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How generify class with T and List<T>

I am trying to generify my class structure.
I will show my real structure to be more specific.
I am writing application with offline mode support, so I decided to implement my ETag cache mechanism in using Robospice and GreenDao ORM.
I need to cache only GET requests.
Firstly my requests should extend base request(not mine), in my case RetrofitSpiceRequest<T, V>
T is type of return data
V is service type, in my case I am using Retrofit.
The problem is that return type is not List of T types by default and I need to create subclass that extends array of T objects and that use it as return type.
Something like this
public class City {
....
....
....
public static class List extends ArrayList<City> {
.....
.....
}
}
And use City.List as return type.
But I have my DAO declared as following
public class CityDao extends AbstractDao<City, Long> {
}
In each request (GET) I need to have specific DAO as a member in order to cache data if it differs from the server data. Or load data from the local database if there is no connection.
The problem here is that request generified by T type which is mostly list, City.List in my case, of some objects, but my dao is generified by, for example E type which is City in my case.
I want to create method like this
public AbastractDao<T,Long> getRequestDao() {
}
But as far as my Request returns City.List, I have no idea how to generify this class, I feel that it is possible, but now no ideas.
In case of non generic dao method, I have to duplicate code like this
#Override
public void insertReceivedData(City.List received) {
mCityDao.insertOrReplaceInTx(received);
}
#Override
public City.List getCachedData() {
if (mFilterMap != null && mFilterMap.size() > 0) {
return (City.List) mCityDao.loadAll();
} else {
WhereCondition[] whereConditions = QueryUtils.convertPropertyMapToConditionalArray(mFilterMap);
return (City.List) mCityDao.queryBuilder().where(whereConditions[0], Arrays.copyOfRange(whereConditions, 1, whereConditions.length)).list();
}
}
In each request
Please share your ideas.
Thanks.

I end up with following solution. It is not as good as I wanted, but it works and better than duplicating code.
My base request class.
public abstract class BaseGetRequest<L extends List<T>, T, V> extends RetrofitSpiceRequest<L, V> implements FilterableRequest {
// Context
protected Context mContext;
// Filter used in request and in queries
protected Map<Property, String> mFilterMap;
// Session provided Singletone
protected DaoSessionProvider mSessionProvider;
public BaseGetRequest(Class<L> clazz, Class<V> retrofitedInterfaceClass, Context context, Map<Property, String> filterMap) {
super(clazz, retrofitedInterfaceClass);
mContext = context;
mFilterMap = filterMap;
mSessionProvider = ((DaoSessionProvider) mContext.getApplicationContext());
// TODO determine required retry count
setRetryPolicy(new RetryPolicy() {
#Override
public int getRetryCount() {
return 0;
}
#Override
public void retry(SpiceException e) {
}
#Override
public long getDelayBeforeRetry() {
return 0;
}
});
}
protected WhereCondition[] getWhereConditions() {
return QueryUtils.convertPropertyMapToConditionalArray(mFilterMap);
}
public BaseGetRequestV2(Class<L> clazz, Class<V> retrofitedInterfaceClass, Context context) {
this(clazz, retrofitedInterfaceClass, context, null);
}
public abstract AbstractDao<T, Long> getDao();
public abstract L createDataList(List<T> list);
public L getCachedData() {
if (mFilterMap != null && mFilterMap.size() > 0) {
WhereCondition[] whereConditions = getWhereConditions();
return createDataList(getDao().queryBuilder().where(whereConditions[0], Arrays.copyOfRange(whereConditions, 1, whereConditions.length)).list());
} else {
return createDataList(getDao().loadAll());
}
}
public abstract L getData();
#Override
public Map<Property, String> getFilterMap() {
return mFilterMap;
}
public Map<String, String> getStringMap() {
return QueryUtils.convertPropertyMapToString(mFilterMap);
}
#Override
public L loadDataFromNetwork() throws Exception {
L receivedData = null;
try {
receivedData = getData();
WhereCondition[] conditions = getWhereConditions();
getDao().queryBuilder().where(conditions[0],Arrays.copyOfRange(conditions, 1, conditions.length)).buildDelete().executeDeleteWithoutDetachingEntities();
getDao().insertOrReplaceInTx(receivedData);
} catch (Exception ex) {
receivedData = getCachedData();
}
return receivedData;
}
}
And I can extend this class like so:
public class NewsRequest extends BaseGetRequest<NewsArticle.List, NewsArticle, API> {
public static final String TARGET_URL = "/news";
NewsArticleDao mNewsArticleDao;
public NewsRequest(Context context) {
this(context, null);
}
public NewsRequest(Context context, Map<Property, String> filterMap) {
super(NewsArticle.List.class, API.class, context, filterMap);
mNewsArticleDao = mSessionProvider.getDaoSession().getNewsArticleDao();
}
#Override
public AbstractDao<NewsArticle, Long> getDao() {
return mNewsArticleDao;
}
#Override
public NewsArticle.List createDataList(List<NewsArticle> list) {
return new NewsArticle.List(list);
}
#Override
public NewsArticle.List getData() {
return getService().getNews(getStringMap());
}
}

