Article
11/18/2011

Func<T1, T2, TResult> Delegate

Microsoft Silverlight will reach end of support after October 2021. Learn more.

Encapsulates a method that has two 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, Out TResult) ( _
    arg1 As T1, _
    arg2 As T2 _
) As TResult

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

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.

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.

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 two parameters, each of which is passed to it by value, and that it must return a value.

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

When you use the Func<T1, T2, TResult> 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 ExtractMethod and assigns a reference to the ExtractWords method to its delegate instance.

' Declare a delegate to represent string extraction method
Delegate Function ExtractMethod(ByVal stringToManipulate As String) As String()

Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      ' Instantiate delegate to reference ExtractWords method
      Dim extractMeth As ExtractMethod = AddressOf ExtractWords
      Dim title As String = "The Scarlet Letter"
      ' Use delegate instance to call ExtractWords method and display result
      For Each word As String In extractMeth(title)
         outputBlock.Text &= word & vbCrLf
      Next
   End Sub

   Private Function ExtractWords(ByVal phrase As String) As String()
      Dim delimiters() As Char = {" "c}
      Return phrase.Split(delimiters)
   End Function
End Module

using System;

delegate string[] ExtractMethod(string stringToManipulate);

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      // Instantiate delegate to reference ExtractWords method
      ExtractMethod extractMeth = ExtractWords;
      string title = "The Scarlet Letter";
      // Use delegate instance to call ExtractWords method and display result
      foreach (string word in extractMeth(title))
         outputBlock.Text += word + "\n";
   }

   private static string[] ExtractWords(string phrase)
   {
      char[] delimiters = new char[] { ' ' };
      return phrase.Split(delimiters);
   }
}

The following example simplifies this code by instantiating a Func<T1, T2, 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)
      ' Instantiate delegate to reference ExtractWords method
      Dim extractMeth As Func(Of String, String()) = AddressOf ExtractWords
      Dim title As String = "The Scarlet Letter"
      ' Use delegate instance to call ExtractWords method and display result
      For Each word As String In extractMeth(title)
         outputBlock.Text &= word & vbCrLf
      Next
   End Sub

   Private Function ExtractWords(ByVal phrase As String) As String()
      Dim delimiters() As Char = {" "c}
      Return phrase.Split(delimiters)
   End Function
End Module

using System;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      // Instantiate delegate to reference ExtractWords method
      Func<string, string[]> extractMethod = ExtractWords;
      string title = "The Scarlet Letter";
      // Use delegate instance to call ExtractWords method and display result
      foreach (string word in extractMethod(title))
         outputBlock.Text += word + "\n";
   }

   private static string[] ExtractWords(string phrase)
   {
      char[] delimiters = new char[] { ' ' };
      return phrase.Split(delimiters);
   }
}

You can use the Func<T1, T2, 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)
   {
      Func<string, string[]> extractMeth = delegate(string s)
         {
            char[] delimiters = new char[] { ' ' };
            return s.Split(delimiters);
         };

      string title = "The Scarlet Letter";
      // Use Func instance to call ExtractWords method and display result
      foreach (string word in extractMeth(title))
         outputBlock.Text += word + "\n";
   }
}

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

Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim separators() As Char = {" "c}
      Dim extract As Func(Of String, String()) = Function(s) _
          CType(s.Split(separators), String())

      Dim title As String = "The Scarlet Letter"
      For Each word As String In extract(title)
         outputBlock.Text &= word & vbCrLf
      Next
   End Sub
End Module

using System;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      char[] separators = new char[] { ' ' };
      Func<string, string[]> extract = (s) =>
           s.Split(separators);

      string title = "The Scarlet Letter";
      // Use Func instance to call ExtractWords method and display result
      foreach (string word in extract(title))
         outputBlock.Text += word + "\n";
   }
}

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<T1, T2, TResult> parameters, you can pass these methods a lambda expression without explicitly instantiating a Func<T1, T2, TResult> 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.

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