How to reverse a parameterized class realization

How To
1

Suppose I have a parameterized java class “ClassA” that accepts a generic class type T as a parameter. It also has a method “foo” that returns an object of type T. For example:

public class ClassA {
T foo();
}

I also have a realization of that parameterized java class that uses “ClassB” in place of T. For example:

private ClassA realizationOfClassA = new ClassA;

This realization is really a 3rd class of its own based on ClassA using the ClassB type.

My question is: How can I get Visual Paradigm to generate the 3rd class into the Class Repository when I reverse engineer this code?

2

Hi,

Seems the generic parameter lost in your code. Do you mean your code like this?

public class ClassA<T> {
  T foo();
}
public class ClassB {
}
public class ClassC {
  private ClassA<ClassB> test = new ClassA<ClassB>();
}

You can use Instant Reverse or Reverse Java Code to generate like this:
ir

3

Thanks for your response. That is not quite what I was expecting. The realization of ClassA is technically a separate class in itself. I would expect to see 4 classes in the diagram above: ClassA, ClassB, ClassC, and a 4th class that is the realization of class A. The way I describe is very useful in a class diagram to visualize all of the classes in the system.

4

Reversed Class Diagram reflect your source directly. If you change the source to:

public class ClassD extends ClassA<ClassB> {
}
public class ClassC {
  private ClassD test = new ClassD();
}

You’ll got this diagram:
Screenshot

5

That makes sense that it would add ClassD if it is explicitly defined. However there are many cases when template classes are used as-is without extending another class from them (it is not usual to extend an empty class from a realized template). In this case, the UML diagrams (especially sequence diagrams) are missing part of the interaction. I would love to see Visual Paradigm add the ability to reverse engineer realized templates. That would really help. Can you add an enhancement request for this?

6

If reverse ClassD implicitly, it’ll affect the result of Instant Generator or Round-trip update to code.
Will you consider performing a conversion after Instant Reverse? It can be done by developing a plugin.