Before we understand what an observer does, we need to define and understand the following.
The Subject : An object which does something...(verb) like publishing an Event, changing it's state etc. This object is the subject object. The observers are interested in getting a notification when The Subject 'does something'
The Observers : Objects which are to be kept notified when the Subject Object's Event,State has Changed. Examples of Subject Object 'doing something' :
- Subject Object publishes an event
- Subject Object's State changed etc.
The publisher and the subscriber model is a good example to understand an observer pattern. (Check out Java's Action Listeners) The publisher publishes the event. Now, Let's say, a set of objects are interested in this Event and they need to perform an action based on this Event. Therefore they subscribe to this event to get a notification (callback) from the Publisher, which notifies them when the event occurs or about the event itself.
To Give a real-life example, Consider a File Reader (program written in C# of course), which reads a file line by line to EOF. Now, let's say a list of Observers/Listeners should be notified after every line is read by the File Reader. Therefore, they register with the Subscriber (File Reader in our case), After which, they get notifications from the Subscriber whenever the File Reader finishes reading a line from the file. Let's say it also gives them the line which it has currently read in the notification mechanism.
The Observer Design
( really don't like the way the class designer associations behave in visual studio, MS please do something about it yaar! )
FileReader associated to IFileListener by the ListIFileListners property in the above figure. FileReader has a List<IFileListeners> field, which is used to maintain the list of registered listeners.
Now, the Code..
public interface IFileListener
{
//callback after every line is read.
void ILineRead(string LineRead);
}
public class FileReader
{
private List<IFileListener> listeners;
public FileReader()
{
listeners = new List<IFileListener>();
}
public List<IFileListener> ListIFileListener
{
get
{
return listeners;
}
set
{
listeners = value;
}
}
public void Register(IFileListener lis)
{
if (listeners.Contains(lis)) {
throw new Exception("Listener already registered..");
}
else {
listeners.Add(lis);
}
}
public void Unregister(IFileListener lis)
{
if(listeners.Contains(lis)){
listeners.Remove(lis);
}
else{
throw new Exception("Listener not registered..");
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Reads a line of text from the input file and
/// sends a callback to all registered listeners.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="filename"></param>
public void ReadFile(string filename)
{
if (File.Exists(filename)) {
TextReader txtReader = File.OpenText(filename);
string line = "";
while ((line=txtReader.ReadLine())!=null) {
foreach (IFileListener lis in listeners) {
//send callbacks to registered listeners
lis.ILineRead(line);
}
}
}
else {
throw new Exception("Input file does not exist..");
}
}
}
The Usage:
class Program:IFileListener
{
public Program()
{
FileReader reader = new FileReader();
reader.Register(this);
reader.ReadFile("textfile.txt");
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("testing observers..");
Program pgm = new Program();
Console.WriteLine("\npress any key to exit..");
Console.ReadKey();
}
#region IFileListener Members
/// <summary>
/// This method gets automatic call back with
/// the string line which is currently read.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="LineRead"></param>
public void ILineRead(string LineRead)
{
Console.WriteLine("Read Line: " + LineRead);
}
#endregion
}
The Text File Contents..
AAVARANA AND DA VINCI CODE: A COMPARISON
N.S. Rajaram
http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com/2007/02/literary-phenomenon-historical-novel.html
Like Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, S.L. Bhyrappa's Aavarana is likely to have far-reaching social and political fallout that goes beyond its literary niche. In reading S.L. Bhyrappa's latest Kannada novel Aavarana, Dan Brown's best selling novel Da Vinci Code springs naturally to mind. Both have as their subject the suppression of true history and the propagation of a myth by powerful interests. In Da Vinci Code, the villain is the Catholic Church and its modern secret and sinister arm the Opus Dei. In Bhyrappa's novel, the villain is the collective of politically correct historians and 'intellectuals' who out a combination of greed and fear have suppressed the truth about Islam and its record in India. While these intellectuals—called dhimmis by the Egypt-born scholar Bat Ye'or—can boast of no Vatican or Opus Dei, they do form a powerful clique enjoying the support of successive governments who find it politically expedient to appease Islam and conceal the truth about its record and teachings. As this phenomenon is by no means limited to India, Bhyrappa's Aavarana, and the public reaction to it should be of interest far beyond its intended readership..
Dr.S.L.Byrappa is a living legend of Kannada litereature. Dr.S.L.Byrappa is one of the most popular writer and Kannada novelist. He has a Phd in Philosophy; his doctoral dissertation entitled “Satya Mattu Soundarya” (Truth and Beauty) explores complex relationships between truth, ethics, beauty, art, existence, and philosophy. He has written some of the celebrated novels like “Vamsha Vruksha”, “Daatu”, most notably his magnum opus,“Parva”.
The present novel “Avarana” meaning “veil” or “truth masking”, is his second historical novel covering the time period between 8th - 14th centuries of India. His first historical novel 'SArTa' covered the time up to 8th century. The latest novel Avarana is already going for its 10th edition2. The novel has seen nine editions
in four months after it was first published in February last. The conflict of truth v/s untruth is the topic explored in his previous novel Sakshi at individual level. AvaraNa explores the same problem at the global level. The twin objectives of the novel- explore history and expose historians, who are distorting it. In the book
Byrappa tries to show the real history of India under Moghuls. The Marxists and Seculars have created the myth that Muslim rulers were tolerant. They deny that there was mass temple destruction and mass Killing of Hindus. But, Dr.Koenraad Elst in his book “Negationism in India Concealing the record of Islam”3 writes- “The Muslim conquests,down to the 16th century, were for the Hindus a pure struggle of life and death. Entire cities were burnt down and the populations massacred, with hundreds of thousands killed in every campaign, and similar numbers deported
as slaves. Every new invader made (often literally) his hills of Hindus skulls. Thus, the conquest of Afghanistan in the year 1000 was followed by the annihilation of the Hindu population; the region is still called the Hindu Kush,i.e. Hindu slaughter. The Bahmani sultans (1347-1480) in central India made it a rule to kill 100,000 captives in a single day, and many more on other occasions. The conquest of the Vijayanagar empire in 1564 left the capital plus large areas of Karnataka depopulated. And so on.”
The Output of Program
testing observers..
Read Line: AAVARANA AND DA VINCI CODE: A COMPARISON
Read Line: N.S. Rajaram
Read Line: http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com/2007/02/literary-phenomenon-historical-novel.html
Read Line: Like Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, S.L. Bhyrappa's Aavarana is likely to
have far-reaching
.
.
.
Read Line: large areas of Karnataka depopulated. And so on.?
press any key to exit..
