module StateMachine::Integrations::DataMapper

Adds support for integrating state machines with DataMapper resources.

Examples

Below is an example of a simple state machine defined within a DataMapper resource:

class Vehicle
  include DataMapper::Resource

  property :id, Serial
  property :name, String
  property :state, String

  state_machine :initial => :parked do
    event :ignite do
      transition :parked => :idling
    end
  end
end

The examples in the sections below will use the above class as a reference.

Actions

By default, the action that will be invoked when a state is transitioned is the save action. This will cause the resource to save the changes made to the state machine’s attribute. Note that if any other changes were made to the resource prior to transition, then those changes will be saved as well.

For example,

vehicle = Vehicle.create          # => #<Vehicle id=1 name=nil state="parked">
vehicle.name = 'Ford Explorer'
vehicle.ignite                    # => true
vehicle.reload                    # => #<Vehicle id=1 name="Ford Explorer" state="idling">

Events

As described in StateMachine::InstanceMethods#state_machine, event attributes are created for every machine that allow transitions to be performed automatically when the object’s action (in this case, :save) is called.

In DataMapper, these automated events are run in the following order:

For example,

vehicle = Vehicle.create          # => #<Vehicle id=1 name=nil state="parked">
vehicle.state_event               # => nil
vehicle.state_event = 'invalid'
vehicle.valid?                    # => false
vehicle.errors                    # => #<DataMapper::Validate::ValidationErrors:0xb7a48b54 @errors={"state_event"=>["is invalid"]}>

vehicle.state_event = 'ignite'
vehicle.valid?                    # => true
vehicle.save                      # => true
vehicle.state                     # => "idling"
vehicle.state_event               # => nil

Note that this can also be done on a mass-assignment basis:

vehicle = Vehicle.create(:state_event => 'ignite')  # => #<Vehicle id=1 name=nil state="idling">
vehicle.state                                       # => "idling"

This technique is always used for transitioning states when the save action (which is the default) is configured for the machine.

Security implications

Beware that public event attributes mean that events can be fired whenever mass-assignment is being used. If you want to prevent malicious users from tampering with events through URLs / forms, the attribute should be protected like so:

class Vehicle
  include DataMapper::Resource
  ...

  state_machine do
    ...
  end
  protected :state_event
end

If you want to only have some events be able to fire via mass-assignment, you can build two state machines (one public and one protected) like so:

class Vehicle
  include DataMapper::Resource
  ...

  state_machine do
    # Define private events here
  end
  protected :state_event= # Prevent access to events in the first machine

  # Allow both machines to share the same state
  state_machine :public_state, :attribute => :state do
    # Define public events here
  end
end

Within DataMapper Hooks

DataMapper protects against the potential for system stack errors resulting from infinite loops by preventing records from being saved multiple times within save hooks. You need to be acutely aware of this when interacting with state_machine within save hooks. There are two things to keep in mind:

  1. You cannot run a state_machine event during an ‘after :save/:create` hook.

  2. If you need to run a state_machine event during a ‘before :save/:create/etc.` hook, then you have to force the machine’s action to be skipped by passing ‘false` in as an argument to the event.

For example:

class Vehicle
  include DataMapper::Resource
  ...

  state_machine :initial => :parked do
    event :ignite do
      transition :parked => :idling
    end
  end

  # This will allow the event to transition without attempting to save a second time
  before :create { ignite(false) }

  # This will never work because DataMapper will refuse to save the
  # changes since we're still inside of a transaction
  # after :create { ignite }
end

While the above will work, in reality you should typically just set the ‘state_event` attribute in `#initialize` to automatically transition an object on creation.

Transactions

By default, the use of transactions during an event transition is turned off to be consistent with DataMapper. This means that if changes are made to the database during a before callback, but the transition fails to complete, those changes will not be rolled back.

For example,

class Message
  include DataMapper::Resource

  property :id, Serial
  property :content, String
end

Vehicle.state_machine do
  before_transition do |transition|
    Message.create(:content => transition.inspect)
    throw :halt
  end
end

vehicle = Vehicle.create      # => #<Vehicle id=1 name=nil state="parked">
vehicle.ignite                # => false
Message.all.count             # => 1

To turn on transactions:

class Vehicle
  include DataMapper::Resource
  ...

  state_machine :initial => :parked, :use_transactions => true do
    ...
  end
end

Validation errors

If an event fails to successfully fire because there are no matching transitions for the current record, a validation error is added to the record’s state attribute to help in determining why it failed and for reporting via the UI.

