Question

I have XML files that are representation of a portion of HTML code.
Those XML files also have widget declarations.
Example XML file:

 <message id="msg">
   <p>
     <Widget name="foo" type="SomeComplexWidget" attribute="value">
        inner text here, sets another attribute or 
        inserts another widget to the tree if needed...
     </Widget>
   </p>
 </message>

I have a main Widget class that all of my widgets inherit from.
The question is how would I create it?
Here are my options:

1. Create a compile time tool that will parse the XML file and create the necessary code to bind the widgets to the needed objects.
   • Advantages:
     • No extra run-time overhead induced to the system.
     • It’s easy to bind setters.
   • Disadvantages:
     • Adds another step to the build chain.
     • Hard to maintain as every widget in the system should be added to the parser.
     • Use of macros to bind the widgets.
     • Complex code
2. Find a method to register all widgets into a factory automatically.
   • Advantages:
     • All of the binding is done completely automatically.
     • Easier to maintain then option 1 as every new widget will only need to call a WidgetFactory method that registers it.
   • Disadvantages:
     • No idea how to bind setters without introducing a maintainability nightmare.
     • Adds memory and run-time overhead.
     • Complex code

What do you think is better? Can you guys suggest a better solution?

Answer 1

Create the tool, include it into your build steps and everything will be fine.

See comments to my previous answer for additional details.