Develop Reference

Using System.Reactive with events

I am developing a WPF application. User can change their Address in a form. I want to raise an event when user clicks a button (to change their address) and use the UserInfoEventArgs to process some information. I am trying to use Reactive Extensions.
MS Documentation (Subject<T> constructor)
I have two doubts. How to subscribe to mySubject and also how to add the UserInfoEventArgs to the subject.
Subject<string[]> mySubject = new Subject<string[]>();
// How to subscribe to mySubject and use the method "AddressSubscriber" as the subscriber?
private void UserDataChangedHandler (object sender, UserInfoEventArgs info)
{
string[] updatedAddress = info.NewAddress.ToArray();
if (updatedAddress.Any())
{
// How to add "updatedAddress" to mySubject so that "AddressSubscriber" can use it?
}
}
private void AddressSubscriber(string[] adrs)
{
// Do some operations with adrs
}

Use the Observable.FromEventPattern method instead of creating a superfluous Subject<T>:
Observable.FromEventPattern<RoutedEventHandler, RoutedEventArgs>(
h => btn.Click += h,
h => btn.Click -= h)
.Select(_ => new UserInfoEventArgs())
.Subscribe(args => { /* do something with the args...*/ });

How to subscribe to mySubject and use the method AddressSubscriber as the subscriber?
mySubject.Subscribe(adrs => AddressSubscriber(adrs));
How to add updatedAddress to mySubject so that AddressSubscriber can use it?
mySubject.OnNext(updatedAddress);

Attach event handler to be called only once

I am currently trying to write an extension function to be able to easily attach an action that is only used once when the event is fired, then unsubscribed.
I am trying something like this:
public static void AttachOnce<TEventArgs>([NotNull] this EventHandler<TEventArgs> me, [NotNull] Action<object, TEventArgs> action)
where TEventArgs : System.EventArgs
{
var handler = me;
EventHandler<TEventArgs> wrappedAction = null;
wrappedAction = (sender, args) =>
{
action(sender, args);
handler -= wrappedAction;
};
handler += wrappedAction;
}
But ReSharper complains on the unsubscribe that handler is "Access to modified closure".
I know what this means, so I made the local variable for the closure already, but it doesn't seem to resolve it. What is failing here?
The direct hard-coded code works. Something like this:
var file = new FileSystemWatcher("path/to/file");
FileSystemEventHandler handler = null;
handler = (sender, args) =>
{
// My action code here
file.Changed -= handler;
};
file.Changed += handler;
EDIT 1 (2018-10-09 11:43 CET):
I may just have been too fast, asking a question before thoroughly thinking it through.
You can't create extension methods on Events. At all. It's just not possible in C#. So I can't even test why ReSharper is complaining and if it is right, because a call like file.Changed.AttachOnce(action) is not valid. It says "The event 'Changed' can only appear on the left hand side of += or -=".
I have found some more sources for similar requests/questions:
http://www.hardkoded.com/blog/csharp-wishlist-extension-for-events
One time generic event call?

I've been thinking about a different but much simpler approach, using a "self-detaching" inline handler which would be used like this:
obj.Event += (s, e) =>
{
Detach(obj, nameof(obj.Event));
// ..do stuff..
};
The Detach method would look like this and could be put anywhere you like (most likely a static helper class):
public static void Detach(object obj, string eventName)
{
var caller = new StackTrace().GetFrame(1).GetMethod();
var type = obj.GetType();
foreach (var field in type.GetFields(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic))
{
if (typeof(Delegate).IsAssignableFrom(field.FieldType))
{
var handler = (field.GetValue(obj) as Delegate)?.GetInvocationList().FirstOrDefault(m => m.Method.Equals(caller));
if (handler != null)
{
type.GetEvent(eventName).RemoveEventHandler(obj, handler);
return;
}
}
}
}
So for your example the code would look like this:
file.Changed += (s, e) =>
{
Detach(file, nameof(file.Changed));
// My action code here
};

In this case, it's okay.
ReSharper simply warns that handler is different between the time you declare and the time it is executed.

Not sure how exactly you want to design your extension method, but maybe this will get you started:
public static void OnChangedOnce(this FileSystemWatcher instance, Action<object, FileSystemEventArgs> action)
{
var file = instance;
var wrappedAction = action;
FileSystemEventHandler handler = null;
handler = (object sender, FileSystemEventArgs args) =>
{
wrappedAction(sender, args);
file.Changed -= handler;
};
file.Changed += handler;
file.EnableRaisingEvents = true; // mandatory
}
var file = new FileSystemWatcher("path/to/file");
file.OnChangedOnce((sender, args)) =>
{
// your action here
});

subscribing to different events on Property changed if different properties

I have class Step which has a collection of Task i.e List .
Step has properties Status , Time . Task also has the same properties. The values of Status and Time for Step need to be updated whenver anyone of the Tasks get their Time or Status changed.
For this , I am adding handlers to each task in the Step class.
private void AddHandlers()
{
foreach (Task tsk in Tasks)
{
tsk.PropertyChanged += HandleStatusChanged;
tsk.PropertyChanged += HandleTimeChanged;
}
}
private void HandleStatusChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
UpdateStepStatusFromTasks();
}
private void HandleTimeChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
UpdateStepTimesFromTasks();
}
private void UpdateStepTimesFromTasks()
{
// logic for calculating Time for Step
}
private void UpdateStepStatusFromTasks()
{
// logic for calculating Status for Step
}
Here is the Property changed event handler in Task
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
var handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null) handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
My issue is that even if I change only Task Time , it calls both the handlers Status and time as they are subscribed to the same property changed event on task.
How can i bifurcate the Property changed event based on Property called from and ensure that only the respective handlers get called and not both together ?
Sorry if this sounds silly , but I am somewhat a beginner to WPF.
Regards,
P

You need to check the parameter of the args that are passed in to get the name of the property.
First get rid of your double subscription.
private void AddHandlers()
{
foreach (Task tsk in Tasks)
{
tsk.PropertyChanged += HandlePropertyChanged;
}
}
Then use the correct signature for your event so you get the correct type of event args.
private void HandlePropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
Now that we have PropertyChangedEventArgs instead of just EventArgs we can check the PropertyName property and call the needed method.
private void HandlePropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
switch(e.PropertyName)
{
case "Status":
UpdateStepStatusFromTasks();
break;
case "Time":
UpdateStepTimesFromTasks();
break;
}
}
As you need more properties handled you can just add them to the switch statement.
P.S. Instead of manually subscribing to each Task you can use a BindingList<Task> as the collection that holds the tasks, you can then subscribe to the ListChanged event, that event will be raised if any of the items in the list raise PropertyChanged (be sure to enable RaiseListChangedEvents and check ListChangedEventArgs.ListChangedType is equal to ListChangedType.ItemChanged).

Every event has "accessors" add or remove. Something similar like get/set for properties. This accessors can show you the nature of the event. Every event has an InvocationList, which represents a collection of object that it will notify when the event is raised. Using this accessors you can you can have more control over what get notified and what not. When you subscribe to the event, the subscribed object get inserted into the Invocation list.
Since you are subscribing the same object for both events, you will have it triggered twice.
Only thing you can do is to check the name of the property that got updated
public void ChangedHandler(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
if(e.PropertyName=="Time"){//do something}
else if (e.PropertyName == "Date") {doSomething}
}
Since you are dealing with WPF, I see a strange pattern here. You are raising the events from various methods. You should be raising the event from a property for which you want the notification to happen, which is bound to a control.
public class MyVM
{
private string _status = "status1";
public string Status
{
get
{
return _status;
}
set
{
if(_status!=value)
{
_status =value
OnPropertyChanged("Status");
}
}
}
}
You can improve on this using various things like "nameof", baseClasses, or MethorVeawers like FODY

