Mediator

UML class diagram

Participants
The classes and objects participating in this pattern are:
- Mediator (
IChatroom
)- defines an interface for communicating with Colleague objects
- ConcreteMediator (
Chatroom
)- implements cooperative behavior by coordinating Colleague objects
- knows and maintains its colleagues
- Colleague classes (
Participant
)- each Colleague class knows its Mediator object
- each colleague communicates with its mediator whenever it would have otherwise communicated with another colleague
Structural code in C#
This structural code demonstrates the Mediator pattern facilitating loosely coupled communication between different objects and object types. The mediator is a central hub through which all interaction must take place.
using System;
namespace DoFactory.GangOfFour.Mediator.Structural
{
/// <summary>
/// MainApp startup class for Structural
/// Mediator Design Pattern.
/// </summary>
class MainApp
{
/// <summary>
/// Entry point into console application.
/// </summary>
static void Main()
{
ConcreteMediator m = new ConcreteMediator();
ConcreteColleague1 c1 = new ConcreteColleague1(m);
ConcreteColleague2 c2 = new ConcreteColleague2(m);
m.Colleague1 = c1;
m.Colleague2 = c2;
c1.Send("How are you?");
c2.Send("Fine, thanks");
// Wait for user
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'Mediator' abstract class
/// </summary>
abstract class Mediator
{
public abstract void Send(string message,
Colleague colleague);
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'ConcreteMediator' class
/// </summary>
class ConcreteMediator : Mediator
{
private ConcreteColleague1 _colleague1;
private ConcreteColleague2 _colleague2;
public ConcreteColleague1 Colleague1
{
set { _colleague1 = value; }
}
public ConcreteColleague2 Colleague2
{
set { _colleague2 = value; }
}
public override void Send(string message,
Colleague colleague)
{
if (colleague == _colleague1)
{
_colleague2.Notify(message);
}
else
{
_colleague1.Notify(message);
}
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'Colleague' abstract class
/// </summary>
abstract class Colleague
{
protected Mediator mediator;
// Constructor
public Colleague(Mediator mediator)
{
this.mediator = mediator;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// A 'ConcreteColleague' class
/// </summary>
class ConcreteColleague1 : Colleague
{
// Constructor
public ConcreteColleague1(Mediator mediator)
: base(mediator)
{
}
public void Send(string message)
{
mediator.Send(message, this);
}
public void Notify(string message)
{
Console.WriteLine("Colleague1 gets message: "
+ message);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// A 'ConcreteColleague' class
/// </summary>
class ConcreteColleague2 : Colleague
{
// Constructor
public ConcreteColleague2(Mediator mediator)
: base(mediator)
{
}
public void Send(string message)
{
mediator.Send(message, this);
}
public void Notify(string message)
{
Console.WriteLine("Colleague2 gets message: "
+ message);
}
}
}
Output
Colleague1 gets message: Fine, thanks
Real-world code in C#
This real-world code demonstrates the Mediator pattern facilitating loosely coupled communication between different Participants registering with a Chatroom. The Chatroom is the central hub through which all communication takes place. At this point only one-to-one communication is implemented in the Chatroom, but would be trivial to change to one-to-many.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
namespace DoFactory.GangOfFour.Mediator.RealWorld
{
/// <summary>
/// MainApp startup class for Real-World
/// Mediator Design Pattern.
/// </summary>
class MainApp
{
/// <summary>
/// Entry point into console application.
/// </summary>
static void Main()
{
// Create chatroom
Chatroom chatroom = new Chatroom();
// Create participants and register them
Participant George = new Beatle("George");
Participant Paul = new Beatle("Paul");
Participant Ringo = new Beatle("Ringo");
Participant John = new Beatle("John");
Participant Yoko = new NonBeatle("Yoko");
chatroom.Register(George);
chatroom.Register(Paul);
chatroom.Register(Ringo);
chatroom.Register(John);
chatroom.Register(Yoko);
// Chatting participants
Yoko.Send("John", "Hi John!");
Paul.Send("Ringo", "All you need is love");
Ringo.Send("George", "My sweet Lord");
Paul.Send("John", "Can't buy me love");
John.Send("Yoko", "My sweet love");
// Wait for user
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'Mediator' abstract class
/// </summary>
abstract class AbstractChatroom
{
public abstract void Register(Participant participant);
public abstract void Send(
string from, string to, string message);
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'ConcreteMediator' class
/// </summary>
class Chatroom : AbstractChatroom
{
private Dictionary<string,Participant> _participants =
new Dictionary<string,Participant>();
public override void Register(Participant participant)
{
if (!_participants.ContainsValue(participant))
{
_participants[participant.Name] = participant;
}
participant.Chatroom = this;
}
public override void Send(
string from, string to, string message)
{
Participant participant = _participants[to];
if (participant != null)
{
participant.Receive(from, message);
}
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'AbstractColleague' class
/// </summary>
class Participant
{
private Chatroom _chatroom;
private string _name;
// Constructor
public Participant(string name)
{
this._name = name;
}
// Gets participant name
public string Name
{
get { return _name; }
}
// Gets chatroom
public Chatroom Chatroom
{
set { _chatroom = value; }
get { return _chatroom; }
}
// Sends message to given participant
public void Send(string to, string message)
{
_chatroom.Send(_name, to, message);
}
// Receives message from given participant
public virtual void Receive(
string from, string message)
{
Console.WriteLine("{0} to {1}: '{2}'",
from, Name, message);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// A 'ConcreteColleague' class
/// </summary>
class Beatle : Participant
{
// Constructor
public Beatle(string name)
: base(name)
{
}
public override void Receive(string from, string message)
{
Console.Write("To a Beatle: ");
base.Receive(from, message);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// A 'ConcreteColleague' class
/// </summary>
class NonBeatle : Participant
{
// Constructor
public NonBeatle(string name)
: base(name)
{
}
public override void Receive(string from, string message)
{
Console.Write("To a non-Beatle: ");
base.Receive(from, message);
}
}
}
Output
To a Beatle: Paul to Ringo: 'All you need is love'
To a Beatle: Ringo to George: 'My sweet Lord'
To a Beatle: Paul to John: 'Can't buy me love'
To a non-Beatle: John to Yoko: 'My sweet love'
.NET Optimized code in C#
The .NET optimized code demonstrates the
same real-world situation as above but uses modern, built-in .NET features,
such as, generics, reflection, LINQ, lambda functions, and more.
You can find an example on our Singleton pattern page.
All other patterns, and so much more, are available in our Dofactory .NET product.
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