SaveToStream in code behind without window

[Salto]

Hello

I need to create a picture for a report on a server where my application is running as service. How can i do this? I've tried, but the chart throws an exception and when i raise the loaded event the chart hangs in the SaveToStream method.
Here is my example code:

Code: Select all

namespace CreatePictureCodeBehind
{
    using System;
    using System.IO;
    using System.Linq;
    using System.Windows;
    using System.Windows.Media;
    using Arction.WPF.LightningChartUltimate;
    using Arction.WPF.LightningChartUltimate.Axes;
    using Arction.WPF.LightningChartUltimate.SeriesXY;

    class Program
    {
        private LightningChartUltimate m_chart;

        public LightningChartUltimate MChart
        {
            get { return m_chart; }
        }

        [STAThread]
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Program program = new Program();
            program.CreateChart();
            program.MChart.RaiseEvent(new RoutedEventArgs(FrameworkElement.LoadedEvent));
            const string picturePng = "C:\\temp\\picture.png";
            if (File.Exists(picturePng))
            {
                File.Delete(picturePng);
            }
            FileStream fileStream = new FileStream(picturePng, FileMode.CreateNew, FileAccess.ReadWrite, FileShare.None);

            program.MChart.SaveToStream(fileStream, TargetImageFormat.Png, new BitmapAntialiasOptions(), 3507, 2480);
            fileStream.Close();
            fileStream.Dispose();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Create chart.
        /// </summary>
        private void CreateChart()
        {
            //Create new chart 
            m_chart = new LightningChartUltimate();

            //Disable rendering, strongly recommended before updating chart properties
            m_chart.BeginUpdate();

            //Chart parent must be set
            
            //Chart title text
            m_chart.Title.Text = "Body weight by groups";

            //Hide legend box
            m_chart.ViewXY.LegendBox.Visible = false;

            //Setup x-axis
            AxisX axisX = m_chart.ViewXY.XAxes[0];
            axisX.SetRange(0, 5);
            axisX.ScrollMode = XAxisScrollMode.None;
            axisX.ValueType = AxisValueType.Number;
            axisX.Title.Text = "Groups";

            //Setup y-axis
            AxisY axisY = m_chart.ViewXY.YAxes[0];
            axisY.Title.Text = "Weight (kg)";

            AddSeries();

            //Allow chart rendering
            m_chart.EndUpdate();
        }

        void AddSeries()
        {
            //Add polygon for box 
            PointLineSeries pointLineSeries = new PointLineSeries(m_chart.ViewXY, m_chart.ViewXY.XAxes[0], m_chart.ViewXY.YAxes[0]);
            
            pointLineSeries.MouseInteraction = false;
            pointLineSeries.Title.Visible = true;
            pointLineSeries.Title.Text = "Curve";
            pointLineSeries.Title.Color = ChartTools.CalcGradient(Colors.Aqua, Colors.DarkBlue, 70);

            SeriesPoint[] seriesPoints = CreatePoints().Select(x => new SeriesPoint(x.X, x.Y)).ToArray();
            pointLineSeries.AddPoints(seriesPoints, true);

            m_chart.ViewXY.PointLineSeries.Add(pointLineSeries);
        }

        static Point[] CreatePoints()
        {
            const int numbersOfPoints = 1000;
            Point[] points = new Point[numbersOfPoints];
            double xValue = 0;
            Random random = new Random();

            for (int index = 0; index < numbersOfPoints; index++, xValue++)
            {
                points[index] = new Point(xValue, random.NextDouble());
            }

            return points;
        }
    }
}

greetings
Raphael

[ArctionJari]

In WPF you need to render the chart at least once so that exports can be made. You can test this yourself by creating a Window object, set chart to window's Content property and call window's ShowDialog method and the close the window. All this before calling SaveToStream method. Then it works. I recommend using WinForms instead of WPF if you plan to make exports without showing the chart.

[ArctionJari]

By the way, you shouldn't raise Loaded event like that because chart hasn't been laid out or rendered. You are probably getting the exception because of that.

[Salto]

It works when I add the chart to a window, but I do not want create a window to render. Is there an option to render without a window. I've found this:

Code: Select all

Window window = new Window() //make sure the window is invisible
{
     Width = 0,
     Height = 0,
     WindowStyle = WindowStyle.None,
     ShowInTaskbar = false,
     ShowActivated = false
};

but, it will create a hidden window and that is not the solution.

[ArctionJari]

Since you are using a zero dimension window set chart's MinWidth and MinHeight properties when you create it. This will be the size of your export file. Default values are 120 and 100 or something like that so your export won't look any good with them.

To close the window automatically (after calling ShowDialog) subscribe to charts Loaded event and close the window in there. This way chart gets laid out before closing the window. Remove your manual Loaded event raising if it's not absolutely necessary.

