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c# generic delegate to manage instantiated objects

I'm trying to figure out how to use a generic delegate to manage my instantiated objects in a game engine.
Here is some pseudo-code to demonstrate what I'm trying to do:
public class ObjectManager
{
public delegate void ObjectManagerEvent <T> (T instantiatedObject);
public ObjectManagerEvent <T> onObjectInstantiated;
public void InstantiateObject (Object objToInstantiate)
{
var obj = SomeInternalInstantiateMethod ();
ObjectManagerEvent _onObjectInstantiated = onObjectInstantiated;
if (_onObjectInstantiated != null)
{
_onObjectInstantiated (obj);
}
}
}
public class Shape : EBehaviour {}
public class Animal : EBehaviour {}
public class DemoShape
{
private void Init ()
{
ObjectManager.onObjectInstantiated += OnObjectInstaniated;
}
public void OnObjectInstaniated (Shape shape)
{
// do something with shape
}
}
public class DemoAnimal
{
private void Init ()
{
ObjectManager.onObjectInstantiated += OnObjectInstaniated;
}
public void OnObjectInstaniated (Animal animal)
{
// do something with animal
}
}
I know that public ObjectManagerEvent <T> onObjectInstantiated (); would throw an error, but I'm just kind of lost on how to achieve what I want.
Any pointers?

First, your delegate syntax is very C# 1.0.
Option 1
You can't do this in a particularly simple and elegant way because in C# you cannot use an open generic type to declare a generic event. The closest that we can do is create a dictionary of objects, each of which has an event, and we can use generic methods to access this dictionary.
I also assume you intend InstantiateObject to create and return a new instance. Here I also assume everything is a class with a parameterless constructor.
public static class ObjectManager
{
public class TypeEvent<T>
{
// Our event handler will accept a parameter of type T and return void
public event Action<T> OnObjectInstantiated;
public void RaiseObjectInstantiated(T obj)
{
OnObjectInstantiated?.Invoke(obj);
}
}
private static Dictionary<Type, object> _typeMap = new Dictionary<Type, object>();
public static TypeEvent<T> ForType<T>() where T: class, new()
{
Type t = typeof(T);
if (!_typeMap.ContainsKey(t))
{
_typeMap[t] = new TypeEvent<T>();
}
return _typeMap[t] as TypeEvent<T>;
}
public static T InstantiateObject<T>() where T: class, new()
{
T obj = new T();
ForType<T>().RaiseObjectInstantiated(obj);
return obj;
}
}
You could use it like so:
ObjectManager.ForType<Foo>().OnObjectInstantiated += fooInstantiated;
Foo f = ObjectManager.InstantiateObject<Foo>();
Option 2
If you are okay with making ObjectManager itself a static generic class, you could greatly simplify this. Note this means you no longer have just one ObjectManager class - ObjectManager<Foo> and ObjectManager<Bar> are now different classes with different variables. If that's acceptable to you, this makes things a lot cleaner for the small bit you've told us that ObjectManager needs to do:
public static class ObjectManager<T> where T : class, new()
{
// Our event handler will accept a parameter of type T and return void
public static event Action<T> OnObjectInstantiated;
public static T InstantiateObject()
{
T obj = new T();
OnObjectInstantiated?.Invoke(obj);
return obj;
}
}

Automatically calling an init function whenever an object is used for the 1st time

I have an object that only initializes itself with barebones data when constructed (fast), and loads itself for real (slow) when first accessed. The idea is that I'm creating a lot of these barebones objects at startup and hash them into a map, then fully load each object whenever it is individually accessed for the first time. The problem is that I cannot guarantee how clients will interact with this object, there are multiple public methods that might be invoked.
Is there a good pattern to support this kind of situation? The obvious (and my current) solution is to track state with an internal bool, check against that bool in every function that might be invoked, and load that way. But that requires code duplication of that behavior across all public functions, and is vulnerable to errors.
I can imagine a single point-of-entry method that then dishes out behaviors based on a client request type etc., but before I go consider going down that road I want to see if there's a commonly accepted approach/pattern that I might not be aware of. I'm doing this in C#, but any insight is appreciated.

