Generic object converter

Generic Object Converter

This generic ObjectConverter makes use of the reflection and the generics to convert the given object value to an object of the given type. This utility class may look like overkilled, but it is very useful if you don't always know the type of the given object value before or if you want a fast and easy way of converting objects without nasty if/else blocks. BalusC uses it in his private/hobby/homegrown ORM to convert unmatched types from the ResultSet#getObject() to Entity#setSomething() and also in his private/hobby/homegrown MVC framework to convert String request parameters to the desired type.

/*
 * net/balusc/util/ObjectConverter.java
 * 
 * Copyright (C) 2007 BalusC
 * 
 * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the
 * GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3
 * of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 * 
 * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without
 * even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
 * Lesser General Public License for more details.
 * 
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with this library.
 * If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 */

package net.balusc.util;

import java.lang.reflect.Method;
import java.math.BigDecimal;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

/**
 * Generic object converter.
 * <p>
 * <h3>Use examples</h3>
 * 
 * <pre>
 * Object o1 = Boolean.TRUE;
 * Integer i = ObjectConverter.convert(o1, Integer.class);
 * System.out.println(i); // 1
 * 
 * Object o2 = "false";
 * Boolean b = ObjectConverter.convert(o2, Boolean.class);
 * System.out.println(b); // false
 * 
 * Object o3 = new Integer(123);
 * String s = ObjectConverter.convert(o3, String.class);
 * System.out.println(s); // 123
 * </pre>
 * 
 * Not all possible conversions are implemented. You can extend the <tt>ObjectConverter</tt>
 * easily by just adding a new method to it, with the appropriate logic. For example:
 * 
 * <pre>
 * public static ToObject fromObjectToObject(FromObject fromObject) {
 *     // Implement.
 * }
 * </pre>
 * 
 * The method name doesn't matter. It's all about the parameter type and the return type.
 * 
 * @author BalusC
 * @link http://balusc.blogspot.com/2007/08/generic-object-converter.html
 */
public final class ObjectConverter {

    // Init ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    private static final Map<String, Method> CONVERTERS = new HashMap<String, Method>();

    static {
        // Preload converters.
        Method[] methods = ObjectConverter.class.getDeclaredMethods();
        for (Method method : methods) {
            if (method.getParameterTypes().length == 1) {
                // Converter should accept 1 argument. This skips the convert() method.
                CONVERTERS.put(method.getParameterTypes()[0].getName() + "_"
                    + method.getReturnType().getName(), method);
            }
        }
    }

    private ObjectConverter() {
        // Utility class, hide the constructor.
    }

    // Action -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    /**
     * Convert the given object value to the given class.
     * @param from The object value to be converted.
     * @param to The type class which the given object should be converted to.
     * @return The converted object value.
     * @throws NullPointerException If 'to' is null.
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException If no suitable converter can be found.
     * @throws RuntimeException If conversion failed somehow. This can be caused by at least
     * an ExceptionInInitializerError, IllegalAccessException or InvocationTargetException.
     */
    public static <T> T convert(Object from, Class<T> to) {

        // Null is just null.
        if (from == null) {
            return null;
        }

        // Can we cast? Then just do it.
        if (to.isAssignableFrom(from.getClass())) {
            return to.cast(from);
        }

        // Lookup the suitable converter.
        String converterId = from.getClass().getName() + "_" + to.getName();
        Method converter = CONVERTERS.get(converterId);
        if (converter == null) {
            throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Cannot convert from " 
                + from.getClass().getName() + " to " + to.getName()
                + ". Requested converter does not exist.");
        }

        // Convert the value.
        try {
            return to.cast(converter.invoke(to, from));
        } catch (Exception e) {
            throw new RuntimeException("Cannot convert from " 
                + from.getClass().getName() + " to " + to.getName()
                + ". Conversion failed with " + e.getMessage(), e);
        }
    }

    // Converters ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    /**
     * Converts Integer to Boolean. If integer value is 0, then return FALSE, else return TRUE.
     * @param value The Integer to be converted.
     * @return The converted Boolean value.
     */
    public static Boolean integerToBoolean(Integer value) {
        return value.intValue() == 0 ? Boolean.FALSE : Boolean.TRUE;
    }

    /**
     * Converts Boolean to Integer. If boolean value is TRUE, then return 1, else return 0.
     * @param value The Boolean to be converted.
     * @return The converted Integer value.
     */
    public static Integer booleanToInteger(Boolean value) {
        return value.booleanValue() ? Integer.valueOf(1) : Integer.valueOf(0);
    }

    /**
     * Converts Double to BigDecimal.
     * @param value The Double to be converted.
     * @return The converted BigDecimal value.
     */
    public static BigDecimal doubleToBigDecimal(Double value) {
        return new BigDecimal(value.doubleValue());
    }

    /**
     * Converts BigDecimal to Double.
     * @param value The BigDecimal to be converted.
     * @return The converted Double value.
     */
    public static Double bigDecimalToDouble(BigDecimal value) {
        return new Double(value.doubleValue());
    }

    /**
     * Converts Integer to String.
     * @param value The Integer to be converted.
     * @return The converted String value.
     */
    public static String integerToString(Integer value) {
        return value.toString();
    }

    /**
     * Converts String to Integer.
     * @param value The String to be converted.
     * @return The converted Integer value.
     */
    public static Integer stringToInteger(String value) {
        return Integer.valueOf(value);
    }

    /**
     * Converts Boolean to String.
     * @param value The Boolean to be converted.
     * @return The converted String value.
     */
    public static String booleanToString(Boolean value) {
        return value.toString();
    }

    /**
     * Converts String to Boolean.
     * @param value The String to be converted.
     * @return The converted Boolean value.
     */
    public static Boolean stringToBoolean(String value) {
        return Boolean.valueOf(value);
    }

    // You can implement more converter methods here.

}

This works by the way also with primitives.

Copyright - GNU Lesser General Public License

(C) August 2007, BalusC