I have a variable Object foo, which is not null. I want to use foo.bar, but only if it won't bomb me with 'No such property: bar for class: Whatever'.
How should I do the following test:
if (/*test-here*/) {
use(foo.bar)
}
Use object.hasProperty(propertyName). This will return a truthy value (the property reference) if the property exists. Also object.metaClass.hasProperty(instance, propertyName) is possible. Use object.respondsTo(methodName) to test for method existence.
I do this in my Gradle scripts:
if(project.hasProperty("propertyThatMightExist")){
use(propertyThatMightExist)
}
If you're doing it on lots of foos and bars you could write (once, but before foo is created):
Object.metaClass.getPropertySafe =
{ delegate.hasProperty(it)?.getProperty(delegate) }
Then you can write:
foo.getPropertySafe('bar')
This worked for me :
Customer.metaClass.properties.find{it.name == 'propertyName'}.
Customer in this example is a domain class. Not sure if it will work for a plain Groovy class
boolean exist = Person.metaClass.properties.any{it.name == 'propName'}
if propName is an attribute ,exist=true // vice versa
I can't speak for Groovy specifically, but in just about every dynamic language I've ever used the idiomatic way of doing this is to just do it, and catch the exception if it gets thrown, and in the exception handler do whatever you need to do to handle the situation sensibly.
Related
Actually I'm experimenting writing a DSL with groovy. So far ...
There are some things unclear to be regarding delegation and intercepting unwanted (Closure) structures:
first of all: How can I throw a (type of?) Exception to point to the correct line of code in the DSL that fails?
assuming
abstract MyScript extends Script {
def type(#DelegateTo(MyType) Closure cl) {
cl.delegate = new MyType()
cl()
this
}
}
under
new GroovyShell(this.class.classLoader, new CompilerConfiguration(scriptBaseClass: MyScript.name)).evaluate(…)
the passed DSL / closure
type {
foo: "bar"
}
passes silently.
I'm aware of, that foo: is just a POJ label but I'm not that sure what that defined Closure is interpreted as?
Neither did I found anything regarding the AST metaprogramming to get in touch of any defined labels to use them?
giving in
type {
foo = "bar"
}
it's clear that he will try to set the property foo, but do I really have to intercept unwanted fields/props by
class MyType {
def propertyMissing(String name) {
… // where I'm unable to println name since this leads to field access 'name' ...
}
}
while user is still allowed to pass
type {
foo "bar"
}
which leads to method not defined .. so I have to write additionally some metaClass.methodMissing or metaClass.invokeMethod stuff ..
meanwhile I tend to dismiss any closures in my dsl only working with simple
def type(Map vars) {
store << new MyType(vars)
// where in the constructor I was forced to write metaClass stuff to validate that only fields are given in the map that are defined in the class
}
that works, but both drafts are not what I expected to do when reading "groovy is so great for making DSLs" ...
I would experiment with the different options and then settle for one.
To guide your users you should give feedback similar to that of the regular compiler (i.e. line-number and column, maybe the expression).
Enforcing the correctness of the input can be non-trivial -- depending on your DSL.
For example:
type {
foo: "bar"
}
Is just a closure that returns the String bar. Is that something your user is supposed to do? The label will be part of the AST, AFAIK in org.codehaus.groovy.ast.stmt.Statement.statementLabels. If you want this syntax to assign something to foo then you'll need to rewrite the AST. The Expression could become a Declaration for the local Variable foo or could become an assignment for the Field foo. That's really up to you, however, Groovy gives you some capabilities that make creating a DSL easier:
You already used #DelegateTo(MyType) so you could just add a Field foo to MyType:
class MyType {
String foo
}
And then either use #CompileStatic or #TypeChecked to verify your script. Note that #CompileStatic will deactivate Run-time Metaprogramming (i.e. propertyMissing etc. won't be called anymore.) while #TypeChecked does not. This, however, will only verify Type-Correctness. That is: assigning to anything but a declared Field will fail and assigning an incompatible Type will fail. It does not verify that something has been assigned to foo at all. If this is required you can verify the contents of the delegate after calling the Closure.
in class standard class Dialog exist an Object declare (in classDeclaration)
Object caller;
In this class I'm able to get the caller class name. For example:
if (caller.name() == classStr(MyCallerClass) )
{
// manage-pass variable in caller class
}
If I catch in the IF, I want to pass a parameter in parm method in to MyCallerClass.