Select method based on field in class

So I have a class that contains a String-field:
public class A {
private String type = ...
public String getType(){
return this.type;
}
public void setType(String type){
this.type = type;
}
}
I also have a list of all possible types, there are twelve and possibly more in the future.
Now I want to write a method that gets an object of class A and calls a specific method depending on which "type" is in the class.
Is there a smarter solution than writing 12 (or more) if-statements?
Normally I would use the Visitor-pattern but I don't want to create twelve new classes.
edit:
I ended up creating a
Map<String,Function<A,String>> map = new HashMap<String,Function<A,String>>
and then call
A a;
...
map.get(a.getType).apply(a);

Instead of storing type as a "free-form" text value, you should be using an enum, since you have a well-defined list of values.
You can even have the different enums implement the same method differently, by using an abstract method. This will allow you to totally eliminate the error-prone switch statements.
Below is an example showing both instance values and abstract methods. The pattern shown will keep the implementation out of the enum, while having the compiler catch all uses when a new enum is added.
public enum Type {
INTEGER("Integer") {
#Override
public void apply(Action action, A a) {
action.applyInteger(a);
}
},
STRING ("Text") {
#Override
public void apply(Action action, A a) {
action.applyString(a);
}
};
private String displayName;
private Type(String displayName) {
this.displayName = displayName;
}
public String getDisplayName() {
return this.displayName;
}
public abstract void apply(Action action, A a);
}
public interface Action {
public void applyInteger(A a);
public void applyString(A a);
}
public class A {
private Type type;
public Type getType(){
return this.type;
}
public void setType(Type type){
this.type = type;
}
public void apply(Action action) {
this.type.apply(action, this);
}
}
When you add a new type to the TYPE enum, you also add a new method to the Action interface, which will force you to implement that method in all implementations of the interface. With switch statements, you'd get no such safety.

If you are using JDK 7 or greater go for a switch which accepts String as a parameter and write cases for each.
switch (type) {
case "SomeX":
yourInstance.invokeMethod();
break;
case "SomeY":
...

I guess the other answers are correct but, by reading the question I think the more direct answer will be using introspection and convention:
import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
import java.lang.reflect.Method;
public class Test {
public static class A {
private String type;
public String getType(){
return this.type;
}
public void setType(String type){
this.type = type;
}
}
public static class Actions {
public void runForType1(A a) {
System.out.println("It's type 1");
}
public void runForType2(A a) {
System.out.println("It's type 2");
}
public void runForType3(A a) {
System.out.println("It's type 3");
}
}
public static class Runner {
Actions actions;
public Runner(Actions a) {
this.actions = a;
}
public void run(A a) {
try {
Method m = actions.getClass().getMethod("runFor" + a.getType(), A.class);
m.invoke(actions, a);
} catch (NoSuchMethodException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (InvocationTargetException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runner r = new Runner(new Actions());
A type1 = new A();
type1.setType("Type1");
A type2 = new A();
type2.setType("Type2");
A type3 = new A();
type3.setType("Type3");
r.run(type1);
r.run(type2);
r.run(type3);
}
}
expected output for the example will be:
It's type 1
It's type 2
It's type 3
If convention is not possible you can always create a HashMap with a type to method name mapping.

