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<title>Refactoring to Improve Modularity and Error Handling</title>
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<body>
<h2 id="refactoring-to-improve-modularity-and-error-handling"><a class="header" href="#refactoring-to-improve-modularity-and-error-handling">Refactoring to Improve Modularity and Error Handling</a></h2>
<p>To improve our program, well fix four problems that have to do with the
programs structure and how its handling potential errors. First, our <code>main</code>
function now performs two tasks: It parses arguments and reads files. As our
program grows, the number of separate tasks the <code>main</code> function handles will
increase. As a function gains responsibilities, it becomes more difficult to
reason about, harder to test, and harder to change without breaking one of its
parts. Its best to separate functionality so that each function is responsible
for one task.</p>
<p>This issue also ties into the second problem: Although <code>query</code> and <code>file_path</code>
are configuration variables to our program, variables like <code>contents</code> are used
to perform the programs logic. The longer <code>main</code> becomes, the more variables
well need to bring into scope; the more variables we have in scope, the harder
it will be to keep track of the purpose of each. Its best to group the
configuration variables into one structure to make their purpose clear.</p>
<p>The third problem is that weve used <code>expect</code> to print an error message when
reading the file fails, but the error message just prints <code>Should have been able to read the file</code>. Reading a file can fail in a number of ways: For
example, the file could be missing, or we might not have permission to open it.
Right now, regardless of the situation, wed print the same error message for
everything, which wouldnt give the user any information!</p>
<p>Fourth, we use <code>expect</code> to handle an error, and if the user runs our program
without specifying enough arguments, theyll get an <code>index out of bounds</code> error
from Rust that doesnt clearly explain the problem. It would be best if all the
error-handling code were in one place so that future maintainers had only one
place to consult the code if the error-handling logic needed to change. Having
all the error-handling code in one place will also ensure that were printing
messages that will be meaningful to our end users.</p>
<p>Lets address these four problems by refactoring our project.</p>
<!-- Old headings. Do not remove or links may break. -->
<p><a id="separation-of-concerns-for-binary-projects"></a></p>
<h3 id="separating-concerns-in-binary-projects"><a class="header" href="#separating-concerns-in-binary-projects">Separating Concerns in Binary Projects</a></h3>
<p>The organizational problem of allocating responsibility for multiple tasks to
the <code>main</code> function is common to many binary projects. As a result, many Rust
programmers find it useful to split up the separate concerns of a binary
program when the <code>main</code> function starts getting large. This process has the
following steps:</p>
<ul>
<li>Split your program into a <em>main.rs</em> file and a <em>lib.rs</em> file and move your
programs logic to <em>lib.rs</em>.</li>
<li>As long as your command line parsing logic is small, it can remain in
the <code>main</code> function.</li>
<li>When the command line parsing logic starts getting complicated, extract it
from the <code>main</code> function into other functions or types.</li>
</ul>
<p>The responsibilities that remain in the <code>main</code> function after this process
should be limited to the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Calling the command line parsing logic with the argument values</li>
<li>Setting up any other configuration</li>
<li>Calling a <code>run</code> function in <em>lib.rs</em></li>
<li>Handling the error if <code>run</code> returns an error</li>
</ul>
<p>This pattern is about separating concerns: <em>main.rs</em> handles running the
program and <em>lib.rs</em> handles all the logic of the task at hand. Because you
cant test the <code>main</code> function directly, this structure lets you test all of
your programs logic by moving it out of the <code>main</code> function. The code that
remains in the <code>main</code> function will be small enough to verify its correctness
by reading it. Lets rework our program by following this process.</p>
<h4 id="extracting-the-argument-parser"><a class="header" href="#extracting-the-argument-parser">Extracting the Argument Parser</a></h4>
<p>Well extract the functionality for parsing arguments into a function that
<code>main</code> will call. Listing 12-5 shows the new start of the <code>main</code> function that
calls a new function <code>parse_config</code>, which well define in <em>src/main.rs</em>.</p>
<figure class="listing" id="listing-12-5">
<span class="file-name">Filename: src/main.rs</span>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore"><span class="boring">use std::env;
</span><span class="boring">use std::fs;
</span><span class="boring">
</span>fn main() {
let args: Vec&lt;String&gt; = env::args().collect();
let (query, file_path) = parse_config(&amp;args);
// --snip--
<span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("Searching for {query}");
</span><span class="boring"> println!("In file {file_path}");
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let contents = fs::read_to_string(file_path)
</span><span class="boring"> .expect("Should have been able to read the file");
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("With text:\n{contents}");
</span>}
fn parse_config(args: &amp;[String]) -&gt; (&amp;str, &amp;str) {
let query = &amp;args[1];
let file_path = &amp;args[2];
(query, file_path)
}</code></pre>
<figcaption><a href="#listing-12-5">Listing 12-5</a>: Extracting a <code>parse_config</code> function from <code>main</code></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Were still collecting the command line arguments into a vector, but instead of
assigning the argument value at index 1 to the variable <code>query</code> and the
argument value at index 2 to the variable <code>file_path</code> within the <code>main</code>
function, we pass the whole vector to the <code>parse_config</code> function. The
<code>parse_config</code> function then holds the logic that determines which argument
goes in which variable and passes the values back to <code>main</code>. We still create
the <code>query</code> and <code>file_path</code> variables in <code>main</code>, but <code>main</code> no longer has the
responsibility of determining how the command line arguments and variables
correspond.</p>
<p>This rework may seem like overkill for our small program, but were refactoring
in small, incremental steps. After making this change, run the program again to
verify that the argument parsing still works. Its good to check your progress
often, to help identify the cause of problems when they occur.</p>
<h4 id="grouping-configuration-values"><a class="header" href="#grouping-configuration-values">Grouping Configuration Values</a></h4>
<p>We can take another small step to improve the <code>parse_config</code> function further.
