Delegate Array

Question

I am experimenting with calling delegate functions from a delegate array. I've been able to create the array of delegates, but how do I call the delegate?

public delegate void pd();

public static class MyClass
{

    static void p1()
    {
        //...
    }

    static void p2 ()
    {
        //...
    }

    //...

    static pd[] delegates = new pd[] {

        new pd( MyClass.p1 ),
        new pd( MyClass.p2)
        /* ... */
    };
}

public class MainClass
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Call pd[0]
        // Call pd[1]
    }
}

EDIT: The reason for the array is that I need to call the delegate functions by an index as needed. They are not run in response to an event. I see a critical (stupid) error in my code as I had tried to execute the delegate function using the pd[] type rather than the name of the array (delegates).

Answer 1

public class MainClass
{
    static void Main()
    {
        pd[0]();
        pd[1]();
    }
}

Answer 2

If they're all the same type, why not just combine them into a single multicast delegate?

static pd delegateInstance = new pd(MyClass.p1) + new pd(MyClass.p2) ...;

...
pd();

Answer 3

In .Net, any delegate is in fact actually a "multicast" delegate (it inherits from this buily-in base class), and therefore contains an internal linked list which can contain any number of target delegates.

You can access this list by calling the method GetInvocationList() on the delegate itself. This method returns an array of Delegates...

The only restriction is that all the delegates inside of a given delegate's linked list must have the same signature, (be of the same delegate type). If you need your collection to be able to contain delegates of disparate types, then you need to construct your own list or collection class.

But if this is ok, then you can "call" the delegates in a given delegate's invocation list like this:

public delegate void MessageArrivedHandler(MessageBase msg);
public class MyClass
{
     public event MessageArrivedHandler MessageArrivedClientHandler;   

     public void CallEachDelegate(MessageBase msg)
     {
          if (MessageArrivedClientHandler == null)
              return;
          Delegate[] clientList = MessageArrivedClientHandler.GetInvocationList();
          foreach (Delegate d in clientList)
          {
              if (d is MessageArrivedHandler)
                  (d as MessageArrivedHandler)(msg);
          }
     }
}