How to override an implicit value, that is imported? - scala

Question

I have tried solutions, described in How to override an implicit value?, but it does not help. Here is a code example.
A definition of TestImplicit abstraction with 2 different implementations (analogue of ExecutionContextExecutor):
trait TestImplicit {
def f(s:String):Unit
}
object TestImplicitImpl1 extends TestImplicit {
override def f(s: String): Unit = println(s"1: $s")
}
object TestImplicitImpl2 extends TestImplicit {
override def f(s: String): Unit = println(s"2: $s")
}
And in the ImplDefinition object a q variable is defined to be used implicitly via import (analogue of ExecutionContext.Implicits.global):
object ImplDefinition {
implicit val q:TestImplicit = TestImplicitImpl1
}
Client that defines a method, accepting TestImplicit implicitly (analogue of scala.concurrent.Future):
trait TestImplicitClient {
def fu(implicit ti:TestImplicit):Unit
}
object TestImplicitClient extends TestImplicitClient {
override def fu(implicit ti: TestImplicit): Unit = {
println("client")
ti.f("param")
}
}
The next step, a client of client, that chooses which implementation of TestImplicit should be used, the decision is done via import (analogue of API that uses Future):
object ClientOfClient {
import somepackage.ImplDefinition.q
def t():Unit =
TestImplicitClient.fu
}
Now in test, I want to use this ClientOfClient.t(), but I need to override implicit, and use TestImplicitImpl2 instead. The main idea behind - implicits should be defined/overridable by the client of API, but not by API itself:
import somepackage.{ClientOfClient, TestImplicit, TestImplicitImpl2}
import org.junit.Test
class ImplTest {
// trying to hide it via import, does not help
import somepackage.ImplDefinition.{q => _,_}
#Test def test(): Unit ={
//trying to hide it via downgrading to non-implicit, does not work either
val q = somepackage.ImplDefinition.q
implicit val ti = TestImplicitImpl2
ClientOfClient.t()
}
}
Each time I run test, I get in the output:
client
1: param
But not expected:
client
2: param
How can I fix it? I need a way to allow clients to override implicits and stay with as simple API as possible. Which means, I do not want to add additional implicit parameter into ClientOfClient.t() method.

Answer 1

As soon as you have a singleton object ClientOfClient with a hard-coded constant TestImplicitImpl1 everywhere, there is essentially nothing you can do. But there are several work-arounds.
1. Use default implicit parameters
object ClientOfClient {
def t()(implicit ti: TestImplicit = ImplDefinition.q): Unit =
TestImplicitClient.fu
}
object ImplTest {
def test(): Unit = {
implicit val ti2 = TestImplicitImpl2
ClientOfClient.t()
}
}
ImplTest.test() // 2: param
2. Supply the implicit through a separate method that can be overridden
If you want to make the implicit overridable, then make ClientOfClient extendable, and create a method (here "cocti") that returns the implicit, instead of importing the implicit directly. You can then override the method (whereas you cannot override an import).
This here produces 2: param in the end of the day:
trait TestImplicit {
def f(s: String): Unit
}
object TestImplicitImpl1 extends TestImplicit {
override def f(s: String): Unit = println(s"1: $s")
}
object TestImplicitImpl2 extends TestImplicit {
override def f(s: String): Unit = println(s"2: $s")
}
object ImplDefinition {
implicit val q: TestImplicit = TestImplicitImpl1
}
trait TestImplicitClient {
def fu(implicit ti: TestImplicit): Unit
}
object TestImplicitClient extends TestImplicitClient {
override def fu(implicit ti: TestImplicit): Unit = {
println("client")
ti.f("param")
}
}
class ClientOfClient {
implicit def cocti: TestImplicit = {
ImplDefinition.q
}
def t():Unit =
TestImplicitClient.fu
}
object ImplTest {
def test(): Unit = {
implicit val ti2 = TestImplicitImpl2
new ClientOfClient {
override def cocti = ti2
}.t()
}
}
ImplTest.test() // 2: param