rhaj/rhai_engine/rhaibook/patterns/config.md

Loadable Configuration

{{#include ../links.md}}

* A system where settings and configurations are complex and logic-driven.

* Where said system is too complex to configure via standard configuration file formats such as
  `JSON`, `TOML` or `YAML`.

* The system is complex enough to require a full programming language to configure.
  Essentially _configuration by code_.

* Yet the configuration must be flexible, late-bound and dynamically loadable, just like a
  configuration file.

* Leverage the loadable [modules] of Rhai.  The [`no_module`] feature must not be on.

* Expose the configuration API.  Use separate scripts to configure that API.
  Dynamically load scripts via the `import` statement.

* Leverage [function overloading] to simplify the API design.

* Since Rhai is _sand-boxed_, it cannot mutate the environment.  To modify the external
  configuration object via an API, it must be wrapped in a `RefCell` (or `RwLock`/`Mutex` for
  [`sync`]) and shared to the [`Engine`].

Implementation

Configuration type

#[derive(Debug, Clone, Default)]
struct Config {
    id: String,
    some_field: i64,
    some_list: Vec<String>,
    some_map: HashMap<String, bool>,
}

Make shared object

type SharedConfig = Rc<RefCell<Config>>;

let config = SharedConfig::default();

or in multi-threaded environments with the [sync] feature, use one of the following:

type SharedConfig = Arc<RwLock<Config>>;

type SharedConfig = Arc<Mutex<Config>>;

Register config API

The trick to building a Config API is to clone the shared configuration object and move it into each function registration via a closure.

Therefore, it is not possible to use a [plugin module] to achieve this, and each function must be registered one after another.

// Notice 'move' is used to move the shared configuration object into the closure.
let cfg = config.clone();
engine.register_fn("config_set_id", move |id: String| cfg.borrow_mut().id = id);

let cfg = config.clone();
engine.register_fn("config_get_id", move || cfg.borrow().id.clone());

let cfg = config.clone();
engine.register_fn("config_set", move |value: i64| cfg.borrow_mut().some_field = value);

// Remember Rhai functions can be overloaded when designing the API.

let cfg = config.clone();
engine.register_fn("config_add", move |value: String|
    cfg.borrow_mut().some_list.push(value)
);

let cfg = config.clone();
engine.register_fn("config_add", move |values: &mut Array|
    cfg.borrow_mut().some_list.extend(values.into_iter().map(|v| v.to_string()))
);

let cfg = config.clone();
engine.register_fn("config_add", move |key: String, value: bool|
    cfg.borrow_mut().some_map.insert(key, value)
);

let cfg = config.clone();
engine.register_fn("config_contains", move |value: String|
    cfg.borrow().some_list.contains(&value)
);

let cfg = config.clone();
engine.register_fn("config_is_set", move |value: String|
    cfg.borrow().some_map.get(&value).cloned().unwrap_or(false)
);

Configuration script

┌────────────────┐
│ my_config.rhai │
└────────────────┘

config_set_id("hello");

config_add("foo");          // add to list
config_add("bar", true);    // add to map

if config_contains("hey") || config_is_set("hey") {
    config_add("baz", false);   // add to map
}

Load the configuration

import "my_config";         // run configuration script without creating a module

let id = config_get_id();

id == "hello";

Consider a Custom Syntax

This is probably one of the few scenarios where a [custom syntax] can be recommended.

A properly-designed [custom syntax] can make the configuration file clean, simple to write, easy to understand and quick to modify.

For example, the above configuration example may be expressed by this custom syntax:

┌────────────────┐
│ my_config.rhai │
└────────────────┘

// Configure ID
id "hello";

// Add to list
list + "foo";

// Add to map
map "bar" => true;

if config contains "hey" || config is_set "hey" {
    map "baz" => false;
}

Notice that contains and is_set may also be implemented as a [custom operator].