Is it possible to dynamically call a method on a class from java?
E.g, lets say I have the reference to a class, e.g either the string: 'com.foo.Bar', or com.foo.Bar.class, or anything else which is needed..). And I have an array / list of strings, e.g [First, Last, Email].
I want to simply loop through this array, and call the method 'validate' + element on the class that I have a reference to. E.g:
MyInterface item = //instantiate the com.foo.Bar class here somehow, I'm not sure how.
item.validateFirst();
item.validateLast();
item.validateEmail();
I want the above lines of code to happen dynamically, so I can change the reference to a different class, and the names in my string list can change, but it will still call the validate + name method on whichever class it has the reference to.
Is that possible?
The simplest approach would be to use reflection
Given...
package com.foo;
public class Bar {
public void validateFirst() {
System.out.println("validateFirst");
}
public void validateLast() {
System.out.println("validateLast");
}
public void validateEmail() {
System.out.println("validateEmail");
}
}
You could use something like...
String methodNames[] = new String[]{"First", "Last", "Email"};
String className = "com.foo.Bar";
try {
Class classRef = Class.forName(className);
Object instance = classRef.newInstance();
for (String methodName : methodNames) {
try {
Method method = classRef.getDeclaredMethod("validate" + methodName);
method.invoke(instance);
} catch (NoSuchMethodException | SecurityException | IllegalArgumentException | InvocationTargetException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
} catch (ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
To look up the methods and execute them.
You will need to decide the best way to handle errors and what they mean to you, but it wouldn't be a difficult them to expand the idea to a reusable method...
Updated with idea of concept discussed in comments
Given....
public interface Validator {
public boolean isValid(Properties formProperties);
}
We can create one or more...
public class UserRegistrationValidator implements Validator {
public boolean isValid(Properties formProperties) {
boolean isValid = false;
// Required fields...
if (formProperties.containsKey("firstName") && formProperties.containsKey("lastName") && formProperties.containsKey("email")) {
// Further processing, valid each required field...
}
if (isValid) {
// Process optional parameters
}
return isValid;
}
}
Then from our input controller, we can look and valid the required forms
public class FormController ... {
private Map<String, Validator> validators;
public void validForm(String formName, Properties formProperties) {
boolean isValid = false;
Validator validator = validators.get(formName);
if (validator != null) {
isValid = validate.isValid(formProperties);
}
return isValid;
}
}
Of course you need to provide some way to register the Validators and there may be differences based on the backbone framework you are using and the parameters you can use (you don't have to use Properties, but it is basically just a Map<String, String>...)
You can write something like this... it takes name of a class as string as an argument, the method name and its arguments
private static String invoke(String aClass, String aMethod, Class<?>[] params,
Object[] args) throws Exception {
String resp = "";
Class<?> c = Class.forName(aClass);
Method m = c.getDeclaredMethod(aMethod, params);
Object i = c.newInstance();
resp = m.invoke(i, args).toString();
return resp;
}
You can also refer to the oracle tutorial on reflection ... which demonstrates how to call methods
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/reflect/member/methodInvocation.html
It's possible using reflection.
First, you create a new class from the FQN (fully qualified name, which is the class name including the package).
Then you iterate through your elements and invoke the "validate" methods on your item.
Class<?> clazz = Class.forName("com.foo.Bar");
Object item = clazz.newInstance();
for (String element : elements) {
Method method = clazz.getDeclaredMethod("validate" + element);
method.invoke(item);
}
You can use reflection, but my favorite method is to use beanutils, eg:
Bar b1 = //...
BeanUtils.getProperty(b1, "first");
BeanUtils.getProperty(b1, "last");
Note that your class has to conform to javabean convention. You can read more about beanutils on this blog post (disclaimer I'm the blog author)
If you know the name of the class beforehand, use Class.forName(yourClassname)
That way, you can invoke the class, and then, you can invoke its methods.
Yes, using reflection.