At the moment, were returning a tuple, but then we immediately break that
tuple into individual parts again. This is a sign that perhaps we dont have
the right abstraction yet.</p>
<p>Another indicator that shows theres room for improvement is the <code>config</code> part
of <code>parse_config</code>, which implies that the two values we return are related and
are both part of one configuration value. Were not currently conveying this
meaning in the structure of the data other than by grouping the two values into
a tuple; well instead put the two values into one struct and give each of the
struct fields a meaningful name. Doing so will make it easier for future
maintainers of this code to understand how the different values relate to each
other and what their purpose is.</p>
<p>Listing 12-6 shows the improvements to the <code>parse_config</code> function.</p>
<figure class="listing" id="listing-12-6">
<span class="file-name">Filename: src/main.rs</span>
<pre><code class="language-rust should_panic noplayground"><span class="boring">use std::env;
</span><span class="boring">use std::fs;
</span><span class="boring">
</span>fn main() {
let args: Vec&lt;String&gt; = env::args().collect();
let config = parse_config(&amp;args);
println!("Searching for {}", config.query);
println!("In file {}", config.file_path);
let contents = fs::read_to_string(config.file_path)
.expect("Should have been able to read the file");
// --snip--
<span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("With text:\n{contents}");
</span>}
struct Config {
query: String,
file_path: String,
}
fn parse_config(args: &amp;[String]) -&gt; Config {
let query = args[1].clone();
let file_path = args[2].clone();
Config { query, file_path }
}</code></pre>
<figcaption><a href="#listing-12-6">Listing 12-6</a>: Refactoring <code>parse_config</code> to return an instance of a <code>Config</code> struct</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Weve added a struct named <code>Config</code> defined to have fields named <code>query</code> and
<code>file_path</code>. The signature of <code>parse_config</code> now indicates that it returns a
<code>Config</code> value. In the body of <code>parse_config</code>, where we used to return
string slices that reference <code>String</code> values in <code>args</code>, we now define <code>Config</code>
to contain owned <code>String</code> values. The <code>args</code> variable in <code>main</code> is the owner of
the argument values and is only letting the <code>parse_config</code> function borrow
them, which means wed violate Rusts borrowing rules if <code>Config</code> tried to take
ownership of the values in <code>args</code>.</p>
<p>There are a number of ways we could manage the <code>String</code> data; the easiest,
though somewhat inefficient, route is to call the <code>clone</code> method on the values.
This will make a full copy of the data for the <code>Config</code> instance to own, which
takes more time and memory than storing a reference to the string data.
