CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javagenerics
Durandal
Durandal

Reputation: 20059

Casting generic return type to interface type

I am trying to create a factory method for a generic Wrapper and I have the problem that I either need to pass in the desired return type (wrapTyped()-method) or I have to explicitly cast an input argument to the desired return type (wrapAuto()-method, 1st use). But I am lazy and don't want to write the extra cast :)

Is there any way to express the declaration of wrapAuto() so that case "wantThis" (at the very bottom) works?

public class GenericFactory {

static class Wrapper<T> {
    T wrappdObject;
    boolean flag;
    String name;

    public Wrapper(T wrappedObject, boolean flag, String name) {
        this.wrappdObject = wrappedObject;
        this.flag = flag;
        this.name = name;
    }

    public T getObject() {
        return wrappdObject;
    }

    // some more irrelevant methods
}

static interface InterfaceType {
}

static class ImplementationA implements InterfaceType {
}

static <U> Wrapper<U> wrapTyped(Class<U> type, U wrappedObject, boolean flag, String name) { 
    return new Wrapper<U>(wrappedObject, flag, name);
}

static <U> Wrapper<U> wrapAuto(U wrappedObject, boolean flag, String name) {
    return new Wrapper<U>(wrappedObject, flag, "NoName");
}

// compiles, but is cumbersome
public Wrapper<InterfaceType> cumbersome = wrapTyped(InterfaceType.class, new ImplementationA(), true, "A");

// compiles, but is also cumbersome
public Wrapper<InterfaceType> alsoUgly = wrapAuto((InterfaceType) new ImplementationA(), true, "B");

// Want this, but "Type mismatch error"
public Wrapper<InterfaceType> wantThis = wrapAuto(new ImplementationA(), false, "C");

}

I stripped it down a little, for simplicity I declared only one set of interface and concrete implementation. I practice the class Wrapper may be used for many completely different, unrelated types.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 770

Answers (2)

newacct
newacct

Reputation: 122429

There is nothing wrong with your method as written. But inference is not perfect. You can always explicitly specify the type arguments:

public Wrapper<InterfaceType> wantThis = GenericFactory.<InterfaceType>wrapAuto(new ImplementationA(), false, "C");

Upvotes: 0

Rohit Jain
Rohit Jain

Reputation: 213193

In your method wrapAuto, add another type parameter, with U as upper bound, and use it as the formal parameter type:

static <U, T extends U> Wrapper<U> wrapAuto(T wrappedObject, boolean flag, String name) {
    return new Wrapper<U>(wrappedObject, flag, "NoName");
}

and then this would work:

Wrapper<InterfaceType> wantThis = wrapAuto(new ImplementationA(), false, "C");

With this invocation, T is inferred as ImplementationA, and U is inferred as InterfaceType. And the bounds T extends U perfectly matches these types.

References:

Upvotes: 3

Related Questions