Qstate

Qstate attempts to provide an easy way to keep all of your applications state information, basically the URL-Parameters, in one place.

It does so by providing different classes for different types of parameters (called plugins) like:

• Date/DateTime
• Rails parameters (action, controller)
• Query parameters (database where parameters)
• MapReduce parameters
• Confidential parameters (user name, pub/priv key)
• View parameters (similar to Rails, but not specific for rails)

QState will serialize/deserialize it's stored information as/from

• String (URL)
• Hash or
• JSON

Overview

The FilterModel (find a better name) is the organizing model. It knows about all configured plugins and creates dynamic setters and getters for them.

Create a new FilterModel

qstate = Qstate::Filtermodel.new

Add values

qstate.view.add_value(:key, "value") qstate.view.add_value(:key1, "value1") qstate.query.add_value(:key2, :value2")

Now you serialize this information for example in URI format with:

uri = qstate.uri

and you can then transform this URI back into a Filtermodel by doing

qstate2 = Qstate::Filermodel.new(uri)

The parameters in the uri will be prefixed with a the following two characters:

• Rails : '' (Rails parameters are not prefixed, so that those params can be used in rails and within qstate)
• Date/DateTime: 't_'
• View: 'v_'
• Query: 'q_'
• Confidential: '' (Confidential objects can not be serialized and have therefore no prefix)
• MapReduce: 'm_'

Extensibility

Qstate is designed around the principle that I don't know what you need. Therefore, Qstate can be configured in such a way that only those you need, are available. Currently the complete codebase is loaded, but this will change in further releases as well.

If there is the need for a new plugin, it is easily written and integrated without having to interact with other plugins.