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How to point to underlying class of <T> in generic factory

Got some vegetables going on:
public interface IVegetable
{
}
public class Potato : IVegetable
{
}
public class Onion : IVegetable
{
}
We'd focus on the onion and process it: I have single generic interface for a generic vegetable processor and one onion-specific:
public interface IVegetableProcessor<T> where T : IVegetable
{
string GetColor(T vegetable);
}
public interface IOnionProcessor : IVegetableProcessor<Onion>
{
void MakeCry(Onion onion);
}
public class OnionProcessor : IOnionProcessor
{
public string GetColor(Onion onion)
{
return "Purple";
}
public void MakeCry(Onion onion)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{onion} made you cry!");
}
}
As well as a generic factory:
interface IVegetableProcessorFactory
{
IVegetableProcessor<T> GetVegetableProcessor<T>(T vegetable) where T : IVegetable;
}
internal class VegetableProcessorFactory : IVegetableProcessorFactory
{
public IVegetableProcessor<T> GetVegetableProcessor<T>(T vegetable) where T : IVegetable
{
object processor = vegetable switch
{
Onion => new OnionProcessor(),
_ => throw new NotImplementedException($"Other vegetables not here yet")
};
return (IVegetableProcessor<T>)processor; //this will fail later
}
}
And finally this does not work:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var onion = new Onion() as IVegetable;
var factory = new VegetableProcessorFactory();
var processor = factory.GetVegetableProcessor(onion);
Console.WriteLine(processor.GetColor(onion));
Console.ReadLine();
}
The error is:
System.InvalidCastException: 'Unable to cast object of type 'OnionProcessor' to type 'IVegetableProcessor`1[Vegetables.Program+IVegetable]'.'
How to make it understand the underlying class of IVegetable and cast the processor to it's corresponding type?

Your input is already contravariant, but by casting your Onion instance to IVegetable, it is no longer able to be cast back to IVetetableProcessor<T> in your factory, because at that point you need IVetetableProcessor<Onion>, but what you have is a IVegetableProcessor<IVegetable>, and your interface is not covariant.
By simply removing your initial cast of new Onion to IVegetable, your code works as is:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var onion = new Onion();
var factory = new VegetableProcessorFactory();
var processor = factory.GetVegetableProcessor(onion);
Console.WriteLine(processor.GetColor(onion));
Console.ReadLine();
}
public interface IVegetable { }
public class Potato : IVegetable { }
public class Onion : IVegetable { }
public interface IVegetableProcessor<T> where T : IVegetable
{
string GetColor(T vegetable);
}
public interface IOnionProcessor : IVegetableProcessor<Onion>
{
void MakeCry();
}
public class OnionProcessor : IOnionProcessor
{
public string GetColor(Onion vegetable)
{
return "Purple";
}
public void MakeCry()
{
Console.WriteLine("You cry now!");
}
}
interface IVegetableProcessorFactory
{
IVegetableProcessor<T> GetVegetableProcessor<T>(T vegetable) where T : IVegetable;
}
internal class VegetableProcessorFactory : IVegetableProcessorFactory
{
public IVegetableProcessor<T> GetVegetableProcessor<T>(T vegetable) where T : IVegetable
{
var processor = vegetable switch
{
Onion => new OnionProcessor(),
_ => throw new NotImplementedException($"Other vegetables not here yet")
};
return (IVegetableProcessor<T>)processor;
}
}

