Overloading methods while using Generics with base classes - c#

I have the following Classes:
public abstract class Gear<T> : ScriptableObject, IGear { ... }
public class Armor : Gear<ArmorStatsLevel> { ... }
public class Weapon : Gear<WeaponStatsLevel> { ... }
Now I had the following methods to list my instances:
public abstract class WidgetListArmor {
public void ActionSelected(Armor gear) {
if (...) GameSession.Equip(gear);
}
}
public abstract class WidgetListWeapon {
public void ActionSelected(Weapon gear) {
if (...) GameSession.Equip(gear);
}
}
Because this was kind of redundant, I thought of moving it all to a base clase:
public abstract class WidgetListGear<T> : MonoBehaviour {
public void ActionSelected(T gear) {
if (...) GameSession.Equip(gear);
}
}
public class WidgetListArmors : WidgetListGear<Armor> { ... }
public class WidgetListWeapons : WidgetListGear<Weapon> { ... }
And while this seems cleaner, I have a new problem now. Because T is a Generic, GameSession.Equip can't overload gear.
Did I chose a bad pattern to organize my code? Am I missing something from Generics that allows me to do this operation?
UPDATE
Here is the GameSession signatures:
public class GameSession {
public static bool Equip(Armor armor);
public static bool Equip(Weapon weapon);
}

Make Weapon and Armor implement an interface called IGear, for example:
public interface IGear
{ }
public class Weapon : IGear
{
//snip
}
public class Armor : IGear
{
//snip
}
Constrain the generic type to IGear:
public abstract class WidgetListGear<T> : MonoBehaviour
where T : IGear
{
public void ActionSelected(T gear) {
if (...) GameSession.Equip(gear);
}
}
And make GameSession.Equip take IGear as the parameter type.

What you're looking for is dynamic dispatch. I would suggest you try the following:
GameSession.Equip((dynamic)gear);
However, I don't think it's the best idea since you've tried to encode your Game rules in type system and right now you're starting a mini-compiler in runtime to perform a dispatch for you.
I'd like to point you to Eric Lippert's articles on that subject. Looks like you have similar issues with what he's described.
Part 4 describes the dynamic approach I've provided as well as its disadvantages. Part 5 provides a completely different approach. Overall, I highly recommend reading each part.

Related

How can I have a class pass its own type in the generics of a parameter name?

I have got two abstract classes: Particle and ParticleHub<T> where T : Particle.
I want, when I inherit Particle, for its constructor to require a ParticleHub of its respective type to be passed as a parameter. I want its constructor to be like this:
ParticleHub</*type of the inheriting class*/> _particleHub;
public Particle(ParticleHub</*type of the inheriting class*/> particleHub, OtherParameters otherParameters)
{
_particleHub = particleHub;
//use other parameters
}
If I write ParticleHub<typeof(this)> I get overloaded with errors that make me think I broke the syntax for the rest of the file. If I do ParticleHub<this.GetType()> I get the same problem, but only with fewer errors. Though with that one, I can understand that I can't use a function in a parameter type like that.
So how do I go about this?
Simple example below of an interface and generic pattern
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");
IChair chair = new Chesterfield<Arm>(new Arm());
chair.Sit();
Console.Write(chair.HasSat());
}
}
public interface IChair
{
void Sit();
bool HasSat();
}
public interface IPart
{
}
public class Chesterfield<TPart> : Chair<TPart> where TPart : IPart
{
public Chesterfield(TPart part) => _part = part;
private bool _hasSat;
private readonly TPart _part;
public override void Sit()
{
_hasSat = true;
}
public override bool HasSat() => _hasSat;
}
public abstract class Chair<TPart> : IChair where TPart : IPart
{
public abstract void Sit();
public abstract bool HasSat();
}
public class Arm : IPart
{
}
public class Back : IPart
{
}
public class Leg
{
}
You have no other choise i think but to pass the type as other generic. See the exaple how it is done in terms of fluent builders as I think it is very close what You want to have: Link.
Like:
FePatricle<T, U> where T: Particle, U: FeParticle<T, U>
Looks crazy but it should do the trick in the constructor:
public FeParticle(ParticleHub<U>...
EDIT:
Or more likely as far as I understand:
FePatricle<T>: Particle where T: FeParticle<T>
So FePartivle extends Particle and it carries with itself its own type T?
Passing the inherited class itself, as below.
public abstract class Particle
{
}
public abstract class ParticleHub<T> where T : Particle
{
}
public class k1 : Particle
{
ParticleHub<k1> _particleHub = null;
public k1(ParticleHub<k1> ph)
{
_particleHub = ph;
}
}