This should do the trick.

[Salto]

Hello

Is it not possible without a window?

When I run the code in an console application, it's working without showing the window. But our application run as a service and I've made some test as a service, but i need an STATread an the chart hangs in the method SaveToStream. That's not what I want.

Code: Select all

public partial class Service1 : ServiceBase
{
        private System.Diagnostics.EventLog eventLog1;
        private int eventId;

        public Service1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            eventLog1 = new System.Diagnostics.EventLog();
            if (!System.Diagnostics.EventLog.SourceExists("MySource"))
            {
                System.Diagnostics.EventLog.CreateEventSource(
                    "MySource", "MyNewLog");
            }
            eventLog1.Source = "MySource";
            eventLog1.Log = "MyNewLog";
        }

        private void CreatePicture()
        {
            UserControl1 userControl1 = new UserControl1();
            CurveViewModel measuringPointCurveViewModel = new CurveViewModel();
            userControl1.Curve1.AddPoints(measuringPointCurveViewModel.DataPoints);
            userControl1.DataContext = measuringPointCurveViewModel;


            Window window = new Window() //make sure the window is invisible
            {
                Width = 0,
                Height = 0,
                WindowStyle = WindowStyle.None,
                ShowInTaskbar = false,
                ShowActivated = false
            };
            userControl1.Loaded += (sender, eventArgs) => window.Close();

            StackPanel stackPanel = new StackPanel { Orientation = Orientation.Vertical };
            stackPanel.Children.Add(userControl1);
            window.Content = stackPanel;
            window.Show();

            string picturePng = "C:\\temp\\picture.png";
            if (File.Exists(picturePng))
            {
                File.Delete(picturePng);
            }
            FileStream fileStream = new FileStream(picturePng, FileMode.CreateNew, FileAccess.ReadWrite, FileShare.None);

            userControl1.ChartControl.SaveToStream(fileStream, TargetImageFormat.Png, new BitmapAntialiasOptions(), 350, 250);//3507, 2480);
            fileStream.Close();
            fileStream.Dispose();
        }

        static Point[] CreatePoints()
        {
            const int numbersOfPoints = 1000;
            Point[] points = new Point[numbersOfPoints];
            double xValue = 0;
            Random random = new Random();

            for (int index = 0; index < numbersOfPoints; index++, xValue++)
            {
                points[index] = new Point(xValue, random.NextDouble());
            }

            return points;
        }

        public class CurveViewModel
        {
            /// <inheritdoc />
            public Point[] DataPoints
            {
                get { return CreatePoints(); }
            }

            /// <inheritdoc />
            public string Title
            {
                get { return "ChartTitle"; }
            }

            /// <inheritdoc />
            public string XLabel
            {
                get { return "XLabel"; }
            }

            /// <inheritdoc />
            public string XUnit
            {
                get { return "XUnit"; }
            }

            /// <inheritdoc />
            public string Y1Label
            {
                get { return "Y1Label"; }
            }

            /// <inheritdoc />
            public string Y1Unit
            {
                get { return "Y1Unit"; }
            }

            /// <inheritdoc />
            public string Y2Label
            {
                get { return "Y2Label"; }
            }

            /// <inheritdoc />
            public string Y2Unit
            {
                get { return "Y2Unit"; }
            }
        }

        protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
        {
            eventLog1.WriteEntry("In OnStart");
            // Set up a timer to trigger every minute.
            System.Timers.Timer timer = new System.Timers.Timer();
            timer.Interval = 60000; // 60 seconds
            timer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(this.OnTimer);
            timer.Start();
        }

        public void OnTimer(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs args)
        {
            eventLog1.WriteEntry("PictureStart");
            Thread thread = new Thread(CreatePicture);
            thread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
            thread.Start();
            if (!thread.Join(5000))
            {
                eventLog1.WriteEntry("PictureFailed");
                Stop();
            }
            eventLog1.WriteEntry("PictureFinish");
            eventLog1.WriteEntry("Monitoring the System", EventLogEntryType.Information, eventId++);
        }

        protected override void OnStop()
        {
            eventLog1.WriteEntry("In onStop.");
        }

        protected override void OnContinue()
        {
            eventLog1.WriteEntry("In OnContinue.");
        } 
}

I've made also some test with the example from the site http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5189 ... g-a-window, but nothing works.

[ArctionJari]

Not in the WPF version of LightningChart Ultimate. Chart's internal rendering device is created when the chart is laid out (i.e. Loaded event gets triggered) so a window is required.

I just tested exporting the chart using the WinForms version and it worked. I used the code in your first post. The internal rendering device is created differently in the WinForms version than in WPF.

