I would like to notify a program immediately when there is a change in a bool variable that is a public variable of an object. For example;
say, an instance of class conn is created within a windows form application.
there is a Ready variable, a public variable of the class conn is present.
I would like to get notified whenever there is a change in this variable.
I did a quick research to solve this problem within stackoverflow but the answers suggested the use of property, which, I think is not suitable for my application.
I will assume you are referring to a field when you say public variable.
With few exceptions, it is preferable to not have public fields in C# classes, but rather private fields with public accessors:
class BadClass
{
public int Value; // <- NOT preferred
}
class GoodClass
{
private int value;
public int Value
{
get { return this.value; }
set { this.value = value; }
}
}
One of the reasons to structure your code this way is so you can do more than one thing in the property's getter and setters. An example that applies to your scenario is property change notification:
class GoodClass : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private int value;
public int Value
{
get { return this.value; }
set
{
this.value = value;
this.OnPropertyChanged("Value");
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void OnPropertyChanged(string name)
{
if (this.PropertyChanged != null)
{
this.PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(name);
}
}
}
If you were to implement your class like this, you could use it this way:
void SomeMethod()
{
var instance = new GoodClass();
instance.PropertyChanged += this.OnPropertyChanged;
}
void OnPropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.PropertyName == "Value")
{
// Do something here.
}
}
If you change the Value property, not only will it change the value of the underlying field, but it will also raise the PropertyChanged event, and call your event handler.
You want to use the Observer pattern for this. The most straight forward way to do this in .NET is the event system. In the class conn, create an event:
public event EventHandler ReadyChanged;
and then when you create an instance of conn, subscribe to that event:
o.ReadyChanged += (s, e) =>
{
// do something
}
and then finally, when the flag changes in conn, fire the event via a new method named OnReadyChanged:
protected virtual void OnReadyChanged()
{
if (ReadyChanged != null) { ReadyChanged(this, new EventArgs()); }
}
Related
I am attempting to make an undo system, where when a property on an object that implements INotifyPropertyChanged is changed, the property name and its old value is pushed onto a stack via a KeyValuePair. When the user clicks "Undo" it then pops from the stack and uses reflection to set the property's value to its old value.
The problem with this is that it calls OnPropertyChanged again, so the property and its restored value is added to the undo stack a second time. On the other hand, I still want it to call OnPropertyChanged since I want the view to update its bindings.
There's obviously something wrong with how I'm designing it, but I can't seem to figure out another way of going about it.
Here's my model
internal class MyModel : INotifyPropertyChangedExtended
{
private string testProperty1 = "";
public string TestProperty1
{
get { return testProperty1; }
set {
var oldValue = testProperty1;
testProperty1 = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(TestProperty1), oldValue);
}
}
private string testProperty2 = "";
public string TestProperty2
{
get { return testProperty2; }
set {
var oldValue = testProperty2;
testProperty2 = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(TestProperty2), oldValue);
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler? PropertyChanged;
public void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName, object oldValue)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgsExtended(propertyName, oldValue));
}
}
}
Here's my INotifyPropertyChangedExtended interface
public class PropertyChangedEventArgsExtended : PropertyChangedEventArgs
{
public virtual object OldValue { get; private set; }
public PropertyChangedEventArgsExtended(string propertyName, object oldValue)
: base(propertyName)
{
OldValue = oldValue;
}
}
public class INotifyPropertyChangedExtended : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected void NotifyPropertyChanged(string propertyName, object oldValue)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgsExtended(propertyName, oldValue));
}
}
And here's my view model
internal class MyViewModel
{
public MyModel MyModel { get; set; } = new();
public Stack<KeyValuePair<string, object>> PropertyStateStack = new();
public RelayCommand Undo { get; set; }
public MyViewModel()
{
SetupCommands();
MyModel.PropertyChanged += MyModel_PropertyChanged;
}
private void MyModel_PropertyChanged(object? sender, System.ComponentModel.PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
var args = e as PropertyChangedEventArgsExtended;
if (args.OldValue != null)
{
PropertyStateStack.Push(new KeyValuePair<string, object>(args.PropertyName, args.OldValue));
}
}
private void SetupCommands()
{
Undo = new RelayCommand(o =>
{
KeyValuePair<string, object> propertyState = PropertyStateStack.Pop();
PropertyInfo? property = MyModel.GetType().GetProperty(propertyState.Key);
if (property != null)
{
property.SetValue(MyModel, Convert.ChangeType(propertyState.Value, property.PropertyType), null);
}
});
}
}
EDIT: I did research the "memento pattern" but I couldn't get it to work with INotifyPropertyChanged, since as soon as I set MyModel to a backup of it the bindings to the view stopped working.