The fact that you have to cast in the first place is your hint that something is broken in your composition. As Selvin mentioned in the comments, implementing IVegetableProcessor<Onion> is NOT the same thing as implementing IVegetableProcessor<IVegetable>.
Your processor interfaces should implement IVegetableProcessor<IVegetable> and take IVegetable instances, allowing contravariance for the input parameters:
public interface IVegetableProcessor<T> where T : IVegetable
{
string GetColor(T vegetable);
}
public interface IOnionProcessor : IVegetableProcessor<IVegetable>
{
void MakeCry();
}
public class OnionProcessor : IOnionProcessor
{
public string GetColor(IVegetable vegetable)
{
return "Purple";
}
public void MakeCry()
{
Console.WriteLine("You cry now!");
}
}
interface IVegetableProcessorFactory
{
IVegetableProcessor<IVegetable> GetVegetableProcessor(IVegetable vegetable);
}
internal class VegetableProcessorFactory : IVegetableProcessorFactory
{
public IVegetableProcessor<IVegetable> GetVegetableProcessor(IVegetable vegetable)
{
var processor = vegetable switch
{
Onion => new OnionProcessor(),
_ => throw new NotImplementedException($"Other vegetables not here yet")
};
return processor;
}
}
This correctly outputs "Purple" when run via:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var onion = new Onion();
var factory = new VegetableProcessorFactory();
var processor = factory.GetVegetableProcessor(onion);
Console.WriteLine(processor.GetColor(onion));
Console.ReadLine();
}

Resolving IEnumerable of generic interfaces from Autofac container

I'm not sure if this is possible, I've seen some other posts asking similar question but none have a satisfactory answer.
What I want to do is resolve a collection of interfaces with differing generic types from Autofac. So constructor of class would look something like this:
public class SomeClass<T> where T : class
{
private readonly IEnumerable<ITestInterface<T>> _testInterfaces;
public SomeClass(IEnumerable<ITestInterface<T>> testInterfaces)
{
_testInterfaces = testInterfaces;
}
}
Ideally, I'd just like to be able to register each instance individually like so:
builder
.RegisterType<ImplementationA>()
.As<ITestInterface<A>>();
builder
.RegisterType<ImplementationB>()
.As<ITestInterface<B>>();
I've tried various combinations of RegisterGeneric etc but the Enumerable just keeps coming through empty.
Any help would be appreciated.

I was able to resolve this after playing with inheritance & generic constraints. The solution I ended up with looks like this:
Base classes / interfaces:
public abstract class BaseClass
{
public abstract string IAM { get; }
}
public interface ITestInterface<out T> where T : BaseClass
{
T GetSomething();
}
Implemented classes:
public class A : BaseClass
{
public override string IAM => "I AM TYPE A";
}
public class AInterface : ITestInterface<A>
{
public A GetSomething()
{
return new A();
}
}
public class B : BaseClass
{
public override string IAM => "I AM TYPE B";
}
public class BInterface : ITestInterface<B>
{
public B GetSomething()
{
return new B();
}
}
Class we want to resolve:
public interface ISomeClass
{
void DoSomething();
}
public class SomeClass<T> : ISomeClass where T : BaseClass
{
private readonly IEnumerable<ITestInterface<T>> _testInterfaces;
public SomeClass(IEnumerable<ITestInterface<T>> testInterfaces)
{
_testInterfaces = testInterfaces;
}
public void DoSomething()
{
foreach (var t in _testInterfaces)
{
var something = t.GetSomething();
Console.WriteLine(something.IAM);
}
}
}
And finally, Autofac configuration:
var builder = new ContainerBuilder();
builder
.RegisterType<SomeClass<BaseClass>>()
.AsSelf();
builder
.RegisterType<AInterface>()
.As<ITestInterface<BaseClass>>();
builder
.RegisterType<BInterface>()
.As<ITestInterface<BaseClass>>();
builder
.RegisterType<SomeClass<BaseClass>>()
.As<ISomeClass>();
var container = builder.Build();
var x = container.Resolve<ISomeClass>();
x.DoSomething();
Outputs:
I AM TYPE A
I AM TYPE B
Hope this helps someone in the future.