For example,

vehicle = Vehicle.create(:state => 'idling')  # => #<Vehicle id=1 name=nil state="idling">
vehicle.ignite                                # => false
vehicle.errors.full_messages                  # => ["cannot transition via \"ignite\""]

If an event fails to fire because of a validation error on the record and not because a matching transition was not available, no error messages will be added to the state attribute.

In addition, if you’re using the ignite! version of the event, then the failure reason (such as the current validation errors) will be included in the exception that gets raised when the event fails. For example, assuming there’s a validation on a field called name on the class:

vehicle = Vehicle.new
vehicle.ignite!       # => StateMachine::InvalidTransition: Cannot transition state via :ignite from :parked (Reason(s): Name cannot be blank)

Scopes

To assist in filtering models with specific states, a series of class methods are defined on the model for finding records with or without a particular set of states.

These named scopes are the functional equivalent of the following definitions:

class Vehicle
  include DataMapper::Resource

  property :id, Serial
  property :state, String

  class << self
    def with_states(*states)
      all(:state => states.flatten)
    end
    alias_method :with_state, :with_states

    def without_states(*states)
      all(:state.not => states.flatten)
    end
    alias_method :without_state, :without_states
  end
end

Note, however, that the states are converted to their stored values before being passed into the query.

Because of the way scopes work in DataMapper, they can be chained like so:

Vehicle.with_state(:parked).all(:order => [:id.desc])

Note that states can also be referenced by the string version of their name:

Vehicle.with_state('parked')

Callbacks / Observers

All before/after transition callbacks defined for DataMapper resources behave in the same way that other DataMapper hooks behave. Rather than passing in the record as an argument to the callback, the callback is instead bound to the object and evaluated within its context.

For example,

class Vehicle
  include DataMapper::Resource

  property :id, Serial
  property :state, String

  state_machine :initial => :parked do
    before_transition any => :idling do
      put_on_seatbelt
    end

    before_transition do |transition|
      # log message
    end

    event :ignite do
      transition :parked => :idling
    end
  end

  def put_on_seatbelt
    ...
  end
end

Note, also, that the transition can be accessed by simply defining additional arguments in the callback block.

In addition to support for DataMapper-like hooks, there is additional support for DataMapper observers. See StateMachine::Integrations::DataMapper::Observer for more information.

Failure callbacks

after_failure callbacks allow you to execute behaviors when a transition is allowed, but fails to save. This could be useful for something like auditing transition attempts. Since callbacks run within transactions in DataMapper, a save failure will cause any records that get created in your callback to roll back. Note that this is only a problem if the machine is configured to use transactions. If it is, you can work around this issue like so:

DataMapper.setup(:default, 'mysql://localhost/app')
DataMapper.setup(:logs, 'mysql://localhost/app')

class TransitionLog
  include DataMapper::Resource
end

class Vehicle < ActiveRecord::Base
  include DataMapper::Resource

  state_machine :use_transactions => true do
    after_failure do |transition|
      DataMapper.repository(:logs) do
        TransitionLog.create(:vehicle => vehicle, :transition => transition)
      end
    end

    ...
  end
end

The failure callback creates TransitionLog records using a second connection to the database, allowing them to be saved without being affected by rollbacks in the Vehicle resource’s transaction.

Callback Order

Callbacks occur in the following order. Callbacks specific to state_machine are bolded. The remaining callbacks are part of ActiveRecord.

Public Class Methods

active?() click to toggle source
  # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper/versions.rb
5 def self.active?
6   ::DataMapper::VERSION =~ /^0\.\d\./ || ::DataMapper::VERSION =~ /^0\.10\./
7 end
matching_ancestors() click to toggle source

Classes that include DataMapper::Resource will automatically use the DataMapper integration.

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
356 def self.matching_ancestors
357   %w(DataMapper::Resource)
358 end

Public Instance Methods

define_action_helpers?() click to toggle source

0.9.4 - 0.9.6 fails to run after callbacks when validations are enabled because of the way dm-validations integrates

Calls superclass method
   # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper/versions.rb
41 def define_action_helpers?
42   super if action != :save || !supports_validations?
43 end
errors_for(object) click to toggle source

Describes the current validation errors on the given object. If none are specific, then the default error is interpeted as a “halt”.

