Develop Reference

How to remove a method from Action with parameter? [duplicate]

Is it possible to unsubscribe an anonymous method from an event?
If I subscribe to an event like this:
void MyMethod()
{
Console.WriteLine("I did it!");
}
MyEvent += MyMethod;
I can un-subscribe like this:
MyEvent -= MyMethod;
But if I subscribe using an anonymous method:
MyEvent += delegate(){Console.WriteLine("I did it!");};
is it possible to unsubscribe this anonymous method? If so, how?

Action myDelegate = delegate(){Console.WriteLine("I did it!");};
MyEvent += myDelegate;
// .... later
MyEvent -= myDelegate;
Just keep a reference to the delegate around.

One technique is to declare a variable to hold the anonymous method which would then be available inside the anonymous method itself. This worked for me because the desired behavior was to unsubscribe after the event was handled.
Example:
MyEventHandler foo = null;
foo = delegate(object s, MyEventArgs ev)
{
Console.WriteLine("I did it!");
MyEvent -= foo;
};
MyEvent += foo;

Since C# 7.0 local functions feature has been released, the approach suggested by J c becomes really neat.
void foo(object s, MyEventArgs ev)
{
Console.WriteLine("I did it!");
MyEvent -= foo;
};
MyEvent += foo;
So, honestly, you do not have an anonymous function as a variable here. But I suppose the motivation to use it in your case can be applied to local functions.

From memory, the specification explicitly doesn't guarantee the behaviour either way when it comes to equivalence of delegates created with anonymous methods.
If you need to unsubscribe, you should either use a "normal" method or retain the delegate somewhere else so you can unsubscribe with exactly the same delegate you used to subscribe.

In 3.0 can be shortened to:
MyHandler myDelegate = ()=>Console.WriteLine("I did it!");
MyEvent += myDelegate;
...
MyEvent -= myDelegate;

Instead of keeping a reference to any delegate you can instrument your class in order to give the event's invocation list back to the caller. Basically you can write something like this (assuming that MyEvent is declared inside MyClass):
public class MyClass
{
public event EventHandler MyEvent;
public IEnumerable<EventHandler> GetMyEventHandlers()
{
return from d in MyEvent.GetInvocationList()
select (EventHandler)d;
}
}
So you can access the whole invocation list from outside MyClass and unsubscribe any handler you want. For instance:
myClass.MyEvent -= myClass.GetMyEventHandlers().Last();
I've written a full post about this tecnique here.

Kind of lame approach:
public class SomeClass
{
private readonly IList<Action> _eventList = new List<Action>();
...
public event Action OnDoSomething
{
add {
_eventList.Add(value);
}
remove {
_eventList.Remove(value);
}
}
}
Override the event add/remove methods.
Keep a list of those event handlers.
When needed, clear them all and re-add the others.
This may not work or be the most efficient method, but should get the job done.

If you want to be able to control unsubscription then you need to go the route indicated in your accepted answer. However, if you are just concerned about clearing up references when your subscribing class goes out of scope, then there is another (slightly convoluted) solution which involves using weak references. I've just posted a question and answer on this topic.

One simple solution:
just pass the eventhandle variable as parameter to itself.
Event if you have the case that you cannot access the original created variable because of multithreading, you can use this:
MyEventHandler foo = null;
foo = (s, ev, mehi) => MyMethod(s, ev, foo);
MyEvent += foo;
void MyMethod(object s, MyEventArgs ev, MyEventHandler myEventHandlerInstance)
{
MyEvent -= myEventHandlerInstance;
Console.WriteLine("I did it!");
}

If the best way is to keep a reference on the subscribed eventHandler, this can be achieved using a Dictionary.
In this example, I have to use a anonymous method to include the mergeColumn parameter for a set of DataGridViews.
Using the MergeColumn method with the enable parameter set to true enables the event while using it with false disables it.
static Dictionary<DataGridView, PaintEventHandler> subscriptions = new Dictionary<DataGridView, PaintEventHandler>();
public static void MergeColumns(this DataGridView dg, bool enable, params ColumnGroup[] mergedColumns) {
if(enable) {
subscriptions[dg] = (s, e) => Dg_Paint(s, e, mergedColumns);
dg.Paint += subscriptions[dg];
}
else {
if(subscriptions.ContainsKey(dg)) {
dg.Paint -= subscriptions[dg];
subscriptions.Remove(dg);
}
}
}

if you want refer to some object with this delegate, may be you can use Delegate.CreateDelegate(Type, Object target, MethodInfo methodInfo)
.net consider the delegate equals by target and methodInfo

