Clojure: Dynamically create functions from a map -- Time for a Macro? - clojure

Question

I have a function that begins like this:
(defn data-one [suser]
(def suser-first-name
(select db/firstNames
(fields :firstname)
(where {:username suser})))
(def suser-middle-name
(select db/middleNames
(fields :middlename)
(where {:username suser})))
(def suser-last-name
(select db/middleNames
(fields :lastname)
(where {:username suser})))
;; And it just continues on and on...
)
Of course, I don't like this at all. I have this pattern repeating in many areas in my code-base and I'd like to generalize this.
So, I came up with the following to start:
(def data-input {:one '[suser-first-name db/firstNames :firstname]
'[suser-middle-name db/middleNames :middlename]
'[suser-last-name db/lastNames :lastname]})
(defpartial data-build [data-item suser]
;; data-item takes the arg :one in this case
`(def (data-input data-item)
(select (data-input data-item)
(fields (data-input data-item))
(where {:username suser}))))
There's really a few questions here:
-- How can I deconstruct the data-input so that it creates x functions when x is unknown, ie. that the values of :one is unknown, and that the quantities of keys in data-input is unknown.
-- I'm thinking that this is a time to create a macro, but I've never built one before, so I am hesitant on the idea.
And to give a little context, the functions must return values to be deconstructed, but I think once I get this piece solved, generalizing all of this will be doable:
(defpage "/page-one" []
(let [suser (sesh/get :username)]
(data-one suser)
[:p "Firat Name: "
[:i (let [[{fname :firstname}] suser-first-name]
(format "%s" fname))]
[:p "Middle Name: "
[:i (let [[{mname :emptype}] suser-middle-name]
(format "%s" mname))]
[:p "Last Name: "
[:i (let [[{lname :months}] suser-last-name]
(format "%s" lname))]]))

Answer 1

Some suggestions:
def inside a function is really nasty - you are altering the global environment, and it can cause all kinds of issues with concurrency. I would suggest storing the results in a map instead.
You don't need a macro here - all of the data fetches can be done relatively easily within a function
I would therefore suggest something like:
(def data-input [[:suser-first-name db/firstNames :firstname]
[:suser-middle-name db/middleNames :middlename]
[:suser-last-name db/lastNames :lastname]])
(def data-build [data-input suser]
(loop [output {}
items (seq data-input)]
(if items
(recur
(let [[kw db fieldname] (first items)]
(assoc output kw (select db (fields fieldname) (where {:username suser}))))
(next items))
output)))
Not tested as I don't have your database setup - but hopefully that gives you an idea of how to do this without either macros or mutable globals!

Answer 2

Nice question. First of all here's the macro that you asked for:
(defmacro defquery [fname table fields ]
(let [arg-name (symbol 'user-name)
fname (symbol fname)]
`(defn ~fname [~arg-name]
(print ~arg-name (str ~# fields)))))
You can call it like that:
(defquery suser-first-name db/firstNames [:firstname])
or if you prefer to keep all your configurations in a map, then it will accept string as the first argument instead of a symbol:
(defquery "suser-first-name" db/firstNames [:firstname])
Now, if you don't mind me recommending another solution, I would probably chose to use a single function closed around configuration. Something like that:
(defn make-reader [query-configurations]
(fn [query-type user-name]
(let [{table :table field-names :fields}
(get query-configurations query-type)]
(select table
(apply fields field-names)
(where {:username suser})))))
(def data-input {:firstname {:table db/firstNames :fields :firstname}
:middlename {:table db/middleNames :fields :middlename}
:lastname {:table db/lastNames :fields :lastname}})
(def query-function (make-reader data-input))
;; Example of executing a query
(query-function :firstname "tom")
By the way there's another way to use Korma:
;; This creates a template select from the table
(def table-select (select* db/firstNames))
;; This creates new select query for a specific field
(def first-name-select (fields table-select :firstname))
;; Creating yet another query that filters results by :username
(defn mkselect-for-user [suser query]
(where query {:username suser}))
;; Running the query for username "tom"
;; I fully specified exec function name only to show where it comes from.
(korma.core/exec (mkselect-for-user "tom" first-name-select))
For more information I highly recommend looking at Korma sources.