rustiron

Iron persistent state with struct reference


I'm struggling with getting a persistent reference working with Iron, not sure how to set an appropriate lifetime. I want to be able to re-use the controller on different routes.

Example:

use iron::prelude::*;
use iron::typemap::Key;
use persistent::Read;
use router::Router;

pub struct Controller;

pub struct Rest {
    controller: Controller,
}

impl Key for &Controller {
    type Value = Self;
}

impl Rest {
    pub fn run(&self) {
        let router = Router::new();
        let mut chain = Chain::new(router);
        chain.link(Read::<&Controller>::both(&self.controller));
        Iron::new(chain).http(format!("0.0.0.0:1234")).ok();
    }
}

fn main() {
    Rest {
        controller: Controller,
    }
    .run();
}
[dependencies]
iron = "0.6.*"
router = "0.6.*"
persistent = "0.4.0"

Gist of example

error[E0478]: lifetime bound not satisfied
  --> src/main.rs:12:6
   |
12 | impl Key for &Controller {
   |      ^^^
   |
note: lifetime parameter instantiated with the lifetime '_ as defined on the impl at 12:14
  --> src/main.rs:12:14
   |
12 | impl Key for &Controller {
   |              ^
   = note: but lifetime parameter must outlive the static lifetime

error[E0495]: cannot infer an appropriate lifetime for lifetime parameter `'_` due to conflicting requirements
  --> src/main.rs:12:6
   |
12 | impl Key for &Controller {
   |      ^^^
   |
note: first, the lifetime cannot outlive the lifetime '_ as defined on the impl at 12:14...
  --> src/main.rs:12:14
   |
12 | impl Key for &Controller {
   |              ^
   = note: ...so that the types are compatible:
           expected typemap::Key
              found typemap::Key
   = note: but, the lifetime must be valid for the static lifetime...
note: ...so that the type `&Controller` will meet its required lifetime bounds
  --> src/main.rs:12:6
   |
12 | impl Key for &Controller {
   |      ^^^

Solution

  • As the error message states:

    but lifetime parameter must outlive the static lifetime

    This is because Key uses Any as a supertrait, which requires 'static:

    pub trait Any: 'static {
        fn type_id(&self) -> TypeId;
    }
    

    The simplest solution is to implement Key for a value and then give the value to Read::both:

    impl Key for Controller {
        type Value = Self;
    }
    
    impl Rest {
        pub fn run(self) {
            let router = Router::new();
            let mut chain = Chain::new(router);
            chain.link(Read::<Controller>::both(self.controller));
            Iron::new(chain).http(format!("0.0.0.0:1234")).ok();
        }
    }
    

    I want the persistent data to be globally shared across all of these routes

    In that case, I'd eschew using the persistent crate completely and just create a singleton: