How to dispatch events in C# - 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,

Related

C# listening to 3rd party long living event using weak reference

I am attaching to a 3rd party, long living Deleted event publisher, which ends up keeping my possibly short lived objects alive due to the event handler. The Deleted event is most likely never triggered, I just have to handle things if it is. It's not obvious where to un-subscribe from the Deleted event, thus I would like a weak reference to it so my objects can be GC'd.
I have seen a lot of very elaborate ways to create weak event handlers, but the following snippet seems to do the trick, at least in the provided test snippet. Is this just insane or can it work?
(http://diditwith.net/CommentView,guid,aacdb8ae-7baa-4423-a953-c18c1c7940ab.aspx says under "A First Stab" that a similar snippet "(...) isn't robust enough to be used with an event (...)", why not?)
public static class WeakEvent
{
private class WeakEventHolder<TArgs> where TArgs : EventArgs
{
private readonly WeakReference _handler;
public WeakEventHolder(Action<object, TArgs> handler)
{
_handler = new WeakReference(handler);
}
public void Handle(object sender, TArgs args)
{
Action<object, TArgs> handler = (Action<object, TArgs>)_handler.Target;
if (handler != null)
handler(sender, args);
}
}
public static EventHandler MakeHandler(Action<object, EventArgs> handler)
{
return new WeakEventHolder<EventArgs>(handler).Handle;
}
}
Test class
[TestFixture]
public class Tests
{
public class Publisher
{
public EventHandler Event;
public void Raise()
{
if (Event != null)
Event(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
public class Target
{
public Target(Publisher publisher)
{
publisher.Event += WeakEvent.MakeHandler(HandleEvent);
}
public void HandleEvent(object sender, EventArgs args)
{
System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine("HandleEvent");
}
}
[Test]
public void Test()
{
Publisher publisher = new Publisher();
WeakReference wref = new WeakReference(new Target(publisher));
GC.Collect();
publisher.Raise();
Assert.False(wref.IsAlive);
}
}
Because Action<object, TArgs> handler maybe garbage collected before it's target is. Here's a unit test that exposes the problem:
public class Bar
{
public void Foo(object sender, EventArgs args)
{
}
}
[Test]
public void ActionIsNotGCedBeforeTarget()
{
Bar bar = new Bar();
Action<object, EventArgs> action = bar.Foo;
WeakReference weakRef = new WeakReference(action);
action = null;
GC.Collect();
Assert.IsTrue(weakRef.IsAlive); // Will be false
}

simple event c#

I have two classes, and i have to make an event to communicate between these classes.
Class a
{
public delegate void delegat(int a);
public event delegat exit;
...
private void a_FormClosed(object sender, FormClosedEventArgs e)
{
// My event named exit should run here, but I get exception!
exit(100);
}
}
Class b
{
a instance=new a();
a.exit+=new a.delegat(my_fun);
...
private void my_fun(int x)
{
if(x==100)
do_smth;
...
}
}
But the thing is that i get exception: "object reference not set to an instance of an object".
I can't understand what Am I doing wrong? Where should I make a new instance of this?
Thanks for help!
You are trying to assign the exit event on the class itself and not the instance e.g.
a.exit += ...
Should be:
instance.exit += ...
You also aren't checking whether your exit event has been assigned before attempting to fire it. There are other issues which you haven't taken into consideration like race conditions.
Here is a general example of a relatively safe way of handling events e.g.
public class A
{
public delegate void ExitHandler(object sender, int a);
public event ExitHandler Exit;
...
private void a_FormClosed(object sender, FormClosedEventArgs e)
{
OnExit(100);
}
protected virtual void OnExit(int a)
{
// take a reference to the event (incase it changes)
var handler = Exit;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, a);
}
}
}
public class B
{
private A _a;
public B()
{
_a = new A();
_a.Exit += (sender, value) => my_fun(value);
}
private void my_fun(int x)
{
if(x==100)
do_smth;
...
}
}
I would change "class a" code for calling the event to as follows:
Class a
{
public delegate void delegat(int a);
public event delegat exit;
...
private void a_FormClosed(object sender, FormClosedEventArgs e)
{
if (this.exit != null) // just in case a_FormClosed fires before assigning the event
exit(100);//here should run my event named exit but i get exception!
}
}
Verify if there is any subscriber exist to your event before raising it:
if (exit != null)
exit(100);
Another option - subscribing dummy event handler when you are defining event in class A:
public event delegat exit = (_) => { };
Also use PascalCase naming for types, events and methods. And there is predefined delegate in .NET which receives one argument and returns void: Action<T>
Try this
namespace foo
{
public delegate void delegat(int a);
Class a
{
public event delegat exit;
private void a_FormClosed(object sender, FormClosedEventArgs e)
{
if(exit != null)
{
exit(100);//here should run my event named exit but i get exception!
}
}
}
}
Class b
{
a instance=new a();
instance.exit+=new delegat(my_fun);
...
priavte void my_fun(int x)
{
if(x==100)
do_smth;
...
}
}

