ES6 getter/setter with arrow function - ecmascript-6

I'm using babel6 and for my pet project I'm creating a wrapper for XMLHttpRequest, for the methods I can use:
open = (method, url, something) => {
return this.xhr.open(method, url, something);
}
but for the properties arrow function doesn't work
this works:
get status() { return this.xhr.status; }
but I can not use
get status = () => this.xhr.status;
Is this intentional?

According to the ES2015 grammar, a property on an object literal can only be one of three things:
PropertyDefinition:
IdentifierReference
PropertyName : AssignmentExpression
MethodDefinition
The only one of these type that allows a leading get is MethodDefinition:
MethodDefinition :
PropertyName ( StrictFormalParameters ) { FunctionBody }
GeneratorMethod
get PropertyName ( ) { FunctionBody }
set PropertyName ( PropertySetParameterList ) { FunctionBody }
As you can see, the get form follows a very limited grammar that must be of the form
get NAME () { BODY }
The grammar does not allow functions of the form get NAME = ....

The accepted answer is great. It's the best if you're willing to use normal function syntax instead of compact "arrow function syntax".
But maybe you really like arrow functions; maybe you use the arrow function for another reason which a normal function syntax cannot replace; you may need a different solution.
For example, I notice OP uses this, you may want to bind this lexically; aka "non-binding of this"), and arrow functions are good for that lexical binding.
You can still use an arrow function with a getter via the Object.defineProperty technique.
{
...
Object.defineProperty(your_obj, 'status', {
get : () => this.xhr.status
});
...
}
See mentions of object initialization technique (aka get NAME() {...}) vs the defineProperty technique (aka get : ()=>{}). There is at least one significant difference, using defineProperty requires the variables already exists:
Defining a getter on existing objects
i.e. with Object.defineProperty you must ensure that your_obj (in my example) exists and is saved into a variable (whereas with a object-initialization you could return an object-literal in your object initialization: {..., get(){ }, ... }). More info on Object.defineProperty specifically, here
Object.defineProperty(...) seems to have comparable browser support to the get NAME(){...} syntax; modern browsers, IE 9.

Related

How to make a reference of or call a member function if that member function exists

I want to check that if a member function of a particular name exists on a object, if it does call the member function or make a reference of that member function.
Here I don't have type of the object, i.e. the object maybe does not implement any interface but has a member function cancel().
I used this method (reflection) to check if the member function exists, i.e. if (object::class.members.any { it.name == "cancel" }) and when this statement returns true I am sure that the method does exist but compiler is still unsure that the 'cancel' method exist in the object or not
fun canceller(object: Any): KFunction<Any>?
{
var canceller: KFunction<Any>? = null
// check if object has member function 'cancel'
if (object::class.members.any { it.name == "cancel" })
{
// make reference of that member function and return it
canceller = object::cancel //cancel is still not recognized as a member function and gives an error that "Unresolved reference: cancel"
// or just call it now
// object.cancel()
}
return canceller
}
I expect that canceller variable should be assigned to value.cancel(), but the compiler is unsure that cancel() function exist (with an error "Unresolved reference: cancel") in the object even after we supplied a check inside if statement
It's not meant to be used like this. Reflection is something you use if you don't know at compile time what you are dealing with at runtime. Some examples:
you need to use a type that's configured in some properties file (Class.forName("someTypeString").newInstance())
you have written an utility that extracts the contents of your object for debugging purposes
you need to access code that isn't really visible to you (private fields that you can't easily access, but you need to)
many more... but most of the time very special use-cases
Now what you have shown is a function reference (object::cancel). In order to use a function reference the compiler must know the type of object and the cancel-function must exist for that type. As object is of type Any and the if-condition is only relevant at runtime, the compiler does not know that there is a cancel-function available and therefore compilation fails.
Note that if you aren't doing anything special, you should rather check for a common type/interface. So for example, if your objects implement an interface Cancellable you could just change your code to something as follows:
fun canceller(object: Any): KFunction<Any>? {
var canceller: KFunction<Any>? = null
// check if object is of type Cancellable
if (object is Cancellable) {
// make reference of the Cancellable::cancel-function
canceller = object::cancel // smart-cast acting
// or you could also call it directly: object.cancel()
}
return canceller
}
or probably you could just spare that function altogether and end up with something like just:
val someObj : Cancellable = ...
// somewhere later:
someObj.cancel()
Reflection is rather expensive and if you aren't entirely sure what it is useful for, you should not use it.
If you really knew what you were doing... then ok... it's of course also possible to call that function via reflection and if you ask for the existance of a function via reflection you also have to call it via reflection:
object::class.members.first {
// note: I am using just the first function... if there are several, you need to check which one to use (parameter/type)
it.name == "cancel"
}
.call(object)
I think you can use reflections for this purpose.
myObject.javaClass.kotlin.members.any { it.name == "cancel" }
And the better way to express the idea of "object that has all the variables" is to define the interface and have all those object implemented
interface Achiever { val name: String }

