Project: var_block - The Ruby Toolbox

About

DSL for variable scoping / encapsulation for readability and organisation, by means of block indents and explicit variable declarations
block is run in the context outside of it (as if you copy-paste the code from inside to outside the block)

Setup

Add the following to your Gemfile
```
gem 'var_block', '~> 1.1.0'
```
then run bundle install
to use:
```
require 'var_block'
```

Examples

Basic

varblock_with fruit: 'apple' do |v|
  puts varblock_get(v, :fruit)
  # => apple
end

Multiple

varblock_with(
  fruit: 'apple',
  vegetable: 'bean'
) do |v|
  puts varblock_get(v, :fruit)
  # => apple
  puts varblock_get(v, :vegetable)
  # => bean
end

Procs

current_fruit = 'banana'

varblock_with fruit: -> { current_fruit } do |v|
  puts varblock_get(v, :fruit)
  # => banana
end

Nesting

varblock_with fruit: 'orange' do |v|
  puts varblock_get(v, :fruit)
  # => orange

  v.varblock_with vegetable: 'lettuce' do |v|
    puts varblock_get(v, :fruit)
    # => orange
    puts varblock_get(v, :vegetable)
    # => lettuce
  end

  v.varblock_with vegetable: 'onion' do |v|
    puts varblock_get(v, :fruit)
    # => orange
    puts varblock_get(v, :vegetable)
    # => onion
  end
end

Overriding

varblock_with fruit: 'orange' do |v|
  v.varblock_with fruit: 'banana' do |v|
    puts varblock_get(v, :fruit)
    # => banana
  end
end

Merging

will wrap into an Array if not yet an Array

varblock_with fruits: 'apple' do |v|
  v.varblock_merge fruits: 'banana'

  puts varblock_get(v, :fruits)
  # => apple
  #    banana
end

will concatenate with the Array if already an Array

varblock_with fruits: ['apple', 'banana'] do |v|
  v.varblock_merge fruits: ['grape', 'mango']

  puts varblock_get(v, :fruits)
  # => apple
  #    banana
  #    grape
  #    mango
end

varblock_merged_with is just basically varblock_merge + varblock_with that accepts a block

varblock_with fruits: ['apple', 'banana'] do |v|
  v.varblock_merged_with fruits: ['grape', 'mango'] do |v|
    puts varblock_get(v, :fruits)
    # => apple
    #    banana
    #    grape
    #    mango
  end

  puts varblock_get(v, :fruits)
  # => apple
  #    banana
end

DSL Explanation

varblock_with(
  fruit: 'apple',
  vegetable: -> { 'bean' }
) do |v|
  puts v.class
  # => VarBlock::VarHash
  puts v.is_a? Hash
  # => true

  # from above, notice that a VarHash extends a Hash
  # therefore you can also use any Hash method as well like below.

  # NOT RECOMMENDED. use `varblock_get(v, :fruit)` instead when getting the value as it automatically evaluates the value, amongst others things
  puts v[:fruit]
  # => 'apple'
  puts varblock_get(v, :fruit)
  # => 'apple'
  puts v[:vegetable]
  # => #<Proc:0x00...>
  puts varblock_get(v, :vegetable)
  # => 'bean'

  # NOT RECOMMENDED. use `v.varblock_with(fruit: 'banana')` block instead when overwriting the value, as encapsulation is the main purpose of this gem
  v[:fruit] = 'banana'
  v.varblock_with(fruit: 'banana') do
    # ...
  end
end

Options

:truthy?

mimics "AND" logical operator for merged variables

varblock_with conditions: 1.is_a?(Integer) do |v|
  v.varblock_merge conditions: !false

  puts varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?)
  # => true
end

varblock_with conditions: 1.is_a?(String) do |v|
  v.varblock_merge conditions: !false

  puts varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?)
  # => false
end

condition1 = true
condition2 = true
condition3 = false
condition4 = true

varblock_with conditions: -> { condition1 } do |v|

  v.varblock_merged_with conditions: -> { condition2 } do |v|
    puts varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?)
    # => true
  end

  v.varblock_merged_with conditions: -> { condition3 } do |v|
    puts varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?)
    # => false

    v.varblock_merged_with conditions: -> { condition4 } do |v|
      # returns false because condition3 above is already false. This will not propagate and therefore would not run the proc above for condition4
      puts varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?)
      # => false
    end
  end
end

:any?

mimics "OR" logical operator for merged variables

varblock_with conditions: 1.is_a?(Integer) do |v|
  v.varblock_merge conditions: false

  puts varblock_get(v, :conditions, :any?)
  # => true
end

varblock_with conditions: 1.is_a?(String) do |v|
  v.varblock_merge conditions: false

  puts varblock_get(v, :conditions, :any?)
  # => false
end

condition1 = false
condition2 = false
condition3 = true
condition4 = false

varblock_with conditions: -> { condition1 } do |v|

  v.varblock_merged_with conditions: -> { condition2 } do |v|
    puts varblock_get(v, :conditions, :any?)
    # => false
  end

  v.varblock_merged_with conditions: -> { condition3 } do |v|
    puts varblock_get(v, :conditions, :any?)
    # => true

    v.varblock_merged_with conditions: -> { condition4 } do |v|
      # returns true because condition3 above is already true. This will not propagate and therefore would not run the proc above for condition4
      puts varblock_get(v, :conditions, :any?)
      # => true
    end
  end
end

