Chain-of-responsibility pattern: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Programming pattern}}
In [[computer programming]], the '''chain-of-responsibility pattern''' is a [[design pattern (computer science)|design pattern]] consisting of a source of [[Command pattern|command objects]] and a series of '''processing objects'''. Each processing object contains a set of logic that describes the types of command objects that it can handle, and how to pass off those that it cannot to the next processing object in the chain. A mechanism also exists for adding new processing objects to the end of this chain.
In [[object-oriented design]], the '''chain-of-responsibility pattern''' is a [[Behavioral pattern|behavioral]] [[design pattern (computer science)|design pattern]] consisting of a source of [[Command pattern|command objects]] and a series of '''processing objects'''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.blackwasp.co.uk/ChainOfResponsibility.aspx |title=Chain of Responsibility Design Pattern |access-date=2013-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227070352/http://www.blackwasp.co.uk/ChainOfResponsibility.aspx |archive-date=2018-02-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Each processing object contains logic that defines the types of command objects that it can handle; the rest are passed to the next processing object in the chain. A mechanism also exists for adding new processing objects to the end of this chain.
 
'''In a variation of the standard chain-of-responsibility model, some handlers may act as [[Permutationdynamic dispatch|dispatcher]]s''':, Commandscapable mayof besending sentcommands out in alternatea directionsvariety outof directions, forming a ''tree of [[responsibility]]''. RecursionIn some cases, this can occur recursively, with processing objects calling higher-up processing objects with commands that attempt to solve some smaller part of the problem; in this case couldrecursion continuecontinues until the command is processed, or the entire tree has been explored. An [[XML]] interpreter[[Interpreter (parsed, but not yet executedcomputing)|interpreter]] might bework ain fittingthis examplemanner.
 
This pattern promotes the idea of [[loose coupling]], a programming practice.
 
The chain-of-responsibility pattern is structurally nearly identical to the [[decorator pattern]], the difference being that for the decorator, all classes handle the request, while for the chain of responsibility, exactly one of the classes in the chain handles the request. This is a strict definition of the Responsibility concept in the [[Design Patterns|GoF]] book. However, many implementations (such as loggers below, or UI event handling, or servlet filters in Java, etc.) allow several elements in the chain to take responsibility.
''The article is originally from [[Perl Design Patterns Book]]''
 
== Examples Overview==
The Chain of Responsibility<ref name="GoF">{{cite book|author=Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides|title=Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software|year=1994|publisher=Addison Wesley|isbn=0-201-63361-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/designpatternsel00gamm/page/223 223ff]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/designpatternsel00gamm/page/223}}</ref>
design pattern is one of the twenty-three well-known
''[[Design Patterns|GoF design patterns]]''
that describe common solutions to recurring design problems when designing flexible and reusable object-oriented software, that is, objects that are easier to implement, change, test, and reuse.
 
===What problems can the Chain of Responsibility design pattern solve?===
=== Java ===
* Coupling the sender of a request to its receiver should be avoided.
The following Java code illustrates the pattern with the example of a logging class. Each logging handler decides if any action is to be taken at this log level and then passes the message on to the next logging handler. The output is:
* It should be possible that more than one receiver can handle a request.
Writing to debug output: Entering function x.
Writing to debug output: Step1 completed.
Writing to stderr: Step1 completed.
Writing to debug output: An error has occurred.
Sending via e-mail: An error has occurred.
Writing to stderr: An error has occurred.
Note that this example should not be seen as a recommendation to write Logging classes this way.
 
Implementing a request directly within the class that sends the request is inflexible
import java.util.*;
because it couples the class to a particular receiver and makes it impossible to support multiple receivers.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Chain of Responsibility design pattern - Problem, Solution, and Applicability|url=http://w3sdesign.com/?gr=b01&ugr=proble|website=w3sDesign.com|access-date=2017-08-12}}</ref>
 
'''abstract class Logger''' {
===What solution does the Chain of Responsibility design pattern describe?===
public static int ERR = 3;
 
public static int NOTICE = 5;
* Define a chain of receiver objects having the responsibility, depending on run-time conditions, to either handle a request or forward it to the next receiver on the chain (if any).
public static int DEBUG = 7;
 
protected int mask;
This enables us to send a request to a chain of receivers
without having to know which one handles the request.
protected Logger next; ''// the next element in the chain of responsibility''
The request gets passed along the chain until a receiver handles the request.
public Logger setNext(Logger l) { next = l; return this; }
The sender of a request is no longer coupled to a particular receiver.
 
abstract public void message(String msg, int priority);
See also the UML class and sequence diagram below.
}
 
