Walkthrough: Using Dataflow in a Windows Forms Application

This article demonstrates how to create a network of dataflow blocks that perform image processing in a Windows Forms application.

This example loads image files from the specified folder, creates a composite image, and displays the result. The example uses the dataflow model to route images through the network. In the dataflow model, independent components of a program communicate with one another by sending messages. When a component receives a message, it performs some action and then passes the result to another component. Compare this with the control flow model, in which an application uses control structures, for example, conditional statements, loops, and so on, to control the order of operations in a program.

Prerequisites

Read Dataflow before you start this walkthrough.

Sections

This walkthrough contains the following sections:

Creating the Windows Forms Application
Creating the Dataflow Network
Connecting the Dataflow Network to the User Interface
The Complete Example

Creating the Windows Forms Application

This section describes how to create the basic Windows Forms application and add controls to the main form.

To Create the Windows Forms Application

In Visual Studio, create a Visual C# or Visual Basic Windows Forms Application project. In this document, the project is named CompositeImages.
On the form designer for the main form, Form1.cs (Form1.vb for Visual Basic), add a System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip control.
Add a System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripButton control to the System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip control. Set the System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.DisplayStyle property to System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItemDisplayStyle.Text and the System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.Text property to Choose Folder.
Add a second System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripButton control to the System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip control. Set the System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.DisplayStyle property to System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItemDisplayStyle.Text, the System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.Text property to Cancel, and the System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.Enabled property to False.
Add a System.Windows.Forms.PictureBox object to the main form. Set the System.Windows.Forms.Control.Dock property to System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Fill.

Creating the Dataflow Network

This section describes how to create the dataflow network that performs image processing.

To Create the Dataflow Network

Add a reference to System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.dll to your project.

Ensure that Form1.cs (Form1.vb for Visual Basic) contains the following using (Using in Visual Basic) statements:

sample · csharpsamples/snippets/csharp/VS_Snippets_Misc/tpldataflow_compositeimages/cs/compositeimages/form1.cs1

csharp

// <snippet100>
// <snippet1>
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow;
using System.Windows.Forms;
// </snippet1>

namespace CompositeImages
{
   public partial class Form1 : Form
   {
      // <snippet2>
      // The head of the dataflow network.
      ITargetBlock<string> headBlock = null;

      // Enables the user interface to signal cancellation to the network.
      CancellationTokenSource cancellationTokenSource;
      // </snippet2>

      public Form1()
      {
         InitializeComponent();
      }

      // <snippet3>
      // Creates the image processing dataflow network and returns the
      // head node of the network.
      ITargetBlock<string> CreateImageProcessingNetwork()
      {
         //
         // Create the dataflow blocks that form the network.
         //

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a folder path as input
         // and returns a collection of Bitmap objects.
         var loadBitmaps = new TransformBlock<string, IEnumerable<Bitmap>>(path =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return LoadBitmaps(path);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing the empty collection
                  // to the next stage of the network.
                  return Enumerable.Empty<Bitmap>();
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a collection of Bitmap objects
         // and returns a single composite bitmap.
         var createCompositeBitmap = new TransformBlock<IEnumerable<Bitmap>, Bitmap>(bitmaps =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return CreateCompositeBitmap(bitmaps);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing null to the next stage
                  // of the network.
                  return null;
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that displays the provided bitmap on the form.
         var displayCompositeBitmap = new ActionBlock<Bitmap>(bitmap =>
            {
               // Display the bitmap.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = bitmap;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
                TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that responds to a cancellation request by
         // displaying an image to indicate that the operation is cancelled and
         // enables the user to select another folder.
         var operationCancelled = new ActionBlock<object>(delegate
            {
               // Display the error image to indicate that the operation
               // was cancelled.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.CenterImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = pictureBox1.ErrorImage;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
               TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         //
         // Connect the network.
         //

         // Link loadBitmaps to createCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that createCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // collection of bitmaps only if that collection has at least one member.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(createCompositeBitmap, bitmaps => bitmaps.Count() > 0);

         // Also link loadBitmaps to operationCancelled.
         // When createCompositeBitmap rejects the message, loadBitmaps
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Link createCompositeBitmap to displayCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that displayCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // bitmap only if it is non-null.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(displayCompositeBitmap, bitmap => bitmap != null);

         // Also link createCompositeBitmap to operationCancelled.
         // When displayCompositeBitmap rejects the message, createCompositeBitmap
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Return the head of the network.
         return loadBitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet3>

      // <snippet4>
      // Loads all bitmap files that exist at the provided path.
      IEnumerable<Bitmap> LoadBitmaps(string path)
      {
         List<Bitmap> bitmaps = new List<Bitmap>();

         // Load a variety of image types.
         foreach (string bitmapType in
            new string[] { "*.bmp", "*.gif", "*.jpg", "*.png", "*.tif" })
         {
            // Load each bitmap for the current extension.
            foreach (string fileName in Directory.GetFiles(path, bitmapType))
            {
               // Throw OperationCanceledException if cancellation is requested.
               cancellationTokenSource.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();

               try
               {
                  // Add the Bitmap object to the collection.
                  bitmaps.Add(new Bitmap(fileName));
               }
               catch (Exception)
               {
                  // TODO: A complete application might handle the error.
               }
            }
         }
         return bitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet4>

      // <snippet5>
      // Creates a composite bitmap from the provided collection of Bitmap objects.
      // This method computes the average color of each pixel among all bitmaps
      // to create the composite image.
      Bitmap CreateCompositeBitmap(IEnumerable<Bitmap> bitmaps)
      {
         Bitmap[] bitmapArray = bitmaps.ToArray();

         // Compute the maximum width and height components of all
         // bitmaps in the collection.
         Rectangle largest = new Rectangle();
         foreach (var bitmap in bitmapArray)
         {
            if (bitmap.Width > largest.Width)
               largest.Width = bitmap.Width;
            if (bitmap.Height > largest.Height)
               largest.Height = bitmap.Height;
         }

         // Create a 32-bit Bitmap object with the greatest dimensions.
         Bitmap result = new Bitmap(largest.Width, largest.Height,
            PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);

         // Lock the result Bitmap.
         var resultBitmapData = result.LockBits(
            new Rectangle(new Point(), result.Size), ImageLockMode.WriteOnly,
            result.PixelFormat);

         // Lock each source bitmap to create a parallel list of BitmapData objects.
         var bitmapDataList = (from bitmap in bitmapArray
                               select bitmap.LockBits(
                                 new Rectangle(new Point(), bitmap.Size),
                                 ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb))
                              .ToList();

         // Compute each column in parallel.
         Parallel.For(0, largest.Width, new ParallelOptions
         {
            CancellationToken = cancellationTokenSource.Token
         },
         i =>
         {
            // Compute each row.
            for (int j = 0; j < largest.Height; j++)
            {
               // Counts the number of bitmaps whose dimensions
               // contain the current location.
               int count = 0;

               // The sum of all alpha, red, green, and blue components.
               int a = 0, r = 0, g = 0, b = 0;

               // For each bitmap, compute the sum of all color components.
               foreach (var bitmapData in bitmapDataList)
               {
                  // Ensure that we stay within the bounds of the image.
                  if (bitmapData.Width > i && bitmapData.Height > j)
                  {
                     unsafe
                     {
                        byte* row = (byte*)(bitmapData.Scan0 + (j * bitmapData.Stride));
                        byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                        a += *pix; pix++;
                        r += *pix; pix++;
                        g += *pix; pix++;
                        b += *pix;
                     }
                     count++;
                  }
               }

               //prevent divide by zero in bottom right pixelless corner
               if (count == 0)
                   break;

               unsafe
               {
                  // Compute the average of each color component.
                  a /= count;
                  r /= count;
                  g /= count;
                  b /= count;

                  // Set the result pixel.
                  byte* row = (byte*)(resultBitmapData.Scan0 + (j * resultBitmapData.Stride));
                  byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                  *pix = (byte)a; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)r; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)g; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)b;
               }
            }
         });

         // Unlock the source bitmaps.
         for (int i = 0; i < bitmapArray.Length; i++)
         {
            bitmapArray[i].UnlockBits(bitmapDataList[i]);
         }

         // Unlock the result bitmap.
         result.UnlockBits(resultBitmapData);

         // Return the result.
         return result;
      }
      // </snippet5>

      // <snippet6>
      // Event handler for the Choose Folder button.
      private void toolStripButton1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Create a FolderBrowserDialog object to enable the user to
         // select a folder.
         FolderBrowserDialog dlg = new FolderBrowserDialog
         {
            ShowNewFolderButton = false
         };

         // Set the selected path to the common Sample Pictures folder
         // if it exists.
         string initialDirectory = Path.Combine(
            Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonPictures),
            "Sample Pictures");
         if (Directory.Exists(initialDirectory))
         {
            dlg.SelectedPath = initialDirectory;
         }

