How to pass a function as a parameter in C#?

Question

Is it possible to pass a function as a parameter in C#? I can do it using the Func or Action classes, but this forces me to declare the entire function signature at once. When I try to use Delegate, I get a compile error saying it can't convert a method group to a Delegate.

I'm working on Axial and I'm trying to allow users to call web services. What I'm going for is the ability to create the Visual Studio proxy class and then pass in the generated function. The function signature doesn't matter because the generated code only uses the function name. However, I'd like to pass in the function instead of the name for two reasons: the ability to use the proxy's Url property and a compiler error if the web service doesn't exist or is updated in Visual Studio.

public void AlertIt(object o) {
    Axial.DOM.Window.Alert(o.ToString());
}
public void CallAddService() {
    object[] param = new object[] { int.Parse(txtA.Text), int.Parse(txtB.Text) };
    Axial.ServerScript.CallWebService(new WSProxy.WS().Add, param, AlertIt, AlertIt);
}

class Axial.ServerScript {
    public void CallWebService(Delegate method, object[] param, Action<object> successCallback, Action<object> failureCallback) {
        // translate to javascript (already working)
    }
}

Answer 1

Hi,

please have a look at using delegates here is a great example

Delegate Example

why are you using reflection? will there ever be a different number of params? or do you know the method signture will remain constant (also remember C# supports the params[] keyword)

params c#

HTH

Bones

Answer 2

You should have a delegate first

delegate int Operation(int a, int b)

then it becomes:

public void InvokeMethod(Operation method, object target, object param)
{
    method((int) target, (int) param);
}

No need for any call to Invoke.

As with dbone I'm unsure why you would need a params[] array. Would you clarify the expanded usage for the params?

Also, I'll have to correct something in your question though, because it will cause a compilation error :p

Answer 3

Something like this ought to work for you:

delegate int MyDelegate(int a, int b);
public int Add(int a, int b) {
    return a + b;
}
public void InvokeMethod(Delegate method, object[] param) {
    Console.WriteLine(method.DynamicInvoke(param));
}
public Form1() {       
    InitializeComponent();
    InvokeMethod(new MyDelegate(Add), new object[] { 1, 2 });
}

Good luck!

Answer 4

I think what you want is:

static object InvokeMethod(Delegate method, params object[] args){
    return method.DynamicInvoke(args);
}

static int Add(int a, int b){
    return a + b;
}

static void Test(){
    Console.WriteLine(InvokeMethod(new Func<int, int, int>(Add), 5, 4));
}

Prints "9".

Answer 5

Converting a method group, anonymous method or lambda expression to a delegate requires the compiler to know the exact delegate type. However, you could potentially use lambda expressions and captured variables to make this simpler:

public void InvokeMethod(Action action)
{
    action();
}

public int Add(int a, int b)
{
    return a + b;
}

public void Test()
{    
    InvokeMethod(() => Add(2, 3));
}

That basically delays invocation in the normal way, but by wrapping the actual call to Add in a plain Action delegate.

If that doesn't fulfil your requirements, perhaps you can tell us a bit more about what you're really trying to achieve.

EDIT: If this is generated code, you can cast to a Func<...> with the right type arguments - assuming there aren't too many. Other than that, there's no real way of just passing in a method group. There's been occasional calls for an "infoof(...)" operator (like typeof but for members) which would give you a MemberInfo, but that doesn't actually exist.

Answer 6

Look at Functional Programming Series by Justin Etheredge. You should find solution to your problem there.

Answer 7

nice pwninstein!