How I can pass a simple parameter? For example:
if (caller.name() == classStr(MyCallerClass) )
{
// MyCallerClass.myParmMethod(parameter);
}
Thanks.
Just call the method:
if (caller.name() == classStr(MyCallerClass))
caller.myParmMethod('abc');
As caller is of type Object the compiler accepts any method name, it uses duck typing.
A run time error happens if caller does not have the method.
That said, you should not change the standard Dialog class.
You might extend the class, though this is unlikely to be the right thing.
What you should do depends on information you do not give.
The correct & safe way is:
MyCallerClass myCalss;
if (caller && classidget(caller) == classnum(MyCallerClass))
{
myClass = caller;
myClass.myParmMethod('abc');
}
See examples in form.init methods.
I have a lot of code using and expecting java.util.Date which I would like to migrate to org.joda.time.LocalDate. The problem is that most of the code is dynamically typed.
So I wonder if there is any groovy way to intercept the ClassCastException, do the conversion at runtime (instead of letting the exception bubble up) and log the operation (so I could fix the code).
Example:
import org.joda.time.LocalDate
def someMethod(date) {
println date.year()
}
// this call is ok
someMethod(new LocalDate())
// this call raises an exception
someMethod(new Date())
I don't want to modify the code above, like surrounding the second call with a try-catch and recalling with the right type. I wanted a way to do this globally.
Idea 1:
You can benefit from Groovy multimethods: you write a method overload for the JodaTime's and let the java.util.Date method be chosen when it is a dynamic method parameter:
def someMethod(date) {
println date.year()
}
My advice is to write in this class a overload of these methods doing the conversion:
def someMethod(LocalDate date) {
someMethod date.convertToJavaDate()
}
If you don't have access to that code, you can use metaprogramming.
Idea 2:
If you have a huge library, my guess is that you are better mixing JodaTime class. You will get a power benefit from duck typing. You will need to know which members from java.util.Date are called and reroute them to Joda's own methods:
class LocalDateMixin {
def year() { this[Calendar.YEAR] }
}
LocalDate.metaClass.mixin LocalDateMixin
You can also apply the metaprogramming using extension methods.
I am currently using CSS to change everything I write to upperCase when I create an entry, but that is not enough. When I save things, the text shown in the text fields is upper case, but the real value that Grails stores stays in lower case.
I am assuming I'd need to change something in the controller or anything.
Maybe transforming the $fieldValue CSS could work??
Any ideas would help!
Thnks!
You could just write setters for your domain object?
class Domain {
String aField
void setAField( String s ){
aField = s?.toUpperCase()
}
}
I think you are asking how to change values on your domain objects to uppercase. If this is not the case please clarify the question.
You have a bunch of options. I would recommend
1) In a service method, before you save, using String.toUpperCase() to modify the appropriate values on the domain object.
or
2) You can use the underlying Hibernate interceptors by defining a beforeInsert method on your domain object, and doing the toUpperCase there. (see 5.5.1 of the grails documentation)
or
3) You could do this client side. However, if it is a "business requirement" that the values are stored as upper, then I recommend doing the translation server side. It is easier to wrap tests around that code....
Using annotations is cleanest approach
import org.grails.databinding.BindingFormat
class Person {
#BindingFormat('UPPERCASE')
String someUpperCaseString
#BindingFormat('LOWERCASE')
String someLowerCaseString
}
Here is link for it: Grails doc for data binding
You can use Groovy metaprogramming to change the setter for all domain class String-typed properties without actually writing a custom setter for each property.
To do this, add something like the following to the init closure of Bootstrap.groovy
def init = { servletContext ->
for (dc in grailsApplication.domainClasses) {
dc.class.metaClass.setProperty = { String name, value ->
def metaProperty = delegate.class.metaClass.getMetaProperty(name)
if (metaProperty) {
// change the property value to uppercase if it's a String property
if (value && metaProperty.type == String) {
value = value.toUpperCase()
}
metaProperty.setProperty(delegate, value)
} else {
throw new MissingPropertyException(name, delegate.class)
}
}
}
}
As new to groovy...
I'm trying to replace the java idiom for event listeners, filters, etc.
