The Registry, selectors and application objects

===============================================

This chapter deals with some of the  core concepts of the |cubicweb| framework

which make it different from other frameworks (and maybe not easy to

grasp at a first glance). To be able to do advanced development with

|cubicweb| you need a good understanding of what is explained below.

This chapter goes deep into details. You don't have to remember them

all but keep it in mind so you can go back there later.

An overview of AppObjects, the VRegistry and Selectors is given in the

:ref:`VRegistryIntro` chapter.

The :class:`CWRegistryStore`

----------------------------

The :class:`CWRegistryStore <cubicweb.cwvreg.CWRegistryStore>` can be

seen as a two-level dictionary. It contains all dynamically loaded

objects (subclasses of :class:`AppObject <cubicweb.appobject.AppObject>`)

to build a |cubicweb| application. Basically:

* the first level key returns a *registry*. This key corresponds to the

  `__registry__` attribute of application object classes

* the second level key returns a list of application objects which

  share the same identifier. This key corresponds to the `__regid__`

  attribute of application object classes.

A *registry* holds a specific kind of application objects. There is

for instance a registry for entity classes, another for views, etc...

The :class:`CWRegistryStore <cubicweb.cwvreg.CWRegistryStore>` has two

main responsibilities:

- being the access point to all registries

- handling the registration process at startup time, and during automatic

  reloading in debug mode.

Details of the recording process

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.. index::

   vregistry: registration_callback

On startup, |cubicweb| loads application objects defined in its library

and in cubes used by the instance. Application objects from the

library are loaded first, then those provided by cubes are loaded in

dependency order (e.g. if your cube depends on an other, objects from

the dependency will be loaded first). The layout of the modules or packages

in a cube  is explained in :ref:`cubelayout`.

For each module:

* by default all objects are registered automatically

* if some objects have to replace other objects, or have to be

  included only if some condition is met, you'll have to define a

  `registration_callback(vreg)` function in your module and explicitly

  register **all objects** in this module, using the api defined

  below.

.. Note::

    Once the function `registration_callback(vreg)` is implemented in a module,

    all the objects from this module have to be explicitly registered as it

    disables the automatic objects registration.

API for objects registration

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are the registration methods that you can use in the

`registration_callback` to register your objects to the

:class:`CWRegistryStore` instance given as argument (usually named

`vreg`):

- :py:meth:`register_all() <cubicweb.cwvreg.CWRegistryStore.register_all>`

- :py:meth:`register_and_replace() <cubicweb.cwvreg.CWRegistryStore.register_and_replace>`

- :py:meth:`register() <cubicweb.cwvreg.CWRegistryStore.register>`

- :py:meth:`unregister() <logilab.common.registry.RegistryStore.unregister>`

Examples:

.. sourcecode:: python

   # web/views/basecomponents.py

   def registration_callback(vreg):

      # register everything in the module except SeeAlsoComponent

      vreg.register_all(globals().itervalues(), __name__, (SeeAlsoVComponent,))

      # conditionally register SeeAlsoVComponent

      if 'see_also' in vreg.schema:

          vreg.register(SeeAlsoVComponent)

In this example, we register all application object classes defined in the module

except `SeeAlsoVComponent`. This class is then registered only if the 'see_also'

relation type is defined in the instance'schema.

.. sourcecode:: python

   # goa/appobjects/sessions.py

   def registration_callback(vreg):

      vreg.register(SessionsCleaner)

      # replace AuthenticationManager by GAEAuthenticationManager

      vreg.register_and_replace(GAEAuthenticationManager, AuthenticationManager)

      # replace PersistentSessionManager by GAEPersistentSessionManager

      vreg.register_and_replace(GAEPersistentSessionManager, PersistentSessionManager)

In this example, we explicitly register classes one by one:

* the `SessionCleaner` class

* the `GAEAuthenticationManager` to replace the `AuthenticationManager`

* the `GAEPersistentSessionManager` to replace the `PersistentSessionManager`

If at some point we register a new appobject class in this module, it won't be

registered at all without modification to the `registration_callback`

implementation. The previous example will register it though, thanks to the call

to the `register_all` method.

Runtime objects selection

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that we have all application objects loaded, the question is : when

I want some specific object, for instance the primary view for a given

entity, how do I get the proper object ? This is what we call the

**selection mechanism**.

As explained in the :ref:`Concepts` section:

* each application object has a **selector**, defined by its

  `__select__` class attribute

* this selector is responsible to return a **score** for a given context

  - 0 score means the object doesn't apply to this context

  - else, the higher the score, the better the object suits the context

* the object with the highest score is selected.

.. Note::

  When no single object has the highest score, an exception is raised in development

  mode to let you know that the engine was not able to identify the view to

  apply. This error is silenced in production mode and one of the objects with

  the highest score is picked.

  In such cases you would need to review your design and make sure

  your selectors or appobjects are properly defined. Such an error is

  typically caused by either forgetting to change the __regid__ in a

  derived class, or by having copy-pasted some code.

