Classes Via Modules

wiki

See the bottom of this page for an example on how to use. Feel free to credit James Rhodes (jrhodes@roket-enterprises.com) if you want, but there's no requirement to do so.

Code

-- Overwrite our loading functionality.
package.loaders = {}
package.loaders[1] = function(module, env)
	-- Declare our variables local so they don't
	-- interfere with the main program.
	if (env == nil) then
		env = _G
	end
	
	local path, ext, found_path, e, fhandle
	local chunk, lmodule, _T, lfmodulepath
	local indent, l, n, ldotpos, classname
	local namespace, class_funcs, class, mt
	local __init, f, v, k, tdotpos, __base, i
	local class_inheritance = {}
	local inherit_classname, inherit_namespaces
	local inheritance_sandbox, i2
	local function func_inherit(class)
		if (lmodule._T == nil) then
			lmodule._T = {}
		end
		
		table.insert(class_inheritance, class)
	end
	local function func_name(name)
		local ldotpos, tdotpos, classname, namespaces
		local z, x, c
		ldotpos = string.len(name)
		tdotpos = string.len(name)
		classname = nil
		namespaces = {}
		while (ldotpos > 0) do
			if (string.sub(name,ldotpos,ldotpos) == ".") then
				if (classname == nil) then
					classname = string.sub(name, ldotpos + 1, tdotpos)
				else
					table.insert(namespaces,1,string.sub(name, ldotpos + 1, tdotpos))
				end
				tdotpos = ldotpos - 1
			end
			ldotpos = ldotpos - 1
		end
		if (tdotpos > 0) then
			table.insert(namespaces,1,string.sub(name, ldotpos + 1, tdotpos))
		end
		z = {}
		for c, x in ipairs(namespaces) do
			table.insert(z,1,x)
		end
		namespaces = z
		
		if (lmodule._T == nil) then
			lmodule._T = {}
		end
		
		lmodule._T["NAME"] = classname
		if (#namespaces > 0) then
			lmodule._T["NAMESPACE"] = namespaces
		else
			lmodule._T["NAMESPACE"] = nil
		end
	end
	local function func_description(desc)
		if (lmodule._T == nil) then
			lmodule._T = {}
		end
		
		lmodule._T["DESCRIPTION"] = desc
	end
	local function func_author(author)
		if (lmodule._T == nil) then
			lmodule._T = {}
		end
		
		lmodule._T["AUTHOR"] = author
	end
	local function func_lastmodified(date)
		if (lmodule._T == nil) then
			lmodule._T = {}
		end
		
		lmodule._T["LASTMODIFIED"] = date
	end
	
	-- Replace the "." in the requested module with
	-- backslashes.
	path = string.gsub(module, "%.", "/")
	path = "./" .. path
	ext = {"rcs", "rs", "rks", "lua"}
	found_path = nil
	
	for k, e in pairs(ext) do
		fhandle = io.open(path .. "." .. e, "r")
		if (fhandle ~= nil) then
			fhandle:close()
			found_path = path .. "." .. e
			break
		end
	end
	
	if (found_path == nil) then
		print("ERR : Unable to locate module at " .. path .. ".{rcs,rs,rks,lua}.")
		return nil, "Unable to locate module at " .. path .. ".{rcs,rs,rks,lua}."
	end
	
	-- Since the file exists, we're now going to load it.
	chunk = loadfile(found_path)
	if (chunk == nil) then
		print("ERR : Module " .. module .. " contains syntax errors and cannot be included in the program.")
		return nil, "Module " .. module .. " contains syntax errors and cannot be included in the program."
	end
	
	-- Isolate the class name from the namespace component
	ldotpos = string.len(module)
	while (ldotpos > 0) do
		if (string.sub(module,ldotpos,ldotpos) == ".") then
			break
		end
		ldotpos = ldotpos - 1
	end
	classname = string.sub(module, ldotpos + 1)
	if (ldotpos ~= 0) then
		namespace = string.sub(module, 1, ldotpos - 1)
	else
		namespace = ""
	end
	
	-- Run the chunk() function inside a sandbox, so we can inspect the module.
	lmodule = {}
	lmodule[classname] = {}
	lmodule["inherits"] = func_inherit
	lmodule["name"] = func_name
	lmodule["description"] = func_description
	lmodule["author"] = func_author
	lmodule["lastmodified"] = func_lastmodified
	setfenv(chunk, lmodule)
	chunk()

	-- Check to see if _T exists, if it doesn't, show that the module can't be loaded.
	if (lmodule["_T"] == nil) then
		print("ERR : Module " .. module .. " does not specify module information.")
		return nil, "Module " .. module .. " does not specify module information."
	end
	
	-- Move the _T table from the code block, into a local variable.
	_T = lmodule["_T"]
	lmodule["_T"] = nil
	
	-- Sanitize the _T variable we will use.
	_T["NAME"]			= tostring(_T["NAME"])
	if (_T["DESCRIPTION"] ~= nil) then
		_T["DESCRIPTION"]	= tostring(_T["DESCRIPTION"])
	end
	if (_T["AUTHOR"] ~= nil) then
		_T["AUTHOR"]		= tostring(_T["AUTHOR"])
	end
	if (_T["LASTMODIFIED"] ~= nil) then
		_T["LASTMODIFIED"]	= tostring(_T["LASTMODIFIED"])
	end
	
