"Dynamic Sorting With JAVA"
Vol. 9, Issue 8, p. 34

	



Listing 1

package simple;

import java.util.Comparator;
import java.io.Serializable;

public class EmployeeTO implements Comparator, Serializable {
	private int id;
	private String lastName;
	private double salary;

	public int getId() {
		return id;
	}

	public String getLastName() {
		return lastName;
	}

	public double getSalary() {
		return salary;
	}

	public void setLastName(String string) {
		lastName = string;
	}

	public void setSalary(double d) {
		salary = d;
	}


public void setId(int i) {
		id = i;
	}

	public int compare(Object o1, Object o2) {
		EmployeeTO emp1 = (EmployeeTO) o1;
		EmployeeTO emp2 = (EmployeeTO) o2;

		int id1 = emp1.getId();
		int id2 = emp2.getId();

		if (id1 == id2) return 0;
		if (id1 <  id2) return -1;
		if (id1 >  id2) return 1;

		return 0;
	}

	public boolean equals(Object o)	{
		return true;
	}

	public String toString() {
		return "id="+ id +
				" lastname="+lastName+
				" salary="+salary;
	}
}

Listing 2

package simple;

import java.util.List;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.Collections;

public class SimpleTest {
	public static void main(String args[]) {
		List elements = new ArrayList();	

		EmployeeTO e2 = new EmployeeTO();
		e2.setId(2);
		e2.setLastName("Nesler");
		e2.setSalary(11000);
		elements.add(e2);

		EmployeeTO e1 = new EmployeeTO();
		e1.setId(1);
		e1.setLastName("Davis");
		e1.setSalary(10000);
		elements.add(e1);

		EmployeeTO e3 = new EmployeeTO();
		e3.setId(3);
		e3.setLastName("Phachantry");
		e3.setSalary(12000);
		elements.add(e3);

		Collections.sort(elements, new EmployeeTO());

		final Iterator li = elements.iterator();
		EmployeeTO e = null;
		while (li.hasNext())
		{
			e = (EmployeeTO) li.next();
			System.out.println(e.toString());
		}
	}
}

Listing 3

package dynamic;

import java.lang.reflect.Method;
import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.Comparator;
import java.util.List;
import java.io.Serializable;

public final class DynamicComparator implements Comparator, Serializable {
	private Collection collection;
	private String 	   method;
	private boolean    sortAsc;

	public static final int EQUAL        = 0;
	public static final int LESS_THAN    = -1;
	public static final int GREATER_THAN = 1;

	private DynamicComparator(Collection collection, String field, boolean sortAsc)
	{
		super();
		this.collection = collection;
		this.method     = constructMethodName(field);
		this.sortAsc    = sortAsc;
	}

	private final static String constructMethodName(String name) {
		StringBuffer fieldName =  new StringBuffer("get");
		fieldName.append(name.substring(0, 1).toUpperCase());
		fieldName.append(name.substring(1));
		return fieldName.toString();
	}

	public static void sort(Collection collection, String field, boolean sortAsc)
	{
		Collections.sort((List)collection, new DynamicComparator(collection, field,
		sortAsc));
	}

	public int compare(Object o1, Object o2) {
		boolean val1Null = false;
		boolean val2Null = false;
		try {
			// determine the return type
			Method method = getMethod(o1);
			final String returnType = method.getReturnType().getName();

			if (returnType.equals("java.lang.String")) {
				final String f1 = (String) invoke(method, o1);

				method = getMethod(o2);
				final String f2 = (String) invoke(method, o2);

				if (f1 != null && f2 != null) {
					return f1.compareTo(f2) * getSortOrder();
				}

				if (f1 == null && f2 != null) {
					return LESS_THAN * getSortOrder();
				}

				if (f1 != null && f2 == null) {
					return GREATER_THAN * getSortOrder();
				}

				if (f1 == null && f2 == null) {
					return EQUAL * getSortOrder();
				}
			}

			if (returnType.equals("int")) {
				int f1 = 0;
				try {
					f1 = ((Integer) invoke(method, o1)).intValue();
				} catch (NullPointerException npe) {
					val1Null = true;
				}

				method = getMethod(o2);

