The new Uize.Util.Dependencies utility module provides methods for working with dependency relationships in a generic way.

The Uize.Util.Dependencies module is used by the Uize.Build.ModuleInfo build utility module to trace module dependencies, but the methods of the Uize.Util.Dependencies module are expressed in sufficiently generic terms that the module can be used for many types of items that have dependency relationships.

The module provides a Uize.Util.Dependencies.traceDependencies static method, which returns an array, containing the dependencies that are required - both directly and indirectly - by the specified root dependency (or dependencies), and excluding the optionally specified exclude list.

SYNTAX

dependenciesARRAY = Uize.Util.Dependencies.traceDependencies (
  rootDependenciesSTRorARRAY,
  getDirectDependenciesFUNC,
  excludeDependenciesSTRorARRAY  // optional
);

EXAMPLE

var directDepsLookup = {
  foo:['bar','baz','qux'],
  bar:['baz','qux'],
  baz:['qux'],
  qux:[]
};

function getDirectDeps (dep) {
  return directDepsLookup [dep];
}

alert (  // alerts "qux,baz,bar,foo"
  Uize.Util.Dependencies.traceDependencies (['foo','qux'],getDirectDeps)
);

alert (  // alerts "qux,baz"
  Uize.Util.Dependencies.traceDependencies ('baz',getDirectDeps)
);

alert (  // alerts "baz,bar,foo"
  Uize.Util.Dependencies.traceDependencies ('foo',getDirectDeps,['qux'])
);

In the above example, we have created a directDepsLookup object, which maps the names of dependencies to their direct dependencies (it's not important what type of things we're dealing with). Then, we've created a simple getDirectDeps function that looks up the direct dependencies for a specified dependency from the directDepsLookup lookup and returns those dependencies. When we call the Uize.Util.Dependencies.traceDependencies method, we supply the getDirectDeps function for the method's getDirectDependenciesFUNC parameter.

In a real world usage, the function value provided for the getDirectDependenciesFUNC parameter would have an understanding of the type of dependencies that are being dealt with. This approach provides the maximum flexibility for the user of the Uize.Util.Dependencies.traceDependencies method, keeping the responsibility of this method to simply performing the recursive tracing algorithm.

For complete documentation, consult the reference for the Uize.Util.Dependencies module.