If I have a button which does something and also a double-click event on a data grid which I want to do the same thing, what is the best way to ensure that only one function has to be maintained?
Apart from doing the following, is there any fancy C# way to indicate that two events are to do the same thing?
void button1_Click(...) { MyFunction(); }
void dataGrid1_DoubleClick(...) { MyFunction(); }
void MyFunction() { // do stuff }
I suppose that you are talking about a DataGridView (WinForms) so the signature of the event DoubleClick in the DataGridView and the signature of Click event on a button control is the same.
(An EventHadler). In this case you can simply set the same method using the form designer or manually bind the event
dataGridView1.DoubleClick += new EventHandler(MyFunction);
button1.Click += new EventHandler(MyFunction);
Of course the MyFunction method should match the expected signature of an EventHandler
private void MyFunction(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// do your work
}
Reviewing my answer after a few minutes I wish to add:
If you find yourself in a situation in which you need to differentiate between the controls using the sender object (like Control c = sender as Control; if (c.Name == "someName") ) I really suggest you to return to the first idea. Call a common method but keep the EventHandler separated for each control involved.
Using VS, in the form's designer view You can set the procedure You want to call to each control's each event in the control's properties window.
image
Just to add to what Steve said, you will want to bind these events to your function manually in the Load event of your form, instead of using the events under the lightning bolt in the properties window in the designer, like so:
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
button1.Click += MyMethod;
dataGridView1.DoubleClick += MyMethod;
}
void MyMethod(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//Do Stuff
}
Also, declaring a new instance of the EventHandler class has been redundant since Anonymous methods were introduced to C#, you can just point the event directly at the method as shown above.
Related
I have many custom controls on my main form that utilize an event to signify they have done processing. They all share this same event (~100 controls or so).
The main form consumes this event but I do not have a clue how to find an efficient way at getting to the one that raised the event without having really inefficient code.
My controls are contained within a List<T> called controlList and are hosted on their own project.
My event looks like so:
public void OnTaskComplete(object sender, custom_control_project.TaskCompleteEventArgs e)
{
foreach (var control in controlList)
{
if (control.Visible) // <--- THIS IS WRONG! WHAT COULD THIS BE???
{
try
{
...// LOTS OF PROCESSING!
}
catch
{
...
}
finally
{
...
}
}
}
}
If I want to use less controls, I make them invisible and disabled, hence the control.Visible.
How can I make it so I only do work on the one control that raised the event without having to process so much unneeded iterations?
The sender parameter is the object that raised the event. You can cast this to a control.
Assuming the all of the controls are wired to the same event (which you indicate):
protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
((Button)sender).Visible = true;
// or more generally:
((WebControl)sender).Visible = true;
}
You will need to cast the sender to a common, base type. If you go with a base type, WebControl will allow you to access the Enabled property while Control will not.
I just started programming, and I want to use WinForms to make multiple buttons that you can click on to change from white to lime-green and back to white. I have done this for one button:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (button1.BackColor != Color.Lime)
{
button1.BackColor = Color.Lime;
}
else
{
button1.BackColor = Color.White;
}
}
Now I could copy and paste that for all of the buttons, but I know that is inefficient; and if I use winforms to reference button1 on button2, it will just change the color of button1 (obviously).
So, do I need to use a helper method, new class, or something else? What would that look like?
There are a couple of approaches. One might be to create a common function which the different buttons call:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
ChangeColor(button1);
}
private void ChangeColor(Button button)
{
if (button.BackColor != Color.Lime)
button.BackColor = Color.Lime;
else
button.BackColor = Color.White;
}
Then each button handler can use that same function call.
Or, if all of these buttons will always ever do exactly the same thing, then you can use one click handler function for all of them. In this case what you'd need to do is determine which button invoked the handler (whereas you're currently referencing button1 directly) so that you know which one to change. The sender object passed into the handler function is actually a reference to the form element which invoked the handler. All you need to do is cast it:
private void button_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var button = (Button)sender;
if (button.BackColor != Color.Lime)
button.BackColor = Color.Lime;
else
button.BackColor = Color.White;
}
So first the handler grabs a reference to the button which invoked it, then runs the logic on that button. Note also how I made the name of the handler function slightly more generic. Now you'd go to the form designer and set button_Click as the click handler for all of the buttons which should invoke this.
