Class: Module

Inherits:
Object
  • Object
show all
Defined in:
lib/resque_kalashnikov/delegation.rb

Instance Method Summary collapse

Instance Method Details

#delegate(*methods) ⇒ Object

Provides a delegate class method to easily expose contained objects’ methods as your own. Pass one or more methods (specified as symbols or strings) and the name of the target object via the :to option (also a symbol or string). At least one method and the :to option are required.

Delegation is particularly useful with Active Record associations:

class Greeter < ActiveRecord::Base
  def hello
    "hello"
  end

  def goodbye
    "goodbye"
  end
end

class Foo < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :greeter
  delegate :hello, :to => :greeter
end

Foo.new.hello   # => "hello"
Foo.new.goodbye # => NoMethodError: undefined method `goodbye' for #<Foo:0x1af30c>

Multiple delegates to the same target are allowed:

class Foo < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :greeter
  delegate :hello, :goodbye, :to => :greeter
end

Foo.new.goodbye # => "goodbye"

Methods can be delegated to instance variables, class variables, or constants by providing them as a symbols:

class Foo
  CONSTANT_ARRAY = [0,1,2,3]
  @@class_array  = [4,5,6,7]

  def initialize
    @instance_array = [8,9,10,11]
  end
  delegate :sum, :to => :CONSTANT_ARRAY
  delegate :min, :to => :@@class_array
  delegate :max, :to => :@instance_array
end

Foo.new.sum # => 6
Foo.new.min # => 4
Foo.new.max # => 11

Delegates can optionally be prefixed using the :prefix option. If the value is true, the delegate methods are prefixed with the name of the object being delegated to.

Person = Struct.new(:name, :address)

class Invoice < Struct.new(:client)
  delegate :name, :address, :to => :client, :prefix => true
end

john_doe = Person.new("John Doe", "Vimmersvej 13")
invoice = Invoice.new(john_doe)
invoice.client_name    # => "John Doe"
invoice.client_address # => "Vimmersvej 13"

It is also possible to supply a custom prefix.

class Invoice < Struct.new(:client)
  delegate :name, :address, :to => :client, :prefix => :customer
end

invoice = Invoice.new(john_doe)
invoice.customer_name    # => "John Doe"
invoice.customer_address # => "Vimmersvej 13"

If the delegate object is nil an exception is raised, and that happens no matter whether nil responds to the delegated method. You can get a nil instead with the :allow_nil option.

class Foo
  attr_accessor :bar
  def initialize(bar = nil)
    @bar = bar
  end
  delegate :zoo, :to => :bar
end

Foo.new.zoo   # raises NoMethodError exception (you called nil.zoo)

class Foo
  attr_accessor :bar
  def initialize(bar = nil)
    @bar = bar
  end
  delegate :zoo, :to => :bar, :allow_nil => true
end

Foo.new.zoo   # returns nil



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# File 'lib/resque_kalashnikov/delegation.rb', line 104

def delegate(*methods)
  options = methods.pop
  unless options.is_a?(Hash) && to = options[:to]
    raise ArgumentError, "Delegation needs a target. Supply an options hash with a :to key as the last argument (e.g. delegate :hello, :to => :greeter)."
  end
  prefix, to, allow_nil = options[:prefix], options[:to], options[:allow_nil]

  if prefix == true && to.to_s =~ /^[^a-z_]/
    raise ArgumentError, "Can only automatically set the delegation prefix when delegating to a method."
  end

  method_prefix =
    if prefix
      "#{prefix == true ? to : prefix}_"
    else
      ''
    end

  file, line = caller.first.split(':', 2)
  line = line.to_i

  methods.each do |method|
    method = method.to_s

    if allow_nil
      module_eval(<<-EOS, file, line - 2)
        def #{method_prefix}#{method}(*args, &block)        # def customer_name(*args, &block)
          if #{to} || #{to}.respond_to?(:#{method})         #   if client || client.respond_to?(:name)
            #{to}.__send__(:#{method}, *args, &block)       #     client.__send__(:name, *args, &block)
          end                                               #   end
        end                                                 # end
      EOS
    else
      exception = %(raise "#{self}##{method_prefix}#{method} delegated to #{to}.#{method}, but #{to} is nil: \#{self.inspect}")

      module_eval(<<-EOS, file, line - 1)
        def #{method_prefix}#{method}(*args, &block)        # def customer_name(*args, &block)
          #{to}.__send__(:#{method}, *args, &block)         #   client.__send__(:name, *args, &block)
        rescue NoMethodError                                # rescue NoMethodError
          if #{to}.nil?                                     #   if client.nil?
            #{exception}                                    #     # add helpful message to the exception
          else                                              #   else
            raise                                           #     raise
          end                                               #   end
        end                                                 # end
      EOS
    end
  end
end