Class: Pod4::NebulousInterface

Inherits:
Interface show all
Defined in:
lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb

Overview

An interface to talk to a Nebulous Target.

Each interface can only speak with one target, designated with #set_target. The developer must also set a unique ID key using #set_id_fld.

The primary challenge here is to map the CRUDL methods (which interfaces contract to implement) to nebulous verbs. The programmer uses #set_verb for this purpose: the first parameter indicates the CRUDL method, the next is the verb name, and the rest are hash keys.

In the case of the #create and #update methods, the list of keys controls which parts of the incoming hash end up in the verb parameters, and in what order. For #update, the list must include the ID key that you gave to #set_id_fld.

Parameters for the #list method similarly constrain how its selection parameter is translated to a nebulous verb parameter string.

Parameters for #read and #delete can be whatever you like, but since the only value passed to read is the ID, the only symbol there should be the same as the one in #set_id_fld.

class CustomerInterface < SwingShift::NebulousInterface
  set_target 'accord'
  set_id_fld :id
  set_verb :read,   'customerread',   :id, '100'
  set_verb :list,   'customerlist',   :name
  set_verb :create, 'customerupdate', 'create', :name, :price
  set_verb :update, 'customerupdate', 'update', :name, :id, :price

  def update(id, name, price)
    super( id, name: name, price: price)
  end
end

In this example both the create and update methods point to the same nebulous verb. Note that only keys which are symbols are translated to the corresponding values in the record or selection hash; anything else is passed literally in the Nebulous parameter string.

When you subclass NebulousInterface, you may want to override some or all of the CRUDL methods so that your callers can pass specific parameters rather than a hash; the above example demonstrates this.

We assume that the response to the #create message returns the ID as the parameter part of the success verb. If that’s not true, then you will have to override #create and sort this out yourself.

Calls to create, update and delete avoid (for obvious reasons) Nebulous’ Redis cache if present. Read and list use it, but can take an extra options hash to control it, which, of course, Pod4::Model does not know about. If you want to enable a non-cached read in your model, it will need a method something like this:

def read_no_cache
  r = interface.read(@model_id, caching: false)

  if r.empty?
    add_alert(:error, "Record ID '#@model_id' not found on the data source")
  else
    map_to_model(r)
    run_validation(:read)
    @model_status = :okay if @model_status == :empty
  end

  self
rescue Pod4::WeakError
  add_alert(:error, $!)
  self
end

NB: Connections: Nebulous does not use the Connection class. The user must configure NebulousStomp themselves, once, when their application starts; but they don’t need to do this before requiring the models. And there is no need for a connection pool.

Defined Under Namespace

Classes: Verb

Constant Summary

Constants inherited from Interface

Interface::ACTIONS

Instance Attribute Summary collapse

Class Method Summary collapse

Instance Method Summary collapse

Methods inherited from Interface

#_connection, #close_connection, #new_connection

Methods included from Metaxing

#define_class_method, #metaclass

Constructor Details

#initialize(requestObj = nil) ⇒ NebulousInterface

In normal operation, takes no parameters.

For testing purposes you may pass something here. Whatever it is you pass, it must respond to a ‘send` method, take the same parameters as NebulousStomp::Request.new (that is, a target and a message) and return something that behaves like a NebulousStomp::Request. This method will be called instead of creating a NebulousStomp::Request directly.



183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 183

def initialize(requestObj=nil)
  @request_object  = requestObj # might as well be a reference 
  @response        = nil
  @response_status = nil
  @id_fld          = self.class.id_fld
  @id_ai           = self.class.id_ai

  self.class.validate_params
end

Instance Attribute Details

#id_aiObject (readonly)

Returns the value of attribute id_ai.



81
82
83
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 81

def id_ai
  @id_ai
end

#id_fldObject (readonly)

Returns the value of attribute id_fld.



81
82
83
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 81

def id_fld
  @id_fld
end

#responseObject (readonly)

The NebulousStomp Message object holding the response from the last message sent, or, nil.



84
85
86
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 84

def response
  @response
end

#response_statusObject (readonly)

The status of the response from the last message:

  • nil - we didn’t send a request yet

  • :off - Nebulous is turned off, so nothing happened

  • :timeout we sent the message but timed out waiting for a response

  • :verberror - we got an error verb in response

  • :verbsuccess - we got a success verb in response

  • :response - we got some response that doesn’t follow The Protocol

NB: if we got an exception sending the message, we raised it on the caller, so there is no status for that.



96
97
98
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 96

def response_status
  @response_status
end

Class Method Details

.id_aiObject

Raises:



149
150
151
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 149

def id_ai
  raise Pod4Error, "You need to use set_id_fld"
end

.id_fldObject

Raises:



145
146
147
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 145

def id_fld
  raise Pod4Error, "You need to use set_id_fld"
end

.set_id_fld(idFld, opts = {}) ⇒ Object

Set the name of the ID parameter (needs to be in the CRUD verbs param list)



139
140
141
142
143
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 139

def set_id_fld(idFld, opts={})
  ai = opts.fetch(:autoincrement) { true }
  define_class_method(:id_fld) {idFld}
  define_class_method(:id_ai)  {!!ai}
end

.set_target(target) ⇒ Object

Set the name of the Nebulous target in the interface definition

a reference to the interface object.



129
130
131
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 129

def set_target(target)
  define_class_method(:target) {target.to_s}
end

.set_verb(action, verb, *paramKeys) ⇒ Object

Set a verb.