However, cloning the data also makes our code very straightforward because we
dont have to manage the lifetimes of the references; in this circumstance,
giving up a little performance to gain simplicity is a worthwhile trade-off.</p>
<section class="note" aria-role="note">
<h3 id="the-trade-offs-of-using-clone"><a class="header" href="#the-trade-offs-of-using-clone">The Trade-Offs of Using <code>clone</code></a></h3>
<p>Theres a tendency among many Rustaceans to avoid using <code>clone</code> to fix
ownership problems because of its runtime cost. In
<a href="../ch13/ch13-00-functional-features.html">Chapter 13</a><!-- ignore -->, youll learn how to use more efficient
methods in this type of situation. But for now, its okay to copy a few
strings to continue making progress because youll make these copies only
once and your file path and query string are very small. Its better to have
a working program thats a bit inefficient than to try to hyperoptimize code
on your first pass. As you become more experienced with Rust, itll be
easier to start with the most efficient solution, but for now, its
perfectly acceptable to call <code>clone</code>.</p>
</section>
<p>Weve updated <code>main</code> so that it places the instance of <code>Config</code> returned by
<code>parse_config</code> into a variable named <code>config</code>, and we updated the code that
previously used the separate <code>query</code> and <code>file_path</code> variables so that it now
uses the fields on the <code>Config</code> struct instead.</p>
<p>Now our code more clearly conveys that <code>query</code> and <code>file_path</code> are related and
that their purpose is to configure how the program will work. Any code that
uses these values knows to find them in the <code>config</code> instance in the fields
named for their purpose.</p>
<h4 id="creating-a-constructor-for-config"><a class="header" href="#creating-a-constructor-for-config">Creating a Constructor for <code>Config</code></a></h4>
<p>So far, weve extracted the logic responsible for parsing the command line
arguments from <code>main</code> and placed it in the <code>parse_config</code> function. Doing so
helped us see that the <code>query</code> and <code>file_path</code> values were related, and that
relationship should be conveyed in our code. We then added a <code>Config</code> struct to
name the related purpose of <code>query</code> and <code>file_path</code> and to be able to return the
values names as struct field names from the <code>parse_config</code> function.</p>
<p>So, now that the purpose of the <code>parse_config</code> function is to create a <code>Config</code>
instance, we can change <code>parse_config</code> from a plain function to a function
named <code>new</code> that is associated with the <code>Config</code> struct. Making this change
will make the code more idiomatic. We can create instances of types in the
standard library, such as <code>String</code>, by calling <code>String::new</code>. Similarly, by
changing <code>parse_config</code> into a <code>new</code> function associated with <code>Config</code>, well
be able to create instances of <code>Config</code> by calling <code>Config::new</code>. Listing 12-7
shows the changes we need to make.</p>
<figure class="listing" id="listing-12-7">
<span class="file-name">Filename: src/main.rs</span>
<pre><code class="language-rust should_panic noplayground"><span class="boring">use std::env;
</span><span class="boring">use std::fs;
</span><span class="boring">
</span>fn main() {
let args: Vec&lt;String&gt; = env::args().collect();
let config = Config::new(&amp;args);
<span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("Searching for {}", config.query);
</span><span class="boring"> println!("In file {}", config.file_path);
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let contents = fs::read_to_string(config.file_path)
</span><span class="boring"> .expect("Should have been able to read the file");
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("With text:\n{contents}");
</span>
// --snip--
}
// --snip--
<span class="boring">struct Config {
</span><span class="boring"> query: String,
</span><span class="boring"> file_path: String,
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span>impl Config {
fn new(args: &amp;[String]) -&gt; Config {
let query = args[1].clone();
let file_path = args[2].clone();
Config { query, file_path }
}
}</code></pre>
<figcaption><a href="#listing-12-7">Listing 12-7</a>: Changing <code>parse_config</code> into <code>Config::new</code></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Weve updated <code>main</code> where we were calling <code>parse_config</code> to instead call
<code>Config::new</code>. Weve changed the name of <code>parse_config</code> to <code>new</code> and moved it
within an <code>impl</code> block, which associates the <code>new</code> function with <code>Config</code>. Try
compiling this code again to make sure it works.</p>
<h3 id="fixing-the-error-handling"><a class="header" href="#fixing-the-error-handling">Fixing the Error Handling</a></h3>
<p>Now well work on fixing our error handling. Recall that attempting to access
the values in the <code>args</code> vector at index 1 or index 2 will cause the program to
panic if the vector contains fewer than three items. Try running the program
without any arguments; it will look like this:</p>
<pre><code class="language-console">$ cargo run
Compiling minigrep v0.1.0 (file:///projects/minigrep)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.0s
Running `target/debug/minigrep`
thread 'main' panicked at src/main.rs:27:21:
index out of bounds: the len is 1 but the index is 1
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace
</code></pre>
<p>The line <code>index out of bounds: the len is 1 but the index is 1</code> is an error
message intended for programmers. It wont help our end users understand what
they should do instead. Lets fix that now.</p>
<h4 id="improving-the-error-message"><a class="header" href="#improving-the-error-message">Improving the Error Message</a></h4>
<p>In Listing 12-8, we add a check in the <code>new</code> function that will verify that the
slice is long enough before accessing index 1 and index 2. If the slice isnt
long enough, the program panics and displays a better error message.</p>
<figure class="listing" id="listing-12-8">
<span class="file-name">Filename: src/main.rs</span>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore"><span class="boring">use std::env;
