I am working on implementing pub/sub pattern for cache use. The following class is suppose to be used to publish any type of data. And subscribers can attach a callback of Action T on the event. But I couldn't create a generic event at the class level without making the class generic and I don't want to do that. So I have tried to cast the values back and forth to string using JsonSerializer as follows.
public class CacheNotification
{
public Action<string> CachePublished;
public Task Publish<T>(T value)
{
var json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(value);
OnCachePublished(json);
return Task.CompletedTask;
}
public Task Subscribe<T>(Action<T> callback)
{
Action<string> newCallback = (string json) =>
callback(JsonSerializer.Deserialize<T>(json));
CachePublished += newCallback;
return Task.CompletedTask;
}
protected virtual void OnCachePublished(string value)
{
if(CachePublished != null){
CachePublished.Invoke(value);
}
}
}
So the problem is on the subscribe method, the casting I attempted only works for Action string. It fails on Action int or Action object
public Task Subscribe<T>(Action<T> callback)
{
Action<string> newCallback = (string json) =>
callback(JsonSerializer.Deserialize<T>(json));
CachePublished += newCallback;
return Task.CompletedTask;
}
Here is a test I used. This fails for second subscriber
Action<string> sub1Callback = msg =>
{
sub1Counter++;
};
Action<int> sub2Callback = num =>
{
sub2Counter++;
};
var sub1 = await cache.Subscribe(sub1Callback);
var sub2 = await cache.Subscribe(sub2Callback);
await cache.Publish("Value1");
Assert.Equal(1, sub1Counter);
Assert.Equal(1, sub2Counter);
your problem is here:
Action sub2Callback = num =>
after
await cache.Publish("Value1");
Your:
public Task Subscribe<T>(Action<T> callback)
{
Action<string> newCallback = (string json) => callback(JsonSerializer.Deserialize<T>(json));
CachePublished += newCallback;
return Task.CompletedTask;
}
tries to deserialize "Value1" to integer and it correctly fails. It cannot be done.
Try to send integer value instead of "Value1" and it should work.
Another way is to refactor your Subscribe method to be independent of given type, but this cannot be done according to your intentions I guess.
Related
I'm trying to create a delegate that will return a delegate. I then want to invoke this delegate, and also invoke the returned inner delegate. My question is: Why is this causing an error? And how to I change this code to accomplish what I'm trying to do?
The error message is 'Method name expected'.
delegate string del();
delegate Delegate nestedDel();
public static void main()
{
nestedDel myNestedDel = () =>
{
del myInnerDel = () => { return "inside"; };
return myInnerDel;
};
Delegate k = myNestedDel();
k(); // Error!!!
}
In short, you've messed up the types. One of the delegates should return the other one, so its return type should simply be the type of the other delegate. In your code example:
delegate string del();
delegate Delegate nestedDel();
you are in fact returning a delegate, but Delegate or MulticastDelegate are just infrastructure base classes and are not invocable directly. By using these classes you're losing information about list of parameters and return values, so simple call() operator cannot work. As Lee mentioned in comments, you could do it by k.DynamicInvoke() but that's.. overkill. Just use a proper type name instead of Delegate.
Working example:
delegate string InnerDel();
delegate InnerDel OuterDel(); // this one returns an instance of Inner delegate
public static void Main()
{
OuterDel myOuterDelegate = () =>
{
InnerDel myInnerDel = () => { return "inside"; };
return myInnerDel;
};
InnerDel k = myOuterDelegate();
k();
}
Personally, I like Func/Actions more than defining my own delegate classes... at least as long as they have at most few parameters. In terms of func/action it would look like this:
public static void Main()
{
Func<Func<string>> myOuterDelegate = () =>
{
Func<string> myInnerDel = () => { return "inside"; };
return myInnerDel;
};
var k = myOuterDelegate();
k();
}
or even..
public static void Main()
{
Func<Func<string>> myOuterDelegate = () => () => { return "inside"; };
var k = myOuterDelegate();
k();
}
Your error is because instances of the Delegate type cannot be invoked with the function call syntax i.e. as k();.
