Question

I have a function which saves a message in a database. There are different scenarios for saving messages based on types. For example I have Save Message, Save Message for Repair, and Save Message from XML.

Would a sensible approach be to create a single function with a parameter which specifies the operation type, and to have a switch case to choose between calling three different methods?

I have come up with this so far:

public bool SaveMessage(Message message,
                        List<Image> images,
                        List<Attachments> attachments,
                        string type);

and have three other methods: SaveMessage(), SaveMessageForRepair(), and SaveMessageXml().

Is this a reasonable approach?

Answer 1

Use Strategy Pattern.

Define a family of algorithms, encapsulate each one, and make them
interchangeable. Strategy lets the algorithm vary independently from
clients that use it.

http://www.dofactory.com/Patterns/PatternStrategy.aspx