I would like to hear opinions on below code snippet. Is there anything that can be improved? Is the event handler/raiser naming following best practices? I know it is not that useful to handle and raise events in the same class but this is just a snippet.
public class MyControl
{
public MyControl()
{
this.LogWritten += this.HandleMyControlLogWritten;
}
// Event handler
void HandleMyControlLogWritten(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
// Event object
public event Action<object, EventArgs> LogWritten;
// Event raiser
protected virtual void OnLogWritten(EventArgs e)
{
if (this.LogWritten != null)
{
this.LogWritten(this, e);
}
}
}
The main change I'd recommend would be to get a copy of the event handler:
// Event raiser
protected virtual void OnLogWritten(EventArgs e)
{
var handler = this.LogWritten;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, e);
}
}
This is important if you're planning to (eventually) use this class in a multi-threaded scenario. As such, I find that it's a good "best practice" to get into the habit of using. The issue is that, when using in multiple threads, without creating the copy, it's possible that the only "handler" attached could unsubscribe between the null check and the invocation, which would cause a runtime error. By copying to a temporary variable (the var handler = this.LogWritten;) line, you're effectively creating a "snapshot" of the subscriber list, and then checking it for null and invoking if required.
The other change is in the event declaration itself. Instead of using Action<T1,T2>:
// Event object
public event Action<object, EventArgs> LogWritten;
I would recommend using EventHandler<TEventArgs> (if you want to use a custom EventArgs subclass) or EventHandler (for standard EventArgs). These are more "standard practice", and will be what other developers expect:
// Event object
public event EventHandler LogWritten;
Related
I've seen many developers when wanting to invoke an Event they assign it to a local variable named handler and invoke handler instead of invoking Event directly.
Why we are not invoking Events directly?
private void OnSomethingChanged(EventArgs e)
{
if (SomethingEvent != null)
{
SomethingEvent(this, e);
}
}
The code you've posted isn't thread-safe, basically. If the final subscriber unsubscribes in a different thread after the if check but before the invocation, you'll get a NullReferenceException.
One option is to write an extension method:
public static void NullSafeInvoke(this EventHandler handler,
object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, e);
}
}
You can then write:
private void OnSomethingChanged(EventArgs e)
{
SomethingEvent.NullSafeInvoke(this, e);
}
You'd probably want another overload for EventHandler<T>, too.
There is a possibility of a race condition if the event is not copied (relevant to multi-threaded applications only).
If one thread unsubscribes from the event just after the null check leaving nothing subscribed to it, you will get a NullReferenceException.
I also don't understand why. There is a simple and pretty safe method:
// when constructing of instance, to create empty subscription
public event EventHandler SomethingEvent = delegate { };
private void OnSomethingChanged(EventArgs e)
{
// and call it directly
SomethingEvent(this, e);
}
I may be misunderstanding something fundamental here as I'm new to these concepts so please bear with me.
I'm currently removing methods from an event like so:
scheduleView.TouchDown -= scheduleView_TouchDown;
And then on other occasions - adding the methods:
scheduleView.TouchDown += scheduleView_TouchDown;
It all works fine so far, and I can understand it's possible to add several methods, like so:
scheduleView.TouchDown += scheduleView_TouchDown;
scheduleView.TouchDown += scheduleView_AnotherTouchDownEventHandler;
But how would I then later check what methods were wired up to this event?
Interestingly, you can't (at least, from the outside). An event is only obliged to offer 2 accessors - add and remove. There are other accessor methods defined in the CLI spec, but they aren't used in C# or anywhere else AFAIK. The key point: we can't ask an event what is subscribed (and indeed, we shouldn't need to know). All you can do is: add or remove.