You can call it using DynamicInvoke:
string s = (string)k.DynamicInvoke();
obviously this is prone to runtime errors so a better approach would be to change the return type of nestedDel e.g.
delegate Func<string> nestedDel();
nestedDel myNestedDel = () =>
{
Func<string> myInnerDel = () => { return "inside"; };
return myInnerDel;
};
stringk = myNestedDel();
Using the new async/await model it's fairly straightforward to generate a Task that is completed when an event fires; you just need to follow this pattern:
public class MyClass
{
public event Action OnCompletion;
}
public static Task FromEvent(MyClass obj)
{
TaskCompletionSource<object> tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<object>();
obj.OnCompletion += () =>
{
tcs.SetResult(null);
};
return tcs.Task;
}
This then allows:
await FromEvent(new MyClass());
The problem is that you need to create a new FromEvent method for every event in every class that you would like to await on. That could get really large really quick, and it's mostly just boilerplate code anyway.
Ideally I would like to be able to do something like this:
await FromEvent(new MyClass().OnCompletion);
Then I could re-use the same FromEvent method for any event on any instance. I've spent some time trying to create such a method, and there are a number of snags. For the code above it will generate the following error:
The event 'Namespace.MyClass.OnCompletion' can only appear on the left hand side of += or -=
As far as I can tell, there won't ever be a way of passing the event like this through code.
So, the next best thing seemed to be trying to pass the event name as a string:
await FromEvent(new MyClass(), "OnCompletion");
It's not as ideal; you don't get intellisense and would get a runtime error if the event doesn't exist for that type, but it could still be more useful than tons of FromEvent methods.
So it's easy enough to use reflection and GetEvent(eventName) to get the EventInfo object. The next problem is that the delegate of that event isn't known (and needs to be able to vary) at runtime. That makes adding an event handler hard, because we need to dynamically create a method at runtime, matching a given signature (but ignoring all parameters) that accesses a TaskCompletionSource that we already have and sets its result.
Fortunately I found this link which contains instructions on how to do [almost] exactly that via Reflection.Emit. Now the problem is that we need to emit IL, and I have no idea how to access the tcs instance that I have.
Below is the progress that I've made towards finishing this:
public static Task FromEvent<T>(this T obj, string eventName)
{
var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<object>();
var eventInfo = obj.GetType().GetEvent(eventName);
Type eventDelegate = eventInfo.EventHandlerType;
Type[] parameterTypes = GetDelegateParameterTypes(eventDelegate);
DynamicMethod handler = new DynamicMethod("unnamed", null, parameterTypes);
ILGenerator ilgen = handler.GetILGenerator();
//TODO ilgen.Emit calls go here
Delegate dEmitted = handler.CreateDelegate(eventDelegate);
eventInfo.AddEventHandler(obj, dEmitted);
return tcs.Task;
}
What IL could I possibly emit that would allow me to set the result of the TaskCompletionSource? Or, alternatively, is there another approach to creating a method that returns a Task for any arbitrary event from an arbitrary type?
Here you go:
internal class TaskCompletionSourceHolder
{
private readonly TaskCompletionSource<object[]> m_tcs;
internal object Target { get; set; }
internal EventInfo EventInfo { get; set; }
internal Delegate Delegate { get; set; }
internal TaskCompletionSourceHolder(TaskCompletionSource<object[]> tsc)
{
m_tcs = tsc;
}
private void SetResult(params object[] args)
{
// this method will be called from emitted IL
// so we can set result here, unsubscribe from the event
// or do whatever we want.
