Memento in TypeScript
Memento is a behavioral design pattern that allows making snapshots of an object’s state and restoring it in future.
The Memento doesn’t compromise the internal structure of the object it works with, as well as data kept inside the snapshots.
Complexity:
Popularity:
Usage examples: The Memento’s principle can be achieved using serialization, which is quite common in TypeScript. While it’s not the only and the most efficient way to make snapshots of an object’s state, it still allows storing state backups while protecting the originator’s structure from other objects.
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?
index.ts: Conceptual example
/**
* 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 {
/**
* For the sake of simplicity, the originator's state is stored inside a
* single variable.
*/
private state: string;
constructor(state: string) {
this.state = state;
console.log(`Originator: My initial state is: ${state}`);
}
/**
* 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 doSomething(): void {
console.log('Originator: I\'m doing something important.');
this.state = this.generateRandomString(30);
console.log(`Originator: and my state has changed to: ${this.state}`);
}
private generateRandomString(length: number = 10): string {
const charSet = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ';
return Array
.apply(null, { length })
.map(() => charSet.charAt(Math.floor(Math.random() * charSet.length)))
.join('');
}
/**
* Saves the current state inside a memento.
*/
public save(): Memento {
return new ConcreteMemento(this.state);
}
/**
* Restores the Originator's state from a memento object.
*/
public restore(memento: Memento): void {
this.state = memento.getState();
console.log(`Originator: My state has changed to: ${this.state}`);
}
}
/**
* The Memento interface provides a way to retrieve the memento's metadata, such
* as creation date or name. However, it doesn't expose the Originator's state.
*/
interface Memento {
getState(): string;
getName(): string;
getDate(): string;
}
/**
* The Concrete Memento contains the infrastructure for storing the Originator's
* state.
*/
class ConcreteMemento implements Memento {
private state: string;
private date: string;
constructor(state: string) {
this.state = state;
this.date = new Date().toISOString().slice(0, 19).replace('T', ' ');
}
/**
* The Originator uses this method when restoring its state.
*/
public getState(): string {
return this.state;
}
/**
* The rest of the methods are used by the Caretaker to display metadata.
*/
public getName(): string {
return `${this.date} / (${this.state.substr(0, 9)}...)`;
}
public 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 {
private mementos: Memento[] = [];
private originator: Originator;
constructor(originator: Originator) {
this.originator = originator;
}
public backup(): void {
console.log('\nCaretaker: Saving Originator\'s state...');
this.mementos.push(this.originator.save());
}
public undo(): void {
if (!this.mementos.length) {
return;
}
const memento = this.mementos.pop();
console.log(`Caretaker: Restoring state to: ${memento.getName()}`);
this.originator.restore(memento);
}
public showHistory(): void {
console.log('Caretaker: Here\'s the list of mementos:');
for (const memento of this.mementos) {
console.log(memento.getName());
}
}
}
/**
* Client code.
*/
const originator = new Originator('Super-duper-super-puper-super.');
const caretaker = new Caretaker(originator);
caretaker.backup();
originator.doSomething();
caretaker.backup();
originator.doSomething();
caretaker.backup();
originator.doSomething();
console.log('');
caretaker.showHistory();
console.log('\nClient: Now, let\'s rollback!\n');
caretaker.undo();
console.log('\nClient: Once more!\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: qXqxgTcLSCeLYdcgElOghOFhPGfMxo
Caretaker: Saving Originator's state...
Originator: I'm doing something important.
Originator: and my state has changed to: iaVCJVryJwWwbipieensfodeMSWvUY
Caretaker: Saving Originator's state...
Originator: I'm doing something important.
Originator: and my state has changed to: oSUxsOCiZEnohBMQEjwnPWJLGnwGmy
Caretaker: Here's the list of mementos:
2019-02-17 15:14:05 / (Super-dup...)
2019-02-17 15:14:05 / (qXqxgTcLS...)
2019-02-17 15:14:05 / (iaVCJVryJ...)
Client: Now, let's rollback!
Caretaker: Restoring state to: 2019-02-17 15:14:05 / (iaVCJVryJ...)
Originator: My state has changed to: iaVCJVryJwWwbipieensfodeMSWvUY
Client: Once more!
Caretaker: Restoring state to: 2019-02-17 15:14:05 / (qXqxgTcLS...)
Originator: My state has changed to: qXqxgTcLSCeLYdcgElOghOFhPGfMxo