         // Show the dialog and process the dataflow network.
         if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
         {
            // Create a new CancellationTokenSource object to enable
            // cancellation.
            cancellationTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();

            // Create the image processing network if needed.
            headBlock ??= CreateImageProcessingNetwork();

            // Post the selected path to the network.
            headBlock.Post(dlg.SelectedPath);

            // Enable the Cancel button and disable the Choose Folder button.
            toolStripButton1.Enabled = false;
            toolStripButton2.Enabled = true;

            // Show a wait cursor.
            Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor;
         }
      }
      // </snippet6>

      // <snippet7>
      // Event handler for the Cancel button.
      private void toolStripButton2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Signal the request for cancellation. The current component of
         // the dataflow network will respond to the cancellation request.
         cancellationTokenSource.Cancel();
      }
      // </snippet7>

      ~Form1()
      {
         cancellationTokenSource.Dispose();
      }
   }
}
// </snippet100>

Add the following data members to the Form1 class:

sample · csharpsamples/snippets/csharp/VS_Snippets_Misc/tpldataflow_compositeimages/cs/compositeimages/form1.cs2

csharp

// <snippet100>
// <snippet1>
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow;
using System.Windows.Forms;
// </snippet1>

namespace CompositeImages
{
   public partial class Form1 : Form
   {
      // <snippet2>
      // The head of the dataflow network.
      ITargetBlock<string> headBlock = null;

      // Enables the user interface to signal cancellation to the network.
      CancellationTokenSource cancellationTokenSource;
      // </snippet2>

      public Form1()
      {
         InitializeComponent();
      }

      // <snippet3>
      // Creates the image processing dataflow network and returns the
      // head node of the network.
      ITargetBlock<string> CreateImageProcessingNetwork()
      {
         //
         // Create the dataflow blocks that form the network.
         //

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a folder path as input
         // and returns a collection of Bitmap objects.
         var loadBitmaps = new TransformBlock<string, IEnumerable<Bitmap>>(path =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return LoadBitmaps(path);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing the empty collection
                  // to the next stage of the network.
                  return Enumerable.Empty<Bitmap>();
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a collection of Bitmap objects
         // and returns a single composite bitmap.
         var createCompositeBitmap = new TransformBlock<IEnumerable<Bitmap>, Bitmap>(bitmaps =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return CreateCompositeBitmap(bitmaps);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing null to the next stage
                  // of the network.
                  return null;
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that displays the provided bitmap on the form.
         var displayCompositeBitmap = new ActionBlock<Bitmap>(bitmap =>
            {
               // Display the bitmap.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = bitmap;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
                TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that responds to a cancellation request by
         // displaying an image to indicate that the operation is cancelled and
         // enables the user to select another folder.
         var operationCancelled = new ActionBlock<object>(delegate
            {
               // Display the error image to indicate that the operation
               // was cancelled.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.CenterImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = pictureBox1.ErrorImage;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
               TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         //
         // Connect the network.
         //

         // Link loadBitmaps to createCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that createCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // collection of bitmaps only if that collection has at least one member.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(createCompositeBitmap, bitmaps => bitmaps.Count() > 0);

         // Also link loadBitmaps to operationCancelled.
         // When createCompositeBitmap rejects the message, loadBitmaps
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Link createCompositeBitmap to displayCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that displayCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // bitmap only if it is non-null.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(displayCompositeBitmap, bitmap => bitmap != null);

         // Also link createCompositeBitmap to operationCancelled.
         // When displayCompositeBitmap rejects the message, createCompositeBitmap
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Return the head of the network.
         return loadBitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet3>

      // <snippet4>
      // Loads all bitmap files that exist at the provided path.
      IEnumerable<Bitmap> LoadBitmaps(string path)
      {
         List<Bitmap> bitmaps = new List<Bitmap>();

         // Load a variety of image types.
         foreach (string bitmapType in
            new string[] { "*.bmp", "*.gif", "*.jpg", "*.png", "*.tif" })
         {
            // Load each bitmap for the current extension.
            foreach (string fileName in Directory.GetFiles(path, bitmapType))
            {
               // Throw OperationCanceledException if cancellation is requested.
               cancellationTokenSource.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();

               try
               {
                  // Add the Bitmap object to the collection.
                  bitmaps.Add(new Bitmap(fileName));
               }
               catch (Exception)
               {
                  // TODO: A complete application might handle the error.
               }
            }
         }
         return bitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet4>

      // <snippet5>
      // Creates a composite bitmap from the provided collection of Bitmap objects.
      // This method computes the average color of each pixel among all bitmaps
      // to create the composite image.
      Bitmap CreateCompositeBitmap(IEnumerable<Bitmap> bitmaps)
      {
         Bitmap[] bitmapArray = bitmaps.ToArray();

         // Compute the maximum width and height components of all
         // bitmaps in the collection.
         Rectangle largest = new Rectangle();
         foreach (var bitmap in bitmapArray)
         {
            if (bitmap.Width > largest.Width)
               largest.Width = bitmap.Width;
            if (bitmap.Height > largest.Height)
               largest.Height = bitmap.Height;
         }

         // Create a 32-bit Bitmap object with the greatest dimensions.
         Bitmap result = new Bitmap(largest.Width, largest.Height,
            PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);

         // Lock the result Bitmap.
         var resultBitmapData = result.LockBits(
            new Rectangle(new Point(), result.Size), ImageLockMode.WriteOnly,
            result.PixelFormat);

         // Lock each source bitmap to create a parallel list of BitmapData objects.
         var bitmapDataList = (from bitmap in bitmapArray
                               select bitmap.LockBits(
                                 new Rectangle(new Point(), bitmap.Size),
                                 ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb))
                              .ToList();

         // Compute each column in parallel.
         Parallel.For(0, largest.Width, new ParallelOptions
         {
            CancellationToken = cancellationTokenSource.Token
         },
         i =>
         {
            // Compute each row.
            for (int j = 0; j < largest.Height; j++)
            {
               // Counts the number of bitmaps whose dimensions
               // contain the current location.
               int count = 0;

               // The sum of all alpha, red, green, and blue components.
               int a = 0, r = 0, g = 0, b = 0;

               // For each bitmap, compute the sum of all color components.
               foreach (var bitmapData in bitmapDataList)
               {
                  // Ensure that we stay within the bounds of the image.
                  if (bitmapData.Width > i && bitmapData.Height > j)
                  {
                     unsafe
                     {
                        byte* row = (byte*)(bitmapData.Scan0 + (j * bitmapData.Stride));
                        byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                        a += *pix; pix++;
                        r += *pix; pix++;
                        g += *pix; pix++;
                        b += *pix;
                     }
                     count++;
                  }
               }

               //prevent divide by zero in bottom right pixelless corner
               if (count == 0)
                   break;

               unsafe
               {
                  // Compute the average of each color component.
                  a /= count;
                  r /= count;
                  g /= count;
                  b /= count;

                  // Set the result pixel.
                  byte* row = (byte*)(resultBitmapData.Scan0 + (j * resultBitmapData.Stride));
                  byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                  *pix = (byte)a; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)r; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)g; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)b;
               }
            }
         });

         // Unlock the source bitmaps.
         for (int i = 0; i < bitmapArray.Length; i++)
         {
            bitmapArray[i].UnlockBits(bitmapDataList[i]);
         }

         // Unlock the result bitmap.
         result.UnlockBits(resultBitmapData);

         // Return the result.
         return result;
      }
      // </snippet5>

      // <snippet6>
      // Event handler for the Choose Folder button.
      private void toolStripButton1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Create a FolderBrowserDialog object to enable the user to
         // select a folder.
         FolderBrowserDialog dlg = new FolderBrowserDialog
         {
            ShowNewFolderButton = false
         };

         // Set the selected path to the common Sample Pictures folder
         // if it exists.
         string initialDirectory = Path.Combine(
            Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonPictures),
            "Sample Pictures");
         if (Directory.Exists(initialDirectory))
         {
            dlg.SelectedPath = initialDirectory;
         }

         // Show the dialog and process the dataflow network.
         if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
         {
            // Create a new CancellationTokenSource object to enable
            // cancellation.
            cancellationTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();

            // Create the image processing network if needed.
            headBlock ??= CreateImageProcessingNetwork();

            // Post the selected path to the network.
            headBlock.Post(dlg.SelectedPath);

            // Enable the Cancel button and disable the Choose Folder button.
            toolStripButton1.Enabled = false;
            toolStripButton2.Enabled = true;

            // Show a wait cursor.
            Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor;
         }
      }
      // </snippet6>

      // <snippet7>
      // Event handler for the Cancel button.
      private void toolStripButton2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Signal the request for cancellation. The current component of
         // the dataflow network will respond to the cancellation request.
         cancellationTokenSource.Cancel();
      }
      // </snippet7>

