C#: Issue reducing ListView Flickering by using Begin/EndUpdate and or using AddRange

Question

I'm trying to reduce ListView flickering because I load over 250,000 items into a listview (5 columns x 50,000 ListViewItems), which takes about 5 minutes. I found two potential solutions but cannot get either of them to work.
MSDN BeginUpdate/EndUpdate
- Is one solution which is supposed to prevent redrawing until reaching the of the For/Loop cycle. However, I have these strategically placed as demonstrate by this source and it still does it.
MSDN ListView.AddRange: Is the second option recommended in the previous link, and attempts to reduce flickering by adding a range of listview items as opposed
to doing so individually.  The issue here is I'm not able to figure out how to convert my string array of values to an array for listview values (ListViewItems[]). This is also compounded by the fact that whatever I do, I have to prevent cross-threading
by passing through a delegate and method. This is the solution I think I will need to implement but I need your help.
This is the code ("Loading()")s wrapped in the BeginUpdate/EndUpdate, which doesn't appear to work, maybe because this method is within an async thread. This method is also where I want attempt converting my string to a ListViewItemCollection
to see if the "AddRange" will help reduce or eliminate the flickering.
The Additem() method below that is what I will have to tweak if I can, with some assistance, get the "AddRange" option working.
private void Loading()
int t = 1;
listView1.BeginUpdate();
foreach (string line in scripts)
string[] listValues = line.Split(',');
ListViewItem values = new ListViewItem(listValues);
if (t == 1)
AddColumn("Script Name", 200); // Creates column headings
AddColumn("Date and Time", 150);
AddColumn("SID", 75);
AddColumn("Environment", 75);
AddColumn("Client", 75);
t++;
else
if ((values.Text != "") && (values.Text != "Script Name"))
AddItem(values);
if (!dictScript.Contains(values.Text))
dictScript.Add(values.Text);
AddScript(values.Text);
listView1.EndUpdate();
The AddItem() method to handle cross-treading issue:
private void AddItem(object o)
if (this.listView1.InvokeRequired)
AddItemCallback d = new AddItemCallback(AddItem);
this.Invoke(d, new object[] { (ListViewItem)o });
else
{ // code that adds item to listView (in this case $o)
listView1.Items.Add((ListViewItem)o);
SV

Answer 1

That was a great suggestion! It worked perfectly!
I solved two problems with in one new learning moment. This took care of the flickering and loaded in less than 3 seconds with 60,000 entries.
In response to Phil, I absolutely agree in any other case. However, this will meet the applicaiton requires and how the users intend to use it.
Thanks fellas!
This was my VirtualListViewTest code.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Net;
using System.IO;
namespace DirectorVirtual
public partial class Form1 : Form
private string info;
private string infoDS1;
private string infoDS2;
List<ListViewItem> scripts;
public Form1()
InitializeComponent();
scripts = new List<ListViewItem>();
private void listView1_RetrieveVirtualItem(object sender, RetrieveVirtualItemEventArgs e)
e.Item = scripts[e.ItemIndex];
private void Loading()
listView1.View = View.Details;
listView1.Columns.Add("Name", 200); // Creates column headings
listView1.Columns.Add("Date and Time", 150);
listView1.Columns.Add("Person", 75);
listView1.Columns.Add("Computer", 75);
listView1.Columns.Add("Location", 75);
foreach (string s in info.Split('\n'))
if (!s.Contains("Name"))
scripts.Add(new ListViewItem(s.Split(',')));
listView1.RetrieveVirtualItem += new RetrieveVirtualItemEventHandler(listView1_RetrieveVirtualItem);
listView1.VirtualListSize = scripts.Count;
listView1.VirtualMode = true;
private void DownloadData()
try
// Retrieve the contents of the Execution Log.txt file
WebClient web = new WebClient();
// 2.0 Data
infoDS2 = web.DownloadString("http://dummylink.net/Execution_Log.txt");
// 1.0 Data
infoDS1 = web.DownloadString("http://dummylink.net/Execution_Log_1.0.txt");
web.Dispose();
catch
MessageBox.Show("Failed to retrieve the Execution Log.", "Execution Log Failure", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
System.Windows.Forms.Application.Exit();
Environment.Exit(0);
info = infoDS1 + infoDS2;
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
DownloadData();
Loading();
SV