You do this the exact same way you'd do it for any C# class. You derive your own class and customize the base class behavior. Every event has a corresponding OnXxxx() method that you can override.
Add a new class to your project and paste this code:
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
class MyButton : Button {
protected override void OnClick(EventArgs e) {
// Your code here
//...
base.OnClick(e);
}
}
Change the code in OnClick() to do what you want to do. Compile. You'll now have your own button control on the top of the toolbox. And can drop as many copies of it as you want on a form. They'll all behave the same without having to add any code in the form.
Probably the easiest way would be to have each button invoke the same click handler. Then inside of your handler use the Sender instead of hard coding Button1.
private void buttons_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var theButton = (Button) sender;
if (theButton.BackColor != Color.Lime)
{
theButton.BackColor = Color.Lime;
}
else
{
theButton.BackColor = Color.White;
}
}
You can get the button that raised the Click event by casting sender to Button.
You can then add the same handler to every button.
I'm a VB guy.... in VB.Net you can add multiple handlers for events and connect multiple events to the same handler.
This sub hooks all clicks to color the buttons.
Private Sub ColorButtons(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) _
Handles Button1.Click, Button2.Click, ..
I do this all the time accidentally because I drag/copy a control to make a new one and the new button gets added to the original's events.
Other Subs can handle the same events to do other work - both will execute.
No idea how to do this in C#.
The proper way to do this really is to associate each button's click event to the function you have coded for that purpose (you want the function to run when the button is clicked, right?), so add the following (or similar) to an appropriate section of your code:
MyButton1.Click += new RoutedEventHandler(buttons_Click);
MyButton2.Click += new RoutedEventHandler(buttons_Click);
etc...
You can associate as many controls to the event handler as you like.
What I usually do before is this:
private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
button1.PerformClick();
}
This code will just simply run the codes under button1_Click.
But try not to practice as such and just simply put it in a function/method just like what David suggested.
Assume that I have a WinFoms project. There is just one button (e.g. button1).
The question is: is it possible to trigger the ButtonClicked event via code without really clicking it?
Button controls have a PerformClick() method that you can call.
button1.PerformClick();
The .NET framework uses a pattern where for every event X there is a method protected void OnX(EventArgs e) {} that raises event X. See this Msdn article. To raise an event from outside the declaring class you will have to derive the class and add a public wrapper method. In the case of Button it would look like this:
class MyButton : System.Windows.Forms.Button
{
public void ProgrammaticClick(EventArgs e)
{
base.OnClick(e);
}
}
You can just call the event handler function directly and specify null for the sender and EventArgs.Empty for the arguments.
void ButtonClicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// do stuff
}
// Somewhere else in your code:
button1.Click += new EventHandler(ButtonClicked);
// call the event handler directly:
ButtonClicked(button1, EventArgs.Empty);
Or, rather, you'd move the logic out of the ButtonClicked event into its own function, and then your event handler and the other code you have would in turn call the new function.
void StuffThatHappensOnButtonClick()
{
// do stuff
}
void ButtonClicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
StuffThatHappensOnButtonClick();
}
// Somewhere else in your code:
button1.Click += new EventHandler(ButtonClicked);
// Simulate the button click:
StuffThatHappensOnButtonClick();
The latter method has the advantage of letting you separate your business and UI logic. You really should never have any business logic in your control event handlers.
Yes, just call the method the way you would call any other. For example:
private void btnSayHello_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("Hello World!");
}
private void btnTriggerHello_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
btnSayHello_Click(null, null);
}
button1.PerformClick();
But if you have to do something like this maybe it's better to move the code you have under the event on a new method ?
Why don't you just put your event code into a Method. Then have the Event execute the method. This way if you need to execute the same code that the Event rises, you can, but simply just calling the "Method".
void Event_Method()
{
//Put Event code here.