Using Class.getDeclaredMethod on your object
Object validator = <your object instance>;
final String[] values = {
"Item1","Item2","Item3"
}
for(final String s : values) {
Method m = validator.getDeclaredMethod("validate" + s,String.class);
try {
Object result = m.invoke(validator, s);
}
catch(ex) {}
}
Related
public void etisLogAround(ProceedingJoinPoint joinPoint, EtisLog etisLog) throws Throwable {
Object[] args = joinPoint.getArgs();
MethodSignature methodSignature = (MethodSignature) joinPoint.getStaticPart().getSignature();
Method method = methodSignature.getMethod();
String[] paramNames = ((MethodSignature) joinPoint
.getSignature()).getParameterNames();
for(String paramName: paramNames) {
logger.info("paramName:" +paramName);
}
try {
Object result = joinPoint.proceed();
if(methodSignature instanceof MethodSignature) {
final Class<?>[] parameterTypes = methodSignature.getParameterTypes();
for(final Class<?> pt : parameterTypes){
logger.info("Parameter type:" + pt);
}
}
#SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
ResponseEntity<CaseOutlineHeader> returnValue = (ResponseEntity<CaseOutlineHeader>) result;
result = etisLog.trasactionDetail().toString()+" "+returnValue.getBody().getCode().toString();
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
throw e;
}
}
The class CaseOutlineHeader is what I want to be changed. the parameterTypes variable contains the name of the class that I would like to pass inside the tag of the ResponseEntity<>. What if I would like to pass a different class Name. How should I do that to be flexible to accept the different class name?
If i do : ResponseEntity<parameterTypes> returnValue = (ResponseEntity<parameterTypes>) result;
it will say an error parameterTypes cannot be resolved to a type.
The problem is that your AOP method need to cast the result to something in order to get the code value it needs to log. That something must be known in advance, since you can't use type parameters in annotations, and therefore can't pass it to AOP methods. This means that all methods you access in AOP must come from a known interface, like this:
public interface LogCodeProvider {
String getLogCode();
}
public class CaseOutlineHeader implements LogCodeProvider {
#Override
public String getLogCode() {
return "My Code";
}
}
And then in your AOP method you can do like this:
#SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
ResponseEntity<LogCodeProvider> returnValue = ResponseEntity<LogCodeProvider>) result;
result = etisLog.trasactionDetail().toString()+" "+returnValue.getBody().getLogCode();
In my example I have implemented special method getLogCode() which returns a string, so each class can decide exactly what to output.
It does however look confusing to reuse the result variable to store the value returned from etisLog.trasactionDetail().
Below sample code ,
ResponseEntity<?> anyRandomMethod(){
if(any condition){
return new ResponseEntity<Animal>(new Animal(), httpstatus.OK);
}else{
return new ResponseEntity<SpaceShip>(new SpaceShip(), httpstatus.OK);
}
}
Say I have the following code...
#FunctionalInterface
static interface MessageFunction<T> {
void send(T obj);
}
static #interface Message {
Class<?> value();
}
static class Foo {
#Message(String.class)
MessageFunction<String> bass = (string) -> {
// Do Stuff
};
}
static class MessageManager {
Map<Class<?>, MessageFunction<?>> messages = new HashMap<>();
public void register(Object obj) {
for (Field field : obj.getClass().getDeclaredFields()) {
Message message = field.getAnnotation(Message.class);
if (message != null) {
MessageFunction<?> function;
try {
function = (MessageFunction<?>) field.get(obj);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException | IllegalAccessException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
return;
}
Method sendMethod;
try {
// Will this work?
sendMethod = function.getClass().getDeclaredMethod("send", Object.class);
} catch (NoSuchMethodException | SecurityException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
return;
}
// How do I do something like this?
/*if (sendMethod.testParamaters(message.value())) {
this.messages.put(message.value(), function);
}*/
}
}
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
MessageManager manager = new MessageManager();
manager.register(new Foo());
}
I am reflecting a field that references an #FunctionalInterface of a generic type. Because the method parameter is also generic I have no way of knowing what parameters it accepts, Thus I must pass it along through other means (the annotation).
The issue is that there is the annotation value and the generic type do not have to match and there seems to be no way to check. I wan't it to fail in registration if the type listed in the annotation would not be accepted into the send method.
How would I go about thing this without actually calling the method. Is there a way? Better yet although I know its most likely impossible, is there a way to know what the parameter type is without the annotation?
