After conversion to VB, 'is an event and cannot be called directly.'

Question

The code below is part of project to save exceptions globally. I have converted this from C# to VB with both SharpDevelop and with Telerik's Code Converter, and I get identical results.

Searching through Stackoverflow, I found this question: "'Why won't this C# convert to VB?', which address the same error I have and shows a simple answer, but doesn't show how to use it - at least so I would know what to change.

What I'm getting is an error on 'ONWRITETODATABASE'. The complete error is: 'Public Shared Event OnWriteToDatabase(type As String, text As String)' is an event, and cannot be called directly. Use a 'RaiseEvent' statement to raise an event.

What do I change to make this work? (The caps are mine.)

Public Delegate Sub DatabaseWriteEventHandler(type As String, text As String)
Public Shared Event OnWriteToDatabase As DatabaseWriteEventHandler

Protected Function OnWriteToDatabase() As Boolean

    _logToDatabaseOK = False

    If ONWRITETODATABASE IsNot Nothing Then
        Try
            RaiseEvent OnWriteToDatabase(_exceptionType, _exceptionText)
            _logToDatabaseOK = True
        Catch ex As Exception
            _results.Add("LogToDatabase", ex.ToString())
        End Try
    Else
        _results.Add("LogToDatabase", "No subscriptions to OnWriteToDatabase event")
    End If

    Return _logToDatabaseOK

End Function

Answer 1

If you really want to include the "IsNot Nothing" check (and note Ben N's observation that you don't need it), you can reference the hidden VB event field:

If OnWriteToDatabaseEvent IsNot Nothing Then 'the event followed by "Event"

Answer 2

First up, events in VB are not handler collections; they're just something you can listen to with AddHandler. Therefore, it's not possible to know (with the simple translation given) whether anybody heard your raising of the event. Also, As clauses are not valid after events. What I think you should do is replace the first two lines with this:

Public Shared Event OnWriteToDatabase(DataType As String, Text As String)

Then, remove the null check and the _logToDatabaseOK stuff. (While you're at it, change the Function into a Sub, getting rid of the return.