Register a Custom Type via the Type Builder
Sometimes it is convenient to package a custom type’s API (i.e. methods, properties, indexers and type iterators) together such that they can be more easily managed.
This can be achieved simply by implementing the CustomType
trait, which contains only a single method:
fn build(builder: TypeBuilder<T>)
The TypeBuilder
parameter provides a range of convenient methods to register methods, property
getters/setters, indexers and type iterators of a custom type:
Method | Description |
---|---|
with_name | set a friendly name |
on_print | register the to_string function that pretty-prints the custom type |
on_debug | register the to_debug function that debug-prints the custom type |
with_fn | register a method (or any function really) |
with_get | register a property getter |
with_set | register a property getter |
with_get_set | register property getters/setters |
with_indexer_get | register an indexer get function |
with_indexer_set | register an indexer set function |
with_indexer_get_set | register indexer get/set functions |
is_iterable | automatically register a type iterator if the custom type is iterable |
The CustomType
trait is typically used on external types that are already defined.
To define a custom type and implement its API from scratch, it is more convenient to use a plugin module.
Example
// Custom type
#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)]
struct Vec3 {
x: i64,
y: i64,
z: i64,
}
// Custom type API
impl Vec3 {
fn new(x: i64, y: i64, z: i64) -> Self {
Self { x, y, z }
}
fn get_x(&mut self) -> i64 {
self.x
}
fn set_x(&mut self, x: i64) {
self.x = x
}
fn get_y(&mut self) -> i64 {
self.y
}
fn set_y(&mut self, y: i64) {
self.y = y
}
fn get_z(&mut self) -> i64 {
self.z
}
fn set_z(&mut self, z: i64) {
self.z = z
}
}
// The custom type can even be iterated!
impl IntoIterator for Vec3 {
type Item = i64;
type IntoIter = std::vec::IntoIter<Self::Item>;
fn into_iter(self) -> Self::IntoIter {
vec![self.x, self.y, self.z].into_iter()
}
}
// Use 'CustomType' to register the entire API
impl CustomType for Vec3 {
fn build(mut builder: TypeBuilder<Self>) {
builder
.with_name("Vec3")
.with_fn("vec3", Self::new)
.is_iterable()
.with_get_set("x", Self::get_x, Self::set_x)
.with_get_set("y", Self::get_y, Self::set_y)
.with_get_set("z", Self::get_z, Self::set_z)
// Indexer get/set functions that do not panic on invalid indices
.with_indexer_get_set(
|vec: &mut Self, idx: i64) -> Result<i64, Box<EvalAltResult>> {
match idx {
0 => Ok(vec.x),
1 => Ok(vec.y),
2 => Ok(vec.z),
_ => Err(EvalAltResult::ErrorIndexNotFound(idx.Into(), Position::NONE).into()),
}
},
|vec: &mut Self, idx: i64, value: i64) -> Result<(), Box<EvalAltResult>> {
match idx {
0 => vec.x = value,
1 => vec.y = value,
2 => vec.z = value,
_ => Err(EvalAltResult::ErrorIndexNotFound(idx.Into(), Position::NONE).into()),
}
Ok(())
}
);
}
}
let mut engine = Engine::new();
// Register the custom type in one go!
engine.build_type::<Vec3>();
Technically speaking, TypeBuilder
can automatically register an indexer get function if the custom type implements Index
.
Similarly, it can automatically register an indexer set function for IndexMut
.
In practice, however, this is usually not desirable because most Index
/IndexMut
implementations panic on invalid indices.
For Rhai, it is necessary to handle invalid indices properly by returning an error.
Therefore, in the example above, the custom method get_component
is used to define an indexer get function which
properly handles invalid indices.