feat: Improved Event class (#488)

docs/api.md

@@ -66,6 +66,13 @@
     :members:
 ```
 
+## Event (class)
+
+```{eval-rst}
+.. autoclass:: statemachine.event.Event
+    :members:
+```
+
 ## EventData
 
 ```{eval-rst}

docs/transitions.md

@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ And these transitions are assigned to the {ref}`event` `cycle` defined at the cl
 
 ```{note}
 
-In fact, before the full class body is evaluated, the assigments of transitions are instances of [](statemachine.transition_list.TransitionList). When the state machine is evaluated by our custom [metaclass](https://docs.python.org/3/reference/datamodel.html#metaclasses), these names will be transformed into a method that triggers an {ref}`Event`.
+In fact, before the full class body is evaluated, the assigments of transitions are instances of [](statemachine.transition_list.TransitionList). When the state machine is evaluated by our custom [metaclass](https://docs.python.org/3/reference/datamodel.html#metaclasses), these names will be transformed into {ref}`Event` instances.
 
 ```
 
@@ -171,6 +171,153 @@ initiates a change in the state of the system.
 
 In `python-statemachine`, an event is specified as an attribute of the state machine class declaration or directly on the {ref}`event` parameter on a {ref}`transition`.
 
+
+### Declaring events
+
+The simplest way to declare an {ref}`event` is by assiging a transitions list to a name at the
+State machine class level. The name will be converted to an {ref}`Event (class)`:
+
+```py
+>>> from statemachine import Event
+
+>>> class SimpleSM(StateMachine):
+...     initial = State(initial=True)
+...     final = State()
+...
+...     start = initial.to(final)  # start is a name that will be converted to an `Event`
+
+>>> isinstance(SimpleSM.start, Event)
+True
+>>> sm = SimpleSM()
+>>> sm.start()  # call `start` event
+
+```
+
+```{versionadded} 2.6.7
+You can also explict declare an {ref}`Event` instance, this helps IDEs to know that the event is callable and also with transtation strings.
+```
+
+To declare an explicit event you must also import the {ref}`Event (class)`:
+
+```py
+>>> from statemachine import Event
+
+>>> class SimpleSM(StateMachine):
+...     initial = State(initial=True)
+...     final = State()
+...
+...     start = Event(
+...         initial.to(final),
+...         name="Start the state machine"  # optional name, if not provided it will be derived from id
+...     )
+
+>>> SimpleSM.start.name
+'Start the state machine'
+
+>>> sm = SimpleSM()
+>>> sm.start()  # call `start` event
+
+```
+
+An {ref}`Event (class)` instance or an event id string can also be used as the `event` parameter of a {ref}`transition`. So you can mix these options as you need.
+
+```py
+>>> from statemachine import State, StateMachine, Event
+
+>>> class TrafficLightMachine(StateMachine):
+...     "A traffic light machine"
+...
+...     green = State(initial=True)
+...     yellow = State()
+...     red = State()
+...
+...     slowdown = Event(name="Slowing down")
+...
+...     cycle = Event(
+...         green.to(yellow, event=slowdown)
+...         | yellow.to(red, event=Event("stop", name="Please stop!"))
+...         | red.to(green, event="go"),
+...         name="Loop",
+...     )
+...
+...     def on_transition(self, event_data, event: Event):
+...         # The `event` parameter can be declared as `str` or `Event`, since `Event` is a subclass of `str`
+...         # Note also that in this example, we're using `on_transition` instead of `on_cycle`, as this
+...         # binds the action to run for every transition instead of a specific event ID.
+...         assert event_data.event == event
+...         return (
+...             f"Running {event.name} from {event_data.transition.source.id} to "
+...             f"{event_data.transition.target.id}"
+...         )
+
+>>> # Event IDs
+>>> TrafficLightMachine.cycle.id
+'cycle'
+>>> TrafficLightMachine.slowdown.id
+'slowdown'
+>>> TrafficLightMachine.stop.id
+'stop'
+>>> TrafficLightMachine.go.id
+'go'
+
+>>> # Event names
+>>> TrafficLightMachine.cycle.name
+'Loop'
+>>> TrafficLightMachine.slowdown.name
+'Slowing down'
+>>> TrafficLightMachine.stop.name
+'Please stop!'
+>>> TrafficLightMachine.go.name
+'go'
+
+>>> sm = TrafficLightMachine()
+
+>>> sm.cycle()  # Your IDE is happy because it now knows that `cycle` is callable!
+'Running Loop from green to yellow'
+
+>>> sm.send("cycle")  # You can also use `send` in order to process dynamic event sources
+'Running Loop from yellow to red'
+
+>>> sm.send("cycle")
+'Running Loop from red to green'
+
+>>> sm.send("slowdown")
+'Running Slowing down from green to yellow'
+
+>>> sm.send("stop")
+'Running Please stop! from yellow to red'
+
+>>> sm.send("go")
+'Running go from red to green'
+
+```
+
+```{tip}
+Avoid mixing these options within the same project; instead, choose the one that best serves your use case. Declaring events as strings has been the standard approach since the library’s inception and can be considered syntactic sugar, as the state machine metaclass will convert all events to {ref}`Event (class)` instances under the hood.
+
+```
+
+```{note}
+In order to allow the seamless upgrade from using strings to `Event` instances, the {ref}`Event (class)` inherits from `str`.
+
+Note that this is just an implementation detail and can change in the future.
+
+>>> isinstance(TrafficLightMachine.cycle, str)
+True
+
+```
+
+
+```{warning}
+An {ref}`Event` declared as string will have its `name` set equal to its `id`. This is for backward compatibility when migrating from previous versions.
+
+In the next major release, `Event.name` will default to a capitalized version of `id` (i.e., `Event.id.replace("_", " ").capitalize()`).
+
+Starting from version 2.3.7, use `Event.id` to check for event identifiers instead of `Event.name`.
+
+```
+
+
 ### Triggering events
 