</span><span class="boring">use std::fs;
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">fn main() {
</span><span class="boring"> let args: Vec&lt;String&gt; = env::args().collect();
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let config = Config::new(&amp;args);
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("Searching for {}", config.query);
</span><span class="boring"> println!("In file {}", config.file_path);
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let contents = fs::read_to_string(config.file_path)
</span><span class="boring"> .expect("Should have been able to read the file");
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("With text:\n{contents}");
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">struct Config {
</span><span class="boring"> query: String,
</span><span class="boring"> file_path: String,
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">impl Config {
</span> // --snip--
fn new(args: &amp;[String]) -&gt; Config {
if args.len() &lt; 3 {
panic!("not enough arguments");
}
// --snip--
<span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let query = args[1].clone();
</span><span class="boring"> let file_path = args[2].clone();
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> Config { query, file_path }
</span><span class="boring"> }
</span><span class="boring">}</span></code></pre>
<figcaption><a href="#listing-12-8">Listing 12-8</a>: Adding a check for the number of arguments</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This code is similar to <a href="../ch09/ch09-03-to-panic-or-not-to-panic.html#creating-custom-types-for-validation">the <code>Guess::new</code> function we wrote in Listing
9-13</a><!-- ignore -->, where we called <code>panic!</code> when the
<code>value</code> argument was out of the range of valid values. Instead of checking for
a range of values here, were checking that the length of <code>args</code> is at least
<code>3</code> and the rest of the function can operate under the assumption that this
condition has been met. If <code>args</code> has fewer than three items, this condition
will be <code>true</code>, and we call the <code>panic!</code> macro to end the program immediately.</p>
<p>With these extra few lines of code in <code>new</code>, lets run the program without any
arguments again to see what the error looks like now:</p>
<pre><code class="language-console">$ cargo run
Compiling minigrep v0.1.0 (file:///projects/minigrep)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.0s
Running `target/debug/minigrep`
thread 'main' panicked at src/main.rs:26:13:
not enough arguments
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace
</code></pre>
<p>This output is better: We now have a reasonable error message. However, we also
have extraneous information we dont want to give to our users. Perhaps the
technique we used in Listing 9-13 isnt the best one to use here: A call to
<code>panic!</code> is more appropriate for a programming problem than a usage problem,
<a href="../ch09/ch09-03-to-panic-or-not-to-panic.html#guidelines-for-error-handling">as discussed in Chapter 9</a><!-- ignore -->. Instead,
well use the other technique you learned about in Chapter 9—<a href="../ch09/ch09-02-recoverable-errors-with-result.html">returning a
<code>Result</code></a><!-- ignore --> that indicates either success or an error.</p>
<!-- Old headings. Do not remove or links may break. -->
<p><a id="returning-a-result-from-new-instead-of-calling-panic"></a></p>
<h4 id="returning-a-result-instead-of-calling-panic"><a class="header" href="#returning-a-result-instead-of-calling-panic">Returning a <code>Result</code> Instead of Calling <code>panic!</code></a></h4>
<p>We can instead return a <code>Result</code> value that will contain a <code>Config</code> instance in
the successful case and will describe the problem in the error case. Were also
going to change the function name from <code>new</code> to <code>build</code> because many
programmers expect <code>new</code> functions to never fail. When <code>Config::build</code> is
communicating to <code>main</code>, we can use the <code>Result</code> type to signal there was a
problem. Then, we can change <code>main</code> to convert an <code>Err</code> variant into a more
practical error for our users without the surrounding text about <code>thread 'main'</code> and <code>RUST_BACKTRACE</code> that a call to <code>panic!</code> causes.</p>
<p>Listing 12-9 shows the changes we need to make to the return value of the
function were now calling <code>Config::build</code> and the body of the function needed
to return a <code>Result</code>. Note that this wont compile until we update <code>main</code> as
well, which well do in the next listing.</p>
<figure class="listing" id="listing-12-9">
<span class="file-name">Filename: src/main.rs</span>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore does_not_compile"><span class="boring">use std::env;
</span><span class="boring">use std::fs;
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">fn main() {
</span><span class="boring"> let args: Vec&lt;String&gt; = env::args().collect();
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let config = Config::new(&amp;args);
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("Searching for {}", config.query);
</span><span class="boring"> println!("In file {}", config.file_path);
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let contents = fs::read_to_string(config.file_path)
</span><span class="boring"> .expect("Should have been able to read the file");
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("With text:\n{contents}");
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">struct Config {
</span><span class="boring"> query: String,
</span><span class="boring"> file_path: String,
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span>impl Config {
fn build(args: &amp;[String]) -&gt; Result&lt;Config, &amp;'static str&gt; {
if args.len() &lt; 3 {
return Err("not enough arguments");
}
let query = args[1].clone();
let file_path = args[2].clone();
Ok(Config { query, file_path })
}
}</code></pre>
<figcaption><a href="#listing-12-9">Listing 12-9</a>: Returning a <code>Result</code> from <code>Config::build</code></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our <code>build</code> function returns a <code>Result</code> with a <code>Config</code> instance in the success
