Introducing Valuable

Valuable enables quick modeling... it's attr_accessor on steroids. Its simple interface allows you to build, change and discard models without hassles, so you can get on with the logic specific to your application.

Valuable provides DRY decoration like attr_accessor, but includes default values and other formatting (like, "2" => 2), and a constructor that accepts an attributes hash. It provides a class-level list of attributes, an instance-level attributes hash, and more.

Tested with Rubinius, 1.8.7, 1.9.1, 1.9.2, 1.9.3

Version 0.9.x is considered stable.

Valuable was originally created to avoid the repetition of writing the constructor-accepts-a-hash method. It has evolved, but at its core are still the same concepts.

Contents

Frequent Uses

Valuable was created to help you quickly model things. Things I find myself modeling:

  • data imported from JSON, XML, etc
  • the result of an API call
  • a subset of some data in an ORM class say you have a class Person with street, city, state and zip. It might not make sense to store this in a separate table, but you can still create an Address model to hold address-related logic and state like geocode, post_office_box? and Address#==
  • as a presenter that wraps a model This way you keep view-specific methods out of views and models.
  • as a presenter that aggregates several models Generating a map might involve coordinating several different collections of data. Create a valuable class to handle that integration.
  • to model search forms - Use Valuable to model an advanced search form. Create an attribute for each drop-down, check-box, and text field, and constants to store options. Integrates easily with Rails via @search = CustomerSearch.new(params[:search]) and form_for(@search, :url => ...)
  • to model reports like search forms, reports can be stateful when they have critiera that can be selected via form.
  • as a query builder ie, "I need to create an (Arel or SQL) query based off of form input." (see previous two points)
  • experiments / spikes
  • factories factories need well-defined input, so valuable is a great fit.

Methods

Class-Level Methods

has_value( field_name, options = {})

creates a getter and setter named field_name

options:

  • default - provide a default value

      class Task < Valuable
        has_value :status, :default => 'Active'
      end
    
      >> Task.new.status
      => 'Active'
    
  • alias - create setters and getters with the name of the attribute and also with the alias. See Aliases for more information.

  • klass - pre-format the input with one of the predefined formatters, as a class, or with your custom formatter. See Formatting Input for more information.

      class Person < Valuable
        has_value :age, :klass => :integer
        has_value :phone_number, :klass => PhoneNumber
      end
    
      >> Person.new(:age => '15').age.class
      => Fixnum
    
      >> jenny = Person.new(:phone_number => '2018675309')
    
      >> jenny.phone_number == PhoneNumber.new('2018675309')
      => true
    
  • parse_with - Sometimes you want to instantiate with a method other than new... one example being Date.parse

      class Person
        has_value :dob, :klass => Date, :parse_with => :parse
      end
    
      # this will call Date.parse('1976-07-26')
      Person.new(:dob => '1976-07-26')
    

has_collection( field_name, options = {} )

like has_value, this creates a getter and setter. The default value is an array.

options:

  • klass - apply pre-defined or custom formatters to each element of the array.
  • alias - create additional getters and setters under this name.
  • extend - extend the collection with the provided module or modules.

    class Person
      has_collection :friends
    end
    
    >> Person.new.friends
    =>   []
    

attributes

an array of attributes you have defined on a model.

  class Person < Valuable
    has_value :first_name
    has_value :last_name
  end

  >> Person.attributes
  => [:first_name, :last_name]

defaults

A hash of the attributes with their default values. Attributes defined without default values do not appear in this list.

  class Pastry < Valuable
    has_value :primary_ingredient, :default => :sugar
    has_value :att_with_no_default
  end

  >> Pastry.defaults
  => {:primary_ingredient => :sugar}

register_formatter(name, &block)

Allows you to provide custom code to pre-format attributes, if the included ones are not sufficient. For instance, you might wish to register an 'orientation' formatter that accepts either angles or 'N', 'S', 'E', 'W', and converts those to angles. See registering formatters for details and examples.

Note: as with other formatters, nil values will not be passed to the formatter. The attribute will simply be set to nil. See nil values. If this is an issue, let me know.

acts_as_permissive

Valuable classes typically raise an error if you instantiate them with attributes that have not been predefined. This method makes valuable ignore any unknown attributes.

