Code Forums - View Single Post - sorting objects arrays by object properties

technobard · 07-21-2004, 07:10 PM

Yep. A very valid point. Unfortunately, that's the trade off when using a metadata driven solution (in this case reflection). I was worried about that when I added the isValid() method as a runtime check to return whether the name passed in matched any of the public fields/methods in the class definition, but it's still runtime. My biggest concern is non-string fields and methods. I can get around that as well by checking class and return types.

In my sample program, I actually use it this way:

Code:

StringComparator strcomp = new StringComparator(p1, "getFullName", "method");
if (strcomp.isValid()) {
    Collections.sort(testvec, strcomp);
}else{
//do something useful here
}

I just had another thought. Since the valid list of field and method names is stored within the Comparator object, I could make those items available so that they could populate a drop down in a GUI or something. That would eliminate typos as a source of error, at least in that type of app.

Thanks for the feedback! This is mostly an exercise in seeing if it could be done, but I might just use it.

07-21-2004, 07:10 PM	#12 (permalink)
technobard Centurion Nova Prime Join Date: May 2002 Location: Oak Park, IL (USA) Posts: 287	Yep. A very valid point. Unfortunately, that's the trade off when using a metadata driven solution (in this case reflection). I was worried about that when I added the isValid() method as a runtime check to return whether the name passed in matched any of the public fields/methods in the class definition, but it's still runtime. My biggest concern is non-string fields and methods. I can get around that as well by checking class and return types. In my sample program, I actually use it this way: Code: StringComparator strcomp = new StringComparator(p1, "getFullName", "method"); if (strcomp.isValid()) { Collections.sort(testvec, strcomp); }else{ //do something useful here } I just had another thought. Since the valid list of field and method names is stored within the Comparator object, I could make those items available so that they could populate a drop down in a GUI or something. That would eliminate typos as a source of error, at least in that type of app. Thanks for the feedback! This is mostly an exercise in seeing if it could be done, but I might just use it.