== Structure ==
'''class DebugLogger ''extends Logger''''' {
=== UML class and sequence diagram ===
public DebugLogger(int mask) { this.mask = mask; }
[[File:w3sDesign Chain of Responsibility Design Pattern UML.jpg|frame|none|A sample UML class and sequence diagram for the Chain of Responsibility design pattern.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Chain of Responsibility design pattern - Structure and Collaboration|url=http://w3sdesign.com/?gr=b01&ugr=struct|website=w3sDesign.com|access-date=2017-08-12}}</ref>]]
 
public void message(String msg, int priority) {
In the above [[Unified Modeling Language|UML]] [[class diagram]], the <code>Sender</code> class doesn't refer to a particular receiver class directly.
if (priority <= mask) System.out.println("Writing to debug output: "+msg);
Instead, <code>Sender</code> refers to the <code>Handler</code> interface for handling a request (<code>handler.handleRequest()</code>), which makes the <code>Sender</code> independent of which receiver handles the request.
if (next != null) next.message(msg, priority);
The <code>Receiver1</code>, <code>Receiver2</code>, and <code>Receiver3</code> classes implement the <code>Handler</code> interface by either handling or forwarding a request (depending on run-time conditions).
<br>
The [[Unified Modeling Language|UML]] [[sequence diagram]]
shows the run-time interactions: In this example, the <code>Sender</code> object calls <code>handleRequest()</code> on the <code>receiver1</code> object (of type <code>Handler</code>).
The <code>receiver1</code> forwards the request to <code>receiver2</code>, which in turn forwards the request to <code>receiver3</code>, which handles (performs) the request.
 
== Example ==
<!-- Wikipedia is not a list of examples. Do not add examples from your favorite programming language here; this page exists to explain the design pattern, not to show how it interacts with subtleties of every language under the sun. Feel free to add examples here: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Computer_Science_Design_Patterns/Chain_of_responsibility -->
 
This C++11 implementation is based on the pre C++98 implementation in the book.<ref>{{cite book |author=Erich Gamma |title=Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software |publisher=Addison Wesley |year=1994 |isbn=0-201-63361-2 |pages=189 ff.}}</ref>
<syntaxhighlight lang="c++">
#include <iostream>
#include <memory>
 
typedef int Topic;
constexpr Topic NO_HELP_TOPIC = -1;
 
// defines an interface for handling requests.
class HelpHandler { // Handler
public:
HelpHandler(HelpHandler* h = nullptr, Topic t = NO_HELP_TOPIC)
: successor(h), topic(t) {}
virtual bool hasHelp() {
return topic != NO_HELP_TOPIC;
}
virtual void setHandler(HelpHandler*, Topic) {}
virtual void handleHelp() {
std::cout << "HelpHandler::handleHelp\n";
// (optional) implements the successor link.
if (successor != nullptr) {
successor->handleHelp();
}
}
virtual ~HelpHandler() = default;
HelpHandler(const HelpHandler&) = delete; // rule of three
HelpHandler& operator=(const HelpHandler&) = delete;
private:
HelpHandler* successor;
Topic topic;
};
 
 
class Widget : public HelpHandler {
public:
Widget(const Widget&) = delete; // rule of three
Widget& operator=(const Widget&) = delete;
protected:
Widget(Widget* w, Topic t = NO_HELP_TOPIC)
: HelpHandler(w, t), parent(nullptr) {
parent = w;
}
private:
Widget* parent;
};
 
// handles requests it is responsible for.
class Button : public Widget { // ConcreteHandler
public:
Button(std::shared_ptr<Widget> h, Topic t = NO_HELP_TOPIC) : Widget(h.get(), t) {}
virtual void handleHelp() {
// if the ConcreteHandler can handle the request, it does so; otherwise it forwards the request to its successor.
std::cout << "Button::handleHelp\n";
if (hasHelp()) {
// handles requests it is responsible for.
} else {
// can access its successor.
HelpHandler::handleHelp();
}
}
};
 