      ~Form1()
      {
         cancellationTokenSource.Dispose();
      }
   }
}
// </snippet100>

Add the following method, CreateImageProcessingNetwork, to the Form1 class. This method creates the image processing network.

sample · csharpsamples/snippets/csharp/VS_Snippets_Misc/tpldataflow_compositeimages/cs/compositeimages/form1.cs3

csharp

// <snippet100>
// <snippet1>
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow;
using System.Windows.Forms;
// </snippet1>

namespace CompositeImages
{
   public partial class Form1 : Form
   {
      // <snippet2>
      // The head of the dataflow network.
      ITargetBlock<string> headBlock = null;

      // Enables the user interface to signal cancellation to the network.
      CancellationTokenSource cancellationTokenSource;
      // </snippet2>

      public Form1()
      {
         InitializeComponent();
      }

      // <snippet3>
      // Creates the image processing dataflow network and returns the
      // head node of the network.
      ITargetBlock<string> CreateImageProcessingNetwork()
      {
         //
         // Create the dataflow blocks that form the network.
         //

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a folder path as input
         // and returns a collection of Bitmap objects.
         var loadBitmaps = new TransformBlock<string, IEnumerable<Bitmap>>(path =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return LoadBitmaps(path);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing the empty collection
                  // to the next stage of the network.
                  return Enumerable.Empty<Bitmap>();
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a collection of Bitmap objects
         // and returns a single composite bitmap.
         var createCompositeBitmap = new TransformBlock<IEnumerable<Bitmap>, Bitmap>(bitmaps =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return CreateCompositeBitmap(bitmaps);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing null to the next stage
                  // of the network.
                  return null;
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that displays the provided bitmap on the form.
         var displayCompositeBitmap = new ActionBlock<Bitmap>(bitmap =>
            {
               // Display the bitmap.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = bitmap;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
                TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that responds to a cancellation request by
         // displaying an image to indicate that the operation is cancelled and
         // enables the user to select another folder.
         var operationCancelled = new ActionBlock<object>(delegate
            {
               // Display the error image to indicate that the operation
               // was cancelled.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.CenterImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = pictureBox1.ErrorImage;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
               TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         //
         // Connect the network.
         //

         // Link loadBitmaps to createCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that createCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // collection of bitmaps only if that collection has at least one member.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(createCompositeBitmap, bitmaps => bitmaps.Count() > 0);

         // Also link loadBitmaps to operationCancelled.
         // When createCompositeBitmap rejects the message, loadBitmaps
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Link createCompositeBitmap to displayCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that displayCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // bitmap only if it is non-null.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(displayCompositeBitmap, bitmap => bitmap != null);

         // Also link createCompositeBitmap to operationCancelled.
         // When displayCompositeBitmap rejects the message, createCompositeBitmap
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Return the head of the network.
         return loadBitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet3>

      // <snippet4>
      // Loads all bitmap files that exist at the provided path.
      IEnumerable<Bitmap> LoadBitmaps(string path)
      {
         List<Bitmap> bitmaps = new List<Bitmap>();

         // Load a variety of image types.
         foreach (string bitmapType in
            new string[] { "*.bmp", "*.gif", "*.jpg", "*.png", "*.tif" })
         {
            // Load each bitmap for the current extension.
            foreach (string fileName in Directory.GetFiles(path, bitmapType))
            {
               // Throw OperationCanceledException if cancellation is requested.
               cancellationTokenSource.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();

               try
               {
                  // Add the Bitmap object to the collection.
                  bitmaps.Add(new Bitmap(fileName));
               }
               catch (Exception)
               {
                  // TODO: A complete application might handle the error.
               }
            }
         }
         return bitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet4>

      // <snippet5>
      // Creates a composite bitmap from the provided collection of Bitmap objects.
      // This method computes the average color of each pixel among all bitmaps
      // to create the composite image.
      Bitmap CreateCompositeBitmap(IEnumerable<Bitmap> bitmaps)
      {
         Bitmap[] bitmapArray = bitmaps.ToArray();

         // Compute the maximum width and height components of all
         // bitmaps in the collection.
         Rectangle largest = new Rectangle();
         foreach (var bitmap in bitmapArray)
         {
            if (bitmap.Width > largest.Width)
               largest.Width = bitmap.Width;
            if (bitmap.Height > largest.Height)
               largest.Height = bitmap.Height;
         }

         // Create a 32-bit Bitmap object with the greatest dimensions.
         Bitmap result = new Bitmap(largest.Width, largest.Height,
            PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);

         // Lock the result Bitmap.
         var resultBitmapData = result.LockBits(
            new Rectangle(new Point(), result.Size), ImageLockMode.WriteOnly,
            result.PixelFormat);

         // Lock each source bitmap to create a parallel list of BitmapData objects.
         var bitmapDataList = (from bitmap in bitmapArray
                               select bitmap.LockBits(
                                 new Rectangle(new Point(), bitmap.Size),
                                 ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb))
                              .ToList();

         // Compute each column in parallel.
         Parallel.For(0, largest.Width, new ParallelOptions
         {
            CancellationToken = cancellationTokenSource.Token
         },
         i =>
         {
            // Compute each row.
            for (int j = 0; j < largest.Height; j++)
            {
               // Counts the number of bitmaps whose dimensions
               // contain the current location.
               int count = 0;

               // The sum of all alpha, red, green, and blue components.
               int a = 0, r = 0, g = 0, b = 0;

               // For each bitmap, compute the sum of all color components.
               foreach (var bitmapData in bitmapDataList)
               {
                  // Ensure that we stay within the bounds of the image.
                  if (bitmapData.Width > i && bitmapData.Height > j)
                  {
                     unsafe
                     {
                        byte* row = (byte*)(bitmapData.Scan0 + (j * bitmapData.Stride));
                        byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                        a += *pix; pix++;
                        r += *pix; pix++;
                        g += *pix; pix++;
                        b += *pix;
                     }
                     count++;
                  }
               }

               //prevent divide by zero in bottom right pixelless corner
               if (count == 0)
                   break;

               unsafe
               {
                  // Compute the average of each color component.
                  a /= count;
                  r /= count;
                  g /= count;
                  b /= count;

                  // Set the result pixel.
                  byte* row = (byte*)(resultBitmapData.Scan0 + (j * resultBitmapData.Stride));
                  byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                  *pix = (byte)a; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)r; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)g; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)b;
               }
            }
         });

         // Unlock the source bitmaps.
         for (int i = 0; i < bitmapArray.Length; i++)
         {
            bitmapArray[i].UnlockBits(bitmapDataList[i]);
         }

         // Unlock the result bitmap.
         result.UnlockBits(resultBitmapData);

         // Return the result.
         return result;
      }
      // </snippet5>

      // <snippet6>
      // Event handler for the Choose Folder button.
      private void toolStripButton1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Create a FolderBrowserDialog object to enable the user to
         // select a folder.
         FolderBrowserDialog dlg = new FolderBrowserDialog
         {
            ShowNewFolderButton = false
         };

         // Set the selected path to the common Sample Pictures folder
         // if it exists.
         string initialDirectory = Path.Combine(
            Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonPictures),
            "Sample Pictures");
         if (Directory.Exists(initialDirectory))
         {
            dlg.SelectedPath = initialDirectory;
         }

         // Show the dialog and process the dataflow network.
         if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
         {
            // Create a new CancellationTokenSource object to enable
            // cancellation.
            cancellationTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();

            // Create the image processing network if needed.
            headBlock ??= CreateImageProcessingNetwork();

            // Post the selected path to the network.
            headBlock.Post(dlg.SelectedPath);

            // Enable the Cancel button and disable the Choose Folder button.
            toolStripButton1.Enabled = false;
            toolStripButton2.Enabled = true;

            // Show a wait cursor.
            Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor;
         }
      }
      // </snippet6>

      // <snippet7>
      // Event handler for the Cancel button.
      private void toolStripButton2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Signal the request for cancellation. The current component of
         // the dataflow network will respond to the cancellation request.
         cancellationTokenSource.Cancel();
      }
      // </snippet7>

      ~Form1()
      {
         cancellationTokenSource.Dispose();
      }
   }
}
// </snippet100>

Implement the LoadBitmaps method.

sample · csharpsamples/snippets/csharp/VS_Snippets_Misc/tpldataflow_compositeimages/cs/compositeimages/form1.cs4

csharp

// <snippet100>
// <snippet1>
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow;
using System.Windows.Forms;
// </snippet1>

namespace CompositeImages
{
   public partial class Form1 : Form
   {
      // <snippet2>
      // The head of the dataflow network.
      ITargetBlock<string> headBlock = null;

