[erlang-questions] using guards in gen_server

[Robert Virding]

It depends on where you want the error caught and what is to be done.

If you put the guard in the API then the caller will crash, or if you
add an extra clause return some for of error. I would most definitely
let it crash as it a clear programming error if it happens.

If you put the guard in the server then the server will crash or the
error will have to be handled there. This doesn't seem right in this
case but it does depend on what is right for the application.

It all comes back to the central problem with errors: where are they
to be detected and "handled". And this is very application dependent.
I personally feel that type errors, like this one, should be caught as
early as possible and generate and exception as they are usually
caused by programming errors.

Robert

On 29 August 2010 11:20, Zvi <zvi.avraham@REDACTED> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> When writing gen_server, do you put validation guards in API functions
> or in handle_call / cast or in both ? What's the convention?
>
> For example:
>
> send(Pid) when is_pid(Pid) ->
>   gen_server:call(?SERVER, {send, Pid}).
>
> handle_call({send, Pid}, _From, _State) ->
>   Resp = do_send(Pid),
>   {reply,  Resp, State}.
>
> OR:
>
> send(Pid) ->
>   gen_server:call(?SERVER, {send, Pid}).
>
> handle_call({send, Pid}, _From, _State) when is_pid(Pid) ->
>   Resp = do_send(Pid),
>   {reply,  Resp, State}.
>
> OR:
>
> send(Pid) when is_pid(Pid) ->
>   gen_server:call(?SERVER, {send, Pid}).
>
> handle_call({send, Pid}, _From, _State) when is_pid(Pid) ->
>   Resp = do_send(Pid),
>   {reply,  Resp, State}.
>
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