Question

For every Report I have a special handler class for that report currently I store the report name as a private constant inside the handler class.

I use the report name as a key to get this report specific configuration from the reports configuration file.

I thought about changing this and store all the report names in an enum , the other approach I have in mind is to use the fully qualified name of the handler class as the key in the configuration file.

I need to know which approach is better :
Interface , Enum , Handler class constant or use the class name as a key in the configuration file instead of the report name

Please Advice

Answer 1

I really like using enums and have used them often. You have to store the data somewhere, why not put it where everyone can find it!

Do something like this:

public enum Report {
    SALES("Sale Report", "select * from some_view"),
    PROFIT("Profit Report", "select * from some_other_view");

    final String reportName;
    final String sql;

    private Report(String reportName, String sql) {
        this.reportName = reportName;
        this.sql = sql;
    }

    public String getReportName() {
        return reportName;
    }

    public String getSql() {
        return sql;
    }
}