Function variable and an array of functions in Chapel

In the following code, I'm trying to create a "function pointer" and an array of functions by regarding function names as usual variables:
proc myfunc1() { return 100; }
proc myfunc2() { return 200; }
// a function variable?
var myfunc = myfunc1;
writeln( myfunc() );
myfunc = myfunc2;
writeln( myfunc() );
// an array of functions?
var myfuncs: [1..2] myfunc1.type;
writeln( myfuncs.type: string );
myfuncs[ 1 ] = myfunc1;
myfuncs[ 2 ] = myfunc2;
for fun in myfuncs do
writeln( fun() );
which seems to be working as expected (with Chapel v1.16)
100
200
[domain(1,int(64),false)] chpl__fcf_type_void_int64_t
100
200
So I'm wondering whether the above usage of function variables is legitimate? For creating an array of functions, is it usual to define a concrete function with desired signature first and then refer to its type (with .type) as in the above example?
Also, is it no problem to treat such variables as "usual" variables, e.g., pass them to other functions as arguments or include them as a field of class/record? (Please ignore these latter questions if they are too broad...) I would appreciate any advice if there are potential pitfalls (if any).
This code is using first class function support, which is prototype/draft in the Chapel language design. You can read more about the prototype support in the First-class Functions in Chapel technote.
While many uses of first-class functions work in 1.16 and later versions, you can expect that the language design in this area will be revisited. In particular there isn't currently a reasonable answer to the question of whether or not variables can be captured (and right now attempting to do so probably results in a confusing error). I don't know in which future release this will change, though.
Regarding the myfunc1.type part, the section in the technote I referred to called "Specifying the type of a first-class function" presents an alternative strategy. However I don't see any problem with using myfunc1.type in this case.
Lastly, note that the lambda support in the current compiler actually operates by creating a class with a this method. So you can do the same - create a "function object" (to borrow a C++ term) - that has the same effect. A "function object" could be a record or a class. If it's a class, you might use inheritance to be able to create an array of objects that can respond to the same method depending on their dynamic type. This strategy might allow you to work around current issues with first class functions. Even if first-class-function support is completed, the "function object" approach allow you to be more explicit about captured variables. In particular, you might store them as fields in the class and set them in the class initializer. Here is an example creating and using an array of different types of function objects:
class BaseHandler {
// consider these as "pure virtual" functions
proc name():string { halt("base name called"); }
proc this(arg:int) { halt("base greet called"); }
}
class HelloHandler : BaseHandler {
proc name():string { return "hello"; }
proc this(arg:int) { writeln("Hello ", arg); }
}
class CiaoHandler : BaseHandler {
proc name():string { return "ciao"; }
proc this(arg:int) { writeln("Ciao ", arg); }
}
proc test() {
// create an array of handlers
var handlers:[1..0] BaseHandler;
handlers.push_back(new HelloHandler());
handlers.push_back(new CiaoHandler());
for h in handlers {
h(1); // calls 'this' method in instance
}
}
test();
Yes, in your example you are using Chapel's initial support for first-class functions. To your second question, you could alternatively use a function type helper for the declaration of the function array:
var myfuncs: [1..2] func(int);
These first-class function objects can be passed as arguments into functions – this is how Futures.async() works – or stored as fields in a record (Try It Online! example). Chapel's first-class function capabilities also include lambda functions.
To be clear, the "initial" aspect of this support comes with the caveat (from the documentation):
This mechanism should be considered a stopgap technology until we have developed and implemented a more robust story, which is why it's being described in this README rather than the language specification.

