jarvism

jarvism

Hello, everyone!
I am having a really hard time wrapping my head around this one for some reason.
I want to get a token, store it in memory in a module, have it available for all the functions in the module, and update it when the token expires.
In other languages, I might do something like:

token = nil

def handle_token() do
  # Check if I already have a token
  if token do
    # If so, use it.
    token
  else
    # If not (or if it's expired), get a new one.
    token = Req.get(www.token.com)
  end
end

This is obviously oversimplified, but I think you can understand what I mean. What is the idiomatically correct way to do this in Elixir?
I have looked into using ETS for this, but it seems like a lot.

I look forward to your feedback, and thank you!

Showing Posts 1 to 4

dimitarvp

dimitarvp

Simply put, you don’t do that in an FP language (though there are escape hatches like ETS indeed).

You’ll get better responses if you specify your original problem – and not how you want to solve it.

gpopides

gpopides

Are you looking how you can handle state? If yes you can use Agents for storing something simple (a string)

As mentioned, you cant do what you are trying because modules are not classes, they don’t contain state.

For that you need a GenServer (which agent is just more simplified)

hlx

hlx

A GenServer would be perfect for that. You can even make it so that the GenServer automatically refreshes the token every interval.

e.g.

defmodule TokenManager do
  use GenServer
  
  # Stick `TokenManager` in your Application's children
  def start_link(init_arg) do
    GenServer.start_link(__MODULE__, init_arg, name: __MODULE__)
  end
  
  def token do
    GenServer.call(__MODULE__, :token)
  end
  
  def init(init_arg) do
    token = 1
    Process.send_after(self(), :refresh_token, :timer.seconds(2))
    {:ok, token}
  end
  
  def handle_call(:token, _from, token) do
    {:reply, token, token}
  end
  
  def handle_info(:refresh_token, old_token) do
    new_token = old_token + 1
    Process.send_after(self(), :refresh_token, :timer.seconds(2))
    {:noreply, new_token}
  end
end

Edit: untested code FYI

masudme09

masudme09

For a similar case, when I need to use and update something, I use the following kinda programming pattern. But as @hlx mentioned, Genserver might serve best for your case without further knowing the context of your original problem.

defmodule SomeModule do
@state %{token: nil}

def some_function(params, state) do
 state
end

def another_function(params, params2, state) do
state
end

def update_token(state) do
# update the token
%{token: updated_token}
end

end

So, I try to pass around states, between functions, so any update that happens in any function should be available to the next one. Not sure it serves your purpose, maybe you can add further context to it.

— All posts loaded —

Where Next? Top

Trending in Questions Top

stjefim
Hello! Suppose you are building workflow (order / task / payment) processing system with the following requirements: Each workflow con...
New
water
I’m aware of 2 such projects, are there others? git: GitHub - team-alembic/realworld: A fullstack Phoenix LiveView application with back...
New
itzmidinesh
Hi all, I’m working on a Phoenix project where I need to make external HTTP requests and I’m trying to choose between Req and HTTPoison....
New
peck
Hi everyone. My team and I have been working on a fairly modest app based around video streaming and chat, but we’ve landed a customer t...
New
leoschweizer
Hi, we run different LLM models across a cluster, with each node loading a configurable subset. Model-specific queues let nodes consume ...
New
csmr
Hi all, I’m new here and would like to hear peoples views on my Elixir/Phoenix based game-engine! :smiley: Mutonex gamedesign was finish...
New
Stef-Verniers
Hello I’ve been coding in Elixir for almost two years now because of my current job where we implemented Elixir in our application. But ...
New

Other Trending Topics Top

dominicletz
Hey there, I haven’t seen a list of useful Elixir specific skills for the popular AI tools yet so I’m starting one here with my first. ...
New
mudasobwa
I fully migrated to my own harness from Anthropic/Gemini and I think it’s time to share it. Welcome DSH, the DeepSeek Harness, fully writ...
New
KristerV
Hey. Is there anyone here who creates agents in their apps? Not talking about using agents, but creating them. I’m finding it pretty diff...
New
jimsynz
Beam Bots (or just BB for short) is a framework for building fault-tolerant robotics applications in Elixir using familiar OTP patterns. ...
New
webofbits
With AI doing more of the implementation work, I’ve been wondering how much coding I should deliberately keep doing myself. My main conc...
#ai
New
OndrejValenta
(I just needed to vent somewhere and LinkedIn is full of hope, or hype, I’m not sure which exactly) AI dream has many faces, but general...
New

We're in Beta

About us Mission Statement

Options

Thread Display Mode




Thread Preview

Skip Thread Previews