JavaScript: sequencing function calls #2

Quick overview

The basic usage of the library:

Chain.run(
    function(res, next) {
        console.log("A"); next(10);
    },
    function(res, next) {
        console.log("B", res); next(res+1);
    },
    function(res, next) {
        console.log("C", res); next();
    }
);

I.e. there is a run method with unlimited number of arguments which are actually functions. Every function accepts result from the previous one (res) and callback (next). Calling next passes the flow to the next function in the list.

The functional chain pattern

The library uses functional chain pattern already. I.e. you are able to do the following:

Chain
    .on("done", chainEnds)
    .run(funcA, funcB)
    .off("done", chainEnds)

This is possible because all the methods return actually same object (Chain is pointing to the same one). That's a nice pattern, because it saves some time and by my opinion makes the code pretty :).

Inspired by (fab), I decided to improve the library a bit. I.e. the above script is transformed to:

Chain()
    ("done", chainEnds)
    (funcA, funcB)
    ("done", chainEnds)

Chain is not a global object anymore, but it is a function. I.e. the developers are able to run multiple chains in parallel. Chain returns also a function which is called again and again. It checks the number and types of the arguments and decides what to do.

var process = function() {
    if(arguments.length > 0) {
        // on method
        if(arguments.length === 2 && typeof arguments[0] === 'string' && typeof arguments[1] === 'function') {
            on.apply(self, arguments);
        // run method
        } else {
            run.apply(self, arguments);
        }
    }
    return process;
}

The proccess method makes the following code valid:

Chain()("done", function() { 
    console.log("chain ends"); 
})(
    function(res, chain) {
        console.log("A"); chain.next(10);
    },
    function(res, chain) {
        console.log("B", res); chain.next(res+1);
    },
    function(res, chain) {
        console.log("C", res); chain.next();
    }
);

The output is:

A
B 10
C 11
chain ends

Error reporting

Valeri Bogdanov pointed out that the current implementation of Chain doesn't offer a possibility for error reporting. I.e. you have several functions running one after another, you could pass a parameter between them, but no errors. Of course you could send something like:

{
    result: ...
    error: ...
}

But it's not the best possible solution. So, instead of receiving a callback, Valeri suggested to receive a chain object, which has next and error methods. It is a great idea and I spend some time today working on it. Here is an example, which shows how to pass errors between the functions:

var operationA = function(res, chain) {
    chain.error({message: "Error message from operation A"}).next();
}
var operationB = function(res, chain) {
    chain.error({message: "Error message from operation B"}).next();   
}
Chain()("done", function(res, chain) {
    if(errors = chain.error()) {
        console.log("Yes, there are some errors", errors);
    }
})(
    operationA,
    operationB
);

Output:

Yes, there are some errors
[Object, Object]