Typescript: how to get function name as string without TS2339 error

I found the following example in the Function.name documentation
const o = {
foo(){}
};
o.foo.name; // "foo";
The problem in typescript (typed here):
const o: { foo: () => void } = {
foo: () => {
}
};
o.foo.name;
comes when I want to retrieve
o.foo.name, where I will get an error
TS2339 (property "name" does not exist)
How can I deal with it, keeping the object typing?
I want to avoid having to cast the property "foo" like (<any>o.foo).name
PS: The use case is to keep the typing for further refactoring. For instance the following is safe to be refactored:
spyOn(o, (<any>o.foo).name)
While this one is not
spyOn(o, "foo")
PS 2: It seems retrieving function name could be problematic on ts: Get name of function in typescript
The problem is that this code only works for newer versions of Javascript. If you change the target on the typescript compiler settings to es2015 the problem goes away. If you target es5 the definitions for that version do not include the name property because it might not work on older Javascript runtimes.
If you are ok with targeting es2015, that is ok, if not you should come up with a different solution that works for es5.
If you are targeting an environment that supports this property but you don't yet trust the es2015 implementation for all features, you could just add the the Function interface the missing property. At the top level in one of your files you can redefine the Function interface, and this will be merged into the default definition, adding the extra property:
interface Function {
/**
* Returns the name of the function. Function names are read-only and can not be changed.
*/
readonly name: string;
}
Post ES2015, this:
const o: { foo: () => void } = {
foo: () => { }
};
console.log(o.foo.name);
should work just fine.
Check it in the Typescript Playground, and observe the produced JavaScript. You will see the common sections with the foo example you mentioned.
Here is the console, nice and clean:
Pre-ES2015, this wouldn't work and I think you would have to cast it, if targeting post-ES2015 is not an option.

use page as argument in Umbraco

I'm trying to pass page as argument in Umbraco . and in a helper I need some properties of the page . like Name , ...
This is my code :
var PageWeAreInheritedFrom = CurrentPage;
#ShowBanner(PageWeAreInheritedFrom);
#helper ShowBanner(dynamic pageWeRIn)
{
if (pageWeRIn.bannerIsInherited)
{
#ShowBanner(pageWeRIn.Parent)
}
else
{
//here I want to have a switch case based on pageWeRIn.Name
//but I cant have it.
}
}
This is the Error .seems the page type is different in the helper method
A switch expression or case label must be a bool, char, string,
integral, enum, or corresponding nullable type
This is caused because pageWeRIn is dynamic and C#'s switch can't work with dynamic variables. I personally don't work with dynamics in my views but only with typed models. For more information see: http://24days.in/umbraco-cms/2015/strongly-typed-vs-dynamic-content-access/
A typed implementation would look somehthing like this (not tested):
#ShowBanner(Mode.Content);
#helper ShowBanner(IPublishedContent pageWeRIn)
{
if (pageWeRIn.GetPropertyValue<bool>("bannerIsInherited"))
{
#ShowBanner(pageWeRIn.Parent)
}
else
{
//use all the switches you want on pageWeRIn.Name
}
}
Another way to do it without changing the whole code would be to introduce a new variable that's typed (as Jannik explained in his comment) and then use a switch
string nodeName = pageWeRIn.Name
switch(nodeName){
// whatever
}

Can you bind a this value in a generator function

Given that you can't use arrow functions when you need to yield in its body, is it possible to set the this value for use in side the body.
I have made myself a database library which extends the "tedious" library that allows me to do something like the following
const self = this;
db.exec(function*(connection) {
let sql = 'SELECT * FROM myTable WHERE id = #id';
let request = connection.request(sql);
request.addParameter('id',db.TYPE.Int, myIdValue);
let count = yield connection.execSql(function*() {
let row = yield;
while(row) {
//process row with somthing like self.processRow(row);
row=yield;
}
});
if (count > 0) {
request = connection.request('some more sql');
//etc
}
return something;
}).then(something => {
//do some more things if the database access was a success
}).catch(error => {
// deal with any errors.
}) ;
I find I am increasingly needing to access the this value from the outside and am constantly doing the trick of assigning it to self at the head of the surrounding function.
Is it possible to set the this value with something like bind? inside the function* (at multiple levels down!)
Since I have full access to the iterators that I use to implement db.exec and connection.execSql I can change them if it's possible. to support it.
Generator use this as normal functions would.
You have few solutions:
use .bind on generator expression
pass this as first/second argument to generator named self
make db.exec take second argument thisArg, similar to array methods
If a thisArg parameter is provided to forEach(), it will be passed to callback when invoked, for use as its this value. Otherwise, the value undefined will be passed for use as its this value. The this value ultimately observable by callback is determined according to the usual rules for determining the this seen by a function.
I would suggest going with the last solution.