Controll
Some nice and nifty utilities to help you manage complex controller logic.
Requirements
This gem is designed for Rails 3+ and currently only supports (has been tested with) Ruby 1.9+. The gem is under development but stable releases will be pushed to rubygems. Note that older versions may not support the same API described in the README. Go back in history and/or browse the code for that specific version.
Enjoy :)
Install
in Gemfile:
gem 'imperator-ext'
gem 'controll'
Bundle it!
$ bundle
Usage: See below, incl. the Generators section ;)
Background
This gem contains logic extracted from my oauth_assist gem (and engine) which was a response to this article oauth pure tutorial.
Note that the oauth_assist gem is not yet fully functional and done, as it "awaits" a stable release of this gem. Please feel free to help out in this effort!
Justification
As you can see, the following #create
REST action is a nightmare of complexity and flow control leading to various different flash messages and redirect/render depending on various outcomes...
Then I naturally thought: There MUST be a better way!
def create
# get the service parameter from the Rails router
params[:service] ? service_route = params[:service] : service_route = 'No service recognized (invalid callback)'
# get the full hash from omniauth
omniauth = request.env['omniauth.auth']
# continue only if hash and parameter exist
if omniauth and params[:service]
# map the returned hashes to our variables first - the hashes differs for every service
# create a new hash
@authhash = Hash.new
extract_auth_data!
if unknown_auth?
# debug to output the hash that has been returned when adding new services
render :text => omniauth.to_yaml
return
end
if @authhash[:uid] != '' and @authhash[:provider] != ''
auth = Service.find_by_provider_and_uid(@authhash[:provider], @authhash[:uid])
# if the user is currently signed in, he/she might want to add another account to signin
if user_signed_in?
if auth
flash[:notice] = 'Your account at ' + @authhash[:provider].capitalize + ' is already connected with this site.'
redirect_to services_path
else
current_user.services.create!(:provider => @authhash[:provider], :uid => @authhash[:uid], :uname => @authhash[:name], :uemail => @authhash[:email])
flash[:notice] = 'Your ' + @authhash[:provider].capitalize + ' account has been added for signing in at this site.'
redirect_to services_path
end
else
if auth
# signin existing user
# in the session his user id and the service id used for signing in is stored
session[:user_id] = auth.user.id
session[:service_id] = auth.id
flash[:notice] = 'Signed in successfully via ' + @authhash[:provider].capitalize + '.'
redirect_to root_url
else
# this is a new user; show signup; @authhash is available to the view and stored in the sesssion for creation of a new user
session[:authhash] = @authhash
render signup_services_path
end
end
else
flash[:error] = 'Error while authenticating via ' + service_route + '/' + @authhash[:provider].capitalize + '. The service returned invalid data for the user id.'
redirect_to signin_path
end
else
flash[:error] = 'Error while authenticating via ' + service_route.capitalize + '. The service did not return valid data.'
redirect_to signin_path
end
end
Using the tools contained in controll
the above logic can be encapsulated like this:
class ServicesController < ApplicationController
include Controll::Enabler
def create
execute # action.perform
end
end
A Flow
can use Executors to encapsulate execution logic, which again can execute Commands that encapsulate business logic related to the user Session or models (data).
The Flow takes the last event on the event stack and consults the ActionPaths registered, usually a Redirecter and Renderer. An ActionPath is a type of Action which can return a path. The Flow initiates an Executor which iterates the ActionPaths to find the first one which can match the event.
The first one with a match is returned as the Action, which the controller can then perform in order to either render or redirect.
If none of the ActionPaths can match the event, a Fallback Action is returned. The controller should then be configured to handle a Fallback Action appropriately.
Controll has built in Notification Management which work both for flash messages (or other types of notifications) and as return codes for use in flow-control logic.
All events in the event stack are processed and can fx be put on the flash hash according to event type, fx flash[:error]
for an :error
event etc.
The Notification system works by mapping events to messages in a central location, similar to mapping events to paths.
Using these Controll artifacts/systems, you can avoid the typical Rails anti-pattern of Thick controllers, without bloating your Models with unrelated model logic or pulling in various Helper modules which pollute the space of the Controller!