RegisterGeneric should work fine :
builder.RegisterType<TestImplementationA>()
.As<ITestInterface<A>>();
builder.RegisterType<TestImplementationB>()
.As<ITestInterface<B>>();
builder.RegisterGeneric(typeof(SomeClass<>))
.As(typeof(ISomeClass<>));
or
builder.RegisterType<TestImplementationA>()
.As<ITestInterface<A>>();
builder.RegisterType<TestImplementationB>()
.As<ITestInterface<B>>();
builder.RegisterGeneric(typeof(SomeClass<>))
.AsSelf();
You will find below a working sample :
public interface ISomeClass<T> where T : class
{
Int32 Count { get; }
}
public class SomeClass<T> : ISomeClass<T> where T : class
{
private readonly IEnumerable<ITestInterface<T>> _testInterfaces;
public SomeClass(IEnumerable<ITestInterface<T>> testInterfaces)
{
_testInterfaces = testInterfaces;
}
public Int32 Count
{
get
{
return this._testInterfaces.Count();
}
}
}
public interface ITestInterface {}
public interface ITestInterface<T> : ITestInterface { }
public class A { }
public class B { }
public class TestImplementationA : ITestInterface<A> { }
public class TestImplementationB : ITestInterface<B> { }
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ContainerBuilder builder = new ContainerBuilder();
builder.RegisterType<TestImplementationA>()
.As<ITestInterface<A>>()
.As<ITestInterface>();
builder.RegisterType<TestImplementationB>()
.As<ITestInterface<B>>()
.As<ITestInterface>();
builder.RegisterGeneric(typeof(SomeClass<>))
.As(typeof(ISomeClass<>));
IContainer container = builder.Build();
var x = container.Resolve<ISomeClass<A>>();
Console.WriteLine(x.Count);
var z = container.Resolve<IEnumerable<ITestInterface>>();
}
}

Define custom conversion for structuremap to register Commands, CommandHandlers automatically

I'm using CQRS pattern in my recent project, so I defined some Commands that I call them CommandParameter and CommandHandlers.
For CommandParameters I have these Classes and Interfaces:
public interface ICommandParameter
{
}
public abstract class BaseEntityCommandParameter<T> : IAggregateRoot,ICommandParameter
where T : ModelEntitySuperType, new()
{
public T Entity { get; set; }
protected BaseEntityCommandParameter()
{
Entity = new T();
}
}
public class InsertCommandParameter<T> : BaseEntityCommandParameter<T>
where T : class, new()
{
}
And for CommandHandlers I defined these Classes and Interfaces:
public interface ICommandHandler<TCommandParameter>
where TCommandParameter :ICommandParameter
{
void Handle(TCommandParameter parameter);
string CommandCode { get; }
}
public class InsertCommandHandler<TCommandParameter, TEntity>
: ICommandHandler<TCommandParameter>
where TCommandParameter : BaseEntityCommandParameter<TEntity>, new()
where TEntity : ModelEntitySuperType, IAggregateRoot, new()
and I used them to make appropriate CommandParameters and CommandHandlers for each Entity for example for Order I have:
public class OrderInsertCommandParameter:InsertCommandParameter<Order>
{
}
public class OrderInsertCommandHandler
: InsertCommandHandler<OrderInsertCommandParameter, Order>
{
private readonly IUnitOfWorkFactory _factory;
public OrderInsertCommandHandler(IUnitOfWorkFactory factory,
IRepository<Order> repository)
: base(repository)
{
_factory = factory;
}
public override void Handle(OrderInsertCommandParameter parameter)
{
var uow = _factory.Create();
parameter.Entity.OrderCreationTime = DateTime.Now;
base.Handle(parameter);
uow.Commit();
}
}
I want to register these CommandParameters and appropriate CommandHandlers using structuremap automatically, How could I define a custom Conversion to do this?

