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Abstract Class Store

The following solution presents a base class for implementing stores which handle state and its transitions. Working with the base class achieves:

  • common API across all stores

  • logging (when activated in the constructor)

  • state transitions are asynchronous by design - sequential order problems are avoided

Usage Example
@Injectable()
export class ModalStore extends Store<ModalState> {

  constructor() {
    super({ isOpen: false }, !environment.production);
  }

  closeDialog() {
    this.dispatchAction('Close Dialog', (currentState) => ({...currentState, isOpen: false}));
  }

  openDialog() {
    this.dispatchAction('Open Dialog', (currentState) => ({...currentState, isOpen: true}));
  }

}
Abstract Base Class Store
import { OnDestroy } from '@angular/core';
import { BehaviorSubject } from 'rxjs/BehaviorSubject';
import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
import { intersection, difference } from 'lodash';
import { map, distinctUntilChanged, observeOn } from 'rxjs/operators';
import { Subject } from 'rxjs/Subject';
import { queue } from 'rxjs/scheduler/queue';
import { Subscription } from 'rxjs/Subscription';

interface Action<T> {
  name: string;
  actionFn: (state: T) => T;
}

/** Base class for implementing stores. */
export abstract class Store<T> implements OnDestroy {

  private actionSubscription: Subscription;
  private actionSource: Subject<Action<T>>;
  private stateSource: BehaviorSubject<T>;
  state$: Observable<T>;

  /**
   * Initializes a store with initial state and logging.
   * @param initialState Initial state
   * @param logChanges When true state transitions are logged to the console.
   */
  constructor(initialState: T, public logChanges = false) {
    this.stateSource = new BehaviorSubject<T>(initialState);
    this.state$ = this.stateSource.asObservable();
    this.actionSource = new Subject<Action<T>>();

    this.actionSubscription = this.actionSource.pipe(observeOn(queue)).subscribe(action => {
      const currentState = this.stateSource.getValue();
      const nextState = action.actionFn(currentState);

      if (this.logChanges) {
        this.log(action.name, currentState, nextState);
      }

      this.stateSource.next(nextState);
    });
  }

  /**
   * Selects a property from the stores state.
   * Will do distinctUntilChanged() and map() with the given selector.
   * @param selector Selector function which selects the needed property from the state.
   * @returns Observable of return type from selector function.
   */
  select<TX>(selector: (state: T) => TX): Observable<TX> {
    return this.state$.pipe(
      map(selector),
      distinctUntilChanged()
    );
  }

  protected dispatchAction(name: string, action: (state: T) => T) {
    this.actionSource.next({ name, actionFn: action });
  }

  private log(actionName: string, before: T, after: T) {
    const result: { [key: string]: { from: any, to: any} } = {};
    const sameProbs = intersection(Object.keys(after), Object.keys(before));
    const newProbs = difference(Object.keys(after), Object.keys(before));
    for (const prop of newProbs) {
      result[prop] = { from: undefined, to: (<any>after)[prop] };
    }

    for (const prop of sameProbs) {
      if ((<any>before)[prop] !== (<any>after)[prop]) {
        result[prop] = { from: (<any>before)[prop], to: (<any>after)[prop] };
      }
    }

    console.log(this.constructor.name, actionName, result);
  }

  ngOnDestroy() {
    this.actionSubscription.unsubscribe();
  }

}