[Salto]

Hello

I've made some new tests:

Example 1: Start the UI thread explicitly http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/uploadfile ... d-threads/

Code: Select all

namespace WindowsService1
{
    using System;
    using System.Diagnostics;
    using System.IO;
    using System.ServiceProcess;
    using System.Threading;
    using System.Windows;
    using System.Windows.Controls;
    using System.Windows.Media;
    using Arction.WPF.LightningChartUltimate;
    using Arction.WPF.LightningChartUltimate.Axes;
    using Arction.WPF.LightningChartUltimate.SeriesXY;

    public partial class Service1 : ServiceBase
    {
        public Service1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
       
        protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
        {
            // Set up a timer to trigger every minute.
            System.Timers.Timer timer = new System.Timers.Timer();
            timer.Interval = 60000; // 60 seconds
            timer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(this.OnTimer);
            timer.Start();
        }
        
        public void OnTimer(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs args)
        {
            Thread thread = new Thread(() =>
            {
                Test test = new Test();
                test.CreateChart();

                Window window = new Window() //make sure the window is invisible
                {
                    Width = 350,
                    Height = 250,
                    WindowStyle = WindowStyle.None,
                    ShowInTaskbar = false,
                    ShowActivated = false
                };
                test.MChart.Loaded += (o, eventArgs) =>
                {
                    string picturePng = "C:\\temp\\picture.png";
                    if (File.Exists(picturePng))
                    {
                        File.Delete(picturePng);
                    }
                    FileStream fileStream = new FileStream(picturePng, FileMode.CreateNew, FileAccess.ReadWrite, FileShare.None);

                    test.MChart.SaveToStream(fileStream, TargetImageFormat.Png, new BitmapAntialiasOptions(), 350, 250);//3507, 2480);
                    fileStream.Close();
                    fileStream.Dispose();
                    window.Close();
                };

                StackPanel stackPanel = new StackPanel { Orientation = Orientation.Vertical };
                stackPanel.Children.Add(test.MChart);
                window.Content = stackPanel;
                window.Show();
                window.Closed += (sender1, e1) => window.Dispatcher.InvokeShutdown();
                
                System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Run();
            });
            thread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
            thread.IsBackground = true;
            thread.Start();
            if (!thread.Join(10000))
            {
                Stop();
            }
        }

        protected override void OnStop()
        {
        }

        protected override void OnContinue()
        {
        } 
    }

    class Test
    {
        private LightningChartUltimate m_chart;

        public LightningChartUltimate MChart
        {
            get { return m_chart; }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Create chart.
        /// </summary>
        internal void CreateChart()
        {
            //Create new chart 
            m_chart = new LightningChartUltimate("abc");

            //Disable rendering, strongly recommended before updating chart properties
            m_chart.BeginUpdate();

            //Chart parent must be set

            //Chart title text
            m_chart.Title.Text = "Body weight by groups";

            //Hide legend box
            m_chart.ViewXY.LegendBox.Visible = false;

            //Setup x-axis
            AxisX axisX = m_chart.ViewXY.XAxes[0];
            axisX.SetRange(0, 5);
            axisX.ScrollMode = XAxisScrollMode.None;
            axisX.ValueType = AxisValueType.Number;
            axisX.Title.Text = "Groups";

            //Setup y-axis
            AxisY axisY = m_chart.ViewXY.YAxes[0];
            axisY.Title.Text = "Weight (kg)";

            AddSeries();

            //Allow chart rendering
            m_chart.EndUpdate();
        }

        void AddSeries()
        {
            //Add polygon for box 
            PointLineSeries pointLineSeries = new PointLineSeries(m_chart.ViewXY, m_chart.ViewXY.XAxes[0], m_chart.ViewXY.YAxes[0]);

            pointLineSeries.MouseInteraction = false;
            pointLineSeries.Title.Visible = true;
            pointLineSeries.Title.Text = "Curve";
            pointLineSeries.Title.Color = ChartTools.CalcGradient(Colors.Aqua, Colors.DarkBlue, 70);

            SeriesPoint[] seriesPoints = CreatePoints();
            pointLineSeries.AddPoints(seriesPoints, true);

            m_chart.ViewXY.PointLineSeries.Add(pointLineSeries);
        }

        static SeriesPoint[] CreatePoints()
        {
            const int numbersOfPoints = 1000;
            SeriesPoint[] points = new SeriesPoint[numbersOfPoints];
            double xValue = 0;
            Random random = new Random();

            for (int index = 0; index < numbersOfPoints; index++, xValue++)
            {
                points[index] = new SeriesPoint(xValue, random.NextDouble());
            }

            return points;
        }
    }
}

It works on a console application, but not with a service.