So, the obvious thing here is that you are attaching two handlers to the `` event so everything is being processed twice. It needs be only subscribed to once.
But rather than making a lot of complicated methods with code bouncing around all over the place, I prefer to using Microsoft's Reactive Extensions (Rx) - NuGet "Rx-Main" - to do anything with events. After learning a few basic operators it really makes working with events much much easier.
Rx is, in overly simplistic terms, LINQ for Events. It lets you work with queries to handle events rather than enumerables. It creates observables.
First, I would create this observable:
var tpns = // IObservable<{anonymous}>
from t in Tasks.ToObservable()
from ep in Observable.FromEventPattern<
PropertyChangedEventHandler, PropertyChangedEventArgs>(
h => t.PropertyChanged += h,
h => t.PropertyChanged -= h)
select new { Task = t, ep.EventArgs.PropertyName };
This query basically takes the list of Tasks and converts all of the PropertyChanged events of each task in a single observable that returns each Task when that task had a property change and the PropertyName of the task that changed.
Now it's easy to create a couple more observables that filter by PropertyName and return the Task:
IObservable<Task> statusChanges =
from tpn in tpns
where tpn.PropertyName == "Status"
select tpn.Task;
IObservable<Task> timeChanges =
from tpn in tpns
where tpn.PropertyName == "Time"
select tpn.Task;
Those should be really simple to understand.
Now subscribe to each (basically like attaching to events):
IDisposable statusSubscription =
statusChanges
.Subscribe(task => UpdateStepStatusFromTasks());
IDisposable timeSubscription =
timeChanges
.Subscribe(task => UpdateStepTimesFromTasks());
You'll notice each subscription is an IDisposable. Instead of detaching from events using the -= operator you simply call .Dispose() on the subscription and all of the underlying event handlers are detached for you.
Now I would recommend changing the AddHandlers method to return an IDisposable. Then the code that calls AddHandlers can dispose of the handlers - if needed - to make sure you can clean up before exiting.
So the complete code would look like this:
private IDisposable AddHandlers()
{
var tpns = // IObservable<{anonymous}>
from t in Tasks.ToObservable()
from ep in Observable.FromEventPattern<
PropertyChangedEventHandler, PropertyChangedEventArgs>(
h => t.PropertyChanged += h,
h => t.PropertyChanged -= h)
select new { Task = t, ep.EventArgs.PropertyName };
IObservable<Task> statusChanges =
from tpn in tpns
where tpn.PropertyName == "Status"
select tpn.Task;
IObservable<Task> timeChanges =
from tpn in tpns
where tpn.PropertyName == "Time"
select tpn.Task;
IDisposable statusSubscription =
statusChanges
.Subscribe(task => UpdateStepStatusFromTasks());
IDisposable timeSubscription =
timeChanges
.Subscribe(task => UpdateStepTimesFromTasks());
return new CompositeDisposable(statusSubscription, timeSubscription);
}
The only new thing there is the CompositeDisposable which joins the two IDiposable subscriptions into a single IDisposable.
The very nice thing about this approach is that most of the code now sits nicely in a single method. It makes it easy to understand and maintain when done this way - at least after a small learning curve. :-)

Observable.FromEventPattern(addHandler, removeHandler ) - simplification?

When creating an observable from an event, it looks like the following is the most common way:
var o = Observable.FromEventPattern(h => source.Event += h,
h => source.Event -= h);
I find this form a little tedious in some cases where I would like to handle multiple events in the same way. But that doesn't look to easy, since the event it self seems impossible to parameterize, as shown in this non-compiling code:
private IObservable MakeAnObservableFromThisEvent(Event event)
{
return Observable.FromEventPattern(h => event += h,
h => event -= h);
}
private void MakeAlotOfObservables(object source)
{
MakeAnObservableFromThisEvent(source.OneEvent);
MakeAnObservableFromThisEvent(source.AnotherEvent);
MakeAnObservableFromThisEvent(source.ThirdEvent);
//or even
MakeAnObservableFromThisEvent(() => source.ThirdEvent);
}
Of cause there is the 'event name'-overload:
var o = Observable.FromEventPattern< >(source, "Event");
but then there is this thing with more or less magic strings...
Is there away of optimizing this code? Or is this just the way things are?

The problem is that event handlers have "value-type" semantics (like strings) and so passing them as parameters is only useful if you intend to invoke them. Adding new handlers effectively creates a new delegate instance and the original is not modified.
Then only really viable method to add and remove handlers and maintain type safety at the same time is with the syntax you showed first in your question.
var o =
Observable
.FromEventPattern(
h => source.Event += h,
h => source.Event -= h);
However, there is another option that I've used quite a bit - and that's using extension methods.
If I have this class:
public class Foo
{
public event EventHandler<EventArgs> Click;
}
I can write an extension method:
public static class FooEx
{
public static IObservable<EventPattern<EventArgs>> Clicks(this Foo source)
{
return
Observable
.FromEventPattern<EventArgs>(
h => source.Click += h,
h => source.Click -= h);
}
}
That then allows me to write this:
var foo = new Foo();
foo.Clicks().Subscribe(x => Console.WriteLine("Click!"));
You effectively write the extension method once per type and event and then can use it where ever you need to with a much improved syntax.

