Participants

• Abstract Factory (FinancialToolsFactory)
  • declares an interface for operations that create abstract products objects
• Concrete Factory (EuropeFinancialToolsFactory, CanadaFinancialToolsFactory)
  • implements the operations to create concrete product objects
• Abstract Product (TaxProcessor, ShipFeeProcessor)
  • declares an interface for a type of product object
• Concrete Product (EuropeTaxProcessor, CanadaTaxProcessor, EuropeShipFeeProcessor, CanadaShipFeeProcessor)
  • defines a product object to be created by the corresponding concrete factory implements the AbstractProduct interface
• Client (OrderProcessor)
  • uses interfaces declared by AbstractFactory and AbstractProduct classes

Example: Financial Tools Factory

Example: Class Diagram

Example: Java sample code

	// Factories
	package com.apwebco.patterns.gof.abstractfactory;
	public abstract class FinancialToolsFactory {
		public abstract TaxProcessor createTaxProcessor();
		public abstract ShipFeeProcessor createShipFeeProcessor();
	}
	public class CanadaFinancialToolsFactory extends FinancialToolsFactory {
		public TaxProcessor createTaxProcessor() {
			return new CanadaTaxProcessor();
		}
		public ShipFeeProcessor createShipFeeProcessor() {
			return new CanadaShipFeeProcessor();
			}
	}
	public class EuropeFinancialToolsFactory extends FinancialToolsFactory {
		public TaxProcessor createTaxProcessor() {
			return new EuropeTaxProcessor();
		}
		public ShipFeeProcessor createShipFeeProcessor() {
			return new EuropeShipFeeProcessor();
		}
	}
	// Products
	public abstract class ShipFeeProcessor {
		abstract void calculateShipFee(Order order);
	}
	public abstract class TaxProcessor {
		abstract void calculateTaxes(Order order);
	}
	public class EuropeShipFeeProcessor extends ShipFeeProcessor {
		public void calculateShipFee(Order order) {
		// insert here Europe specific ship fee calculation
		}
	}	
	public class CanadaShipFeeProcessor extends ShipFeeProcessor {
		public void calculateShipFee(Order order) {
		// insert here Canada specific ship fee calculation
		}
	}
	public class EuropeTaxProcessor extends TaxProcessor {
		public void calculateTaxes(Order order) {
			// insert here Europe specific taxt calculation
		}
	}
	public class CanadaTaxProcessor extends TaxProcessor {
		public void calculateTaxes(Order order) {
			// insert here Canada specific taxt calculation
		}
	}
	// Client
	public class OrderProcessor {
		private TaxProcessor taxProcessor;
		private ShipFeeProcessor shipFeeProcessor;

		public OrderProcessor(FinancialToolsFactory factory) {
			taxProcessor = factory.createTaxProcessor();
			shipFeeProcessor = factory.createShipFeeProcessor();	
		}
		public void processOrder (Order order)	{
			// ....
			taxProcessor.calculateTaxes(order);
			shipFeeProcessor.calculateShipFee(order);
			// ....
		}
	}
	// Integration with the overall application
	public class Application {
		public static void main(String[] args) {
			// .....
			String countryCode = "EU";
			Customer customer = new Customer();
			Order order = new Order();
			OrderProcessor orderProcessor = null;
			FinancialToolsFactory factory = null;
	
			if (countryCode == "EU") {
				factory = new EuropeFinancialToolsFactory();
			} else if (countryCode == "CA") {
				factory = new CanadaFinancialToolsFactory();
			}
			orderProcessor = new OrderProcessor(factory);
			orderProcessor.processOrder(order);
		}
	}
    	

Benefits

Usage

• When the system needs to be independent of how its products are created composed and represented.
• When the system needs to be configured with one of multiple families of products.
• When a family of products need to be used together and this constraint needs to be enforced.
• When you need to provide a library of products, expose their interfaces not the implementation.