Store open days and times

Question

Currently I'm developing my business entities. I feel that the structure is a tad cumbersome.

What I mean is that a store on a particular day can have different open and closing times. So it's not as simple as a store opens and closes at 09:00 and 17:00 respectively every day at the week. A store may open at 09:00 and 19:00 on only Thursdays etc.

Entities

public class Store
{
    public int StoreID { get; set;}
    public string StoreName { get; set; }
    public ICollection<DayOfWeek> DaysOpen { get; set; }
    public List<KeyValuePair<DayOfWeek, StoreTimes>> DaysAndTimes { get; set; }

}

public class StoreTimes
{
    public string StartTime { get; set;}
    public string EndTime { get; set; }
}

The initialisation is a but cumbersome, see below.

Initialisation

 Store store = new Store()
            {
                StoreID = 1,
                StoreName = "Some Store",
                DaysOpen = new List<DayOfWeek>() { DayOfWeek.Monday, DayOfWeek.Tuesday, DayOfWeek.Wednesday },
                DaysAndTimes = new List<KeyValuePair<DayOfWeek, StoreTimes>>()
                {
                    new KeyValuePair<DayOfWeek, StoreTimes>(DayOfWeek.Monday, new StoreTimes()
                    {
                        StartTime = "0900", EndTime = "1700"
                    }),
                    new KeyValuePair<DayOfWeek, StoreTimes>(DayOfWeek.Tuesday, new StoreTimes()
                    {
                        StartTime = "1000", EndTime = "1900"
                    })
                }

            };

Yes the initialisation needn't be a problem since the BLL will deal with it but how can this be refactored?

Answer 1

how can this be refactored?

Improved application of Single Responsibility Principle, encapsulation, and domain modeling.

Start With Good Data Structures

public class StoreTimes {
    public DayOfWeek Day {get; set;}
    public string StartTime { get; set; }
    public string EndTime { get; set; }
}

• It is clear that an "hours of operation" must consist of a day along with open and close times.
• So make a proper structure (class) that expresses this concept.
• A complete data structure tends to be very flexible. In our case it will solve the problem @mjolka pointed out.
• It simplifies the hell out of client code. i.e. dealing with "a list of key-value-pairs of days and store-times"

---

Ensure Objects Are Constructed Correctly

• Constructor parameters forces the client (code) to supply the required things.
• Arguments (the values passed via parameters) are easily validated up front before attempting to use bad or incomplete data.

.

public StoreTimes(DayOfWeek theDay, string startTime, string endTime)
    {
        Day = theDay;
        StartTime = startTime ?? "0000";
        EndTime = endTime ?? "0000";
    }

---

Don't allow Client to Arbitrarily Change State

• non-public setters.

.

public class StoreTimes { 
    public DayOfWeek Day {get; protected set;}
    public string StartTime { get; protected set; }
    public string EndTime { get; protected set; }

---

Use Domain Language

Stores open and close, they do not start and stop.

public class StoreTimes {

    public DayOfWeek Day {get; protected set;}
    public string OpenTime { get; protected set; }
    public string CloseTime { get; protected set; }
}

---

Make Cohesive Classes

OO programming is an exercise in self-reliance, for the classes. A class should know how to do things that is should be doing itself. The client should only have to tell to do it.

• At a restaurant you tell them to cook food, you don't do it for them.
• You ask to see a menu, you don't write a menu for them.

.

public class StoreTimes {
    public string HoursOfOperation()
    {
        return String.Format("{0} : {1} to {2}", Day, OpenTime, CloseTime);
    }
}

---

New Class Applying All the Points Above

public class HoursOfOperation
{
    protected List<StoreTimes> TheHours { get; set; }

    public HoursOfOperation()
    {
        TheHours = new List<StoreTimes>();
    }

    public void Add(StoreTimes newOpsHours)
    {
        if (newOpsHours == null) return;

        TheHours.Add(newOpsHours);
    }

    public override string ToString()
    {
        StringBuilder me = new StringBuilder();

        foreach (StoreTimes openTime in TheHours)
            me.AppendLine(openTime.HoursOfOperation());

        return me.ToString();
    }
}

---

Lessons Learned Applied to Store Class

public class Store
{
    protected int StoreID { get; set; }
    protected string StoreName { get; set; }
    protected HoursOfOperation OperatingHours { get; set; }

    public Store(string storeName, HoursOfOperation operatingHours, int storeID ){
        StoreID = storeID;
        StoreName = storeName ?? "NoNameStore";

        if (operatingHours == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException("Operating Hours is null");

        OperatingHours = operatingHours;
    }

    public string HoursOfOperation()
    {
        return this.OperatingHours.ToString();
    }

    public override string ToString()
    {
        StringBuilder me = new StringBuilder();
        me.AppendLine(string.Format("Store {0}  ID {1}", StoreName, StoreID ));
        me.AppendLine("Hours Of Operation:");
        me.AppendLine(HoursOfOperation());

        return me.ToString();
    }
}

Client Code

   static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        HoursOfOperation opsHours = new HoursOfOperation();
        opsHours.Add(new StoreTimes(DayOfWeek.Monday, "0900", "1130"));
        opsHours.Add(new StoreTimes(DayOfWeek.Monday, "1300", "1800"));
        opsHours.Add(new StoreTimes(DayOfWeek.Saturday, "0800", "2100"));
        opsHours.Add(new StoreTimes(DayOfWeek.Sunday, null, null));

        Store CostingTons = new Store("CostingTons", opsHours, 1);
        Console.WriteLine(CostingTons.ToString());
        Console.ReadLine();
  }

Answer 2

You're interested in a Dictionary<DayOfWeek, StoreTimes>() which, coincidentally, actually inherits from IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>>.

Additionally I would also suggest adding a StoreTimes(string start, string end) constructor so you can initialize properly (and it should be a requirement either way).

This would result in code like this:

DaysAndTimes = new Dictionary<DayOfWeek, StoreTimes>()
{
    { DayOfWeek.Monday, new StoreTimes("1300", "1700") },
    { DayOfWeek.Tuesday, new StoreTimes("0900", "1700") }
}

Additionally, I would suggest turning your DaysOpen into a HashSet or an array so you don't have to deal with an O(n) lookup. Or you omit it altogether and just combine the usage with your dictionary: only add the days you're open in DaysAndTimes and try to retrieve the day from there.