# 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 dispatching it to the api using things like `MyApi.read/3` and `MyApi.create/3`. 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 resource called `Helpdesk.Support.Ticket`:

```elixir
code_interface do
  define_for Helpdesk.Support

  define :open, args: [:subject]
end
```

This simple setup now allows you to open a ticket with `Helpdesk.Support.Ticket.open(subject)`. You can cause it to raise errors instead of return them with `Helpdesk.Support.Ticket.open!(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.Ticket.open`. For more information on the code interface, read the DSL documentation: `d:Ash.Resource.Dsl.code_interface`.

## define_for and define_interface

Notice how we included a specific Api module using `define_for` above. Without this, no functions will be defined in the resource. This is because you might want to define the interface for multiple resources in a single module. While we encourage the use of `define_for Api`, it is not the only way to do it. You could also do something like this:

```elixir
defmodule MyApp.MyApi.Interface do
  require Ash.CodeInterface

  Ash.CodeInterface.define_interface(MyApp.MyApi, MyApp.Resource1)
  Ash.CodeInterface.define_interface(MyApp.MyApi, MyApp.Resource2)
end
```

And then call functions on `MyApp.MyApi.Interface` instead.

## 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/1` 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:

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

## Calculations

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

For example:

```elixir
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

code_interface do
  define_for YourApi
  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:

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

This allows for running calculations without an instance of a resource, i.e `Api.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:

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

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

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