Naming Conventions: What to name a method that returns a boolean?

Question

I have an interface in c# that helps retrieving of data from a custom archive on server. The interface looks like this:

public interface IRetrieveData
{
    bool OkToRetrieve(SomeData data); // Method in question...
    bool RetrieveToLocal(SomeData data);
}

This interface is implemented by the clients that retrieve the data to the local database. There are different flavors of clients that have access to each others data. So, when the processing component calls IRetrieveData.OkToRetrieve right before actual retrieve, the call goes to the client code where the decision is made on whether the data should be retrieved or not. At this point the client can return false and that piece of data is skipped or return true and the processing component calls RetrieveToLocal and send the data to the client which then processes it.

Where I am getting confused is whether to rename the method "OkToRetrieve" to just "Retrieve" or "CanRetrieve" or leave it as OkToRetrieve.

Does anyone have any suggestion?

Answer 1

IsRetrievable()

I think that functions that return boolean value should be named as a yes-no question.

Answer 2

Allways name boolean methods with names similar to questions that can be answered Yes or No.

In your case, CanRetrieve would be a good name (just to use your own suggestion).

Answer 3

CanRetrieve sounds fine to me. I've seen the Can stem used in Microsoft APIs. The only other real option IMO is IsRetrievable (from Aziz) which somehow seems too linguistically twisted!

Answer 4

if you are doing more checks and isRetrievable() isn't appropriate you could use:

IsValid()

Answer 5

I would prefer isOKToRetrieve or isRetrieveOK over variants without "is" under the convention that functions and methods should be verbs.

Answer 6

Methods mean action. Therefore, I prefer method names to start with a verb. How about?

CheckIsRetrievable(SomeData data)

Answer 7

In this specific case, I'd probably name it:

public bool IsReady (SomeData)

Because it more clearly demonstrates what will happen once this returns true.