If I understood what you want to achieve, you are looking for the Proxy Design Pattern, more specifically, a virtual Proxy.
Refer to http://www.dofactory.com/net/proxy-design-pattern
A small example would be something like:
public abstract class IObjectProvider
{
public abstract IObjectProvider Object{get;}
public abstract void doStuff();
}
public class RealObject : IObjectProvider
{
public RealObject()
{
//Do very complicated and time taking stuff;
}
public override IObjectProvider Object
{
get { return this; }
}
public override void doStuff()
{
//do this stuff that these objects normally do
}
}
public class ObjectProxy : IObjectProvider
{
private IObjectProvider objectInstance = null;
public override IObjectProvider Object
{
get
{
if (objectInstance == null)
objectInstance = new RealObject();
return objectInstance;
}
}
public override void doStuff()
{
if(objectInstance!=null)
objectInstance.doStuff();
}
}
public class SkeletonClass
{
public IObjectProvider Proxy1 = new ObjectProxy();
public IObjectProvider Proxy2 = new ObjectProxy();
}
static void Main(String[] args)
{
//Objects Not Loaded
SkeletonClass skeleton = new SkeletonClass();
//Proxy1 loads object1 on demand
skeleton.Proxy1.Object.doStuff();
//Proxy2 not loaded object2 until someone needs it
}

Here's an example of dynamic proxy approach.
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using Castle.DynamicProxy; //Remember to include a reference, too. It's nugettable package is Castle.Core
namespace ConsoleApp
{
public class ActualClass
{
//Have static instances of two below for performance
private static ProxyGenerator pg = new ProxyGenerator();
private static ActualClassInterceptor interceptor = new ActualClassInterceptor();
//This is how we get ActualClass items that are wrapped in the Dynamic Proxy
public static ActualClass getActualClassInstance()
{
ActualClass instance = new ActualClass();
return pg.CreateClassProxyWithTarget<ActualClass>(instance, interceptor);
}
//Tracking whether init has been called
private bool initialized = false;
//Will be used as evidence of true initialization, i.e. no longer null
private int? someValue = null;
public void Initialize()
{
if (!initialized)
{
//do some initialization here.
someValue = -1; //Will only get set to non-null if we've run this line.
initialized = true;
}
}
//Any methods you want to intercept need to be virtual!
public virtual int replaceValue(int value)
{
//below will blow up, if someValue has not been set to -1 via Initialize();
int oldValue = someValue.Value;
someValue = value;
return oldValue;
}
//block off constructor from public to enforce use of getActualClassInstance
protected ActualClass() { }
}
public class ActualClassInterceptor : ActualClass, IInterceptor
{
public void Intercept(IInvocation invocation)
{
//Call initialize before proceeding to call the intercepted method
//Worth noting that this is the only place we actually call Initialize()
((ActualClass)invocation.InvocationTarget).Initialize();
invocation.Proceed();
}
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ActualClass instance1 = ActualClass.getActualClassInstance();
ActualClass instance2 = ActualClass.getActualClassInstance();
int x1 = instance1.replaceValue(41);
int x2 = instance2.replaceValue(42);
int y1 = instance1.replaceValue(82);
Debug.Assert(y1 == 41);
int y2 = instance2.replaceValue(84);
Debug.Assert(y2 == 42);
var read = Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}

C# How to treat static class as a variable

I have a static Class and within it I have multiple public static attributes. I treat this class as my global class.
However now I need to treat this class as a variable so that I can pass it to a method of another class for processing..
I can't instantiate this class.. So in effect I can only assign the variables inside this class.
Is my understanding correct or am I missing something?
public static class Global
{
public const int RobotMax = 2;
// GUI sync context
public static MainForm mainForm;
public static SynchronizationContext UIContext;
// Database
public static Database DB = null;
public static string localDBName = "local.db";
public static Database localDB = null;
public static Database ChangeLogDB = null;
public static string changeLogDBName = "ChangeLog.db";
}
Let say I have a class like this, and I need to somehow keep a copy of this in another class maybe
public static class Global_bk
{
public const int RobotMax = 2;
// GUI sync context
public static MainForm mainForm;
public static SynchronizationContext UIContext;
// Database
public static Database DB = null;
public static string localDBName = "local.db";
public static Database localDB = null;
public static Database ChangeLogDB = null;
public static string changeLogDBName = "ChangeLog.db";
}
I need to copy the contents from Global to Global_bk.
And after that I need to compare the contents of the two classes in a method like
static class extentions
{
public static List<Variance> DetailedCompare<T>(T val1, T val2)
{
List<Variance> variances = new List<Variance>();
FieldInfo[] fi = val1.GetType().GetFields();
foreach (FieldInfo f in fi)
{
Variance v = new Variance();
v.Prop = f.Name;
v.valA = f.GetValue(val1);
v.valB = f.GetValue(val2);
if (!v.valA.Equals(v.valB))
variances.Add(v);
}
return variances;
}
}
class Variance
{
string _prop;
public string Prop
{
get { return _prop; }
set { _prop = value; }
}
object _valA;
public object valA
{
get { return _valA; }
set { _valA = value; }
}
object _valB;
public object valB
{
get { return _valB; }
set { _valB = value; }
}
}
So on my main form, how do I go about calling the compare method and passing the static Global class inside?
example: extentions.DetailedCompare(Global, Global_bk) ? Of course this would give me an error because I cant pass a type as a variable.
Please help me, this is driving me nuts...

