Eventable interface with extensive specification

src/event/Eventable.js

@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+/**
+ * 1-N message dispatch
+ *
+ *  Copyright (C) 2014 Mike Gerwitz
+ *
+ *  This file is part of jsTonic.
+ *
+ *  jstonic is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ *  (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+var Interface = require( 'easejs' ).Interface;
+
+
+/**
+ * An interface that provides basic, dynamic 1-N message dispatch using
+ * callbacks
+ *
+ * Each *message* is associated with an *event*---a string
+ * identifier---which is *emitted* by an Eventable object. A message
+ * *dispatched* to and *handled* by a *listener* that *hooks* (or *listens
+ * to*) an event.  Details of when a message is emitted are left to an
+ * implementation; is therefore not guaranteed that all messages will be
+ * received by a listener after hooking an event, and a listener may or may
+ * not receive past messages upon hooking an event. A message is said to
+ * have been *delivered* to a listener when it has been successfully
+ * dispatched and, if required by an implementation, delivery confirmation
+ * has been provided by the listener.
+ *
+ * The contents of a message are its *arguments*, which are applied to the
+ * listener. The listener must therefore be a function, which may or may not
+ * be invoked synchronously.
+ *
+ * Strictly speaking, methods do not have to be dispatched 1-N---for
+ * example, a message may be emitted across multiple events---but this is
+ * the conventional use case, and consumers of Eventable objects should not
+ * assume otherwise unless the implementation documents such behavior.
+ *
+ * By leaving such details undefined, Eventable objects may be used in a
+ * variety of ways, such as a conventional Observer pattern (in which the
+ * subject is the Eventable object and the listeners are the observers) or
+ * even as a message queue (either directly, or as a proxy to place messages
+ * into a queue). Consumers of Eventable objects should make no assumptions
+ * as to its behavior unless they expect a certain implementation to be
+ * passed.
+ *
+ * As such, this interface declare only a public API; it does not even
+ * describe a method for emitting events; common names for such a method are
+ * `emit` (e.g. Node.js) and `notify` (e.g. the Observer pattern).
+ *
+ * Where implementation details below are "undefined", an implementation may
+ * choose its own behavior (not to be confused with the primitive ECMAScript
+ * type `undefined`).
+ */
+module.exports = Interface( 'Eventable',
+{
+    /**
+     * Invoke LISTENER with arguments of messages emitted by event EV
+     *
+     * The event EV must be valid and LISTENER must be a function. The
+     * context in which the listener is invoked (the value of `this`) is
+     * undefined. It is undefined whether LISTENER will be invoked for every
+     * message emitted by event EV, and such invocations may or may not be
+     * synchronous; it is also undefined whether LISTENER will receive
+     * messages emitted by event EV before having hooked the event.
+     *
+     * The validity of the event identifier EV is undefined.
+     *
+     * An implementation shall not automatically unhook LISTENER (i.e.
+     * without use of #removeListener) from event EV unless the
+     * implementation provides a message---guaranteed to be dispatched to
+     * LISTENER---that indicates such an action has been taken, allowing
+     * LISTENER to perform any necessary operations, such as cleanup or
+     * error handling.
+     *
+     * If a message cannot be delivered to LISTENER for any reason, the
+     * behavior is undefined.
+     *
+     * @param {string}   ev       valid event identifier
+     * @param {Function} listener function to invoke with message arguments
+     *
+     * @return {Eventable} self
+     */
+    on: [ 'ev', 'listener' ],
+
+
+    /**
+     * Alias for #on
+     *
+     * This method is provided for consistency with #removeListener and for
+     * compatibility with Node.js; #on is the more common (and less formal)
+     * method.
+     *
+     * @see {Eventable#on}
+     */
+    addListener: [ 'ev', 'listener' ],
+
+
+    /**
+     * Determine whether LISTENER is listening for messages emitted by event
+     * EV
+     *
+     * If event EV is not valid, either `false` shall be returned or
+     * an error shall be thrown, since LISTENER cannot possibly hook an
+     * invalid event.
+     *
+     * This method is not intended as an introspective/reflection
+     * mechanism---it allows a consumer of an Eventable object to determine
+     * whether LISTENER has already been hooked before blindly
+     * hooking/unhooking it.
+     *
+     * @param {string}   ev       event id
+     * @param {Function} listener listener to query for
+     *
+     * @return {boolean} whether LISTENER hooks event EV
+     */
+    hooksEvent: [ 'ev', 'listener' ],
+
+
+    /**
+     * Unhook LISTENER from event EV, preventing further messages from being
+     * received
+     *
+     * EV must be a valid event identifier. If LISTENER is not registered
+     * for event id EV, no error shall occur (since it fulfills the criteria
+     * that it will not be subsequently invoked by event EV).
+     *
+     * Listeners shall be compared by reference---the exact listener that
+     * was registered with EV must be passed for removal.
+     *
+     * This method must immediately assume that LISTENER is no longer
+     * capable of receiving messages and must prevent all further
+     * message dispatches to LISTENER; if doing so would cause errors in the
+     * system, then unhooking LISTENER should indicate an error condition;
+     * it may further request that LISTENER be re-attached, but it must not
+     * prevent LISTENER from being unhooked. This ensures that the system
+     * manging listeners can always free resources without blocking or
+     * entering a deadlock, and that messages intended for LISTENER can be
+     * dispatched elsewhere if need be (e.g. in a message queue).
+     *
+     * If a message dispatch requires confirmation of delivery (e.g. via a
+     * callback/continuation), and that message has already been received by
+     * LISTENER and is awaiting confirmation, it is undefined whether an
+     * implementation will await subsequent confirmation (allowing LISTENER
+     * to periodically register an unregister itself to throttle messages),
+     * or will immediately consider the delivery to be in error.
+     *
+     * @param {string}   ev       defined event id
+     * @param {Function} listener listener to remove
+     *
+     * @return {Eventable} self
+     */
+    removeListener: [ 'ev', 'listener' ],
+} );
+