Implementing Memento or a variant is the right way. Opposed to storing the particular modifying undo action e.g., Action<T> (another good solution), Memento has a higher memory footprint (as it stores the complete object state), but allows random access to the stored states.
The key point is that when implementing Memento properly, you don't have to rely on reflection, which will only make your code slow and heavy.
The following example uses the IEditableObject interface to implement the Memento pattern (variant). The implementation supports undo and redo. The TextBox class is implementing undo/redo in a similar way using the same interface. The advantage is that you have full control over when to record the object's state. You can even cancel the ongoing modification.
This example clones the complete object to backup the state. Because objects can be quite expensive, for example when they allocate resources, it could make sense to introduce an immutable data model that actually stores the values of the public editable properties. Now, instead of cloning the complete object you would only clone the immutable data model. This can improve the performance in critical scenarios.
See the example provided by the IEditableObject link above to learn how to introduce an immutable data model that holds the object's data.
The actual undo/redo logic is encapsulated in the example's abstract StateTracker<TStateObject> class. StateTracker<TStateObject> implements the aforementioned IEditableObject and the ICloneable interface. To add convenience, StateTracker<TStateObject> also implements a custom IUndoable interface (to enable anonymous usage of the public undo/redo API).
Every class that needs to support state tracking (undo/redo) must extend the abstract StateTracker<TStateObject> to provide a ICloneable.Clone and a StateTracker.UpdateState implementation.
The following example is very basic. It allows undo and redo, but does not support random access to undo/redo states. You would have to use an index based backing store like List<T> to implement such a feature.
IUndoable.cs
Enable anonymous access to the undo/redo API.
public interface IUndoable
{
bool TryUndo();
bool TryRedo();
}
StateTracker.cs
Encapsulates the actual undo/redo logic to avoid duplicate implementations
for each type that is supposed to support undo/redo.
You can consider to add a public UndoCommand and RedoCommand to this class and let the commands invoke TryUndo and TryRedo respectively.
public abstract class StateTracker<TStateObject> : IEditableObject, IUndoable, ICloneable
{
public bool IsInEditMode { get; private set; }
private Stack<TStateObject> UndoMemory { get; }
private Stack<TStateObject> RedoMemory { get; }
private TStateObject StateBeforeEdit { get; set; }
private bool IsUpdatingState { get; set; }
protected StateTracker()
{
this.UndoMemory = new Stack<TStateObject>();
this.RedoMemory = new Stack<TStateObject>();
}
public abstract TStateObject Clone();
protected abstract void UpdateState(TStateObject state);
object ICloneable.Clone() => Clone();
public bool TryUndo()
{
if (!this.UndoMemory.TryPop(out TStateObject previousState))
{
return false;
}
this.IsUpdatingState = true;
this.StateBeforeEdit = Clone();
this.RedoMemory.Push(this.StateBeforeEdit);
UpdateState(previousState);
this.IsUpdatingState = false;
return true;
}
public bool TryRedo()
{
if (!this.RedoMemory.TryPop(out TStateObject nextState))
{
return false;
}
this.IsUpdatingState = true;
this.StateBeforeEdit = Clone();
this.UndoMemory.Push(this.StateBeforeEdit);
UpdateState(nextState);
this.IsUpdatingState = false;
return true;
}
// Start recording the changes
public void BeginEdit()
{
if (this.IsInEditMode || this.IsUpdatingState)
{
return;
}
this.IsInEditMode = true;
// Create the snapshot before the instance is changed
this.StateBeforeEdit = Clone();
}
// Abort recording the changes
public void CancelEdit()
{
if (!this.IsInEditMode)
{
return;
}
// Restore the original state
UpdateState(this.StateBeforeEdit);
this.IsInEditMode = false;
}
// Commit recorded changes
public void EndEdit()
{
if (!this.IsInEditMode || this.IsUpdatingState)
{
return;
}
// Commit the snapshot of the original state after the instance was changed without cancellation
this.UndoMemory.Push(this.StateBeforeEdit);
this.IsInEditMode = false;
}
}
MyModel.cs
public class MyModel : StateTracker<MyModel>, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public MyModel()
{
}
// Copy constructor
private MyModel(MyModel originalInstance)
{
// Don't raise PropertyChanged to avoid the loop of death
