Question

I have the following method:

public static TEventInvocatorParameters Until
    <TEventInvocatorParameters, TEventArgs>(this TEventInvocatorParameters p,
                                            Func<TEventArgs, bool> breakCond)
    where TEventInvocatorParameters : EventInvocatorParameters<TEventArgs>
    where TEventArgs : EventArgs
{
    p.BreakCondition = breakCond;
    return p;
}

And this class

public class EventInvocatorParameters<T>
    where T : EventArgs
{
    public Func<T, bool> BreakCondition { get; set; }
    // Other properties used below omitted for brevity.
}

Now, I have the following problems:

1. This extension method shows on all types, even string.
2. I can’t write new EventInvocatorParameters<EventArgs>(EventABC).Until(e => false); It is telling me “The type arguments for method … cannot be inferred from the usage.”

Can’t I use generic type parameters like this? How would you resolve this problem?
Important point: I need both of those generic parameters, because I need to return the same type this extension method was called on.

---

Broader picture (not necessary for answering the question!):
I am trying to create a fluent interface to invoking events. The base is this static class:

public static class Fire
{
   public static void Event<TEventArgs>(
       ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters<TEventArgs> parameters)
    where TEventArgs : EventArgs
    {
        if (parameters.EventHandler == null)
        {
            return;
        }

        var sender = parameters.Sender;
        var eventArgs = parameters.EventArgs;
        var breakCondition = parameters.BreakCondition;

        foreach (EventHandler<TEventArgs> @delegate in 
                 parameters.EventHandler.GetInvocationList())
        {
            try
            {
                @delegate(sender, eventArgs);
                if (breakCondition(eventArgs))
                {
                    break;
                }
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                var exceptionHandler = parameters.ExceptionHandler;
                if (!exceptionHandler(e))
                {
                    throw;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

To make sure this method can only be called with fully configured parameters, it only accepts a ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters<T> which derives from EventInvocatorParameters<T>:

public class ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters<T>
    : EventInvocatorParameters<T>
    where T : EventArgs
{
    public ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters(
        EventInvocatorParameters<T> parameters, object sender, T eventArgs)
        : base(parameters)
    {
        EventArgs = eventArgs;
        Sender = sender;
    }

    public T EventArgs { get; private set; }
    public object Sender { get; private set; }

}

The following would be valid calls:

Fire.Event(EventName.With(sender, eventArgs));
Fire.Event(EventName.With(sender, eventArgs).Until(e => e.Cancel));
Fire.Event(EventName.Until(e => e.Cancel).With(sender, eventArgs));

The following would be invalid:

// no sender or eventArgs have been specified, i.e. missing call to With(...)
Fire.Event(EventName.Until(e => e.Cancel));

To make this work, there exist extension methods named With, that accept either a EventHandler<TEventArgs or a TEventInvocatorParameters and return a ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters<TEventArgs>. All calls following the With now also need to return the type ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters<TEventArgs>, otherwise the second example of a valid call (with the Until at the end) wouldn’t work.
If you have any thoughts on the API in general, please let me know. However, I want to avoid the following three things:

• Fail only at runtime if the parameters have not been configured fully
• Creating an inverse syntax like EventName.With(...).Until(...).Fire()
• Use the infamous Do method to start off things: Fire(EventName).With(...).Until(...).Do();

Answer 1

For anyone interested, for now, I solved the original problem (fluent event invocation API) with a generic class hierarchy. This is basically Hightechrider’s answer on steroids.

public abstract class EventInvocatorParametersBase
    <TEventInvocatorParameters, TEventArgs>
    where TEventArgs : EventArgs
    where TEventInvocatorParameters :
        EventInvocatorParametersBase<TEventInvocatorParameters, TEventArgs>

