Question

If i have a GUI builder which builds my first interface and to that interface I attach an observer which detects when a certain field in that interface is updated then do I have to do one of the following;

1) create interface1 from builder and then attach an observer so as the builder can know when a certain task has completed
2) Do i just create an observer and then the observer creates the interface?

Basically i am trying to create an interface from builder, which then, on a button click goes and gets some data. When this data has been retrieved i want to let the builder class know so it can proceed to use it to build interface 2. I am trying to user the observer design pattern to do this.

Thanks

Answer 1

You should create the interface, then add (or register/attach) the relevant observers afterward. Something like (in pseudocode);

GUI mygui = GUIBuilder.createNewGUI();

ButtonListener OK = new OKButtonListener();
ButtonListener Cancel = new CancelButtonListener();
DataListener dataReady = new dataReadyListener();

mygui.registerButtonListener(OK);
mygui.registerButtonListener(Cancel);
mygui.registerDataListener(dataReady);

mygui.show();

If all the GUIs you are building will have the same listeners attached, you can have the interface builder create and attach the listeners for you as well.