Java - Execute a class method with a specify annotation

I have a android application, but it is not relevant.
I have a class called "Front controller" which will receive some message
through it's constructor. The message, for brievity, could be an integer.
I want somewhere else to create a new controller which will execute
a method based on the integer defined above
public class OtherController {
#MessageId("100")
public void doSomething(){
//execute this code
}
#MessageId("101")
public void doSomethingElse(){
//code
}
}
The front controller could be something like this:
public class FrontController {
private int id;
public FrontController(int id){
this.id=id;
executeProperControllerMethodBasedOnId();
}
public void executeProperControllerMethodBasedOnId(){
//code here
}
public int getId(){
return id;
}
}
So, if the Front Controller will receive the integer 100, it
will execute the method annotated with #MessageId(100). The
front controller don't know exactly the class where this method
is.
The problem which I found is that I need to register somehow
each controller class. I Spring I had #Component or #Controller
for autoloading. After each controllers are register, I need to
call the properly annotated method.
How to achieve this task? In Spring MVC, I had this system
implemented, used to match the HTTP routes. How could I implement
this in a plain java project?
Any suggestions?

Thanks to Google Reflections (hope you can integrate this in your android project.)
<dependency>
<groupId>org.reflections</groupId>
<artifactId>reflections-maven</artifactId>
<version>0.9.8</version>
</dependency>
For optimisation I've added the requirement to also annotate the class with MessageType annotation and the classes should be in the same package (org.conffusion in my example):
#Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
#Target(ElementType.TYPE)
public #interface MessageType {
}
The OtherController looks like:
#MessageType
public class OtherController {
#MessageId(id=101)
public void method1()
{
System.out.println("executing method1");
}
#MessageId(id=102)
public void method2()
{
System.out.println("executing method2");
}
}
The implementation will look like:
public void executeProperControllerMethodBasedOnId() {
Set<Class<?>> classes = new org.reflections.Reflections("org.conffusion")
.getTypesAnnotatedWith(MessageType.class);
System.out.println("found classes " + classes.size());
for (Class<?> c : classes) {
for (Method m : c.getMethods()) {
try {
if (m.isAnnotationPresent(MessageId.class)) {
MessageId mid = m.getAnnotation(MessageId.class);
Object o = c.newInstance();
if (mid.id() == id)
m.invoke(o);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
Maybe you can optimise and build a static hashmap containing already scanned message ids.

You need to implement some of the work by yourself using reflection, I would recommend to prepare message handlers on initial phase in regards to performance. Also you possibly want to think about Singleton/Per Request controllers. Some of the ways to implement the solution:
interface MessageProcessor {
void execute() throws Exception;
}
/* Holds single instance and method to invoke */
class SingletonProcessor implements MessageProcessor {
private final Object instance;
private final Method method;
SingletonProcessor(Object instance, Method method) {
this.instance = instance;
this.method = method;
}
public void execute() throws Exception {
method.invoke(instance);
}
}
/* Create instance and invoke the method on execute */
class PerRequestProcessor implements MessageProcessor {
private final Class clazz;
private final Method method;
PerRequestProcessor(Class clazz, Method method) {
this.clazz = clazz;
this.method = method;
}
public void execute() throws Exception {
Object instance = clazz.newInstance();
method.invoke(instance);
}
}
/* Dummy controllers */
class PerRequestController {
#MessageId(1)
public void handleMessage1(){System.out.println(this + " - Message1");}
}
class SingletonController {
#MessageId(2)
public void handleMessage2(){System.out.println(this + " - Message2");}
}
class FrontController {
private static final Map<Integer, MessageProcessor> processors = new HashMap<Integer, MessageProcessor>();
static {
try {
// register your controllers
// also you can scan for annotated controllers as suggested by Conffusion
registerPerRequestController(PerRequestController.class);
registerSingletonController(SingletonController.class);
} catch (Exception e) {
throw new ExceptionInInitializerError();
}
}
private static void registerPerRequestController(Class aClass) {
for (Method m : aClass.getMethods()) {
if (m.isAnnotationPresent(MessageId.class)) {
MessageId mid = m.getAnnotation(MessageId.class);
processors.put(mid.value(), new PerRequestProcessor(aClass, m));
}
}
}
private static void registerSingletonController(Class aClass) throws Exception {
for (Method m : aClass.getMethods()) {
if (m.isAnnotationPresent(MessageId.class)) {
MessageId mid = m.getAnnotation(MessageId.class);
Object instance = aClass.newInstance();
processors.put(mid.value(), new SingletonProcessor(instance, m));
}
}
}
/* To process the message you just need to look up processor and execute */
public void processMessage(int id) throws Exception {
if (processors.containsKey(id)) {
processors.get(id).execute();
} else {
System.err.print("Processor not found for message " + id);
}
}
}

