producer

Overview

A producer is simply a function that gets executed when something interesting (a trigger) changes in state.

Any function can be turned into a producer by labeling it with producer. It allows using Engine features to interact with the state using observe, get, and update. It is also possible to use prop in producers, even though it is not possible to pass a value directly to the producer. producer receives same values as the view it is added to in props.

The syntax is straight forward:

const producer: producer = (
  {
    /* header */
  }
) => {
  /* body */
};

The header is a regular object that uses the Engine API to declare what data the producer needs at runtime.

{
  bar = observe.foo.bar,
  baz = get.foo.baz
}

The body part is left entirely to the developer. It's a normal function body.

Additionally, the producer function can return a callback for clean-up purposes. This will be called when the producer will be unmounted from the state and thus no longer in operation.

Running a producer

A producer can not be called directly. Engine considers a producer for execution if it is added to a view's .producers array, or is added to Engine's global producers list. e.g myProducer can added to a Button view with:

Button.producers([myProducer]);

producers are executed by Engine on following occasions:

1. Globally added producers are executed once when engine starts
2. producers added to a view's producers array are executed once every time the view is mounted
3. A producer is executed every time any of its observed value (also referred to as producer's trigger) is updated.

Example

observe, get and update are used in the first object argument of a producer function, which is referred to as the "header" of a function. In the header, Engine operators can be used to interact with state. For example

const todoCounter: producer = ({
  todosById = observe.todosById,
  updateCount = update.count
}) => (
  const count = Object.keys(todosById).length;

  updateCount.set(count);
);

Example with clean-up

const subscriber: producer = ({
  something = update.something
}) => (
  const stream = subscribeToStream(value => {
    something.set(value)
  })
  return () => {
    stream.unsubscribe()
  }
);

Parts

Although a producer is just a function, at a conceptual level it can be broken into parts with different/specific responsibilities:

Header

This is where you declare everything that the producer will need in the execution part.

It can take static data, variables, parent properties, path operations, argument references.

Full example:

const foo = 123
const producer: producer = ({
  varValue = foo,
  staticValue = 'sample text',
  propValue = prop.value,
  propValue2, // Same as prop.propValue2
  updateValue = update.sample.path,
  observeValue = observe.sample.value,
  getValue = get.sample.otherValue,
  refValue = arg.propValue2
}) => { ... }

Guards

Producers will be triggered by the Engine regardless of whether the data they depend on is valid or not. It is the producer's responsability to decide if the data is suitable for its execution needs.

Data from the triggers (i.e observe operations) should be checked first, and the producer should exit if its requirements aren't fulfilled.

const producer: producer = ({
  description = observe.description,
  summary = update.summary,
}) => {
  if (!description || !isString(description)) {
    return;
  }
  summary.set(description.substr(0, 20));
};

Guards can also be used to stop effects from happening (e.g. triggering another system):

import axios from 'axios'
const producer: producer = ({
  post = axios.post
  trigger = observe.submit,
  getUrl = get.url
  getData = get.data,
  updateData = update.data,
  updateError = update.error
}) => {
  if (!trigger) {
    return
  }

  const data = getData();
  const url = getUrl();

  if (!isValid(data) || !url) {
  updateError.set('Invalid state');
    return;
  }

  try {
    const response = await post(url, data);

    updateData.set(response.data);
  } catch (err) {
    updateError.set(err.message);
  }
}

Processing

Producers contain the logic of an Engine app. Any process (aka domain operation) can (and should) be defined as one ore more producers acting on some data. Processing data can be broadly categorized into two categories based on the kind of results they achieve.

Effects

Producers can call other systems, interact with the environment and produces changes that are not visible in the state.

For example making an XHR request to retrieve data, read the browser session storage, interact with the DOM API or set timers.

Updates

Producers can update the current state of the Engine app. The state can only be changed through the update operation.

This means, producers will be pushing new data to the Engine which in turn trigger other producers to execute and in turn update the state.

Clean-up

Producers can be long running by subscribing to streams, initiating long calls, using timers, etc. As such, when the producer is unmounted from the state, it is the producer's responsability to provide a callback for clean-up purposes. See the example above.

Note that a producer can be called multiple times so take care to not make duplicate subscribing, etc. To do so, you can store a flag on the state which you can check before creating the subscribe.

Also, all return values of a producer that are functions will be queued for the clean-up phase. In order to avoid duplicate calls to the clean-up function ensure that the subscribe and the clean-up return are only made in the subscribe scenario.

A producer can have multiple subscribes and clean-up functions (altough a best practice is to have multiple producers that handle their individual scenario):

// Possible, but not recommended
const foo: producer = ({
  a = observe.a,
  b = observe.b
  getListener = get.listeners[param.type],
  updateListener = update.listeners[param.type]
}) => {
  if (a && !getListener.value({type: "a"})) {
    const off = events.on("a.stuff", (event) => { ... )}
    updateListener.set(true, {type: "a"})
    return () => {
      off()
    }
  }
  if (b && !getListener.value({type: "b"})) {
    const off = events.on("b.stuff", (event) => { ... )}
    updateListener.set(true, {type: "a"})
    return () => {
      off()
    }
  }
}