GroovyShell and Binding.setVariable() for callable objects - groovy

Question

I am experimenting with some dynamic variable creation with GroovyShell and encountered an issue. First, the working code:
static def defVar(def glob) {
glob.setVariable('test', new Test())
}
class MyBinding extends Binding {
}
class Test {
def call() {
println("--- hello ---")
}
}
Binding glob = new MyBinding()
GroovyShell shell = new GroovyShell(glob)
defVar(glob)
shell.parse('test()').run()
This gives me the expected output:
--- hello ---
However, I want to call setVariable() dynamically when getVariable() is called, something like this:
static def defVar(def glob) {
glob.setVariable('test', new Test())
}
class MyBinding extends Binding {
def getVariable(String name) {
if (! hasVariable('test')) {
BindingTest.defVar(this)
}
return super.getVariable(name)
}
}
class Test {
def call() {
println("--- hello ---")
}
}
Binding glob = new MyBinding()
GroovyShell shell = new GroovyShell(glob)
//defVar(glob)
shell.parse('test()').run()
But this fails with the below error:
Caught: groovy.lang.MissingMethodException: No signature of method: Script1.test() is applicable for argument types: () values: []
Possible solutions: getAt(java.lang.String), use([Ljava.lang.Object;), use(java.lang.Class, groovy.lang.Closure), use(java.util.List, groovy.lang.Closure), wait(), wait(long)
groovy.lang.MissingMethodException: No signature of method: Script1.test() is applicable for argument types: () values: []
Possible solutions: getAt(java.lang.String), use([Ljava.lang.Object;), use(java.lang.Class, groovy.lang.Closure), use(java.util.List, groovy.lang.Closure), wait(), wait(long)
at Script1.run(Script1.groovy:1)
at Script1$run.call(Unknown Source)
at BindingTest.run(BindingTest.groovy:23)
When I added tracing code like this:
class MyBinding extends Binding {
def getVariable(String name) {
if (! hasVariable(name)) {
BindingTest.defVar(this)
}
println("getVariable: ${name}: ${super.getVariable(name).getClass().getName()}")
return super.getVariable(name)
}
void setVariable (String name, def val) {
println("setVariable: ${name}: ${val.getClass().getName()}")
super.setVariable(name, val)
}
def getProperty(String name) {
println("getProperty: ${name}: ${super.getProperty(name)}")
return super.getProperty(name)
}
void setProperty (String name, def val) {
println("setProperty: ${name}: ${val.getClass().getName()}")
super.setProperty(name, val)
}
}
In the working case, I get the below output:
setVariable: test: Test
--- hello ---
In the non-working case, I get this output:
setVariable: test: Test
getVariable: test: Test
Caught: groovy.lang.MissingMethodException: No signature of method: Script1.test() is applicable for argument types: () values: []
...
Two questions:
In the working scenario, why is there no getVariable?
In the non-working scenario, why is the Test object returned by getVariable getting rejected?
Note that this issue is specific to callable values. If I set a simple value such as a string, to test, then both approaches work fine. E.g., with this sort of a change:
...
static def defVar(def glob) {
glob.setVariable('test', '--- hello ---')
}
...
shell.parse('println(test)').run()
I get the below identical output with both approaches:
setVariable: test: java.lang.String
getVariable: test: java.lang.String
setVariable: test: java.lang.String
--- hello ---
Though, I am not sure why setVariable gets called twice. I couldn't find any documentation explaining these puzzling behaviors. Could anybody here shed some light on them?
Please note, all the code snippets have been simplified for the ease of demonstrating the problem rather than for their intended purpose

Answer 1

When you use a property as a callable fallback, the Binding.getVariable() method does not get involved. This behavior is controlled by the metaclass, and in your case, it all drives to the execution of the MetaClassImpl.invokePropertyOrMissing() method. This method determines if
test()
should invoke test.call() (in case of an existing property), or should it fallback to the missingMethod() method. Here is what this method implementation looks like:
private Object invokePropertyOrMissing(Object object, String methodName, Object[] originalArguments, boolean fromInsideClass, boolean isCallToSuper) {
// if no method was found, try to find a closure defined as a field of the class and run it
Object value = null;
final MetaProperty metaProperty = this.getMetaProperty(methodName, false);
if (metaProperty != null)
value = metaProperty.getProperty(object);
else {
if (object instanceof Map)
value = ((Map)object).get(methodName);
}
if (value instanceof Closure) { // This test ensures that value != this If you ever change this ensure that value != this
Closure closure = (Closure) value;
MetaClass delegateMetaClass = closure.getMetaClass();
return delegateMetaClass.invokeMethod(closure.getClass(), closure, CLOSURE_DO_CALL_METHOD, originalArguments, false, fromInsideClass);
}
if (object instanceof Script) {
Object bindingVar = ((Script) object).getBinding().getVariables().get(methodName);
if (bindingVar != null) {
MetaClass bindingVarMC = ((MetaClassRegistryImpl) registry).getMetaClass(bindingVar);
return bindingVarMC.invokeMethod(bindingVar, CLOSURE_CALL_METHOD, originalArguments);
}
}
return invokeMissingMethod(object, methodName, originalArguments, null, isCallToSuper);
}
Source: https://github.com/apache/groovy/blob/GROOVY_2_5_X/src/main/groovy/groovy/lang/MetaClassImpl.java#L1262-L1287
Now, pay attention to the branch if (object instanceof Script) and how the binding variable gets retrieved. It tries to retrieve test variable from binding object using:
Object bindingVar = ((Script) object).getBinding().getVariables().get(methodName);
Your code would work if it was:
Object bindingVar = ((Script) object).getBinding().getVariable(methodName);
instead. But it's not.
You can make your second case working if you override getVariables() method instead of getVariable(String name), for instance:
class MyBinding extends Binding {
#Override
Map getVariables() {
return super.getVariables() + [
test: new Test()
]
}
}
Of course, your final implementation might be much more sophisticated. (E.g. you could get super.getVariables() map first, check which variables are missing and add a default variable only if the initial map was missing given variable.) But this is up to you.
Alternatively, consider using methodMissing instead of the binding variable fallback. It could make your code much easier to read and reason about.