The following is just a suggestion, I have used it in my project. But it is not a perfect solution for the question. May be you can download the source of GenericHibernateDao framework and see the sourcecode of method "getTypeArguments". I think it is so cool!.
// get a class object for your entity
Class clazz = ...
Type type = clazz.getGenericSuperclass();
if (type instanceof ParameterizedType) {
Type trueType = ((ParameterizedType)type).getActualTypeArguments()[0];
Class modelClass = (Class) trueType;
// Now you can creat an Instance in you generic parameterType
Object entity = modelClass.forInstance();
}
I do something similar in some of my code Here is a snippet.
Method[] meths = actionClass.getMethods();
for (Method meth : meths) {
Class<?>[] pTypes = meth.getParameterTypes();
/*
* Filter out all methods that do not meet correct
* signature. The correct signature for an action method
* is: String actionName(HttpServletRequest request)
*/
//...check for the correct number of params and the correct param type
if (pTypes.length != 1 || !HttpServletRequest.class.toString().equals(pTypes[0].toString())) {
continue;
} else {
//...check for return type
if (!String.class.toString().equals(meth.getReturnType().toString())) {
continue;
}
}
//If you make it here than that means the method
//meets the requirements to be a full fledged action.
//...
}
I am trying to get method regardless of what parameters that method takes (as of now there is no method overloading and there wouldn't be in future). The only possible solution that i could come up with was
private Method getMethod(Class<?> clas, String methodName) {
try {
Method[] methods = clas.getMethods();
for (Method method : methods) {
if (method.getName().equalsIgnoreCase(methodName)) {
return method;
}
}
} catch (SecurityException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
return null;
}
What i want to ask that is there a way to fetch a method regardless of its parameters ? I was looking at clas.getMethod ("methodName", parameters) and if i provide null in there it will try to fetch a method which has no parameters. Which wouldn't be no case.
Any ideas ?
EDIT
Thanks guys for input. In my case, i know that there would be only one method regardless of its case. The reason i am using ignoreCase is because the input will be coming from a developer (in other team) and he will be providing the name as a hard-coded string. So to keep things from spilling out of our hands, I am using a safe approach.
No. The way you've done it is the way to go. A method is identified by its signature and the signature includes the name and the parameter types.
Here is a solution that retrieves all methods with the specified class and method name regardless of the method's parameters:
public class Test
{
private class Foo
{
public void bar()
{
}
public void bar(String s)
{
}
public void goo()
{
}
}
private static Method[] getMethods(Class<?> clazz, String methodName)
{
List<Method> methods = new ArrayList<Method>();
Method[] declaredMethods = clazz.getDeclaredMethods();
for (Method declaredMethod: declaredMethods)
{
if (declaredMethod.getName().equals(methodName))
{
methods.add(declaredMethod);
}
}
return methods.toArray(new Method[methods.size()]);
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Method[] methods = getMethods(Foo.class, "bar");
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(methods));
}
}
This generates the following output:
[public void com.example.Test$Foo.bar(java.lang.String), public void com.example.Test$Foo.bar()]
You've done just fine. This is basically the same as the solution to a similar problem I dealt with four years ago, creating a means to create callback methods in Java. The constructors for my Callback class were:
public Callback(Class<?> clazz, String methodName, Object parentObj) {
// Find a method with the matching name
Method[] allMethods;
try { allMethods = clazz.getMethods(); }
catch(SecurityException se) { allMethods = new Method[0]; }
int count = 0;
Method single = null;
for(Method m : allMethods) {
if(m.getName().equals(methodName)) {
single = m;
count++;
}
// Can't have more than one instance
if(count > 1)
throw new IllegalArgumentException(clazz.getName()
+ " has more than one method named " + methodName);
}
if(count == 0) // No instances found
throw new IllegalArgumentException(clazz.getName()
+ " has no method named " + methodName);
this.parentObj = parentObj;
this.method = single;
this.parameters = single.getParameterTypes();
}
public Callback(
Class<?> clazz,
String methodName,
Object parentObj,
Class<?>...parameters)
{
try { this.method = clazz.getMethod(methodName, parameters); }
catch(NoSuchMethodException nsme) { nsme.printStackTrace(); }
catch(SecurityException se) { se.printStackTrace(); }
this.parentObj = parentObj;
this.parameters = parameters;
}
My Callback class isn't really useful any more in the era of Java 8, but at the time the only real means for a "callback" in java was anonymous interface implementations, which wasn't sufficient for my use-case.
