I have a class, EventContainer.cs, which contains an event, say:
public event EventHandler AfterSearch;
I have another class, EventRaiser.cs. How do I raise (and not handle) the above said event from this class?
The raised event will in turn call the handler of the event in the EventContainer class. Something like this (this is obviously not correct):
EventContainer obj = new EventContainer();
RaiseEvent(obj.AfterSearch);
This is not possible, Events can only be risen from inside the class. If you could do that, it would defeat the purpose of events (being able to rise status changes from inside the class). I think you are misunderstanding the function of events - an event is defined inside a class and others can subscribe to it by doing
obj.AfterSearch += handler; (where handler is a method according to the signature of AfterSearch). One is able to subscribe to the event from the outside just fine, but it can only be risen from inside the class defining it.
It is POSSIBLE, but using clever hack.
Inspired by http://netpl.blogspot.com/2010/10/is-net-type-safe.html
If you don't believe, try this code.
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
namespace Overlapping
{
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit)]
public class OverlapEvents
{
[FieldOffset(0)]
public Foo Source;
[FieldOffset(0)]
public OtherFoo Target;
}
public class Foo
{
public event EventHandler Clicked;
public override string ToString()
{
return "Hello Foo";
}
public void Click()
{
InvokeClicked(EventArgs.Empty);
}
private void InvokeClicked(EventArgs e)
{
var handler = Clicked;
if (handler != null)
handler(this, e);
}
}
public class OtherFoo
{
public event EventHandler Clicked;
public override string ToString()
{
return "Hello OtherFoo";
}
public void Click2()
{
InvokeClicked(EventArgs.Empty);
}
private void InvokeClicked(EventArgs e)
{
var handler = Clicked;
if (handler != null)
handler(this, e);
}
public void Clean()
{
Clicked = null;
}
}
class Test
{
public static void Test3()
{
var a = new Foo();
a.Clicked += AClicked;
a.Click();
var o = new OverlapEvents { Source = a };
o.Target.Click2();
o.Target.Clean();
o.Target.Click2();
a.Click();
}
static void AClicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine(sender.ToString());
}
}
}
You can write a public method on the class you want the event to fire from and fire the event when it is called. You can then call this method from whatever user of your class.
Of course, this ruins encapsulation and is bad design.
It looks like you're using the Delegate pattern. In this case, the AfterSearch event should be defined on the EventRaiser class, and the EventContainer class should consume the event:
In EventRaiser.cs
public event EventHandler BeforeSearch;
public event EventHandler AfterSearch;
public void ExecuteSearch(...)
{
if (this.BeforeSearch != null)
this.BeforeSearch();
// Do search
if (this.AfterSearch != null)
this.AfterSearch();
}
In EventContainer.cs
public EventContainer(...)
{
EventRaiser er = new EventRaiser();
er.AfterSearch += this.OnAfterSearch;
}
public void OnAfterSearch()
{
// Handle AfterSearch event
}
I stumbled across this problem as well, because i was experimenting with calling PropertyChanged events from outside. So you dont have to implement everything in every class. The solution from halorty wouldn't work using interfaces.
I found a solution working using heavy reflection. It is surely slow and is breaking the principle that events should only be called from inside a class. But it is interesting to find a generic solution to this problem....
It works because every event is a list of invocation methods being called.
So we can get the invocation list and call every listener attached to that event by our own.
Here you go....
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var instance = new TestPropertyChanged();
instance.PropertyChanged += PropertyChanged;
instance.RaiseEvent(nameof(INotifyPropertyChanged.PropertyChanged), new PropertyChangedEventArgs("Hi There from anywhere"));
Console.ReadLine();
}
private static void PropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.PropertyName);
}
}
public static class PropertyRaiser
{
private static readonly BindingFlags staticFlags = BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic;
public static void RaiseEvent(this object instance, string eventName, EventArgs e)
{
var type = instance.GetType();
var eventField = type.GetField(eventName, staticFlags);
if (eventField == null)
throw new Exception($"Event with name {eventName} could not be found.");
var multicastDelegate = eventField.GetValue(instance) as MulticastDelegate;
if (multicastDelegate == null)
return;
var invocationList = multicastDelegate.GetInvocationList();
foreach (var invocationMethod in invocationList)
invocationMethod.DynamicInvoke(new[] {instance, e});
}
}
public class TestPropertyChanged : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
}
There is good way to do this. Every event in C# has a delegate that specifies the sign of methods for that event. Define a field in your external class with type of your event delegate. get the the reference of that field in the constructor of external class and save it. In main class of your event, send the reference of event for delegate of external class. Now you can easily call the delegate in your external class.
public delegate void MyEventHandler(object Sender, EventArgs Args);
public class MyMain
{
public event MyEventHandler MyEvent;
...
new MyExternal(this.MyEvent);
...