Instance-Level Methods

attributes

provides a hash of the attributes and their values.

  class Party < Valuable
    has_value :host
    has_value :theme
    has_value :time, :default => '6pm'
  end

  >> party = Party.new(:theme => 'Black and Whitle')

  >> party.attributes
  => {:theme => 'Black and White', :time => '6pm'}

  # note that the 'host' attribute was not set by default, at
  # instantiation, or via the setter method party.host=, so 
  # it does not appear in the attributes hash.

update_attributes(atts={})

Accepts a hash of :attribute => :value and updates each associated attributes. Will raise an exception if any of the keys isn't already set up in the class, unless you call acts_as_permissive.

  class Tomatoe
    has_value :color
  end

  >> t = Tomatoe.new(:color => 'green')
  >> t.color
  => 'green'
  >> t.update_attributes(:color => 'red')
  >> t.color
  => 'red'

write_attribute(att_name, value)

this method is called by all the setters and, obviously, update_attributes. Using a formatter (if specified), it updates the attributes hash.

  class Chicken
    has_value :gender
  end

  >> c = Chicken.new

  >> c.gender
  => nil

  >> c.write_attribute(:gender, 'F')

  >> c.gender
  => 'F'

Installation

if using bundler, add this to your gemfile:

  gem 'valuable'

and the examples below should work.

Usage & Examples

  class Person < Valuable
    has_value :name
    has_value :age, :klass => :integer
    has_value :phone_number, :klass => PhoneNumber
           # see /examples/phone_number.rb
  end

  params = 
  {
    'person' =>
    {
      'name' => 'Mr. Freud',
      'age' => "344",
      'phone_number' => '8002195642',
      'specialization_code' => "2106"
    }
  }

  >> p = Person.new(params[:person])

  >> p.age
  => 344

  >> p.phone_number
  => (337) 326-3121

  >> p.phone_number.class
  => PhoneNumber

"Yeah, I could have just done that myself."

"Right, but now you don't have to."

Constructor Accepts an Attributes Hash

  >> apple = Fruit.new(:name => 'Apple')

  >> apple.name
  => 'Apple'

  >> apple.vitamins
  => []

Default Values

Default values are... um... you know.

  class Developer
    has_value :name
    has_value :nickname, :default => 'mort'
  end

  >> dev = Developer.new(:name => 'zk')

  >> dev.name
  => 'zk'

  >> dev.nickname
  => 'mort'

If there is no default value, the result will be nil, EVEN if type casting is provided. Thus, a field typically cast as an Integer can be nil. See calculation of average example.

See also:

Note: When a default value and a klass are specified, the default value will NOT be cast to type klass -- you must do it. Example:

  class Person

    # WRONG!
    has_value :dob, :klass => Date, :default => '2012-07-26'

    # Correct
    has_value :dob, :klass => Date, :default => Date.parse('2012-07-26')

  end

Nil Values

Setting an attribute to nil always results in it being nil. Default values, pre-defined formatters, and custom formatters have no effect.

  class Account
    has_value :logins, :klass => :integer, :default => 0
  end

  >> Account.new(:logins => nil).loginx
  => nil 

  # note this is not the same as
  >> nil.to_i
  => 0

Aliases

Set additional getters and setters. Useful when outside data sources have odd field names.

  # This example requires active_support because of Hash.from_xml

  class Software < Valuable
    has_value :name, :alias => 'Title'
  end

  >> xml = '<software><Title>Windows XP</Title></software>'

  >> xp = Software.new(Hash.from_xml(xml)['software'])

  >> xp.name
  => "Windows XP"

Formatting Input

The purpose of Valuable's attribute formatting is to ensure that a model's input is "corrected" and ready for use as soon as the class is instantiated. Valuable provides several formatters by default -- :integer, :boolean, and :date are a few of them. You can optionally write your own formatters -- see Registering Formatters

  class BaseballPlayer < Valuable

    has_value :at_bats, :klass => :integer
    has_value :hits, :klass => :integer

    def average
      hits/at_bats.to_f if hits && at_bats
    end
  end

  >> joe = BaseballPlayer.new(:hits => '5', :at_bats => '20', :on_drugs => '0' == '1')