The following should do the trick:
container.Configure(r =>
{
r.Scan(s =>
{
s.Assembly(typeof(ICommandHandler<>).Assembly);
s.ConnectImplementationsToTypesClosing(typeof(ICommandHandler<>));
});
});

Keep a Dictionary<Type, MyClass<T>> where elements are referenceable by type

I have an abstract class called EntityTypeTransform with a single abstract method designed to hold a Func delegate that converts an IDataRecord into an instance of T.
public abstract class EntityTypeTransform<TEntityType> where TEntityType : class
{
public abstract Func<IDataRecord, TEntityType> GetDataTransform();
}
An implementation of that class might look like (does look like) this:
public class TaskParameterEntityTypeTransform : EntityTypeTransform<TaskParameter>
{
public override Func<IDataRecord, TaskParameter> GetDataTransform()
{
return dataRecord => new TaskParameter()
{
TaskId = (int)dataRecord["task_id"],
Name = (string)dataRecord["p_name"],
Value = (string)dataRecord["p_value"]
};
}
}
Now I want to keep an instance of each of these classes in a generic Dictionary, something like:
Dictionary<Type, EntityTypeTransform<T>>
But this doesn't work because (for example) an instance of EntityTypeTransform Of Task is not the same as an instance of EntityTypeTransform Of TaskParameter.
Can anyone help me out?
Edit: I should add that the Type key = typeof(T)

Actually, you don't need to use a dictionary at all! You can use the fact that GenericClass<T> is actually a different type for each T, so it can have its own static fields (i.e. GenericClass<Foo>.SomeField is not shared with GenericClass<Bar>.SomeField)
For instance you can implement your cache like this:
static class TransformCache<TEntityType>
{
public static EntityTypeTransform<TEntityType> Transform { get; set; }
}
And use it like this:
TransformCache<TaskParameter>.Transform = new TaskParameterEntityTypeTransform();

You can't specify a strong-typed collection that would hold different generic types. Here's the approach I've used in a similar problem, modified to match your requirement:
class TransformCollection
{
private Hashtable cache = new Hashtable();
public void Add<T>(EntityTypeTransform<T> transform) where T : class
{
this.cache[typeof(T)] = itemToCache;
}
public bool Exists<T>() where T : class
{
return this.cache.ContainsKey(typeof(T));
}
public EntityTypeTransform<T> Get<T>() where T : class
{
if (!this.Exists<T>())
throw new ArgumentException("No cached transform of type: " + typeof(T).Name);
return this.cache[typeof(T)] as EntityTypeTransform<T>;
}
}
This gives you type-safe cache for your generic type (though type-safety is enforced by the class's logic, not C#). You can use it as follows:
var collection = new TransformCollection();
collection.Add(SomeMethodToGetTransform<Task>());
//...
if (collection.Exists<Task>())
{
var transform = collection.Get<Task>();
//...
}

You could use an interface that is non-generic and then implement that interface explicitly inside that abstract class, It's pretty common in the .Net library itself:
public interface IEntityTypeTransform
{
Func<IDataRecord, object> GetDataTransform();
}
public abstract class EntityTypeTransform<TEntityType> : IEntityTypeTransform
where TEntityType : class
{
public virtual Func<IDataRecord, TEntityType> GetDataTransform()
{
return this.GetDataTransformImpl();
}
public abstract Func<IDataRecord, TEntityType> GetDataTransformImpl();
Func<IDataRecord, object> IEntityTypeTransform.GetDataTransform()
{
return this.GetDataTransform();
}
}

You would have to create a non-generic base class, e.g.
public abstract class EntityTypeTransformBase
{
public abstract Func<IDataRecord, object> GetDataTransform();
}
public abstract class EntityTypeTransform<TEntityType> : EntityTypeTransformBase where TEntityType : class
{
public abstract Func<IDataRecord, TEntityType> GetDataTransformImpl();
public override Func<IDataRecord, object> GetDataTransform()
{
return GetDataTransformImpl();
}
}
public class TaskParameterEntityTypeTransform : EntityTypeTransform<TaskParameter>
{
public override Func<IDataRecord, TaskParameter> GetDataTransformImpl()
{
return dataRecord => new TaskParameter()
{
TaskId = (int)dataRecord["task_id"],
Name = (string)dataRecord["p_name"],
Value = (string)dataRecord["p_value"]
};
}
}
Now you can create your dictionary:
var d = new Dictionary<Type, EntityTypeTransformBase>();
d.Add(typeof(TaskParameter), new TaskParameterEntityTypeTransform());

