Question

I have created an WPF application that starts on windows start. Application checks for list of files on the system and if any file is missing it popups the file path.

The issue I am facing is when I restart the system while application is running, on restart my application crashes and throws System.Threading.ThreadAbortException. Below is the Stack Trace that I get in event logs

Application: FileValidator.exe
Framework Version: v4.0.30319
Description: The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception.
Exception Info: System.Threading.ThreadAbortException
Stack:
   at System.Windows.Markup.WpfXamlLoader.Load(System.Xaml.XamlReader, System.Xaml.IXamlObjectWriterFactory, Boolean, System.Object, System.Xaml.XamlObjectWriterSettings, System.Uri)
   at System.Windows.Markup.WpfXamlLoader.LoadBaml(System.Xaml.XamlReader, Boolean, System.Object, System.Xaml.Permissions.XamlAccessLevel, System.Uri)
   at System.Windows.Markup.XamlReader.LoadBaml(System.IO.Stream, System.Windows.Markup.ParserContext, System.Object, Boolean)
   at System.Windows.Application.LoadBamlStreamWithSyncInfo(System.IO.Stream, System.Windows.Markup.ParserContext)
   at System.Windows.Application.LoadComponent(System.Uri, Boolean)
   at System.Windows.Application.DoStartup()
   at System.Windows.Application.<.ctor>b__1(System.Object)
   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(System.Delegate, System.Object, Int32)
   at MS.Internal.Threading.ExceptionFilterHelper.TryCatchWhen(System.Object, System.Delegate, System.Object, Int32, System.Delegate)
   at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherOperation.InvokeImpl()
   at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherOperation.InvokeInSecurityContext(System.Object)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.runTryCode(System.Object)
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeHelpers.ExecuteCodeWithGuaranteedCleanup(TryCode, CleanupCode, System.Object)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object, Boolean)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(System.Threading.ExecutionContext, System.Threading.ContextCallback, System.Object)
   at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherOperation.Invoke()
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.ProcessQueue()
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.WndProcHook(IntPtr, Int32, IntPtr, IntPtr, Boolean ByRef)
   at MS.Win32.HwndWrapper.WndProc(IntPtr, Int32, IntPtr, IntPtr, Boolean ByRef)
   at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.DispatcherCallbackOperation(System.Object)
   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(System.Delegate, System.Object, Int32)
   at MS.Internal.Threading.ExceptionFilterHelper.TryCatchWhen(System.Object, System.Delegate, System.Object, Int32, System.Delegate)
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.InvokeImpl(System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherPriority, System.TimeSpan, System.Delegate, System.Object, Int32)
   at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.SubclassWndProc(IntPtr, Int32, IntPtr, IntPtr)
   at MS.Win32.UnsafeNativeMethods.DispatchMessage(System.Windows.Interop.MSG ByRef)
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.PushFrameImpl(System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherFrame)
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.PushFrame(System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherFrame)
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Run()
   at System.Windows.Application.RunDispatcher(System.Object)
   at System.Windows.Application.RunInternal(System.Windows.Window)
   at System.Windows.Application.Run(System.Windows.Window)
   at System.Windows.Application.Run()
   at FileValidator.App.Main()

What is the issue, has anyone faced this issue before ???

Answer 1

It’s impossible to answer definitively without more debugging info or code to look at, but it sounds like an issue with the CLR. For example, if your application is executing before the CLR runtime is fully initialized, you could run into an exception like the one you’re getting here. Since WPF is primarily managed code, I’d say this is a distinct possibility.

I would recommend you move the startup entry from HKLM to HKCU. This way, it should be loaded when the user logs-on instead of on Windows startup, which should mean that the CLR will be initialized by then.

If that doesn’t work, MSDN recommends that you do a try/catch on ThreadAbortExceptions. I can’t remember off the top of my head if WPF supports handling or not, but if so then I’d say that would be your best bet if moving execution to the user login portion of the boot stack doesn’t fix it.

Useful Sources:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.threading.threadabortexception.aspx

Is CLR loaded and initialized everytime,when a new managed application is loaded?