Polymorphic Abstract class with a lot of DI paramters

I'm constantly running into the problem of having an abstract class that does all the heavy lifting and then I have a lot of polymorphic classes that customize the abstract to a specific need. The abstract generally needs a lot of parameters, so they all have to be passed from all polymorphic classes
public class FooComplex : AbstractFoo {
public FooComplex(IBarAwesome awesome, IBarCool cool, ...) : base(IBarAwesome awesome, IBarCool cool, ...) { }
...a lot of overriding abstracts
}
public class FooSimple : AbstractFoo
{
public FooSimple(IBarAwesome awesome, IBarCool cool, ...) : base(IBarAwesome awesome, IBarCool cool, ...) { }
...little bit of overriding abstracts
}
public class AbstractFoo
{
public AbstractFoo(IBarAwesome awesome, IBarCool cool, ...)
...heavy lifting
}
Is there anything I can do to not pass all these things, but be able to unit test them? I've always been taught that doing
var awesome = container.Resolve<IBarAwesome>();
In like say the constructor is bad practice.
The reason I would like to find a solution to this, is it makes it harder and hard to pass anything new into the abstract class as I have to copy and pass the same parameters into many polymorphic subclasses.
I believe this is similar to what #C.Evenhuis mentioned in the comments by abstracting your constructor parameters into a common interface so they can be passed as single constructor parameter as well as being easily tested.
Concrete Classes:
public class FooComplex : AbstractFoo
{
public FooComplex(ComplexParam complexParam) : base(complexParam)
{}
}
public class FooSimple : AbstractFoo
{
public FooSimple(SimpleParam simpleParam) : base(simpleParam)
{}
}
Single Generic Concrete Class (Optional)
With this class, you could pass any type into the constructor which inherits IParams and potentially remove the need for FooComplex and FooSimple.
public class Foo<T> : AbstractFoo where T : IParam
{
public Foo(T param) : base(param)
{ }
}
Base Abstract Class:
public abstract class AbstractFoo
{
protected AbstractFoo(IParam parameter) { }
}
Interfaces:
public interface IBarCool : IBar
{}
public interface IBarAwesome : IBar
{}
public interface IBar
{}
public interface IParam
{
IEnumerable<IBar> Param { get; }
}
Reusable Concrete Parameters:
I personally don't like this method below because of the repetition but I suppose if each of the classes have their own separate implementation then it's okay. Another option would be to just have a class called ParameterHolder and two instances of the class named appropriately e.g. var complex = new ParameterHolder() and pass to the Generic Foo<T>.
public class ComplexParam : IParam
{
public IEnumerable<IBar> Param { get; }
public ComplexParam(IEnumerable<IBar> complexParam)
{
Param = complexParam;
}
}
public class SimpleParam : IParam
{
public IEnumerable<IBar> Param { get; }
public SimpleParam(IEnumerable<IBar> simpleParam)
{
Param = simpleParam;
}
}
All that needs to happen is:
public interface IAbstractParams
{
IBarAwesome awesome { get; }
IBarCool cool { get; }
...
}
public class FooComplex : AbstractFoo
{
public FooComplex(IAbstractParams params) : base(params) { }
...a lot of overriding abstracts
}
public class FooSimple : AbstractFoo
{
public FooSimple(IAbstractParams params) : base(params) { }
...little bit of overriding abstracts
}
public class AbstractFoo
{
protected readonly IBarAwesome _awesome;
protected readonly IBarCool _cool;
public AbstractFoo(IAbstractParams params)
{
_awesome = params.awesome;
_cool = params.cool;
}
...heavy lifting
}
then you need to add the nuget package Autofac.Extras.AggregateService and add this line to your builder:
builder.RegisterAggregateService<IAbstractParams>();
Thank you to #Travis Illig and #C.Evenhuis for helping me come up with this solution.
For more complex solutions to this same problem please look at #Kitson88

Binding with Zenjection

I think it's better to formulate the problem via code. I have a BaseClass.
public abstract class BaseUnit {
[System.Serializable]
public class Settings
{
}
}
And some derived classes, for example.
public class Archer : BaseUnit {
public ArcherSettings Settings;
[System.Serializable]
public class ArcherSettings : Settings
{
//CanWalk is a MonoBehaviour and WalkSettings is a Serrializable class
public CanWalk.WalkSettings WalkSettings;
}
}
So as you can see I want to have several unit types with appropriate WalkSettings which will be set from ScriptableObject.
public class ScriptableLevelInstaller : ScriptableObjectInstaller<ScriptableLevelInstaller>
{
public Archer.AracherSettings Aracher;
public Knight.KnightSettings Knight;
//Some more...
}
So the question is how to Inject appropriate settings into appropriate classes with Zenject any help or clarification would be very helpful.
---UPD---
I express myself poorly the first time.
What I want is bind CanWalk.WalkSetting to approprirate settings.
So I can do
Container.Bind<CanWalk.WalkSettings>().FromInstance(Archer.WalkSettings);
But this is wrong because the last binding will just override walk settings for every class.
So What I need is something like
Container.Bind<CanWalk.WalkSettings>().FromInstance(Archer.WalkSettings).WhenInjectInto("CanWalk which is attached to an Archer")
For now I'm just doing this inside Aracher.
GetComponent<CanWalk>().Settings = _settings.WalkSettings;
But maybe there is something in Zenject to solve this.
Just use Container.BindInstance like this:
public class ScriptableLevelInstaller : ScriptableObjectInstaller<ScriptableLevelInstaller>
{
public Archer.AracherSettings Aracher;
public Knight.KnightSettings Knight;
public override void InstallBindings()
{
Container.BindInstance(Aracher);
Container.BindInstance(Knight);
}
}
If you want you can also specify the class that should get access to it like this:
public class ScriptableLevelInstaller : ScriptableObjectInstaller<ScriptableLevelInstaller>
{
public Archer.AracherSettings Aracher;
public Knight.KnightSettings Knight;
public override void InstallBindings()
{
Container.BindInstance(Aracher).WhenInjectedInto<Archer>();
Container.BindInstance(Knight).WhenInjectedInto<Knight>();
}
}
But this is not necessary, which is why I tend to use the first approach