'''class EMailLogger ''extends Logger''''' {
class Dialog : public Widget { // ConcreteHandler
public EMailLogger(int mask) { this.mask = mask; }
public:
Dialog(std::shared_ptr<HelpHandler> h, Topic t = NO_HELP_TOPIC) : Widget(nullptr) {
public void message(String msg, int priority) {
setHandler(h.get(), t);
if (priority <= mask) System.out.println("Sending via e-mail: "+msg);
}
if (next != null) next.message(msg, priority);
virtual void handleHelp() {
std::cout << "Dialog::handleHelp\n";
// Widget operations that Dialog overrides...
if(hasHelp()) {
// offer help on the dialog
} else {
HelpHandler::handleHelp();
}
}
};
'''class StderrLogger ''extends Logger''''' {
public StderrLogger(int mask) { this.mask = mask; }
public void message(String msg, int priority) {
if (priority <= mask) System.out.println("Writing to stderr: "+msg);
if (next != null) next.message(msg, priority);
}
}
'''class ChainOfResponsibilityExample''' {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// building the chain of responsibility
Logger l = new DebugLogger(Logger.DEBUG).setNext(
new EMailLogger(Logger.ERR).setNext(
new StderrLogger(Logger.NOTICE) ) );
l.message("Entering function x.", Logger.DEBUG); ''// handled by DebugLogger''
l.message("Step1 completed.", Logger.NOTICE); ''// handled by Debug- and StderrLogger''
l.message("An error has occurred.", Logger.ERR); ''// handled by all three Logger''
}
}
 
class Application : public HelpHandler {
public:
Application(Topic t) : HelpHandler(nullptr, t) {}
virtual void handleHelp() {
std::cout << "Application::handleHelp\n";
// show a list of help topics
}
};
 
int main() {
constexpr Topic PRINT_TOPIC = 1;
constexpr Topic PAPER_ORIENTATION_TOPIC = 2;
constexpr Topic APPLICATION_TOPIC = 3;
// The smart pointers prevent memory leaks.
std::shared_ptr<Application> application = std::make_shared<Application>(APPLICATION_TOPIC);
std::shared_ptr<Dialog> dialog = std::make_shared<Dialog>(application, PRINT_TOPIC);
std::shared_ptr<Button> button = std::make_shared<Button>(dialog, PAPER_ORIENTATION_TOPIC);
 
button->handleHelp();
==See also==
}
*[[Interception pattern]]
</syntaxhighlight>
*[[Interceptor pattern]]
 
== Implementations ==
==External links==
=== Cocoa and Cocoa Touch ===
*Article "[http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-08-2004/jw-0816-chain.html The Chain of Responsibility pattern's pitfalls and improvements]" by [[Michael Xinsheng Huang]]
*Article "[http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-08-2003/jw-0829-designpatterns.html Follow the Chain of Responsibility]" by [[David Geary]]
*Article "[http://developer.com/java/other/article.php/631261 Pattern Summaries: Chain of Responsibility]" by [[Mark Grand]]
*[http://dofactory.com/Patterns/PatternChain.aspx CoR overview]
*[http://research.microsoft.com/~minka/patterns/CoR.html Chain of Responsibility Pattern]
*[http://allapplabs.com/java_design_patterns/chain_of_responsibility_pattern.htm Behavioral Patterns - Chain of Responsibility Pattern]
*[http://home.earthlink.net/~huston2/dp/chain.html Chain of Responsibility]
*[http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ChainOfResponsibilityPattern Descriptions from Portland Pattern Repository]
 
The [[Cocoa (API)|Cocoa]] and [[Cocoa Touch]] frameworks, used for [[OS X]] and [[iOS]] applications respectively, actively use the chain-of-responsibility pattern for handling events. Objects that participate in the chain are called ''responder'' objects, inheriting from the <code>NSResponder</code> (OS X)/<code>UIResponder</code> (iOS) class. All view objects (<code>NSView</code>/<code>UIView</code>), view controller objects (<code>NSViewController</code>/<code>UIViewController</code>), window objects (<code>NSWindow</code>/<code>UIWindow</code>), and the application object (<code>NSApplication</code>/<code>UIApplication</code>) are responder objects.
{{Comp-sci-stub}}
 
Typically, when a view receives an event which it can't handle, it dispatches it to its superview until it reaches the view controller or window object. If the window can't handle the event, the event is dispatched to the application object, which is the last object in the chain. For example:
 
* On OS X, moving a textured window with the mouse can be done from any ___location (not just the title bar), unless on that ___location there's a view which handles dragging events, like slider controls. If no such view (or superview) is there, dragging events are sent up the chain to the window which does handle the dragging event.
* On iOS, it's typical to handle view events in the view controller which manages the view hierarchy, instead of subclassing the view itself. Since a view controller lies in the responder chain after all of its managed subviews, it can intercept any view events and handle them.
 
== See also ==
* [[Software design pattern]]
* [[Single responsibility principle]]
 
== References ==
{{reflist}}
 
{{Design Patterns Patterns}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Design Pattern (Computer Science)}}
[[Category:Software design patterns]]
[[Category:Articles with example Java code]]
 
[[es:Chain of Responsibility (patrón de diseño)]]