Functionalizing code

I'm not sure if functionalizing is really a word. But let's suppose it is.

Some time ago, I wrote an application to allow me to view the output of the "Results" option that Blackboard Lean (oops: Learn) provides us. Since most answers use HTML, the content of individual answers can be obscured at best. At worst, impossible.

So, I created a filter that takes the CSV file and turns it into an HTML file with a table (aspects of questions are columns, student submissions are rows). I recently upgraded it to allow me to specify a particular set of columns that I was interested in. But I was very dissatisfied when I looked at the HTML class which I had previously used to set up the output tags. This was how it looked:

/**  * Mutable class to form an HTML string  */

class HTML() {
  val content = new StringBuilder("")
  val tagStack: mutable.Stack[String] = mutable.Stack[String]()

  def tag(w: String): StringBuilder = {
    tagStack.push(w)
    content.append(s"<$w>")
  }

  def unTag: StringBuilder = content.append(s"</${tagStack.pop()}>")

  def append(w: String): StringBuilder = content.append(w)

  def close(): Unit = while (tagStack.nonEmpty) {
    unTag
  }

  override def toString: String = content.toString + "\n"

}

And this was how it was used:

def preamble(w: String): String = {
  val result = new HTML
  result.tag("head")
  result.tag("title")
  result.append(w)
  result.close()
  result.toString
}



def parseStreamIntoHTMLTable(ws: Stream[String], title: String): String = {
  val result = new HTML
  result.tag("html")
  result.append(preamble(title))
  result.tag("body")
  result.tag("table")
  ws match {
    case header #:: body =>
      result.append(parseRowIntoHTMLRow(header, header = true))
      for (w <- body) result.append(parseRowIntoHTMLRow(w))
  }
  result.close()
  result.toString
}
 

The rendering of the code here doesn't actually show that the mutable Stack class is deprecated. How could I be using a deprecated class--and for mutation too! Ugh! Well, it was a utility, not an exemplar for my students. So, it was acceptable.
 
But I decided to functionalize it. First, I needed to create a trait which had the basic behavior I needed: 


 

/**
  * Trait Tag to model an Markup Language-type document.
  */
trait Tag {

  /**
    * Method to yield the name of this Tag
    *
    * @return the name, that's to say what goes between &lt; and &gt;
    */
  def name: String

  /**
    * Method to yield the attributes of this Tag.
    *
    * @return a sequence of attributes, each of which is a String
    */
  def attributes: Seq[String]

  /**
    * Method to yield the content of this Tag.
    *
    * @return the content as a String.
    */
  def content: String

  /**
    * Method to yield the child Tags of this Tag.
    *
    * @return a Seq of Tags.
    */
  def tags: Seq[Tag]

  /**
    * Method to add a child to this Tag
    *
    * @param tag the tag to be added
    * @return a new version of this Tag with the additional tag added as a child
    */
  def :+(tag: Tag): Tag

  /**
    * Method to yield the tag names depth-first in a Seq
    *
    * @return a sequence of tag names
    */
  def \\ : Seq[String] = name +: (for (t <- tags; x <- t.\\) yield x)
}


Together with an abstract base class:



abstract class BaseTag(name: String, attributes: Seq[String], content: String, tags: Seq[Tag])(implicit rules: TagRules) extends Tag {

  override def toString: String = s"""\n${tagString()}$content$tagsString${tagString(true)}"""

  private def attributeString(close: Boolean) = if (close || attributes.isEmpty) "" else " " + attributes.mkString(" ")

  private def tagsString = if (tags.isEmpty) "" else tags mkString ""

  private def nameString(close: Boolean = false) = (if (close) "/" else "") + name

  private def tagString(close: Boolean = false) = s"<${nameString(close)}${attributeString(close)}>"
}

And a case class for HTML with its companion object:



/**
  * Case class to model an HTML document.
  * @param name the name of the tag at the root of the document.
  * @param attributes the attributes of the tag.
  * @param content the content of the tag.
  * @param tags the child tags.
  * @param rules the "rules" (currently ignored) but useful in the future to validate documents.
  */
case class HTML(name: String, attributes: Seq[String], content: String, tags: Seq[Tag])(implicit rules: TagRules) extends BaseTag(name, attributes, content, tags) {

  /**
    * Method to add a child to this Tag
    *
    * @param tag the tag to be added
    * @return a new version of this Tag with the additional tag added as a child
    */
  override def :+(tag: Tag): Tag = HTML(name, attributes, content, tags :+ tag)
}

/**
  * Companion object to HTML
  */
object HTML {

  implicit object HtmlRules extends TagRules

  def apply(name: String, attributes: Seq[String], content: String): HTML = apply(name, attributes, content, Nil)

  def apply(name: String, attributes: Seq[String]): HTML = apply(name, attributes, "")

  def apply(name: String): HTML = apply(name, Nil)

  def apply(name: String, content: String): HTML = apply(name, Nil, content)

}


Here's one of the places the tags in the document are set up:


  def parseStreamProjectionIntoHTMLTable(columns: Seq[String], wss: Stream[Seq[String]], title: String): Try[Tag] = Try {
    val table = HTML("table", Seq("""border="1"""")) :+ parseRowProjectionIntoHTMLRow(columns, header = true)
    val body = HTML("body") :+ wss.foldLeft(table)((tag, ws) => tag :+ parseRowProjectionIntoHTMLRow(ws))
    HTML("html") :+ preamble(title) :+ body
  }


Now, all we have to do is to use .toString on the document to render it for the final HTML source!