C# Keep Method Executing/Listening to Data without the use of a While(true) loop or Thread.Sleep?

Question

I have been given a snippet of data in documentation I was given to receive data from a device.

The code below will only listen for 5 seconds and then the method would return and the program would terminate.

public void ListenForData()
{
  ...
  DataReader r = new DataReader();
  ...

  r.DataRead += delegate (Object sender, DataEventArgs e)
  {
    Console.WriteLine("Read: " + e.Data);
  };

  r.StartListening();

  Thread.Sleep(5000);

  r.Dispose();
}

I want to keep the method open (so I can continue listening to data) but I'm unsure on the proper way to do this. I've looked at responses like:

while(true)
{
    //my code
    Thread.sleep(0);
}

But I'm not sure that this is the optimal use case. I feel it would hog a lot of CPU and wasn't the true intended way to listen for that data.

So what other options do I have?

Answer 1

I think your DataReader needs to be a field somewhere scoped to the duration of you needing to receive data. Something like this (assuming Windows application):

class MainForm : Form
{
  DataReader dataReader;
  void listenButton_Click(object s, EventArgs e)
  {
    this.dataReader = new DataReader();
    this.dataReader.DataRead += delegate (Object sender, DataEventArgs e)
      {
        Console.WriteLine("Read: " + e.Data);
      };

    this.dataReader.StartListening();
  }
  void stopButton_Click(object s, EventArgs e)
  {
    this.dataReader.Dispose();
    this.dataReader = null;
  }
}

Or console:

static class Program
{
  static DataReader dataReader;
  static void Main(string[] args)
  {
    StartListen();
    Console.WriteLine("Push enter to exit");
    Console.ReadLine(); // wait for enter key to exit
    StopListen();
  }
  static void StartListen()
  {
    dataReader = new DataReader();
    dataReader.DataRead += delegate (Object sender, DataEventArgs e)
      {
        Console.WriteLine("Read: " + e.Data);
      };

    dataReader.StartListening();
  }
  static void StopListen()
  {
    dataReader.Dispose();
    dataReader = null;
  }
}