Create a tiny DSL looking function - scala

I seem to be doing following everywhere in service APIs to create Slick transactions.
db.withTransaction{ implicit session =>
.....
}
Want to create something more DSL looking snippet instead of doing db.withTransaction everywhere.
I came up with below
def executeInSlickTransaction[T](body: => T) = {
val db = DataSource.getDb
db.withTransaction{ implicit session =>
body
}
}
So now I can call
executeInSlickTransaction{
....
}
but then I need implicit session as well in executeInSlickTransaction e.g. something like
executeInSlickTransaction{ implicit session => ...} because session implicit is required for DAO calls (made from within executeInSlickTransaction block) which expect it.
Is there a way to get implicit session back from executeInSlickTransaction ?

val db you can store somewhere else. It's just configuration.
You cannot get rid of the implicit keyword if you want to pass around the session implicitly. But you don't have to. If you just execute a single query (or a single function session => results) you can just do something like this:
import db.withTransaction
Slick 2.0:
withTransaction{ someQuery.list()(_) }
Slick 2.1:
withTransaction{ someQuery.list(_) }
Or shorten the name of the session variable, as it doesn't matter really if its implicit:
withTransaction{ implicit s =>
someQuery.list()(_)
}
Doesn't seem to me like a "dsl", i.e. just another method could help you. At best you could shorten the name to somethind shorter:
import db.{withTransaction => t}
t{ implicit s => q.list }
If you are new to Scala and don't understand some concept used here, they should be explained in about every Scala book, but of course there is lots of things at the same time when you are new.

Related

How to Provide Specialized Implementations of Generic Methods in Scala?

I'm working on an existing code base with a wrapper class around Slick 2.1.0 (I know). This wrapper has a method named transaction that is a generic - it takes a (f: => T) (so it's pass-by-name). I need to mock this class for an unit test. We're also using Mockito 1.10.19 (again, I know), which won't let me mock a pass-by-name (I believe...). So I'm stuck implementing the underlying trait that this wrapper class is built on.
The immediate problem is this: I want to mock this transaction method so it does nothing. The code I'm testing passes in a (f: => Unit). So I want to implement this method to return a Future.Done. (Did I mention we're using Finagle and not Scala futures?) But this method is generic. How do I properly specialize?
This is my current attempt:
val mockDBM = new DatabaseManager {
override def transaction[#specialized(Unit) T](f: => T): Future[T] = Future.value(f)
def transaction(f: => Unit): Future[Unit] = Future.Done
}
Of course, I get a have same type after erasure error upon compilation. Obviously I have no idea how #specialized works.
What do I do? Maybe I can use Mockito after all? Or I need to learn what specializing a generic method actually means?
I found this, which probably contains the answer, but I have no formal background in FP, and I don't grok this at all: How can one provide manually specialized implementations with Scala specialization?
#specialized doesn't let you provide specializations, it just generates its own. The answer provided in the linked question would require changing the signature. From the question it looks like you can't change it, in which case you are out of luck. If you can... you may still be out of luck, depending on how exactly this code is going to be called.
OTOH, the solution for "I want to disregard f, but can only return Future.Done if the generic is for a Unit type" is far simpler:
class Default[A] {
var x: A = _
}
object Default {
def apply[A]() = (new Default[A]).x
}
val mockDBM = new DatabaseManager {
override def transaction[T](f: => T): Future[T] = {
Future.value(Default(x))
}
}
Assuming you need a successful future, but don't care about value, that is; if you just need any future, override def transaction[T](f: => T): Future[T] = Future.???.

Anonymous functions with parameters

When you see code that follows this pattern:
def index = Action { request =>
// ..
}
Action trait: https://github.com/playframework/playframework/blob/master/framework/src/play/src/main/scala/play/api/mvc/Action.scala#L65
When looking at this code, how would you know that the request object is available to use within the code block? (is there a intellij shortcut for this?)
Can someone please create a miniature example of where you can mimic this pattern so I can understand how this works, and if you can explain in technical terms what is going on?
The Action trait is not of interest here. Instead, because the body of the index method must be a value, not a type, you are looking at the Action object. You can learn more about objects here. Let's first simplify the syntax by removing syntactic sugar, i.e. making the program behave the same but with simpler constructs. If you try to call an object as if it were a method, what really happens is that .apply is inserted for you by the compiler:
def index = Action.apply((request) => {
// ..
})
This may be more familiar; the apply method is being called on the Action object, passing a lambda function that takes a request. And obviously, an argument to a lambda is always available within that lambda. That's the point of them.
The lambda in this case is also known as a callback. A simple example that clarifies these features follows:
object WithAnswer {
def apply(f: Int => Unit): Unit =
f(42)
}
def printAnswer() = WithAnswer { answer =>
println(answer)
}
This is called as Loan pattern
withWriter creates a writer for the user and then ensures the resource (writer) is properly closely after using.
All that user has to do is just use the writer and write something to the file
def withWriter(file: File)(f: Writer => Unit): Unit = {
val writer = new PrintWriter(file)
try {
f(writer)
} finally {
writer close
}
}
Usage:
withWriter(new File("some_fix.txt") { writer =>
writer println("write something")
}

