Watin causes high CPU usage

Question

I'm using Watin like so:

private IE myie;
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    try
    {
        myie = new IE();
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        return;
    }

    myie.GoTo("http://www.google.com");
    myie.WaitForComplete();

}

The problem is, however, once browser window is opened - my C# app starts to consume CPU. According to task manager - in IDLE state my program consumes from 7% to 20% CPU power. (I have AMD 2core 5000+)

Once you close the IE instance (window) - CPU usage problem disappears, so the problem lies somewhere within Watin.

Who do I fix it? What causes CPU drain?

Here, proof:

enter image description here

Project: download on skydrive

Can anybody confirm the bug? Or maybe it's just my PC fails at some point

I am curious, what else do you have running along with this project? I have been using WatiN for years and haven't had this issue. — Brian
@MiserableVariable I don't understand what you mean by this! @Brian nothing! Only this one project. One simple line of code causes CPU drain: IE myie = new IE("http://www.google.com"); on my PC!! I have tried changing Framework to 3.5 instead of 4, tried to change Bits (x64, x86), tried to tick "optimization", "unsafe code".. nothing is helping.. — Alex
Are you sure it's not IE itself causing the drain? Try opening something less stressful, like notepad. — Immortal Blue

Brian Brian · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-07T20:45:13

Keep in mind - and I am sure you know this already - WatiN is open-source so, there will be bugs in it. Like you, I get a spike of CPU usage when launching the form in both IE and Firefox; but returns to normal in a pretty short order. My advice to you would be to reach out to the WatiN Team. I have posted my code below as well:

namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
    using System;
    using System.Windows.Forms;
    using WatiN.Core;

    public partial class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
               IE testIE = new IE("http://www.google.com");
               //FireFox testFF = new FireFox("http://www.google.com");
            }

            catch (Exception exc)
            {
               MessageBox.Show(exc.Message);
            }
         }
     }
 }

Watin causes high CPU usage

1 Answers