Async.AwaitEvent<'Del,'T> Method (F#)

Article
02/04/2013

Creates an asynchronous computation that waits for a single invocation of a CLI event by adding a handler to the event. Once the computation completes or is cancelled, the handler is removed from the event.

Namespace/Module Path: Microsoft.FSharp.Control

Assembly: FSharp.Core (in FSharp.Core.dll)

// Signature:
static member AwaitEvent : IEvent<'Del,'T> * ?(unit -> unit) -> Async<'T> (requires delegate)

// Usage:
Async.AwaitEvent (event)
Async.AwaitEvent (event, cancelAction = cancelAction)

Parameters

event
Type: IEvent<'Del,'T>

The event to handle once.
cancelAction
Type: (unit -> unit)

An optional function to execute instead of cancelling when a cancellation is issued.

Return Value

An asynchronous computation that waits for the event to be invoked.

Remarks

The computation will respond to cancellation while waiting for the event. If a cancellation occurs, and cancelAction is specified, then it is executed, and the computation continues to wait for the event. If cancelAction is not specified, then cancellation causes the computation to cancel immediately.

Example

The following code example demonstrates how to use Async.AwaitEvent to set up a file operation that runs in response to an event that indicates that a file is changed. In this case, waiting for the event prevents an attempt to access the file while it is locked.

open System.Windows.Forms
open System.IO

let filename = "longoutput.dat"
if File.Exists(filename) then
    File.Delete(filename)
let watcher = new FileSystemWatcher(Path = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(),
                                    NotifyFilter = NotifyFilters.LastWrite,
                                    Filter = filename)
watcher.Changed.Add(fun args -> printfn "The file %s is changed." args.Name)
watcher.EnableRaisingEvents <- true

let testFile = File.CreateText("Test.txt")
testFile.WriteLine("Testing...")
testFile.Close()

let form = new Form(Text = "Test Form")
let buttonSpacing = 5
let button1 = new Button(Text = "Start")
let button2 = new Button(Text = "Start Invalid", Top = button1.Height + buttonSpacing)
let button3 = new Button(Text = "Cancel", Top = 2 * (button1.Height + buttonSpacing))
let label1 = new Label(Text = "", Width = 200, Top = 3 * (button1.Height + buttonSpacing))
let label2 = new Label(Text = "", Width = 200, Top = 4 * (button1.Height + buttonSpacing))
form.Controls.AddRange [| button1; button2; button3; label1 |]
form.Controls.Add(button1)

let bufferData = Array.zeroCreate<byte> 100000000

let async1 filename =
     async {
       printfn "Creating file %s." filename
       use outputFile = File.Create(filename)
       printfn "Attempting to write to file %s." filename
       do! outputFile.AsyncWrite(bufferData) 
     }

let async2 filename =
     async {
       printfn "Waiting for file system watcher notification."
       // If you omit the call to AwaitEvent, an exception is thrown that indicates that the
       // file is locked.
       let! args = Async.AwaitEvent(watcher.Changed)
       printfn "Attempting to open and read file %s." filename
       use inputFile = File.OpenRead(filename)
       let! buffer = inputFile.AsyncRead(100000000)
       printfn "Successfully read file %s." filename
       return buffer
     }   

button1.Click.Add(fun _ ->
                  // Start these as tasks simultaneously.
                  Async.StartAsTask(async1 filename) |> ignore
                  Async.StartAsTask(async2 filename) |> ignore
                  ())
button2.Click.Add(fun _ ->
                  Async.StartAsTask(async1 filename) |> ignore
                  Async.StartAsTask(async2 "longoutputX.dat")  |> ignore
                  ())
Application.Run(form)

Sample Output

Creating file Waiting for file sylongoutput.dat.

stem watcher notification.

Attempting to write to file longoutput.dat.

The file longoutput.dat is changed.

The file longoutput.dat is changed.

Attempting to open and read file longoutput.dat.

Successfully read file longoutput.dat.

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP2, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP x64 SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP2

Version Information

F# Runtime

Supported in: 2.0, 4.0

Silverlight

Supported in: 3

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