Conceptual Example
This example illustrates the structure of the Memento design pattern and focuses on the following questions:
What classes does it consist of?
What roles do these classes play?
In what way the elements of the pattern are related?
After learning about the pattern’s structure it’ll be easier for you to grasp the following example, based on a real-world PHP use case.
index.php: Conceptual example
<?php
namespace RefactoringGuru\Memento\Conceptual;
/**
* The Originator holds some important state that may change over time. It also
* defines a method for saving the state inside a memento and another method for
* restoring the state from it.
*/
class Originator
{
/**
* @var string For the sake of simplicity, the originator's state is stored
* inside a single variable.
*/
private $state;
public function __construct(string $state)
{
$this->state = $state;
echo "Originator: My initial state is: {$this->state}\n";
}
/**
* The Originator's business logic may affect its internal state. Therefore,
* the client should backup the state before launching methods of the
* business logic via the save() method.
*/
public function doSomething(): void
{
echo "Originator: I'm doing something important.\n";
$this->state = $this->generateRandomString(30);
echo "Originator: and my state has changed to: {$this->state}\n";
}
private function generateRandomString(int $length = 10): string
{
return substr(
str_shuffle(
str_repeat(
$x = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ',
ceil($length / strlen($x))
)
),
1,
$length,
);
}
/**
* Saves the current state inside a memento.
*/
public function save(): Memento
{
return new ConcreteMemento($this->state);
}
/**
* Restores the Originator's state from a memento object.
*/
public function restore(Memento $memento): void
{
$this->state = $memento->getState();
echo "Originator: My state has changed to: {$this->state}\n";
}
}
/**
* The Memento interface provides a way to retrieve the memento's metadata, such
* as creation date or name. However, it doesn't expose the Originator's state.
*/
interface Memento
{
public function getName(): string;
public function getDate(): string;
}
/**
* The Concrete Memento contains the infrastructure for storing the Originator's
* state.
*/
class ConcreteMemento implements Memento
{
private $state;
private $date;
public function __construct(string $state)
{
$this->state = $state;
$this->date = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
}
/**
* The Originator uses this method when restoring its state.
*/
public function getState(): string
{
return $this->state;
}
/**
* The rest of the methods are used by the Caretaker to display metadata.
*/
public function getName(): string
{
return $this->date . " / (" . substr($this->state, 0, 9) . "...)";
}
public function getDate(): string
{
return $this->date;
}
}
/**
* The Caretaker doesn't depend on the Concrete Memento class. Therefore, it
* doesn't have access to the originator's state, stored inside the memento. It
* works with all mementos via the base Memento interface.
*/
class Caretaker
{
/**
* @var Memento[]
*/
private $mementos = [];
/**
* @var Originator
*/
private $originator;
public function __construct(Originator $originator)
{
$this->originator = $originator;
}
public function backup(): void
{
echo "\nCaretaker: Saving Originator's state...\n";
$this->mementos[] = $this->originator->save();
}
public function undo(): void
{
if (!count($this->mementos)) {
return;
}
$memento = array_pop($this->mementos);
echo "Caretaker: Restoring state to: " . $memento->getName() . "\n";
try {
$this->originator->restore($memento);
} catch (\Exception $e) {
$this->undo();
}
}
public function showHistory(): void
{
echo "Caretaker: Here's the list of mementos:\n";
foreach ($this->mementos as $memento) {
echo $memento->getName() . "\n";
}
}
}
/**
* Client code.
*/
$originator = new Originator("Super-duper-super-puper-super.");
$caretaker = new Caretaker($originator);
$caretaker->backup();
$originator->doSomething();
$caretaker->backup();
$originator->doSomething();
$caretaker->backup();
$originator->doSomething();
echo "\n";
$caretaker->showHistory();
echo "\nClient: Now, let's rollback!\n\n";
$caretaker->undo();
echo "\nClient: Once more!\n\n";
$caretaker->undo();
Output.txt: Execution result
Originator: My initial state is: Super-duper-super-puper-super.
Caretaker: Saving Originator's state...
Originator: I'm doing something important.
Originator: and my state has changed to: srGIngezAEboNPDjBkuvymJKUtMSFX
Caretaker: Saving Originator's state...
Originator: I'm doing something important.
Originator: and my state has changed to: UwCZQaHJOiERLlchyVuMbXNtpqTgWF
Caretaker: Saving Originator's state...
Originator: I'm doing something important.
Originator: and my state has changed to: incqsdoJXkbDUuVOvRFYyKBgfzwZCQ
Caretaker: Here's the list of mementos:
2018-06-04 14:50:39 / (Super-dup...)
2018-06-04 14:50:39 / (srGIngezA...)
2018-06-04 14:50:39 / (UwCZQaHJO...)
Client: Now, let's rollback!
Caretaker: Restoring state to: 2018-06-04 14:50:39 / (UwCZQaHJO...)
Originator: My state has changed to: UwCZQaHJOiERLlchyVuMbXNtpqTgWF
Client: Once more!
Caretaker: Restoring state to: 2018-06-04 14:50:39 / (srGIngezA...)
Originator: My state has changed to: srGIngezAEboNPDjBkuvymJKUtMSFX
Real World Example
Since most of the PHP scripts are single-threaded and have very limited session time, you’re required to store the objects’ state in more permanent storage than RAM. Usually, it’s also perfectly fine to make snapshots via serialization. Therefore, I have run out of ideas for a decent real-world example of this pattern in a PHP application.
However, if you’d used the pattern in your project before, feel free to share your experience on the forum or via email support@refactoring.guru . Thanks!