path: root/docs/narr/events.rst

.. _events_chapter:

Using Events
=============

An *event* is an object broadcast by the :mod:`repoze.bfg` framework
at particularly interesting points during the lifetime of an
application.  You don't need to use, know about, or care about events
in order to create most :mod:`repoze.bfg` applications, but they can
be useful when you want to perform slightly advanced operations.  For
example, subscribing to an event can allow you to "skin" a site
slightly differently based on the hostname used to reach the site.

Events in :mod:`repoze.bfg` are always broadcast by the framework.
However, they only become useful when you register a *subscriber*.  A
subscriber is a function that accepts a single argument named `event`:

.. code-block:: python
   :linenos:

   def mysubscriber(event):
       print event

The above is a subscriber that simply prints the event to the console
when it's called.

The mere existence of a subscriber function, however, is not
sufficient to arrange for it to be called.  To arrange for the
subscriber to be called, you'll need to change your :term:`application
registry` by modifying your application's ``configure.zcml``.  Here's
an example of a bit of XML you can add to the ``configure.zcml`` file
which registers the above ``mysubscriber`` function, which we assume
lives in a ``subscribers.py`` module within your application:

.. code-block:: xml
   :linenos:

   <subscriber
      for="repoze.bfg.interfaces.INewRequest"
      handler=".subscribers.mysubscriber"
    />

The above example means "every time the :mod:`repoze.bfg` framework
emits an event object that supplies an ``INewRequest`` interface, call
the ``mysubscriber`` function with the event object.  As you can see,
a subscription is made in terms of an :term:`interface`.  The event
object sent to a subscriber will always have possess an interface.
The interface itself provides documentation of what attributes of the
event are available.

For example, if you create event listener functions in a
``subscribers.py`` file in your application like so:

.. code-block:: python
   :linenos:

   def handle_new_request(event):
       print 'request', event.request   

   def handle_new_response(event):
       print 'response', event.response

You may configure these functions to be called at the appropriate
times by adding the following to your application's ``configure.zcml``
file:

.. code-block:: xml
   :linenos:

   <subscriber
      for="repoze.bfg.interfaces.INewRequest"
      handler=".subscribers.handle_new_request"
    />

   <subscriber
      for="repoze.bfg.interfaces.INewResponse"
      handler=".subscribers.handle_new_response"
    />

This causes the functions as to be registered as event subscribers
within the :term:`application registry` .  Under this configuration,
when the application is run, each time a new request or response is
detected, a message will be printed to the console.

.. sidebar:: The ``INewResponse`` Event vs. Middleware

   Postprocessing a response is usually better handled in a WSGI
   :term:`middleware` component than in subscriber code that is called
   by an ``INewResponse`` event.  The :mod:`repoze.bfg`
   ``INewResponse`` event exists almost purely for symmetry with the
   ``INewRequest`` event.

We know that ``INewRequest`` events have a ``request`` attribute,
which is a :term:`WebOb` request, because the interface defined at
``repoze.bfg.interfaces.INewRequest`` says it must.  Likewise, we know
that ``INewResponse`` events have a ``response`` attribute, which is a
response object constructed by your application, because the interface
defined at ``repoze.bfg.interfaces.INewResponse`` says it must.  These
particular interfaces, along with others, are documented in the
:ref:`events_module` API chapter.

The *subscriber* ZCML element takes two attributes: ``for``, and
``handler``.  The value of ``for`` is the interface the subscriber is
registered for.  Registering a subscriber for a specific interface
limits the event types that the subscriber will receive to those
specified by the interface. The value of ``handler`` is a Python
dotted-name path to the subscriber function.

The return value of a subscriber function is ignored.

.. _using_an_event_to_vary_the_request_type:

Using An Event to Vary the Request Type
---------------------------------------

The most common usage of the ``INewRequestEvent`` is to attach an
:term:`interface` to a request after introspecting the request data in
some way.  For example, you might want to be able to differentiate a
request issued by a browser from a request issued by a JSON client.
This differentiation makes it possible to register different views
against different ``request_type`` interfaces; for instance, depending
on the presence of a request header, you might return JSON data.

To do this, you should subscribe an function to the ``INewRequest``
event type, and you should use the ``zope.interface.alsoProvides`` API
within the function to add one or more interfaces to the request
object provided by the event.  Here's an example.

.. code-block:: python
   :linenos:

   from zope.interface import alsoProvides
   from zope.interface import Interface

   class IJSONRequest(Interface):
       """ A request from a JSON client that sets and Accept: 
       application/json header """
 
   def categorize_request(event):
       request = event.request
       accept = request.headers.get('accept', '')
       if 'application/json' in accept:
           alsoProvides(request, IJSONRequest)

If you subscribe ``categorize_request`` for the
``repoze.bfg.interfaces.INewRequest`` type, the ``IJSONRequest``
interface will be attached to each request object that has ``accept``
headers which match ``application/json``.

Thereafter, you can use the ``request_type`` attribute of a
term:`view` ZCML statement or a ``@bfg_view`` decorator to refer to
this ``IJSONRequest`` interface.  For example:

.. code-block:: xml
   :linenos:

   <subscriber
      for="repoze.bfg.interfaces.INewRequest"
      handler=".subscribers.categorize_request"
    />

   <!-- html default view -->
   <view
      for=".models.MyModel"
      view=".views.html_view"/>

   <!-- JSON default view -->
   <view
      for=".models.MyModel"
      request_type=".interfaces.IJSONRequest"
      view=".views.json_view"/>

The interface ``repoze.bfg.interfaces.IRequest`` is automatically
implemented by every :mod:`repoze.bfg` request.  Views which do not
supply a ``request_type`` attribute will be considered to be
registered for ``repoze.bfg.interfaces.IRequest`` as a default.  But
in the example above, ``.views.json_view`` will be called when a
request supplies our ``IJSONRequest`` interface, because it is a more
specific interface.

Of course, you are not limited to using the ``Accept`` header to
determine which interface to attach to a request within an event
subscriber.  For example, you might also choose to introspect the
hostname (e.g. ``request.environ.get('HTTP_HOST',
request.environ['SERVER_NAME'])``) in order to "skin" your application
differently based on whether the user should see the "management"
(e.g. "manage.myapp.com") presentation of the application or the
"retail" presentation (e.g. "www.myapp.com").

By attaching to the request an arbitrary interface after examining the
hostname or any other information available in the request within an
``INewRequest`` event subscriber, you can control view lookup
precisely.  For example, if you wanted to have two slightly different
views for requests to two different hostnames, you might register one
view with a ``request_type`` of ``.interfaces.IHostnameFoo`` and
another with a ``request_type`` of ``.interfaces.IHostnameBar`` and
then arrange for an event subscriber to attach
``.interfaces.IHostnameFoo`` to the request when the HTTP_HOST is
``foo`` and ``.interfaces.IHostnameBar`` to the request when the
HTTP_HOST is ``bar``.  The appropriate view will be called.

You can also form an inheritance hierarchy out of ``request_type``
interfaces.  When :mod:`repoze.bfg` looks up a view, the most specific
view for the interface(s) found on the request based on standard
Python method resolution order through the interface class hierarchy
will be called.