Question

I have a service layer that retrieves a DTO from a repository. Depending on a property in that DTO I need to use one of two strategies to perform calculations on the DTO. I have created a factory to return the appropriate strategy and I’m using a DI container (Munq) to instantiate the object.

public class CalculationFactory
{
    private readonly IDependencyResolver _resolver;
    public CalculationFactory(IDependencyResolver resolver)
    {
        ThrowIfNullArgument(resolver, "resolver", typeof(IDependencyResolver));
        _resolver = resolver;
    }

    public static ICalculation CreateCalculator(int serviceType)
    {
        switch (serviceType)
        {
            case 1: return _resolver.Resolve<ICalculation>("Type1");
            case 2: return _resolver.Resolve<ICalculation>("Type2");
            default: return _resolver.Resolve<ICalculation>("InvalidType");
        }
    }
}

This requires me to pass in the dependency resolver when I instantiate the factory so that it can be used to resolve/instantiate the appropriate calculation to use. Is this the correct approach? If I want to add a new type of calculation then I would need to update the factory CreateCalculator method and register the new type.

Update (long)
I’m not really getting traction on the suggestions I’m afraid. I’ve gone back to my copy of Mark’s DI in .Net and specifically chapter 6 on refactorings. So I have a class MeterReadings and I need to calculate a charge using one of two calculations based on a runtime value. I add an abstract factory to the mix but in my concrete factory I still need to new up the appropriate calculation. I feel like I’m missing the point here:

public enum ServiceType
{
    Actuals = 1, CopyBlock,
}

public interface IChargeCalculator
{
    decimal CalculateCharge();
}

public interface IChargeCalculatorFactory
{
    IChargeCalculator CreateChargeCalculator(ServiceType serviceType);
}

public class MeterReading
{
    private readonly IChargeCalculatorFactory chargeCalculatorFactory;
    public MeterReading(IChargeCalculatorFactory chargeCalculatorFactory)
    {
        if (chargeCalculatorFactory == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException("chargeCalculatorFactory");
        this.chargeCalculatorFactory = chargeCalculatorFactory;    
    }
}

public class ConcreteChargeCalculatorFactory : IChargeCalculatorFactory
{
    public IChargeCalculator CreateChargeCalculator(ServiceType serviceType)
    {
        switch (serviceType)
        {
            case ServiceType.Actuals : return new ActualsChargeCalculator();
            default: return new CopyBlockChargeCalculator();
        }
    }
}

But in my container I can register the different calculators and if I pass in the container as the concrete factory I get something like the following (not tested) which frankly looks fairly reasonable to me. Any feedback/clarification would be welcome.

Container.Register<IChargeCalculator>("Actuals",
                                      c => new ActualsChargeCalculator());
Container.Register<IChargeCalculator>("CopyBlock",
                                      c => new CopyBlockChargeCalculator());
...
public enum ServiceType
{
    Actuals = 1, CopyBlock,
}

public interface IChargeCalculator
{
    decimal CalculateCharge();
}

public class MeterReading
{
    private readonly IDependencyResolver chargeCalculatorFactory;
    private ServiceType serviceType;
    public MeterReading(IDependencyResolver chargeCalculatorFactory)
    {
        if (chargeCalculatorFactory == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException("chargeCalculatorFactory");
        this.chargeCalculatorFactory = chargeCalculatorFactory;    
    }

    public decimal Charge
    {
        get
        {
            return chargeCalculatorFactory.Resolve<IChargeCalculator>(serviceType.ToString());
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

Yes, I would say you are doing it in a proper way.

Though you write that you need to “pass in the dependency resolver “, is there a reason that you can’t have the factory class injected into the class where it is needed? Then the factorys dependency on the dependency resolver should be resolved by the dependency resolver itself (to itself).

I hope that sentence made sense.

I have tried to come up with a “cleaner” solution, but have not found any yet. A solution similar to what is suggested in the question (which is not exactly the same) Dessus links is certainly possible, but I really see that as just moving the same code to another place. Remo also writes that it could be done in a factory class instead of a factory method.

It’s a bit like deciding between writing a lampda or a helper class. It mostly comes down to readabilty, and for me a factory method is just to big, and having it in a module initializer or bootstrapper seams to disorganized.

BTW I can recommend Ninject, it is a really good, clean DI. Plus it’s documentation uses Ninja examples 😉