}
public MyExternal
{
private MyEventHandler MyEvent;
public MyExternal(MyEventHandler MyEvent)
{
this.MyEvent = MyEvent;
}
...
this.MyEvent(..., ...);
...
}
Agree with Femaref -- and note this is an important difference between delegates and events (see for example this blog entry for an good discussion of this and other differences).
Depending on what you want to achieve, you might be better off with a delegate.
Not a good programming but if you want to do that any way you can do something like this
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Extension ext = new Extension();
ext.MyEvent += ext_MyEvent;
ext.Dosomething();
}
static void ext_MyEvent(int num)
{
Console.WriteLine(num);
}
}
public class Extension
{
public delegate void MyEventHandler(int num);
public event MyEventHandler MyEvent;
public void Dosomething()
{
int no = 0;
while(true){
if(MyEvent!=null){
MyEvent(++no);
}
}
}
}
I had a similar confusion and honestly find the answers here to be confusing. Although a couple hinted at solutions that I would later find would work.
My solution was to hit the books and become more familiar with delegates and event handlers.
Although I've used both for many years, I was never intimately familiar with them.
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/20550/C-Event-Implementation-Fundamentals-Best-Practices
gives the best explanation of both delegates and event handlers that I've ever read and clearly explains that a class can be a publisher of events and have other classes consume them.
This article: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/12285/Implementing-an-event-which-supports-only-a-single discusses how to single-cast events to only one handler since delegates are multicast by definition . A delegate inherits system.MulticastDelegate most including the system delegates are Multicast.
I found that multicast meant that any event handler with the same signature would receive the raised event. Multicast behavior has caused me some sleepless nights as I stepped through code and saw my event seemingly erroneously being sent to handlers that I had no intention of getting this event. Both articles explains this behavior.
The second article shows you one way, and the first article shows you another, by making the delegate and the signature tightly typed.
I personally believe strong typing prevents stupid bugs that can be a pain to find. So I'd vote for the first article, even though I got the second article code working. I was just curious. :-)
I also got curious if I could get #2 articles code to behave like how I interpreted the original question above. Regardless of your chosen approach or if I'm also misinterpreting the original question, my real message is that I still think you would benefit from reading the first article as I did, especially if the questions or answers on this page leave you confused. If you are having multicast nightmares and need a quick solution then article 2 may help you.
I started playing with the second article's eventRaiser class. I made a simple windows form project.
I added the second articles class EventRaiser.cs to my project.
In the Main form's code, I defined a reference to that EventRaiser class at the top as
private EventRaiser eventRaiser = new EventRaiser();
I added a method in the main form code that I wanted to be called when the event was fired
protected void MainResponse( object sender, EventArgs eArgs )
{
MessageBox.Show("got to MainResponse");
}
then in the main form's constructor I added the event assignment:
eventRaiser.OnRaiseEvent += new EventHandler(MainResponse);`
I then created a class that would be instantiated by my main form called "SimpleClass" for lack of creative ingenuity at the moment.
Then I added a button and in the button's click event
I instantiated the SimpleClass code I wanted to raise an event from:
private void button1_Click( object sender, EventArgs e )
{
SimpleClass sc = new SimpleClass(eventRaiser);
}
Note the instance of "eventRaiser" that I passed to SimpleClass.cs. That was defined and instantiated earlier in the Main form code.
In the SimpleClass:
using System.Windows.Forms;
using SinglecastEvent; // see SingleCastEvent Project for info or http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/12285/Implementing-an-event-which-supports-only-a-single
namespace GenericTest
{
public class SimpleClass
{
private EventRaiser eventRaiser = new EventRaiser();
public SimpleClass( EventRaiser ev )
{
eventRaiser = ev;
simpleMethod();
}
private void simpleMethod()
{
MessageBox.Show("in FileWatcher.simple() about to raise the event");
eventRaiser.RaiseEvent();
}
}
}
The only point to the private method I called SimpleMethod was to verify that a privately scoped method could still raise the event, not that I doubted it, but I like to be positive.
I ran the project and this resulted in raising the event from the "simpleMethod" of the "SimpleClass" up to the main form and going to the expected correct method called MainResponse proving that one class can indeed raise an event that is consumed by a different class.
Yes the event has to be raised from within the class that needs it's change broadcast to other classes that care. Receiving classes can be one class or many many classes depending on how strongly typed you defined them or by making them single cast as in 2nd article.
Hope this helps and not muddy the water. Personally I've got a lot of delegates and events to clean up! Multicast demons begone!
The raising class has to get a fresh copy of the EventHandler.