As you can see in the first constructor, it throws an exception if it finds multiple methods with the same name.
Using java streams there is a really short method of finding a method, the first match, by its name only:
Stream.of(type.getMethods())
.filter((m) -> m.getName().equals(searchedName))
.findFirst()
.get();
I think this is a short and readable possibility in this case.
Is there any way to pass class as a parameter in Java and fire some methods from that class?
void main()
{
callClass(that.class)
}
void callClass(???? classObject)
{
classObject.somefunction
// or
new classObject()
//something like that ?
}
I am using Google Web Toolkit and it does not support reflection.
public void foo(Class c){
try {
Object ob = c.newInstance();
} catch (InstantiationException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(App.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
} catch (IllegalAccessException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(App.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
}
Here are some good examples on Reflection API
How to invoke method using reflection
import java.lang.reflect.*;
public class method2 {
public int add(int a, int b)
{
return a + b;
}
public static void main(String args[])
{
try {
Class cls = Class.forName("method2");
Class partypes[] = new Class[2];
partypes[0] = Integer.TYPE;
partypes[1] = Integer.TYPE;
Method meth = cls.getMethod(
"add", partypes);
method2 methobj = new method2();
Object arglist[] = new Object[2];
arglist[0] = new Integer(37);
arglist[1] = new Integer(47);
Object retobj
= meth.invoke(methobj, arglist);
Integer retval = (Integer)retobj;
System.out.println(retval.intValue());
}
catch (Throwable e) {
System.err.println(e);
}
}
}
Also See
Java Reflection
public void callingMethod(Class neededClass) {
//Cast the class to the class you need
//and call your method in the class
((ClassBeingCalled)neededClass).methodOfClass();
}
To call the method, you call it this way:
callingMethod(ClassBeingCalled.class);
Construct your method to accept it-
public <T> void printClassNameAndCreateList(Class<T> className){
//example access 1
System.out.print(className.getName());
//example access 2
ArrayList<T> list = new ArrayList<T>();
//note that if you create a list this way, you will have to cast input
list.add((T)nameOfObject);
}
Call the method-
printClassNameAndCreateList(SomeClass.class);
You can also restrict the type of class, for example, this is one of the methods from a library I made-
protected Class postExceptionActivityIn;
protected <T extends PostExceptionActivity> void setPostExceptionActivityIn(Class <T> postExceptionActivityIn) {
this.postExceptionActivityIn = postExceptionActivityIn;
}
For more information, search Reflection and Generics.
Use
void callClass(Class classObject)
{
//do something with class
}
A Class is also a Java object, so you can refer to it by using its type.
Read more about it from official documentation.
This kind of thing is not easy. Here is a method that calls a static method:
public static Object callStaticMethod(
// class that contains the static method
final Class<?> clazz,
// method name
final String methodName,
// optional method parameters
final Object... parameters) throws Exception{
for(final Method method : clazz.getMethods()){
if(method.getName().equals(methodName)){
final Class<?>[] paramTypes = method.getParameterTypes();
if(parameters.length != paramTypes.length){
continue;
}
boolean compatible = true;
for(int i = 0; i < paramTypes.length; i++){
final Class<?> paramType = paramTypes[i];
final Object param = parameters[i];
if(param != null && !paramType.isInstance(param)){
compatible = false;
break;
}
}
if(compatible){
return method.invoke(/* static invocation */null,
parameters);
}
}
}
throw new NoSuchMethodException(methodName);
}
Update:
Wait, I just saw the gwt tag on the question. You can't use reflection in GWT
Adding <T> T as return type worked for me. Ex with json deserialize
public static <T> T fromJson(String json, Class<T> classOfT){
return gson().fromJson(json, classOfT);
}
I am not sure what you are trying to accomplish, but you may want to consider that passing a class may not be what you really need to be doing. In many cases, dealing with Class like this is easily encapsulated within a factory pattern of some type and the use of that is done through an interface. here's one of dozens of articles on that pattern: http://today.java.net/pub/a/today/2005/03/09/factory.html
using a class within a factory can be accomplished in a variety of ways, most notably by having a config file that contains the name of the class that implements the required interface. Then the factory can find that class from within the class path and construct it as an object of the specified interface.