      // Enables the user interface to signal cancellation to the network.
      CancellationTokenSource cancellationTokenSource;
      // </snippet2>

      public Form1()
      {
         InitializeComponent();
      }

      // <snippet3>
      // Creates the image processing dataflow network and returns the
      // head node of the network.
      ITargetBlock<string> CreateImageProcessingNetwork()
      {
         //
         // Create the dataflow blocks that form the network.
         //

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a folder path as input
         // and returns a collection of Bitmap objects.
         var loadBitmaps = new TransformBlock<string, IEnumerable<Bitmap>>(path =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return LoadBitmaps(path);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing the empty collection
                  // to the next stage of the network.
                  return Enumerable.Empty<Bitmap>();
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a collection of Bitmap objects
         // and returns a single composite bitmap.
         var createCompositeBitmap = new TransformBlock<IEnumerable<Bitmap>, Bitmap>(bitmaps =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return CreateCompositeBitmap(bitmaps);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing null to the next stage
                  // of the network.
                  return null;
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that displays the provided bitmap on the form.
         var displayCompositeBitmap = new ActionBlock<Bitmap>(bitmap =>
            {
               // Display the bitmap.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = bitmap;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
                TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that responds to a cancellation request by
         // displaying an image to indicate that the operation is cancelled and
         // enables the user to select another folder.
         var operationCancelled = new ActionBlock<object>(delegate
            {
               // Display the error image to indicate that the operation
               // was cancelled.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.CenterImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = pictureBox1.ErrorImage;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
               TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         //
         // Connect the network.
         //

         // Link loadBitmaps to createCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that createCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // collection of bitmaps only if that collection has at least one member.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(createCompositeBitmap, bitmaps => bitmaps.Count() > 0);

         // Also link loadBitmaps to operationCancelled.
         // When createCompositeBitmap rejects the message, loadBitmaps
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Link createCompositeBitmap to displayCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that displayCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // bitmap only if it is non-null.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(displayCompositeBitmap, bitmap => bitmap != null);

         // Also link createCompositeBitmap to operationCancelled.
         // When displayCompositeBitmap rejects the message, createCompositeBitmap
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Return the head of the network.
         return loadBitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet3>

      // <snippet4>
      // Loads all bitmap files that exist at the provided path.
      IEnumerable<Bitmap> LoadBitmaps(string path)
      {
         List<Bitmap> bitmaps = new List<Bitmap>();

         // Load a variety of image types.
         foreach (string bitmapType in
            new string[] { "*.bmp", "*.gif", "*.jpg", "*.png", "*.tif" })
         {
            // Load each bitmap for the current extension.
            foreach (string fileName in Directory.GetFiles(path, bitmapType))
            {
               // Throw OperationCanceledException if cancellation is requested.
               cancellationTokenSource.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();

               try
               {
                  // Add the Bitmap object to the collection.
                  bitmaps.Add(new Bitmap(fileName));
               }
               catch (Exception)
               {
                  // TODO: A complete application might handle the error.
               }
            }
         }
         return bitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet4>

      // <snippet5>
      // Creates a composite bitmap from the provided collection of Bitmap objects.
      // This method computes the average color of each pixel among all bitmaps
      // to create the composite image.
      Bitmap CreateCompositeBitmap(IEnumerable<Bitmap> bitmaps)
      {
         Bitmap[] bitmapArray = bitmaps.ToArray();

         // Compute the maximum width and height components of all
         // bitmaps in the collection.
         Rectangle largest = new Rectangle();
         foreach (var bitmap in bitmapArray)
         {
            if (bitmap.Width > largest.Width)
               largest.Width = bitmap.Width;
            if (bitmap.Height > largest.Height)
               largest.Height = bitmap.Height;
         }

         // Create a 32-bit Bitmap object with the greatest dimensions.
         Bitmap result = new Bitmap(largest.Width, largest.Height,
            PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);

         // Lock the result Bitmap.
         var resultBitmapData = result.LockBits(
            new Rectangle(new Point(), result.Size), ImageLockMode.WriteOnly,
            result.PixelFormat);

         // Lock each source bitmap to create a parallel list of BitmapData objects.
         var bitmapDataList = (from bitmap in bitmapArray
                               select bitmap.LockBits(
                                 new Rectangle(new Point(), bitmap.Size),
                                 ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb))
                              .ToList();

         // Compute each column in parallel.
         Parallel.For(0, largest.Width, new ParallelOptions
         {
            CancellationToken = cancellationTokenSource.Token
         },
         i =>
         {
            // Compute each row.
            for (int j = 0; j < largest.Height; j++)
            {
               // Counts the number of bitmaps whose dimensions
               // contain the current location.
               int count = 0;

               // The sum of all alpha, red, green, and blue components.
               int a = 0, r = 0, g = 0, b = 0;

               // For each bitmap, compute the sum of all color components.
               foreach (var bitmapData in bitmapDataList)
               {
                  // Ensure that we stay within the bounds of the image.
                  if (bitmapData.Width > i && bitmapData.Height > j)
                  {
                     unsafe
                     {
                        byte* row = (byte*)(bitmapData.Scan0 + (j * bitmapData.Stride));
                        byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                        a += *pix; pix++;
                        r += *pix; pix++;
                        g += *pix; pix++;
                        b += *pix;
                     }
                     count++;
                  }
               }

               //prevent divide by zero in bottom right pixelless corner
               if (count == 0)
                   break;

               unsafe
               {
                  // Compute the average of each color component.
                  a /= count;
                  r /= count;
                  g /= count;
                  b /= count;

                  // Set the result pixel.
                  byte* row = (byte*)(resultBitmapData.Scan0 + (j * resultBitmapData.Stride));
                  byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                  *pix = (byte)a; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)r; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)g; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)b;
               }
            }
         });

         // Unlock the source bitmaps.
         for (int i = 0; i < bitmapArray.Length; i++)
         {
            bitmapArray[i].UnlockBits(bitmapDataList[i]);
         }

         // Unlock the result bitmap.
         result.UnlockBits(resultBitmapData);

         // Return the result.
         return result;
      }
      // </snippet5>

      // <snippet6>
      // Event handler for the Choose Folder button.
      private void toolStripButton1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Create a FolderBrowserDialog object to enable the user to
         // select a folder.
         FolderBrowserDialog dlg = new FolderBrowserDialog
         {
            ShowNewFolderButton = false
         };

         // Set the selected path to the common Sample Pictures folder
         // if it exists.
         string initialDirectory = Path.Combine(
            Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonPictures),
            "Sample Pictures");
         if (Directory.Exists(initialDirectory))
         {
            dlg.SelectedPath = initialDirectory;
         }

         // Show the dialog and process the dataflow network.
         if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
         {
            // Create a new CancellationTokenSource object to enable
            // cancellation.
            cancellationTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();

            // Create the image processing network if needed.
            headBlock ??= CreateImageProcessingNetwork();

            // Post the selected path to the network.
            headBlock.Post(dlg.SelectedPath);

            // Enable the Cancel button and disable the Choose Folder button.
            toolStripButton1.Enabled = false;
            toolStripButton2.Enabled = true;

            // Show a wait cursor.
            Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor;
         }
      }
      // </snippet6>

      // <snippet7>
      // Event handler for the Cancel button.
      private void toolStripButton2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Signal the request for cancellation. The current component of
         // the dataflow network will respond to the cancellation request.
         cancellationTokenSource.Cancel();
      }
      // </snippet7>

      ~Form1()
      {
         cancellationTokenSource.Dispose();
      }
   }
}
// </snippet100>

Implement the CreateCompositeBitmap method.

sample · csharpsamples/snippets/csharp/VS_Snippets_Misc/tpldataflow_compositeimages/cs/compositeimages/form1.cs5

csharp

// <snippet100>
// <snippet1>
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow;
using System.Windows.Forms;
// </snippet1>

namespace CompositeImages
{
   public partial class Form1 : Form
   {
      // <snippet2>
      // The head of the dataflow network.
      ITargetBlock<string> headBlock = null;

      // Enables the user interface to signal cancellation to the network.
      CancellationTokenSource cancellationTokenSource;
      // </snippet2>

      public Form1()
      {
         InitializeComponent();
      }

      // <snippet3>
      // Creates the image processing dataflow network and returns the
      // head node of the network.
      ITargetBlock<string> CreateImageProcessingNetwork()
      {
         //
         // Create the dataflow blocks that form the network.
         //

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a folder path as input
         // and returns a collection of Bitmap objects.
         var loadBitmaps = new TransformBlock<string, IEnumerable<Bitmap>>(path =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return LoadBitmaps(path);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing the empty collection
                  // to the next stage of the network.
                  return Enumerable.Empty<Bitmap>();
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a collection of Bitmap objects
         // and returns a single composite bitmap.
         var createCompositeBitmap = new TransformBlock<IEnumerable<Bitmap>, Bitmap>(bitmaps =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return CreateCompositeBitmap(bitmaps);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing null to the next stage
                  // of the network.
                  return null;
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that displays the provided bitmap on the form.
         var displayCompositeBitmap = new ActionBlock<Bitmap>(bitmap =>
            {
               // Display the bitmap.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = bitmap;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
                TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that responds to a cancellation request by
         // displaying an image to indicate that the operation is cancelled and
         // enables the user to select another folder.
         var operationCancelled = new ActionBlock<object>(delegate
            {
               // Display the error image to indicate that the operation
               // was cancelled.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.CenterImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = pictureBox1.ErrorImage;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
               TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         //
         // Connect the network.
         //