 Triggering an event on a state machine means invoking or sending a signal, initiating the
@@ -188,14 +335,13 @@ associated with the transition
 See {ref}`actions` and {ref}`validators and guards`.
 ```
 
-
 You can invoke the event in an imperative syntax:
 
 ```py
 >>> machine = TrafficLightMachine()
 
 >>> machine.cycle()
-Running cycle from green to yellow
+'Running Loop from green to yellow'
 
 >>> machine.current_state.id
 'yellow'
@@ -206,25 +352,13 @@ Or in an event-oriented style, events are `send`:
 
 ```py
 >>> machine.send("cycle")
-Running cycle from yellow to red
+'Running Loop from yellow to red'
 
 >>> machine.current_state.id
 'red'
 
 ```
 
-You can also pass positional and keyword arguments, that will be propagated
-to the actions and guards. In this example, the :code:`TrafficLightMachine` implements
-an action that `echoes` back the parameters informed.
-
-```{literalinclude} ../tests/examples/traffic_light_machine.py
-    :language: python
-    :linenos:
-    :emphasize-lines: 10
-    :lines: 12-21
-```
-
-
 This action is executed before the transition associated with `cycle` event is activated.
 You can raise an exception at this point to stop a transition from completing.
 
@@ -233,7 +367,7 @@ You can raise an exception at this point to stop a transition from completing.
 'red'
 
 >>> machine.cycle()
-Running cycle from red to green
+'Running Loop from red to green'
 
 >>> machine.current_state.id
 'green'

statemachine/__init__.py

@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
+from .event import Event
 from .state import State
 from .statemachine import StateMachine
 
 __author__ = """Fernando Macedo"""
 __email__ = "[email protected]"
 __version__ = "2.3.6"
 
-__all__ = ["StateMachine", "State"]
+__all__ = ["StateMachine", "State", "Event"]

statemachine/dispatcher.py

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 from .callbacks import SPECS_ALL
 from .callbacks import SpecReference
+from .event import Event
 from .signature import SignatureAdapter
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -121,7 +122,7 @@ def search_name(self, name) -> Generator["Callable", None, None]:
                 yield attr_method(name, config.obj, config.resolver_id)
                 continue
 