// object[] args will contain arguments
// passed to the event handler
m_tcs.SetResult(args);
EventInfo.RemoveEventHandler(Target, Delegate);
}
}
public static class ExtensionMethods
{
private static Dictionary<Type, DynamicMethod> s_emittedHandlers =
new Dictionary<Type, DynamicMethod>();
private static void GetDelegateParameterAndReturnTypes(Type delegateType,
out List<Type> parameterTypes, out Type returnType)
{
if (delegateType.BaseType != typeof(MulticastDelegate))
throw new ArgumentException("delegateType is not a delegate");
MethodInfo invoke = delegateType.GetMethod("Invoke");
if (invoke == null)
throw new ArgumentException("delegateType is not a delegate.");
ParameterInfo[] parameters = invoke.GetParameters();
parameterTypes = new List<Type>(parameters.Length);
for (int i = 0; i < parameters.Length; i++)
parameterTypes.Add(parameters[i].ParameterType);
returnType = invoke.ReturnType;
}
public static Task<object[]> FromEvent<T>(this T obj, string eventName)
{
var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<object[]>();
var tcsh = new TaskCompletionSourceHolder(tcs);
EventInfo eventInfo = obj.GetType().GetEvent(eventName);
Type eventDelegateType = eventInfo.EventHandlerType;
DynamicMethod handler;
if (!s_emittedHandlers.TryGetValue(eventDelegateType, out handler))
{
Type returnType;
List<Type> parameterTypes;
GetDelegateParameterAndReturnTypes(eventDelegateType,
out parameterTypes, out returnType);
if (returnType != typeof(void))
throw new NotSupportedException();
Type tcshType = tcsh.GetType();
MethodInfo setResultMethodInfo = tcshType.GetMethod(
"SetResult", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);
// I'm going to create an instance-like method
// so, first argument must an instance itself
// i.e. TaskCompletionSourceHolder *this*
parameterTypes.Insert(0, tcshType);
Type[] parameterTypesAr = parameterTypes.ToArray();
handler = new DynamicMethod("unnamed",
returnType, parameterTypesAr, tcshType);
ILGenerator ilgen = handler.GetILGenerator();
// declare local variable of type object[]
LocalBuilder arr = ilgen.DeclareLocal(typeof(object[]));
// push array's size onto the stack
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ldc_I4, parameterTypesAr.Length - 1);
// create an object array of the given size
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Newarr, typeof(object));
// and store it in the local variable
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Stloc, arr);
// iterate thru all arguments except the zero one (i.e. *this*)
// and store them to the array
for (int i = 1; i < parameterTypesAr.Length; i++)
{
// push the array onto the stack
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ldloc, arr);
// push the argument's index onto the stack
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ldc_I4, i - 1);
// push the argument onto the stack
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ldarg, i);
// check if it is of a value type
// and perform boxing if necessary
if (parameterTypesAr[i].IsValueType)
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Box, parameterTypesAr[i]);
// store the value to the argument's array
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Stelem, typeof(object));
}
// load zero-argument (i.e. *this*) onto the stack
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ldarg_0);
// load the array onto the stack
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ldloc, arr);
// call this.SetResult(arr);
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Call, setResultMethodInfo);
// and return
ilgen.Emit(OpCodes.Ret);
s_emittedHandlers.Add(eventDelegateType, handler);
}
Delegate dEmitted = handler.CreateDelegate(eventDelegateType, tcsh);
tcsh.Target = obj;
tcsh.EventInfo = eventInfo;
tcsh.Delegate = dEmitted;
eventInfo.AddEventHandler(obj, dEmitted);
return tcs.Task;
}
}
This code will work for almost all events that return void (regardless of the parameter list).
It can be improved to support any return values if necessary.
You can see the difference between Dax's and mine methods below:
static async void Run() {
object[] result = await new MyClass().FromEvent("Fired");
Console.WriteLine(string.Join(", ", result.Select(arg =>
arg.ToString()).ToArray())); // 123, abcd
}
public class MyClass {
public delegate void TwoThings(int x, string y);
public MyClass() {
new Thread(() => {
Thread.Sleep(1000);
Fired(123, "abcd");
}).Start();
}
public event TwoThings Fired;
}
Briefly, my code supports really any kind of delegate type. You shouldn't (and don't need to) specify it explicitly like TaskFromEvent<int, string>.
