Func<T1, T2, T3, T4, TResult> Delegate

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Encapsulates a method that has four parameters and returns a value of the type specified by the TResult parameter.

Namespace:  System
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
<TypeForwardedFromAttribute("System.Core, Version=2.0.5.0, Culture=Neutral, PublicKeyToken=7cec85d7bea7798e")> _
Public Delegate Function Func(Of In T1, In T2, In T3, In T4, Out TResult) ( _
    arg1 As T1, _
    arg2 As T2, _
    arg3 As T3, _
    arg4 As T4 _
) As TResult

[TypeForwardedFromAttribute("System.Core, Version=2.0.5.0, Culture=Neutral, PublicKeyToken=7cec85d7bea7798e")]
public delegate TResult Func<in T1, in T2, in T3, in T4, out TResult>(
    T1 arg1,
    T2 arg2,
    T3 arg3,
    T4 arg4
)

Type Parameters

• inT1
  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 2678dc63-c7f9-4590-9ddc-0a4df684d42e.

• inT2
  The type of the second parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

• inT3
  The type of the third parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

• inT4
  The type of the fourth parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

• outTResult
  The type of the return value of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

  This type parameter is covariant. That is, you can use either the type you specified or any type that is more derived. For more information about covariance and contravariance, see 2678dc63-c7f9-4590-9ddc-0a4df684d42e.

Parameters

• arg1
  Type: T1
  The first parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

• arg2
  Type: T2
  The second parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

• arg3
  Type: T3
  The third parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

• arg4
  Type: T4
  The fourth parameter of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

Return Value

Type: TResult
The return value of the method that this delegate encapsulates.

Remarks

You can use this delegate to represent a method that can be passed as a parameter without explicitly declaring a custom delegate. The method must correspond to the method signature that is defined by this delegate. This means that the encapsulated method must have four parameters, each of which is passed to it by value, and that it must return a value.

Note:
To reference a method that has four parameters and that returns void (or in Visual Basic, that is declared as a Sub rather than as a Function), use the generic Action<T1, T2, T3, T4> delegate instead.

When you use the Func<T1, T2, T3, T4, TResult> delegate, you do not have to explicitly define a delegate that encapsulates a method with four parameters. For example, the following code explicitly declares a generic delegate named Searcher and assigns a reference to the IndexOf method to its delegate instance.

Delegate Function Searcher(ByVal searchString As String, _
                           ByVal start As Integer, _
                           ByVal count As Integer, _
                           ByVal type As StringComparison) As Integer

Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim title As String = "The House of the Seven Gables"
      Dim position As Integer = 0
      Dim finder As Searcher = AddressOf title.IndexOf
      Do
         Dim characters As Integer = title.Length - position
         position = finder("the", position, characters, _
                         StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase)
         If position >= 0 Then
            position += 1
            outputBlock.Text += String.Format("'The' found at position {0} in {1}.", _
                              position, title) & vbCrLf
         End If
      Loop While position > 0
   End Sub
End Module

using System;

delegate int Searcher(string searchString, int start, int count,
                         StringComparison type);

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      string title = "The House of the Seven Gables";
      int position = 0;
      Searcher finder = title.IndexOf;
      do
      {
         int characters = title.Length - position;
         position = finder("the", position, characters,
                         StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase);
         if (position >= 0)
         {
            position++;
            outputBlock.Text += String.Format("'The' found at position {0} in {1}.",
                              position, title) + "\n";
         }
      } while (position > 0);
   }
}

The following example simplifies this code by instantiating the Func<T1, T2, T3, T4, TResult> delegate rather than explicitly defining a new delegate and assigning a named method to it.

Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim title As String = "The House of the Seven Gables"
      Dim position As Integer = 0
      Dim finder As Func(Of String, Integer, Integer, StringComparison, Integer) _
                    = AddressOf title.IndexOf
      Do
         Dim characters As Integer = title.Length - position
         position = finder("the", position, characters, _
                         StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase)
         If position >= 0 Then
            position += 1
            outputBlock.Text += String.Format("'The' found at position {0} in {1}.", _
                              position, title) & vbCrLf
         End If
      Loop While position > 0
   End Sub
End Module

using System;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      string title = "The House of the Seven Gables";
      int position = 0;
      Func<string, int, int, StringComparison, int> finder = title.IndexOf;
      do
      {
         int characters = title.Length - position;
         position = finder("the", position, characters,
                         StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase);
         if (position >= 0)
         {
            position++;
            outputBlock.Text += String.Format("'The' found at position {0} in {1}.",
                              position, title) + "\n";
         }
      } while (position > 0);
   }
}

You can use the Func<T1, T2, T3, T4, TResult> delegate with anonymous methods in C#, as the following example illustrates.

using System;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      string title = "The House of the Seven Gables";
      int position = 0;
      Func<string, int, int, StringComparison, int> finder =
           delegate(string s, int pos, int chars, StringComparison type)
           { return title.IndexOf(s, pos, chars, type); };
      do
      {
         int characters = title.Length - position;
         position = finder("the", position, characters,
                         StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase);
         if (position >= 0)
         {
            position++;
            outputBlock.Text += String.Format("'The' found at position {0} in {1}.",
                              position, title) + "\n";
         }
      } while (position > 0);
   }
}

You can also assign a lambda expression to a Func<T1, T2, T3, T4, TResult> delegate, as the following example illustrates.

Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim title As String = "The House of the Seven Gables"
      Dim position As Integer = 0
      Dim finder As Func(Of String, Integer, Integer, StringComparison, Integer) _
                    = Function(s, pos, chars, type) _
                    title.IndexOf(s, pos, chars, type)
      Do
         Dim characters As Integer = title.Length - position
         position = finder("the", position, characters, _
                         StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase)
         If position >= 0 Then
            position += 1
            outputBlock.Text += String.Format("'The' found at position {0} in {1}.", _
                              position, title) & vbCrLf
         End If
      Loop While position > 0
   End Sub
End Module

using System;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      string title = "The House of the Seven Gables";
      int position = 0;
      Func<string, int, int, StringComparison, int> finder =
           (s, pos, chars, type) => title.IndexOf(s, pos, chars, type);
      do
      {
         int characters = title.Length - position;
         position = finder("the", position, characters,
                         StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase);
         if (position >= 0)
         {
            position++;
            outputBlock.Text += String.Format("'The' found at position {0} in {1}.",
                              position, title) + "\n";
         }
      } while (position > 0);
   }
}

The underlying type of a lambda expression is one of the generic Func delegates. This makes it possible to pass a lambda expression as a parameter without explicitly assigning it to a delegate. In particular, because many methods of types in the System.Linq namespace have Func parameters, you can pass these methods a lambda expression without explicitly instantiating a Func delegate.

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to declare and use a Func<T1, T2, TResult> delegate. This example declares a Func<T1, T2, TResult> variable and assigns it a lambda expression that takes a String value and an Int32 value as parameters. The lambda expression returns true if the length of the String parameter is equal to the value of the Int32 parameter. The delegate that encapsulates this method is subsequently used in a query to filter strings in an array of strings.

Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Linq

Public Module Example

   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim predicate As Func(Of String, Integer, Boolean) = Function(str, index) str.Length = index

      Dim words() As String = {"orange", "apple", "Article", "elephant", "star", "and"}
      Dim aWords As IEnumerable(Of String) = words.Where(predicate)

      For Each word As String In aWords
         outputBlock.Text &= word & vbCrLf
      Next
   End Sub
End Module

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      Func<String, int, bool> predicate = (str, index) => str.Length == index;

      String[] words = { "orange", "apple", "Article", "elephant", "star", "and" };
      IEnumerable<String> aWords = words.Where(predicate).Select(str => str);

      foreach (String word in aWords)
         outputBlock.Text += word + "\n";
   }
}

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.

See Also

Reference

System Namespace