For instance, if you are selecting the primary (`__regid__ =

'primary'`) view (`__registry__ = 'views'`) for a result set

containing a `Card` entity, two objects will probably be selectable:

* the default primary view (`__select__ = is_instance('Any')`), meaning

  that the object is selectable for any kind of entity type

* the specific `Card` primary view (`__select__ = is_instance('Card')`,

  meaning that the object is selectable for Card entities

Other primary views specific to other entity types won't be selectable in this

case. Among selectable objects, the `is_instance('Card')` selector will return a higher

score since it's more specific, so the correct view will be selected as expected.

API for objects selections

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is the selection API you'll get on every registry. Some of them, as the

'etypes' registry, containing entity classes, extend it. In those methods,

`*args, **kwargs` is what we call the **context**. Those arguments are given to

selectors that will inspect their content and return a score accordingly.

:py:meth:`select() <logilab.common.registry.Registry.select>`

:py:meth:`select_or_none() <logilab.common.registry.Registry.select_or_none>`

:py:meth:`possible_objects() <logilab.common.registry.Registry.possible_objects>`

:py:meth:`object_by_id() <logilab.common.registry.Registry.object_by_id>`

The `AppObject` class

---------------------

The :py:class:`cubicweb.appobject.AppObject` class is the base class

for all dynamically loaded objects (application objects) accessible

through the :py:class:`cubicweb.cwvreg.CWRegistryStore`.

Predicates and selectors

------------------------

Predicates are scoring functions that are called by the registry to tell whenever

an appobject can be selected in a given context. Predicates may be chained

together using operators to build a selector. A selector is the glue that tie

views to the data model or whatever input context. Using them appropriately is an

essential part of the construction of well behaved cubes.

Of course you may have to write your own set of predicates as your needs grows

and you get familiar with the framework (see :ref:`CustomPredicates`).

A predicate is a class testing a particular aspect of a context. A selector is

built by combining existant predicates or even selectors.

Using and combining existant predicates

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can combine predicates using the `&`, `|` and `~` operators.

When two predicates are combined using the `&` operator, it means that

both should return a positive score. On success, the sum of scores is

returned.

When two predicates are combined using the `|` operator, it means that

one of them should return a positive score. On success, the first

positive score is returned.

You can also "negate" a predicate by precedeing it by the `~` unary operator.

Of course you can use parenthesis to balance expressions.