         // Link loadBitmaps to createCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that createCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // collection of bitmaps only if that collection has at least one member.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(createCompositeBitmap, bitmaps => bitmaps.Count() > 0);

         // Also link loadBitmaps to operationCancelled.
         // When createCompositeBitmap rejects the message, loadBitmaps
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Link createCompositeBitmap to displayCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that displayCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // bitmap only if it is non-null.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(displayCompositeBitmap, bitmap => bitmap != null);

         // Also link createCompositeBitmap to operationCancelled.
         // When displayCompositeBitmap rejects the message, createCompositeBitmap
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Return the head of the network.
         return loadBitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet3>

      // <snippet4>
      // Loads all bitmap files that exist at the provided path.
      IEnumerable<Bitmap> LoadBitmaps(string path)
      {
         List<Bitmap> bitmaps = new List<Bitmap>();

         // Load a variety of image types.
         foreach (string bitmapType in
            new string[] { "*.bmp", "*.gif", "*.jpg", "*.png", "*.tif" })
         {
            // Load each bitmap for the current extension.
            foreach (string fileName in Directory.GetFiles(path, bitmapType))
            {
               // Throw OperationCanceledException if cancellation is requested.
               cancellationTokenSource.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();

               try
               {
                  // Add the Bitmap object to the collection.
                  bitmaps.Add(new Bitmap(fileName));
               }
               catch (Exception)
               {
                  // TODO: A complete application might handle the error.
               }
            }
         }
         return bitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet4>

      // <snippet5>
      // Creates a composite bitmap from the provided collection of Bitmap objects.
      // This method computes the average color of each pixel among all bitmaps
      // to create the composite image.
      Bitmap CreateCompositeBitmap(IEnumerable<Bitmap> bitmaps)
      {
         Bitmap[] bitmapArray = bitmaps.ToArray();

         // Compute the maximum width and height components of all
         // bitmaps in the collection.
         Rectangle largest = new Rectangle();
         foreach (var bitmap in bitmapArray)
         {
            if (bitmap.Width > largest.Width)
               largest.Width = bitmap.Width;
            if (bitmap.Height > largest.Height)
               largest.Height = bitmap.Height;
         }

         // Create a 32-bit Bitmap object with the greatest dimensions.
         Bitmap result = new Bitmap(largest.Width, largest.Height,
            PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);

         // Lock the result Bitmap.
         var resultBitmapData = result.LockBits(
            new Rectangle(new Point(), result.Size), ImageLockMode.WriteOnly,
            result.PixelFormat);

         // Lock each source bitmap to create a parallel list of BitmapData objects.
         var bitmapDataList = (from bitmap in bitmapArray
                               select bitmap.LockBits(
                                 new Rectangle(new Point(), bitmap.Size),
                                 ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb))
                              .ToList();

         // Compute each column in parallel.
         Parallel.For(0, largest.Width, new ParallelOptions
         {
            CancellationToken = cancellationTokenSource.Token
         },
         i =>
         {
            // Compute each row.
            for (int j = 0; j < largest.Height; j++)
            {
               // Counts the number of bitmaps whose dimensions
               // contain the current location.
               int count = 0;

               // The sum of all alpha, red, green, and blue components.
               int a = 0, r = 0, g = 0, b = 0;

               // For each bitmap, compute the sum of all color components.
               foreach (var bitmapData in bitmapDataList)
               {
                  // Ensure that we stay within the bounds of the image.
                  if (bitmapData.Width > i && bitmapData.Height > j)
                  {
                     unsafe
                     {
                        byte* row = (byte*)(bitmapData.Scan0 + (j * bitmapData.Stride));
                        byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                        a += *pix; pix++;
                        r += *pix; pix++;
                        g += *pix; pix++;
                        b += *pix;
                     }
                     count++;
                  }
               }

               //prevent divide by zero in bottom right pixelless corner
               if (count == 0)
                   break;

               unsafe
               {
                  // Compute the average of each color component.
                  a /= count;
                  r /= count;
                  g /= count;
                  b /= count;

                  // Set the result pixel.
                  byte* row = (byte*)(resultBitmapData.Scan0 + (j * resultBitmapData.Stride));
                  byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                  *pix = (byte)a; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)r; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)g; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)b;
               }
            }
         });

         // Unlock the source bitmaps.
         for (int i = 0; i < bitmapArray.Length; i++)
         {
            bitmapArray[i].UnlockBits(bitmapDataList[i]);
         }

         // Unlock the result bitmap.
         result.UnlockBits(resultBitmapData);

         // Return the result.
         return result;
      }
      // </snippet5>

      // <snippet6>
      // Event handler for the Choose Folder button.
      private void toolStripButton1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Create a FolderBrowserDialog object to enable the user to
         // select a folder.
         FolderBrowserDialog dlg = new FolderBrowserDialog
         {
            ShowNewFolderButton = false
         };

         // Set the selected path to the common Sample Pictures folder
         // if it exists.
         string initialDirectory = Path.Combine(
            Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonPictures),
            "Sample Pictures");
         if (Directory.Exists(initialDirectory))
         {
            dlg.SelectedPath = initialDirectory;
         }

         // Show the dialog and process the dataflow network.
         if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
         {
            // Create a new CancellationTokenSource object to enable
            // cancellation.
            cancellationTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();

            // Create the image processing network if needed.
            headBlock ??= CreateImageProcessingNetwork();

            // Post the selected path to the network.
            headBlock.Post(dlg.SelectedPath);

            // Enable the Cancel button and disable the Choose Folder button.
            toolStripButton1.Enabled = false;
            toolStripButton2.Enabled = true;

            // Show a wait cursor.
            Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor;
         }
      }
      // </snippet6>

      // <snippet7>
      // Event handler for the Cancel button.
      private void toolStripButton2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Signal the request for cancellation. The current component of
         // the dataflow network will respond to the cancellation request.
         cancellationTokenSource.Cancel();
      }
      // </snippet7>

      ~Form1()
      {
         cancellationTokenSource.Dispose();
      }
   }
}
// </snippet100>

The following table describes the members of the network.

Member	Type	Description
`loadBitmaps`	System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.TransformBlock	Takes a folder path as input and produces a collection of System.Drawing.Bitmap objects as output.
`createCompositeBitmap`	System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.TransformBlock	Takes a collection of System.Drawing.Bitmap objects as input and produces a composite bitmap as output.
`displayCompositeBitmap`	System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.ActionBlock	Displays the composite bitmap on the form.
`operationCancelled`	System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.ActionBlock	Displays an image to indicate that the operation is canceled and enables the user to select another folder.

To connect the dataflow blocks to form a network, this example uses the System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.ISourceBlock.LinkTo method. The System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.ISourceBlock.LinkTo method contains an overloaded version that takes a System.Predicate object that determines whether the target block accepts or rejects a message. This filtering mechanism enables message blocks to receive only certain values. In this example, the network can branch in one of two ways. The main branch loads the images from disk, creates the composite image, and displays that image on the form. The alternate branch cancels the current operation. The System.Predicate objects enable the dataflow blocks along the main branch to switch to the alternative branch by rejecting certain messages. For example, if the user cancels the operation, the dataflow block createCompositeBitmap produces null (Nothing in Visual Basic) as its output. The dataflow block displayCompositeBitmap rejects null input values, and therefore, the message is offered to operationCancelled. The dataflow block operationCancelled accepts all messages and therefore, displays an image to indicate that the operation is canceled.

The following illustration shows the image processing network:

Illustration that shows the image processing network.

Because the displayCompositeBitmap and operationCancelled dataflow blocks act on the user interface, it is important that these actions occur on the user-interface thread. To accomplish this, during construction, these objects each provide an System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions object that has the System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.DataflowBlockOptions.TaskScheduler property set to System.Threading.Tasks.TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext. The System.Threading.Tasks.TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext method creates a System.Threading.Tasks.TaskScheduler object that performs work on the current synchronization context. Because the CreateImageProcessingNetwork method is called from the handler of the Choose Folder button, which runs on the user-interface thread, the actions for the displayCompositeBitmap and operationCancelled dataflow blocks also run on the user-interface thread.