this.testProperty1 = originalInstance.TestProperty1;
this.testProperty2 = originalInstance.TestProperty2;
}
// Create a deep copy using the copy constructor
public override MyModel Clone()
{
var copyOfInstance = new MyModel(this);
return copyOfInstance;
}
protected override void UpdateState(MyModel state)
{
// UpdateState() is called by the StateTracker
// which internally guards against the infinite loop
this.TestProperty1 = state.TestProperty1;
this.TestProperty2 = state.TestProperty2;
}
private void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
=> this.PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
private string testProperty1;
public string TestProperty1
{
get => this.testProperty1;
set
{
this.testProperty1 = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
private string testProperty2;
public string TestProperty2
{
get => this.testProperty2;
set
{
this.testProperty2 = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
}
Example
The following example stores the state of a TextBox, that binds to a MyModel instance. When the TextBox receives focus, the MyModel.BeginEdit method is called to start recording the input. When the TextBox loses focus the recorded state is pushed onto the undo stack by calling the MyModel.EndEdit method.
MainWindow.xaml
<Window>
<Window.DataContext>
<local:MyModel />
</Window.DataContext>
<StackPanel>
<Button Content="Undo"
Click="OnUndoButtonClick" />
<Button Content="Redo"
Click="OnRedoButtonClick" />
<TextBox Text="{Binding TestProperty1, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"
GotFocus="OnTextBoxGotFocus"
LostFocus="OnTextBoxLostFocus" />
</StackPanel>
</Window>
MainWindow.xaml.cs
Because of the defined interfaces we can handle undo/redo without knowing the actual data type.
private void OnTextBoxGotFocus(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
=> ((sender as FrameworkElement).DataContext as IEditableObject).BeginEdit();
private void OnTextBoxLostFocus(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
=> ((sender as FrameworkElement).DataContext as IEditableObject).EndEdit();
private void OnUndoButtonClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
=> _ = ((sender as FrameworkElement).DataContext as IUndoable).TryUndo();
private void OnRedoButtonClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
=> _ = ((sender as FrameworkElement).DataContext as IUndoable).TryRedo();
An alternative flow could be that the MyModel class internally calls BeginEdit and EndEdit inside the relevant property setters (before accepting the new value and after accepting the new value). In case of the TextBox, the advantage of this solution is that it allows to record every single input.
In this scenario, the GotFocus and LostFocus event handlers previously defined on the TextBox (example above) are not needed and related code must be removed:
MyModel.cs
public class MyModel : StateTracker<MyModel>, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public MyModel()
{
}
// Copy constructor
private MyModel(MyModel originalInstance)
{
// Don't raise PropertyChanged to avoid the loop of death
this.testProperty1 = originalInstance.TestProperty1;
this.testProperty2 = originalInstance.TestProperty2;
}
// Create a deep copy using the copy constructor
public override MyModel Clone()
{
var copyOfInstance = new MyModel(this);
return copyOfInstance;
}
protected override void UpdateState(MyModel state)
{
// UpdateState() is called by the StateTracker
// which internally guards against the infinite loop
this.TestProperty1 = state.TestProperty1;
this.TestProperty2 = state.TestProperty2;
}
private void RecordPropertyChange<TValue>(ref TValue backingField, TValue newValue)
{
BeginEdit();
backingField = newValue;
EndEdit();
}
private void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
=> this.PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
private string testProperty1;
public string TestProperty1
{
get => this.testProperty1;
set
{
RecordPropertyChange(ref this.testProperty1, value);
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
private string testProperty2;
public string TestProperty2
{
get => this.testProperty2;
set
{
RecordPropertyChange(ref this.testProperty2, value);
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
}
Remarks
If extending StateTracker is not an option (e.g., because it would introduce a multi-inheritance issue), you can always make use of composition (for example add a private property of type StateTracker to your undoable model to replace inheritance).