delegates and events

I have created a very simple dummy program to understand Delegates and events. In my below program I am simple calling a method. When I call a method, five methods are automatically called with the help of delegates and events.
Kindly take a look at my program and do let me know where I am wrong or right as this is my first time using delegates and events.
using System;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
public delegate void MyFirstDelegate();
class Test
{
public event MyFirstDelegate myFirstDelegate;
public void Call()
{
Console.WriteLine("Welcome in Delegate world..");
if (myFirstDelegate != null)
{
myFirstDelegate();
}
}
}
class AttachedFunction
{
public void firstAttachMethod()
{
Console.WriteLine("ONE...");
}
public void SecondAttachMethod()
{
Console.WriteLine("TWO...");
}
public void thirdAttachMethod()
{
Console.WriteLine("THREE...");
}
public void fourthAttachMethod()
{
Console.WriteLine("FOUR...");
}
public void fifthAttachMethod()
{
Console.WriteLine("FIVE...");
}
}
class MyMain
{
public static void Main()
{
Test test = new Test();
AttachedFunction attachedFunction = new AttachedFunction();
test.myFirstDelegate += new MyFirstDelegate(attachedFunction.firstAttachMethod);
test.myFirstDelegate += new MyFirstDelegate(attachedFunction.SecondAttachMethod);
test.myFirstDelegate += new MyFirstDelegate(attachedFunction.thirdAttachMethod);
test.myFirstDelegate += new MyFirstDelegate(attachedFunction.fourthAttachMethod);
test.myFirstDelegate += new MyFirstDelegate(attachedFunction.fifthAttachMethod);
test.Call();
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
Events are implemented using Delegates. That said by convention events take the form of:
void EventHandler(Object sender, EventArgs args);
EventHandler is actually a delegate defined in .Net. EventArgs is a class in .Net that acts as a placeholder to pass additional information. If you have additional information you would create a class that derived from EventArgs and contained properties for the additional data; therefore you would create your own delegate like so:
void MyEventHandler(Object sender, MyEventArgs args);
Microsoft has a tutorial on events here and also describes defining and raising events here
This is a common pattern with dealing with events:
// define the delegate
public delegate void CustomEventHandler(object sender, CustomEventArgs e);
// define the event args
public class CustomEventArgs : EventArgs
{
public int SomeValue { get; set; }
public CustomEventArgs( int someValue )
{
this.SomeValue = someValue;
}
}
// Define the class that is raising events
public class SomeClass
{
// define the event
public event CustomEventHandler CustomEvent;
// method that raises the event - derived classes can override this
protected virtual void OnCustomEvent(CustomEventArgs e)
{
// do some stuff
// ...
// fire the event
if( CustomEvent != null )
CustomEvent(this, e);
}
public void SimulateEvent(int someValue)
{
// raise the event
CustomEventArgs args = new CustomEventArgs(someValue);
OnCustomEvent(args);
}
}
public class Main
{
public static void Main()
{
SomeClass c = new SomeClass();
c.CustomEvent += SomeMethod;
c.SimulateEvent(10); // will cause event
}
public static void SomeMethod(object sender, CustomEventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.SomeValue);
}
}
Try putting the line
public delegate void MyFirstDelegate();
inside the Test class.
Also, use the Invoke function on the event instead, i.e.
myFirstDelegate.Invoke();

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.

C# event handling (compared to Java)