{
    protected EventInvocatorParametersBase(
        EventHandler<TEventArgs> eventHandler,
        Func<Exception, bool> exceptionHandler,
        Func<TEventArgs, bool> breakCondition)
    {
        EventHandler = eventHandler;
        ExceptionHandler = exceptionHandler;
        BreakCondition = breakCondition;
    }

    protected EventInvocatorParametersBase(
        EventHandler<TEventArgs> eventHandler)
        : this(eventHandler, e => false, e => false)
    {
    }

    public Func<TEventArgs, bool> BreakCondition { get; set; }
    public EventHandler<TEventArgs> EventHandler { get; set; }
    public Func<Exception, bool> ExceptionHandler { get; set; }

    public TEventInvocatorParameters Until(
        Func<TEventArgs, bool> breakCondition)
    {
        BreakCondition = breakCondition;
        return (TEventInvocatorParameters)this;
    }

    public TEventInvocatorParameters WithExceptionHandler(
        Func<Exception, bool> exceptionHandler)
    {
        ExceptionHandler = exceptionHandler;
        return (TEventInvocatorParameters)this;
    }

    public ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters<TEventArgs> With(
        object sender, 
        TEventArgs eventArgs)
    {
        return new ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters<TEventArgs>(
            EventHandler, ExceptionHandler, BreakCondition,
            sender, eventArgs);
    }
}

public class EventInvocatorParameters<T> :
    EventInvocatorParametersBase<EventInvocatorParameters<T>, T>
    where T : EventArgs
{
    public EventInvocatorParameters(EventHandler<T> eventHandler)
        : base(eventHandler)
    {
    }
}

public class ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters<T> :
    EventInvocatorParametersBase<ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters<T>, T>
    where T : EventArgs
{
    public ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters(
        EventHandler<T> eventHandler,
        Func<Exception, bool> exceptionHandler,
        Func<T, bool> breakCondition, object sender,
        T eventArgs)
        : base(eventHandler, exceptionHandler, breakCondition)
    {
        EventArgs = eventArgs;
        Sender = sender;
    }

    public ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters(EventHandler<T> eventHandler,
                                              object sender,
                                              T eventArgs)
        : this(eventHandler, e => false, e => false, sender, eventArgs)
    {
    }

    public T EventArgs { get; private set; }
    public object Sender { get; private set; }
}

public static class EventExtensions
{
    public static EventInvocatorParameters<TEventArgs> Until<TEventArgs>(
        this EventHandler<TEventArgs> eventHandler,
        Func<TEventArgs, bool> breakCondition)
        where TEventArgs : EventArgs
    {
        return new EventInvocatorParameters<TEventArgs>(eventHandler).
            Until(breakCondition);
    }

    public static EventInvocatorParameters<TEventArgs> 
        WithExceptionHandler<TEventArgs>(
            this EventHandler<TEventArgs> eventHandler,
            Func<Exception, bool> exceptionHandler)
        where TEventArgs : EventArgs
    {
        return
            new EventInvocatorParameters<TEventArgs>(eventHandler).
                WithExceptionHandler(exceptionHandler);
    }

    public static ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters<TEventArgs>
        With<TEventArgs>(
            this EventHandler<TEventArgs> eventHandler, object sender,
            TEventArgs eventArgs)
        where TEventArgs : EventArgs
    {
        return new ConfiguredEventInvocatorParameters<TEventArgs>(
            eventHandler, sender, eventArgs);
    }
}

This allows you to write code like this:

Fire.Event(EventName.WithExceptionHandler(e => false)
                    .Until(e => false).With(this, EventArgs.Empty));
Fire.Event(EventName.With(this, EventArgs.Empty));
Fire.Event(EventName.WithExceptionHandler(e => false)
                    .With(this, EventArgs.Empty).Until(e => false));
Fire.Event(EventName.With(this, EventArgs.Empty)
                    .WithExceptionHandler(e => false).Until(e => false));

But it doesn’t allow you to write this, because not all necessary info (eventArgs and sender) has been provided:

Fire.Event(EventName.Until(e => false));
Fire.Event(EventName);