You can use KeyedByTypeCollection to get type-safety and you can define an interface with a covariant type parameter to make sure that only objects of type EntityTypeTransform<T> can be added to the dictionary:
public interface IEntityTypeTransform<out TEntityType> where TEntityType : class
{
TEntityType Transform(IDataRecord dataRecord);
}
public abstract class EntityTypeTransform<TEntityType> : IEntityTypeTransform<TEntityType> where TEntityType : class
{
public abstract TEntityType Transform(IDataRecord dataRecord);
}
public class TaskParameter
{
public int TaskId;
public string Name;
public string Value;
}
public class TaskParameterEntityTypeTransform : EntityTypeTransform<TaskParameter>
{
public override TaskParameter Transform(IDataRecord dataRecord)
{
return new TaskParameter()
{
TaskId = (int)dataRecord["task_id"],
Name = (string)dataRecord["p_name"],
Value = (string)dataRecord["p_value"]
};
}
}
public class SomeClass
{
public KeyedByTypeCollection<IEntityTypeTransform<object>> TransformDictionary = new KeyedByTypeCollection<IEntityTypeTransform<object>>()
{
new TaskParameterEntityTypeTransform(),
// More transforms here
};
}
Now you can use it like this:
public void SomeMethod(IDataRecord dataRecord)
{
TaskParameter taskParameter = TransformDictionary.Find<TaskParameterEntityTypeTransform>().Transform(dataRecord);
}

I have tried to understand what you exactly want I hope this is exactly what you are looking for!
You shall set in TaskParameter class the correct parameters: TaskId, Name, Value
public abstract class EntityTypeTransform<TEntityType> where TEntityType : class
{
public abstract Func<IDataRecord, TEntityType> GetDataTransform();
}
public class TaskParameterEntityTypeTransform : EntityTypeTransform<TaskParameter>
{
public override Func<IDataRecord, TaskParameter> GetDataTransform()
{
return x => new TaskParameter { X = x.FieldCount };
}
}
public class TaskParameter
{
public int X { get; set; }
}
Dictionary<Type, EntityTypeTransform<TaskParameter>> imADict;

Add a non generic interface to your transformers:
public interface IEntityTypeTransform
{
Func<IDataRecord, object> GetDataTransform();
}
public abstract class EntityTypeTransform<T> : IEntityTypeTransform
{
public abstract Func<IDataRecord, object> GetDataTransform();
}
public class TaskParameterEntityTypeTransform : EntityTypeTransform<TaskParameter>
{
public override Func<IDataRecord, object> GetDataTransform()
{
return dataRecord => new TaskParameter()
{
TaskId = (int)dataRecord["task id"],
};
}
}
Then you can encapsulate your dictionary for ensure that datatypes will always match. Never allow to add a IEntityTypeTransform of a bad type :
public class TransformDistributor
{
private readonly Dictionary<Type, IEntityTypeTransform> _transforms = new Dictionary<Type, IEntityTypeTransform>();
public void Add<T>(EntityTypeTransform<T> type)
{
this._transforms.Add(typeof(T), type);
}
public T Transform<T>(IDataRecord record)
{
var transform = this._transforms[typeof(T)].GetDataTransform()(record);
if (transform is T)
{
return (T)transform;
}
else
{
// theorically can't happen
throw new InvalidOperationException("transformer doesn't return instance of type " + transform.GetType().Name);
}
}
}
The advantage are that at compile time, your are sure that nobody can insert a bad transformer, even if your are not using generics.
Usage :
var transforms = new TransformDistributor();
transforms.Add<TaskParameter>(new TaskParameterEntityTypeTransform());
var taskParameter = transforms.Transform<TaskParameter>(new DataRecord());

How do you implement constructor injection in a factory?