Just create a new class that extends StateTracker to implement the abstract members. Then define a private property of this new type in your undoable model. Now, let the model reference this private property to access the undo/redo API.
While composition is to be favored, this example chooses inheritance as this concept feels more natural to most. It may helps to understand the basic idea.
I want my C# code to call an event whenever a value is assigned to my object.
How exactly would I need to go about that?
class MyClass {
ManualResetEvent mre;
public MyClass() {
mre = new ManualResetEvent(false);
Data = null;
}
public object Data { get; set; }
void DataSet(object sender, EventArgs e) {
Console.WriteLine("object Data has been set.");
mre.Set();
}
}
Delegates don't seem to be what I need. An event, maybe? How would I write such an event, if so?
MyClass mc;
void processA() {
mc = new MyClass();
mc.Data = GetDataFromLongProcess();
}
private object data;
public object Data {
get { return data;}
set {
if(value != data) {
data = value;
OnDataChanged();
}
}
}
protected virtual void OnDataChanged() {
EventHandler handler = DataChanged;
if(handler != null) handler(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
public event EventHandler DataChanged;
then hook any code to the DataChanged event. For example:
MyClass mc = ...
mc.DataChanged += delegate {
Console.WriteLine("new data! wow!");
};
If you want to fire an event when your property is set, you would do something like this:
public event Action OnDataChanged;
protected object _data = null;
public object Data
{
get { return _data; }
set
{
_data = value;
if(OnDataChanged != null)
OnDataChanged();
}
}
Then you would simply wire up event handlers to your object like so:
mc = new MyClass();
mc.OnDataChanged += delegate() { Console.WriteLine("It changed!"); };
mc.Data = SomeValue();
I think you're on the right track with an event-based model. Also take a look at the Observer pattern (which is the basis for .Net delegates and events underneath it all, as I understand):
http://www.dofactory.com/Patterns/PatternObserver.aspx
But the bottom line, as the other useful answer so far (Mr. Gravell's implementation) indicates, you're going to have to have code IN the setter to get it hooked up. The only alternative would be to poll the value for changes, which just smells bad to me.
you could implement INotifyPropertyChanged (this is more or less a event) or you could take your class a Action (Trigger) and call this, whenn the property changed.
Just don't use automatic properties but a concrete setter and call your event/trigger from there.
Conceptually, you would define an event in your class, and in your property set blocks, you would invoke the event with the necessary arguments to determine what just happened.
public event SomeDelegateThatTakesIntAsParameter myEvent;
void SetData(int data)
{
if(myEvent!= null)
myEvent(data)
}
This is an example code:
public class MyParent : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
List<MyChild> MyChildren;
public bool IsChanged
{
get
{
foreach (var child in MyChildren)
{
if (child.IsChanged) return true;
}
return false;
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void RaiseChanged(string propName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propName));
}
}
public class MyChild : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private int _Value;
public int Value
{
get
{
return _Value;
}
set
{
if (_Value == value)
return;
_Value = value;
RaiseChanged("Value");
RaiseChanged("IsChanged");
}
}
private int _DefaultValue;
public int DefaultValue
{
get
{
return _DefaultValue;
}
set
{
if (_DefaultValue == value)
return;
_DefaultValue = value;
RaiseChanged("DefaultValue");
RaiseChanged("IsChanged");
}
}
public bool IsChanged
{
get
{
return (Value != DefaultValue);
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void RaiseChanged(string propName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propName));
}
}
Let's say I now have two instances of my classes, one as myParent, and the other as myChild.
I have two visual elements, that each have a property bound to the IsChnaged property of my instances; ElementA bound to myParent.IsChanged and ElementB bound to myChild.IsChanged.
When myChild.Value differs from its default value, the myChild.IsChanged is set to true and the ElementB is updated accordingly.