This example uses a shared cancellation token instead of setting the System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.DataflowBlockOptions.CancellationToken property because the System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.DataflowBlockOptions.CancellationToken property permanently cancels dataflow block execution. A cancellation token enables this example to reuse the same dataflow network multiple times, even when the user cancels one or more operations. For an example that uses System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow.DataflowBlockOptions.CancellationToken to permanently cancel the execution of a dataflow block, see How to: Cancel a Dataflow Block.

Connecting the Dataflow Network to the User Interface

This section describes how to connect the dataflow network to the user interface. The creation of the composite image and cancellation of the operation are initiated from the Choose Folder and Cancel buttons. When the user chooses either of these buttons, the appropriate action is initiated in an asynchronous manner.

To Connect the Dataflow Network to the User Interface

On the form designer for the main form, create an event handler for the System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.Click event for the Choose Folder button.

Implement the System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.Click event for the Choose Folder button.

sample · csharpsamples/snippets/csharp/VS_Snippets_Misc/tpldataflow_compositeimages/cs/compositeimages/form1.cs6

csharp

// <snippet100>
// <snippet1>
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow;
using System.Windows.Forms;
// </snippet1>

namespace CompositeImages
{
   public partial class Form1 : Form
   {
      // <snippet2>
      // The head of the dataflow network.
      ITargetBlock<string> headBlock = null;

      // Enables the user interface to signal cancellation to the network.
      CancellationTokenSource cancellationTokenSource;
      // </snippet2>

      public Form1()
      {
         InitializeComponent();
      }

      // <snippet3>
      // Creates the image processing dataflow network and returns the
      // head node of the network.
      ITargetBlock<string> CreateImageProcessingNetwork()
      {
         //
         // Create the dataflow blocks that form the network.
         //

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a folder path as input
         // and returns a collection of Bitmap objects.
         var loadBitmaps = new TransformBlock<string, IEnumerable<Bitmap>>(path =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return LoadBitmaps(path);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing the empty collection
                  // to the next stage of the network.
                  return Enumerable.Empty<Bitmap>();
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a collection of Bitmap objects
         // and returns a single composite bitmap.
         var createCompositeBitmap = new TransformBlock<IEnumerable<Bitmap>, Bitmap>(bitmaps =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return CreateCompositeBitmap(bitmaps);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing null to the next stage
                  // of the network.
                  return null;
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that displays the provided bitmap on the form.
         var displayCompositeBitmap = new ActionBlock<Bitmap>(bitmap =>
            {
               // Display the bitmap.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = bitmap;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
                TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that responds to a cancellation request by
         // displaying an image to indicate that the operation is cancelled and
         // enables the user to select another folder.
         var operationCancelled = new ActionBlock<object>(delegate
            {
               // Display the error image to indicate that the operation
               // was cancelled.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.CenterImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = pictureBox1.ErrorImage;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
               TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         //
         // Connect the network.
         //

         // Link loadBitmaps to createCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that createCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // collection of bitmaps only if that collection has at least one member.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(createCompositeBitmap, bitmaps => bitmaps.Count() > 0);

         // Also link loadBitmaps to operationCancelled.
         // When createCompositeBitmap rejects the message, loadBitmaps
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Link createCompositeBitmap to displayCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that displayCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // bitmap only if it is non-null.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(displayCompositeBitmap, bitmap => bitmap != null);

         // Also link createCompositeBitmap to operationCancelled.
         // When displayCompositeBitmap rejects the message, createCompositeBitmap
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Return the head of the network.
         return loadBitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet3>

      // <snippet4>
      // Loads all bitmap files that exist at the provided path.
      IEnumerable<Bitmap> LoadBitmaps(string path)
      {
         List<Bitmap> bitmaps = new List<Bitmap>();

         // Load a variety of image types.
         foreach (string bitmapType in
            new string[] { "*.bmp", "*.gif", "*.jpg", "*.png", "*.tif" })
         {
            // Load each bitmap for the current extension.
            foreach (string fileName in Directory.GetFiles(path, bitmapType))
            {
               // Throw OperationCanceledException if cancellation is requested.
               cancellationTokenSource.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();

               try
               {
                  // Add the Bitmap object to the collection.
                  bitmaps.Add(new Bitmap(fileName));
               }
               catch (Exception)
               {
                  // TODO: A complete application might handle the error.
               }
            }
         }
         return bitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet4>

      // <snippet5>
      // Creates a composite bitmap from the provided collection of Bitmap objects.
      // This method computes the average color of each pixel among all bitmaps
      // to create the composite image.
      Bitmap CreateCompositeBitmap(IEnumerable<Bitmap> bitmaps)
      {
         Bitmap[] bitmapArray = bitmaps.ToArray();

         // Compute the maximum width and height components of all
         // bitmaps in the collection.
         Rectangle largest = new Rectangle();
         foreach (var bitmap in bitmapArray)
         {
            if (bitmap.Width > largest.Width)
               largest.Width = bitmap.Width;
            if (bitmap.Height > largest.Height)
               largest.Height = bitmap.Height;
         }

         // Create a 32-bit Bitmap object with the greatest dimensions.
         Bitmap result = new Bitmap(largest.Width, largest.Height,
            PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);

         // Lock the result Bitmap.
         var resultBitmapData = result.LockBits(
            new Rectangle(new Point(), result.Size), ImageLockMode.WriteOnly,
            result.PixelFormat);

         // Lock each source bitmap to create a parallel list of BitmapData objects.
         var bitmapDataList = (from bitmap in bitmapArray
                               select bitmap.LockBits(
                                 new Rectangle(new Point(), bitmap.Size),
                                 ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb))
                              .ToList();

         // Compute each column in parallel.
         Parallel.For(0, largest.Width, new ParallelOptions
         {
            CancellationToken = cancellationTokenSource.Token
         },
         i =>
         {
            // Compute each row.
            for (int j = 0; j < largest.Height; j++)
            {
               // Counts the number of bitmaps whose dimensions
               // contain the current location.
               int count = 0;

               // The sum of all alpha, red, green, and blue components.
               int a = 0, r = 0, g = 0, b = 0;

               // For each bitmap, compute the sum of all color components.
               foreach (var bitmapData in bitmapDataList)
               {
                  // Ensure that we stay within the bounds of the image.
                  if (bitmapData.Width > i && bitmapData.Height > j)
                  {
                     unsafe
                     {
                        byte* row = (byte*)(bitmapData.Scan0 + (j * bitmapData.Stride));
                        byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                        a += *pix; pix++;
                        r += *pix; pix++;
                        g += *pix; pix++;
                        b += *pix;
                     }
                     count++;
                  }
               }

               //prevent divide by zero in bottom right pixelless corner
               if (count == 0)
                   break;

               unsafe
               {
                  // Compute the average of each color component.
                  a /= count;
                  r /= count;
                  g /= count;
                  b /= count;

                  // Set the result pixel.
                  byte* row = (byte*)(resultBitmapData.Scan0 + (j * resultBitmapData.Stride));
                  byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                  *pix = (byte)a; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)r; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)g; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)b;
               }
            }
         });

         // Unlock the source bitmaps.
         for (int i = 0; i < bitmapArray.Length; i++)
         {
            bitmapArray[i].UnlockBits(bitmapDataList[i]);
         }

         // Unlock the result bitmap.
         result.UnlockBits(resultBitmapData);

         // Return the result.
         return result;
      }
      // </snippet5>

      // <snippet6>
      // Event handler for the Choose Folder button.
      private void toolStripButton1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Create a FolderBrowserDialog object to enable the user to
         // select a folder.
         FolderBrowserDialog dlg = new FolderBrowserDialog
         {
            ShowNewFolderButton = false
         };

         // Set the selected path to the common Sample Pictures folder
         // if it exists.
         string initialDirectory = Path.Combine(
            Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonPictures),
            "Sample Pictures");
         if (Directory.Exists(initialDirectory))
         {
            dlg.SelectedPath = initialDirectory;
         }

         // Show the dialog and process the dataflow network.
         if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
         {
            // Create a new CancellationTokenSource object to enable
            // cancellation.
            cancellationTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();

            // Create the image processing network if needed.
            headBlock ??= CreateImageProcessingNetwork();

            // Post the selected path to the network.
            headBlock.Post(dlg.SelectedPath);

            // Enable the Cancel button and disable the Choose Folder button.
            toolStripButton1.Enabled = false;
            toolStripButton2.Enabled = true;

            // Show a wait cursor.
            Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor;
         }
      }
      // </snippet6>

      // <snippet7>
      // Event handler for the Cancel button.
      private void toolStripButton2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Signal the request for cancellation. The current component of
         // the dataflow network will respond to the cancellation request.
         cancellationTokenSource.Cancel();
      }
      // </snippet7>

      ~Form1()
      {
         cancellationTokenSource.Dispose();
      }
   }
}
// </snippet100>

On the form designer for the main form, create an event handler for the System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.Click event for the Cancel button.