If you are worried about double-subscribing, then note that if you try to unsubscribe and you haven't actually subscribed, then under every sane implementation this is simply a no-op; which means you can do:
// make sure we are subscribed once but **only** once
scheduleView.TouchDown -= scheduleView_TouchDown;
scheduleView.TouchDown += scheduleView_TouchDown;
From the perspective of the code raising the event, you rarely need to know who - simply:
// note I'm assuming a "field-like event" implementation here; otherwise,
// change this to refer to the backing-field, or the delegate from the
// event-handler-list
var handler = TouchDown;
if(handler != null) handler(this, EventArgs.Empty); // or similar
There is also a way to break the delegate list into individual subscribers, but it is very rarely needed:
var handler = TouchDown;
if(handler != null) {
foreach(EventHandler subscriber in handler.GetInvocationList()) {
subscriber(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
The main uses for this are:
when you want to perform exception-handling on a per-subscriber basis
when the delegate returns a value or changes state, and you need to handle that on a per-subscriber basis
Yes: If you are within the class that publishes the Event, you can just access the delegate, and you can call the GetInvocationList method to get a list of the subscribers.
No: If you are working outside the class, as the delegate is not exposed to you. You could use reflection to get at it, but that would be a hack, at best.
In the type that declares the event, you can use GetInvocationList() to find out which delegates are subscribed:
public class EventProvider
{
public event EventHandler SomeEvent;
protected virtual void OnSomeEvent(EventArgs args)
{
if (SomeEvent != null)
{
var delegates = SomeEvent.GetInvocationList();
foreach (var del in delegates)
{
Console.WriteLine("{0} has subscribed to SomeEvent", del.Method.Name);
}
SomeEvent(this, args);
}
}
public void RaiseSomeEvent()
{
OnSomeEvent(EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
public class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
EventProvider provider = new EventProvider();
provider.SomeEvent += Callback1;
provider.SomeEvent += Callback2;
provider.RaiseSomeEvent();
}
public static void Callback1(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Callback 1!");
}
public static void Callback2(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Callback 2!");
}
}
This produces the following output:
Callback1 has subscribed to SomeEvent
Callback2 has subscribed to SomeEvent
Callback 1!
Callback 2!
Someone gave me this code that works great. But I would really like to understand what is happening inside it. Could somebody explain please? What is the meaning of each part of the code? The code is inside a custom control which has two labels inside a panel.
Also I've seen some custom control events that use add/remove syntax, what is that for? What is the difference with what is happening here?
public partial class UserControl1 : UserControl
{
public UserControl1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public event EventHandler MyCustomClickEvent;
protected virtual void OnMyCustomClickEvent(EventArgs e)
{
// Here, you use the "this" so it's your own control. You can also
// customize the EventArgs to pass something you'd like.
if (MyCustomClickEvent != null)
MyCustomClickEvent(this, e);
}
private void label1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
OnMyCustomClickEvent(EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
See my comments below. Also for a more detailed event I blogged on this concept a while back where I go into more detail on the entire process.
public partial class UserControl1 : UserControl
{
//This is the standard constructor of a user control
public UserControl1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
//This defines an event called "MyCustomClickEvent", which is a generic
//event handler. (EventHander is a delegate definition that defines the contract
//of what information will be shared by the event. In this case a single parameter
//of an EventArgs object.
public event EventHandler MyCustomClickEvent;
//This method is used to raise the event, when the event should be raised,
//this method will check to see if there are any subscribers, if there are,
//it raises the event
protected virtual void OnMyCustomClickEvent(EventArgs e)
{
// Here, you use the "this" so it's your own control. You can also
// customize the EventArgs to pass something you'd like.
if (MyCustomClickEvent != null)
MyCustomClickEvent(this, e);
}
private void label1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
OnMyCustomClickEvent(EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
I'd recommend reading up on Events for C# on MSDN. This is covered in detail.
Basically, MyCustomClickEvent is an event. The OnMyCustomClickEvent method is used to raise the event, but is being done in a way that subclasses can also raise this event if required.
When you click on "label1", the OnMyCustomClickEvent method runs, which raises the event. Any delegates subscribed to the event will execute at that point.