Type mismatch mapping Future[Seq[model]] using Play with Scala

I still struggle sometimes to map Futures using Play with Scala...
I am trying to pass to a view my entire Supply DB table (i.e. all the supplies in the DB).
I have tried two distinct ways but both have failed...
Below are the methods I've tried and the errors I get.
Can someone please help me solve this, and also explain me why both of these have failed?
Thank you in advance!
Note: Calling supplyService.all returns a Future[Seq[Supply]].
First attempt
def index = SecuredAction.async { implicit request =>
supplyService.all map { supplies =>
Future.successful(Ok(views.html.supplies.index(request.identity, SupplyForm.form, supplies)))
}
}
Second attempt
def index = SecuredAction.async { implicit request =>
val supplies = supplyService.all
Future.successful(Ok(views.html.supplies.index(request.identity, SupplyForm.form, supplies)))
}
First variant without Future.succesfull
supplyService.all.map( supplies => Ok(views.html.supplies.index(request.identity, SupplyForm.form, supplies)) )
Since you have can construct function Seq[Supply] => Result you can easily map
Future[Seq[Supply]] to Future[Result] via functor interface.
Future is also a monad , so you can use Seq[Supply] => Future[Result] with flatMap method.
But Future.successfull is monad unit , and as for many monads for Future its true that
mx.flatMap(f andThen unit) = mx.map(f)
so your
ms.flatMap(supplies => Future.successfull(f(supplies)) =
ms.flatMap(f andThen Future.successfull) =
ms.map(f)

Scala: implicitly convert to a generic subtype

My code heavily uses Akka and untyped actors.
An example of typical logic is as follows:
val myFuture: Future[Any] = akka.pattern.AskSupport.ask(myActorRef, myMessage)
val completedLogic: Future[Unit] = myFuture.map(myFunction)
myFunction then contains a strongly typed signature as follows:
def myFunction(): (Option[MyStronglyTypedClass]) => Unit = {
(myOption: Option[MyStronglyTypedClass]) => myOption foreach (myObject => // do some logic
}
I know that myFuture will always contain an instance of MyStronglyTypedClass or null for this particular actor. I will also know this for other actor/future/function combinations.
My problem comes when I look to create an implicit conversion from the Future[Any] to the Option[MyStronglyTypedClass] or Option[MyOtherStronglyTypedClass]
The implicit conversion will just do a null check and one other piece of logic before creating the Option
How do I go about performing this implicit conversion from Any to a subtype, or is it even possible?
You should, instead, convert to Future[Option[MyStronglyTypedClass]]:
def asMyStronglyTypedClass(x: Any): Option[MyStronglyTypedClass] = x match {
case null => None
case ...
}
// this will fail if myFuture fails or asMyStronglyTypedClass throws
val typedFuture = myFuture.map(asMyStronglyTypedClass)
and do what you want with this future. E.g.
typedFuture.onSuccess(myFunction)
EDIT: I missed you already have a map. In this case the issue is that you don't need to convert Future[Any] to Option, but its result (i.e. Any). You can write e.g. myFuture.map(asMyStronglyTypedClass).map(myFunction) or myFuture.map(x => myFunction(asMyStronglyTypedClass(x))). You could also make asMyStronglyTypedClass implicit and write myFuture.map(x => myFunction(x)). I still think it isn't a good idea, as it could get applied somewhere you don't expect.
If you really want to write myFuture.map(myFunction), you'll need a different implicit conversion to make the compiler understand:
implicit def contraMap(f: Option[MyStronglyTypedClass] => Unit): Any => Unit =
x => f(asMyStronglyTypedClass(x))
Of course, these can be made generic over your types, as mentioned in the comments.
Impliciy converting from Any to something else is something that you should never do because it effectively switches off Scala's type system. Converting the type of a future in a safe fashion can be done using
myFuture.mapTo[Option[MyStronglyTypedClass]]

In Scala, is there a way to have two overloaded methods that only differ in whether an implicit is available?

I'm writing a Scala application that accesses a database. Most of the time, there will be a connection available, but sometimes there won't be. What I'd like to do is something like the following:
object User {
def authenticate(username: String, password: String)
(implicit conn: Connection): Option[User] = {
// use conn to grab user from db and check that password matches
// return Some(user) if so, None if not
}
def authenticate(username: String, password: String): Option[User] = {
implicit val conn = DB.getConnection()
authenticate(username, password)
}
}
What I hoped would happen is that, if there's an implicit value of type Connection available, the compiler would use the first method. If not, it would use the second. Unfortunately, I've discovered that the compiler isn't quite that smart or, if it is, I'm not telling it what to do in the right way.
So, my basic question is, is there a way to write a method that expects an implicit argument and then provide an overloaded version of the same method that creates an acceptable value of the implicit parameter's type if there isn't one available.
You might say, "Why would you want to do such a thing? If you can create an acceptable value of the appropriate type, why not just always do it?" And that's mostly true, except that if I have an open database connection, I'd prefer to go ahead and use it rather than creating a new one. However, if I don't have an open database connection, I know where to get one.
I mean, the simple answer is to just give the two methods different names, but I shouldn't have to, gosh-darn-it. But maybe I do...
Thanks!
Todd
You don't need overloaded methods. Just give your implicit parameter a default value, i.e.
object User {
def authenticate(username:String, password:String)(implicit conn:Connection = null): Option[User] = {
val real_conn = Option(conn).getOrElse(DB.getConnection())
// do the rest with the real_conn
}
}
The cleaner solution which I can think of is using nested methods and as someone suggested, default values for implicits.
class Testclass {
def myMethod(a:Int)(implicit b:Option[Int]=None):Int = {
def myMethodInternal(a:Int, b:Int):Int = {
// do something
a+b
}
val toUse = b.getOrElse(30)
myMethodInternal(a,toUse)
}
}
Inside your method you define an myMethodInternal, which takes no implicits but only explicits parameters. This method will be visible only inside myMethod, and you will prepare your second parameter like the following:
val toUse = b.getOrElse(30)
And finally call your method with explicits parameters:
myMethodInternal(a,toUse)