This will give you what you need without needing to do any ilgen, and way simpler. It works with any kind of event delegates; you just have to create a different handler for each number of parameters in your event delegate. Below are the handlers you'd need for 0..2, which should be the vast majority of your use cases. Extending to 3 and above is a simple copy and paste from the 2-parameter method.
This is also more powerful than the ilgen method because you can use any values created by the event in your async pattern.
// Empty events (Action style)
static Task TaskFromEvent(object target, string eventName) {
var addMethod = target.GetType().GetEvent(eventName).GetAddMethod();
var delegateType = addMethod.GetParameters()[0].ParameterType;
var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<object>();
var resultSetter = (Action)(() => tcs.SetResult(null));
var d = Delegate.CreateDelegate(delegateType, resultSetter, "Invoke");
addMethod.Invoke(target, new object[] { d });
return tcs.Task;
}
// One-value events (Action<T> style)
static Task<T> TaskFromEvent<T>(object target, string eventName) {
var addMethod = target.GetType().GetEvent(eventName).GetAddMethod();
var delegateType = addMethod.GetParameters()[0].ParameterType;
var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<T>();
var resultSetter = (Action<T>)tcs.SetResult;
var d = Delegate.CreateDelegate(delegateType, resultSetter, "Invoke");
addMethod.Invoke(target, new object[] { d });
return tcs.Task;
}
// Two-value events (Action<T1, T2> or EventHandler style)
static Task<Tuple<T1, T2>> TaskFromEvent<T1, T2>(object target, string eventName) {
var addMethod = target.GetType().GetEvent(eventName).GetAddMethod();
var delegateType = addMethod.GetParameters()[0].ParameterType;
var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<Tuple<T1, T2>>();
var resultSetter = (Action<T1, T2>)((t1, t2) => tcs.SetResult(Tuple.Create(t1, t2)));
var d = Delegate.CreateDelegate(delegateType, resultSetter, "Invoke");
addMethod.Invoke(target, new object[] { d });
return tcs.Task;
}
Use would be like this. As you can see, even though the event is defined in a custom delegate, it still works. And you can capture the evented values as a tuple.
static async void Run() {
var result = await TaskFromEvent<int, string>(new MyClass(), "Fired");
Console.WriteLine(result); // (123, "abcd")
}
public class MyClass {
public delegate void TwoThings(int x, string y);
public MyClass() {
new Thread(() => {
Thread.Sleep(1000);
Fired(123, "abcd");
}).Start();
}
public event TwoThings Fired;
}
Here's a helper function that'll allow you to write the TaskFromEvent functions in just one line each, if the above three methods are too much copy-and-paste for your preferences. Credit has to be given to max for simplifying what I had originally.
If you're willing to have one method per delegate type, you can do something like:
Task FromEvent(Action<Action> add)
{
var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<bool>();
add(() => tcs.SetResult(true));
return tcs.Task;
}
You would use it like:
await FromEvent(x => new MyClass().OnCompletion += x);
Be aware that this way you never unsubscribe from the event, that may or may not be a problem for you.
If you're using generic delegates, one method per each generic type is enough, you don't need one for each concrete type:
Task<T> FromEvent<T>(Action<Action<T>> add)
{
var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<T>();
add(x => tcs.SetResult(x));
return tcs.Task;
}
Although type inference doesn't work with that, you have to explicitly specify the type parameter (assuming the type of OnCompletion is Action<string> here):
string s = await FromEvent<string>(x => c.OnCompletion += x);
I faced this problem by trying to write GetAwaiter extension method for System.Action, forgetting that System.Action is immutable and by passing it as an argument you make a copy. However, you do not make a copy if you pass it with ref keyword, thus:
public static class AwaitExtensions
{
public static Task FromEvent(ref Action action)
{
TaskCompletionSource<object> tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<object>();
action += () => tcs.SetResult(null);
return tcs.Task;
}
}
Usage:
await AwaitExtensions.FromEvent(ref OnActionFinished);
Note: TCS listener remain subscribed
I would like to introduce a method/function which can receive an Action or a Func<T>, and depending on what it got, it should return void or T.