How about the singleton pattern ? You can pass reference to shared interface (IDoable in exable below) and still have just one instance.
I.E.:
public interface IDoable {
int Value { get; set; }
void Foo();
}
public static class DoableWrapper {
private MyDoable : IDoable {
public int Value { get;set; }
public void Foo() {
}
}
private static IDoable s_Doable = new MyDoable();
public static IDoable Instance {
get { return s_Doable; }
}
}

Singleton is the way to go here. You can do it like this:
internal class SomeClass
{
private static SomeClass singleton;
private SomeClass(){} //yes: private constructor
public static SomeClass GetInstance()
{
return singleton ?? new SomeClass();
}
public int SomeProperty {get;set;}
public void SomeMethod()
{
//do something
}
}
The GetInstance Method will return you a SomeClass object that you can edit and pass into whatever you need.

You can access the members with classname.membername.
internal static class SomeClass
{
public static int SomeProperty {get;set;}
public static void SomeMethod()
{
//do something
}
}
static void main()
{
SomeClass.SomeProperty = 15;
SomeClass.SomeMethod();
}

The only way you are going to obtain a variable with the "class" information is using reflection. You can get a Type object for the class.
namespace Foo {
public class Bar
{
}
}
Type type = Type.GetType("Foo.Bar");
Otherwise, if you are really describing a class "instance" then use an object and simply instantiate one.
C# offers no other notation for class variables.

Delegate to an instance method cannot have null 'this'

Say I have a class declared as follows:
public class ExampleClass
{
public Action<int> Do { get; set; }
public ExampleClass()
{
}
public void FuncA(int n)
{
//irrelevant code here
}
public void FuncB(int n)
{
//other irrelevant code here
}
}
I want to be able to use this class like this
ExampleClass excl = new ExampleClass() { Do = FuncA }
or
ExampleClass excl = new ExampleClass() { Do = excl.FuncA }
or
ExampleClass excl = new ExampleClass() { Do = ExampleClass.FuncA }
I can compile the second option there, but I get a "Delegate to an instance method cannot have null 'this'." exception when I hit that code. The third one doesn't even make sense, because FuncA isn't static.
In my actual code, there will be maybe 10-15 different functions it could get tied to, and I could be adding or removing them at any time, so I don't want to have to have a large switch or it-else statement. Additionally, being able assign a value to 'Do' when instantiating the class is very convenient.
Am I just using incorrect syntax? Is there a better way to create a class and assign an action in one line? Should I just man up and manage a huge switch statement?

You have to create the instance of the class and later set the property to the instance member. Something like:
ExampleClass excl = new ExampleClass();
excl.Do = excl.FuncA;
For your line:
ExampleClass excl = new ExampleClass() { Do = FuncA }
FuncA is not visible without an instance of the class.
For:
ExampleClass excl = new ExampleClass() { Do = excl.FuncA }
Instance has not yet been created that is why you are getting the exception for null reference.
For:
ExampleClass excl = new ExampleClass() { Do = ExampleClass.FuncA }
FuncA is not a static method, you can't access it with the class name.