There is a way to solve this by implementing the closure yourself instead of a lambda expression.
Assume that the class to be used as a capture variable is as follows.
public class A
{
public void DoSomething()
{
...
}
}
public class B
{
public void DoSomething()
{
...
}
}
public class C
{
public void DoSomething()
{
...
}
}
These classes will be used as capture variables, so we instantiate them.
A a = new A();
B b = new B();
C c = new C();
Implement the closure class as shown below.
private class EventHandlerClosure
{
public A a;
public B b;
public C c;
public event EventHandler Finished;
public void MyMethod(object, MyEventArgs args)
{
a.DoSomething();
b.DoSomething();
c.DoSomething();
Console.WriteLine("I did it!");
Finished?.Invoke(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
Instantiate the closure class, create a handler, then subscribe to the event and subscribe to the lambda expression that unsubscribes from the closure class's Finished event.
var closure = new EventHandlerClosure
{
a = a,
b = b,
c = c
};
var handler = new MyEventHandler(closure.MyMethod);
MyEvent += handler;
closure.Finished += (s, e)
{
MyEvent -= handler;
}

I discovered this quite old thread recently for a C# project and found all the answers very useful. However, there was one aspect that didn't work well for my particular use case - they all put the burden of unsubscribing from an event on the subscriber. I understand that one could make the argument that it's the subscribers job to handle this, however that isn't realistic for my project.
My primary use case for events is for listening to timers to sequence animations (it's a game). In this scenario, I use a lot of anonymous delegates to chain together sequences. Storing a reference to these isn't very practical.
In order to solve this, I've created a wrapper class around an event that lets you subscribe for a single invocation.
internal class EventWrapper<TEventArgs> {
private event EventHandler<TEventArgs> Event;
private readonly HashSet<EventHandler<TEventArgs>> _subscribeOnces;
internal EventWrapper() {
_subscribeOnces = new HashSet<EventHandler<TEventArgs>>();
}
internal void Subscribe(EventHandler<TEventArgs> eventHandler) {
Event += eventHandler;
}
internal void SubscribeOnce(EventHandler<TEventArgs> eventHandler) {
_subscribeOnces.Add(eventHandler);
Event += eventHandler;
}
internal void Unsubscribe(EventHandler<TEventArgs> eventHandler) {
Event -= eventHandler;
}
internal void UnsubscribeAll() {
foreach (EventHandler<TEventArgs> eventHandler in Event?.GetInvocationList()) {
Event -= eventHandler;
}
}
internal void Invoke(Object sender, TEventArgs e) {
Event?.Invoke(sender, e);
if(_subscribeOnces.Count > 0) {
foreach (EventHandler<TEventArgs> eventHandler in _subscribeOnces) {
Event -= eventHandler;
}
_subscribeOnces.Clear();
}
}
internal void Remove() {
UnsubscribeAll();
_subscribeOnces.Clear();
}
}
The side benefit of having this in a class is that you can make it private and expose only the functionality you want. For example, only expose the SubscribeOnce (and not the Subscribe) method.
public class MyClass {
private EventWrapper<MyEventEventArgs> myEvent = new EventWrapper<MyEventEventArgs>();
public void FireMyEvent() {
myEvent.Invoke(this, new MyEventEventArgs(1000, DateTime.Now));
}
public void SubscribeOnce(EventHandler<MyEventEventArgs> eventHandler) {
myEvent.SubscribeOnce(eventHandler);
}
public class MyEventEventArgs : EventArgs {
public int MyInt;
public DateTime MyDateTime;
public MyEventEventArgs(int myInt, DateTime myDateTime) {
MyInt = myInt;
MyDateTime = myDateTime;
}
}
}
The tradeoff here is more overhead for having an instance of this for each event, however in my scenario - this is an acceptable tradeoff to ensure that garbage gets collected efficiently and the code is more maintainable on the subscriber side. Full example here.

Here is a simple solution, which removes all assigned methods from an event. Also anonymous methods.
Use this code and adjust the names.
if (MyEvent != null)
foreach (Delegate del in MyEvent.GetInvocationList())
MyEvent -= (EventHandler<MyEventHandlerType>)del;
Example usage
public class SomeClass
{
public event EventHandler<NiceEventArgs> NiceEvent;
public void RemoveHandlers()
{
if (NiceEvent != null)
foreach (Delegate del in NiceEvent.GetInvocationList())
NiceEvent -= (EventHandler<NiceEventArgs>)del;
}
}
Thanks to hemme's answer, which I used as inspiration.