What I need is when either of the myParent children (which here is only one) have their IsChanged value set to true, its own (the parent's) IsChanged value be set to true and its corresponding
element (ElementA here) be updated accordingly.
The myParent.IsChanged is only read once (when the binding is set) and it has no sense about its children changing. Where should i put the RaiseChanged("IsChanged") for MyParent? How can I let the parent know when its children have changed?
Thanks in advance
INotifyPropertyChanged has already provided the mechanism for you: the PropertyChanged event. Just have the parent add a handler to its children's PropertyChanged, and then in that handler call RaiseChanged("IsChanged");
Also, you may want to put the INotifyPropertyChanged implementation in a base class, and have your (what appear to be) ViewModels inherit from that. Not required for this option, of course, but it will make the code a little cleaner.
Update: In the parent object:
// This list tracks the handlers, so you can
// remove them if you're no longer interested in receiving notifications.
// It can be ommitted if you prefer.
List<EventHandler<PropertyChangedEventArgs>> changedHandlers =
new List<EventHandler<PropertyChangedEventArgs>>();
// Call this method to add children to the parent
public void AddChild(MyChild newChild)
{
// Omitted: error checking, and ensuring newChild isn't already in the list
this.MyChildren.Add(newChild);
EventHandler<PropertyChangedEventArgs> eh =
new EventHandler<PropertyChangedEventArgs>(ChildChanged);
newChild.PropertyChanged += eh;
this.changedHandlers.Add(eh);
}
public void ChildChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
MyChild child = sender as MyChild;
if (this.MyChildren.Contains(child))
{
RaiseChanged("IsChanged");
}
}
You don't actually have to add anything to the child class, since it is already raising the correct event when it changes.
Doing this kind of communication can be tricky, especially if you want to avoid memory leaks due to the event handlers that you hook up. There is also the case of handling items that are added / removed from the collection.
I've really enjoyed the power and simplicity of the Continuous LINQ project on codeplex. It has some very rich features for setting up "Reactive Objects", "Continuous Values", and "Continuous Collections". These let you define your criteria as a Linq expression and then let the CLINQ library keep the underlying values up to date in real time.
In your case, you could set up the parent with a ContinuousFirstOrDefault() linq query that watched for any child where "IsChanged == true". As soon as a child sets the value to true and raises PropertyChanged, the continuous value will detect the change and raise a corresponding PropertyChanged in the parent.
The benefits:
Weak references and weak events are used to prevent the event handlers in the parent from locking the child in memory. It can get very messy to add / remove these handlers from all the children.
You can declare the dependency in the parent without need to make special changes in the child or make the child aware of the parent. Rather, the child just needs to properly implement INotifyPropertyChanged. This puts the "logic" close to the object that cares, rather than spreading event craziness and inter-dependencies all over the code.
Here's what the code might look like:
public class MyParent : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private ObservableCollection<MyChild> _MyChildren;
private ContinuousValue<MyChild> _ContinuousIsChanged = null;
public MyParent()
{
_MyChildren = new ObservableCollection<MyChild>();
// Creat the ContinuousFirstOrDefault to watch the MyChildren collection.
// This will monitor for newly added instances,
// as well as changes to the "IsChanged" property on
// instances already in the collection.
_ContinuousIsChanged = MyChildren.ContinuousFirstOrDefault(child => child.IsChanged);
_ContinuousIsChanged.PropertyChanged += (s, e) => RaiseChanged("IsChanged");
}
public ObservableCollection<MyChild> MyChildren
{
get { return _MyChildren; }
}
public bool IsChanged
{
get
{
// If there is at least one child that matches the
// above expression, then something has changed.
if (_ContinuousIsChanged.Value != null)
return true;
return false;
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void RaiseChanged(string propName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propName));
}
}
public class MyChild : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private int _Value;
public int Value
{
get
{
return _Value;
}
set
{
if (_Value == value)
return;
_Value = value;
RaiseChanged("Value");
RaiseChanged("IsChanged");
}
}
private int _DefaultValue;
public int DefaultValue
{
get
{
return _DefaultValue;
}
set
{
if (_DefaultValue == value)
return;
_DefaultValue = value;
RaiseChanged("DefaultValue");
RaiseChanged("IsChanged");
}
}
public bool IsChanged
{
get
{
return (Value != DefaultValue);
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void RaiseChanged(string propName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propName));
}
}
The above code sets up the ContinuousFirstOrDefault in the constructor so that it is always monitoring. However, in some cases you can optimize this by lazily instantiating the ContinuousFirstOrDefault only when the getter for "IsChanged" is called. That way you don't start monitoring for changes until you know that some other piece of code actually cares.