  >> joe.at_bats
  => 20

  >> joe.average
  => 0.25

Pre-Defined Formatters

see also Registering Formatters

  • integer ( see nil values )
  • decimal ( casts to BigDecimal. see nil values )
  • date ( see nil values )
  • string
  • boolean ( NOTE: '0' casts to FALSE... I'm not sure whether this is intuitive, but I would be fascinated to know when this is not the correct behavior. )
  • or any class ( formats as SomeClass.new( ) unless value.is_a?( SomeClass ) )

Extending Values

As with has_value, you can do something like:

  module PirateTranslator
    def to_pirate
      "#{self} AAARRRRRGgghhhh!"
    end
  end

  class Envelope < Valuable
    has_value :message, :extend => PirateTranslator
  end

  >> Envelope.new(:message => 'contrived').message.to_pirate
  => "contrived AAARRRRRGgghhhh!"

Collections

  has_collection :codez

is similar to:

  has_value :codez, :default => []

except

Formatting Collections

If a klass is specified, members of the collection will be formatted appropriately:

  >> m.messages << "Houston, we have a problem"

  >> m.messages.first.class
  => BulkMessage

see Advanced Collection Formatting for more complex examples.

Extending Collections

As with has_value, you can do something like:

  module PirateTranslator
    def to_pirate
      "#{self} AAARRRRRGgghhhh!"
    end
  end

  class Envelope < Valuable
    has_value :message, :extend => PirateTranslator
  end

  >> Envelope.new(:message => 'contrived').message.to_pirate
  => "contrived AAARRRRRGgghhhh!"

Registering Formatters

If the default formatters don't suit your needs, Valuable allows you to write your own formatting code via register_formatter. You can even override the predefined formatters simply by registering a formatter with the same name.

  # In honor of NASA's Curiosity rover, let's say you were modeling
  # a rover. Here's the valuable class:

  class Rover < Valuable
    has_value :orientation
  end

  Sometimes orientation comes in as 'N', 'E', 'S' or 'W', sometimes it comes in as an orientation in degrees as a string ("92"), and sometimes it comes in as an integer. Let's create a formatter that makes sure everything is formatted in degrees. Notice that we're registering this formatter on Valuable, not on Rover. It will be available to every Valuable model.

 Valuable.register_formatter(:orientation) do |value|
    case value
    when Numeric
      value
    when /^\d{1,3}$/
      value.to_i
    when 'N', 'North'
      0
    when 'E', 'East'
      90
    when 'S', 'South'
      180
    when 'W', 'West'
      270
    else
      nil
    end
  end

  and then we update rover to use the new formatter:

  class Rover < Valuable
    has_value :orientation, :klass => :orientation
  end

  >> Rover.new(:orientation => 90).orientation
  => 90

  >> Rover.new(:orientation => '282').orientation
  >> 282

  >> Rover.new(:orientation => 'S').orientation
  => 180

More about Attributes

Access the attributes via the attributes hash. Only default and specified attributes will have entries here.

  class Person < Valuable
    has_value :name
    has_value :is_developer, :default => false
    has_value :ssn
  end

  >> elvis = Person.new(:name => 'The King')

  >> elvis.attributes
  => {:name=>"The King", :is_developer=>false}

  >> elvis.attributes[:name]
  => "The King"

  >> elvis.ssn
  => nil

  >> elvis.attributes.has_key?(:ssn)
  => false

  >> elvis.ssn = '409-52-2002'  # allegedly

  >> elvis.attributes[:ssn]
  => "409-52-2002"

You can write directly to the attributes hash. As far as I know, Valuable will not care. However, formatters will not be applied.

