Create instance of object with only string of class name. - scala

Question

I'm new to scala and trying to figure things out as I go. I'm working with the Play 2.x framework and using Scala to build my app. I have a route defined
GET /:tableName controllers.Application.getTable(tableName)
In the controller I would like to take the name of the table and use it as I would the class. For example in the db if have a table named People. I would like it to map to the Slick model for People that has the function getAll. I looked into typeof[t], but couldn't get it to work. below it is an example of what I would like to do.
def getTable(tableName: String) = Action {
Ok(Json.toJson(typeOf[tableName].getAll))
}

Answer 1

You're going to need a bit more than that, to get this accomplished ;) First of all, Slick requires a DB session, so that needs to be handled somewhere. Meaning a Slick Table getAll won't work by itself.
I would do something like this (sorry, typing this up without an IDE, so it may not compile):
case class Person(...)
object People extends Table[Person](PeopleDAO.table) {
def * = ...
}
trait DAO[T] {
val table: String
def getAll: Seq[T]
}
object PeopleDAO extends DAO[Person] {
override val table = "people"
def getAll = {
DB withSession { implicit session =>
Query(People).list
}
}
}
object Controller {
def getTable(tableName: String) = Action {
val dao: DAO[_] = tableName.toLowerCase match {
case PeopleDAO.table => PeopleDAO
case _ => throw new IllegalArgumentException("Not a valid table.")
}
Ok(Json.toJson(dao.getAll))
}
}