In my recent project I also come across this requirement, to generate N digit long sequence number without any database.
This is actually a good Interview question, because there are consideration on performance and software crash recovery. Further Reading if interested.
The following code has these features:
Prefix each sequence with a prefix.
Sequence cache like Oracle Sequence.
Most importantly, there is recovery logic to resume sequence from software crash.
Complete implementation attached:
import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
/**
* This is a customized Sequence Generator which simulates Oracle DB Sequence Generator. However the master sequence
* is stored locally in the file as there is no access to Oracle database. The output format is "prefix" + number.
* <p>
* <u><b>Sample output:</u></b><br>
* 1. FixLengthIDSequence(null,null,15,0,99,0) will generate 15, 16, ... 99, 00<br>
* 2. FixLengthIDSequence(null,"K",1,1,99,0) will generate K01, K02, ... K99, K01<br>
* 3. FixLengthIDSequence(null,"SG",100,2,9999,100) will generate SG0100, SG0101, ... SG8057, (in case server crashes, the new init value will start from last cache value+1) SG8101, ... SG9999, SG0002<br>
*/
public final class FixLengthIDSequence {
private static String FNAME;
private static String PREFIX;
private static AtomicLong SEQ_ID;
private static long MINVALUE;
private static long MAXVALUE;
private static long CACHEVALUE;
// some internal working values.
private int iMaxLength; // max numeric length excluding prefix, for left padding zeros.
private long lNextSnapshot; // to keep track of when to update sequence value to file.
private static boolean bInit = false; // to enable ShutdownHook routine after program has properly initialized
static {
// Inspiration from https://mcmap.net/q/800560/-sequence-generator-in-java-for-unique-id#35697336.
Runtime.getRuntime().addShutdownHook(new Thread(() -> {
if (bInit) { // Without this, saveToLocal may hit NullPointerException.
saveToLocal(SEQ_ID.longValue());
}
}));
}
/**
* This POJO style constructor should be initialized via Spring Singleton. Otherwise, rewrite this constructor into Singleton design pattern.
*
* @param sFilename This is the absolute file path to store the sequence number. To reset the sequence, this file needs to be removed manually.
* @param prefix The hard-coded identifier.
* @param initvalue
* @param minvalue
* @param maxvalue
* @param cache
* @throws Exception
*/
public FixLengthIDSequence(String sFilename, String prefix, long initvalue, long minvalue, long maxvalue, int cache) throws Exception {
bInit = false;
FNAME = (sFilename==null)?"C:\\Temp\\sequence.txt":sFilename;
PREFIX = (prefix==null)?"":prefix;
SEQ_ID = new AtomicLong(initvalue);
MINVALUE = minvalue;
MAXVALUE = maxvalue; iMaxLength = Long.toString(MAXVALUE).length();
CACHEVALUE = (cache <= 0)?1:cache; lNextSnapshot = roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(initvalue, cache); // Internal cache is always 1, equals no cache.
// If sequence file exists and valid, restore the saved sequence.
java.io.File f = new java.io.File(FNAME);
if (f.exists()) {
String[] saSavedSequence = loadToString().split(",");
if (saSavedSequence.length != 6) {
throw new Exception("Local Sequence file is not valid");
}
PREFIX = saSavedSequence[0];
//SEQ_ID = new AtomicLong(Long.parseLong(saSavedSequence[1])); // savedInitValue
MINVALUE = Long.parseLong(saSavedSequence[2]);
MAXVALUE = Long.parseLong(saSavedSequence[3]); iMaxLength = Long.toString(MAXVALUE).length();
CACHEVALUE = Long.parseLong(saSavedSequence[4]);
lNextSnapshot = Long.parseLong(saSavedSequence[5]);
// For sequence number recovery
// The rule to determine to continue using SEQ_ID or lNextSnapshot as subsequent sequence number:
// If savedInitValue = savedSnapshot, it was saved by ShutdownHook -> use SEQ_ID.