Implement the System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.Click event for the Cancel button.

sample · csharpsamples/snippets/csharp/VS_Snippets_Misc/tpldataflow_compositeimages/cs/compositeimages/form1.cs7

csharp

// <snippet100>
// <snippet1>
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow;
using System.Windows.Forms;
// </snippet1>

namespace CompositeImages
{
   public partial class Form1 : Form
   {
      // <snippet2>
      // The head of the dataflow network.
      ITargetBlock<string> headBlock = null;

      // Enables the user interface to signal cancellation to the network.
      CancellationTokenSource cancellationTokenSource;
      // </snippet2>

      public Form1()
      {
         InitializeComponent();
      }

      // <snippet3>
      // Creates the image processing dataflow network and returns the
      // head node of the network.
      ITargetBlock<string> CreateImageProcessingNetwork()
      {
         //
         // Create the dataflow blocks that form the network.
         //

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a folder path as input
         // and returns a collection of Bitmap objects.
         var loadBitmaps = new TransformBlock<string, IEnumerable<Bitmap>>(path =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return LoadBitmaps(path);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing the empty collection
                  // to the next stage of the network.
                  return Enumerable.Empty<Bitmap>();
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a collection of Bitmap objects
         // and returns a single composite bitmap.
         var createCompositeBitmap = new TransformBlock<IEnumerable<Bitmap>, Bitmap>(bitmaps =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return CreateCompositeBitmap(bitmaps);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing null to the next stage
                  // of the network.
                  return null;
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that displays the provided bitmap on the form.
         var displayCompositeBitmap = new ActionBlock<Bitmap>(bitmap =>
            {
               // Display the bitmap.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = bitmap;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
                TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that responds to a cancellation request by
         // displaying an image to indicate that the operation is cancelled and
         // enables the user to select another folder.
         var operationCancelled = new ActionBlock<object>(delegate
            {
               // Display the error image to indicate that the operation
               // was cancelled.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.CenterImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = pictureBox1.ErrorImage;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
               TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         //
         // Connect the network.
         //

         // Link loadBitmaps to createCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that createCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // collection of bitmaps only if that collection has at least one member.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(createCompositeBitmap, bitmaps => bitmaps.Count() > 0);

         // Also link loadBitmaps to operationCancelled.
         // When createCompositeBitmap rejects the message, loadBitmaps
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Link createCompositeBitmap to displayCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that displayCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // bitmap only if it is non-null.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(displayCompositeBitmap, bitmap => bitmap != null);

         // Also link createCompositeBitmap to operationCancelled.
         // When displayCompositeBitmap rejects the message, createCompositeBitmap
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Return the head of the network.
         return loadBitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet3>

      // <snippet4>
      // Loads all bitmap files that exist at the provided path.
      IEnumerable<Bitmap> LoadBitmaps(string path)
      {
         List<Bitmap> bitmaps = new List<Bitmap>();

         // Load a variety of image types.
         foreach (string bitmapType in
            new string[] { "*.bmp", "*.gif", "*.jpg", "*.png", "*.tif" })
         {
            // Load each bitmap for the current extension.
            foreach (string fileName in Directory.GetFiles(path, bitmapType))
            {
               // Throw OperationCanceledException if cancellation is requested.
               cancellationTokenSource.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();

               try
               {
                  // Add the Bitmap object to the collection.
                  bitmaps.Add(new Bitmap(fileName));
               }
               catch (Exception)
               {
                  // TODO: A complete application might handle the error.
               }
            }
         }
         return bitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet4>

      // <snippet5>
      // Creates a composite bitmap from the provided collection of Bitmap objects.
      // This method computes the average color of each pixel among all bitmaps
      // to create the composite image.
      Bitmap CreateCompositeBitmap(IEnumerable<Bitmap> bitmaps)
      {
         Bitmap[] bitmapArray = bitmaps.ToArray();

         // Compute the maximum width and height components of all
         // bitmaps in the collection.
         Rectangle largest = new Rectangle();
         foreach (var bitmap in bitmapArray)
         {
            if (bitmap.Width > largest.Width)
               largest.Width = bitmap.Width;
            if (bitmap.Height > largest.Height)
               largest.Height = bitmap.Height;
         }

         // Create a 32-bit Bitmap object with the greatest dimensions.
         Bitmap result = new Bitmap(largest.Width, largest.Height,
            PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);

         // Lock the result Bitmap.
         var resultBitmapData = result.LockBits(
            new Rectangle(new Point(), result.Size), ImageLockMode.WriteOnly,
            result.PixelFormat);

         // Lock each source bitmap to create a parallel list of BitmapData objects.
         var bitmapDataList = (from bitmap in bitmapArray
                               select bitmap.LockBits(
                                 new Rectangle(new Point(), bitmap.Size),
                                 ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb))
                              .ToList();

         // Compute each column in parallel.
         Parallel.For(0, largest.Width, new ParallelOptions
         {
            CancellationToken = cancellationTokenSource.Token
         },
         i =>
         {
            // Compute each row.
            for (int j = 0; j < largest.Height; j++)
            {
               // Counts the number of bitmaps whose dimensions
               // contain the current location.
               int count = 0;

               // The sum of all alpha, red, green, and blue components.
               int a = 0, r = 0, g = 0, b = 0;

               // For each bitmap, compute the sum of all color components.
               foreach (var bitmapData in bitmapDataList)
               {
                  // Ensure that we stay within the bounds of the image.
                  if (bitmapData.Width > i && bitmapData.Height > j)
                  {
                     unsafe
                     {
                        byte* row = (byte*)(bitmapData.Scan0 + (j * bitmapData.Stride));
                        byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                        a += *pix; pix++;
                        r += *pix; pix++;
                        g += *pix; pix++;
                        b += *pix;
                     }
                     count++;
                  }
               }

               //prevent divide by zero in bottom right pixelless corner
               if (count == 0)
                   break;

               unsafe
               {
                  // Compute the average of each color component.
                  a /= count;
                  r /= count;
                  g /= count;
                  b /= count;

                  // Set the result pixel.
                  byte* row = (byte*)(resultBitmapData.Scan0 + (j * resultBitmapData.Stride));
                  byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                  *pix = (byte)a; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)r; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)g; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)b;
               }
            }
         });

         // Unlock the source bitmaps.
         for (int i = 0; i < bitmapArray.Length; i++)
         {
            bitmapArray[i].UnlockBits(bitmapDataList[i]);
         }

         // Unlock the result bitmap.
         result.UnlockBits(resultBitmapData);

         // Return the result.
         return result;
      }
      // </snippet5>

      // <snippet6>
      // Event handler for the Choose Folder button.
      private void toolStripButton1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Create a FolderBrowserDialog object to enable the user to
         // select a folder.
         FolderBrowserDialog dlg = new FolderBrowserDialog
         {
            ShowNewFolderButton = false
         };

         // Set the selected path to the common Sample Pictures folder
         // if it exists.
         string initialDirectory = Path.Combine(
            Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonPictures),
            "Sample Pictures");
         if (Directory.Exists(initialDirectory))
         {
            dlg.SelectedPath = initialDirectory;
         }

         // Show the dialog and process the dataflow network.
         if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
         {
            // Create a new CancellationTokenSource object to enable
            // cancellation.
            cancellationTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();

            // Create the image processing network if needed.
            headBlock ??= CreateImageProcessingNetwork();

            // Post the selected path to the network.
            headBlock.Post(dlg.SelectedPath);

            // Enable the Cancel button and disable the Choose Folder button.
            toolStripButton1.Enabled = false;
            toolStripButton2.Enabled = true;

            // Show a wait cursor.
            Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor;
         }
      }
      // </snippet6>

      // <snippet7>
      // Event handler for the Cancel button.
      private void toolStripButton2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Signal the request for cancellation. The current component of
         // the dataflow network will respond to the cancellation request.
         cancellationTokenSource.Cancel();
      }
      // </snippet7>

      ~Form1()
      {
         cancellationTokenSource.Dispose();
      }
   }
}
// </snippet100>

The Complete Example

The following example shows the complete code for this walkthrough.

sample · csharpsamples/snippets/csharp/VS_Snippets_Misc/tpldataflow_compositeimages/cs/compositeimages/form1.cs100

csharp

// <snippet100>
// <snippet1>
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Threading.Tasks.Dataflow;
using System.Windows.Forms;
// </snippet1>

namespace CompositeImages
{
   public partial class Form1 : Form
   {
      // <snippet2>
      // The head of the dataflow network.
      ITargetBlock<string> headBlock = null;

      // Enables the user interface to signal cancellation to the network.
      CancellationTokenSource cancellationTokenSource;
      // </snippet2>

      public Form1()
      {
         InitializeComponent();
      }

      // <snippet3>
      // Creates the image processing dataflow network and returns the
      // head node of the network.
      ITargetBlock<string> CreateImageProcessingNetwork()
      {
         //
         // Create the dataflow blocks that form the network.
         //