Now I have to write this method in two, almost same versions like this.
public void WrapAction(Action action) {
// do something...
action();
// do something more...
}
public T WrapFunc(Func<T> func) {
// do something...
var result = func();
// do something more...
return result;
}
Is there any technique to avoid this repetition?
In contrast, for example in Javascript I have the flexibility to accept any kind of a function (may be void) and just return it's result, and if it was void, then it will return undefined. But in C# one cannot write something like Func<void>.
What about to make an Func<bool> out of an action via an extension method and reduce the wrapper to handle Func<T> only.
public static class ActionExtensions
{
public static Func<bool> ToFunc(this Action action)
{
return () =>
{
action();
return true;
};
}
}
Then WrapAction could simply call WrapFunc.
public void WrapAction(Action action)
{
WrapFunc(action.ToFunc());
}
Or remove WrapAction at all and use WrapFunc directly.
WrapFunc(action.ToFunc());
One possible solution is that you can extract the repeating bits out to separate methods in the same class so, something like this...
public void WrapAction(Action action) {
DoInitialBit();
action();
DoFinalBit();
}
public T WrapFunc(Func<T> func) {
DoInitialBit();
var result = func();
DoFinalBit();
return result;
}
private void DoInitialBit()
{
// Do the thing before you call the Action or Func
}
private void DoFinalBit()
{
// Do the thing after you call the Action or Func
}
Obviously, you may have to take inputs or return outputs from these additional methods as required but that's the general gist of it.
Some really ugly code to have code DRY:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var p = new Program();
p.WrapAction(() => Console.WriteLine(123));
Console.WriteLine(p.WrapFunc<string>(() => "321"));
Console.ReadKey();
}
public void WrapAction(Action action) => WrapActionInner<object>(action);
public T WrapFunc<T>(Func<T> func) => WrapActionInner<T>(func);
private T WrapActionInner<T>(object action)
{
if (action is Action)
{
((Action)action)();
return default(T);
}
return ((Func<T>)action)();
}
The idea is to wrap functionality into type unsafe private method.
i am attempting to attach a Delegate to an invocation list of a different delegate.
By that i am achieving a kind of Hook on existing events.
I need to hook up something that runs after each event that is invoked.
The following example works as long as the Delegate exposed by the type and the Action i pass in have the exact same signature.
(On1 and OnAll events are both declared with an Action delegate so it works).
Code : How i hook up an Action with an existing delegate exposed by an event modifier.
public static class ReflectionExtensions
{
public static IEnumerable<EventInfo> GetEvents(this object obj)
{
var events = obj.GetType().GetEvents();
return events;
}
public static void AddHandler(this object obj, Action action)
{
var events = obj.GetEvents();
foreach (var #event in events)
{
#event.AddEventHandler(obj, action);
}
}
}
The Sample :
public class Tester
{
public event Action On1;
public event Action On2;
public void RaiseOn1()
{
On1();
}
public void RaiseOn2()
{
On2();
}
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var t = new Tester();
t.On1 += On1;
t.On2 += On2;
t.AddHandler(OnAll);
t.RaiseOn1();
t.RaiseOn2();
}
public void On1() { }
public void On2() { }
public void OnAll() { }
}
The Problem : When the Delegate exposed with an event modifier in Tester does not have the same signature i get a well wanted and obvious exception which states (in my words) that Action can't be added to an invocation list of an Action<int> . makes sense.