case and a string literal in the error case. Our error values will always be
string literals that have the <code>'static</code> lifetime.</p>
<p>Weve made two changes in the body of the function: Instead of calling <code>panic!</code>
when the user doesnt pass enough arguments, we now return an <code>Err</code> value, and
weve wrapped the <code>Config</code> return value in an <code>Ok</code>. These changes make the
function conform to its new type signature.</p>
<p>Returning an <code>Err</code> value from <code>Config::build</code> allows the <code>main</code> function to
handle the <code>Result</code> value returned from the <code>build</code> function and exit the
process more cleanly in the error case.</p>
<!-- Old headings. Do not remove or links may break. -->
<p><a id="calling-confignew-and-handling-errors"></a></p>
<h4 id="calling-configbuild-and-handling-errors"><a class="header" href="#calling-configbuild-and-handling-errors">Calling <code>Config::build</code> and Handling Errors</a></h4>
<p>To handle the error case and print a user-friendly message, we need to update
<code>main</code> to handle the <code>Result</code> being returned by <code>Config::build</code>, as shown in
Listing 12-10. Well also take the responsibility of exiting the command line
tool with a nonzero error code away from <code>panic!</code> and instead implement it by
hand. A nonzero exit status is a convention to signal to the process that
called our program that the program exited with an error state.</p>
<figure class="listing" id="listing-12-10">
<span class="file-name">Filename: src/main.rs</span>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore"><span class="boring">use std::env;
</span><span class="boring">use std::fs;
</span>use std::process;
fn main() {
let args: Vec&lt;String&gt; = env::args().collect();
let config = Config::build(&amp;args).unwrap_or_else(|err| {
println!("Problem parsing arguments: {err}");
process::exit(1);
});
// --snip--
<span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("Searching for {}", config.query);
</span><span class="boring"> println!("In file {}", config.file_path);
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let contents = fs::read_to_string(config.file_path)
</span><span class="boring"> .expect("Should have been able to read the file");
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("With text:\n{contents}");
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">struct Config {
</span><span class="boring"> query: String,
</span><span class="boring"> file_path: String,
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">impl Config {
</span><span class="boring"> fn build(args: &amp;[String]) -&gt; Result&lt;Config, &amp;'static str&gt; {
</span><span class="boring"> if args.len() &lt; 3 {
</span><span class="boring"> return Err("not enough arguments");
</span><span class="boring"> }
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let query = args[1].clone();
</span><span class="boring"> let file_path = args[2].clone();
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> Ok(Config { query, file_path })
</span><span class="boring"> }
</span><span class="boring">}</span></code></pre>
<figcaption><a href="#listing-12-10">Listing 12-10</a>: Exiting with an error code if building a <code>Config</code> fails</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this listing, weve used a method we havent covered in detail yet:
<code>unwrap_or_else</code>, which is defined on <code>Result&lt;T, E&gt;</code> by the standard library.
Using <code>unwrap_or_else</code> allows us to define some custom, non-<code>panic!</code> error
handling. If the <code>Result</code> is an <code>Ok</code> value, this methods behavior is similar
to <code>unwrap</code>: It returns the inner value that <code>Ok</code> is wrapping. However, if the
value is an <code>Err</code> value, this method calls the code in the closure, which is
an anonymous function we define and pass as an argument to <code>unwrap_or_else</code>.
Well cover closures in more detail in <a href="../ch13/ch13-00-functional-features.html">Chapter 13</a><!-- ignore -->. For
now, you just need to know that <code>unwrap_or_else</code> will pass the inner value of
the <code>Err</code>, which in this case is the static string <code>"not enough arguments"</code>
that we added in Listing 12-9, to our closure in the argument <code>err</code> that
appears between the vertical pipes. The code in the closure can then use the
<code>err</code> value when it runs.</p>
<p>Weve added a new <code>use</code> line to bring <code>process</code> from the standard library into
scope. The code in the closure that will be run in the error case is only two
lines: We print the <code>err</code> value and then call <code>process::exit</code>. The
<code>process::exit</code> function will stop the program immediately and return the
number that was passed as the exit status code. This is similar to the
<code>panic!</code>-based handling we used in Listing 12-8, but we no longer get all the
extra output. Lets try it:</p>
<pre><code class="language-console">$ cargo run
Compiling minigrep v0.1.0 (file:///projects/minigrep)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.48s
Running `target/debug/minigrep`
Problem parsing arguments: not enough arguments
</code></pre>
<p>Great! This output is much friendlier for our users.</p>
<!-- Old headings. Do not remove or links may break. -->
<p><a id="extracting-logic-from-the-main-function"></a></p>
<h3 id="extracting-logic-from-main"><a class="header" href="#extracting-logic-from-main">Extracting Logic from <code>main</code></a></h3>
<p>Now that weve finished refactoring the configuration parsing, lets turn to
the programs logic. As we stated in <a href="#separation-of-concerns-for-binary-projects">“Separating Concerns in Binary
Projects”</a><!-- ignore -->, well
extract a function named <code>run</code> that will hold all the logic currently in the
<code>main</code> function that isnt involved with setting up configuration or handling
errors. When were done, the <code>main</code> function will be concise and easy to verify
by inspection, and well be able to write tests for all the other logic.</p>
<p>Listing 12-11 shows the small, incremental improvement of extracting a <code>run</code>
function.</p>
<figure class="listing" id="listing-12-11">
<span class="file-name">Filename: src/main.rs</span>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore"><span class="boring">use std::env;
