C# – Clone derived class from base class method

cinheritanceoop

I have an abstract base class Base which has some common properties, and many derived ones which implement different logic but rarely have additional fields.

public abstract Base
{
    protected int field1;
    protected int field2;
    ....

    protected Base() { ... }
}

Sometimes I need to clone the derived class. So my guess was, just make a virtual Clone method in my base class and only override it in derived classes that have additional fields, but of course my Base class wouldn't be abstract anymore (which isn't a problem since it only has a protected constructor).

public Base
{
    protected int field1;
    protected int field2;
    ....

    protected Base() { ... }

    public virtual Base Clone() { return new Base(); }
}

public A : Base { }
public B : Base { }

The thing is, since I can't know the type of the derived class in my Base one, wouldn't this lead to have a Base class instance even if I call it on the derived ones ? (a.Clone();) (actually after a test this is what is happening but perhaps my test wasn't well designed that's why I have a doubt about it)
Is there a good way (pattern) to implement a base Clone method that would work as I expect it or do I have to write the same code in every derived class (I'd really like to avoid that…)

Thanks for your help

Best Answer

You can add a copy constructor to your base class:

public abstract Base
{
    protected int field1;
    protected int field2;

    protected Base() { ... }

    protected Base(Base copyThis) : this()
    { 
        this.field1 = copyThis.field1;
        this.field2 = copyThis.field2;
    }

    public abstract Base Clone();
}

public Child1 : Base
{
    protected int field3;

    public Child1 () : base() { ... }

    protected Child1 (Child1  copyThis) : base(copyThis)
    {
        this.field3 = copyThis.field3;
    }

    public override Base Clone() { return new Child1(this); }
}

public Child2 : Base
{
    public Child2 () : base() { ... }

    protected Child (Child  copyThis) : base(copyThis)
    {  }

    public override Base Clone() { return new Child2(this); }
}

public Child3 : Base
{
    protected int field4;

    public Child3 () : base() { ... }

    protected Child3 (Child3  copyThis) : base(copyThis)
    {
        this.field4 = copyThis.field4;
    }

    public override Base Clone()
    {
        var result = new Child1(this);
        result.field1 = result.field2 - result.field1;
    }
}

Related Solutions

C# – Calling the base constructor in C#

Modify your constructor to the following so that it calls the base class constructor properly:

public class MyExceptionClass : Exception
{
    public MyExceptionClass(string message, string extrainfo) : base(message)
    {
        //other stuff here
    }
}

Note that a constructor is not something that you can call anytime within a method. That's the reason you're getting errors in your call in the constructor body.

Interface vs Base class

Let's take your example of a Dog and a Cat class, and let's illustrate using C#:

Both a dog and a cat are animals, specifically, quadruped mammals (animals are waaay too general). Let us assume that you have an abstract class Mammal, for both of them:

public abstract class Mammal

This base class will probably have default methods such as:

Feed
Mate

All of which are behavior that have more or less the same implementation between either species. To define this you will have:

public class Dog : Mammal
public class Cat : Mammal

Now let's suppose there are other mammals, which we will usually see in a zoo:

public class Giraffe : Mammal
public class Rhinoceros : Mammal
public class Hippopotamus : Mammal

This will still be valid because at the core of the functionality Feed() and Mate() will still be the same.

However, giraffes, rhinoceros, and hippos are not exactly animals that you can make pets out of. That's where an interface will be useful:

public interface IPettable
{
    IList<Trick> Tricks{get; set;}
    void Bathe();
    void Train(Trick t);
}

The implementation for the above contract will not be the same between a cat and dog; putting their implementations in an abstract class to inherit will be a bad idea.

Your Dog and Cat definitions should now look like:

public class Dog : Mammal, IPettable
public class Cat : Mammal, IPettable

Theoretically you can override them from a higher base class, but essentially an interface allows you to add on only the things you need into a class without the need for inheritance.

Consequently, because you can usually only inherit from one abstract class (in most statically typed OO languages that is... exceptions include C++) but be able to implement multiple interfaces, it allows you to construct objects in a strictly as required basis.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

C# – Calling the base constructor in C#

Interface vs Base class

Related Topic