You can simplify things for yourself by storing your children in an ItemObservableCollection<T>, as discussed in this answer. That would allow you to do this:
private ItemObservableCollection<MyChild> children;
public MyParent()
{
this.children = new ItemObservableCollection<MyChild>();
this.children.ItemPropertyChanged += delegate(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (string.Equals("IsChanged", e.PropertyName, StringComparison.Ordinal))
{
this.RaisePropertyChanged("IsChanged");
}
};
}
Something I do not see in your code sample provide is an actually reference of parent to child. It is not enough to simply have interface to communicate through, but you must also create the reference. Something like myChild.parent = this; followed by the binding of the event handlers across the channel, in the "parent" property of the child object it would look like:
public INotifyPropertyChanged parent
{
get{return _parent;}
set
{
_parent = value;
this.PropertyChanged += _parent.RaiseChanged();
}
}
I don't have enough context to perfect this code for you but this should move you in the right direction.
I'm currently creating an application in C# using Visual Studio. I want to create some code so that when a variable has a value of 1 then a certain piece of code is carried out.
I know that I can use an if statement but the problem is that the value will be changed in an asynchronous process so technically the if statement could be ignored before the value has changed.
Is it possible to create an event handler so that when the variable value changes an event is triggered? If so, how can I do this?
It is completely possible that I could have misunderstood how an if statement works! Any help would be much appreciated.
Seems to me like you want to create a property.
public int MyProperty
{
get { return _myProperty; }
set
{
_myProperty = value;
if (_myProperty == 1)
{
// DO SOMETHING HERE
}
}
}
private int _myProperty;
This allows you to run some code any time the property value changes. You could raise an event here, if you wanted.
You can use a property setter to raise an event whenever the value of a field is going to change.
You can have your own EventHandler delegate or you can use the famous System.EventHandler delegate.
Usually there's a pattern for this:
Define a public event with an event handler delegate (that has an argument of type EventArgs).
Define a protected virtual method called OnXXXXX (OnMyPropertyValueChanged for example). In this method you should check if the event handler delegate is null and if not you can call it (it means that there are one or more methods attached to the event delegation).
Call this protected method whenever you want to notify subscribers that something has changed.
Here's an example
private int _age;
//#1
public event System.EventHandler AgeChanged;
//#2
protected virtual void OnAgeChanged()
{
if (AgeChanged != null) AgeChanged(this,EventArgs.Empty);
}
public int Age
{
get
{
return _age;
}
set
{
//#3
_age=value;
OnAgeChanged();
}
}
The advantage of this approach is that you let any other classes that want to inherit from your class to change the behavior if necessary.
If you want to catch an event in a different thread that it's being raised you must be careful not to change the state of objects that are defined in another thread which will cause a cross thread exception to be thrown. To avoid this you can either use an Invoke method on the object that you want to change its state to make sure that the change is happening in the same thread that the event has been raised or in case that you are dealing with a Windows Form you can use a BackgourndWorker to do things in a parallel thread nice and easy.
The .NET framework actually provides an interface that you can use for notifying subscribers when a property has changed: System.ComponentModel.INotifyPropertyChanged. This interface has one event PropertyChanged. Its usually used in WPF for binding but I have found it useful in business layers as a way to standardize property change notification.
In terms of thread safety I would put a lock under in the setter so that you don't run into any race conditions.