</span><span class="boring">use std::fs;
</span><span class="boring">use std::process;
</span><span class="boring">
</span>fn main() {
// --snip--
<span class="boring"> let args: Vec&lt;String&gt; = env::args().collect();
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let config = Config::build(&amp;args).unwrap_or_else(|err| {
</span><span class="boring"> println!("Problem parsing arguments: {err}");
</span><span class="boring"> process::exit(1);
</span><span class="boring"> });
</span><span class="boring">
</span> println!("Searching for {}", config.query);
println!("In file {}", config.file_path);
run(config);
}
fn run(config: Config) {
let contents = fs::read_to_string(config.file_path)
.expect("Should have been able to read the file");
println!("With text:\n{contents}");
}
// --snip--
<span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">struct Config {
</span><span class="boring"> query: String,
</span><span class="boring"> file_path: String,
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">impl Config {
</span><span class="boring"> fn build(args: &amp;[String]) -&gt; Result&lt;Config, &amp;'static str&gt; {
</span><span class="boring"> if args.len() &lt; 3 {
</span><span class="boring"> return Err("not enough arguments");
</span><span class="boring"> }
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let query = args[1].clone();
</span><span class="boring"> let file_path = args[2].clone();
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> Ok(Config { query, file_path })
</span><span class="boring"> }
</span><span class="boring">}</span></code></pre>
<figcaption><a href="#listing-12-11">Listing 12-11</a>: Extracting a <code>run</code> function containing the rest of the program logic</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <code>run</code> function now contains all the remaining logic from <code>main</code>, starting
from reading the file. The <code>run</code> function takes the <code>Config</code> instance as an
argument.</p>
<!-- Old headings. Do not remove or links may break. -->
<p><a id="returning-errors-from-the-run-function"></a></p>
<h4 id="returning-errors-from-run"><a class="header" href="#returning-errors-from-run">Returning Errors from <code>run</code></a></h4>
<p>With the remaining program logic separated into the <code>run</code> function, we can
improve the error handling, as we did with <code>Config::build</code> in Listing 12-9.
Instead of allowing the program to panic by calling <code>expect</code>, the <code>run</code>
function will return a <code>Result&lt;T, E&gt;</code> when something goes wrong. This will let
us further consolidate the logic around handling errors into <code>main</code> in a
user-friendly way. Listing 12-12 shows the changes we need to make to the
signature and body of <code>run</code>.</p>
<figure class="listing" id="listing-12-12">
<span class="file-name">Filename: src/main.rs</span>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore"><span class="boring">use std::env;
</span><span class="boring">use std::fs;
</span><span class="boring">use std::process;
</span>use std::error::Error;
// --snip--
<span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">fn main() {
</span><span class="boring"> let args: Vec&lt;String&gt; = env::args().collect();
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let config = Config::build(&amp;args).unwrap_or_else(|err| {
</span><span class="boring"> println!("Problem parsing arguments: {err}");
</span><span class="boring"> process::exit(1);
</span><span class="boring"> });
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("Searching for {}", config.query);
</span><span class="boring"> println!("In file {}", config.file_path);
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> run(config);
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span>fn run(config: Config) -&gt; Result&lt;(), Box&lt;dyn Error&gt;&gt; {
let contents = fs::read_to_string(config.file_path)?;
println!("With text:\n{contents}");
Ok(())
}
<span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">struct Config {
</span><span class="boring"> query: String,
</span><span class="boring"> file_path: String,
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">impl Config {
</span><span class="boring"> fn build(args: &amp;[String]) -&gt; Result&lt;Config, &amp;'static str&gt; {
</span><span class="boring"> if args.len() &lt; 3 {
</span><span class="boring"> return Err("not enough arguments");
</span><span class="boring"> }
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let query = args[1].clone();
</span><span class="boring"> let file_path = args[2].clone();
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> Ok(Config { query, file_path })
</span><span class="boring"> }
</span><span class="boring">}</span></code></pre>
<figcaption><a href="#listing-12-12">Listing 12-12</a>: Changing the <code>run</code> function to return <code>Result</code></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Weve made three significant changes here. First, we changed the return type of
the <code>run</code> function to <code>Result&lt;(), Box&lt;dyn Error&gt;&gt;</code>. This function previously
returned the unit type, <code>()</code>, and we keep that as the value returned in the
<code>Ok</code> case.</p>
<p>For the error type, we used the trait object <code>Box&lt;dyn Error&gt;</code> (and we brought
<code>std::error::Error</code> into scope with a <code>use</code> statement at the top). Well cover
trait objects in <a href="../ch18/ch18-00-oop.html">Chapter 18</a><!-- ignore -->. For now, just know that
<code>Box&lt;dyn Error&gt;</code> means the function will return a type that implements the
<code>Error</code> trait, but we dont have to specify what particular type the return
value will be. This gives us flexibility to return error values that may be of
different types in different error cases. The <code>dyn</code> keyword is short for
<em>dynamic</em>.</p>
<p>Second, weve removed the call to <code>expect</code> in favor of the <code>?</code> operator, as we
talked about in <a href="../ch09/ch09-02-recoverable-errors-with-result.html#a-shortcut-for-propagating-errors-the--operator">Chapter 9</a><!-- ignore -->. Rather than
<code>panic!</code> on an error, <code>?</code> will return the error value from the current function
for the caller to handle.</p>
<p>Third, the <code>run</code> function now returns an <code>Ok</code> value in the success case.