One possible solution below.
using System;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
class HasEvent
{
public event EventHandler OnEnvent;
EventInvoker myInvoker;
public HasEvent()
{
myInvoker = new EventInvoker(this, () => OnEnvent);
}
public void MyInvokerRaising() {
myInvoker.Raise();
}
}
class EventInvoker
{
private Func<EventHandler> GetEventHandler;
private object sender;
public EventInvoker(object sender, Func<EventHandler> GetEventHandler)
{
this.sender = sender;
this.GetEventHandler = GetEventHandler;
}
public void Raise()
{
if(null != GetEventHandler())
{
GetEventHandler()(sender, new EventArgs());
}
}
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
HasEvent h = new HasEvent();
h.OnEnvent += H_OnEnvent;
h.MyInvokerRaising();
}
private static void H_OnEnvent(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("FIRED");
}
}
}
Use public EventHandler AfterSearch;
not
public event EventHandler AfterSearch;
Use a Delegate (an Action or Func) instead of an event. An event is essentially a delegate that can only be triggered from within the class.
I took a slightly different approach in solving this problem. My solution consisted of a winform front end, a main Class Library (DLL) and within that dll, a secondary working class:
WinForm
|------> PickGen Library
|---------> Allocations class
What I decided to do is to create events in the main dll (PickGen) that the Allocations class could call, then those event methods would called the events within the UI.
So, allocations raises an event in PickGen which takes the parameter values and raises the event in the form. From a code standpoint, this is in the lowest class:
public delegate void AllocationService_RaiseAllocLog(string orderNumber, string message, bool logToDatabase);
public delegate void AllocationService_RaiseAllocErrorLog(string orderNumber, string message, bool logToDatabase);
public class AllocationService { ...
public event AllocationService_RaiseAllocLog RaiseAllocLog;
public event AllocationService_RaiseAllocErrorLog RaiseAllocErrorLog;
then later in the subclass code:
RaiseAllocErrorLog(SOHNUM_0, ShipmentGenerated + ": Allocated line QTY was: " + allocatedline.QTY_0 + ", Delivered was: " + QTY_0 + ". Problem batch.", false);
In the main DLL Class library I have these two event methods:
private void PickGenLibrary_RaiseAllocLog(string orderNumber, string message, bool updateDB)
{
RaiseLog(orderNumber, message, false);
}
private void PickGenLibrary_RaiseAllocErrorLog(string orderNumber, string message, bool updateDB)
{
RaiseErrorLog(orderNumber, message, false);
}
and I make the connection here when I create the allocation object:
AllocationService allsvc = new AllocationService(PickResult);
allsvc.RaiseAllocLog += new AllocationService_RaiseAllocLog(PickGenLibrary_RaiseAllocLog);
allsvc.RaiseAllocErrorLog += new AllocationService_RaiseAllocErrorLog(PickGenLibrary_RaiseAllocErrorLog);
and I also then have delegates that are set up to tie the main class with the winform code:
public delegate void JPPAPickGenLibrary_RaiseLog(string orderNumber, string message, bool logToDatabase);
public delegate void JPPAPickGenLibrary_RaiseErrorLog(string orderNumber, string message, bool logToDatabase);
It may not be the most elegant way to do it, but in the end, it does work and without being too obscure.
A nested class with an instance of the outer class provided in the constructor can access even private members of the outer class. As explained more here: stackoverflow question on inner classes.
This includes the ability to raise events in the outer class. This EventRaisers class could be internal, or otherwise controlled somehow, because it could technically otherwise be created by any script with a reference to the outer class instance.
Very simple example. i like to do it this way using EventHandler.
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
MyExtension ext = new MyExtension();
ext.MyEvent += ext_MyEvent;
ext.Dosomething();
Console.ReadLine();
}
static void ext_MyEvent(object sender, int num)
{
Console.WriteLine("Event fired.... "+num);
}
}
public class MyExtension
{
public event EventHandler<int> MyEvent;
public void Dosomething()
{
int no = 1;
if (MyEvent != null)
MyEvent(this, ++no);
}
}
}
Related
I am trying to understand for which purpose the events pattern decided that the method that fires the event should be declared virtual.
From C#6 in a Nutshell, from Joseph and Ben Albahari, O'Reilley:
Finally, the pattern requires that you write a protected virtual method that fires the
event. The name must match the name of the event, prefixed with the word On, and
then accept a single EventArgs argument:
Below a snippet I created to try to investigate.
I had the impression that the idea was to allow inheriting classes to completely overwrite how the event is handled, out of the box (original class). But the snippet below shows this is not possible, because deriving classes will never be able to invoke the event objects themselves (by the one one of the goals of the constraints imposed by the keyword event on delegates). The event can be invoked only in the containing class.
Now, since the pattern also asks that the method that fires the event simply check if the the event is not null and then call the delegate, with whatever every subscriber asked to do, what is left to be achieved by having the method that fires the event as virtual ? Inheriting classes are obliged to invoke the event the way it is in the broadcaster class, so all that is left for them is to add functionality. But this is exactly what they can achieve by subscribing to the event, in other words, by adding a call to an external function the time the event is fired.
