Question

myThread is a function that is executed every second, basicly it reads some data that has to be parsed and executed. The function grew a lot and it is over 1500 lines of code like the sample below with lots of [if else if else] blocks lots of repetitions like sleep or SendToChat to send a command to the console, and its being a lot difficult to maintain, make changes, etc, to it.

I would like some advices (if possible with code examples, that would help me understand the layout) on how I could rewrite this, I am not very experienced so I am not so sure of the possibilities to turn this code into a better code for maintainability and readability ?

Also feel free to comment on any functions or anything else as it could help me improve on other things that are wrong.

This is just some sample of the code and not the entire code if you feel like you need any other information from the code feel free to ask and I will post once I can.

PS: this is not an irc thing.

private void myThread()
{
    while(isRunning)
    {
        // SOME PARSED DATA HERE
        // if (parsedData matchs) do the below stuff
        Messages received = new Messages
        {
            Sent = Convert.ToDateTime(match.Groups[1].Value),
            Username = match.Groups[3].Value,
            MessageType = (match.Groups[2].Length > 0) ? MsgType.System : MsgType.Chat,
            Message = match.Groups[4].Value.Trim(),
            CommandArgs = match.Groups[4].Value.ToLower().Trim().Split(' ')
        };

        // Get the user that issued the command
        User user = usersList.Find(x => x.Name == recebe.received.ToLower());
        if (user != null)
        {
            // different greetings based on acess level
            if (received.Message == "has entered this room")
            {
                if (User == null)
                {
                    SendToChat("/w " + received.Username + " " + received.Username + " you have no registration.");
                    Thread.Sleep(1000);
                    SendToChat("/kick " + received.Username + " not registered.");
                    Thread.Sleep(1000);
                }
                else
                {
                    string cmd = (user.Access < Access.Vouch) ?
                        "/ann " + user.Access.ToString() + " <" + received.Username + "> has entered the room." :
                        "/w " + received.Username + " " + received.Username + " welcome to our room !";
                    SendToChat(cmd);
                    Thread.Sleep(1000);
                }
            }
            // Here we filter all messages that start with a . which means it is a command
            else if (received.Message.StartsWith(".") && user != null)
            {
                // here we verify if the user has Access to use the typed command and/or if the command exists 
                if (accessList.Exists(x => x.Access == user.Access && x.HasCommand(received.CommandArgs[0])))
                {
                    if (received.CommandArgs[0] == ".say")
                    {
                        SendToChat("/ann " + received.Username + " says: " + received.Message.Substring(received.CommandArgs[0].Length + 1));
                        Thread.Sleep(1000);
                    }
                    else if (received.CommandArgs[0] == ".command")
                    {
                        string allowedList = string.Empty;
                        int count = 0;
                        foreach (string cmd in listaAccesss.Find(x => x.Access == user.Access).Command)
                        {
                            if (count == 0)
                                allowedList += cmd;
                            else
                                allowedList +=  ", " + cmd;
                        }
                        SendToChat("/w " + received.Username + " " + received.Username + " you are allowed to use the followed commands: " + permite);
                        Thread.Sleep(1000);
                                    }
                    else if (received.CommandArgs[0] == ".vip")
                    {
                        if (received.Command.Count() < 2)
                        {
                            SendToChat("/w " + received.Username + " " + received.Username + ", see an example of how to use this command: .vip jonh");
                            Thread.Sleep(1000);
                        }
                        else if (received.Command.Count() == 2)
                        {
                            var target = usersList.Find(x => x.Name == received.CommandArgs[1]);
                            if (target == null)
                            {
                                User newUser = new User
                                {
                                    Name = received.CommandArgs[1].ToLower(),
                                    Access = Access.VIP,
                                    Registered = DateTime.Now,
                                    RegisteredBy = received.Username.ToLower()
                                };

                                usersList.Add(newUser);

                                SendToChat("/ann " + user.Access.ToString() + " " + user.Name + " has promoted " + received.CommandArgs[1] + " to VIP.");
                                Thread.Sleep(1000);
                            }
                            else if (target != null && target.Access == Access.VIP)
                            {
                                SendToChat("/w " + received.Username + " " + received.Username + " the user " + target.Name + " already have VIP access.");
                                Thread.Sleep(1000);
                            }
                            else if (target != null && user.Access == Access.HeadAdmin && user.Access < target.Access)
                            {
                                Access last = target.Access;
                                target.Access = Access.Vouch;

                                SendToChat("/ann " + user.Access.ToString() + " " + received.Username + " promoted/demoted the " + last.ToString() + " " + target.Name + " to VIP.");
                                Thread.Sleep(1000);
                            }
                            else if (target != null && target.Access == Access.Vouch)
                            {
                                target.Access = Access.VIP;
                                target.RegisteredBy = user.Name;

                                SendToChat("/ann " + user.Access.ToString() + " " + received.Username + " promoted the vouch of " + target.Name + " to VIP.");
                                Thread.Sleep(1000);
                            }
                            else
                            {
                                SendToChat("/w " + received.Username + " " + received.Username + " you can't register or modify the user " + received.CommandArgs[1] + ".");
                                Thread.Sleep(1000);
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    SendToChat("/w " + received.Username + " " + received.Username + " command not found.");
                    Thread.Sleep(1000);
                }
            }
        }
        Thread.Sleep(1000);
    }
}

Answer 1

A good way to organize this code is by using the “Chain of responsibility” design pattern.

The idea is to have one class for each “command” that knows what to do, for example:

public class NewUserCommand : ConsoleCommand
{
    public override void Process(Context context, string command)
    {
        if (context.User != null)
        {
            // different greetings based on acess level
            if (context.Received.Message == "has entered this room")
            {
                if (context.User == null)
                {
                    SendToChat("/w " + context.Received.Username + " " + context.Received.Username + " you have no registration.");
                    Thread.Sleep(1000);
                    SendToChat("/kick " + context.Received.Username + " not registered.");
                    Thread.Sleep(1000);

                    //I could process the request
                    return;
                }
            }
        }

        //I dont know what to do, continue with the next processor
        this.Successor.Process(context, command);
    }
}

You will need one of these classes for every command.