Usage
The recommended approach to handle complex Controller logic using Controll:
-
Enable Controll on Controller
-
Configure Controller with Flow, Commander and Notifier
-
Create Commands for Commander
-
Define events corresponding to commands
-
Configure Commander with Command methods
-
Create Flow
-
Configure Flow with Render and Redirect event mappings
-
Create Notifier
-
Configure Notifier with Event handlers and event -> message mappings
Controll enabling a Controller
In your controller include the Controll::Enabler
module.
class ServicesController < ApplicationController
before_filter :authenticate_user!, :except => accessible_actions
protect_from_forgery :except => :create
# see 'controll' gem
include Controll::Enabler
end
Better yet, to make it available for all controllers, include it in your ApplicationController or any base controller of your choice.
class ApplicationController
include Controll::Enabler
end
You can also include the Controll::Macros
module in a base Controller class of your choosing, fx:
class ApplicationController
include Controll::Macros
end
Then you can use the #enable_controll
macro in any subclass Controller class:
class ServicesController < ApplicationController
enable_controll
end
Controll configuration
In your Controller you should define a Notifier and Commander to be used.
class ServicesController < ApplicationController
enable_controll
...
protected
notifier :services
commander :services
# or simply (using naming convention)
controll :notifier, :commander
def create
create_action.perform
end
protected
def create_action
@create_action ||= Flows::CreateService.new(self)
end
fallback do |event|
event == :no_auth ? render(:text => omniauth.to_yaml) : fallback_action
end
def fallback_action
redirect_to root_url
end
end
Focused Controller config
In case you use Focused Controller, this can be strutctured even better like this:
class ServicesController
# could be extracted into "global" namespace for reuse across controllers...
module ControllAction
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
included do
controll :notifier, :commander, :flow
end
def fallback_action
redirect_to root_url
end
end
class Create < FocusedAction
include ControllAction
run do
execute
end
protected
fallback do |event|
event == :no_auth ? render(:text => omniauth.to_yaml) : fallback_action
end
end
end
Wow! Now we're talking!!!!
Creating a Commander
The Commander is your command center for a group of related commands. Typically you will want to define a Commander for a specific controller if the controller has more than 3 commands. If you put your Commander under the Commanders
namespace (module) you get direct access to the Commander constant to be used as subclass.
The Commander should contain a group of command methods that are conceptually in the same "category", fx all the command for a particular controller.
module Commanders
class Services < Commander
# create basic command methods
command_methods :cancel_commit, :create_account, :signout
# create custom command method with custom argument hash
def sign_in_command
@sign_in_command ||= SignInCommand.new auth_hash: auth_hash, user_id: user_id, service_id: service_id, service_hash: service_hash, initiator: self
end
command_method :sign_out do
@sign_out_command ||= SignOutCommand.new user_id: user_id, service_id: service_id, service_hash: service_hash, initiator: self
end
# delegations (alias for initiator_methods )
controller_methods :auth_hash, :user_id, :service_id, :service_hash
end
end
The Commander class extends
Imperator::Command::MethodFactorymaking
#command_methodand
#command_methods` available. These class macros can be used to create command methods that only take the initiator (in this case the controller) as argument.
For how to implement the Commands themselves, see the imperator-ext gem.
Flows
For Controller actions that require complex flow control, use a Flow:
module Flows
class CreateService < Flow
# event method that returns the event to be processed by the flow handler
event do
Executors::Authenticator.new(controller).execute
end
# configuration of the Renderer ActionHandler
# will return a Renderer Action if it matches the event
renderer :simple do
events :signed_in_new_user, :signed_in do
signup_services_path
end
end
# configuration of the Redirecter ActionHandler
# will return a Redirecter Action if it matches the event
redirecter :complex do
# redirection mappings for :notice events
event_map :notice do
{
signup_services_path: :signed_in_new_user
services_path: [:signed_in_connect, :signed_in_new_connect]
root_url: [:signed_in_user, :other]
}
end
# redirection mappings for :error events
event_map :error, signin_path: [:error, :invalid, :auth_error]
end
end
end
The #renderer
and #redirector
macros will each create a Class of the same name that inherit from Controll::Flow::ActionMapper::Simple or Controll::Flow::ActionMapper::Complex.
You can also define these classes directly yourself instead of using the macros.
The simple action mapper maps a list of events to a single path and otherwise falls back.
