Raj Compose

Program composition for Raj

npm install raj-compose

The raj-compose package contains utilities to reduce the boilerplate of building up large applications from small programs.

Documentation

The package contains the following utilities:

• mapEffect(effect, callback)
• batchEffects(effects)
• mapProgram(program, callback)
• batchPrograms(programs, containerView)
• assembleProgram({ data, view, logic, deps, options })

mapEffect

mapEffect(effect: function?, callback(any): any): function?

The mapEffect function "lifts" a given effect so that callback transforms each message produced by that effect before dispatch.

The mapEffect function accepts a effect function or a falsy value and a callback function. If the effect is truthy but not a function, an error will throw. If the callback is not a function, an error will throw. The mapEffect returns either the falsy effect value or a new effect function.

Example

We want to distinguish the messages dispatched by an effect. We use mapEffect to wrap each message in an "important" wrapper.

import assert from 'assert'
import { mapEffect } from 'raj-compose'
 
const effect = dispatch => {
  dispatch('Hello')
  dispatch('World')
}
 
const importantEffect = mapEffect(effect, message => ({
  type: 'important',
  value: message
}))
 
const messages = []
importantEffect(message => {
  messages.push(message)
})
 
assert.deepEqual(messages, [
  { type: 'important', value: 'Hello' },
  { type: 'important', value: 'World' }
])

batchEffects

batchEffects(effects: Array<function?>): function

The batchEffects function takes an array of effects and returns a new function which will call each effect. If an effect is truthy but not a function, an error will throw.

Example

We have two effects we want to run together. We use batchEffects to combine them into a single effect.

import assert from 'assert'
import { batchEffects } from 'raj-compose'
 
const one = dispatch => dispatch('Hello')
const two = dispatch => dispatch('World')
const all = batchEffects([one, two])
 
const messages = []
all(message => {
  messages.push(message)
})
 
assert.deepEqual(messages, [
  'Hello',
  'World'
])

mapProgram

mapProgram(program: RajProgram, callback): RajProgram

Like mapEffect, mapProgram "lifts" all messages from program with the callback function and returns a new program. If program is not shaped like a Raj program, an error will throw. If callback is not a function, an error will throw.

The mapProgram function:

• transforms the program.init optional effect messages with callback
• transforms each program.update() optional effect messages with callback
• transforms each program.view() dispatched message with callback

This function encapsulates all program messages for its parent program to pass down to the child.

The new program's update() parameters are the same as the original's. The view() state is the child program's state and dispatch is the parent's dispatch function.

batchPrograms

batchPrograms(programs: Array<RajProgram>, containerView: function): RajProgram

The batchPrograms function takes an array of programs and a containerView function and creates a new program which manages those child programs. If any item in the programs array is not a program, an error will throw. If containerView is not a function, an error will throw.

The containerView receives an array of functions which return views for each respective program.

Example

We have a main view and a sidebar view that we would like to display at the same time. We are using React as our view layer so we are using JSX to describe our HTML. We use the batchPrograms to unite the two programs in the same app view.

import React from 'react'
import { batchPrograms } from 'raj-compose'
import mainProgram from './main'
import sidebarProgram from './sidebar'
 
export default batchPrograms(
  [mainProgram, sidebarProgram],
  ([mainView, sideView]) => (
    <div id='app'>
      <div id='side'>{sideView()}</div>
      <div id='main'>{mainView()}</div>
    </div>
  )
)

assembleProgram

assembleProgram({data, view, logic, dataOptions, viewOptions, logicOptions}): RajProgram

The assembleProgram function takes three functions:

• data(dataOptions)
• view(model, dispatch, viewOptions)
• logic(data(dataOptions), logicOptions)

The dataOptions, viewOptions, logicOptions, and return value of data can be anything that makes sense to the program. This will return a program where logic() would return an object containing {init, update, done, ...} properties that merge in with view.

This function is good for separating the concerns common to most programs: data-fetching, views, and business logic. The assemble pattern is useful as each function can be tested in isolation. Structuring programs in this manner is recommended when data-fetching is involved.

import { assembleProgram } from 'raj-compose'
 
export const data = ({ httpClient }) => ({
  getPosts (dispatch) {
    httpClient.get('/posts')
      .then(data => dispatch({ data }))
      .catch(error => dispatch({ error }))
  }
})
 
export function view (model, dispatch, options) {
  // show a list of posts
}
 
export function logic (data, options) {
  const init = [
    {
      posts: [],
      loadError: null
    },
    data.getPosts
  ]
 
  function update (msg, model) {
    if (msg.error) {
      return [{ ...model, loadError: model.error }]
    } else {
      return [{ ...model, posts: msg.data.posts }]
    }
  }
 
  return { init, update }
}
 
export function makeProgram (httpClient) {
  return assembleProgram({
    data,
    view,
    logic,
    dataOptions: { httpClient }
  })
}