sheharyarn

sheharyarn

I have three identical methods in my module, that do (almost) exactly the same thing. Instead of repeating the function definitions, I am trying to define them once to keep code minimal and same for all of them.

So far I’ve tried using Code.eval_string:

defmodule MyModule do
  Enum.each ~w(method1 method2 method3), fn method ->
    @method method

    Code.eval_string """
      def #{@method}(map) when is_map(map) do
        do_map_stuff(:#{@method}, map)
      end

      def #{@method}(arg) do
        do_other_stuff(:#{@method}, arg)
      end
    """
  end

  ## Other Methods

end

but this throws ArgumentError:

Compiling 1 file (.ex)
** (ArgumentError) cannot invoke def/2 outside module
    (elixir) lib/kernel.ex:4297: Kernel.assert_module_scope/3
    (elixir) lib/kernel.ex:3299: Kernel.define/4
    (elixir) expanding macro: Kernel.def/2
    nofile:1: (file)

I think quote/unquote might be the way to go, but I’m not exactly sure how to do this using them (I’ve already read the Meta Guide on the Elixir website).

Showing Posts 1 to 3

alxndr

alxndr

Don’t need to use Code.eval_string; you can wrap a def in a “loop” and use unquote/1 to “extract” the variable into the context that you’re def-ing in:

defmodule M do
  Enum.each ~w(foo bar), fn(method_name) ->
    def unquote(:"#{method_name}")(), do: unquote(method_name)
  end
end
vic

vic

Asdf Core Team

There’s no need to use eval_string, you could use Code.eval_quoted but it’d be much much better to just define a macro in another module and then import it.

Here’s a quick example, you can put on a file foo.ex and execute with elixir.

defmodule Gen do

  # Note that macro arguments and return values are quoted expressions
  defmacro gen({name, _, _}) do
    quote do

      # here we define it dinamically
      def unquote(name)() do
        IO.inspect(unquote(name))
      end

    end
  end
end

defmodule Foo do
  import Gen
  gen foo
end

Foo.foo
sheharyarn

sheharyarn OP

Thank you. Someone just posted this as an answer on my SO question as well.

http://stackoverflow.com/a/40250462/1533054

— All posts loaded —

Where Next? Top

Trending in Questions Top

RSP87
I’m working on a project that simulates the bumbl example in the programming phoenix book. It acts almost like an email client. We have a...
New
nseaSeb
Hello, I know there is an approach for handling lists that allows for optimized traversal, but I can’t recall the specific method (somet...
New
brecabral
Documentation While reading the Scoped Routes section, I noticed that the documentation currently refers to a problem without explainin...
New
kpanic
Hi everyone, I am toying with the idea of building a “match maker” for giving personal help to people that wants to start coding. I sta...
New
velrest
So my question is quite simple and i have found no conclusive answer on forum, google or AI. Should we use :erlang.float for Integer to ...
New
asweet-confluent
I recently noticed that Elixir’s Logger defaults its primary log level to :debug when no :logger, :level application configuration is pre...
New
apz
I’m new to elixir and just tried to install the elixirLS extension for VScode(ium) and it is throwing some errors that I would like help ...
New

Other Trending Topics Top

GenericJam
Edit: 2026 May 15 - This post is archived. Mob is alive!! Main docs: mob v0.7.11 — Documentation A bit of explanation for the slightly c...
New
JesseHerrick
Hey, I’m Jesse and I’m the main contributor behind Dexter, a full-featured, lightning-fast Elixir LSP optimized for large codebases. It s...
New
mudasobwa
I am happy to introduce the very α version of the new programming language compiled to BEAM. Welcome Cure. It has literally three kille...
New
garrison
Hobbes is a low-level distributed database for the Elixir programming language. Hobbes provides a simple, safe, and scalable storage lay...
New
marciok
Hi there! We created Gust: A task orchestrator inspired by Airflow. For those who have never heard about Aiflow, it’s a Python-based wor...
New
mhanberg
Hi everyone! The first release candidate for the Expert language server project is now available! We’ve published a press release detai...
New

We're in Beta

About us Mission Statement

Options

Thread Display Mode




Thread Preview

Skip Thread Previews