Java Observers/Object Listeners (Game Engine)

I'm working on a game engine, and the last question I had regarding this was what good way I can use to make "observers" or listeners. A user suggested that I should use Java's EventObject class to inherit from and make a Listener interface. However, this didn't provide me with good flexibility.
Here is the Handler annotation to state that a method is an event handler in a listener:
#Retention(RetentionPolicy.CLASS)
#Target(ElementType.METHOD)
public #interface Handler {}
Here is the base class for Event, which is basically the same as EventObject (but I'll add abstract methods sooner or later):
public abstract class Event {
private Object source;
public Event(Object source) {
this.source = source;
}
public Object getSource() {
return source;
}
}
Here is the Listener class, which is empty:
public interface Listener {}
Here is the ListenerHandler class, used to handle all listeners. You register and unregister them here. I'll edit the register/unregister methods later for a better use:
public class ListenerHandler {
private ArrayList<Listener> listeners;
public ListenerHandler() {
this.listeners = new ArrayList<Listener>();
}
public void registerListener(Listener l) {
listeners.add(l);
}
public void unregisterListener(Listener l) {
listeners.remove(l);
}
public void onEvent(Event event) {
for(Listener l : listeners) {
Class<?> c = l.getClass();
Method[] methods = c.getDeclaredMethods();
for(Method m : methods) {
if(m.isAccessible()) {
if(m.isAnnotationPresent(Handler.class)) {
Class<?>[] params = m.getParameterTypes();
if(params.length > 1) {
continue;
}
Class<?> par = params[0];
if(par.getSuperclass().equals(Event.class)) {
try {
m.invoke(this, event);
}catch(IllegalAccessException | IllegalArgumentException | InvocationTargetException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
From what I heard, it's a use of a lot of memory in order to get all methods of a class. I'm not going to assume this is the case, but I'm sure there is a better way as this will be a game engine with many components and such.
I'd like to know the best way to implement this, or if I'm doing it right. I'd also like to know if anyone can help me improve this in any way without hogging memory usage by the game (as of now it's not a big deal -- the "game engine" is not even close to rendering anything yet)

I tried to keep it a very simple example and will comment with different ideas to it:
First meet the Achievement class:
import java.util.Observable;
public class Achievement extends Observable {
public static class AchievementDetails {}
public Achievement() {
addObserver(EventsListener.getInstance());
}
public void achievementReached() {
AchievementDetails achievemetDetails = null;
setChanged();
notifyObservers(achievemetDetails);
}
}
And then the events listener class:
import com.test.Achievement.AchievementDetails;
public class EventsListener implements Observer {
private static EventsListener instance = new EventsListener();
public static EventsListener getInstance() {
return instance;
}
#Override
public void update(Observable o, Object arg) {
if(o instanceof Achievement) {
AchievementDetails achievemetDetails = (AchievementDetails) arg;
//do some logic here
}
}
}
The only one thing that is missing is to create an instance of your achievement (which register the EventsListener to itself) and handle the life cycle of it.