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a folder path as input
         // and returns a collection of Bitmap objects.
         var loadBitmaps = new TransformBlock<string, IEnumerable<Bitmap>>(path =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return LoadBitmaps(path);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing the empty collection
                  // to the next stage of the network.
                  return Enumerable.Empty<Bitmap>();
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that takes a collection of Bitmap objects
         // and returns a single composite bitmap.
         var createCompositeBitmap = new TransformBlock<IEnumerable<Bitmap>, Bitmap>(bitmaps =>
            {
               try
               {
                  return CreateCompositeBitmap(bitmaps);
               }
               catch (OperationCanceledException)
               {
                  // Handle cancellation by passing null to the next stage
                  // of the network.
                  return null;
               }
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that displays the provided bitmap on the form.
         var displayCompositeBitmap = new ActionBlock<Bitmap>(bitmap =>
            {
               // Display the bitmap.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = bitmap;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
                TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         // Create a dataflow block that responds to a cancellation request by
         // displaying an image to indicate that the operation is cancelled and
         // enables the user to select another folder.
         var operationCancelled = new ActionBlock<object>(delegate
            {
               // Display the error image to indicate that the operation
               // was cancelled.
               pictureBox1.SizeMode = PictureBoxSizeMode.CenterImage;
               pictureBox1.Image = pictureBox1.ErrorImage;

               // Enable the user to select another folder.
               toolStripButton1.Enabled = true;
               toolStripButton2.Enabled = false;
               Cursor = DefaultCursor;
            },
            // Specify a task scheduler from the current synchronization context
            // so that the action runs on the UI thread.
            new ExecutionDataflowBlockOptions
            {
               TaskScheduler = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext()
            });

         //
         // Connect the network.
         //

         // Link loadBitmaps to createCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that createCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // collection of bitmaps only if that collection has at least one member.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(createCompositeBitmap, bitmaps => bitmaps.Count() > 0);

         // Also link loadBitmaps to operationCancelled.
         // When createCompositeBitmap rejects the message, loadBitmaps
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         loadBitmaps.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Link createCompositeBitmap to displayCompositeBitmap.
         // The provided predicate ensures that displayCompositeBitmap accepts the
         // bitmap only if it is non-null.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(displayCompositeBitmap, bitmap => bitmap != null);

         // Also link createCompositeBitmap to operationCancelled.
         // When displayCompositeBitmap rejects the message, createCompositeBitmap
         // offers the message to operationCancelled.
         // operationCancelled accepts all messages because we do not provide a
         // predicate.
         createCompositeBitmap.LinkTo(operationCancelled);

         // Return the head of the network.
         return loadBitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet3>

      // <snippet4>
      // Loads all bitmap files that exist at the provided path.
      IEnumerable<Bitmap> LoadBitmaps(string path)
      {
         List<Bitmap> bitmaps = new List<Bitmap>();

         // Load a variety of image types.
         foreach (string bitmapType in
            new string[] { "*.bmp", "*.gif", "*.jpg", "*.png", "*.tif" })
         {
            // Load each bitmap for the current extension.
            foreach (string fileName in Directory.GetFiles(path, bitmapType))
            {
               // Throw OperationCanceledException if cancellation is requested.
               cancellationTokenSource.Token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();

               try
               {
                  // Add the Bitmap object to the collection.
                  bitmaps.Add(new Bitmap(fileName));
               }
               catch (Exception)
               {
                  // TODO: A complete application might handle the error.
               }
            }
         }
         return bitmaps;
      }
      // </snippet4>

      // <snippet5>
      // Creates a composite bitmap from the provided collection of Bitmap objects.
      // This method computes the average color of each pixel among all bitmaps
      // to create the composite image.
      Bitmap CreateCompositeBitmap(IEnumerable<Bitmap> bitmaps)
      {
         Bitmap[] bitmapArray = bitmaps.ToArray();

         // Compute the maximum width and height components of all
         // bitmaps in the collection.
         Rectangle largest = new Rectangle();
         foreach (var bitmap in bitmapArray)
         {
            if (bitmap.Width > largest.Width)
               largest.Width = bitmap.Width;
            if (bitmap.Height > largest.Height)
               largest.Height = bitmap.Height;
         }

         // Create a 32-bit Bitmap object with the greatest dimensions.
         Bitmap result = new Bitmap(largest.Width, largest.Height,
            PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);

         // Lock the result Bitmap.
         var resultBitmapData = result.LockBits(
            new Rectangle(new Point(), result.Size), ImageLockMode.WriteOnly,
            result.PixelFormat);

         // Lock each source bitmap to create a parallel list of BitmapData objects.
         var bitmapDataList = (from bitmap in bitmapArray
                               select bitmap.LockBits(
                                 new Rectangle(new Point(), bitmap.Size),
                                 ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb))
                              .ToList();

         // Compute each column in parallel.
         Parallel.For(0, largest.Width, new ParallelOptions
         {
            CancellationToken = cancellationTokenSource.Token
         },
         i =>
         {
            // Compute each row.
            for (int j = 0; j < largest.Height; j++)
            {
               // Counts the number of bitmaps whose dimensions
               // contain the current location.
               int count = 0;

               // The sum of all alpha, red, green, and blue components.
               int a = 0, r = 0, g = 0, b = 0;

               // For each bitmap, compute the sum of all color components.
               foreach (var bitmapData in bitmapDataList)
               {
                  // Ensure that we stay within the bounds of the image.
                  if (bitmapData.Width > i && bitmapData.Height > j)
                  {
                     unsafe
                     {
                        byte* row = (byte*)(bitmapData.Scan0 + (j * bitmapData.Stride));
                        byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                        a += *pix; pix++;
                        r += *pix; pix++;
                        g += *pix; pix++;
                        b += *pix;
                     }
                     count++;
                  }
               }

               //prevent divide by zero in bottom right pixelless corner
               if (count == 0)
                   break;

               unsafe
               {
                  // Compute the average of each color component.
                  a /= count;
                  r /= count;
                  g /= count;
                  b /= count;

                  // Set the result pixel.
                  byte* row = (byte*)(resultBitmapData.Scan0 + (j * resultBitmapData.Stride));
                  byte* pix = (byte*)(row + (4 * i));
                  *pix = (byte)a; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)r; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)g; pix++;
                  *pix = (byte)b;
               }
            }
         });

         // Unlock the source bitmaps.
         for (int i = 0; i < bitmapArray.Length; i++)
         {
            bitmapArray[i].UnlockBits(bitmapDataList[i]);
         }

         // Unlock the result bitmap.
         result.UnlockBits(resultBitmapData);

         // Return the result.
         return result;
      }
      // </snippet5>

      // <snippet6>
      // Event handler for the Choose Folder button.
      private void toolStripButton1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Create a FolderBrowserDialog object to enable the user to
         // select a folder.
         FolderBrowserDialog dlg = new FolderBrowserDialog
         {
            ShowNewFolderButton = false
         };

         // Set the selected path to the common Sample Pictures folder
         // if it exists.
         string initialDirectory = Path.Combine(
            Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonPictures),
            "Sample Pictures");
         if (Directory.Exists(initialDirectory))
         {
            dlg.SelectedPath = initialDirectory;
         }

         // Show the dialog and process the dataflow network.
         if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
         {
            // Create a new CancellationTokenSource object to enable
            // cancellation.
            cancellationTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource();

            // Create the image processing network if needed.
            headBlock ??= CreateImageProcessingNetwork();

            // Post the selected path to the network.
            headBlock.Post(dlg.SelectedPath);

            // Enable the Cancel button and disable the Choose Folder button.
            toolStripButton1.Enabled = false;
            toolStripButton2.Enabled = true;

            // Show a wait cursor.
            Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor;
         }
      }
      // </snippet6>

      // <snippet7>
      // Event handler for the Cancel button.
      private void toolStripButton2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         // Signal the request for cancellation. The current component of
         // the dataflow network will respond to the cancellation request.
         cancellationTokenSource.Cancel();
      }
      // </snippet7>

      ~Form1()
      {
         cancellationTokenSource.Dispose();
      }
   }
}
// </snippet100>

The following illustration shows typical output for the common \Sample Pictures\ folder.

The Windows Forms Application

#Prerequisites

#Sections

#Creating the Windows Forms Application

#To Create the Windows Forms Application

#Creating the Dataflow Network

#To Create the Dataflow Network

#Connecting the Dataflow Network to the User Interface

#To Connect the Dataflow Network to the User Interface

#The Complete Example

#See also

Prerequisites

Sections

Creating the Windows Forms Application

To Create the Windows Forms Application

Creating the Dataflow Network

To Create the Dataflow Network

Connecting the Dataflow Network to the User Interface

To Connect the Dataflow Network to the User Interface

The Complete Example

See also