Classes & Instances

class Fruit
  attr_accessor :name, :is_ripe

  def initialize(**args)
    args.each do |key, value|
      instance_variable_set("@#{key}".to_sym, value)
    end
    self
  end

  def self.set_edible(**args)
    @set_edible_proc = args[:if]
  end

  def self.set_inedible(**args)
    @set_inedible_proc = args[:if]
  end


  # usage example
  varblock_with(ripe_condition: -> { is_ripe }) do |v|
    set_edible if: -> { varblock_get(v, :ripe_condition) } 
  end

  varblock_with(unripe_condition: -> { !is_ripe }) do |v|
    set_inedible if: -> { varblock_get(v, :unripe_condition) }
  end



  def is_edible?
    instance_exec &self.class.instance_variable_get(:@set_edible_proc)
  end

  def is_inedible?
    instance_exec &self.class.instance_variable_get(:@set_inedible_proc)
  end
end

fruit = Fruit.new(name: 'apple', is_ripe: true)
fruit.is_edible?
# => true
fruit.is_inedible?
# => false

fruit = Fruit.new(name: 'banana', is_ripe: false)
fruit.is_edible?
# => false
fruit.is_inedible?
# => true

Advanced

you can specify a "scope"

varblock_with fruit: 'apple' do |v|
  v.varblock_with fruit: 'banana' do |vv|
    vv.varblock_with fruit: 'grape' do |vvv|
      vvv.varblock_with fruit: 'mango' do |vvvv|
        puts varblock_get(v, :fruit)
        # => apple
        puts varblock_get(vv, :fruit)
        # => banana
        puts varblock_get(vvv, :fruit)
        # => grape
        puts varblock_get(vvvv, :fruit)
        # => mango
      end
    end
  end
end

you can also store the variables for later use:

my_variables = nil

varblock_with fruits: 'apple' do |v|
  v.varblock_merged_with fruits: 'banana' do |v|
    my_variables = v
  end
end

my_variables.varblock_merged_with fruits: ['grape', 'mango'] do |v|
  puts varblock_get(v, :fruits)
  # => apple
  #    banana
  #    grape
  #    mango
end

Organising Complex Rails Validations (Gem's Initial Intended Purpose)

class Post < ApplicationRecord
  # let Post have attributes:
  #   title:string
  #   content:text
  #   category:integer
  #   publish_at:datetime

  CATEGORY_GENERAL = 1
  CATEGORY_PRIORITY = 2

  varblock_with conditions: [] do |v|

    v.varblock_merged_with conditions: -> { category == CATEGORY_GENERAL } do |v|

      validates :publish_at, presence: true, if: -> { varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?) }

      v.varblock_merged_with conditions: -> { content.blank? } do |v|

        validates :title, presence: true, if: -> { varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?) }
        validates :title, length: { maximum: 128 }, if: -> { varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?) }
      end

      v.varblock_merged_with conditions: -> { content.present? } do |v|

        validates :content, length: { maximum: 64 }, if: -> { varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?) }
        validates :title, length: { maximum: 64 }, if: -> { varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?) }
      end
    end

    v.varblock_merged_with conditions: -> { category == CATEGORY_PRIORITY } do |v|

      validates :title, :content, presence: true, if: -> { varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?) }
      validates :title, length: { maximum: 64 }, if: -> { varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?) }
      validates :content, length: { maximum: 512 }, if: -> { varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?) }
      validates :publish_at, presence: true, if: -> { varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?) }

      v.varblock_merged_with conditions: -> { publish_at && publish_at >= Date.today } do |v|

        validate if: -> { varblock_get(v, :conditions, :truthy?) } { errors.add(:publish_at, 'should not be a future date') }
      end
    end
  end
end

Motivation

I needed to find a way to group model validations in a Rails project because the model has lots of validations and complex if -> { ... } conditional logic. Therefore, in hopes to make it readable through indents and explicit declaration of "conditions" at the start of each block, I've written this small gem, and the code then has been a lot more readable and organised though at the expense of getting familiar with it.

TODOs

pass in also the binding of the current context where varblock_get is called into the variable-procs so that the procs are executed with the same binding (local variables exactly the same) as the caller context. Found dynamic_binding, but I couldn't think of a way to skip passing in binding as an argument to varblock_get in hopes to make varblock_get as short as possible

Contributing

pull requests and forks are very much welcomed! :) Let me know if you find any bug! Thanks

Thanks

to @Jörg W Mittag for the head start on how to approach to this problem: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43891007/how-to-define-a-kind-of-block-that-is-used-specifically-for-variable-scoping
to @Jack for his code snippet that I used to fail-safe when same-named methods are includeed which could potentially break dependencies if ignored : https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44156150/how-to-raise-error-when-including-a-module-that-already-has-same-name-methods

var_block

Development

About

Setup

Examples

Basic

Multiple

Procs

Nesting

Overriding

Merging

DSL Explanation

Options

:truthy?

:any?

Classes & Instances

Advanced

Organising Complex Rails Validations (Gem's Initial Intended Purpose)

Motivation

TODOs

Contributing

Thanks