[chef] Re: Controlling ruby_block update status

[Daniel DeLeo < >]

On Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 9:04 AM, Maxim Kulkin wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> I just found out that "ruby_block" resource is updated every time and this 
> can't be controlled. I think this resource type could benefit from ability 
> to control it's update status from inside block. Use case:
> 
... 
> 
> 
> def action_create
> @new_resource.updated_by_last_action(true)
> @new_resource.block.call
> Chef::Log.info 
> (http://Log.info)("
 
>  called, update status is set to 
> 
 ")
> end
> 
> What do you think? 
In a super-pedantic sense, calling Resource#updated_by_last_action more than 
once is incorrect. The reason this was changed from a simple boolean is so 
that you can check which resources have been updated at all (say, in a report 
handler), whereas the notification system decides to fire notifications when 
the last action updated the resource.

For right now, it's not such a big deal, but when we add more support for 
storing and querying this info in Chef 11, it could be a problem.

On the other hand, if we forced the user to set 
Resource#updated_by_last_action, then we're adding more complexity to what's 
a relatively simple thing right now.

At the moment your use case is probably better served by a LWRP. Thinking out 
loud, I wonder if something like an "inline LWRP" would be a good balance 
between the simplicity of ruby_block and the extra effort required for 
LWRPs--and might also be a nicer way to support the dynamic resource use case.

-- 
Dan DeLeo