I am currently having a hardtime understanding and implementing events in C# using delagates. I am used to the Java way of doing things:
Define an interface for a listener type which would contain a number of method definitions
Define adapter class for that interface to make things easier if I'm not interested in all the events defined in a listener
Define Add, Remove and Get[] methods in the class which raises the events
Define protected fire methods to do the dirty work of looping through the list of added listeners and calling the correct method
This I understand (and like!) - I know I could do this exactly the same in c#, but it seems that a new (better?) system is in place for c#. After reading countless tutorials explaining the use of delegates and events in c# I still am no closer to really understanding what is going on :S
In short, for the following methods how would I implement the event system in c#:
void computerStarted(Computer computer);
void computerStopped(Computer computer);
void computerReset(Computer computer);
void computerError(Computer computer, Exception error);
^ The above methods are taken from a Java application I once made which I'm trying to port over to c#.
Many many thanks!
You'd create four events, and methods to raise them, along with a new EventArgs-based class to indicate the error:
public class ExceptionEventArgs : EventArgs
{
private readonly Exception error;
public ExceptionEventArgs(Exception error)
{
this.error = error;
}
public Error
{
get { return error; }
}
}
public class Computer
{
public event EventHandler Started = delegate{};
public event EventHandler Stopped = delegate{};
public event EventHandler Reset = delegate{};
public event EventHandler<ExceptionEventArgs> Error = delegate{};
protected void OnStarted()
{
Started(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
protected void OnStopped()
{
Stopped(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
protected void OnReset()
{
Reset(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
protected void OnError(Exception e)
{
Error(this, new ExceptionEventArgs(e));
}
}
Classes would then subscribe to the event using either a method or a an anonymous function:
someComputer.Started += StartEventHandler; // A method
someComputer.Stopped += delegate(object o, EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("{0} has started", o);
};
someComputer.Reset += (o, e) => Console.WriteLine("{0} has been reset");
A few things to note about the above:
The OnXXX methods are protected so that derived classes can raise the events. This isn't always necessary - do it as you see fit.
The delegate{} piece on each event declaration is just a trick to avoid having to do a null check. It's subscribing a no-op event handler to each event
The event declarations are field-like events. What's actually being created is both a variable and an event. Inside the class you see the variable; outside the class you see the event.
See my events/delegates article for much more detail on events.
You'll have to define a single delegate for that
public delegate void ComputerEvent(object sender, ComputerEventArgs e);
ComputerEventArgs would be defined like this:
public class ComputerEventArgs : EventArgs
{
// TODO wrap in properties
public Computer computer;
public Exception error;
public ComputerEventArgs(Computer aComputer, Exception anError)
{
computer = aComputer;
error = anError;
}
public ComputerEventArgs(Computer aComputer) : this(aComputer, null)
{
}
}
The class that fires the events would have these:
public YourClass
{
...
public event ComputerEvent ComputerStarted;
public event ComputerEvent ComputerStopped;
public event ComputerEvent ComputerReset;
public event ComputerEvent ComputerError;
...
}
This is how you assign handlers to the events:
YourClass obj = new YourClass();
obj.ComputerStarted += new ComputerEvent(your_computer_started_handler);
Your handler is:
private void ComputerStartedEventHandler(object sender, ComputerEventArgs e)
{
// do your thing.
}
The main difference is that in C# the events are not interface-based. Instead, the event publisher declares the delegate which you can think of as a function pointer (although not exactly the same :-)). The subscriber then implements the event prototype as a regular method and adds a new instance of the delegate to the event handler chain of the publisher. Read more about delegates and events.
You can also read short comparison of C# vs. Java events here.
First of all, there is a standard method signature in .Net that is typically used for events. The languages allow any sort of method signature at all to be used for events, and there are some experts who believe the convention is flawed (I mostly agree), but it is what it is and I will follow it for this example.
Create a class that will contain the event’s parameters (derived from EventArgs).
public class ComputerEventArgs : EventArgs
{
Computer computer;
// constructor, properties, etc.
}
Create a public event on the class that is to fire the event.
class ComputerEventGenerator // I picked a terrible name BTW.
{
public event EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs> ComputerStarted;
public event EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs> ComputerStopped;
public event EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs> ComputerReset;
...
}
Call the events.
class ComputerEventGenerator
{
...
private void OnComputerStarted(Computer computer)
{
EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs> temp = ComputerStarted;
if (temp != null) temp(this, new ComputerEventArgs(computer)); // replace "this" with null if the event is static
}
}
Attach a handler for the event.
void OnLoad()
{
ComputerEventGenerator computerEventGenerator = new ComputerEventGenerator();
computerEventGenerator.ComputerStarted += new EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs>(ComputerEventGenerator_ComputerStarted);
}
Create the handler you just attached (mostly by pressing the Tab key in VS).
private void ComputerEventGenerator_ComputerStarted(object sender, ComputerEventArgs args)
{
if (args.Computer.Name == "HAL9000")
ShutItDownNow(args.Computer);
}
Don't forget to detach the handler when you're done. (Forgetting to do this is the biggest source of memory leaks in C#!)
void OnClose()
{
ComputerEventGenerator.ComputerStarted -= ComputerEventGenerator_ComputerStarted;
}
And that's it!
EDIT: I honestly can't figure out why my numbered points all appear as "1." I hate computers.
there are several ways to do what you want. The most direct way would be to define delegates for each event in the hosting class, e.g.
public delegate void ComputerStartedDelegate(Computer computer);
