Winforms Application Fails To Launch [closed] - windows

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I have a winforms application that is installed on multiple computers. Most of the time it works perfectly but for a small subset of users the application fails to launch. The only resolution I have found for this issue is to reinstall the application on the users machine.
I have included screenshots below showing the application working after a successful launch and also a screenshot showing what the user sees when the application fails
Normal Launch:
Failed Launch:
When the application fails, the startup form does not get rendered at all. On the users desktop there is nothing visible at all and the program is not outside of any visible area.
If anyone could provide answers or insight into the following questions it would be much appreciated.
What could cause this problem?
Windows or program related?
How could this be fixed?
I have included code snippets from the startup form below
Starting code:
private static void Main()
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
Application.SetUnhandledExceptionMode(UnhandledExceptionMode.CatchException);
Application.Run(new Timelord());
}
public Timelord()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
this.BringToFront();
this.Focus();
// Displays a date and gets the version of the program
lblDate.Text = DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString();
Version version = System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Version;
if (ApplicationDeployment.IsNetworkDeployed)
{
lblVersion.Text = string.Format("v{0}", ApplicationDeployment.CurrentDeployment.CurrentVersion.ToString(4));
}
// Loads the comboboxes for selection
this.loadComboUser();
this.loadComboCompany();
this.loadComboTick();
}

Answer 1

I think what is happening is that there is an error being thrown in your Timelord constructor under certain conditions. Since Timelord is the "startup" object for your application, a failure to create its instance properly would cause serious problems. Here is what I would recommend doing to identify those conditions, and to eliminate the issue with the form only being partially created.
I am assuming based on your comment about the program reading from a database that one or more of the following methods perform data access calls to a database
this.loadComboUser();
this.loadComboCompany();
this.loadComboTick();
You typically want to avoid method calls, ESPECIALLY data access calls in a constructor. There are many reasons for this that I won't list here, but this other stackoverflow article explains some of them.
Is it OK to put a database initialization call in a C# constructor?
To correct these issues, implement an eventhandler for the load event and move all of your Timelord constructor code into the Load event handler. The Form.Load event fires after the constructor is complete but before a form is displayed for the first time.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.windows.forms.form.load?view=netframework-4.7.2
Here is how I would recommend restructuring your Timelord object.
public Timelord()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
}
Private Sub Timelord_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
{
Try
{
this.BringToFront();
this.Focus();
// Displays a date and gets the version of the program
lblDate.Text = DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString();
Version version = System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Version;
if (ApplicationDeployment.IsNetworkDeployed)
{
lblVersion.Text = string.Format("v{0}", ApplicationDeployment.CurrentDeployment.CurrentVersion.ToString(4));
}
// Loads the comboboxes for selection
this.loadComboUser();
this.loadComboCompany();
this.loadComboTick();
}
Catch(Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show($"The following error occurred in the Timelord constructor {Environment.NewLine}{ex.Message}")
}
}
Making this change will allow the Timelord constructor to completely create the object, then the Load event will run and load any data into the UI. This way, if an error occurs, you will have at least completely created the Timelord Form and can catch the error.
What could cause this problem?
Your startup object (Timelord()) throwing an error in the constructor, therefore not properly creating object.
Windows or program related?
Program related
How could this be fixed?
Separating your Forms logic so that the only code in the constructor is your instantiation logic.
Implementing Try/Catch blocks to trap errors