I hope my wording is clear enough.
namespace eventsPatternVirtualEventFirerer
{
internal class Program
{
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
var obj = new X();
obj.ev += Obj_ev;
obj.Start();
}
private static void Obj_ev(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("subscriber code...");
}
}
public class X
{
public event EventHandler<EventArgs> ev;
protected virtual void OnEvent(EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("original implementation...");
ev?.Invoke(this, e);
}
public void Start()
{
OnEvent(EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
public class X2 : X
{
public X2()
{
}
protected override void OnEvent(EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("inheriting class implementation overwrite...");
//compilation error - "the event 'X.ev' can only appear on the left hand side of += or -= (except when used from within the type 'X')"
ev?.Invoke(this, e);
}
}
}
I think the purpose is to allow derived classes to do something before/after the event is fired
public class X2 : X
{
public X2()
{
}
protected override void OnEvent(EventArgs e)
{
// Do something before the event
base.OnEvent(e);
// Do something after the event
}
}
There are a few things you can add/change in a derived class
Add a OnBeforeEvent / OnAfterEvent addition.
Choose not to broadcast the event (by conditionally not calling base.OnEvent(e)).
Vary the event args in some way.
Additionally, If you think about the way something like a page model works, it typically fires a Load event to notify when the page is loaded. Without a protected OnLoad method, derived classes would have to subscribe to it's own Load event to perform some action on load
public class MyPage : Page
{
protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e)
{
// do something when the page is loaded
base.OnLoad(e);
}
}
versus:
public class MyPage : Page
{
public MyPage() : base()
{
this.Load += (sender,e) => {
// bleugh - subscribing to my own events
}
}
}
A good example might be the Paint event in Windows Forms.
// in MyButton : BaseButton : Control
void override OnPaint(object s, PaintEveargs e)
{
base.OnPaint(s, e); // Control: Draw background, BaseButton: draw border
// draw my own stuff
}
A button has several layers of base class, each drawing on top of each other.
I have a class, EventContainer.cs, which contains an event, say:
public event EventHandler AfterSearch;
I have another class, EventRaiser.cs. How do I raise (and not handle) the above said event from this class?
The raised event will in turn call the handler of the event in the EventContainer class. Something like this (this is obviously not correct):
EventContainer obj = new EventContainer();
RaiseEvent(obj.AfterSearch);
This is not possible, Events can only be risen from inside the class. If you could do that, it would defeat the purpose of events (being able to rise status changes from inside the class). I think you are misunderstanding the function of events - an event is defined inside a class and others can subscribe to it by doing
obj.AfterSearch += handler; (where handler is a method according to the signature of AfterSearch). One is able to subscribe to the event from the outside just fine, but it can only be risen from inside the class defining it.
It is POSSIBLE, but using clever hack.
Inspired by http://netpl.blogspot.com/2010/10/is-net-type-safe.html
If you don't believe, try this code.
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
namespace Overlapping
{
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit)]
public class OverlapEvents
{
[FieldOffset(0)]
public Foo Source;
[FieldOffset(0)]
public OtherFoo Target;
}
public class Foo
{
public event EventHandler Clicked;
public override string ToString()
{
return "Hello Foo";
}
public void Click()
{
InvokeClicked(EventArgs.Empty);
}
private void InvokeClicked(EventArgs e)
{
var handler = Clicked;
if (handler != null)
handler(this, e);
}
}
public class OtherFoo
{
public event EventHandler Clicked;
public override string ToString()
{
return "Hello OtherFoo";
}
public void Click2()
{
InvokeClicked(EventArgs.Empty);
}
private void InvokeClicked(EventArgs e)
{
var handler = Clicked;
if (handler != null)
handler(this, e);
}
public void Clean()
{
Clicked = null;
}
}
class Test
{
public static void Test3()
{
var a = new Foo();
a.Clicked += AClicked;
a.Click();
var o = new OverlapEvents { Source = a };
o.Target.Click2();
o.Target.Clean();
o.Target.Click2();
a.Click();
}
static void AClicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine(sender.ToString());
}
}
}
You can write a public method on the class you want the event to fire from and fire the event when it is called. You can then call this method from whatever user of your class.
Of course, this ruins encapsulation and is bad design.
It looks like you're using the Delegate pattern. In this case, the AfterSearch event should be defined on the EventRaiser class, and the EventContainer class should consume the event:
In EventRaiser.cs
public event EventHandler BeforeSearch;
public event EventHandler AfterSearch;
public void ExecuteSearch(...)
{
if (this.BeforeSearch != null)
this.BeforeSearch();
// Do search
if (this.AfterSearch != null)
this.AfterSearch();
}
In EventContainer.cs
public EventContainer(...)