Weve declared the <code>run</code> functions success type as <code>()</code> in the signature,
which means we need to wrap the unit type value in the <code>Ok</code> value. This
<code>Ok(())</code> syntax might look a bit strange at first. But using <code>()</code> like this is
the idiomatic way to indicate that were calling <code>run</code> for its side effects
only; it doesnt return a value we need.</p>
<p>When you run this code, it will compile but will display a warning:</p>
<pre><code class="language-console">$ cargo run -- the poem.txt
Compiling minigrep v0.1.0 (file:///projects/minigrep)
warning: unused `Result` that must be used
--&gt; src/main.rs:19:5
|
19 | run(config);
| ^^^^^^^^^^^
|
= note: this `Result` may be an `Err` variant, which should be handled
= note: `#[warn(unused_must_use)]` on by default
help: use `let _ = ...` to ignore the resulting value
|
19 | let _ = run(config);
| +++++++
warning: `minigrep` (bin "minigrep") generated 1 warning
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 0.71s
Running `target/debug/minigrep the poem.txt`
Searching for the
In file poem.txt
With text:
I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us - don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
</code></pre>
<p>Rust tells us that our code ignored the <code>Result</code> value and the <code>Result</code> value
might indicate that an error occurred. But were not checking to see whether or
not there was an error, and the compiler reminds us that we probably meant to
have some error-handling code here! Lets rectify that problem now.</p>
<h4 id="handling-errors-returned-from-run-in-main"><a class="header" href="#handling-errors-returned-from-run-in-main">Handling Errors Returned from <code>run</code> in <code>main</code></a></h4>
<p>Well check for errors and handle them using a technique similar to one we used
with <code>Config::build</code> in Listing 12-10, but with a slight difference:</p>
<p><span class="filename">Filename: src/main.rs</span></p>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore"><span class="boring">use std::env;
</span><span class="boring">use std::error::Error;
</span><span class="boring">use std::fs;
</span><span class="boring">use std::process;
</span><span class="boring">
</span>fn main() {
// --snip--
<span class="boring"> let args: Vec&lt;String&gt; = env::args().collect();
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let config = Config::build(&amp;args).unwrap_or_else(|err| {
</span><span class="boring"> println!("Problem parsing arguments: {err}");
</span><span class="boring"> process::exit(1);
</span><span class="boring"> });
</span><span class="boring">
</span> println!("Searching for {}", config.query);
println!("In file {}", config.file_path);
if let Err(e) = run(config) {
println!("Application error: {e}");
process::exit(1);
}
}
<span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">fn run(config: Config) -&gt; Result&lt;(), Box&lt;dyn Error&gt;&gt; {
</span><span class="boring"> let contents = fs::read_to_string(config.file_path)?;
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> println!("With text:\n{contents}");
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> Ok(())
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">struct Config {
</span><span class="boring"> query: String,
</span><span class="boring"> file_path: String,
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">impl Config {
</span><span class="boring"> fn build(args: &amp;[String]) -&gt; Result&lt;Config, &amp;'static str&gt; {
</span><span class="boring"> if args.len() &lt; 3 {
</span><span class="boring"> return Err("not enough arguments");
</span><span class="boring"> }
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let query = args[1].clone();
</span><span class="boring"> let file_path = args[2].clone();
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> Ok(Config { query, file_path })
</span><span class="boring"> }
</span><span class="boring">}</span></code></pre>
<p>We use <code>if let</code> rather than <code>unwrap_or_else</code> to check whether <code>run</code> returns an
<code>Err</code> value and to call <code>process::exit(1)</code> if it does. The <code>run</code> function
doesnt return a value that we want to <code>unwrap</code> in the same way that
<code>Config::build</code> returns the <code>Config</code> instance. Because <code>run</code> returns <code>()</code> in
the success case, we only care about detecting an error, so we dont need
<code>unwrap_or_else</code> to return the unwrapped value, which would only be <code>()</code>.</p>
<p>The bodies of the <code>if let</code> and the <code>unwrap_or_else</code> functions are the same in
both cases: We print the error and exit.</p>
<h3 id="splitting-code-into-a-library-crate"><a class="header" href="#splitting-code-into-a-library-crate">Splitting Code into a Library Crate</a></h3>
<p>Our <code>minigrep</code> project is looking good so far! Now well split the
<em>src/main.rs</em> file and put some code into the <em>src/lib.rs</em> file. That way, we
can test the code and have a <em>src/main.rs</em> file with fewer responsibilities.</p>