Check if event-accessor won´t add same handler twice

I know we shouldn´t care if an eventhandler was registered for an event from outside that event, as seen here for instance How to determine if an event is already subscribed
Thus I have some code within the events-accessor to prevent any users of my API bothering about if or if not they already registered the handler:
private EventHandler foo;
public event EventHandler Foo
{
add
{
if (foo == null || !foo.GetInvocationList().Contains(value))
{
foo += value;
}
}
remove
{
foo -= value;
}
}
Now I want to write a test to verify that this check works correct:
[Test]
public void MyTest()
{
myInstance.Foo += DoSomething;
myInstance.Foo += DoSomething;
}
void DoSomething(object sender, EventArgs args) { ... }
But how do I check if foo contains only a single handler, not two? Should I use reflection on foo to get its invocation-list or is there any better way?

Have DoSomething count the number of times its invoked. Raise the Foo event, and assert that DoSomething was executed only once.
[Test]
public void MyTest()
{
int invokeCount = 0;
EventHandler handler = (object sender, EventArgs args) => invokeCount++;
myInstance.Foo += handler;
myInstance.Foo += handler;
myInstance.SomeMethodThatRaisesFoo();
Assert.AreEqual(1, invokeCount);
}

C# generic event handling - chaining/proxy

I'm trying to come up with a generic way to intercept C# events for processing (e.g. logging, filtering, distributing asynchronously etc.), before passing the event back on to its original consumer.
So to give an example, in the normal flow of things you'd have
class EventProducer
{
public event EventHandler<int> OnEvent;
internal void FireEvent()
{
if (OnEvent != null)
OnEvent(this, 1);
}
}
class EventConsumer
{
public EventConsumer(EventProducer producer)
{
producer.OnEvent += eventHandler;
}
public void eventHandler(object sender, int e)
{
Debug.WriteLine("Consumed " + e);
}
}
In my case, I'd want to insert an additional step between the two.. something like
//event consumer
class EventConsumer
{
//use this to handle one particular event (EventProducer.OnEvent)
InterceptEventHandler<int> EventHandler;
public EventConsumer(EventProducer producer)
{
//just one line of code to insert an event handler to do what I need
//but whoops - cant refer to OnEvent outside of the producer
EventHandler = new InterceptEventHandler<int>(producer.OnEvent, eventHandler);
}
public void eventHandler(object sender, int e)
{
Debug.WriteLine("Consumed " + e);
}
}
//intercepts events, does something with them, then forwards them to original consumer
class InterceptEventHandler<T>
{
public EventHandler<T> Callback;
public InterceptEventHandler(EventHandler<T> eventHook, EventHandler<T> callback)
{
//save callback
Callback = callback;
//subscribe ourselves to the specified event
eventHook += interceptHandler;
}
public void interceptHandler(object sender, T e)
{
//do something with the event here
Debug.WriteLine("Intercepted " + e.ToString());
//then pass callback back to original consumer
Callback(sender, e);
}
}
The problem (as commented above) is that the code doesn't compile because the events themselves are not accessible from outside the producer class. I understand this is because the event handling is implemented as a private class, so can't see any obvious way around this.
Is there any way to intercept and chain events that would allow me to keep the standard event syntax in producer classes?
I realise that I can abandon events, and just use my own equivalent producer/consumer code, but i'll lose the normal benefits of events (e.g. more readable/maintainable, proper syntax highlighting/autocomplete etc.)
EDIT - I also tried fiddling around with the MulticastDelegate class, but while I got the code to compile, I couldn't get the events to be subscribed (effectively OnEvent was always null).

Rather than accepting an EventHandler which is of course not the type of an event, accept an Action<EventHandler> which represents an action that subscribes to the event:
public class InterceptEventHandler
{
public static void Attach<T>(Action<EventHandler<T>> eventHook,
EventHandler<T> callback)
{
eventHook((sender, args) =>
{
doStuffOnFire(sender, args);
callback(sender, args);
});
}
private static void doStuffOnFire<T>(object sender, T e)
{
//...
}
}
You would then call it like so:
public EventConsumer(EventProducer producer)
{
InterceptEventHandler.Attach<int>(
handler => producer.OnEvent += handler,
eventHandler);
}

How to pass an event to a method?