				int f2 = 0;
				try {
					f2 = ((Integer) invoke(method, o2)).intValue();
				} catch (NullPointerException npe) {
					val2Null = true;
				}

				if (!val1Null && !val2Null) {
					int retType = 0;
					if (f1 == f2) retType = EQUAL;
					if (f1 < f2)  retType = LESS_THAN;
					if (f1 > f2)  retType = GREATER_THAN;
					return retType * getSortOrder();
				}

				if (val1Null && !val2Null) {
					return LESS_THAN * getSortOrder();
				}

				if (!val1Null && val2Null) {
					return GREATER_THAN * getSortOrder();
				}

				if (val1Null && val2Null) {
					return EQUAL * getSortOrder();
				}
			}

			if (returnType.equals("double")) {
				double f1 = 0;
				try {
					f1 = ((Double) invoke(method, o1)).doubleValue();
				} catch (NullPointerException npe) {
					val1Null = true;
				}

				method = getMethod(o2);

				int f2 = 0;
				try {
					f2 = ((Double) invoke(method, o2)).doubleValue();
				} catch (NullPointerException npe) {
					val2Null = true;
				}

				if (!val1Null && !val2Null) {
					int retType = 0;
					if (f1 == f2) retType = EQUAL;
					if (f1 < f2)  retType = LESS_THAN;
					if (f1 > f2)  retType = GREATER_THAN;
					return retType * getSortOrder();
				}

				if (val1Null && !val2Null) {
					return LESS_THAN * getSortOrder();
				}

				if (!val1Null && val2Null) {
					return GREATER_THAN * getSortOrder();
				}

				if (val1Null && val2Null) {
					return EQUAL * getSortOrder();
				}
			}

			throw new RuntimeException("DynamicComparator does not currently
			support '" + returnType + "'!");
		}
		catch (NoSuchMethodException nsme) {
			System.out.println("Error " + nsme);
			return LESS_THAN;
		}
		catch (IllegalAccessException iae) {
			System.out.println("Error " + iae);		
			return LESS_THAN;
		}
		catch (InvocationTargetException ite) {
			System.out.println("Error " + ite);			
			return LESS_THAN;
		}
	}

	/**
	 * Not used for sorting. Only here to meet the requirements of the Comparator
	 interface.
	 *
	 * @param o The object for comparison
	 * @return boolean
	 */
	public boolean equals(Object o) {
		return true;
	}

	private final Method getMethod(Object o) throws NoSuchMethodException {
		return o.getClass().getMethod(method, null);
	}

	private final static Object invoke(Method method, Object o) throws
	InvocationTargetException, IllegalAccessException {
		return method.invoke(o, null);
	}

	/**
	 *
	 * @return -1 to change the sort order if appropriate.
	 */
	private int getSortOrder() {
		return sortAsc ? 1 : -1;
	}

}

Listing 4

package dynamic;

public class EmployeeTO
{
	private int id;
	private String lastName;
	private double salary;

	public int getId() {
		return id;
	}

	public String getLastName() {
		return lastName;
	}

	public double getSalary() {
		return salary;
	}

	public void setLastName(String string) {
		lastName = string;
	}

	public void setSalary(double d) {
		salary = d;
	}

	public void setId(int i) {
		id = i;
	}

	public String toString()
	{
		return "id="+ id +
				" lastname="+lastName+
				" salary="+salary;
	}
}

Listing 5

package dynamic;

import java.util.List;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Iterator;

public class DynamicTest {
	public static void main(String args[]) {
		List elements = new ArrayList();

		EmployeeTO e2 = new EmployeeTO();
		e2.setId(2);
		e2.setLastName("Nesler");
		e2.setSalary(13000);
		elements.add(e2);

		EmployeeTO e1 = new EmployeeTO();
		e1.setId(1);
		e1.setLastName("Davis");
		e1.setSalary(11000);
		elements.add(e1);

		EmployeeTO e3 = new EmployeeTO();
		e3.setId(3);
		e3.setLastName("Phachantry");
		e3.setSalary(12000);
		elements.add(e3);

		DynamicComparator.sort(elements, "salary", true);

		final Iterator li = elements.iterator();
		EmployeeTO e = null;
		while (li.hasNext())
		{
			e = (EmployeeTO) li.next();
			System.out.println(e.toString());
		}
	}
}