My working code in groovy is the following:
def find() {
ODB odb = ODBFactory.open(files.nodupes); // data nucleus object database
Objects<Prospect> src = odb.getObjects(new QProspect());
src.each { println it };
odb.close();
}
class QProspect extends SimpleNativeQuery {
public boolean match(Prospect p) {
if (p.url) {
return p.url.endsWith(".biz");
}
return false;
}
}
Now, this is far from what I'm used to in java, where the implementation of the Query interface is done right inside the odb.getObjects() method. If I where to code "java" I'd probably do something like the following, yet it's not working:
Objects<Prospect> src = odb.getObjects( {
boolean match(p) {
if (p.url) {
return p.url.endsWith(".biz");
}
return false;
}
} as SimpleNativeQuery);
Or better, I'd like it to be like this:
Objects<Prospect> src = odb.getObjects(
{ it.url.endsWith(".biz") } as SimpleNativeQuery
);
However, what groovy does it to associate the "match" method with the outer script context and fail me.
I find groovy... groovy anyways so I'll stick to learning more about it. Thanks.
What I should've asked was how do we do the "anonymous" class in groovy. Here's the java idiom:
void defReadAFile() {
File[] files = new File(".").listFiles(new FileFilter() {
public boolean accept(File file) {
return file.getPath().endsWith(".biz");
}
});
}
Can groovy be as concise with no additional class declaration?
I think it would have helped you to get answers if you'd abstracted the problem so that it didn't rely on the Neodatis DB interface -- that threw me for a loop, as I've never used it. What I've written below about it is based on a very cursory analysis.
For that matter, I've never used Groovy either, though I like what I've seen of it. But seeing as no one else has answered yet, you're stuck with me :-)
I think the problem (or at least part of it) may be that you're expecting too much of the SimpleNativeQuery class from Neodatis. It doesn't look like it even tries to filter the objects before it adds them to the returned collection. I think instead you want to use org.neodatis.odb.impl.core.query.criteria.CriteriaQuery. (Note the "impl" in the package path. This has me a bit nervous, as I don't know for sure if this class is meant to be used by callers. But I don't see any other classes in Neodatis that allow for query criteria to be specified.)
But instead of using CriteriaQuery directly, I think you'd rather wrap it inside of a Groovy class so that you can use it with closures. So, I think a Groovy version of your code with closures might look something like this:
// Create a class that wraps CriteriaQuery and allows you
// to pass closures. This is wordy too, but at least it's
// reusable.
import org.neodatis.odb.impl.core.query.criteria;
class GroovyCriteriaQuery extends CriteriaQuery {
private final c;
QProspect(theClosure) {
// I prefer to check for null here, instead of in match()
if (theClosure == null) {
throw new InvalidArgumentException("theClosure can't be null!");
}
c = theClosure;
}
public boolean match(AbstractObjectInfo aoi){
//!! I'm assuming here that 'aoi' can be used as the actual
//!! object instance (or at least as proxy for it.)
//!! (You may have to extract the actual object from aoi before calling c.)
return c(aoi);
}
}
// Now use the query class in some random code.
Objects<Prospect> src = odb.getObjects(
new GroovyCriteriaQuery(
{ it.url.endsWith(".biz") }
)
)
I hope this helps!
I believe your real question is "Can I use closures instead of anonymous classes when calling Java APIs that do not use closures". And the answer is a definite "yes". This:
Objects<Prospect> src = odb.getObjects(
{ it.url.endsWith(".biz") } as SimpleNativeQuery
);
should work. You write "However, what groovy does it to associate the "match" method with the outer script context and fail me". How exactly does it fail? It seems to me like you're having a simple technical problem to get the solution that is both "the groovy way" and exactly what you desire to work.
Yep, thanks y'all, it works.
I also found out why SimpleNativeQuery does not work (per Dan Breslau).
I tried the following and it worked wonderfully. So the idiom does work as expected.
new File("c:\\temp").listFiles({ it.path.endsWith(".html") } as FileFilter);
This next one does not work because of the neodatis interface. The interface does not enforce a match() method! It only mentions it in the documentation yet it's not present in the class file:
public class SimpleNativeQuery extends AbstactQuery{
}
Objects<Prospect> src = odb.getObjects(
{ it.url.endsWith(".biz") } as SimpleNativeQuery
);
In the above, as the SimpleNativeQuery does not have a match() method, it makes it impossible for the groovy compiler to identify which method in the SimpleNativeQuery should the closure be attached to; it then defaults to the outer groovy script.
It's my third day with groovy and I'm loving it.
Both books are great:
- Groovy Recipes (Scott Davis)
- Programming Groovy (Venkat Subramaniam)