Calling a timer tick event from Windows Form Application from another class with no GUI

Question

I'm trying to run the timer tick event which initially runs on my windows form,also when loaded on another class using a thread. I tried calling the timer event on another thread it didn't help. Am I supposed to use the same timer or create a new timer for that thread. This is my current implementation:

namespace XT_3_Sample_Application
{
      public partial class Form1 : Form
      {

       Queue<string> receivedDataList = new Queue<string>();



       System.Timers.Timer tmrTcpPolling = new System.Timers.Timer(); 

       public Form1()
       {
        InitializeComponent();
        TM702_G2_Connection_Initialization();

         }

         static void threadcal()
         {
        Class1 c = new Class1();
        c.timer_start();
        c.test("192.168.1.188",9999);

        }


       public string Connection_Connect(string TCP_IP_Address, int TCP_Port_Number)
          {

                if (tcpClient.Connected)
                {
                    Socket_Client = tcpClient.Client;
                    TcpStreamReader_Client = new StreamReader(tcpClient.GetStream(), Encoding.ASCII);
                    tmrTcpPolling.Start();
                    Status = "Connected\r\n";
                }
                else
                {
                    Status = "Cannot Connect\r\n";
                }



        }

       public string Connection_Disconnect()
       {
           tmrTcpPolling.Stop();

          // do something

          return "Disconnected\r\n";
      }

     void TM702_G2_Connection_Initialization()
    {
        tmrTcpPolling.Interval = 1;
        tmrTcpPolling.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(tmrTcpPolling_Elapsed);
    } 


    #region Timer Event
    void tmrTcpPolling_Elapsed(object sender, ElapsedEventArgs e)
    {
        try
        {
            if (tcpClient.Available > 0)
            {

                receivedDataList.Enqueue(TcpStreamReader_Client.ReadLine());
            }
        }
        catch (Exception)
        {

            //throw;
        }
    }

    private void tmrDisplay_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        Tick();
    }

    public void Tick()
    {
        Console.Write("tick" + Environment.NewLine);
        if (receivedDataList.Count > 0)
        {
            string RAW_Str = receivedDataList.Dequeue();
            //tbxConsoleOutput.AppendText(RAW_Str + Environment.NewLine);
            tbxConsoleOutput.AppendText(Parser_Selection(RAW_Str) + Environment.NewLine);
        }

    }

    #endregion

    private void btnConnect_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        tbxConsoleOutput.AppendText(Connection_Connect(tbxTCPIP.Text, Convert.ToInt32(tbxPort.Text, 10)));
        Thread t = new Thread(threadcal);
        t.Start(); 
    }



   }
}

But the timer tick event starts the moment the application is launched but not on button click - private void btnConnect_Click(object sender, EventArgs e). I'm trying to call a separate thread for the class Class1's test method. I'm trying to use a similar timer event to receive output from the server, for this thread.

 namespace XT_3_Sample_Application
 {
   class Class1
   {

    TcpClient tcpClient;
    Socket Socket_Client;
    StreamReader TcpStreamReader_Client;    // Read in ASCII
    Queue<string> receivedDataList = new Queue<string>();
    System.Timers.Timer tmrTcpPolling = new System.Timers.Timer();



    void TM702_G2_Connection_Initialization()
    {
        tmrTcpPolling.Interval = 1;
        tmrTcpPolling.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(tmrTcpPolling_Elapsed);
    } 
    public void test(string TCP_IP_Address, int TCP_Port_Number)
    {
        TM702_G2_Connection_Initialization();


        try
        {
            string Status = "";
            Ping pingSender = new Ping();
            PingOptions options = new PingOptions();




            PingReply reply = pingSender.Send(TCP_IP_Address, timeout, buffer, options);

            if (reply.Status == IPStatus.Success)
            {
                tcpClient = new TcpClient();
                tcpClient.Connect(TCP_IP_Address, TCP_Port_Number);

                if (tcpClient.Connected)
                {
                    Socket_Client = tcpClient.Client;
                    TcpStreamReader_Client = new StreamReader(tcpClient.GetStream(), Encoding.ASCII);
                    tmrTcpPolling.Start();
                    Status = "Connected\r\n";
                }
                else
                {
                    Status = "Cannot Connect\r\n";
                }
            }
            else
            {
                Status = "Ping Fail\r\n";
            }

            MessageBox.Show(TCP_IP_Address + " :" + Status);
        }
        catch (System.Exception ex)
        {
            MessageBox.Show(TCP_IP_Address + " :" +  ex.Message);
        }


        setFilterType();

        setButtonRadioLvl();
        heloCmd();



    }
    public void timer_Start()
    {
    Form1 f = new Form1();
    f.Tick();
    }
   }
}

When tried the above method the timer is not fired on the new thread. Any suggestions on this?

Answer 1

Without any blocking code or loop your thread will not live long. the following calls your test method every one second and doesn't use timer

    static void threadcal()
    {
        while (true)
        {
            Thread.Sleep(1000);
            Class1 c = new Class1();
            c.test("192.168.1.188", 9999);
        }
    }