Action Delegate

Definition

Namespace:: System

Assemblies:: mscorlib.dll, System.Runtime.dll

Assemblies:: netstandard.dll, System.Runtime.dll

Assembly:: System.Runtime.dll

Assembly:: System.Core.dll

Assembly:: mscorlib.dll

Assembly:: netstandard.dll

Source:: Action.cs

Source:: Action.cs

Source:: FormatException.cs

Important

Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it’s released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

Encapsulates a method that has three parameters and does not return a value.

generic 
public delegate void Action(T1 arg1, T2 arg2, T3 arg3);

public delegate void Action(T1 arg1, T2 arg2, T3 arg3);

public delegate void Action(T1 arg1, T2 arg2, T3 arg3) where T1 : allows ref struct where T2 : allows ref struct where T3 : allows ref struct;

public delegate void Action(T1 arg1, T2 arg2, T3 arg3);

type Action<'T1, 'T2, 'T3> = delegate of 'T1 * 'T2 * 'T3 -> unit

Public Delegate Sub Action(Of In T1, In T2, In T3)(arg1 As T1, arg2 As T2, arg3 As T3)

Public Delegate Sub Action(Of T1, T2, T3)(arg1 As T1, arg2 As T2, arg3 As T3)

Type Parameters

T1

The type of the first parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

This type parameter is contravariant. That is, you can use either the type you specified or any type that is less derived. For more information about covariance and contravariance, see Covariance and Contravariance in Generics.

T2

The type of the second parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

T3

The type of the third parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

Parameters

arg1: T1

The first parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

arg2: T2

The second parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

arg3: T3

The third parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

Remarks

You can use the Action delegate to pass a method as a parameter without explicitly declaring a custom delegate. The encapsulated method must correspond to the method signature that is defined by this delegate. This means that the encapsulated method must have three parameters that are all passed to it by value, and it must not return a value. (In C#, the method must return void. In F#, the method or function must return unit. In Visual Basic, it must be defined by the Sub…End Sub construct. It can also be a method that returns a value that is ignored.) Typically, such a method is used to perform an operation.

Note

To reference a method that has three parameters and returns a value, use the generic Func delegate instead.

When you use the Action delegate, you don't have to explicitly define a delegate that encapsulates a method with three parameters. For example, the following code explicitly declares a delegate named StringCopy and assigns a reference to the CopyStrings method to its delegate instance.

using System;

delegate void StringCopy(string[] stringArray1,
                         string[] stringArray2,
                         int indexToStart);

public class TestDelegate
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string[] ordinals = ["First", "Second", "Third", "Fourth", "Fifth"];
        string[] copiedOrdinals = new string[ordinals.Length];
        StringCopy copyOperation = CopyStrings;
        copyOperation(ordinals, copiedOrdinals, 3);
        foreach (string ordinal in copiedOrdinals)
            Console.WriteLine(string.IsNullOrEmpty(ordinal) ? "" : ordinal);
    }

    private static void CopyStrings(string[] source, string[] target, int startPos)
    {
        if (source.Length != target.Length)
            throw new IndexOutOfRangeException("The source and target arrays must have the same number of elements.");

        for (int ctr = startPos; ctr <= source.Length - 1; ctr++)
            target[ctr] = source[ctr];
    }
}

open System

type StringCopy = delegate of stringArray1: string [] * 
                              stringArray2: string [] * 
                              indexToStart: int -> unit

let copyStrings (source: string []) (target: string []) startPos =
    if source.Length <> target.Length then
        raise (IndexOutOfRangeException "The source and target arrays must have the same number of elements.")

    for i = startPos to source.Length - 1 do
        target.[i] <- source.[i]

let ordinals = [| "First"; "Second"; "Third"; "Fourth"; "Fifth" |]
let copiedOrdinals: string [] = Array.zeroCreate ordinals.Length

let copyOperation = StringCopy copyStrings

copyOperation.Invoke(ordinals, copiedOrdinals, 3)

for ordinal in copiedOrdinals do
    printfn "%s" (if String.IsNullOrEmpty ordinal then "" else ordinal)

