Cannot compile attribute

Questions & Help Questions
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1

I am trying to compile a simple module where I get a module from the config and save it on an attribute.

defmodule Test do
  @metrics                  Application.get_env(:my_app, :metrics_module)
  @default_deps %{
    count_error:  &@metrics.inc/1
  }
end

However I cannot even compile the code for I have the following error:

== Compilation error in file lib/worker/worker.ex ==
** (ArgumentError) cannot inject attribute @default_deps into function/macro because cannot escape #Function<0.55850841 in file:lib/worker/worker.ex>. The supported values are: lists, tuples, maps, atoms, numbers, bitstrings, PIDs and remote functions in the format &Mod.fun/arity
    (elixir) lib/kernel.ex:2879: Kernel.do_at/5
    (elixir) expanding macro: Kernel.@/1
    lib/worker/worker.ex:47: Cooper.Worker.find/1
    (elixir) lib/kernel/parallel_compiler.ex:208: anonymous fn/4 in Kernel.ParallelCompiler.spawn_workers/6

Why can’t this compile given that my dev.exs does have that parameter defined?

2

Elixir does not allow anonymous functions as module attributes. Here is an explicit test for that.

3

You simply can not put anonymous function into a module attribute. This is a limitation of the language.

Try saving it as a MF-tuple.

You’ll need extra work to call it then though.

Something like this:

@def_deps %{ count_error: {@metrics, :inc} }

def dosomething() do
  {m, f} = @def_deps.count_error
  apply(m, f, [:dosomething])
end