You mentioned seeing the add/remove syntax for events in some custom control examples. Most likely those examples are using the UserControl class' Events property to store event handlers, such as in the following example:
public event EventHandler MyEvent
{
add
{
Events.AddHandler("MyEvent", value);
}
remove
{
Events.RemoveHandler("MyEvent", value);
}
}
The idea there is that usually a consumer of a control is not going to want to handle every single event that the control exposes. If each event is defined as a "field" event (as in your example), then each event will take up a chunk of memory even if there are no subscribers for that event. When you have a complex page constructed of hundreds of controls, each of which may have dozens of events, the memory consumption for unused events is not insignificant.
This is why the System.ComponentModel.Component class (the base class of the System.Windows.Forms.Control class) has an Events property, which is basically a dictionary to store event handler delegates. This way each event is implemented more like a property than a field. The add/remove handlers for each event store or remove delegates from the Events dictionary. If an event is not used, then there just isn't an entry in the Events dictionary for it, and no additional memory is consumed for that event. It's a trade-off of doing slightly more work (having to look up the event handler) to save slightly more memory.
EDIT: fixed my answer to pertain to Windows Forms, rather than ASP.NET, although the concepts are the same.
Concerning the add/remove, this is a "manual" implementation of events. The following two snippets do the same thing.
Automatic implementation:
public event EventHandler MyEvent;
Manual implementation:
private EventHandler _myEvent;
public event EventHandler MyEvent
{
add { _myEvent += value; }
remove { _myEvent -= value; }
}
This is exactly the same idea as automatic properties where:
public string Property { get; set; };
Does exactly the same as:
private string _property;
public string Property
{
get { return _property; }
set { _property = value; }
}
The difference between these snippets is that with the manual implementations, you get more control. Examples are:
Implement logic in the add/get and remove/set;
Get access to the fields which allows you to set e.g. [NonSerializable];
Put the values in e.g. a Dictionary.
The Form class e.g. does the latter to keep the number of fields in the Form class down.
Let's say I have an event. Let's call it DoStuff. Before DoStuff happens, I'm trying to use another event, PreviewDoStuff, to check if I need to prevent DoStuff from being called. The problem I'm facing with this is that I'm unable to get any kind of value back from the PreviewDoStuff, like a return code or anything due to how events are written. And event args aren't passed back to the caller, so I can't get the event args "handled" property. I'm sure there has to be a way to do it, but I'm not sure how. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Declare the event as EventHandler<CancelEventArgs>. Then the listener can set Cancel to true, and you can use that value to determine whether to raise the "real" event or not.
Mandatory code sample:
public event EventHandler<CancelEventArgs> PreviewDoStuff;
public event EventHandler DoStuff;
private void RaiseDoStuff()
{
CancelEventArgs args = new CancelEventArgs();
OnPreviewDoStuff(args);
if (!args.Cancel)
{
OnDoStuff(EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
protected void OnPreviewDoStuff(CancelEventArgs e)
{
EventHandler<CancelEventArgs> previewDoStuff = PreviewDoStuff;
if (previewDoStuff != null)
{
previewDoStuff(this, e);
}
}
protected void OnDoStuff(EventArgs e)
{
EventHandler doStuff = DoStuff;
if (doStuff != null)
{
doStuff(this, e);
}
}
For an example of this in real-life use, check the FormClosing event, which uses a FormClosingEventArgs class, which in turn inherits from CancelEventArgs.
Have your PreviewDoStuff set an internal flag which DoStuff checks when it fires. Even better, have the code that raises DoStuff check the flag before it raises the event.