Example 2: Create a picture from a usercontrol http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5189 ... g-a-window

Code: Select all

namespace ServiceWithUserControl
{
    using System.IO;
    using System.ServiceProcess;
    using System.Threading;
    using System.Windows;
    using System.Windows.Media;
    using System.Windows.Media.Imaging;
    using ConsoleApplicationWithUserControl;

    public partial class Service1 : ServiceBase
    {
        public Service1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
        {
            // Set up a timer to trigger every minute.
            System.Timers.Timer timer = new System.Timers.Timer();
            timer.Interval = 60000; // 60 seconds
            timer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(this.OnTimer);
            timer.Start();
        }
        
        public void OnTimer(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs args)
        {
            Thread thread = new Thread(() =>
            {
                UserControl1 userControl1 = new UserControl1();

                userControl1.Measure(new Size(350, 250));
                userControl1.Arrange(new Rect(new Size(350, 250)));

                if (File.Exists("C:\\temp\\picture2.png"))
                {
                    File.Delete("C:\\temp\\picture2.png");
                }

                using (FileStream fs = new FileStream("C:\\temp\\picture2.png", FileMode.Create))
                {
                    RenderTargetBitmap bmp = new RenderTargetBitmap(350, 250, 96, 96, PixelFormats.Pbgra32);
                    bmp.Render(userControl1);
                    BitmapEncoder encoder = new PngBitmapEncoder();
                    encoder.Frames.Add(BitmapFrame.Create(bmp));
                    encoder.Save(fs);
                }
            });
            thread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
            thread.IsBackground = true;
            thread.Start();
            if (!thread.Join(10000))
            {
                Stop();
            }
        }

        protected override void OnStop()
        {
        }

        protected override void OnContinue()
        {
        } 
    }
}

Result:
The console and the service application generate a picture but without the chart.

Console application

pictureConsoleApplication.png (1.66 KiB) Viewed 42798 times

Windows Service

pictureService.png (1.18 KiB) Viewed 42798 times

XAML UserControl:

Code: Select all

<UserControl x:Class="ConsoleApplicationWithUserControl.UserControl1"
             xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
             xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" 
             xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
             xmlns:lcu="http://www.arction.com/schemas/"
             mc:Ignorable="d" 
             d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="300">
    <Grid>
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="*" />
            <RowDefinition Height="20" />
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <lcu:LightningChartUltimate Grid.Row="0" x:Name="chart"
             HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
             VerticalAlignment="Stretch">
        </lcu:LightningChartUltimate>
        <Button Grid.Row="1">
            <TextBlock>dsjdflksjdf</TextBlock>
        </Button>
    </Grid>
</UserControl>

Why does WPF-Controls are visible in the picture and the lightningChart is missing? Are there any methods to execute or properties to set, so that i can create a chart export on a service? I don't want to create a picture of the usercontrol, I want to use the method SaveToStream. I think when it works to create a bitmap on a service, there must be a way to export the lighningchart.

Can you help me?

[ArctionTero]

Hi Raphael,

Unfortunately DirectX usage is forbidder on windows service. See this.

[ArctionTero]

You could try set device type to software:

Code: Select all

chart.ChartRenderOptions.DeviceType = RendererDeviceType.SoftwareOnly;

It will slow down the chart a lot.

[Salto]

It doesn't work with Device-Type: SoftwareOnly.

[Salto]

Is there an option to use the Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform (WARP) with the LightningChart?

[ArctionPasi]

LightningChart uses low-level DirectX 9.0c rendering and it can't be used with WARP.

One solution probably would be to make a regular WPF or WinForms exe run in the background, that is a slave to the service. Communication between processes must be built, with e.g. socket I/O or named pipes.

[Salto]

Do you have an example of lightningchart which use directX 10 or higher? Will you increase the version of directX in a later version? I would like to try to run the chart with warp. (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg615082.aspx) I think that's the last thing which I can try. Run directX on a windows service (Session Id 0) is not possible. The problem with your suggestion to run a second application is, that the user must log on at least once. Our application works as soon as windows is started.

[ArctionPasi]

No we don't have such example. We can't convert LightningChart to DirectX10 and WARP right now. It'd be more than a year project.

[Salto]

Is there a plan in the future to update to a higher version of directX?
Is there a plan in the future to have an option to render the chart on a windows service in any kind?

[ArctionPasi]

We have to add a parallel rendering engine made with DX11-12 sooner or later. I can't say do they work as a service any better, but they should have WARP fallback like DX10, when used with DX10 feature level GPU instruction set.

[Salto]

That sounds good.
microsoft writes:
WARP allows fast rendering in a variety of situations where hardware implementations are unavailable, including:
When running as a service or in a server environment

Do you approximate an idea when it will come?