As you said GWT does not support reflection. You should use deferred binding instead of reflection, or third party library such as gwt-ent for reflection suppport at gwt layer.
Se these:
http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/extra/generics/methods.html
here is the explaniation for the template methods.
Have a look at the reflection tutorial and reflection API of Java:
https://community.oracle.com/docs/DOC-983192enter link description here
and
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/lang/Class.html
Class as paramater. Example.
Three classes:
class TestCar {
private int UnlockCode = 111;
protected boolean hasAirCondition = true;
String brand = "Ford";
public String licensePlate = "Arizona 111";
}
--
class Terminal {
public void hackCar(TestCar car) {
System.out.println(car.hasAirCondition);
System.out.println(car.licensePlate);
System.out.println(car.brand);
}
}
--
class Story {
public static void main(String args[]) {
TestCar testCar = new TestCar();
Terminal terminal = new Terminal();
terminal.hackCar(testCar);
}
}
In class Terminal method hackCar() take class TestCar as parameter.
I need to compare dozens of fields in two objects (instances of the same class), and do some logging and updating in case there are differences. Meta code could look something like this:
if (a.getfield1 != b.getfield1)
log(a.getfield1 is different than b.getfield1)
b.field1 = a.field1
if (a.getfield2!= b.getfield2)
log(a.getfield2 is different than b.getfield2)
b.field2 = a.field2
...
if (a.getfieldn!= b.getfieldn)
log(a.getfieldn is different than b.getfieldn)
b.fieldn = a.fieldn
The code with all the comparisons is very terse, and I would like to somehow make it more compact. It would be nice if I could have a method which would take as a parameter method calls to setter and getter, and call this for all fields, but unfortunately this is not possible with java.
I have come up with three options, each which their own drawbacks.
1. Use reflection API to find out getters and setters
Ugly and could cause run time errors in case names of fields change
2. Change fields to public and manipulate them directly without using getters and setters
Ugly as well and would expose implementation of the class to external world
3. Have the containing class (entity) do the comparison, update changed fields and return log message
Entity should not take part in business logic
All fields are String type, and I can modify code of the class owning the fields if required.
EDIT: There are some fields in the class which must not be compared.
Use Annotations.
If you mark the fields that you need to compare (no matter if they are private, you still don't lose the encapsulation, and then get those fields and compare them. It could be as follows:
In the Class that need to be compared:
#ComparableField
private String field1;
#ComparableField
private String field2;
private String field_nocomparable;
And in the external class:
public <T> void compare(T t, T t2) throws IllegalArgumentException,
IllegalAccessException {
Field[] fields = t.getClass().getDeclaredFields();
if (fields != null) {
for (Field field : fields) {
if (field.isAnnotationPresent(ComparableField.class)) {
field.setAccessible(true);
if ( (field.get(t)).equals(field.get(t2)) )
System.out.println("equals");
field.setAccessible(false);
}
}
}
}
The code is not tested, but let me know if helps.
The JavaBeans API is intended to help with introspection. It has been around in one form or another since Java version 1.2 and has been pretty usable since version 1.4.
Demo code that compares a list of properties in two beans:
public static void compareBeans(PrintStream log,
Object bean1, Object bean2, String... propertyNames)
throws IntrospectionException,
IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException {
Set<String> names = new HashSet<String>(Arrays
.asList(propertyNames));
BeanInfo beanInfo = Introspector.getBeanInfo(bean1
.getClass());
for (PropertyDescriptor prop : beanInfo
.getPropertyDescriptors()) {
if (names.remove(prop.getName())) {
Method getter = prop.getReadMethod();
Object value1 = getter.invoke(bean1);
Object value2 = getter.invoke(bean2);
if (value1 == value2
|| (value1 != null && value1.equals(value2))) {
continue;
}
log.format("%s: %s is different than %s%n", prop
.getName(), "" + value1, "" + value2);
Method setter = prop.getWriteMethod();
setter.invoke(bean2, value2);
}
}
if (names.size() > 0) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException("" + names);
}
}
Sample invocation:
compareBeans(System.out, bean1, bean2, "foo", "bar");
If you go the annotations route, consider dumping reflection and generating the comparison code with a compile-time annotation processor or some other code generator.
