 |
Provide a way to access the elements of an aggregate object sequentially
without exposing its underlying representation.
Frequency of use: high
|
|
 |
The classes and/or objects participating in this pattern are:
- Iterator (AbstractIterator)
- defines an interface for accessing and traversing elements.
- ConcreteIterator (Iterator)
- implements the Iterator interface.
- keeps track of the current position in the traversal of the aggregate.
- Aggregate (AbstractCollection)
- defines an interface for creating an Iterator object
- ConcreteAggregate (Collection)
- implements the Iterator creation interface to return an instance of the
proper ConcreteIterator
This structural code demonstrates the Iterator pattern which provides for a way to traverse (iterate)
over a collection of items without detailing the underlying structure
of the collection.
Show code
|
// Iterator pattern -- Structural example
|
|
using System;
using System.Collections;
namespace DoFactory.GangOfFour.Iterator.Structural
{
// MainApp test application
class MainApp
{
static void Main()
{
ConcreteAggregate a = new ConcreteAggregate();
a[0] = "Item A";
a[1] = "Item B";
a[2] = "Item C";
a[3] = "Item D";
// Create Iterator and provide aggregate
ConcreteIterator i = new ConcreteIterator(a);
Console.WriteLine("Iterating over collection:");
object item = i.First();
while (item != null)
{
Console.WriteLine(item);
item = i.Next();
}
// Wait for user
Console.Read();
}
}
// "Aggregate"
abstract class Aggregate
{
public abstract Iterator CreateIterator();
}
// "ConcreteAggregate"
class ConcreteAggregate : Aggregate
{
private ArrayList items = new ArrayList();
public override Iterator CreateIterator()
{
return new ConcreteIterator(this);
}
// Property
public int Count
{
get{ return items.Count; }
}
// Indexer
public object this[int index]
{
get{ return items[index]; }
set{ items.Insert(index, value); }
}
}
// "Iterator"
abstract class Iterator
{
public abstract object First();
public abstract object Next();
public abstract bool IsDone();
public abstract object CurrentItem();
}
// "ConcreteIterator"
class ConcreteIterator : Iterator
{
private ConcreteAggregate aggregate;
private int current = 0;
// Constructor
public ConcreteIterator(ConcreteAggregate aggregate)
{
this.aggregate = aggregate;
}
public override object First()
{
return aggregate[0];
}
public override object Next()
{
object ret = null;
if (current < aggregate.Count - 1)
{
ret = aggregate[++current];
}
return ret;
}
public override object CurrentItem()
{
return aggregate[current];
}
public override bool IsDone()
{
return current >= aggregate.Count ? true : false ;
}
}
}
|
Output
Iterating over collection:
Item A
Item B
Item C
Item D
|
This real-world code demonstrates the Iterator pattern which is used to iterate
over a collection of items and skip a specific number of items each iteration.
Show code
|
// Iterator pattern -- Real World example
|
|
using System;
using System.Collections;
namespace DoFactory.GangOfFour.Iterator.RealWorld
{
// MainApp test application
class MainApp
{
static void Main()
{
// Build a collection
Collection collection = new Collection();
collection[0] = new Item("Item 0");
collection[1] = new Item("Item 1");
collection[2] = new Item("Item 2");
collection[3] = new Item("Item 3");
collection[4] = new Item("Item 4");
collection[5] = new Item("Item 5");
collection[6] = new Item("Item 6");
collection[7] = new Item("Item 7");
collection[8] = new Item("Item 8");
// Create iterator
Iterator iterator = new Iterator(collection);
// Skip every other item
iterator.Step = 2;
Console.WriteLine("Iterating over collection:");
for(Item item = iterator.First();
!iterator.IsDone; item = iterator.Next())
{
Console.WriteLine(item.Name);
}
// Wait for user
Console.Read();
}
}
class Item
{
string name;
// Constructor
public Item(string name)
{
this.name = name;
}
// Property
public string Name
{
get{ return name; }
}
}
// "Aggregate"
interface IAbstractCollection
{
Iterator CreateIterator();
}
// "ConcreteAggregate"
class Collection : IAbstractCollection
{
private ArrayList items = new ArrayList();
public Iterator CreateIterator()
{
return new Iterator(this);
}
// Property
public int Count
{
get{ return items.Count; }
}
// Indexer
public object this[int index]
{
get{ return items[index]; }
set{ items.Add(value); }
}
}
// "Iterator"
interface IAbstractIterator
{
Item First();
Item Next();
bool IsDone{ get; }
Item CurrentItem{ get; }
}
// "ConcreteIterator"
class Iterator : IAbstractIterator
{
private Collection collection;
private int current = 0;
private int step = 1;
// Constructor
public Iterator(Collection collection)
{
this.collection = collection;
}
public Item First()
{
current = 0;
return collection[current] as Item;
}
public Item Next()
{
current += step;
if (!IsDone)
return collection[current] as Item;
else
return null;
}
// Properties
public int Step
{
get{ return step; }
set{ step = value; }
}
public Item CurrentItem
{
get
{
return collection[current] as Item;
}
}
public bool IsDone
{
get
{
return current >= collection.Count ? true : false;
}
}
}
}
|
Output
Iterating over collection:
Item 0
Item 2
Item 4
Item 6
Item 8
|
This .NET optimized code demonstrates the
same real-world situation as above but uses modern, built-in .NET features.
Show code
|
// Iterator pattern -- .NET optimized
|
See our Singleton page for a .NET optimized code sample.
|
|
|