src/event/Evented.js

@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@
  */
 
 var Trait   = require( 'easejs' ).Trait,
-    isArray = require( '../std/Array' ).isArray;
+    isArray = require( '../std/Array' ).isArray,
+
+    Eventable = require( './Eventable' );
 
 
 /**
@@ -28,7 +30,9 @@ var Trait   = require( 'easejs' ).Trait,
  *
  * The class mixing in this trait will be endowed with a complete event
  * system with which events may be registered, hooked, and emitted. There is
- * a 1-N relationship between an event and its listeners respectively.
+ * a 1-N relationship between an event and its listeners respectively, but
+ * that does not prohibit an implementation from passing the same message to
+ * multiple events.
  *
  * Various aspects of this system may be overridden to provide behaviors
  * appropriate for a variety of systems; for example, the callback scheduler
@@ -47,7 +51,9 @@ var Trait   = require( 'easejs' ).Trait,
  *     exception when emitted; and
  *   - It is implemented as a trait.
  */
-module.exports = Trait( 'Evented',
+module.exports = Trait( 'Evented' )
+    .implement( Eventable )
+    .extend(
 {
     /**
      * Registered events and their listeners
@@ -198,7 +204,7 @@ module.exports = Trait( 'Evented',
 
 
     /**
-     * Invoke listener when an event is emitted
+     * Invoke LISTENER when event EV is emitted
      *
      * The event EV must be defined and LISTENER must be a function. The
      * context in which the listener is invoked (the value of `this') is
@@ -276,6 +282,9 @@ module.exports = Trait( 'Evented',
     /**
      * Determine whether LISTENER is actively monitoring event EV
      *
+     * If event EV does not exist, the value `false` will be returned and no
+     * error will be thrown.
+     *
      * Note that this method does not verify by reference that the given
      * listener is legitimate---it assumes that the event metadata attached
      * to LISTENER (if any) has not been tampered with or forged.
@@ -308,7 +317,7 @@ module.exports = Trait( 'Evented',
 
 
     /**
-     * Removes a previously hooked listener in constant time, preventing it
+     * Remove a previously hooked listener in constant time, preventing it
      * from being invoked on future emits of event EV
      *
      * EV must be a valid event identifier. If LISTENER is not registered

test/event/EventedTest.js

@@ -20,10 +20,13 @@
  */
 
 var Sut       = require( '../../' ).event.Evented,
+    Eventable = require( '../../' ).event.Eventable,
+
     Class  = require( 'easejs' ).Class,
     expect = require( 'chai' ).expect,
     common = require( '../lib' ),
 
+
     EvStub = Class.use( Sut ).extend(
     {
         // defineEvents is protected
@@ -50,6 +53,21 @@ describe( 'event.Evented', () =>
     } );
 
 
+    /**
+     * As a general-purpose library, we would not want to restrict
+     * developers to a specific event implementation (for example, maybe the
+     * user would prefer to use Node.js' event system, or transparently
+     * integrate with libraries/systems that use it). Together with ease.js'
+     * interop support, this makes such a case trivial.
+     */
+    describe( 'interface', () =>
+    {
+        it( 'is Eventable', () =>
+            expect( Class.isA( Eventable, stub ) ).to.be.true
+        );
+    } );
+
+
     describe( '#defineEvents', () =>
     {
         /**