Net4x.Windows.ThreadsExtensions 1.0.0.1

Net4x.Dispatcher

Net4x.Dispatcher provides dispatcher and UI-thread helpers designed to work across multiple .NET target frameworks. It offers a lightweight abstraction for marshaling work to a synchronization context or UI thread and includes timing helpers suitable for desktop UI scenarios.

Authors: Piero Viano

Purpose

This project offers compatibility utilities so libraries and applications can schedule and run work on UI/synchronization contexts consistently across older .NET Framework targets and newer .NET/.NET Core runtimes that target Windows UI thread scenarios.

Key features

• Dispatcher-like API for posting and invoking actions on a synchronization/UI thread
• DispatcherTimer helpers for periodic work on the UI thread
• Integration points for WinForms/WPF test hosts and synchronization contexts
• Cross-targeted to support both legacy .NET Framework and modern .NET TFMs where appropriate

Supported targets

Common TFMs produced by the project include:

• netstandard2.0 (for broad compatibility)
• net5.0-windows, net6.0-windows, net7.0-windows, net8.0-windows, net9.0-windows (where Windows-specific UI APIs are required)
• net4x / .NET Framework variants used in the solution (see project file for exact TFMs)

Quick start

• Add a reference to the Net4x.Dispatcher project or assembly appropriate for your target framework.
• Use the dispatcher to post work to the UI/synchronization context instead of calling Control.Invoke / Dispatcher.Invoke directly so code can be cross-targeted.

Example (conceptual):

// Post an action to the dispatcher
var dispatcher = Net4x.Windows.Threads.Dispatcher.Current;
dispatcher.Post(() => {
    // UI-bound work
});

// Run synchronously on the dispatcher (if supported)
dispatcher.Invoke(() => {
    // Synchronous UI-bound work
});

Example using a timer helper:

var timer = new Net4x.Windows.Threads.DispatcherTimer(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));
timer.Tick += (s, e) => { /* periodic UI work */ };
timer.Start();

Note: APIs and types provided by the project are exposed by the Net4x.Windows.Threads assembly. Check the project source for exact type and member names for your targeted TFM.

Building

• For SDK-style TFMs (netstandard / net5+): dotnet build in the Net4x.Windows.Threads project directory.
• For .NET Framework builds: open the solution in Visual Studio and build the specific configuration.

Tests

Unit and integration tests that exercise dispatcher behavior are available under the tests/Dispatcher.Tests project. Run them with an appropriate test runner for the targeted framework (for SDK-style tests use dotnet test, for .NET Framework tests run them from Visual Studio).

Contributing

Please open issues or pull requests with reproducible test cases. When adding features or fixes:

• Add or update unit tests in tests/Dispatcher.Tests.
• Keep changes targeted and document any API additions or behavior changes.

License

See the repository LICENSE.txt for licensing details.