I would go for option 1, but I would use getClass().getDeclaredFields() to access the fields instead of using the names.
public void compareAndUpdate(MyClass other) throws IllegalAccessException {
for (Field field : getClass().getDeclaredFields()) {
if (field.getType() == String.class) {
Object thisValue = field.get(this);
Object otherValue = field.get(other);
// if necessary check for null
if (!thisValue.equals(otherValue)) {
log(field.getName() + ": " + thisValue + " <> " + otherValue);
field.set(other, thisValue);
}
}
}
}
There are some restrictions here (if I'm right):
The compare method has to be implemented in the same class (in my opinion it should - regardless of its implementation) not in an external one.
Just the fields from this class are used, not the one's from a superclass.
Handling of IllegalAccessException necessary (I just throw it in the example above).
This is probably not too nice either, but it's far less evil (IMHO) than either of the two alternatives you've proposed.
How about providing a single getter/setter pair that takes a numeric index field and then have getter/setter dereference the index field to the relevant member variable?
i.e.:
public class MyClass {
public void setMember(int index, String value) {
switch (index) {
...
}
}
public String getMember(int index) {
...
}
static public String getMemberName(int index) {
...
}
}
And then in your external class:
public void compareAndUpdate(MyClass a, MyClass b) {
for (int i = 0; i < a.getMemberCount(); ++i) {
String sa = a.getMember();
String sb = b.getMember();
if (!sa.equals(sb)) {
Log.v("compare", a.getMemberName(i));
b.setMember(i, sa);
}
}
}
This at least allows you to keep all of the important logic in the class that's being examined.
While option 1 may be ugly, it will get the job done. Option 2 is even uglier, and opens your code to vulnerabilities you can't imagine. Even if you eventually rule out option 1, I pray you keep your existing code and not go for option 2.
Having said this, you can use reflection to get a list of the field names of the class, if you don't want to pass this as a static list to the method. Assuming you want to compare all fields, you can then dynamically create the comparisons, in a loop.
If this isn't the case, and the strings you compare are only some of the fields, you can examine the fields further and isolate only those that are of type String, and then proceed to compare.
Hope this helps,
Yuval =8-)
since
All fields are String type, and I can modify code of the class owning the fields if required.
you could try this class:
public class BigEntity {
private final Map<String, String> data;
public LongEntity() {
data = new HashMap<String, String>();
}
public String getFIELD1() {
return data.get(FIELD1);
}
public String getFIELD2() {
return data.get(FIELD2);
}
/* blah blah */
public void cloneAndLogDiffs(BigEntity other) {
for (String field : fields) {
String a = this.get(field);
String b = other.get(field);
if (!a.equals(b)) {
System.out.println("diff " + field);
other.set(field, this.get(field));
}
}
}
private String get(String field) {
String value = data.get(field);
if (value == null) {
value = "";
}
return value;
}
private void set(String field, String value) {
data.put(field, value);
}
#Override
public String toString() {
return data.toString();
}
magic code:
private static final String FIELD1 = "field1";
private static final String FIELD2 = "field2";
private static final String FIELD3 = "field3";
private static final String FIELD4 = "field4";
private static final String FIELDN = "fieldN";
private static final List<String> fields;
static {
fields = new LinkedList<String>();
for (Field field : LongEntity.class.getDeclaredFields()) {
if (field.getType() != String.class) {
continue;
}
if (!Modifier.isStatic(field.getModifiers())) {
continue;
}
fields.add(field.getName().toLowerCase());
}
}
this class has several advantages:
reflects once, at class loading
it is very simply adding new fields, just add new static field (a better solution here
is using Annotations: in the case you care using reflection works also java 1.4)
you could refactor this class in an abstract class, all derived class just get both
data and cloneAndLogDiffs()
the external interface is typesafe (you could also easily impose immutability)
no setAccessible calls: this method is problematic sometimes
A broad thought:
Create a new class whose object takes the following parameters: the first class to compare, the second class to compare, and a lists of getter & setter method names for the objects, where only methods of interest are included.
