Fluent Interfaces example using Delphi part I

I was introduced to Fluent interfaces when I was developing with Java using Dependency Injection and somebody told me that it could be really interesting if I post an example using Delphi and chaining method, and here I am!. I have developed a simple example that uses chaining methods to populate a THouse object with TDoors and TWindows objects with the hope it will make it easy to understand the concept. There are several examples on the net, but I couldn't find any interesting enough. So this simple example will try to introduce you to "how to develop fluent interfaces using method chaining" with the aim of writing more readable code. The overview of the architecture is the following one, using UML notation:

The Fluent Interface unit example is as follows (uFI.pas) using generics and interfaces:

// ***********************************************
// @author  jordi corbilla
// @comment Fluent interface composition example
//
// ***********************************************

unit uFI;

interface

uses
    Graphics, Contnrs, Generics.Collections, Classes;

type
    TWindow = class;

    IWindow = interface
        function SetColor(color: TColor): TWindow;
        function ToString(): string;
    end;

    TWindow = class(TInterfacedObject, IWindow)
    private
        FColor: TColor;
    public
        function SetColor(color: TColor): TWindow;
        function ToString(): string; override;
        class function New: TWindow;
    end;

    TDoor = class;

    IDoor = interface
        function SetColor(color: TColor): TDoor;
        function ToString(): string;
    end;

    TDoor = class(TInterfacedObject, IDoor)
    private
        FColor: TColor;
    public
        function SetColor(color: TColor): TDoor;
        function ToString(): string; override;
        class function New: TDoor;

    end;

    IHouse = interface
        function AddWindow(window: TWindow): IHouse;
        function AddDoor(door: TDoor): IHouse;
        function ToString(): String;
    end;

    THouseItemsList<T> = class(TObjectList)
        function ToString(): string; override;
    end;

    TDoorList = class(THouseItemsList<IDoor>)
        function ToString(): string; override;
    public

    end;

    TWindowList = class(THouseItemsList<IWindow>)
        function ToString(): string; override;
    end;

    THouse = class(TInterfacedObject, IHouse)
    private
        FDoorList: TDoorList;
        FWindowList: TWindowList;
    protected
        function AddWindow(window: TWindow): IHouse;
        function AddDoor(door: TDoor): IHouse;
    public
        property WindowList: TWindowList read FWindowList;
        property DoorList: TDoorList read FDoorList;
        class function New: IHouse;
        function ToString(): String; override;
        constructor Create();
        destructor Destroy(); override;
    end;

implementation

uses
    SysUtils;

{ THouse }

function THouse.AddDoor(door: TDoor): IHouse;
begin
    Self.FDoorList.Add(door);
    result := Self;
end;

function THouse.AddWindow(window: TWindow): IHouse;
begin
    Self.FWindowList.Add(window);
    result := Self;
end;

constructor THouse.Create;
begin
    FDoorList := TDoorList.Create;
    FWindowList := TWindowList.Create;
end;

destructor THouse.Destroy;
begin
    FreeAndNil(FDoorList);
    FreeAndNil(FWindowList);
    inherited;
end;

class function THouse.New: IHouse;
begin
    result := Create;
end;

function THouse.ToString: String;
var
    description: TStringList;
begin
    description := TStringList.Create;
    try
        description.Add(Self.FDoorList.ToString);
        description.Add(Self.FWindowList.ToString);
    finally
        result := description.Text;
        description.Free;
    end;
end;

{ TWindow }

class function TWindow.New: TWindow;
begin
    result := Create;
end;

function TWindow.SetColor(color: TColor): TWindow;
begin
    Self.FColor := color;
    result := Self;
end;

function TWindow.ToString: string;
begin
    result := 'Window color ' + ColorToString(FColor) + sLineBreak;
end;

{ TDoor }

class function TDoor.New: TDoor;
begin
    result := Create;
end;

function TDoor.SetColor(color: TColor): TDoor;
begin
    Self.FColor := color;
    result := Self;
end;

function TDoor.ToString: string;
begin
    result := 'Door color ' + ColorToString(FColor) + sLineBreak;
end;

{ THouseItemsList }

function THouseItemsList<T>.ToString: string;
var
    i: Integer;
    description: String;
begin
    for i := 0 to Self.count - 1 do
        description := description + ' ' + Self[i].ToString;
    result := description;
end;

{ TDoorList }

function TDoorList.ToString: string;
var
    description: TStringList;
begin
    description := TStringList.Create;
    try
        description.Add('Number of doors: ' + inttostr(Self.count));
        description.Add('Descriptions: ');
        description.Add( inherited ToString);
    finally
        result := description.Text;
        FreeAndNil(description);
    end;
end;

{ TWindowList }

function TWindowList.ToString: string;
var
    description: TStringList;
begin
    description := TStringList.Create;
    try
        description.Add('Number of Windows: ' + inttostr(Self.count));
        description.Add('Descriptions: ');
        description.Add( inherited ToString);
    finally
        result := description.Text;
        FreeAndNil(description);
    end;
end;

end.

Now it comes when we can use the object using FI notation in a more readable way:

var
    House: IHouse;
begin
    House := THouse.New.AddWindow(TWindow.New.SetColor(clFuchsia)).AddDoor(TDoor.New.SetColor(clWhite))
        .AddWindow(TWindow.New.SetColor(clRed)).AddDoor(TDoor.New.SetColor(clGreen));
    Memo1.Lines.Add(House.ToString);
    House := nil;

    House := THouse.New;
    House.AddWindow(TWindow.New.SetColor(clRed)).AddWindow(TWindow.New.SetColor(clBlue)).AddWindow(TWindow.New.SetColor(clGreen));
    House.AddDoor(TDoor.New.SetColor(clRed)).AddDoor(TDoor.New.SetColor(clBlue)).AddDoor(TDoor.New.SetColor(clGreen));
    Memo1.Lines.Add(House.ToString);
    House := nil;

Notice that now, we can chain our objects, composing the structure of the House by using the AddWindow and AddDoor method. To display the result I'm using the ToString method that will do the job for my purpose.

And the result of the previous execution:


Number of doors: 2
Descriptions: 
 Door color clWhite
 Door color clGreen


Number of Windows: 2
Descriptions: 
 Window color clFuchsia
 Window color clRed


Number of doors: 3
Descriptions: 
 Door color clRed
 Door color clBlue
 Door color clGreen


Number of Windows: 3
Descriptions: 
 Window color clRed
 Window color clBlue
 Window color clGreen


Just play with it and you'll experience the powerfulness of this method. I hope you like it.

I'm looking forward to your comments.

Jordi