{
EventRaiser er = new EventRaiser();
er.AfterSearch += this.OnAfterSearch;
}
public void OnAfterSearch()
{
// Handle AfterSearch event
}
I stumbled across this problem as well, because i was experimenting with calling PropertyChanged events from outside. So you dont have to implement everything in every class. The solution from halorty wouldn't work using interfaces.
I found a solution working using heavy reflection. It is surely slow and is breaking the principle that events should only be called from inside a class. But it is interesting to find a generic solution to this problem....
It works because every event is a list of invocation methods being called.
So we can get the invocation list and call every listener attached to that event by our own.
Here you go....
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var instance = new TestPropertyChanged();
instance.PropertyChanged += PropertyChanged;
instance.RaiseEvent(nameof(INotifyPropertyChanged.PropertyChanged), new PropertyChangedEventArgs("Hi There from anywhere"));
Console.ReadLine();
}
private static void PropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.PropertyName);
}
}
public static class PropertyRaiser
{
private static readonly BindingFlags staticFlags = BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic;
public static void RaiseEvent(this object instance, string eventName, EventArgs e)
{
var type = instance.GetType();
var eventField = type.GetField(eventName, staticFlags);
if (eventField == null)
throw new Exception($"Event with name {eventName} could not be found.");
var multicastDelegate = eventField.GetValue(instance) as MulticastDelegate;
if (multicastDelegate == null)
return;
var invocationList = multicastDelegate.GetInvocationList();
foreach (var invocationMethod in invocationList)
invocationMethod.DynamicInvoke(new[] {instance, e});
}
}
public class TestPropertyChanged : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
}
There is good way to do this. Every event in C# has a delegate that specifies the sign of methods for that event. Define a field in your external class with type of your event delegate. get the the reference of that field in the constructor of external class and save it. In main class of your event, send the reference of event for delegate of external class. Now you can easily call the delegate in your external class.
public delegate void MyEventHandler(object Sender, EventArgs Args);
public class MyMain
{
public event MyEventHandler MyEvent;
...
new MyExternal(this.MyEvent);
...
}
public MyExternal
{
private MyEventHandler MyEvent;
public MyExternal(MyEventHandler MyEvent)
{
this.MyEvent = MyEvent;
}
...
this.MyEvent(..., ...);
...
}
Agree with Femaref -- and note this is an important difference between delegates and events (see for example this blog entry for an good discussion of this and other differences).
Depending on what you want to achieve, you might be better off with a delegate.
Not a good programming but if you want to do that any way you can do something like this
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Extension ext = new Extension();
ext.MyEvent += ext_MyEvent;
ext.Dosomething();
}
static void ext_MyEvent(int num)
{
Console.WriteLine(num);
}
}
public class Extension
{
public delegate void MyEventHandler(int num);
public event MyEventHandler MyEvent;
public void Dosomething()
{
int no = 0;
while(true){
if(MyEvent!=null){
MyEvent(++no);
}
}
}
}
I had a similar confusion and honestly find the answers here to be confusing. Although a couple hinted at solutions that I would later find would work.
My solution was to hit the books and become more familiar with delegates and event handlers.
Although I've used both for many years, I was never intimately familiar with them.
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/20550/C-Event-Implementation-Fundamentals-Best-Practices
gives the best explanation of both delegates and event handlers that I've ever read and clearly explains that a class can be a publisher of events and have other classes consume them.
This article: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/12285/Implementing-an-event-which-supports-only-a-single discusses how to single-cast events to only one handler since delegates are multicast by definition . A delegate inherits system.MulticastDelegate most including the system delegates are Multicast.
I found that multicast meant that any event handler with the same signature would receive the raised event. Multicast behavior has caused me some sleepless nights as I stepped through code and saw my event seemingly erroneously being sent to handlers that I had no intention of getting this event. Both articles explains this behavior.
The second article shows you one way, and the first article shows you another, by making the delegate and the signature tightly typed.
I personally believe strong typing prevents stupid bugs that can be a pain to find. So I'd vote for the first article, even though I got the second article code working. I was just curious. :-)
I also got curious if I could get #2 articles code to behave like how I interpreted the original question above. Regardless of your chosen approach or if I'm also misinterpreting the original question, my real message is that I still think you would benefit from reading the first article as I did, especially if the questions or answers on this page leave you confused. If you are having multicast nightmares and need a quick solution then article 2 may help you.
I started playing with the second article's eventRaiser class. I made a simple windows form project.
I added the second articles class EventRaiser.cs to my project.
In the Main form's code, I defined a reference to that EventRaiser class at the top as
private EventRaiser eventRaiser = new EventRaiser();
I added a method in the main form code that I wanted to be called when the event was fired
protected void MainResponse( object sender, EventArgs eArgs )
{
MessageBox.Show("got to MainResponse");
}
then in the main form's constructor I added the event assignment:
eventRaiser.OnRaiseEvent += new EventHandler(MainResponse);`
I then created a class that would be instantiated by my main form called "SimpleClass" for lack of creative ingenuity at the moment.