-            if getattr(func, "_is_sm_event", False):
+            if isinstance(func, Event):
                 yield event_method(name, func, config.resolver_id)
                 continue
 

statemachine/event.py

@@ -1,12 +1,16 @@
 from inspect import isawaitable
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+from typing import List
+from uuid import uuid4
 
 from statemachine.utils import run_async_from_sync
 
 from .event_data import TriggerData
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from .statemachine import StateMachine
+    from .transition_list import TransitionList
+
 
 _event_data_kwargs = {
     "event_data",
@@ -20,46 +24,94 @@
 }
 
 
-class Event:
-    def __init__(self, name: str):
-        self.name: str = name
+class Event(str):
+    id: str
+    """The event identifier."""
+
+    name: str
+    """The event name."""
+
+    _sm: "StateMachine | None" = None
+    """The state machine instance."""
+
+    _transitions: "TransitionList | None" = None
+    _has_real_id = False
+
+    def __new__(
+        cls,
+        transitions: "str | TransitionList | None" = None,
+        id: "str | None" = None,
+        name: "str | None" = None,
+        _sm: "StateMachine | None" = None,
+    ):
+        if isinstance(transitions, str):
+            id = transitions
+            transitions = None
+
+        _has_real_id = id is not None
+        id = str(id) if _has_real_id else f"__event__{uuid4().hex}"
+
+        instance = super().__new__(cls, id)
+        instance.id = id
+        if name:
+            instance.name = name
+        elif _has_real_id:
+            instance.name = str(id).replace("_", " ").capitalize()
+        else:
+            instance.name = ""
+        if transitions:
+            instance._transitions = transitions
+        instance._has_real_id = _has_real_id
+        instance._sm = _sm
+        return instance
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        return f"{type(self).__name__}({self.name!r})"
+        return f"{type(self).__name__}({self.id!r})"
+
+    def is_same_event(self, *_args, event: "str | None" = None, **_kwargs) -> bool:
+        return self == event
+
+    def __get__(self, instance, owner):
+        """By implementing this method `Event` can be used as a property descriptor
+
+        When attached to a SM class, if the user tries to get the `Event` instance,
+        we intercept here and return a `BoundEvent` instance, so the user can call
+        it as a method with the correct SM instance.
+
+        """
+        if instance is None:
+            return self
+        return BoundEvent(id=self.id, name=self.name, _sm=instance)
+
+    def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        """Send this event to the current state machine."""
+        # The `__call__` is declared here to help IDEs knowing that an `Event`
+        # can be called as a method. But it is not meant to be called without
+        # an SM instance. Such SM instance is provided by `__get__` method when
+        # used as a property descriptor.
 
-    def trigger(self, machine: "StateMachine", *args, **kwargs):
+        machine = self._sm
         kwargs = {k: v for k, v in kwargs.items() if k not in _event_data_kwargs}
         trigger_data = TriggerData(
             machine=machine,
-            event=self.name,
+            event=self,
             args=args,
             kwargs=kwargs,
         )
         machine._put_nonblocking(trigger_data)
-        return machine._processing_loop()
-
-
-def trigger_event_factory(event_instance: Event):
-    """Build a method that sends specific `event` to the machine"""
-
-    def trigger_event(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        result = event_instance.trigger(self, *args, **kwargs)
+        result = machine._processing_loop()
         if not isawaitable(result):
             return result
         return run_async_from_sync(result)
 
-    trigger_event.name = event_instance.name  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
-    trigger_event.identifier = event_instance.name  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
-    trigger_event._is_sm_event = True  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
-    return trigger_event
-
-
-def same_event_cond_builder(expected_event: str):
-    """
-    Builds a condition method that evaluates to ``True`` when the expected event is received.
-    """
+    def split(  # type: ignore[override]
+        self, sep: "str | None" = None, maxsplit: int = -1
+    ) -> List["Event"]:
+        result = super().split(sep, maxsplit)
+        if len(result) == 1:
+            return [self]
+        return [Event(event) for event in result]
 
-    def cond(*args, event: "str | None" = None, **kwargs) -> bool:
-        return event == expected_event
 
-    return cond
+class BoundEvent(Event):
+    pass