(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetAccessControl(FoundFile)) IO.File.SetLastWriteTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetLastWriteTime(FoundFile)) End If Next 'Loop thru each directory in this directory For Each FoundDirectory In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetDirectories(root) 'Give the user feedback about progress 'LabelSearch.Text = "Scanning: " & FoundDirectory 'LabelSearch.Update() 'Recursively call this very same sub procedure! BackUp(FoundDirectory) Next End Sub Public Sub BackUp(ByVal root As String) Dim FoundFile, FoundDirectory As String 'Loop thru each of the files in this directory For Each FoundFile In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFiles(root) If (IO.File.GetAttributes(FoundFile) = IO.FileAttributes.Archive) Or RootCreated Then ListBox1.Items.Add(FoundFile) ListBox1.Update() Dim FileName As String FileName = RemoveSource(FoundFile, Source) Try IO.File.Copy(FoundFile, Destination & FileName) Catch ex As Exception Dim DestFile As String = Destination & FileName Dim DestFileArr() As String = DestFile.Split("\") Dim l As Integer Dim folder As String folder = DestFileArr(0) For l = 1 To DestFileArr.GetUpperBound(0) - 1 folder = folder & "\" & DestFileArr(l) If Not IO.Directory.Exists(folder) Then IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(folder) End If Next Try IO.File.Copy(FoundFile, Destination & FileName) Catch ex1 As Exception MsgBox("Error:" & Chr(13) & ex1.Message & Chr(13) & " No Folder for the file to be placed in") End Try End Try ' IO.File.SetAttributes(FoundFile, IO.FileAttributes.Normal) IO.File.SetCreationTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetCreationTime(FoundFile)) IO.File.SetLastAccessTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetLastAccessTime(FoundFile)) IO.File.SetAccessControl(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetAccessControl(FoundFile)) IO.File.SetLastWriteTime(Destination & FileName, IO.File.GetLastWriteTime(FoundFile)) End If Next 'Loop thru each directory in this directory For Each FoundDirectory In My.Computer.FileSystem.GetDirectories(root) 'Give the user feedback about progress 'LabelSearch.Text = "Scanning: " & FoundDirectory 'LabelSearch.Update() 'Recursively call this very same sub procedure! BackUp(FoundDirectory) Next End Sub I have a problem after I hit about the 100th file, it "dies" and the compiler is like it's taking to long. It then asks me if I want to continue and I say yes. How do I stop that? I've tried GC.KeepAlive(me), for each file but that didn't seem to work. This is going to be used for directories that could possibly have over 100k files and I don't want to have to sit and hit yes every so many times.

Jul 5th, 2007, 1:01 PM	#2
melbolt Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: PA, USA Posts: 229 Rep Power: 4	maybe try putting it in a new thread and see what happens __________________ I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. -Mark Twain- Xbox live gamertag: melbolt

Jul 5th, 2007, 2:12 PM	#4
Dameon Troll Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 730 Rep Power: 4	Is this function running on the main thread (it is if you didn't create any) in a WinForms app? __________________ MD5(sig) = bcef75433db02e9ad9bf81d6f7c5c270

Jul 5th, 2007, 6:20 PM	#6
Dameon Troll Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 730 Rep Power: 4	The Click event is called from the message loop. Control will not return to the message loop until BackUp returns, and it's going to take a while. Since the form can not process messages until then, you cannot interact with it and it will shortly be reported as unresponsive as a result of the queue filling up. The best solution would be to move the backup operations to a separate thread. Look in to the BackgroundWorker component. You will of course need to be wary of synchronization issues. __________________ MD5(sig) = bcef75433db02e9ad9bf81d6f7c5c270

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Jul 5th, 2007, 1:30 PM	#3
PhilBon Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 171 Rep Power: 3	What do you mean? Like have something that starts a new thread for each sub folder? If so how would I go about doing that? and What if that folder has 1000 files in it too?

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Programming Forums > Application Development > Visual Basic .NET

Preventing Timeout Message During Long Processes