Then I added a button and in the button's click event
I instantiated the SimpleClass code I wanted to raise an event from:
private void button1_Click( object sender, EventArgs e )
{
SimpleClass sc = new SimpleClass(eventRaiser);
}
Note the instance of "eventRaiser" that I passed to SimpleClass.cs. That was defined and instantiated earlier in the Main form code.
In the SimpleClass:
using System.Windows.Forms;
using SinglecastEvent; // see SingleCastEvent Project for info or http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/12285/Implementing-an-event-which-supports-only-a-single
namespace GenericTest
{
public class SimpleClass
{
private EventRaiser eventRaiser = new EventRaiser();
public SimpleClass( EventRaiser ev )
{
eventRaiser = ev;
simpleMethod();
}
private void simpleMethod()
{
MessageBox.Show("in FileWatcher.simple() about to raise the event");
eventRaiser.RaiseEvent();
}
}
}
The only point to the private method I called SimpleMethod was to verify that a privately scoped method could still raise the event, not that I doubted it, but I like to be positive.
I ran the project and this resulted in raising the event from the "simpleMethod" of the "SimpleClass" up to the main form and going to the expected correct method called MainResponse proving that one class can indeed raise an event that is consumed by a different class.
Yes the event has to be raised from within the class that needs it's change broadcast to other classes that care. Receiving classes can be one class or many many classes depending on how strongly typed you defined them or by making them single cast as in 2nd article.
Hope this helps and not muddy the water. Personally I've got a lot of delegates and events to clean up! Multicast demons begone!
The raising class has to get a fresh copy of the EventHandler.
One possible solution below.
using System;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
class HasEvent
{
public event EventHandler OnEnvent;
EventInvoker myInvoker;
public HasEvent()
{
myInvoker = new EventInvoker(this, () => OnEnvent);
}
public void MyInvokerRaising() {
myInvoker.Raise();
}
}
class EventInvoker
{
private Func<EventHandler> GetEventHandler;
private object sender;
public EventInvoker(object sender, Func<EventHandler> GetEventHandler)
{
this.sender = sender;
this.GetEventHandler = GetEventHandler;
}
public void Raise()
{
if(null != GetEventHandler())
{
GetEventHandler()(sender, new EventArgs());
}
}
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
HasEvent h = new HasEvent();
h.OnEnvent += H_OnEnvent;
h.MyInvokerRaising();
}
private static void H_OnEnvent(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine("FIRED");
}
}
}
Use public EventHandler AfterSearch;
not
public event EventHandler AfterSearch;
Use a Delegate (an Action or Func) instead of an event. An event is essentially a delegate that can only be triggered from within the class.
I took a slightly different approach in solving this problem. My solution consisted of a winform front end, a main Class Library (DLL) and within that dll, a secondary working class:
WinForm
|------> PickGen Library
|---------> Allocations class
What I decided to do is to create events in the main dll (PickGen) that the Allocations class could call, then those event methods would called the events within the UI.
So, allocations raises an event in PickGen which takes the parameter values and raises the event in the form. From a code standpoint, this is in the lowest class:
public delegate void AllocationService_RaiseAllocLog(string orderNumber, string message, bool logToDatabase);
public delegate void AllocationService_RaiseAllocErrorLog(string orderNumber, string message, bool logToDatabase);
public class AllocationService { ...
public event AllocationService_RaiseAllocLog RaiseAllocLog;
public event AllocationService_RaiseAllocErrorLog RaiseAllocErrorLog;
then later in the subclass code:
RaiseAllocErrorLog(SOHNUM_0, ShipmentGenerated + ": Allocated line QTY was: " + allocatedline.QTY_0 + ", Delivered was: " + QTY_0 + ". Problem batch.", false);
In the main DLL Class library I have these two event methods:
private void PickGenLibrary_RaiseAllocLog(string orderNumber, string message, bool updateDB)
{
RaiseLog(orderNumber, message, false);
}
private void PickGenLibrary_RaiseAllocErrorLog(string orderNumber, string message, bool updateDB)
{
RaiseErrorLog(orderNumber, message, false);
}
and I make the connection here when I create the allocation object:
AllocationService allsvc = new AllocationService(PickResult);
allsvc.RaiseAllocLog += new AllocationService_RaiseAllocLog(PickGenLibrary_RaiseAllocLog);
allsvc.RaiseAllocErrorLog += new AllocationService_RaiseAllocErrorLog(PickGenLibrary_RaiseAllocErrorLog);
and I also then have delegates that are set up to tie the main class with the winform code:
public delegate void JPPAPickGenLibrary_RaiseLog(string orderNumber, string message, bool logToDatabase);
public delegate void JPPAPickGenLibrary_RaiseErrorLog(string orderNumber, string message, bool logToDatabase);
It may not be the most elegant way to do it, but in the end, it does work and without being too obscure.