When you're using a factory pattern, how do you inject dependencies into constructors at runtime?
I'm building Foos with different formats - boolean, array, freetext, matrix, etc. That format list will grow as we find different uses for Foo. Here's my basic core domain:
public interface IFoo
{
FooFormat Format { get; }
}
public class Foo : IFoo
{
private FooFormat _format;
internal Foo(FooFormat format)
{
_format = format;
}
public FooFormat Format { get { return _format; } }
}
public abstract class FooFormat
{
}
public class DefaultFooFormat : FooFormat
{
}
public class BooleanFooFormat : FooFormat
{
public IList<bool> Values { get; set; }
}
public class ArrayFooFormat : FooFormat
{
private IList<string> _values;
public ArrayFooFormat(IList<string> values)
{
_values = values;
}
public IList<string> Values { get { return _values; } }
}
IFoo is decorated for the consumer context:
public abstract class FooDecorator : IFoo
{
private IFoo _foo;
protected FooDecorator(IFoo foo)
{
_foo = foo;
}
public FooFormat Format
{
get { return _foo.Format; }
}
protected IFoo foo
{
get { return _foo; }
}
}
I don't want my consumer to instantiate a Foo directly, so I force them to use a factory:
public abstract class FooFactory
{
protected IFoo Build<T>()
{
FooFormat format = GetFormat<T>();
return new Foo(format);
}
private FooFormat GetFormat<T>()
{
if (typeof(T) == typeof(ArrayFooFormat)) return new ArrayFooFormat(new List<string>());
if (typeof(T) == typeof(BooleanFooFormat)) return new BooleanFooFormat();
return new DefaultFooFormat();
}
}
And even then, they need to derive a factory from my abstract factory for their particular context.
I'm specifically building foos in an html context, like so:
public class HtmlFoo : FooDecorator
{
public HtmlFoo(IFoo foo) : base(foo) { }
public string ToHtml()
{
return "<div>" + this.Format.ToString() + "</div>";
}
}
public class HtmlFooFactory : FooFactory
{
public IFoo BuildFoo<T>()
{
IFoo foo = Build<T>();
return new HtmlFoo(foo);
}
}
public class HtmlFooConsumer
{
public void DoSomeFoo()
{
var factory = new HtmlFooFactory();
var htmlBooleanFoo = factory.BuildFoo<BooleanFooFormat>();
var htmlArrayFoo = factory.BuildFoo<ArrayFooFormat>();
}
}
My problem is in my abstract FooFactory: I'm always injecting an empty value list into my ArrayFooFormat. I want to be able to pass in a value list from the consumer. For other FooFormats, I want to pass in the right constructor arguments from the consumer. But I want to keep the public API dead simple - I don't want a bunch of overloads on BuildFoo().
So how do I pass a custom value list into the factory.BuildFoo<T>() call from inside HtmlFooConsumer.DoSomeFoo()? Any ideas, stackoverflow gurus?

Maybe you can do something along these lines where your abstract FooFormat becomes IFooFormat and a generic FooFormat provides an Init method that gets passed the parameter.
Then a single overload of Build lets you pass in the parameter.
public interface IFooFormat
{
}
public class FooFormat<TValue> : IFooFormat
{
private TValue _value;
public void Init(TValue value)
{
_value = value;
}
public TValue Value
{
get { return _value; }
}
}
public class ArrayFooFormat : FooFormat<IList<string>> { }
public class BooleanFooFormat : FooFormat<bool> { }
public class DefaultFooFormat : IFooFormat { }
public interface IFoo { }
public class Foo : IFoo
{
private IFooFormat _format;
internal Foo(IFooFormat format)
{
_format = format;
}
public IFooFormat Format { get { return _format; } }
}
public class FooFactory
{
protected IFoo Build<TFormat, TArg>(TArg arg) where TFormat : FooFormat<TArg>, new()
{
TFormat format = new TFormat();
format.Init(arg);
return new Foo(format);
}
protected IFoo Build<TFormat>() where TFormat : IFooFormat, new()
{
return new Foo(new TFormat());
}
}

A factory is basically the object oriented version of a static variable. I'd avoid using one alltogether. Instead of forcing clients to use a factory, perhaps you can simply inject objects into their constructors, sidestepping the need for a factory.