It's not really a direct solution, but the ReactiveUI-Events basically implements what #Enigmativity suggests for the entire framework. So you can do something like:
Observable.Merge(
Foo.Events().Clicked.Select(_ => Unit.Default),
Foo.Events().KeyUp.Select(_ => Unit.Default));

Is there a way to accomplish the equivalent of passing an "event" by reference?

I put "event" in quotes because I realize that it's a bit of syntax sugar, rather than a true type.
I have some events which are simply chained to matching events in another class. So when the event is raised, the passage is like
Raiser -> Proxy -> Subscriber
So in the Proxy class I have a common pattern like this:
Raiser.SomeEvent +=
(_, args) =>
{
if (this.SomeEvent != null)
this.SomeEvent(this, args);
};
To tidy up my code I wanted to move this out to another method that returns a new delegate that wraps the above event-calling code:
public static EventHandler GetHandlerDelegate(EventHandler handler, Object sender)
{
return
(_, args) =>
{
if (handler != null)
handler(sender, args);
};
}
And then in Proxy I can just do:
Raiser.SomeEvent += GetHandlerDelegate(this.SomeEvent, this);
Which is much neater.
Well this is fine as long as Subscriber doesn't decide to subscribe to Proxy.SomeEvent after the above call. Unfortunately I'm not passing the "event" around by reference as I'd hoped; I now understand that I'm just passing the invocation list, so when OtherClass.SomeEvent happens and that anonymous method is called and invokes the "event" (delegate) it was given, only the delegates that had been added to that event at the time I called GetHandlerDelegate() will be called. While that would actually suffice for my current situation, it's really not acceptable to code it that way.
I've read some other SO questions and I gather there is something called Reactive Extensions that might help, but at this time I'm looking for a simpler solution if there is one. (If not, I just won't do this.)
Is there another way I can accomplish what I'm trying to do, without said drawback?
If this question is unclear, please see my answer which hopefully helps clarify it.

EDIT: Okay, I think I get the point now. It's actually quite simple. You should be able to write the proxy to just have an event, and then make the proxy itself subscribe to the Raiser's event, like this (just for EventHandler - I'll come to that later on):
Proxy proxy = new Proxy();
raiser.SomeEvent += Proxy.Handler;
// Then in the subscriber...
proxy.ProxiedEvent += (whatever)
// And the proxy class...
public class Proxy
{
public event EventHandler ProxiedEvent;
public void Handler(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
EventHandler proxied = ProxiedEvent;
if (proxied != null)
{
// Or pass on the original sender if you want to
proxied(this, e);
}
}
}
Now, the difficulty here is getting it to work generically. I can't currently think of any way of doing that, although I'm somewhat distracted right now.
Is this the sort of thing you were thinking of, or does it at least help you think about things differently?

Since my original goal of doing:
Raiser.SomeEvent += GetHandlerDelegate(this.SomeEvent, this);
is impossible, I've compromised and come up with this:
Raiser.SomeEvent += (_, args) => RaiseEvent(this.SomeEvent, this, args);
Whereas GetHandlerDelegate() would return a delegate which raises the event, RaiseEvent() simply (you guessed it) raises the event.
public static void RaiseEvent(EventHandler _event, Object sender, EventArgs args)
{
if (_event != null)
_event(sender, args);
}
And to support events using custom EventArgs:
public static void RaiseEvent<TArgs>(EventHandler<TArgs> _event, Object sender, TArgs args)
where TArgs : EventArgs
{
if (_event != null)
_event(sender, args);
}
I've put these methods in a static helper class, so the actual call is slightly uglier; here's an example:
ViewControl.OpenFilesetClick += (_, args) => EventHelper.Raise(OpenFilesetClick, this, args);
(I also renamed the method to Raise() and dropped the optional this from the event name being passed).
But I'm not entirely convinced if this is worthwhile, considering the alternative was arguably easier to read:
ViewControl.OpenFilesetClick += (_, args) =>
{
if (OpenFilesetClick != null)
OpenFilesetClick(this, args);
};
Anyway, it was an interesting way to learn more about how events and delegates work (or how they don't work).