You can query with reflection the object's class, and from that its available methods. Assuming each getter method in the parameter list is included in the available methods for the class, you should be able to call the method to get the value for comparison.
Roughly sketched out something like (apologies if it isn't super-perfect... not my primary language):
public class MyComparator
{
//NOTE: Class a is the one that will get the value if different
//NOTE: getters and setters arrays must correspond exactly in this example
public static void CompareMyStuff(Object a, Object b, String[] getters, String[] setters)
{
Class a_class = a.getClass();
Class b_class = b.getClass();
//the GetNamesFrom... static methods are defined elsewhere in this class
String[] a_method_names = GetNamesFromMethods(a_class.getMethods());
String[] b_method_names = GetNamesFromMethods(b_class.getMethods());
String[] a_field_names = GetNamesFromFields(a_class.getFields());
//for relative brevity...
Class[] empty_class_arr = new Class[] {};
Object[] empty_obj_arr = new Object[] {};
for (int i = 0; i < getters.length; i++)
{
String getter_name = getter[i];
String setter_name = setter[i];
//NOTE: the ArrayContainsString static method defined elsewhere...
//ensure all matches up well...
if (ArrayContainsString(a_method_names, getter_name) &&
ArrayContainsString(b_method_names, getter_name) &&
ArrayContainsString(a_field_names, setter_name)
{
//get the values from the getter methods
String val_a = a_class.getMethod(getter_name, empty_class_arr).invoke(a, empty_obj_arr);
String val_b = b_class.getMethod(getter_name, empty_class_arr).invoke(b, empty_obj_arr);
if (val_a != val_b)
{
//LOG HERE
//set the value
a_class.getField(setter_name).set(a, val_b);
}
}
else
{
//do something here - bad names for getters and/or setters
}
}
}
}
You say you presently have getters and setters for all these fields? Okay, then change the underlying data from a bunch of individual fields to an array. Change all the getters and setters to access the array. I'd create constant tags for the indexes rather than using numbers for long-term maintainability. Also create a parallel array of flags indicating which fields should be processed. Then create a generic getter/setter pair that use an index, as well as a getter for the compare flag. Something like this:
public class SomeClass
{
final static int NUM_VALUES=3;
final static int FOO=0, BAR=1, PLUGH=2;
String[] values=new String[NUM_VALUES];
static boolean[] wantCompared={true, false, true};
public String getFoo()
{
return values[FOO];
}
public void setFoo(String foo)
{
values[FOO]=foo;
}
... etc ...
public int getValueCount()
{
return NUM_VALUES;
}
public String getValue(int x)
{
return values[x];
}
public void setValue(int x, String value)
{
values[x]=value;
}
public boolean getWantCompared(int x)
{
return wantCompared[x];
}
}
public class CompareClass
{
public void compare(SomeClass sc1, SomeClass sc2)
{
int z=sc1.getValueCount();
for (int x=0;x<z;++x)
{
if (!sc1.getWantCompared[x])
continue;
String sc1Value=sc1.getValue(x);
String sc2Value=sc2.getValue(x);
if (!sc1Value.equals(sc2Value)
{
writeLog(x, sc1Value, sc2Value);
sc2.setValue(x, sc1Value);
}
}
}
}
I just wrote this off the top of my head, I haven't tested it, so their may be bugs in the code, but I think the concept should work.
As you already have getters and setters, any other code using this class should continue to work unchanged. If there is no other code using this class, then throw away the existing getters and setters and just do everything with the array.
I would also propose a similar solution to the one by Alnitak.
If the fields need to be iterated when comparing, why not dispense with the separate fields, and put the data into an array, a HashMap or something similar that is appropriate.
Then you can access them programmatically, compare them etc. If different fields need to be treated & compared in different ways, you could create approriate helper classes for the values, which implement an interface.
Then you could just do
valueMap.get("myobject").compareAndChange(valueMap.get("myotherobject")
or something along those lines...