Overview

Models are structures following class standards, mostly used to map game objects and ease data manipulation in the addon.

Model standards

Models are classes that represent a data structure, like a raid marker, a player, a macro, an item, etc. They're usually used to hold information about game objects as a way to standardize structures.

Here are some good practices when creating models:

Avoid constructors with parameters: Prefer to use setters as that ease on inheritance, testing and avoid compatibility issues in case new parameters are added to the constructors.
Implement chainable setters: When a setter is called, it should return the instance itself, so it can be chained with other setters. That improves writing code and makes it more readable.
- Prefer to use value as the setter parameter name instead of the property name, example:
```
--[[--
Sets the model name.

@tparam string value the model's name

@treturn Module.ClassName self
]]
function ClassName:setProperty(value)
    self.property = value
    return self
end
```
There's no need for getters: Lua doesn't have a way to protect properties, so it's not necessary to create getters for them. If a property needs to be read, it can be accessed directly, and that will save a lot of unnecessary code.

Test the chainable setters in a single test method: With a single method testing all setters, it's possible to make sure that all setters are chainable, save a lot of code, make the test more readable and easier to add new setter tests when new properties are added to the model.

-- @covers ClassName:setArg1()
-- @covers ClassName:setArg2()
-- @covers ClassName:setArg3()
function TestClassName:testSetters()
    local instance = __:new('ClassName')
    
    lu.assertIsNil(instance.arg1)
    lu.assertIsNil(instance.arg2)
    lu.assertIsNil(instance.arg3)

    local result = instance
        :setArg1('arg1')
        :setArg2('arg2')
        :setArg3('arg3')

    lu.assertEquals(instance, result)
    lu.assertEquals(instance.arg1, 'arg1')
    lu.assertEquals(instance.arg2, 'arg2')
    lu.assertEquals(instance.arg3, 'arg3')
end

Model standards​

Model standards