I would like to create a method that takes an event as an argument and adds eventHandler to it to handle it properly. Like this:
I have two events:
public event EventHandler Click;
public event EventHandler Click2;
Now I would like to pass a particular event to my method like this (pseudocode):
public AttachToHandleEvent(EventHandler MyEvent)
{
MyEvent += Item_Click;
}
private void Item_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("lalala");
}
ToolStripMenuItem tool = new ToolStripMenuItem();
AttachToHandleEvent(tool.Click);
Is it possible?
I've noticed that this code worked fine, and returned to my project and noticed that when I pass an event declared in my class, it works, but when I pass event from other class it still does not work.
What I get is this error:
The event
'System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.Click'
can only appear on the left hand side
of += or -=

My original answer was suitable from within the class that defined the event, but you've since updated your question to reflect that you wish to accomplish this from outside the defining class, so I've stricken that.
Only the class that defines an event can refer to the implicit delegate variable that the event uses. From outside that class, you only have access to the add and remove methods, via += and -=. This means that you can't do what you're asking, directly. You can, however, use a functional approach.
class A{
public event EventHandler Event1;
public void TriggerEvent1(){
if(Event1 != null)
Event1(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
class B{
static void HandleEvent(object o, EventArgs e){
Console.WriteLine("Woo-hoo!");
}
static void AttachToEvent(Action<EventHandler> attach){
attach(HandleEvent);
}
static void Main(){
A a = new A();
AttachToEvent(handler=>a.Event1 += handler);
a.TriggerEvent1();
}
}

I did it like this:
public AttachToHandleEvent(Object obj, string EventName)
{
EventInfo mfi = obj.GetType().GetEvent(EventName);
MethodInfo mobj = mfi.GetAddMethod();
mobj.Invoke(obj, new object[] { Item_Click});
}
private void Item_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("lalala");
}
ToolStripMenuItem tool = new ToolStripMenuItem();
AttachToHandleEvent(tool "Click");
Thank you all for advice. This solution could not be done without your help.

It's not possible. You can use a delegate instead of an event if that meets your needs.

Just write tool.Click += Item_Click;
Edit: From MSDN "Events can only be invoked from within the class or struct where they (it) are declared". So what you are trying to do is not possible. Could you elaborate more on your needs? Why would you want to pass an event as a parameter?

delegate void doIt(object sender, object data);
event doIt OnDoIt;
void add(doIt theDel)
{
OnDoIt += theDel;
}
void doIt1(object a, object b)
{
}
void doIt2(object a, object b)
{
}
void add()
{
add(doIt1);
add(doIt2);
}

Your question suggests that you got some mechanisms wrong:
You can't pass events!
You most probably want to pass a function as a parameter, so the calling method will call that other method at some point. In technical terms this is a delegate. I suggest using the already defined Action class. Here's an example snippet:
void MyFunction (string otherArguments, Action onFinished){
...
if (onFinished != null)
onFinished.Invoke();
}
The nice thing about this is that when calling MyFunction you can declare the Action using the inline syntax:
MyFunction("my other argument", ()=>{
///do stuff here, which will be execuded when the action is invoked
});

I pass functions/methods (instead of events) like this:
class A
{
public void something()
{
var myAction =
new Action<object, object>((sender, evArgs) => {
MessageBox.Show("hiii, event happens " + (evArgs as as System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs).SignalTime);
});
B.timer(myAction);
}
}
class B
{
public static void timer( Action<object, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs> anyMethod)
{
System.Timers.Timer myTimer = new System.Timers.Timer();
myTimer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(anyMethod);
myTimer.Interval = 2000;
myTimer.Start();
}
}

Giving an update to this question with an object oriented solution.
Instead of using an Action<EventHandler> that registers the event, you could create an object handling that for you
public class AEvent
{
private readonly A aInstance;
private AEvent(A instance) {
aInstance = instance;
}
public void Add(EventHandler eventHandler)
=> a.Event1 += eventHandler;
public void Remove(EventHandler eventHandler)
=> a.Event1 -= eventHandler;
public EventHandler Invoke => aInstance.Event1;
}
Then later on use that object like this:
static void Main(){
A a = new A();
AEvent aEvent = new AEvent(A)
aEvent.Add(handler);
a.Invoke();
}

