from: honda@luckstar.com.tw
date: 2018-03-18
subject: Action<T1,T2...Tn> Delegate

ref: 
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb549311(v=vs.110).aspx

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Action<T1,T2...Tn> Delegate

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

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When you use the Action<T1,T2> delegate, you do not have to explicitly define a delegate that encapsulates a method with two parameters. For example, the following code explicitly declares a delegate named ConcatStrings. It then assigns a reference to either of two methods to its delegate instance. One method writes two strings to the console; the second writes two strings to a file.


using System;
using System.IO;

delegate void ConcatStrings(string string1, string string2);

public class TestDelegate
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      string message1 = "The first line of a message.";
      string message2 = "The second line of a message.";
      ConcatStrings concat;

      if (Environment.GetCommandLineArgs().Length > 1)
         concat = WriteToFile;
      else
         concat = WriteToConsole;

      concat(message1, message2);
   }

   private static void WriteToConsole(string string1, string string2)
   {
      Console.WriteLine("{0}\n{1}", string1, string2);            
   }

   private static void WriteToFile(string string1, string string2)
   {
      StreamWriter writer = null;  
      try
      {
         writer = new StreamWriter(Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()[1], false);
         writer.WriteLine("{0}\n{1}", string1, string2);
      }
      catch
      {
         Console.WriteLine("File write operation failed...");
      }
      finally
      {
         if (writer != null) writer.Close();
      }      
   }
}

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The following example simplifies this code by instantiating the Action<T1,T2> delegate instead of explicitly defining a new delegate and assigning a named method to it.

using System;
using System.IO;

public class TestAction2
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      string message1 = "The first line of a message.";
      string message2 = "The second line of a message.";
      Action<string, string> concat;

      if (Environment.GetCommandLineArgs().Length > 1)
         concat = WriteToFile;
      else
         concat = WriteToConsole;

      concat(message1, message2);
   }

   private static void WriteToConsole(string string1, string string2)
   {
      Console.WriteLine("{0}\n{1}", string1, string2);            
   }

   private static void WriteToFile(string string1, string string2)
   {
      StreamWriter writer = null;  
      try
      {
         writer = new StreamWriter(Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()[1], false);
         writer.WriteLine("{0}\n{1}", string1, string2);
      }
      catch
      {
         Console.WriteLine("File write operation failed...");
      }
      finally
      {
         if (writer != null) writer.Close();
      }      
   }
}


You can also use the Action<T1, T2> delegate with anonymous methods in C#, as the following example illustrates. (For an introduction to anonymous methods, see Anonymous Methods (C# Programming Guide).)
using System;
using System.IO;

public class TestAnonymousMethod
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      string message1 = "The first line of a message.";
      string message2 = "The second line of a message.";
      Action<string, string> concat;

      if (Environment.GetCommandLineArgs().Length > 1)
         concat = delegate(string s1, string s2) { WriteToFile(s1, s2); };
      else
         concat = delegate(string s1, string s2) { WriteToConsole(s1, s2);} ;

      concat(message1, message2);
   }

   private static void WriteToConsole(string string1, string string2)
   {
      Console.WriteLine("{0}\n{1}", string1, string2);            
   }

   private static void WriteToFile(string string1, string string2)
   {
      StreamWriter writer = null;  
      try
      {
         writer = new StreamWriter(Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()[1], false);
         writer.WriteLine("{0}\n{1}", string1, string2);
      }
      catch
      {
         Console.WriteLine("File write operation failed...");
      }
      finally
      {
         if (writer != null) writer.Close();
      }      
   }
}


You can also assign a lambda expression to an Action<T1, T2> delegate instance, as the following example illustrates. (For an introduction to lambda expressions, see Lambda Expressions (C# Programming Guide).)
using System;
using System.IO;

public class TestLambdaExpression
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      string message1 = "The first line of a message.";
      string message2 = "The second line of a message.";
      Action<string, string> concat;

      if (Environment.GetCommandLineArgs().Length > 1)
         concat = (s1, s2) => WriteToFile(s1, s2);
      else
         concat = (s1, s2) => WriteToConsole(s1, s2);

      concat(message1, message2);
   }

   private static void WriteToConsole(string string1, string string2)
   {
      Console.WriteLine("{0}\n{1}", string1, string2);            
   }

   private static void WriteToFile(string string1, string string2)
   {
      StreamWriter writer = null;  
      try
      {
         writer = new StreamWriter(Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()[1], false);
         writer.WriteLine("{0}\n{1}", string1, string2);
      }
      catch
      {
         Console.WriteLine("File write operation failed...");
      }
      finally
      {
         if (writer != null) writer.Close();
      }      
   }
}