1. The array in the parent form is updated every 100 milliseconds.
2. Once the child form is opened with menustrip in parent form, the data is passed to child form

Issue:

1. Till now, I have had success in passing the array data, but I need to update it periodically in the child form also, and I have some difficulties with setting the timer in child form.

Form1: or Parent Form

string[] ArrayPack1Cells = new string[28];

//All the values are first stored in 2D array `volt_info_array[packidindex, voltage_index]` 
//and after scaling it, elements store in 1D array depending on the `packidindex` value
Voltages = ((volt_info_array[packidindex, voltage_index] / 1000));

switch(PackIndexes)
 {
   case 1:
        // if size is 28, then convert to array to be passed to child form.
       if(ListPack1Cells.Count == 28)
       {
           ArrayPack1Cells = ListPack1Cells.ToArray();
       }
       break;
   case 2:
   .....
 }

private void viewToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
   ToolStripMenuItem menu = sender as ToolStripMenuItem;
            
   switch (menu.Name)
   {
      case "pack1ToolStripMenuItem":
      if (Application.OpenForms["Pack1"] is Pack1 pack1)
       {
          pack1.Focus();
          return;
       }
       pack1 = new Pack1();
       pack1.TakeThis(ArrayPack1Cells);
       pack1.MdiParent = this;
       pack1.Show();
       Array.Clear(ArrayPack1Cells, 0, ArrayPack1Cells.Length);// Clear it once send to form2
       break;
}

Form2: or Child/Pack1 Form

public void TakeThis(string[] ArrayPack1Cells), method copies all the 28 arrays in the texboxes but only once.

public List<Control> Cell_Volt1 = new List<Control>();
public string[] f_temp = new string[28];

public Pack1()
{
  InitializeComponent();
  Cell_tbxArray();
  if (P1_timer.Enabled == false)
  {
    P1_timer.Enabled = true;
    P1_timer.Tick  = new System.EventHandler(this.P1_timer_Tick);
    P1_timer.Start();
  }
  else if (P1_timer.Enabled)
  {
    1_timer.Stop();
    P1_timer.Enabled = true;
    P1_timer.Start();
  }
}
private void Cell_tbxArray()
{
  for (int i = 0; i < tableLayoutPanel1.Controls.Count; i  )
  {
    if (tableLayoutPanel1.Controls[i].GetType() == typeof(TextBox))
    {
      Cell_Volt1.Add(tableLayoutPanel1.Controls[i]);
    }
  }
}

public void TakeThis(string[] ArrayPack1Cells)
{
  f_temp = ArrayPack1Cells;
  int index = 0;
  foreach (string item in f_temp)
  {
    Cell_Volt1[index].Text  = item;
    index  ;
  }
}
private void P1_timer_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
  for (int i = 0; i < Cell_Volt1.Count; i  )
  {
    Cell_Volt1[i].Text  = f_temp[i];
  }
}

The private void P1_timer_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e) isnt working at all.

CodePudding user response：

Here is my take.

Parent:

public static class Consts
{
    public const int NPACKS = 10, NVOLTS = 28;
}

public partial class ParentForm : Form
{
    double[,] data = new double[Consts.NPACKS, Consts.NVOLTS];
    double[][] uidata = new double[Consts.NPACKS][];
    Dictionary<int, PackForm> forms = new Dictionary<int, PackForm>();

    public ParentForm()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        for (int i = 0; i < Consts.NPACKS; i  )
        {
            uidata[i] = new double[Consts.NVOLTS];
        }
    }

    // wild guess - not clear how do you update it - all of them or slices
    void DataContinuousUpdate(double value, int npack, int nvolt)
    {
        data[npack, nvolt] = value;

        var slice = uidata[npack];

        // in case a form is trying to refresh UI
        lock (slice)
            slice[nvolt] = value;
    }

    void OpenPack(int npack)
    {
        // assuming access to this method is serial
        if (forms.ContainsKey(npack))
            return;

        var slice = uidata[npack];

        lock (slice)
        {
            var form = new PackForm(npack, slice);
            forms.Add(npack, form);
        }
    }
}

Pack:

public partial class PackForm : Form
{
    public int ID { get; private set; }
    public double[] Data { get; private set; }
    public double ValueScale { get; set; }

    TextBox[] VoltTextBox = new TextBox[Consts.NVOLTS];
        
    Timer timer;

    private PackForm()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        CreateTextBoxes();

        ValueScale = 1000.0;

        this.FormClosing  = PackForm_FormClosing;
    }
        

    public PackForm(int iD, double[] data) : this()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        ID = iD;
        Data = data;

        StartTimer();
    }

    private void PackForm_FormClosing(object? sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
    {
        StopTimer();
    }

    private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
    }

    private void StartTimer()
    {
        StopTimer();

        timer = new Timer();
        timer.Enabled = true;
        timer.Interval = 1000;
        timer.Tick  = Timer_Tick;
    }

    private void StopTimer()
    {
        if (timer == null) return;

        timer.Enabled = false;
        timer.Tick -= Timer_Tick;
    }
    private void Timer_Tick(object? sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (Data == null) return;

        lock(Data)
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < Data.Length; i  )
            {
                VoltTextBox[i].Text  = Data[i];
            }
        }
    }
}