Delegate Sub StringCopy(stringArray1() As String,
                        stringArray2() As String,
                        indexToStart As Integer)

Module TestDelegate
    Public Sub RunIt()
        Dim ordinals() As String = {"First", "Second", "Third", "Fourth", "Fifth"}
        Dim copiedOrdinals(ordinals.Length - 1) As String
        Dim copyOperation As StringCopy = AddressOf CopyStrings
        copyOperation(ordinals, copiedOrdinals, 3)
        For Each ordinal As String In copiedOrdinals
            If String.IsNullOrEmpty(ordinal) Then
                Console.WriteLine("")
            Else
                Console.WriteLine(ordinal)
            End If
        Next
    End Sub

    Private Sub CopyStrings(source() As String, target() As String, startPos As Integer)
        If source.Length <> target.Length Then
            Throw New IndexOutOfRangeException("The source and target arrays must have the same number of elements.")
        End If
        For ctr As Integer = startPos To source.Length - 1
            target(ctr) = source(ctr)
        Next
    End Sub
End Module

The following example simplifies this code by instantiating the Action delegate instead of explicitly defining a new delegate and assigning a named method to it.

using System;

public class TestAction3
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string[] ordinals = ["First", "Second", "Third", "Fourth", "Fifth"];
        string[] copiedOrdinals = new string[ordinals.Length];
        Action copyOperation = CopyStrings;
        copyOperation(ordinals, copiedOrdinals, 3);
        foreach (string ordinal in copiedOrdinals)
            Console.WriteLine(string.IsNullOrEmpty(ordinal) ? "" : ordinal);
    }

    private static void CopyStrings(string[] source, string[] target, int startPos)
    {
        if (source.Length != target.Length)
            throw new IndexOutOfRangeException("The source and target arrays must have the same number of elements.");

        for (int ctr = startPos; ctr <= source.Length - 1; ctr++)
            target[ctr] = source[ctr];
    }
}

open System

let copyStrings (source: string []) (target: string []) startPos =
    if source.Length <> target.Length then
        raise (IndexOutOfRangeException "The source and target arrays must have the same number of elements.")

    for i = startPos to source.Length - 1 do
        target.[i] <- source.[i]

let ordinals = [| "First"; "Second"; "Third"; "Fourth"; "Fifth" |]
let copiedOrdinals = Array.zeroCreate ordinals.Length

let copyOperation = Action<_,_,_> copyStrings

copyOperation.Invoke(ordinals, copiedOrdinals, 3)

for ordinal in copiedOrdinals do
    printfn "%s" (if String.IsNullOrEmpty ordinal then "" else ordinal)

Module TestAction3
    Public Sub RunIt()
        Dim ordinals() As String = {"First", "Second", "Third", "Fourth", "Fifth"}
        Dim copiedOrdinals(ordinals.Length - 1) As String
        Dim copyOperation As Action(Of String(), String(), Integer) = AddressOf CopyStrings
        copyOperation(ordinals, copiedOrdinals, 3)
        For Each ordinal As String In copiedOrdinals
            If String.IsNullOrEmpty(ordinal) Then
                Console.WriteLine("")
            Else
                Console.WriteLine(ordinal)
            End If
        Next
    End Sub

    Private Sub CopyStrings(source() As String, target() As String, startPos As Integer)
        If source.Length <> target.Length Then
            Throw New IndexOutOfRangeException("The source and target arrays must have the same number of elements.")
        End If
        For ctr As Integer = startPos To source.Length - 1
            target(ctr) = source(ctr)
        Next
    End Sub
End Module

You can also use the Action delegate with anonymous methods in C#, as the following example illustrates. (For an introduction to anonymous methods, see Anonymous Methods.)