I assume you mean you want to create your own event called DoStuff. I think it's possible to pass "ref" arguments:
public delegate void PreviewDoStuffFunc(ref bool Handled);
public event PreviewDoStuffFunc PreviewDoStuff;
But the standard way would be to use something like CancelEventArgs:
public event CancelEventArgs PreviewDoStuff;
public event EventArgs DoStuff;
Then after you fire the preview event, you check the Cancel:
var e = new CancelEventArgs();
if (PreviewDoStuff != null)
PreviewDoStuff(this, e);
if (!e.Cancel)
DoStuff(this, EventArgs.Empty);
I have a static class that I would like to raise an event as part of a try catch block within a static method of that class.
For example in this method I would like to raise a custom event in the catch.
public static void saveMyMessage(String message)
{
try
{
//Do Database stuff
}
catch (Exception e)
{
//Raise custom event here
}
}
Thank you.
Important: be very careful about subscribing to a static event from instances. Static-to-static is fine, but a subscription from a static event to an instance handler is a great (read: very dangerous) way to keep that instance alive forever. GC will see the link, and will not collect the instance unless you unsubscribe (or use something like a WeakReference).
The pattern for creating static events is the same as instance events, just with static:
public static event EventHandler SomeEvent;
To make life easier (re null checking), a useful trick here is to add a trivial handler:
public static event EventHandler SomeEvent = delegate {};
Then you can simply invoke it without the null-check:
SomeEvent(null, EventArgs.Empty);
Note that because delegate instances are immutable, and de-referencing is thread-safe, there is never a race condition here, and no need to lock... who-ever is subscribed when we de-reference gets invoked.
(adjust for your own event-args etc).
This trick applies equally to instance events.
Your event would also need to be static:
public class ErrorEventArgs : EventArgs
{
private Exception error;
private string message;
public ErrorEventArgs(Exception ex, string msg)
{
error = ex;
message = msg;
}
public Exception Error
{
get { return error; }
}
public string Message
{
get { return message; }
}
}
public static class Service
{
public static EventHandler<ErrorEventArgs> OnError;
public static void SaveMyMessage(String message)
{
EventHandler<ErrorEventArgs> errorEvent = OnError;
if (errorEvent != null)
{
errorEvent(null, new ErrorEventArgs(null, message));
}
}
}
And Usage:
public class Test
{
public void OnError(object sender, ErrorEventArgs args)
{
Console.WriteLine(args.Message);
}
}
Test t = new Test();
Service.OnError += t.OnError;
Service.SaveMyMessage("Test message");
Several folks have offered up code examples, just don't fire an event using code such as:
if(null != ExampleEvent)
{
ExampleEvent(/* put parameters here, for events: sender, eventArgs */);
}
as this contains a race condition between when you check the event for null and when you actually fire the event. Instead use a simple variation:
MyEvent exampleEventCopy = ExampleEvent;
if(null != exampleEventCopy)
{
exampleEventCopy(/* put parameters here, for events: sender, eventArgs */);
}
This will copy any event subscribers into the exampleEventCopy, which you can then use as a local-only version of the public event without having to worry about any race conditions (Essentially, it is possible that another thread could pre-empt you right after you have checked the public event for null and proceed to remove all subscribers from the event, causing the subsequent firing of the event to throw an exception, by using a local-only copy, you avoid the possibility of another thread removing subscribers, since there is no way they could access the local variable).
Note: VS2008, C#
Just declare an event as you normally would within the static class, but be sure to mark the event as static:
public static event EventHandler Work;
Then just subscribe to it as you normally would.
Just to add "Delegates are immutable" So, as shown in the example above the following line obtains a copy of the delegate.
EventHandler<ErrorEventArgs> errorEvent = OnError;
The way I did this is the following:
1- define a delegate (this will enable you to have customized arguments):
public delegate void CustomeEventHandler(string str);
2- define an event based on the previously defined delegate:
public static event CustomeEventHandler ReadLine;
3- create an event handler:
static void OnLineRead(string currentLine)
{
if (ReadLine != null)
ReadLine(currentLine);
}
4- raise your event using the event handler (just call it wherever you want the event to be raised).