Just to be clear I'm describing the following :
public event Action<int> On1;
public void On1(int i){}
What I'm looking for is a way to create another Delegate of the same type as the EventHandlerType. In order to do that i need to create a method with the signature i of EventHandlerType which would internally invoke action.
something like :
public static void AddHandler(this object obj, Action action)
{
var events = obj.GetEvents();
foreach (var #event in events)
{
// method with the signeture of EventHandlerType which does action();
MethodInfo wrapperMethod = WrapAction(#event.EventHandlerType, action);
Delegate handler = Delegate.CreateDelegate(#event.EventHandlerType, action.Target, wrapperMethod);
#event.AddEventHandler(obj, handler);
}
}
This seems to work... There are various comments inside... I'm not sure if this is the best way to do it. I'm building an Expression tree to do the delegate invocation.
public static void AddHandler(this object obj, Action action)
{
var events = obj.GetEvents();
foreach (var #event in events)
{
// Simple case
if (#event.EventHandlerType == typeof(Action))
{
#event.AddEventHandler(obj, action);
}
else
{
// From here: http://stackoverflow.com/a/429564/613130
// We retrieve the parameter types of the event handler
var parameters = #event.EventHandlerType.GetMethod("Invoke").GetParameters();
// We convert it to ParameterExpression[]
ParameterExpression[] parameters2 = Array.ConvertAll(parameters, x => Expression.Parameter(x.ParameterType));
MethodCallExpression call;
// Note that we are "opening" the delegate and using
// directly the Target and the Method! Inside the
// LambdaExpression we will build there won't be a
// delegate call, there will be a method call!
if (action.Target == null)
{
// static case
call = Expression.Call(action.Method);
}
else
{
// instance type
call = Expression.Call(Expression.Constant(action.Target), action.Method);
}
// If you are OK to create a delegate that calls another
// delegate, you can:
// call = Expression.Call(Expression.Constant(action), typeof(Action).GetMethod("Invoke"));
// instead of the big if/else
var lambda = Expression.Lambda(#event.EventHandlerType, call, parameters2);
#event.AddEventHandler(obj, lambda.Compile());
}
}
}
How do I create and call a delegate Action<T> when at runtime I'm receiving the delegate as an object and I know type only at runtime?
For example, In Foo, I define my delegate and want to pass it to a method which receives an Action<int> as an object, along with the data to pass to the delegate. It's contrived I know, but it's to demonstrate my problem.
public void Foo()
{
Action<int> handler = i => Console.WriteLine(i + 1);
Process(handler,4)
}
public void Process(object myDelegate, object data)
{
}
and I'd like to call
myDelegate(data)
All the delegate types (Eg. Action<string>) Are actually types that have an Invoke(...) method.
You should look for that invoke method with reflection and call it, It is relatively slow - So watch out.
This should do it :
Action<string> action = s => Console.WriteLine("Hello " + s);
object obj = action;
// Invoking
obj.GetType ().GetMethod ("Invoke").Invoke (obj, new object[] {"World"});
This works too, I don't know what is faster, you should check it out :
Action<string> action = s => Console.WriteLine("Hello " + s);
Delegate obj = action;
obj.DynamicInvoke(new [] { "World" });
So maybe this then:
public void processAction<T>(Action<T> action, T item) {
action(item);
}
Action<int> customAction = (i) => Console.WriteLine(i);
processAction(customAction, 123);
Action<string> customAction2 = (s) => Console.WriteLine(s);
processAction(customAction2, "Frank Borland");
This should work
Action<int> handler = i => Console.WriteLine(i + 1);
Process(handler, 4);
public void Process(object myDelegate, object data)
{
((Delegate)myDelegate).DynamicInvoke(data);
}
You haven't given a whole lot of context here, but can't you rewrite you Process method as:
public void Process<T>(Action<T> myDelegate, T data)
{
myDelegate(data);
}