using System;

public class TestAnon
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string[] ordinals = ["First", "Second", "Third", "Fourth", "Fifth"];
        string[] copiedOrdinals = new string[ordinals.Length];
        Action copyOperation = delegate (string[] s1,
                                                                 string[] s2,
                                                                 int pos)
                                        { CopyStrings(s1, s2, pos); };
        copyOperation(ordinals, copiedOrdinals, 3);
        foreach (string ordinal in copiedOrdinals)
            Console.WriteLine(string.IsNullOrEmpty(ordinal) ? "" : ordinal);
    }

    private static void CopyStrings(string[] source, string[] target, int startPos)
    {
        if (source.Length != target.Length)
            throw new IndexOutOfRangeException("The source and target arrays must have the same number of elements.");

        for (int ctr = startPos; ctr <= source.Length - 1; ctr++)
            target[ctr] = source[ctr];
    }
}

You can also assign a lambda expression to an Action delegate instance, as the following example illustrates. (For an introduction to lambda expressions, see Lambda Expressions (C#) or Lambda Expressions (F#).)

using System;

public class TestLambda
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string[] ordinals = ["First", "Second", "Third", "Fourth", "Fifth"];
        string[] copiedOrdinals = new string[ordinals.Length];
        Action copyOperation = (s1, s2, pos) =>
                                        CopyStrings(s1, s2, pos);
        copyOperation(ordinals, copiedOrdinals, 3);
        foreach (string ordinal in copiedOrdinals)
            Console.WriteLine(string.IsNullOrEmpty(ordinal) ? "" : ordinal);
    }

    private static void CopyStrings(string[] source, string[] target, int startPos)
    {
        if (source.Length != target.Length)
            throw new IndexOutOfRangeException("The source and target arrays must have the same number of elements.");

        for (int ctr = startPos; ctr <= source.Length - 1; ctr++)
            target[ctr] = source[ctr];
    }
}

open System

let copyStrings (source: string []) (target: string []) startPos =
    if source.Length <> target.Length then
        raise (IndexOutOfRangeException "The source and target arrays must have the same number of elements.")

    for i = startPos to source.Length - 1 do
        target.[i] <- source.[i]

let ordinals = [| "First"; "Second"; "Third"; "Fourth"; "Fifth" |]
let copiedOrdinals: string [] = Array.zeroCreate ordinals.Length

let copyOperation = Action<_,_,_> (fun s1 s2 pos -> copyStrings s1 s2 pos)

copyOperation.Invoke(ordinals, copiedOrdinals, 3)

for ordinal in copiedOrdinals do
    printfn "%s" (if String.IsNullOrEmpty ordinal then "" else ordinal)

Public Module TestLambda
    Public Sub RunIt()
        Dim ordinals() As String = {"First", "Second", "Third", "Fourth", "Fifth"}
        Dim copiedOrdinals(ordinals.Length - 1) As String
        Dim copyOperation As Action(Of String(), String(), Integer) =
                           Sub(s1, s2, pos) CopyStrings(s1, s2, pos)
        copyOperation(ordinals, copiedOrdinals, 3)
        For Each ordinal As String In copiedOrdinals
            If String.IsNullOrEmpty(ordinal) Then
                Console.WriteLine("")
            Else
                Console.WriteLine(ordinal)
            End If
        Next
    End Sub

    Private Function CopyStrings(source() As String, target() As String, startPos As Integer) As Integer
        If source.Length <> target.Length Then
            Throw New IndexOutOfRangeException("The source and target arrays must have the same number of elements.")
        End If

        For ctr As Integer = startPos To source.Length - 1
            target(ctr) = source(ctr)
        Next
        Return source.Length - startPos
    End Function
End Module

' The example displays the following output:
'       Fourth
'       Fifth

Extension Methods

Name	Description
GetMethodInfo(Delegate)	Gets an object that represents the method represented by the specified delegate.

Applies to

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