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
373 def errors_for(object)
374   if object.errors.empty?
375     'Transition halted'
376   else
377     errors = []
378     object.errors.each_pair do |field_name, field_errors|
379       field_errors.each {|error| errors << "#{field_name} #{error}"}
380     end
381     errors * ', '
382   end
383 end
invalidate(object, attribute, message, values = []) click to toggle source

Adds a validation error to the given object

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
367 def invalidate(object, attribute, message, values = [])
368   object.errors.add(self.attribute(attribute), generate_message(message, values)) if supports_validations?
369 end
reset(object) click to toggle source

Resets any errors previously added when invalidating the given object

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
386 def reset(object)
387   object.errors.clear if supports_validations?
388 end

Protected Instance Methods

add_callback(type, options, &block) click to toggle source

Creates a new callback in the callback chain, always ensuring that it’s configured to bind to the object as this is the convention for DataMapper/Extlib callbacks

Calls superclass method
    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
505 def add_callback(type, options, &block)
506   options[:bind_to_object] = true
507   super
508 end
after_initialize() click to toggle source

Initializes class-level extensions and defaults for this machine

Calls superclass method
    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
392 def after_initialize
393   super
394   load_observer_extensions
395 end
attribute_property() click to toggle source

Gets the property for this machine’s attribute (if it exists)

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
413 def attribute_property
414   owner_class.properties.detect {|property| property.name == attribute}
415 end
create_with_scope(name) click to toggle source

Creates a scope for finding records with a particular state or states for the attribute

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
486 def create_with_scope(name)
487   lambda {|resource, values| resource.all(attribute => values)}
488 end
create_without_scope(name) click to toggle source

Creates a scope for finding records without a particular state or states for the attribute

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
492 def create_without_scope(name)
493   lambda {|resource, values| resource.all(attribute.to_sym.not => values)}
494 end
define_action_helpers() click to toggle source

Adds hooks into validation for automatically firing events

Calls superclass method
    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
447         def define_action_helpers
448           if action_hook == :save
449             define_helper :instance, <<-end_eval, __FILE__, __LINE__ + 1
450               def save(*)
451                 result = self.class.state_machines.transitions(self, :save).perform { super }
452                 assert_save_successful(:save, result)
453                 result
454               end
455               
456               def save!(*)
457                 result = self.class.state_machines.transitions(self, :save).perform { super }
458                 assert_save_successful(:save!, result)
459                 result
460               end
461               
462               def save_self(*)
463                 self.class.state_machines.transitions(self, :save).perform { super }
464               end
465             end_eval
466             
467             define_validation_hook
468           else
469             super
470           end
471         end
define_state_accessor() click to toggle source

Skips defining reader/writer methods since this is done automatically

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
434 def define_state_accessor
435   owner_class.property(attribute, String) unless attribute_property
436   
437   if supports_validations?
438     name = self.name
439     owner_class.validates_with_block(attribute) do
440       machine = self.class.state_machine(name)
441       machine.states.match(self) ? true : [false, machine.generate_message(:invalid)]
442     end
443   end
444 end
define_state_initializer() click to toggle source

Defines an initialization hook into the owner class for setting the initial state of the machine before any attributes are set on the object

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
425         def define_state_initializer
426           define_helper :instance, <<-end_eval, __FILE__, __LINE__ + 1
427             def initialize(*args)
428               self.class.state_machines.initialize_states(self, :static => :force) { super }
429             end
430           end_eval
431         end
define_validation_hook() click to toggle source

Adds hooks into validation for automatically firing events

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
474         def define_validation_hook
475           if supports_validations?
476             define_helper :instance, <<-end_eval, __FILE__, __LINE__ + 1
477               def valid?(*)
478                 self.class.state_machines.transitions(self, :save, :after => false).perform { super }
479               end
480             end_eval
481           end
482         end
load_observer_extensions() click to toggle source

Loads extensions to DataMapper’s Observers

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
398 def load_observer_extensions
399   require 'state_machine/integrations/data_mapper/observer' if ::DataMapper.const_defined?('Observer')
400 end
owner_class_attribute_default() click to toggle source

Gets the db default for the machine’s attribute

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
408 def owner_class_attribute_default
409   attribute_property && attribute_property.default
410 end
pluralize(word) click to toggle source

Pluralizes the name using the built-in inflector

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
418 def pluralize(word)
419   ::DataMapper::Inflector.pluralize(word.to_s)
420 end
supports_validations?() click to toggle source

Is validation support currently loaded?

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
403 def supports_validations?
404   @supports_validations ||= ::DataMapper.const_defined?('Validate')
405 end
transaction(object) { || ... } click to toggle source

Runs a new database transaction, rolling back any changes if the yielded block fails (i.e. returns false).

    # File lib/state_machine/integrations/data_mapper.rb
498 def transaction(object)
499   object.class.transaction {|t| t.rollback unless yield}
500 end