MessageBox.Show("Hello!");
}
void _btnSend_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Event_Method();
}
void AnotherMethod()
{
Event_Method();
}
Make sense? Now the "Click" event AND anywhere in code you can trigger the same code as the "Click" event.
Don't trigger the event, call the method that the event calls. ;)
In most cases you would not need to do that. Simply wrap your functionality in functions related to a specific purpose (task). You call this function inside your event and anywhere else it's needed.
Overthink your approach.
I recently had this problem where I wanted to programatically click a button that had multiple event handlers assigned to it (think UserControl or derived classes).
For example:
myButton.Click += ButtonClicked1
myButton.Click += ButtonClicked2;
void ButtonClicked1(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("ButtonClicked1");
}
void ButtonClicked2(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("ButtonClicked1");
}
When you click the button, both functions will get called. In the instances where you want to programmatically fire an event handler for a function from a form (for example, when a user presses enter in a Text field then call the InvokeOnClick method passing through the control you. For example
this.InvokeOnClick(myButton, EventArgs.Empty);
Where this is the Form instance you are in.
use a for loop to call the button_click event
private void btnadd_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
for (int i = 0; i <= 2; i++)
StuffThatHappensOnButtonClick();
}
void StuffThatHappensOnButtonClick()
{
........do stuff
}
we assume at least one time you need click the button
I have a WinForms app that contains many NumericUpDown controls. In a nutshell, if my users enter a value into the control and then delete the text, I want to restore it (the text) when the control loses focus. So I decided that I'd check .Text when the control loses focus and if it's empty, I set .Text = .Value.ToString().
I'm doing this in the Leave event handler and it works just fine. But as I said, I have many of these controls (18, to be exact). I don't like creating 18 Leave event handlers that all do the same thing so I created a generic one like this:
private void numericUpDown_GenericLeave(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(((NumericUpDown)sender).Text))
((NumericUpDown)sender).Text = ((NumericUpDown)sender).Value.ToString();
}
I started to hook up all of the controls to this generic event handler but I quickly got tired of doing this:
numericUpDown1.Leave += numericUpDown_GenericLeave;
numericUpDown2.Leave += numericUpDown_GenericLeave;
numericUpDown3.Leave += numericUpDown_GenericLeave;
...
numericUpDown18.Leave += numericUpDown_GenericLeave;
So I thought I'd create a function that would return a list of all the controls of a specified type and then loop through that list and hookup the event handlers. That function looks like this:
public static List<Control> GetControlsOfSpecificType(Control container, Type type)
{
var controls = new List<Control>();
foreach (Control ctrl in container.Controls)
{
if (ctrl.GetType() == type)
controls.Add(ctrl);
controls.AddRange(GetControlsOfSpecificType(ctrl, type));
}
return controls;
}
I call the function like this:
var listOfControls = GetControlsOfSpecificType(this, typeof(NumericUpDown));
foreach (var numericUpDownControl in listOfControls)
{
numericUpDownControl.Leave += numericUpDown_GenericLeave;
}
When I run my app, however, I don't see the expected behavior that occurs when I manually hookup each control to the generic event handler. This code is currently in the constructor of my form and I've tried calling it before as well as after the call to InitializeComponent() but neither one seems to be working. I get no error of any kind, I just don't see the behavior that I was expecting. I have a breakpoint set inside the generic event handler but the debugger never breaks so it seems like the event handler isn't being hooked up correctly. Does anyone know why this might be or how I can troubleshoot it further? Thanks!
EDIT
I just realized that the call to:
var listOfControls = GetControlsOfSpecificType(this, typeof(NumericUpDown));
was happening before the call to InitializeComponent() so of course the list of controls being returned was empty. DOH! Thanks for all the replys. I apologize for wasting everyones time. :-(
You're passing this to your method, which is presumably a reference to your form. Your method will only catch the controls that are placed directly on your form. Any NumericUpDown controls that are not directly on the form (i.e. they're sitting on a panel or something) will be missed.
Why not create a user control that has a NumericUpDown control in it.
Then handle this is in the user control events.