  • action - must be one of CRUDL

  • verb - the name of the verb

  • parameters - array of symbols to order the hash passed to create, etc

Raises:

  • (ArgumentError)


113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 113

def set_verb(action, verb, *paramKeys)
  raise ArgumentError, "Bad action" unless Interface::ACTIONS.include? action

  v = verbs.dup
  v[action] = Verb.new( verb, paramKeys.flatten )

  define_class_method(:verbs) {v}
end

.targetObject

Raises:



133
134
135
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 133

def target
  raise Pod4Error, "You need to use set_target on your interface"
end

.validate_paramsObject

Make sure all of the above is consistent

Raises:



156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 156

def validate_params
  raise Pod4Error, "You need to use set_verb" if verbs == {}

  %i|create read update delete|.each do |action|
    raise Pod4Error, "set_verb #{action} is missing a parameter list" \
      if verbs[action] && !verbs[action].params == []

  end

  %i|read update delete|.each do |action|
    raise Pod4Error, "#{action} verb doesn't have an #{id_fld} key" \
      if verbs[action] && !verbs[action].params.include?(id_fld)

  end

end

.verbsObject



122
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 122

def verbs; {}; end

Instance Method Details

#clearing_cacheObject

Bonus method: chain this method before a CRUDL method to clear the cache for that parameter string:

@interface.clearing_cache.read(14)

Note that there is no guarantee that the request that clears the cache is actually the one you chain after (if multiple model instances are running against the same interface instance) but for the instance that calls ‘clearing_cache`, this is not important.



299
300
301
302
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 299

def clearing_cache
  @clear_cache = true
  self
end

#create(record) ⇒ Object

Pass a parameter string or an array as the record. returns the ID. We assume that the response to the create message returns the ID as the parameter part of the success verb. If that’s not true, then you will have to override #create and sort this out yourself.



226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 226

def create(record)
  raise ArgumentError, 'create takes a Hash or an Octothorpe' unless hashy?(record)

  raise ArgumentError, "ID field missing from record" \
    if !@id_ai && record[@id_fld].nil? && record[@id_fld.to_s].nil?

  send_message( verb_for(:create), param_string(:create, record), false )
  @response.params

rescue => e
  handle_error(e)
end

#delete(id) ⇒ Object

Given an ID, delete the record. Return self.

The actual parameters passed to nebulous depend on how you #set_verb

Raises:

  • (ArgumentError)


279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 279

def delete(id)
  raise ArgumentError, 'You must pass an ID to delete' unless id

  send_message( verb_for(:delete), 
                param_string(:delete, nil, id), 
                false )

  self
end

#list(selection = nil, opts = {}) ⇒ Object

Pass a parameter string or array (which will be taken as the literal Nebulous parameter) or a Hash or Octothorpe (which will be interpreted as per your list of keys set in add_verb :list).

Returns an array of Octothorpes, or an empty array if the responder could not make any records out of our message.

Note that the ‘opts` hash is not part of the protocol supported by Pod4::Model. If you want to make use of it, you will have to write your own method for that. Supported keys:

  • caching: true if you want to use redis caching (defaults to true)



206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 206

def list(selection=nil, opts={})
  sel = 
    case selection
      when Array, Hash, Octothorpe then param_string(:list, selection)
      else selection
    end

  caching = opts[:caching].nil? ? true : !!opts[:caching]
  send_message( verb_for(:list), sel, caching )
  @response.body.is_a?(Array) ? @response.body.map{|e| Octothorpe.new e} : []

rescue => e
  handle_error(e)
end

#read(id, opts = {}) ⇒ Object

Given the id, return an Octothorpe of the record.

The actual parameters passed to nebulous depend on how you #set_verb

Note that the ‘opts` hash is not part of the protocol supported by Pod4::Model. If you want to make use of it, you will have to write your own method for that. Supported keys:

  • caching: true if you want to use redis caching (defaults to true)

Raises:

  • (ArgumentError)


249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 249

def read(id, opts={})
  raise ArgumentError, 'You must pass an ID to read' unless id

  caching = opts[:caching].nil? ? true : !!opts[:caching]
  send_message( verb_for(:read), 
                param_string(:read, nil, id), 
                caching )

  Octothorpe.new( @response.body.is_a?(Hash) ? @response.body : {} )
end

#send_message(verb, paramStr, with_cache = true) ⇒ Object

Bonus method: send an arbitrary Nebulous message to the target and return the response object.

We don’t trap errors here - see #handle_error - but we raise extra ones if we think things look fishy.



311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 311

def send_message(verb, paramStr, with_cache=true)
  unless NebulousStomp.on? 
    @response_status = :off
    raise Pod4::DatabaseError, "Nebulous is turned off!"
  end

  Pod4.logger.debug(__FILE__) do
    "Sending v:#{verb} p:#{paramStr} c?: #{with_cache}"
  end

  @response = send_message_helper(verb, paramStr, with_cache)

  raise Pod4::DatabaseError, "Null response" if @response.nil?

  @response_status = 
    case @response.verb
      when 'error'   then :verberror
      when 'success' then :verbsuccess
      else                :response
    end

  raise Pod4::WeakError, "Nebulous returned an error verb: #{@response.description}" \
    if @response_status == :verberror

  self

rescue => err
  handle_error(err)
end

#update(id, record) ⇒ Object

Given an id an a record (Octothorpe or Hash), update the record. Returns self.

Raises:

  • (ArgumentError)


263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
# File 'lib/pod4/nebulous_interface.rb', line 263

def update(id, record)
  raise ArgumentError, 'You must pass an ID to update' unless id
  raise ArgumentError, 'update record takes a Hash or an Octothorpe' unless hashy?(record)

  send_message( verb_for(:update), 
                param_string(:update, record, id), 
                false )

  self
end