Get a list of all the defined attributes from the class:

  >> Person.attributes
  => [:name, :is_developer, :ssn]

Advanced Input Parsing

When you specify a klass, Valuable will pass any input (that isn't already that klass) to the constructor. If you want to use a class-level method other than the constructor, pass the method name to parse_with. Perhaps it should have been called :construct_with. :)

Default behavior:

  class Customer
    has_value :payment_method, :klass => PaymentMethod
  end

  # this will call PaymentMethod.new('1232123')
  Customer.new(:payment_method => '1232123')

using parse_with:

  require 'date'

  class Person < Valuable
    has_value :date_of_birth, :alias => :dob, :klass => Date, :parse_with => :parse

    def age_in_days
      Date.today - dob
    end
  end

  >> sammy = Person.new(:dob => '2012-02-17')
  >> sammy.age_in_days
  => Rational(8, 1)

example using a lookup method:

  class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
    def find_by_full_name( full_name )
      #some finder code
    end
  end

  class Photograph < Valuable
    has_value :photographer, :klass => Person
  end

use it to load associated data from an exising set...

  class Planet < Valuable
    has_value :name
    has_value :spaceport

    def Planet.list
      @list ||= []
    end

    def Planet.find_by_name( needle )
      list.find{|i| i.name == needle }
    end
  end

  class Spaceship < Valuable
    has_value :name
    has_value :home, :klass => Planet, :parse_with => :find_by_name
  end

  Planet.list << Planet.new(:name => 'Earth', :spaceport => 'KSC')
  Planet.list << Planet.new(:name => 'Mars', :spaceport => 'Olympus Mons')

  >> vger = Spaceship.new( :name => "V'ger", :home => 'Earth')
  >> vger.home.spaceport
  => 'KSC'

You can also provide a lambda. This is similar to specifying a custom formatter, except that it only applies to this attribute and can not be re-used.

  require 'active_support'

  class Movie < Valuable
    has_value :title, :parse_with => lambda{|x| x.titleize}
  end

  >> best_movie_ever = Movie.new(:title => 'the usual suspects')

  >> best_movie_ever.title
  => "The Usual Suspects"

Advanced Defaults

The :default option will accept a lambda and call it on instantiation.

  class Borg < Valuable
    cattr_accessor :count
    has_value :position, :default => lambda { Borg.count += 1 }

    def designation
      "#{self.position} of #{Borg.count}"
    end
  end

  >> Borg.count = 6
  >> seven = Borg.new
  >> Borg.count = 9
  >> seven.designation
  => '7 of 9'

Caution -- if you overwrite the constructor, you should call initialize_attributes. Otherwise, your default values won't be set up until the first time the attributes hash is called -- in theory, this could be well after initialization, and could cause unknowable gremlins. Trivial example:

  class Person
    has_value :created_at, :default => lambda { Time.now }

    def initialize(atts)
    end
  end

  >> p = Person.new 
  >> # wait 10 minutes
  >> p.created_at == Time.now  # attributes initialized on first use
  => true

Advanced Collection Formatting

see Collections and Formatting Collections for basic examples. A more complex example involves nested Valuable models:

  class Team < Valuable
    has_value :name
    has_value :long_name

    has_collection :players, :klass => Player
  end

  class Player < Valuable
    has_value :first_name
    has_value :last_name
    has_value :salary
  end

  t = Team.new(:name => 'Toronto', :long_name => 'The Toronto Blue Jays', 
           'players' => [
                {'first_name' => 'Chad', 'last_name' => 'Beck', :salary => 'n/a'},
                {'first_name' => 'Shawn', 'last_name' => 'Camp', :salary => '2250000'},
                {'first_name' => 'Brett', 'last_name' => 'Cecil', :salary => '443100'},
                Player.new(:first_name => 'Travis', :last_name => 'Snider', :salary => '435800')
              ])

  >> t.players.first
  => #<Player:0x7fa51e4a1da0 @attributes={:salary=>"n/a", :first_name=>"Chad", :last_name=>"Beck"}>

  >> t.players.last
  => #<Player:0x7fa51ea6a9f8 @attributes={:salary=>"435800", :first_name=>"Travis", :last_name=>"Snider"}>

parse_with parses each item in a collection...

  class Roster < Valuable
    has_collection :players, :klass => Player, :parse_with => :find_by_name
  end