The complex action mapper maps the event to an event hash for each registered event type.
In the Redirecter
class we are setting up a mapping for various paths, for each path specifying which events should cause a redirect to that path.
If you are rendering or redirecting to paths that take arguments, you can either extend the #action
class method of your Redirect or Render class implementation or you can define a #use_alternatives
method in your Flow
that contains this particular flow logic.
Note: For mapping paths that take arguments, there should be an option to take a block (closure) to be late-evaluated on the controller context ;)
The Executor
The Authenticator
class shown below inherits from Executor::Notificator
which uses #method_missing
in order to delegate any missing method back to the controller of the Executor. The Flow passed in the controller. This means that calls can be executed directly on the controller, such as making notifications etc.
The #result
call at the end of #execute
ensures that the last notification event is returned, to be used for deciding what to render or where to redirect (see Flow).
module Executors
class Authenticator < Controlled
# ensures pattern:
# - perform validations and only execute command if no error
def execute
super
result
end
protected
controller_methods :omniauth, :service, :auth_hash, :auth_valid?
def do_command
command! :sign_in
end
def validations
# creates an error notification named :error
error and return unless valid_params?
# creates an error notification named :auth_invalid
error(:auth_invalid) and return unless auth_valid?
end
def valid_params?
omniauth and service and auth_hash
end
end
end
Alternatively you can use the execute block macro to generate the #execute
instance method and ensure that it ends by returning result.
execute do
# error/validation checks? ...
command! :sign_in
end
To encapsulate more complex busines logic affecting the user Session or Model data, we execute an Imperator Command (see imperator
gem) called :sign_in that we registered in the Commander of the Controller.
Notifier
Now we are finally ready to define the notifier to handle the different types of notification events.
The example below demonstrates several different ways you can define messages for events:
- using the
#messages
method to return a hash of mappings. - define a method for the event name that returns a String (handles argument replacement)
- i18n locale mapping
[handler class path].[notification type].[event name]
.
module Notifiers
class Services < Typed
handler :error do
messages do
{
must_sign_in: 'You need to sign in before accessing this page!',
auth_service_error: %q{There was an error at the remote authentication service.
You have not been signed in.},
cant_delete_current_account: 'You are currently signed in with this account!',
user_save_error: 'This is embarrassing! There was an error while creating your account from which we were not able to recover.',
}
end
msg :auth_error! do
"Error while authenticating via #{service_name}. The service did not return valid data."
end
msg :auth_invalid! do
'Error while authenticating via {{full_route}}. The service returned invalid data for the user id.'
end
end
handler :notice do
# for :signed_in and :signed_out - defined in locale file under:
# notifiers:
# services:
# notice:
# signed_in: 'Your account has been created and you have been signed in!'
# signed_out: 'You have been signed out!'
msg :already_connected do
'Your account at {{provider_name}} is already connected with this site.'
end
msg :account_added do
'Your {{provider_name}} account has been added for signing in at this site.'
end
msg :sign_in_success do
'Signed in successfully via {{provider_name}}.'
end
end
end
end
Rails Generators
Setup generator
$ rails g controll:setup
Generate only specific controll folders
$ rails g controll:setup commanders notifiers
Controll artifact generators
- assistant
- executor
- flow
- notifier
Example usage:
$ rails g controll:flow create_service
Use -h
for help on any specific controller for more usage options and info.
Notice
Due to a lot of recent API changes in order to simplify and improve usage, the README docs for the API might potentially contain a few inconsistencies with the code. Please notify me if you spot one. Thanks. See the specs and/or code in order to see the real API in this case.
Contributing to controll
- Check out the latest master to make sure the feature hasn't been implemented or the bug hasn't been fixed yet.
- Check out the issue tracker to make sure someone already hasn't requested it and/or contributed it.
- Fork the project.
- Start a feature/bugfix branch.
- Commit and push until you are happy with your contribution.
- Make sure to add tests for it. This is important so I don't break it in a future version unintentionally.
- Please try not to mess with the Rakefile, version, or history. If you want to have your own version, or is otherwise necessary, that is fine, but please isolate to its own commit so I can cherry-pick around it.
Copyright
Copyright (c) 2012 Kristian Mandrup. See LICENSE.txt for further details.