This worked for me:
private decimal _previous = 0;
private void numericUpDown1_ValueChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (((NumericUpDown)sender).Text.Length > 0)
{
_previous = this.numericUpDown1.Value;
}
}
private void UserControl1_Leave(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (this.numericUpDown1.Text == "")
{
this.numericUpDown1.Value = _previous;
this.numericUpDown1.Text = System.Convert.ToString(_previous);
}
}
Just note that the Leave event is on the user control not on the updown control itself.
Question answered. See Edit above. Thanks to bsegraves for pointing me in the right direction.
I have a c# form (let's call it MainForm) with a number of custom controls on it. I'd like to have the MainForm.OnClick() method fire anytime someone clicks on the form regardless of whether the click happened on the form or if the click was on one of the custom controls. I'm looking for behavior similar to the KeyPreview feature of forms except for mouse clicks rather than key presses.
I recommend creating a base form for the other forms in your application to inherit. Add this code to your base form to create a new event called GlobalMouseClickEventHandler:
namespace Temp
{
public delegate void GlobalMouseClickEventHander(object sender, MouseEventArgs e);
public partial class TestForm : Form
{
[Category("Action")]
[Description("Fires when any control on the form is clicked.")]
public event GlobalMouseClickEventHander GlobalMouseClick;
public TestForm()
{
InitializeComponent();
BindControlMouseClicks(this);
}
private void BindControlMouseClicks(Control con)
{
con.MouseClick += delegate(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
TriggerMouseClicked(sender, e);
};
// bind to controls already added
foreach (Control i in con.Controls)
{
BindControlMouseClicks(i);
}
// bind to controls added in the future
con.ControlAdded += delegate(object sender, ControlEventArgs e)
{
BindControlMouseClicks(e.Control);
};
}
private void TriggerMouseClicked(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if (GlobalMouseClick != null)
{
GlobalMouseClick(sender, e);
}
}
}
}
This solution will work not only for top-level controls, but also nested controls such as controls placed inside of panels.
In the form's ControlAdded event, add a MouseClick handler to the control, with the Address of the form's click event. I haven't tested this, but it might work.
Private Sub Example_ControlAdded(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.ControlEventArgs) Handles Me.ControlAdded
AddHandler e.Control.MouseClick, AddressOf Example_MouseClick
End Sub
Private Sub Example_MouseClick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs) Handles Me.MouseClick
MessageBox.Show("Click")
End Sub
The only way I've ever managed to do this is to handle the [c]Click[/c] event of every control. I don't believe the event is raised before the control processes it.
In WPF, there are "tunneling" preview events that provide this functionality, but that doesn't really help you in WinForms.
You can hook all the control's events, if you like, and then monitor that way. I assume there is some uber fancy Win32 api way to trap them all, but that is beyond me at the moment.
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
HookEvents();
}
private void HookEvents() {
foreach (Control ctl in this.Controls) {
ctl.MouseClick += new MouseEventHandler(Form1_MouseClick);
}
}
void Form1_MouseClick(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
LogEvent(sender, "MouseClick");
}
// and then this just logs to a multiline textbox you have somwhere on the form
private void LogEvent(object sender, string msg) {
this.textBox1.Text = string.Format("{0} {1} ({2}) \n {3}",
DateTime.Now.TimeOfDay.ToString(),
msg,
sender.GetType().Name,
textBox1.Text
);
}
The output is something like this, showing all the events and who "sent" them up:
14:51:42.3381985 MouseClick (Form1)
14:51:40.6194485 MouseClick (RichTextBox)
14:51:40.0100735 MouseClick (TextBox)
14:51:39.6194485 MouseClick (Form1)
14:51:39.2131985 MouseClick (RichTextBox)
14:51:38.8694485 MouseClick (Button)
HTH.
Catching a click on an open space on the form is easy, but to get a click that's actually on a control, you'll need the cooperation of that control to send it to the form.
One possibility is to place a transparent control over the entire form, and accept clicks onto that, deal with them, and then pass them onto the proper control underneath.
This is a common pattern in development, its called the Observer pattern. There are lots of examples of Observer patterns and c# here is 1 example http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms954621.aspx but have a good google around.