In object initializer syntax you cannot access the variable being initialized before it is definitely assigned:
ExampleClass excl = new ExampleClass()
{
Do = excl.FuncA //excl is unavailable here
}
Read Object and Collection Initializers (C# Programming Guide) for more info.
You could do the following, for example:
public class ExampleClass
{
public Action<int> Do { get; set; }
public ExampleClass(bool useA)
{
if (useA)
Do = FuncA;
else
Do = FuncB;
}
public void FuncA(int n)
{
//irrelevant code here
}
public void FuncB(int n)
{
//other irrelevant code here
}
}
and use it:
ExampleClass exclA = new ExampleClass(true);
ExampleClass exclB = new ExampleClass(false);
Another idea is if these functions may be declared as static (i.e. they don't need any instance members of the ExampleClass), then this would work:
public class ExampleClass
{
public Action<int> Do { get; set; }
public ExampleClass() { }
public static void FuncA(int n) { /*...*/}
public static void FuncB(int n) { /*...*/}
}
and use it the way you want:
ExampleClass excl = new ExampleClass() { Do = ExampleClass.FuncA };

If you have extension methods make sure that those values are not null before invoking the extension methods or handle nulls inside the extension methods.
For example
public static ExtensionClass
{
public static bool RunExtensionMethod(this object myObject)
{
var someExecutionOnMyObject = myObject.IsValid();
//the above line would invoke the exception when myObject is null
return someExecutionOnMyObject ;
}
}
public void CallingMethod()
{
var myObject = getMyObject();
if(myObject.RunExtensionMethod()) //This would cause "delete to an instance method cannot have null" if myObject is null
{
}
}
To handle this scenario handle nulls and assert nulls if you own the extension class.
public static ExtensionClass
{
public static bool RunExtensionMethod(this object myObject)
{
if(myObject == null) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(myObject));
var someExecutionOnMyObject = myObject.IsValid();
return someExecutionOnMyObject ;
}
}
public void CallingMethod()
{
var myObject = getMyObject();
if(myObject != null && myObject.RunExtensionMethod())
{
}
}

Receiving dynamically changing classes

In my system I have 16 different classes alike used for statistics. They look like the following
public class myClass : myInheritage
{
private static myClass _instance;
public static myClass Instance
{
get { return _instance ?? (_instance = new myClass(); }
}
public static void Reset()
{
_instance = null;
}
}
They are all made into singletons
myInheritage looks like this:
public class myInheritage
{
int data = 0;
public myInheritage()
{
}
public int Data
{
get { return data; }
set { data+= value; }
}
}
The program is made, so the user chooses which class he wants to make statistics with.
Something like this is what I want
public void statistics(Object myObject, string name)
{
Object x = myObject;
x.Data = 10;
x.Data();
}
Called from another class
statistics(myClass.Instance, "myClass");
statistics(myClass2.Instance, "myClass2)";
So I want to dynamically change my instance in my statistics class.
Is that possible with .NET 2.0 ?

You could use reflection...
MethodInfo method = myObject.GetType().GetMethod("Reset");
if (method != null) method.Invoke(myObject, null);
If you can modify the classes themselves, a better approach might be to have each implement an interface (or base class) IResettable.
public interface IResettable
{
void Reset();
}
public class myClass : myInheritage, IResettable
{
public void Reset() { ... }
}
Then you could write the function against the interface:
public void statistics(IResettable myObject, string name)
{
myObject.Reset();
}

Yes. What you want here is a Strategy/Factory pattern. I name both as they could be used in conjunction for your case. There are great examples of these design patterns here and the following are detailed intros to the Strategy pattern and the Factory pattern. The former of the last two links also shows you how to combine the two to do exactly waht you require.
So in your case, you could set up the following interface
public interface IStatistics
{
// Some method used by all classes to impose statistics.
void ImposeStatistics();
}
Then in you singleton classes you could have
public class myClass : myInheritage, IStatistics
{
private static myClass _instance;
public static myClass Instance
{
get { return _instance ?? (_instance = new myClass()); }
}
public static void Reset()
{
_instance = null;
}
// You would also inherit from IStatistics in your other classes.
public void ImposeStatistics()
{
// Do stuff.
}
}
Then you would have a 'factory' class that imposes you stratgey at runtime.
public static class StatisticFactory
{
public static void ImposeStatistics(IStatistics statsType)
{
statsType.ImposeStatistics();
}
/// <summary>
/// Get the conversion type.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="col">The column to perform the conversion upon.</param>
public static IStatistics GetStatsType(string typeName)
{
switch (typeName)
{
case "BoseEinstein":
return new BoseEinsteinStats();
case "FermiDirac":
return new FermiDiracStats();
default:
return null;
}
}
}
You can then call this like
// Run stats.
IStatistics stats = StatisticFactory(GetStatsType("BoseEinstein"));
to get the statistics for the required class.
I hope this helps.