A nested class with an instance of the outer class provided in the constructor can access even private members of the outer class. As explained more here: stackoverflow question on inner classes.
This includes the ability to raise events in the outer class. This EventRaisers class could be internal, or otherwise controlled somehow, because it could technically otherwise be created by any script with a reference to the outer class instance.
Very simple example. i like to do it this way using EventHandler.
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
MyExtension ext = new MyExtension();
ext.MyEvent += ext_MyEvent;
ext.Dosomething();
Console.ReadLine();
}
static void ext_MyEvent(object sender, int num)
{
Console.WriteLine("Event fired.... "+num);
}
}
public class MyExtension
{
public event EventHandler<int> MyEvent;
public void Dosomething()
{
int no = 1;
if (MyEvent != null)
MyEvent(this, ++no);
}
}
}
How,does one should call an event declared by interface so that all the classes that has implemented that interface get notified??
For example in structure like this,
public delegate void myDel(int value);
interface IEventCaller{
event myDel myDelEventCall;
}
public Class One : IEventCaller {
public event myDel myDelEventCall;
}
public Class Two : IEventCaller {
public event myDel myDelEventCall;
}
I want both class One and Two to get notify and act as event gets called, I am feeling somewhere I am going wrong direction , is it possible to do?
Actually what you want doesn't involve events. Events would be used by an object implementing IEventCaller to notify some object holding a reference to that object of some change. To invoke something on the object implementing IEventCaller would just require a method, for example Hello();
First, you need code that informs all the objects that implement this interface. To make that possible, you somewhere need to store a list of instances that want to get notified.
One solution would be to create a class that manages that list. Let's say like this
private static List<IEventCaller> eventCallers = new List<IEventCaller>();
public static void AddEventCaller(IEventCaller c)
{
eventCallers.Add(c);
}
public static void RemoveEventCaller(IEventCaller c)
{
eventCallers.Remove(c);
}
public static IEventCaller[] EventCallers
{
get { return eventCallers.ToArray() }
}
Of course this code needs to be thread safe, etc. I'd put all this into a singleton to be globally available.
Then, all objects that implement IEventCallers need to register/unregister accordingly. Thus, I'd also have them Implement IDisposable so that in the constructor you can do
public EventCallable()
{
Singleton.Instance.AddEventCaller(this);
}
and in the Dispose method you can do this:
public void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
Singleton.Instance.RemoveEventCaller(this);
}
Now the code that should notify every instance could just do this:
public void NotifyAll()
{
foreach (IEventCaller caller in Singleton.Instance.EventCallers)
caller.Hello();
}
I think you might be looking at this the other one around.
With events, you want to have an object which is the publisher, which is responsible for publishing the event and saying "hey guys, something just occurred and you should know about it", and you have your subscribers, which are the guys who say "Yo dawg, let me know when that thing occurs, so i can act on it".
What you can do is have the object which is responsible for the event occurring implement your interface:
public class Publisher : IEventCaller
{
public event MyDel MyDeleteEvent;
public void OnDeleteOccured()
{
var myDeleteEvent = MyDeleteEvent;
if (myDeleteEvent != null)
{
MyDeleteEvent(1);
}
}
}
And then have your One and Two objects register to that event occurring, where they pass a method which signature matches the delegate type of MyDel:
public class SubscriberOne
{
public void OnSomethingOccured(int value)
{
Console.WriteLine(value);
}
}
public class SubscriberTwo
{
public void OnSomethingOccured(int value)
{
Console.WriteLine(value);
}
}
And the registration goes:
void Main()
{
var publisher = new Publisher();
var subscriberOne = new SubscriberOne();
var subscriberTwo = new SubscriberTwo();
publisher.MyDeleteEvent += subscriberOne.OnSomethingOccured;
publisher.MyDeleteEvent += subscriberTwo.OnSomethingOccured;
}
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).
Take the following C# class:
c1 {
event EventHandler someEvent;
}
If there are a lot of subscriptions to c1's someEvent event and I want to clear them all, what is the best way to achieve this? Also consider that subscriptions to this event could be/are lambdas/anonymous delegates.
Currently my solution is to add a ResetSubscriptions() method to c1 that sets someEvent to null. I don't know if this has any unseen consequences.
From within the class, you can set the (hidden) variable to null. A null reference is the canonical way of representing an empty invocation list, effectively.
From outside the class, you can't do this - events basically expose "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" and that's it.
It's worth being aware of what field-like events are actually doing - they're creating a variable and an event at the same time. Within the class, you end up referencing the variable. From outside, you reference the event.
See my article on events and delegates for more information.
