Pass value between forms using events

This comes up so many times in the Forums/Quick Answers I thought it was time for a Tip that I can point people to.

Passing a value from a child form to the parent is best achieved using an event. To a noob, creating events, especialy when passing a value, can seem unnecessarily complicated. The code below shows a simple implementation that can be adapted as required.

The example is using Forms, but the priciple applies to any object type.

All the code is commented, any questions - just ask!

// TextEventArgs.cs
using System;

public class TextEventArgs : EventArgs
{
    // Private field exposed by the Text property
    private string text;

    public TextEventArgs(string text)
    {
        this.text = text;
    }

    // Read only property.
    public string Text
    {
        get { return text; }
    }
}

// Form2.cs
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
public partial class Form2 : Form
{
    // Our event
    public event EventHandler<TextEventArgs> NewTextChanged;
    /* Private field to hold the value that is passed around.
     * Exposed by the NewText property and passed in the NewTextChanged event. */
    private string newText;
    /* The following line would normally be automatically created
     * in the Form1.Designer.cs file. */
    private TextBox textBox;
    public Form2()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        /* The following lines would normally be automatically created
         * in the Form2.Designer.cs file. */
        textBox = new TextBox();
        textBox.Location = new Point(92, 122);
        textBox.TextChanged += new EventHandler(textBox_TextChanged);
        Controls.Add(textBox);
    }
    // textBox.TextChanged handler
    private void textBox_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        NewText = textBox.Text;
    }
    public string NewText
    {
        get { return newText; }
        /* Setting this property will raise the event if the value is different.
         * As this property has a public getter you can access it and raise the
         * event from any reference to this class. in this example it is set from
         * the textBox.TextChanged handler above. The setter can be marked as
         * as private if required. */
        set
        {
            if (newText != value)
            {
                newText = value;
                OnNewTextChanged(new TextEventArgs(newText));
            }
        }
    }
    // Standard event raising pattern.
    protected virtual void OnNewTextChanged(TextEventArgs e)
    {
        // Create a copy of the event to work with
        EventHandler<TextEventArgs> eh = NewTextChanged;
        /* If there are no subscribers, eh will be null so we need to check
         * to avoid a NullReferenceException. */
        if (eh != null)
            eh(this, e);
    }
}

// Form1.cs
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
    /* The following line would normally be automatically created
     * in the Form1.Designer.cs file */
    private Button buttonShowForm2;
    public Form1()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        /* The following lines would normally be automatically created
         * in the Form1.Designer.cs file */
        buttonShowForm2 = new Button();
        buttonShowForm2.Location = new Point(105, 121);
        buttonShowForm2.Text = "Show Form2";
        buttonShowForm2.Click += new EventHandler(buttonShowForm2_Click);
        Controls.Add(buttonShowForm2);
    }
    private void buttonShowForm2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        Form2 form2 = new Form2();
        // Subscribe to event
        form2.NewTextChanged += new EventHandler<TextEventArgs>(form2_NewTextChanged);
        form2.ShowDialog();
        // Unsubscribe from event
        form2.NewTextChanged -= form2_NewTextChanged;
        form2.Dispose();
        form2 = null;
    }
    // Our new event (form2.NewTextChanged) handler
    private void form2_NewTextChanged(object sender, TextEventArgs e)
    {
        Text = e.Text;
    }
}