// Else if saveInitValue < savedSnapshot, it was saved by periodic Snapshot -> use lNextSnapshot+1.
if (saSavedSequence[1].equals(saSavedSequence[5])) {
long previousSEQ = Long.parseLong(saSavedSequence[1]);
SEQ_ID = new AtomicLong(previousSEQ);
lNextSnapshot = roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(previousSEQ,CACHEVALUE);
} else {
SEQ_ID = new AtomicLong(lNextSnapshot+1); // SEQ_ID starts fresh from lNextSnapshot+!.
lNextSnapshot = roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(SEQ_ID.longValue(),CACHEVALUE);
}
}
// Catch invalid values.
if (minvalue < 0) {
throw new Exception("MINVALUE cannot be less than 0");
}
if (maxvalue < 0) {
throw new Exception("MAXVALUE cannot be less than 0");
}
if (minvalue >= maxvalue) {
throw new Exception("MINVALUE cannot be greater than MAXVALUE");
}
if (cache >= maxvalue) {
throw new Exception("CACHE value cannot be greater than MAXVALUE");
}
// Save the next Snapshot.
saveToLocal(lNextSnapshot);
bInit = true;
}
/**
* Equivalent to Oracle Sequence nextval.
* @return String because Next Value is usually left padded with zeros, e.g. "00001".
*/
public String nextVal() {
if (SEQ_ID.longValue() > MAXVALUE) {
SEQ_ID.set(MINVALUE);
lNextSnapshot = roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(MINVALUE,CACHEVALUE);
}
if (SEQ_ID.longValue() > lNextSnapshot) {
lNextSnapshot = roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(lNextSnapshot,CACHEVALUE);
saveToLocal(lNextSnapshot);
}
return PREFIX.concat(StringUtils.leftPad(Long.toString(SEQ_ID.getAndIncrement()),iMaxLength,"0"));
}
/**
* Store sequence value into the local file. This routine is called either by Snapshot or ShutdownHook routines.<br>
* If called by Snapshot, currentCount == Snapshot.<br>
* If called by ShutdownHook, currentCount == current SEQ_ID.
* @param currentCount - This value is inserted by either Snapshot or ShutdownHook routines.
*/
private static void saveToLocal (long currentCount) {
try (java.io.Writer w = new java.io.BufferedWriter(new java.io.OutputStreamWriter(new java.io.FileOutputStream(FNAME), "utf-8"))) {
w.write(PREFIX + "," + SEQ_ID.longValue() + "," + MINVALUE + "," + MAXVALUE + "," + CACHEVALUE + "," + currentCount);
w.flush();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
/**
* Load the sequence file content into String.
* @return
*/
private String loadToString() {
try {
return new String(java.nio.file.Files.readAllBytes(java.nio.file.Paths.get(FNAME)));
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
return "";
}
/**
* Utility method to round up num to next multiple value. This method is used to calculate the next cache value.
* <p>
* (Reference: https://mcmap.net/q/445697/-rounding-up-to-the-nearest-hundred)
* <p>
* <u><b>Sample output:</b></u>
* <pre>
* System.out.println(roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(9,10)); = 10
* System.out.println(roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(10,10)); = 20
* System.out.println(roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(19,10)); = 20
* System.out.println(roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(100,10)); = 110
* System.out.println(roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(109,10)); = 110
* System.out.println(roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(110,10)); = 120
* System.out.println(roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(119,10)); = 120
* </pre>
*
* @param num Value must be greater and equals to positive integer 1.
* @param multiple Value must be greater and equals to positive integer 1.
* @return
*/
private long roundUpNumberByMultipleValue(long num, long multiple) {
if (num<=0) num=1;
if (multiple<=0) multiple=1;
if (num % multiple != 0) {
long division = (long) ((num / multiple) + 1);
return division * multiple;
} else {
return num + multiple;
}
}
/**
* Main method for testing purpose.
* @param args
*/
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
//FixLengthIDSequence(Filename, prefix, initvalue, minvalue, maxvalue, cache)
FixLengthIDSequence seq = new FixLengthIDSequence(null,"H",50,1,999,10);
for (int i=0; i<12; i++) {
System.out.println(seq.nextVal());
Thread.sleep(1000);
//if (i==8) { System.exit(0); }
}
}
}
To test the code, let the sequence run normally. You can press Ctrl+C to simulate the server crash. The next sequence number will continue from NextSnapshot+1.