Here are my thoughts in code :) :
public class MyClass : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private object _lock;
public int MyProperty
{
get
{
return _myProperty;
}
set
{
lock(_lock)
{
//The property changed event will get fired whenever
//the value changes. The subscriber will do work if the value is
//1. This way you can keep your business logic outside of the setter
if(value != _myProperty)
{
_myProperty = value;
NotifyPropertyChanged("MyProperty");
}
}
}
}
private NotifyPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
//Raise PropertyChanged event
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
}
public class MySubscriber
{
private MyClass _myClass;
void PropertyChangedInMyClass(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
switch(e.PropertyName)
{
case "MyProperty":
DoWorkOnMyProperty(_myClass.MyProperty);
break;
}
}
void DoWorkOnMyProperty(int newValue)
{
if(newValue == 1)
{
//DO WORK HERE
}
}
}
Hope this is helpful :)
just use a property
int _theVariable;
public int TheVariable{
get{return _theVariable;}
set{
_theVariable = value;
if ( _theVariable == 1){
//Do stuff here.
}
}
}
2022
you can use generic class:
class Wrapped<T> {
private T _value;
public Action WillChange;
public Action DidChange;
public T Value
{
get => _value;
set
{
if ( _value != value )
{
OnWillChange();
_value = value;
OnDidChanged();
}
}
}
protected virtual void OnWillChange() => WillChange?.Invoke();
protected virtual void OnDidChange() => DidChange?.Invoke();
}
and will be able to do the following:
var i = new Wrapped<int>();
i.WillChange += () => { Console.WriteLine("will be changed!"); };
i.DidChange += () => { Console.WriteLine("changed!"); };
i.Value = 10;
i.Value = 11;
i.Value = 10;
i.Value = 11;
Console.ReadKey();
result:
will be changed!
changed!
will be changed!
changed!
will be changed!
changed!
will be changed!
changed!
A simple method involves using the get and set functions on the variable
using System;
public string Name{
get{
return name;
}
set{
name= value;
OnVarChange?.Invoke();
}
}
private string name;
public event System.Action OnVarChange;
I am creating a custom control and i want to add some properties in it.
On few of the properties i want to create some events.
Say
if i have a property
public int Date {get; set;}
now if its value is changing i want to trigger a change event. SO how can i add event on this
Use a "normal" property rather than an automatic property, and raise the change event in the setter:
private int _date;
public int Date
{
get { return _date; }
set
{
if (value != _date)
{
_date = value;
// raise change event here
}
}
}
To raise the change event, if this is a standard INotifyPropertyChanged.PropertyChanged event:
PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs("Date");
}
It's recommended practice to isolate this into an OnPropertyChanged method.
If you're raising a custom DateChanged event, the logic will be similar but with different names and event args.
The typical pattern to do this would be like so:
// declare the event
public event EventHandler DateChanged;
// declare backing field for the property
private int _date;
public int Date
{
get { return _date; }
set
{
// bool indicating whether the new value is indeed
// different from the old one
bool raiseEvent = _date != value;
// assign the value to the backing field
_date = value;
// raise the event if the value has changed
if (raiseEvent)
{
OnDateChanged(EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
}
protected virtual void OnDateChanged(EventArgs e)
{
EventHandler temp = this.DateChanged;
// make sure that there is an event handler attached
if (temp != null)
{
temp(this, e);
}
}
This example shows the implementation of an PropertyChanged event. For a PropertyChanging event, it's the same thing, but you raise the event before assigning the value in the property set accessor.
Well, you will need to define your event first of all, and a method to raise it.
Then you will need to switch away from an auto implemented property
private int _date;
public int Date
{
get {return _date;}
set
{
if(!_date.Equals(value))
//Raise event here
_date = value;
}
}
If you need some help with the events part, here is a tutorial that I wrote to give you the detail.
Also you can implement INotifyPropertyChanged interface and just raise an event in you property setter, here is full code sample that you can use and play with:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.ComponentModel;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Foo : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private object myProperty;
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(sender, e);
}
}
public object MyProperty
{
get { return this.myProperty;}
set
{
if (this.myProperty != value)
{
this.myProperty = value;
this.OnPropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs("MyPropery"));
}
}
}
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Foo foo = new Foo();
foo.PropertyChanged += new PropertyChangedEventHandler(foo_PropertyChanged);
foo.MyProperty = "test";
}
static void foo_PropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("raised");
}
}
}