One approach I haven't seen here would be to create an object which has delegates for subscribe and unsubscribe. Here is a complete example program.
class Program
{
private event EventHandler<EventArgs> eventHandler;
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
Program program = new Program();
Thing thing = new Thing(new EventWrapper<EventArgs>(
delegate(EventHandler<EventArgs> handler) { program.eventHandler += handler; },
delegate(EventHandler<EventArgs> handler) { program.eventHandler -= handler; }
));
// events are fired
program.eventHandler?.Invoke(program, EventArgs.Empty);
thing.Unsubscribe();
}
}
class Thing
{
private readonly Action<EventHandler<EventArgs>> _unsubscribeEventHandler;
public Thing(EventWrapper<EventArgs> eventHandler)
{
this._unsubscribeEventHandler = eventHandler.Unsubscribe;
eventHandler.Subscribe?.Invoke(OnEvent);
Console.WriteLine("subscribed");
}
private void OnEvent(object? sender, EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("event fired");
}
public void Unsubscribe()
{
_unsubscribeEventHandler?.Invoke(OnEvent);
Console.WriteLine("unsubscribed");
}
}
class EventWrapper<T> where T : EventArgs
{
public Action<EventHandler<T>> Subscribe { get; private set; }
public Action<EventHandler<T>> Unsubscribe { get; private set; }
public EventWrapper(Action<EventHandler<T>> subscribe, Action<EventHandler<T>> unsubscribe)
{
Subscribe = subscribe;
Unsubscribe = unsubscribe;
}
}
In this example, we created a new class called EventWrapper<T> which wraps delegates for += and -= and exposes them with Subscribe and Unsubscribe methods. The delegates will need to be created by the class which created the event.

How to dispatch events in C#

I wish to create own events and dispatch them.
I never done this before in C#, only in Flex.. I guess there must be a lot of differencies.
Can anyone provide me a good example?

There is a pattern that is used in all library classes. It is recommended for your own classes too, especially for framework/library code. But nobody will stop you when you deviate or skip a few steps.
Here is a schematic based on the simplest event-delegate, System.Eventhandler.
// The delegate type. This one is already defined in the library, in the System namespace
// the `void (object, EventArgs)` signature is also the recommended pattern
public delegate void Eventhandler(object sender, Eventargs args);
// your publishing class
class Foo
{
public event EventHandler Changed; // the Event
protected virtual void OnChanged() // the Trigger method, called to raise the event
{
// make a copy to be more thread-safe
EventHandler handler = Changed;
if (handler != null)
{
// invoke the subscribed event-handler(s)
handler(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
// an example of raising the event
void SomeMethod()
{
if (...) // on some condition
OnChanged(); // raise the event
}
}
And how to use it:
// your subscribing class
class Bar
{
public Bar()
{
Foo f = new Foo();
f.Changed += Foo_Changed; // Subscribe, using the short notation
}
// the handler must conform to the signature
void Foo_Changed(object sender, EventArgs args) // the Handler (reacts)
{
// the things Bar has to do when Foo changes
}
}
And when you have information to pass along:
class MyEventArgs : EventArgs // guideline: derive from EventArgs
{
public string Info { get; set; }
}
class Foo
{
public event EventHandler<MyEventArgs> Changed; // the Event
...
protected virtual void OnChanged(string info) // the Trigger
{
EventHandler handler = Changed; // make a copy to be more thread-safe
if (handler != null)
{
var args = new MyEventArgs(){Info = info}; // this part will vary
handler(this, args);
}
}
}
class Bar
{
void Foo_Changed(object sender, MyEventArgs args) // the Handler
{
string s = args.Info;
...
}
}
Update
Starting with C# 6 the calling code in the 'Trigger' method has become a lot easier, the null test can be shortened with the null-conditional operator ?. without making a copy while keeping thread-safety:
protected virtual void OnChanged(string info) // the Trigger
{
var args = new MyEventArgs{Info = info}; // this part will vary
Changed?.Invoke(this, args);
}

Events in C# use delegates.
public static event EventHandler<EventArgs> myEvent;
static void Main()
{
//add method to be called
myEvent += Handler;
//call all methods that have been added to the event
myEvent(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
static void Handler(object sender, EventArgs args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Event Handled!");
}

Using the typical .NET event pattern, and assuming you don't need any special arguments in your event. Your typical event and dispatch pattern looks like this.
public class MyClassWithEvents
{
public event EventHandler MyEvent;
protected void OnMyEvent(object sender, EventArgs eventArgs)
{
if (MyEvent != null)
{
MyEvent(sender, eventArgs);
}
}
public void TriggerMyEvent()
{
OnMyEvent(sender, eventArgs);
}
}
Tying something into the event can be as simple as:
public class Program
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
MyClassWithEvents obj = new MyClassWithEvents();
obj.MyEvent += obj_myEvent;
}
private static void obj_myEvent(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//Code called when my event is dispatched.
}
}
Take a look at the links on this MSDN page

Look into 'delegates'.
Define a delegate
Use the delegate type as field/property (adding the 'Event' keyword)
You are now exposing events that users can hook into with "+= MyEventMethod;"
Hope this helps,