Add a method to c1 that will set 'someEvent' to null.
public class c1
{
event EventHandler someEvent;
public ResetSubscriptions() => someEvent = null;
}
class c1
{
event EventHandler someEvent;
ResetSubscriptions() => someEvent = delegate { };
}
It is better to use delegate { } than null to avoid the null ref exception.
The best practice to clear all subscribers is to set the someEvent to null by adding another public method if you want to expose this functionality to outside. This has no unseen consequences. The precondition is to remember to declare SomeEvent with the keyword 'event'.
Please see the book - C# 4.0 in the nutshell, page 125.
Some one here proposed to use Delegate.RemoveAll method. If you use it, the sample code could follow the below form. But it is really stupid. Why not just SomeEvent=null inside the ClearSubscribers() function?
public void ClearSubscribers ()
{
SomeEvent = (EventHandler) Delegate.RemoveAll(SomeEvent, SomeEvent);
// Then you will find SomeEvent is set to null.
}
Setting the event to null inside the class works. When you dispose a class you should always set the event to null, the GC has problems with events and may not clean up the disposed class if it has dangling events.
You can achieve this by using the Delegate.Remove or Delegate.RemoveAll methods.
Conceptual extended boring comment.
I rather use the word "event handler" instead of "event" or "delegate". And used the word "event" for other stuff. In some programming languages (VB.NET, Object Pascal, Objective-C), "event" is called a "message" or "signal", and even have a "message" keyword, and specific sugar syntax.
const
WM_Paint = 998; // <-- "question" can be done by several talkers
WM_Clear = 546;
type
MyWindowClass = class(Window)
procedure NotEventHandlerMethod_1;
procedure NotEventHandlerMethod_17;
procedure DoPaintEventHandler; message WM_Paint; // <-- "answer" by this listener
procedure DoClearEventHandler; message WM_Clear;
end;
And, in order to respond to that "message", a "event handler" respond, whether is a single delegate or multiple delegates.
Summary:
"Event" is the "question", "event handler (s)" are the answer (s).
Remove all events, assume the event is an "Action" type:
Delegate[] dary = TermCheckScore.GetInvocationList();
if ( dary != null )
{
foreach ( Delegate del in dary )
{
TermCheckScore -= ( Action ) del;
}
}
This is my solution:
public class Foo : IDisposable
{
private event EventHandler _statusChanged;
public event EventHandler StatusChanged
{
add
{
_statusChanged += value;
}
remove
{
_statusChanged -= value;
}
}
public void Dispose()
{
_statusChanged = null;
}
}
You need to call Dispose() or use using(new Foo()){/*...*/} pattern to unsubscribe all members of invocation list.
Instead of adding and removing callbacks manually and having a bunch of delegate types declared everywhere:
// The hard way
public delegate void ObjectCallback(ObjectType broadcaster);
public class Object
{
public event ObjectCallback m_ObjectCallback;
void SetupListener()
{
ObjectCallback callback = null;
callback = (ObjectType broadcaster) =>
{
// one time logic here
broadcaster.m_ObjectCallback -= callback;
};
m_ObjectCallback += callback;
}
void BroadcastEvent()
{
m_ObjectCallback?.Invoke(this);
}
}
You could try this generic approach:
public class Object
{
public Broadcast<Object> m_EventToBroadcast = new Broadcast<Object>();
void SetupListener()
{
m_EventToBroadcast.SubscribeOnce((ObjectType broadcaster) => {
// one time logic here
});
}
~Object()
{
m_EventToBroadcast.Dispose();
m_EventToBroadcast = null;
}
void BroadcastEvent()
{
m_EventToBroadcast.Broadcast(this);
}
}
public delegate void ObjectDelegate<T>(T broadcaster);
public class Broadcast<T> : IDisposable
{
private event ObjectDelegate<T> m_Event;
private List<ObjectDelegate<T>> m_SingleSubscribers = new List<ObjectDelegate<T>>();
~Broadcast()
{
Dispose();
}
public void Dispose()
{
Clear();
System.GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
}
public void Clear()
{
m_SingleSubscribers.Clear();
m_Event = delegate { };
}
// add a one shot to this delegate that is removed after first broadcast
public void SubscribeOnce(ObjectDelegate<T> del)
{
m_Event += del;
m_SingleSubscribers.Add(del);
}
// add a recurring delegate that gets called each time
public void Subscribe(ObjectDelegate<T> del)
{
m_Event += del;
}
public void Unsubscribe(ObjectDelegate<T> del)
{
m_Event -= del;
}
public void Broadcast(T broadcaster)
{
m_Event?.Invoke(broadcaster);
for (int i = 0; i < m_SingleSubscribers.Count; ++i)
{
Unsubscribe(m_SingleSubscribers[i]);
}
m_SingleSubscribers.Clear();
}
}