	-- Verify that the module is located at the correct location (NAMESPACE "." NAME == module)
	if (_T["NAMESPACE"] ~= nil) then
		lfmodulepath = table.concat(_T["NAMESPACE"], ".") .. "." .. _T["NAME"]
		if (lfmodulepath ~= module) then
			print("ERR : Module name mismatch.  Loaded from " .. module .. ", but code specifies " .. lfmodulepath .. ".")
			return nil, "Module name mismatch.  Loaded from " .. module .. ", but code specifies " .. lfmodulepath .. "."
		end
	else
		lfmodulepath = _T["NAME"]
	end
	
	-- Now create the namespace tables if required.
	l = env
	if (_T["NAMESPACE"] ~= nil) then
		for k, n in pairs(_T["NAMESPACE"]) do
			l[n] = {}
			l = l[n]
		end
	end
	
	-- Get the class functions.
	class_funcs = lmodule[classname]
	lmodule[classname] = nil
	__init = nil
	__base = nil
	
	-- Build up the class.
	class = {}
	if (#class_inheritance > 0) then
		-- We need to evaluate all of the inherited class
		-- in order, to build up.
		for k, v in pairs(class_inheritance) do
			-- Isolate the class name from the namespace component
			print("INFO: Loading " .. v .. " in required module.  Namespaces / classes should not leak.")
			ldotpos = string.len(v)
			tdotpos = string.len(v)
			inherit_classname = nil
			inherit_namespaces = {}
			while (ldotpos > 0) do
				if (string.sub(v,ldotpos,ldotpos) == ".") then
					if (inherit_classname == nil) then
						inherit_classname = string.sub(v, ldotpos + 1, tdotpos)
					else
						table.insert(inherit_namespaces,1,string.sub(v, ldotpos + 1, tdotpos))
					end
					tdotpos = ldotpos - 1
				end
				ldotpos = ldotpos - 1
			end
			if (tdotpos > 0) then
				table.insert(inherit_namespaces,1,string.sub(v, ldotpos + 1, tdotpos))
			end
			
			inheritance_sandbox = {}
			package.loaders[1](v, inheritance_sandbox)
			
			-- Load the class into i.
			i = inheritance_sandbox
			for i2, n in pairs(inherit_namespaces) do
				i = i[n]
			end
			i = i[inherit_classname]
			
			-- Now copy all of the inherited classes functions.
			for n, f in pairs(i) do
				if (n == "__init") then
					__base = f
					setfenv(__base, env)
				elseif (type(f) == "function") then
					class[n] = f
					setfenv(class[n], env)
				elseif (type(f) ~= "function") then
					class[n] = f
				end
			end
		end
	end
	for n, f in pairs(class_funcs) do
		if (n == "__init") then
			__init = f
			setfenv(__init, env)
		else
			class[n] = f
			setfenv(class[n], env)
		end
	end
	for n, v in pairs(lmodule) do
		if (n ~= "inherits"
			and n ~= "name"
			and n ~= "description"
			and n ~= "author"
			and n ~= "lastmodified") then
			if (type(v) == "function") then
				print("WARN: " .. lfmodulepath .. ":0: Function " .. n .. " defined without class context.  It is not included in the class definition.")
			else
				-- Make the specified variable a static variable.
				class[n] = v
			end
		end
	end
	mt = {}
	mt.__call = function(class_tbl, ...)
		local obj = {}
		setmetatable(obj, class)
		if (__init ~= nil) then
			__init(obj, ...)
		elseif (__base ~= nil) then
			__base(obj, ...)
		end
		return obj
	end
	class.__index = class
	class.__init = __init
	class.__base = __base
	setmetatable(class, mt)
	
	-- Now put the newly generated class in the namespace.
	l[classname] = class
	
	-- Show module loaded message
	print("INFO: " .. lfmodulepath .. ":0: Loaded module " .. _T["NAME"] .. ".")
	indent = string.rep(" ", string.len("INFO: " .. lfmodulepath .. ":0: "))
	if (_T["NAMESPACE"] ~= nil) then
		print(indent .. "    in namespace " .. namespace)
	end
	if (_T["DESCRIPTION"] ~= nil) then
		print(indent .. "    Description: " .. _T["DESCRIPTION"])
	end
	if (_T["AUTHOR"] ~= nil) then
		print(indent .. "    Author: " .. _T["AUTHOR"])
	end
	if (_T["LASTMODIFIED"] ~= nil) then
		print(indent .. "    Last Modified: " .. _T["LASTMODIFIED"])
	end
	
	return function()
	end
end

Usage

It's important to note that to inherit multiple classes, you simply call inherits() multiple times. The last call will have the most effect, so for example, if two classes referenced by inherits() defined an A() function, the last call would be the definition for A(), except if ClassB below override it itself. Even though you can inherit multiple classes, self.__base() always points to the constructor of the last inherited class.

name "AnotherNamespace.ClassB"
inherits "MainNamespace.ClassA"
description [[Provides advanced class functionality.]]
author "James Rhodes"
lastmodified "20th May, 2010"

myStaticVariable = 5

function ClassB:__init()
	self.__base()
	print "ClassB constructor!"
end

function ClassB:Function()
	print "Called from MyClassFunction (ClassB)"
end