Factory Pattern but with object Parameters

Question

Take the following classic factory pattern:

public interface IPizza
{
    decimal Price { get; }
}

public class HamAndMushroomPizza : IPizza
{
    decimal IPizza.Price
    {
        get
        {
            return 8.5m;
        }
    }
}
public abstract class PizzaFactory
{
    public abstract IPizza CreatePizza(ItalianPizzaFactory.PizzaType pizzaType);
}

public class ItalianPizzaFactory : PizzaFactory
{
    public enum PizzaType
    {
        HamMushroom,
        Deluxe,
        Hawaiian
    }

    public override IPizza CreatePizza(PizzaType pizzaType)
    {
        switch (pizzaType)
        {
            case PizzaType.HamMushroom:
                return new HamAndMushroomPizza();
            case PizzaType.Hawaiian:
                return new HawaiianPizza();
            default:
                throw new ArgumentException("The pizza type " + pizzaType + " is not recognized.");
        }
    }
}

What if one (or many) of the Concrete Pizzas requires a parameter specific to the concrete implementation at construction. For example, lets say the HamAndMushroom factory requires a parameter called, MushroomType and this parameter would be required to instantiate the object?

Answer 1

First of all, it seems strange to me that an abstract class PizzaFactory contains an abstract general method CreatePizza that takes a parameter of a more concrete type ItalianPizzaFactory.PizzaType.

To cover the problem I have just mentioned and the problem stated in the post, I would suggest the following approach.

public struct PizzaDefinition
{
    public readonly string Tag; 
    public readonly string Name;
    public readonly string Description;
    public PizzaDefinition(string tag, string name, string description)
    {
        Tag = tag; Name = name; Description = description;
    }
}

public abstract class PizzaFactory
{
    public abstract IEnumerable<PizzaDefinition> GetMenu();
    public abstract IPizza CreatePizza(PizzaDefinition pizzaDefinition);
}


public class ItalianPizzaFactory : PizzaFactory
{
    public enum PizzaType
    {
        HamMushroom,
        Deluxe,
        Hawaiian
    }    

    public override IEnumerable<PizzaDefinition> GetMenu()
    {
        return new PizzaDefinition[] {
            new PizzaDefinition("hm:mushroom1,cheese3", "Ham&Mushroom 1", "blabla"),
            new PizzaDefinition("hm:mushroom2,cheese1", "Ham&Mushroom 2", "blabla"),
            new PizzaDefinition("dx", "Deluxe", "blabla"),
            new PizzaDefinition("Hawaian:shrimps,caramel", "Hawaian", "blabla")
        };
    }

    private PizzaType ParseTag(string tag, out object[] options){...}

    public override IPizza CreatePizza(PizzaDefinition pizzaDefinition)
    {
        object[] options;
        switch (ParseTag(pizzaDefinition.Tag, out options))
        {
            case PizzaType.HamMushroom:
                return new HamAndMushroomPizza(options);
            case PizzaType.Hawaiian:
                return new HawaiianPizza();
            default:
                throw new ArgumentException("The pizza" + pizzaDefinition.Name + " is not on the menu.");
        }
    }
}

As you see, the ParseTag() method may be of arbitrary complexity, parsing a plain text or an encrypted value. Or the Tag field can be a simple int that is mapped internally to some pizza recipe table, with whole different recipes for even slightly changed pizza content.