Declaring Method with generic type

I was using generic types in C# and I am new to using generic types. So, right now I am stuck with a problem. I have some classes like these:
public class MyModel1
{
}
public class MyModel2
{
}
public class BaseClass<T>
{
}
public class ChildClass1 : BaseClass<MyModel1>
{
}
public class ChildClass2 : BaseClass<MyModel2>
{
}
public class AnotherClass
{
//What will be the syntax of declaring this method
//The syntax of the following method is wrong and incomplete.
//It's there just to give an idea about whai i want to do.
public void MyMethod<T>()
where T : BaseClass<..what to write..>
{
}
}
My question is what will be the correct syntax of declaring MyMethod if I want to call MyMethod like this:
MyMethod<ChildClass1>();
If I understood correctly, you try to filter "MyMethod" so that T is a class of type "ChildClass ...".
You can add a generic parameter to your function like this:
public void MyMethod<T, U>()
where T : BaseClass<U>
{
}
But then you have to call MyMethod in that way.
MyMethod<ChildClass1, MyModel1>();
So it's quite complicated to use.
Another solution is to create a new "blank" class :
public abstract class Base // mark it as abstract if you don't need to use it in your code
{
}
public class MyModel1
{
}
public class MyModel2
{
}
public class BaseClass<T> : Base //The class inherits the new class
{
}
public class ChildClass1 : BaseClass<MyModel1>
{
}
public class ChildClass2 : BaseClass<MyModel2>
{
}
public class AnotherClass
{
public void MyMethod<T>()
where T : Base
{
}
}
You've forgotten to mention the return type and adding <T> after the class name. For example, if the return type is void, you could declare the method as:
public void MyMethod<T>()
where T : BaseClass<T>
{
}
This will work (by which I mean it compiles)
public void MyMethod<T>()
where T : BaseClass<MyModel1>
{ }
so does this:
public void MyMethod<T>()
where T : ChildClass1
{ }
Further edit after reading your comment...
You can do this:
public class AnotherClass<TBaseClass, TModel> where TBaseClass : BaseClass<TModel>
{
public void MyMethod(TBaseClass input)
{ }
}
I have a term for this, hopefully non-offensive. I call it The Generic Rabbit Hole of Madness. It's what happens when we try to combine generics and inheritance so that one set of classes can accomplish a broad set of goals that become increasingly confusing, and we solve it by adding more generic parameters and more generic classes.
You reach the bottom of the hole if you
- use <dynamic>
- check to see what the actual type is using GetType(), typeof, or is
- get it to compile but can't remember what it's supposed to do

Casting Generic to abstract base - covariance

The code below gives compile time error:
Error 170 Cannot convert type 'Tests.ChangeListener' to 'Tests.BaseListener'
How do I get this to compile?
namespace Tests
{
[TestClass]
public class UnitTest1
{
[TestMethod]
public void ShouldCompile()
{
BaseListener<IChange> listener = (BaseListener<IChange>)new ChangeListener();
}
}
public interface IChange
{
}
public interface ISpecificChange : IChange
{
}
public abstract class BaseListener<T>
where T : IChange
{
}
public class ChangeListener : BaseListener<ISpecificChange>
{
}
}
Since you can't do contravariance or covaraiance (ie in and out) on an abstract class you'll probably want an interface for your listener. Modifying the above to look like this allows it to compile (note entities not mentioned remain the same as the original code - attributes stripped to save me needing to import references while testing):
public class UnitTest1
{
public void ShouldCompile()
{
IListener<IChange> listener = new ChangeListener();
}
}
public interface IListener<out T> {}
public abstract class BaseListener<T> : IListener<T>
where T : IChange
{
}
This is obviously adding in a step that you don't currently have and may not be able to use for whatever reasons but it is the simplest way to get the code compiling and I think do what you want.

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