Example

~~~~~~~

The goal: when on a blog, one wants the RSS link to refer to blog entries, not to

the blog entity itself.

To do that, one defines a method on entity classes that returns the

RSS stream url for a given entity. The default implementation on

:class:`~cubicweb.entities.AnyEntity` (the generic entity class used

as base for all others) and a specific implementation on `Blog` will

do what we want.

But when we have a result set containing several `Blog` entities (or

different entities), we don't know on which entity to call the

aforementioned method. In this case, we keep the generic behaviour.

Hence we have two cases here, one for a single-entity rsets, the other for

multi-entities rsets.

In web/views/boxes.py lies the RSSIconBox class. Look at its selector:

.. sourcecode:: python

  class RSSIconBox(box.Box):

    ''' just display the RSS icon on uniform result set '''

    __select__ = box.Box.__select__ & non_final_entity()

It takes into account:

* the inherited selection criteria (one has to look them up in the class

  hierarchy to know the details)

* :class:`~cubicweb.predicates.non_final_entity`, which filters on result sets

  containing non final entities (a 'final entity' being synonym for entity

  attributes type, eg `String`, `Int`, etc)

This matches our second case. Hence we have to provide a specific component for

the first case:

.. sourcecode:: python

  class EntityRSSIconBox(RSSIconBox):

    '''just display the RSS icon on uniform result set for a single entity'''

    __select__ = RSSIconBox.__select__ & one_line_rset()

Here, one adds the :class:`~cubicweb.predicates.one_line_rset` predicate, which

filters result sets of size 1. Thus, on a result set containing multiple

entities, :class:`one_line_rset` makes the EntityRSSIconBox class non

selectable. However for a result set with one entity, the `EntityRSSIconBox`

class will have a higher score than `RSSIconBox`, which is what we wanted.

Of course, once this is done, you have to:

* fill in the call method of `EntityRSSIconBox`

* provide the default implementation of the method returning the RSS stream url

  on :class:`~cubicweb.entities.AnyEntity`

* redefine this method on `Blog`.

When to use selectors?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Selectors are to be used whenever arises the need of dispatching on the shape or

content of a result set or whatever else context (value in request form params,

authenticated user groups, etc...). That is, almost all the time.

Here is a quick example:

.. sourcecode:: python

    class UserLink(component.Component):

The proper way to implement this with |cubicweb| is two have two different

classes sharing the same identifier but with different selectors so you'll get

the correct one according to the context.

.. sourcecode:: python

    class UserLink(component.Component):

            # display useractions and siteactions

    class AnonUserLink(component.Component):

            ...

The big advantage, aside readability once you're familiar with the

system, is that your cube becomes much more easily customizable by

improving componentization.

.. _CustomPredicates:

Defining your own predicates

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can use the :py:func:`objectify_predicate <logilab.common.registry.objectify_predicate>`

decorator to easily write your own predicates as simple python

functions.

In other cases, you can take a look at the following abstract base classes:

- :py:class:`ExpectedValuePredicate <cubicweb.predicates.ExpectedValuePredicate>`

- :py:class:`EClassPredicate <cubicweb.predicates.EClassPredicate>`

- :py:class:`EntityPredicate <cubicweb.predicates.EntityPredicate>`

.. _DebuggingSelectors:

Debugging selection

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once in a while, one needs to understand why a view (or any

application object) is, or is not selected appropriately. Looking at

which predicates fired (or did not) is the way. The

:class:`traced_selection <logilab.common.registry.traced_selection>`

context manager to help with that, *if you're running your instance in

debug mode*.

Base predicates

---------------

Here is a description of generic predicates provided by CubicWeb that should suit

most of your needs.

Bare predicates

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those predicates are somewhat dumb, which doesn't mean they're not (very) useful.

- :py:class:`yes <cubicweb.appobject.yes>`

- :py:class:`match_kwargs <cubicweb.predicates.match_kwargs>`

- :py:class:`appobject_selectable <cubicweb.predicates.appobject_selectable>`

- :py:class:`adaptable <cubicweb.predicates.adaptable>`

- :py:class:`configuration_values <cubicweb.predicates.configuration_values>`

Result set predicates

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those predicates are looking for a result set in the context ('rset' argument or

the input context) and match or not according to its shape. Some of these

predicates have different behaviour if a particular cell of the result set is

specified using 'row' and 'col' arguments of the input context or not.

- :py:class:`none_rset <cubicweb.predicates.none_rset>`

- :py:class:`any_rset <cubicweb.predicates.any_rset>`

- :py:class:`nonempty_rset <cubicweb.predicates.nonempty_rset>`

- :py:class:`empty_rset <cubicweb.predicates.empty_rset>`

- :py:class:`one_line_rset <cubicweb.predicates.one_line_rset>`

- :py:class:`multi_lines_rset <cubicweb.predicates.multi_lines_rset>`

- :py:class:`multi_columns_rset <cubicweb.predicates.multi_columns_rset>`

- :py:class:`paginated_rset <cubicweb.predicates.paginated_rset>`

- :py:class:`sorted_rset <cubicweb.predicates.sorted_rset>`

- :py:class:`one_etype_rset <cubicweb.predicates.one_etype_rset>`

- :py:class:`multi_etypes_rset <cubicweb.predicates.multi_etypes_rset>`

Entity predicates

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those predicates are looking for either an `entity` argument in the input context,

or entity found in the result set ('rset' argument or the input context) and

match or not according to entity's (instance or class) properties.

- :py:class:`non_final_entity <cubicweb.predicates.non_final_entity>`

- :py:class:`is_instance <cubicweb.predicates.is_instance>`

- :py:class:`score_entity <cubicweb.predicates.score_entity>`

- :py:class:`rql_condition <cubicweb.predicates.rql_condition>`

- :py:class:`relation_possible <cubicweb.predicates.relation_possible>`

- :py:class:`partial_relation_possible <cubicweb.predicates.partial_relation_possible>`

- :py:class:`has_related_entities <cubicweb.predicates.has_related_entities>`

- :py:class:`partial_has_related_entities <cubicweb.predicates.partial_has_related_entities>`

- :py:class:`has_permission <cubicweb.predicates.has_permission>`

- :py:class:`has_add_permission <cubicweb.predicates.has_add_permission>`

- :py:class:`has_mimetype <cubicweb.predicates.has_mimetype>`

- :py:class:`is_in_state <cubicweb.predicates.is_in_state>`

- :py:func:`on_fire_transition <cubicweb.predicates.on_fire_transition>`

Logged user predicates

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those predicates are looking for properties of the user issuing the request.

- :py:class:`match_user_groups <cubicweb.predicates.match_user_groups>`

Web request predicates

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those predicates are looking for properties of *web* request, they can not be

used on the data repository side.

- :py:class:`no_cnx <cubicweb.predicates.no_cnx>`

- :py:class:`anonymous_user <cubicweb.predicates.anonymous_user>`

- :py:class:`authenticated_user <cubicweb.predicates.authenticated_user>`

- :py:class:`match_form_params <cubicweb.predicates.match_form_params>`

- :py:class:`match_search_state <cubicweb.predicates.match_search_state>`

- :py:class:`match_context_prop <cubicweb.predicates.match_context_prop>`

- :py:class:`match_context <cubicweb.predicates.match_context>`

- :py:class:`match_view <cubicweb.predicates.match_view>`

- :py:class:`primary_view <cubicweb.predicates.primary_view>`

- :py:class:`contextual <cubicweb.predicates.contextual>`

- :py:class:`specified_etype_implements <cubicweb.predicates.specified_etype_implements>`

- :py:class:`attribute_edited <cubicweb.predicates.attribute_edited>`

- :py:class:`match_transition <cubicweb.predicates.match_transition>`