In this Kotlin tutorial, we’re gonna look at how to make an observable property by using Kotlin delegated property.
>>> Refer to: JavaSampleApproach.com
I. Technology
– Java 1.8
– Kotlin 1.1.2
II. Overview
We will create an example that can notify listener when a property of an object changes.
Java has a mechanism for this notification: PropertyChangeSupport class manages a list of listeners and dispatches PropertyChangeEvent events to them.
To use it, we will create a helper class that will store a PropertyChangeSupport instance and keep track of PropertyChangeListener.
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open class PropertyChangeAware { protected val propertyChangeSupport = PropertyChangeSupport(this) fun add/remove PropertyChangeListener(listener) } |
Then the class that has property to be notified will extend this helper class:
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class Person(val name: String, age: Int, message: String) : PropertyChangeAware() { private val observer = {...} var age: Int by Delegates.observable(age, observer) var message: String by Delegates.observable(message, observer) } |
– name is read-only property
– everytime age or message is changed, class will notify its listeners via observer with PropertyChangeSupport.firePropertyChange() method:
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private val observer = { property: KProperty<*>, oldValue: Any, newValue: Any -> propertyChangeSupport.firePropertyChange(property.name, oldValue, newValue) } |
property is represented as an object of type KProperty. We can access the name of the property as KProperty.name.
Add listener to Person object using PropertyChangeAware.addPropertyChangeListener() method or remove listener using PropertyChangeAware.removePropertyChangeListener() method:
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person.addPropertyChangeListener(PropertyChangeListener) person.removePropertyChangeListener(PropertyChangeListener) |
Now, everytime we change value of the property, PropertyChangeEvent event will be dispatched to listener.
III. Practice
1. Helper Class
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package com.kotlination.observableproperty import java.beans.PropertyChangeSupport import java.beans.PropertyChangeListener open class PropertyChangeAware { protected val propertyChangeSupport = PropertyChangeSupport(this) fun addPropertyChangeListener(listener: PropertyChangeListener) { propertyChangeSupport.addPropertyChangeListener(listener) } fun removePropertyChangeListener(listener: PropertyChangeListener) { propertyChangeSupport.removePropertyChangeListener(listener) } } |
2. Class with delegated property
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package com.kotlination.observableproperty import kotlin.properties.ObservableProperty import kotlin.properties.Delegates import kotlin.reflect.KProperty class Person(val name: String, age: Int, message: String) : PropertyChangeAware() { private val observer = { property: KProperty<*>, oldValue: Any, newValue: Any -> propertyChangeSupport.firePropertyChange(property.name, oldValue, newValue) } var age: Int by Delegates.observable(age, observer) var message: String by Delegates.observable(message, observer) } |
3. Run and check Result
Run the code below:
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package com.kotlination.observableproperty import java.beans.PropertyChangeListener fun main(args: Array<String>) { val person = Person("Andrien", 27, "Kotlination.com is good!") person.addPropertyChangeListener( PropertyChangeListener { event -> println("Property [${event.propertyName}] changed " + "from [${event.oldValue}] to [${event.newValue}]") } ) person.age = 28 person.message = "Be a Kotlineer." } |
Check Result:
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Property [age] changed from [27] to [28] Property [message] changed from [Kotlination.com is good!] to [Be a Kotlineer.] |