Question

At startup of a Windows Forms application I read a XML file. If this file doesn’t exist or doesn’t have a certain setting I want to display a MessageBox to the user indicating the problem and then close the application.

I tried to do that in the Load event of the main form with Application.Exit() like so:

private void MainForm_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (!StartupSettingsCorrect())
    {
        MessageBox.Show("Blabla... Can't start application.");
        Application.Exit();
    }

    // Other stuff...
}

But this doesn’t seem to be clean. (The application is running but “invisible” with no form on the screen.)

What is instead the best way and place for a clean shutdown in this situation?

Thank you for help in advance!

Answer 1

Environment.Exit() should do the trick. At least it worked for me in the situation you described.

According to MSDN, this method

Terminates this process and gives the underlying operating system the specified exit code.