View Source Code Interface

One of the ways that we interact with our resources is via hand-written code. The general pattern for that looks like building a query or a changeset for a given action, and calling it via functions like Ash.read/2 and Ash.create/2. This, however, is just one way to use Ash, and is designed to help you build tools that work with resources, and to power things like AshPhoenix.Form, AshGraphql.Resource and AshJsonApi.Resource. When working with your resources in code, we generally want something more idiomatic and simple. For example, on a domain called Helpdesk.Support.

resources do
  resource Ticket do
    define :open_ticket, args: [:subject], action: :open
  end
end

This simple setup now allows you to open a ticket with Helpdesk.Support.open_ticket(subject). You can cause it to raise errors instead of return them with Helpdesk.Support.open_ticket!(subject). For information on the options and additional inputs these defined functions take, look at the generated function documentation, which you can do in iex with h Helpdesk.Support.open_ticket. For more information on the code interface, read the DSL documentation: Ash.Domain.Dsl.resource.interfaces.

Code interfaces on the resource

You can define a code interface on individual resources as well, using the code_interface block. The DSL is the same as the DSL for defining it in the domain. For example:

code_interface do
  # the action open can be omitted because it matches the functon name
  define :open, args: [:subject]
end

These will then be called on the resource itself, i.e Helpdesk.Support.Ticket.open(subject).

Using the code interface

If the action is an update or destroy, it will take a record or a changeset as its first argument. If the action is a read action, it will take a starting query as an opt in the last argument.

All functions will have an optional last argument that accepts options. See Ash.Resource.Interface.interface_options/2 for valid options.

For reads:

:query - a query to start the action with, can be used to filter/sort the results of the action.

For creates:

:changeset - a changeset to start the action with

They will also have an optional second to last argument that is a freeform map to provide action input. It must be a map. If it is a keyword list, it will be assumed that it is actually options (for convenience). This allows for the following behaviour:

# Because the 3rd argument is a keyword list, we use it as options
Accounts.register_user(username, password, [tenant: "organization_22"])
# Because the 3rd argument is a map, we use it as action input
Accounts.register_user(username, password, %{key: "val"})
# When all arguments are provided it is unambiguous
Accounts.register_user(username, password, %{key: "val"}, [tenant: "organization_22"])

Calculations

Resource calculations can be run dynamically using Ash.calculate/3, but you can also expose them using the code_interface with define_calculation.

For example:

calculations do
  calculate :full_name, :string, expr(first_name <> ^arg(:separator) <> last_name) do
    argument :separator, :string do
      allow_nil? false
      default " "
    end
  end
end

# in your domain
resource User do
  define_calculation :full_name, args: [:first_name, :last_name, {:optional, :separator}]
  # or if you want to take a record as an argument
  define_calculation :full_name, args: [:_record]
end

This could now be used like so:

Accounts.full_name("Jessie", "James", "-")
# or with a record as an argument
Accounts.full_name(user)

This allows for running calculations without an instance of a resource, normally done via Ash.load(user, :full_name)

By default, configured args will be provided for any matching named reference or argument. This is normally fine, but in the case that you have an argument and a reference with the same name, you can specify it by supplying {:arg, :name} and {:ref, :name}. For example:

define_calculation :id_matches, args: [{:arg, :id}, {:ref, :id}]

To make arguments optional, wrap them in {:optional, ..}, for example:

define_calculation :id_matches, args: [{:arg, :id}, {:optional, {:ref, :id}}]

Bulk & atomic actions

Bulk Updates & Destroys

Updates support a list, stream, or query as the first argument. This allows for bulk updates. In this mode, an %Ash.BulkResult{} is returned.

Valid inputs

You cannot provide "any enumerable", only lists, streams (a function or a %Stream{}), and queries. We have to be able to distinguish the input as a bulk input and not input to the action itself.

For example:

Post
|> Ash.Query.filter(author_id == ^author_id)
|> MyApp.Blog.archive_post!()
# => %Ash.BulkResult{}

[%Post{}, %Post{}]
|> MyApp.Blog.destroy_post!()
# => %Ash.BulkResult{}
end

You can pass options to the bulk operation with the bulk_options option to your code interface function.

Bulk Creates

For bulk creates, you can provide a list or stream of inputs. In this mode also, an %Ash.BulkResult{} is returned.

Valid inputs

You cannot provide "any enumerable", only lists, streams (a function or a %Stream{}). We have to be able to distinguish the input as a bulk input and not input to the action itself.

Any arguments on the code interface will be applied to all inputs given as a list, and the arguments will come first.

[%{title: "Post 1"}, %{title: "Post 2"}, ...]
# if `:special` is an action argument, it will be applied to all inputs
|> MyApp.Blog.create_post!(:special, bulk_options: [batch_size: 10])

Returning streams from read actions

The :stream? option allows you to return a stream to be enumerated later.

For example:

MyApp.Blog.my_posts(stream?: true, actor: me)
# => #Stream<...>

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