# 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 calling it via functions like `Ash.read/2` and `Ash.create/2`. 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 domain called `Helpdesk.Support`.
```elixir
resources do
resource Ticket do
define :open_ticket, args: [:subject], action: :open
end
end
```
This simple setup now allows you to open a ticket with `Helpdesk.Support.open_ticket(subject)`. You can cause it to raise errors instead of return them with `Helpdesk.Support.open_ticket!(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.open_ticket`. For more information on the code interface, read the DSL documentation: `d:Ash.Domain.Dsl.resources.resource.define`.
## Code interfaces on the resource
You can define a code interface on individual resources as well, using the `code_interface` block. The DSL is the same as the DSL for defining it in the `domain`. For example:
```elixir
code_interface do
# the action open can be omitted because it matches the functon name
define :open, args: [:subject]
end
```
These will then be called on the resource itself, i.e `Helpdesk.Support.Ticket.open(subject)`.
## 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` 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
Accounts.register_user(username, password, [tenant: "organization_22"])
# Because the 3rd argument is a map, we use it as action input
Accounts.register_user(username, password, %{key: "val"})
# When all arguments are provided it is unambiguous
Accounts.register_user(username, password, %{key: "val"}, [tenant: "organization_22"])
```
For a full list of options, see the functions in `Ash.Resource.Interface`, or use iex help on your generated
functions, i.e
```elixir
iex> h Accounts.register_user/3
```
## Calculations
Resource calculations can be run dynamically using `Ash.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
# in your domain
resource User do
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
Accounts.full_name("Jessie", "James", "-")
# or with a record as an argument
Accounts.full_name(user)
```
This allows for running calculations without an instance of a resource, normally done via `Ash.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}}]
```
## Bulk & atomic actions
### Bulk Updates & Destroys
Updates support a list, stream, or query as the first argument. This allows for bulk updates. In this mode, an `%Ash.BulkResult{}` is returned.
> ### Valid inputs {: .warning}
>
> You cannot provide "any enumerable", only lists, streams (a function or a %Stream{}), and queries. We have to be able to distinguish the input as a bulk input and not input to the action itself.
For example:
```elixir
Post
|> Ash.Query.filter(author_id == ^author_id)
|> MyApp.Blog.archive_post!()
# => %Ash.BulkResult{}
[%Post{}, %Post{}]
|> MyApp.Blog.destroy_post!()
# => %Ash.BulkResult{}
end
```
You can pass options to the bulk operation with the `bulk_options` option to your code interface function.
### Bulk Creates
For bulk creates, you can provide a list or stream of inputs. In this mode also, an `%Ash.BulkResult{}` is returned.
> ### Valid inputs {: .warning}
>
> You cannot provide "any enumerable", only lists, streams (a function or a %Stream{}). We have to be able to distinguish the input as a bulk input and not input to the action itself.
Any arguments on the code interface will be applied to _all_ inputs given as a list, and the arguments will come first.
```elixir
[%{title: "Post 1"}, %{title: "Post 2"}, ...]
# if `:special` is an action argument, it will be applied to all inputs
|> MyApp.Blog.create_post!(:special, bulk_options: [batch_size: 10])
```
### Returning streams from read actions
The `:stream?` option allows you to return a stream to be enumerated later.
For example:
```elixir
MyApp.Blog.my_posts(stream?: true, actor: me)
# => #Stream<...>
```
### Customizing the generated function
Often we want to have a slightly different interface when calling actions with functions,
or we want to maintain backwards compatibility for callers of our code interface while
changing the underlying action implementation.
You can define `custom_input`s on your code interfaces to massage arguments from the function
into a shape expected by the action.
For example, lets say we have an action that accepts an `artist_id` as an argument. We want
it to use `artist_id` for two reasons: it is the only part of the artist required to perform
the action, and accepting ids is better for an action supporting usage over an API. However,
we want the function itself to accept either an artist *or* an artist_id.
```elixir
define :follow_artist do
action :follow
# `artist` (from the custom input below) is a positional argument to the function
args [:artist]
# make a custom input called `artist`, that is a union type
custom_input :artist, :union do
# allow passing either an artist or an artist_id
constraints types: [
artist: [type: :struct, constraints: [instance_of: Artist]],
artist_id: [type: :uuid]
]
transform do
# Pass it to the action as `artist_id`
to :artist_id
# Extracting the value using this function
using fn
%Ash.Union{type: :artist, value: value} ->
{:ok, value.id}
%Ash.Union{type: :artist_id, value: value} ->
{:ok, value}
end
end
end
end
```
The example above is a bit verbose. In practice we might create a type, called `ArtistOrId`,
for example, and extract that logic like so:
```elixir
defmodule MyApp.Types.ArtistOrId do
use Ash.Type.NewType, subtype_of: :union, constraints: [
types: [
artist: [type: :struct, constraints: [instance_of: Artist]],
artist_id: [type: :uuid]
]
]
def to_artist_id(%Ash.Union{type: :artist, value: artist}), do: {:ok, artist.id}
def to_artist_id(%Ash.Union{type: :artist_id, value: artist_id}), do: {:ok, artist_id}
end
```
And then we can refactor the above example like so:
```elixir
define :follow_artist do
action :follow
args [:artist]
custom_input :artist, MyApp.Types.ArtistOrId do
transform do
to :artist_id
using &MyApp.Types.ArtistOrId.to_artist_id/1
end
end
end
```