<p>Lets define the code responsible for searching text in <em>src/lib.rs</em> rather
than in <em>src/main.rs</em>, which will let us (or anyone else using our
<code>minigrep</code> library) call the searching function from more contexts than our
<code>minigrep</code> binary.</p>
<p>First, lets define the <code>search</code> function signature in <em>src/lib.rs</em> as shown in
Listing 12-13, with a body that calls the <code>unimplemented!</code> macro. Well explain
the signature in more detail when we fill in the implementation.</p>
<figure class="listing" id="listing-12-13">
<span class="file-name">Filename: src/lib.rs</span>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore does_not_compile">pub fn search&lt;'a&gt;(query: &amp;str, contents: &amp;'a str) -&gt; Vec&lt;&amp;'a str&gt; {
unimplemented!();
}</code></pre>
<figcaption><a href="#listing-12-13">Listing 12-13</a>: Defining the <code>search</code> function in <em>src/lib.rs</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Weve used the <code>pub</code> keyword on the function definition to designate <code>search</code>
as part of our library crates public API. We now have a library crate that we
can use from our binary crate and that we can test!</p>
<p>Now we need to bring the code defined in <em>src/lib.rs</em> into the scope of the
binary crate in <em>src/main.rs</em> and call it, as shown in Listing 12-14.</p>
<figure class="listing" id="listing-12-14">
<span class="file-name">Filename: src/main.rs</span>
<pre><code class="language-rust ignore"><span class="boring">use std::env;
</span><span class="boring">use std::error::Error;
</span><span class="boring">use std::fs;
</span><span class="boring">use std::process;
</span><span class="boring">
</span>// --snip--
use minigrep::search;
fn main() {
// --snip--
<span class="boring"> let args: Vec&lt;String&gt; = env::args().collect();
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let config = Config::build(&amp;args).unwrap_or_else(|err| {
</span><span class="boring"> println!("Problem parsing arguments: {err}");
</span><span class="boring"> process::exit(1);
</span><span class="boring"> });
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> if let Err(e) = run(config) {
</span><span class="boring"> println!("Application error: {e}");
</span><span class="boring"> process::exit(1);
</span><span class="boring"> }
</span>}
// --snip--
<span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">struct Config {
</span><span class="boring"> query: String,
</span><span class="boring"> file_path: String,
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring">impl Config {
</span><span class="boring"> fn build(args: &amp;[String]) -&gt; Result&lt;Config, &amp;'static str&gt; {
</span><span class="boring"> if args.len() &lt; 3 {
</span><span class="boring"> return Err("not enough arguments");
</span><span class="boring"> }
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> let query = args[1].clone();
</span><span class="boring"> let file_path = args[2].clone();
</span><span class="boring">
</span><span class="boring"> Ok(Config { query, file_path })
</span><span class="boring"> }
</span><span class="boring">}
</span><span class="boring">
</span>fn run(config: Config) -&gt; Result&lt;(), Box&lt;dyn Error&gt;&gt; {
let contents = fs::read_to_string(config.file_path)?;
for line in search(&amp;config.query, &amp;contents) {
println!("{line}");
}
Ok(())
}</code></pre>
<figcaption><a href="#listing-12-14">Listing 12-14</a>: Using the <code>minigrep</code> library crates <code>search</code> function in <em>src/main.rs</em></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We add a <code>use minigrep::search</code> line to bring the <code>search</code> function from
the library crate into the binary crates scope. Then, in the <code>run</code> function,
rather than printing out the contents of the file, we call the <code>search</code>
function and pass the <code>config.query</code> value and <code>contents</code> as arguments. Then,
<code>run</code> will use a <code>for</code> loop to print each line returned from <code>search</code> that
matched the query. This is also a good time to remove the <code>println!</code> calls in
the <code>main</code> function that displayed the query and the file path so that our
program only prints the search results (if no errors occur).</p>
<p>Note that the search function will be collecting all the results into a vector
it returns before any printing happens. This implementation could be slow to
display results when searching large files, because results arent printed as
theyre found; well discuss a possible way to fix this using iterators in
Chapter 13.</p>
<p>Whew! That was a lot of work, but weve set ourselves up for success in the
future. Now its much easier to handle errors, and weve made the code more
modular. Almost all of our work will be done in <em>src/lib.rs</em> from here on out.</p>
<p>Lets take advantage of this newfound modularity by doing something that would
have been difficult with the old code but is easy with the new code: Well
write some tests!</p>
</body>
</html>