How to name multi-setter? [closed]

Question

I'm struggling with how to name this method, I don't like the "set" prefix, because I feel it should be reserved for normal "dumb" setters and some tools might not like it (i did not check it in checkstyle, pmd, etc., but I got a feeling they won't like it.)

for example (in java, but I feel its language agnostic)

public void setField1Field2(String field1, String field2) {
    this.field1 = field1;
    this.field2 = field2;        
}

The only purpose of this method is ONLY to set, this method is needed and cannot be joined with any other (because of framework used).

Answer 1

setThings where Thing is replaced with a word describing what the two fields have in common. The plural is the important bit. If you can't come up with a good word to specify why those two values need to be specified together look at where you are planning to use it, and find something else in common with them to add to make it more descriptive.

Answer 2

Being able to change the internal representation is the whole point of using a method instead of a public field. There's nothing wrong with it.

Answer 3

I think the name of the method can be prefixed by the "set" keyword because that's exactly what you are doing. Sure, you can choose other words such as "configure" or "apply" for example but my point is not on the prefix.

My real point is that I don't think it should be named "field1Field2Field3etc.", it should be something that really gives a hint on the real purpose of calling this method. For example, if it is a method for configuring two currencies that can be exchanged, it could be

public void setExchangeableCurrencies(String from, String to) {}

Answer 4

OK, this is tagged language-agnostic, but in the case of Java, aren't some bean utilities going to assume there is a property called field1Field2 if you have a setter named setField1Field2.

And, on a more general line of thought, shouldn't a method do one thing well instead of doing multiple things at the same time?

In case you want to set both parameters or none at all, you can let each method throw an exception and then handle it and roll back the changes.