Unable to instantiate sub class with parameter

I keep getting the error: java.lang.NoSuchMethodException: com.production.workflow.MyWorkflow.<init>(com.production.model.entity.WorkflowEntity)
I have a constructor that is expecting WorkflowEntity so I'm not able to figure out why it's saying NoSuchMethod. Is there something about constructor inheritance that is preventing this from instantiating?
My instantiation factory:
public static Workflow factory(WorkflowEntity workflowEntity) {
try {
Class<?> clazz = Class.forName(workflowEntity.getClassName()).asSubclass(Workflow.class);
Constructor c = clazz.getConstructor(WorkflowEntity.class);
Object workflowClass = c.newInstance(clazz);
return (Workflow) workflowClass;
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
logger.severe("Unable to instantiate "+workflowEntity.getClassName()+" class: " + e.getLocalizedMessage());
}
return null;
}
Workflow class:
public class MyWorkflow extends Workflow {
//no constructors
Extended class:
abstract public class Workflow {
protected static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(Workflow.class.getName());
private WorkflowEntity entity;
protected WorkflowProcess workflowProcess;
#Autowired
private WorkflowProcessService workflowProcessService;
/* Don't use this one */
public Workflow() { }
/* Default constructor */
public Workflow (WorkflowEntity entity) {
this.entity = entity;
//get first workflow process
//#todo this should factor in rule, for multiple starting points
for (WorkflowProcessEntity workflowProcessEntity : entity.getWorkflowProcesses()) {
workflowProcess = WorkflowProcess.factory(workflowProcessEntity);
break;
}
}

There are two problems in your code:
Constructors are not automatically inherited by subclasses. You need to add the MyWorkflow(WorkflowEntity) constructor to the MyWorkflow class.
Your new instance call needs to be made with the workflowEntity instance (and not the class instance you are giving it now)
Here:
class MyWorkflow extends Workflow {
public MyWorkflow() {
super();
}
public MyWorkflow(WorkflowEntity entity) {
super(entity);
}
}
public static Workflow factory(WorkflowEntity workflowEntity) {
try {
Class<?> clazz = Class.forName(workflowEntity.getClassName())
.asSubclass(Workflow.class);
Constructor<?> c = clazz.getConstructor(WorkflowEntity.class);
Object workflowClass = c.newInstance(workflowEntity);
return (Workflow) workflowClass;
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
return null;
}

Consider the builder pattern instead of the factory pattern. Here is an example that builds a WorkFlow that takes a WorkflowEntity constructor parameter and builds a workFlow that does not take a WorkFlowEntity pattern (just showing multiple options available via a builder).
public class WorkFlowBuilder
{
private WorkflowEntity constructorParameter;
private Class workflowClass;
public WorkFlowBuilder(Class desiredWorkflowClass)
{
if (desiredWorkflowClass != null)
{
workflowClass = desiredWorkflowClass;
}
else
{
throw new IllegalArgumentException("blah blah blah");
}
}
public void setConstructorParameter(final WorkflowEntity newValue)
{
constructorParameter = newValue;
}
public WorkFlow build()
{
Object workflowObject;
if (constructorParameter != null)
{
Constructor constructor = workflowClass.getConstructor(WorkflowEntity.class);
Object workflowObject;
workflowObject = constructor.newInstance(workflowEntity);
}
else
{
workflowObject = workflowClass.newInstance();
}
return (WorkFlow)workflowObject;
}
}
Use this as follows:
WorkFlowBuilder builder = new WorkFlowBuilder(MyWorkFlow.class);
WorkflowEntity entity = new WorkFlowEntity();
WorkFlow item;
entity... set stuff.
builder.setConstructerParameter(entity)
item = builder.build();

I think you just want to pass in the workflowEntity into the constructor on the newInstance call, instead of the typed Class.

Constructors lost their outside visibility during inheritance.
You need to redefine it in MyWorkflow.
This is done so because sub classes may not support the super class creation process. So super object constructors does not make sense to sub classes and it's even unsafe if they were visible outside.
You should also remove the default constructor if your class can be used if instantiated without WorkflowEntity. Just remove it from Workflow and do not add to MyWorkflow.
UPD
You should also consider using generics to avoid class casting.
public Workflow create(WorkflowEntity workflowEntity) throws
ClassNotFoundException, NoSuchMethodException, SecurityException
, InstantiationException, IllegalAccessException
, IllegalArgumentException, InvocationTargetException {
Class<? extends Workflow> clazz = Class.forName(workflowEntity.getClassName()).asSubclass(Workflow.class);
Constructor<? extends Workflow> c = clazz.getConstructor(WorkflowEntity.class);
Workflow workflowClass = c.newInstance(clazz);
return workflowClass;
}
class WorkflowEntity {
public String getClassName() {
return "className";
};
}
class Workflow {
Workflow(WorkflowEntity entity) {
};
}
class MyWorkflow extends Workflow {
MyWorkflow(WorkflowEntity entity) {
super(entity);
}
}