Generate chained setters

Question

I want to create a big Java object with 20 fileds, most of IDE's provide a generate function, wich allows me to generate getters and setters for all the fiels of my object.

The thing is, I am a big fan of method chaining and I am using it on all my objects, but I have to add return this at the end of each setters, which is not very handy.

Is it possible to generate setters with a special plugin form an IDE ?

@OliverCharlesworth You just blew my mind. But getters should probably not be chained (as they would serve no purpose otherwise). — Turtle, Jun 06 '17 at 12:01
FWIW, you should look into [Immutables](https://immutables.github.io/). — Oliver Charlesworth, Jun 06 '17 at 12:04
@OliverCharlesworth while immutable DTOs/ValueObject are a very good idea *fluent API* on Builders is not that bad... ;o) — Timothy Truckle, Jun 06 '17 at 12:11
@TimothyTruckle - Yeah, in this case, the fact that Immutables are immutable is less interesting than the fact that they give give you an autogenerated fluent builder API. — Oliver Charlesworth, Jun 06 '17 at 12:14

Vitaliy Moskalyuk · Answer 1 · 2017-06-06T12:18:49.100

6

It's possible in IntelliJ IDEA:

call "Generate > Setter" menu

select template "Builder".

Select all fields you want to generate setter

click 'Ok'.

Here is generated result (for 1 field):

public MyClass setParam(String param) {
        this.param = param;
        return this;
    }

It's also possible to create your own template there)

edited Jun 06 '17 at 12:18

answered Jun 06 '17 at 12:04

Vitaliy Moskalyuk

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Amber Kulkarni · Answer 2 · 2017-06-06T12:31:13.167

6

You can try lombok

lombok.accessors.chain = [true | false] (default: false)

If set to true, generated setters will return this (instead of void). An explicitly configured chain parameter of an @Accessors annotation takes precedence over this setting.

Is this what you want ? https://projectlombok.org/features/GetterSetter.html

@Accessors(chain = true)
@Getter
@Setter
@AllArgsConstructor
@NoArgsConstructor(access=AccessLevel.PRIVATE)

public class LombokTest {
    private String test;

    public static void main(String []args) {
        LombokTest a = new LombokTest();
        System.out.println(a.setTest("amber").getTest());
    }
}

edited Jun 06 '17 at 12:31

answered Jun 06 '17 at 12:06

Amber Kulkarni

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Use *lombok* with care! It changes the bytecode bypassing the JDKs compiler and you have to expect incompatibilities with future java versions. – Timothy Truckle Jun 06 '17 at 12:13

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 06 '17 at 12:01

3

It's generally called "fluent" setters. There is a plugin for Netbeans that does it automatically for you. I'm pretty sure you can find something equivalent in eclipse or IntelliJ.

answered Jun 06 '17 at 12:01

assylias

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Generate chained setters

3 Answers3