Observer Design Pattern

Definition

A way of notifying a change to a number of dependent classes.

The Observer pattern defines a one to many relationship between objects so that when one changes its state, all the others are notified accordingly. 

Encapsulate the core components in a Subject abstraction, and the variable components in an Observer hierarchy.

Design

The Observer pattern is composed of two classes. The Subject/Target is a class whose objects change their state at an independent rate. Observers may indicate that they wish to be informed of these changes and the Subject/Target will send them notifications.

UML Diagram

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Code

//Notifier
public delegate void ChangedEventHandler(object sender, ChangedEventArgs e);
//Subject
public class Target: ArrayList
{
    public event ChangedEventHandler Changed;
    public override int Add(object value)
    {
        if (Changed != null)
        {
            Changed(this, new ChangedEventArgs() { PropertName = "Add", Value = value });
        }
        return base.Add(value);
    }
}

//Custom Event args
public class ChangedEventArgs : EventArgs
{
    public string PropertName { get; set; }
    public object Value { get; set; }
}

public class ObserverOne
{
    public ObserverOne(Target target)
    {
        target.Changed += new ChangedEventHandler(A);
    }
    public void A(object sender, ChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Tagret added with " +  e.Value.ToString());
    }
}

public class ObserverTwo
{
    public ObserverTwo(Target target)
    {
        target.Changed += new ChangedEventHandler(A);
    }
    public void A(object sender, ChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Tagret added with  " + e.Value.ToString());
    }
}

//Client
static void Main(string[] args)
{
    Target target = new Target();
    ObserverOne observer1 = new ObserverOne(target);
    ObserverTwo observer2 = new ObserverTwo(target);
     target.Add("Chinna");
}

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