protected event ComputerStartedDelegate ComputerStarted;
public void OnComputerStarted(Computer computer)
{
if (ComputerStarted != null)
{
ComputerStarted.Invoke(computer);
}
}
protected void someMethod()
{
//...
computer.Started = true; //or whatever
OnComputerStarted(computer);
//...
}
any object may 'listen' for this event simply by:
Computer comp = new Computer();
comp.ComputerStarted += new ComputerStartedDelegate(
this.ComputerStartedHandler);
protected void ComputerStartedHandler(Computer computer)
{
//do something
}
The 'recommended standard way' of doing this would be to define a subclass of EventArgs to hold the Computer (and old/new state and exception) value(s), reducing 4 delegates to one. In this case that would be a cleaner solution, esp. with an Enum for the computer states in case of later expansion. But the basic technique remains the same:
the delegate defines the signature/interface for the event handler/listener
the event data member is a list of 'listeners'
listeners are removed using the -= syntax instead of +=
In c# events are delegates. They behave in a similar way to a function pointer in C/C++ but are actual classes derived from System.Delegate.
In this case, create a custom EventArgs class to pass the Computer object.
public class ComputerEventArgs : EventArgs
{
private Computer _computer;
public ComputerEventArgs(Computer computer) {
_computer = computer;
}
public Computer Computer { get { return _computer; } }
}
Then expose the events from the producer:
public class ComputerEventProducer
{
public event EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs> Started;
public event EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs> Stopped;
public event EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs> Reset;
public event EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs> Error;
/*
// Invokes the Started event */
private void OnStarted(Computer computer) {
if( Started != null ) {
Started(this, new ComputerEventArgs(computer));
}
}
// Add OnStopped, OnReset and OnError
}
The consumer of the events then binds a handler function to each event on the consumer.
public class ComputerEventConsumer
{
public void ComputerEventConsumer(ComputerEventProducer producer) {
producer.Started += new EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs>(ComputerStarted);
// Add other event handlers
}
private void ComputerStarted(object sender, ComputerEventArgs e) {
}
}
When the ComputerEventProducer calls OnStarted the Started event is invoked which in turn will call the ComputerEventConsumer.ComputerStarted method.
The delegate declares a function signature, and when it's used as an event on a class it also acts as a collection of enlisted call targets. The += and -= syntax on an event is used to adding a target to the list.
Given the following delegates used as events:
// arguments for events
public class ComputerEventArgs : EventArgs
{
public Computer Computer { get; set; }
}
public class ComputerErrorEventArgs : ComputerEventArgs
{
public Exception Error { get; set; }
}
// delegates for events
public delegate void ComputerEventHandler(object sender, ComputerEventArgs e);
public delegate void ComputerErrorEventHandler(object sender, ComputerErrorEventArgs e);
// component that raises events
public class Thing
{
public event ComputerEventHandler Started;
public event ComputerEventHandler Stopped;
public event ComputerEventHandler Reset;
public event ComputerErrorEventHandler Error;
}
You would subscribe to those events with the following:
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var thing = new Thing();
thing.Started += thing_Started;
}
static void thing_Started(object sender, ComputerEventArgs e)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
Although the arguments could be anything, the object sender and EventArgs e is a convention that's used very consistently. The += thing_started will first create an instance of the delegate pointing to target method, then add it to the event.
On the component itself you would typically add methods to fire the events:
public class Thing
{
public event ComputerEventHandler Started;
public void OnStarted(Computer computer)
{
if (Started != null)
Started(this, new ComputerEventArgs {Computer = computer});
}
}
You must test for null in case no delegates have been added to the event. When you make the method call however all delegates which have been added will be called. This is why for events the return type is void - there is no single return value - so to feed back information you would have properties on the EventArgs which the event handlers would alter.
Another refinement would be to use the generic EventHandler delegate rather than declaring a concrete delegate for each type of args.
public class Thing
{
public event EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs> Started;
public event EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs> Stopped;
public event EventHandler<ComputerEventArgs> Reset;
public event EventHandler<ComputerErrorEventArgs> Error;
}
Thank you all so much for your answers! Finally I'm starting to understand what is going on. Just one thing; It seems that if each event had a different number/type of arguments I'd need to create a different :: EventArgs class to deal with it:
public void computerStarted(Computer computer);
public void computerStopped(Computer computer);
public void computerReset(Computer computer);
public void breakPointHit(Computer computer, int breakpoint);
public void computerError(Computer computer, Exception exception);
This would require three classses to deal with the events!? (Well two custom, and one using the default EventArgs.Empty class)
Cheers!
Ok, FINAL clarification!: So this is pretty much the best I can do code-wise to implement those events?
public class Computer {
public event EventHandler Started;
public event EventHandler Stopped;
public event EventHandler Reset;
public event EventHandler<BreakPointEvent> BreakPointHit;
public event EventHandler<ExceptionEvent> Error;
public Computer() {
Started = delegate { };
Stopped = delegate { };
Reset = delegate { };
BreakPointHit = delegate { };
Error = delegate { };
}
protected void OnStarted() {
Started(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
protected void OnStopped() {
Stopped(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
protected void OnReset() {
Reset(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
protected void OnBreakPointHit(int breakPoint) {
BreakPointHit(this, new BreakPointEvent(breakPoint));
}
protected void OnError(System.Exception exception) {
Error(this, new ExceptionEvent(exception));
}
}
}

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