NState

A state machine for .NET, licensed under LGPL.

I would love to know if you use NState in your application. I can be contacted on ben@bj.ma.

Example:

	//arrange
	var transitions = new IStateTransition<BugState, TransitionActionStatus>[]
				         {
				             new BugTransition.Open(),
				             new BugTransition.Assign(new BugTransitionAction.Assign()),
				             new BugTransition.Defer(new BugTransitionAction.Defer()),
				             new BugTransition.Resolve(new BugTransitionAction.Resolve()),
				             new BugTransition.Close(new BugTransitionAction.Close()),
				         };
	var myStateMachine = new StateMachine<BugState, TransitionActionStatus>("example",
                                                                      transitions,
                                                                      initialState: new BugState.Open());
	
	//act
	var bug = new Bug("my bug name", myStateMachine); //Bug type inherits from Stateful base type
	
	//assert
	Assert.That(bug.CurrentState, Is.TypeOf<BugState.Open>()); //true	
	
	//act
	bug.Assign("example@example.com", out transitionActionStatus); //triggers a transition of the state machine
	
	//assert
	Assert.That(bug.CurrentState, Is.TypeOf<BugState.Assigned>()); //true
	Assert.That(transitionActionStatus, Is.EqualTo(TransitionActionStatus.Success)); //true
	Assert.That(bug.AssigneeEmail, Is.EqualTo("example@example.com")); //true
	
	//act
	var json = myStateMachine.ToJson();
	var myDeserializedStateMachine = new StateMachine<BugState, TransitionActionStatus>("example",
                                                                                         _transitions,
                                                                                         initialState: new BugState.Open());
	myDeserializedStateMachine.InitializeFromJson(json);
	
	//assert
	Assert.That(myDeserializedStateMachine.CurrentState, Is.TypeOf<BugState.Assigned>()); //true

Features

• easy construction of trees of interdependent or orthogonal state machines
• supports making domain objects stateful
• trivial state machine tree persistence and retrieval to/from JSON
• transition conditions, exit and entry actions
• transition actions are fully-fledged types enabling use of dependency injection to maintain clean, testable code even for complex behavior
• initial and final state specification

How to use

0. Get it

	nuget install nstate

1. Create some states

	public abstract class BugState : State
	{
		public class Assigned : BugState {}

 		public class Closed : BugState {}

 		public class Deferred : BugState {}

  		public class Open : BugState {}

 		public class Resolved : BugState {}
	}
    

2. Define your stateful type

	public class Bug : Stateful<BugState, TransitionActionStatus>
	{
		public Bug(string title, IStateMachine<BugState, TransitionActionStatus> stateMachine) : base(stateMachine)
		{
			Title = title;
		}
		
		public string Title { get; set; }
		
		public string AssigneeEmail { get; set; }
		
		public string ClosedByName { get; set; }
		
		public Bug Open(out TransitionActionStatus transitionActionStatus)
		{
			return TriggerTransition(this, new BugState.Open(), out transitionActionStatus);
		}
        
		public Bug Assign(string assigneeEmail, out TransitionActionStatus transitionActionStatus)
		{
			dynamic dto = new ExpandoObject();
			dto.AssigneeEmail = assigneeEmail;

			return TriggerTransition(this, new BugState.Assigned(), out transitionActionStatus, dto);
		}
		
		public void Defer(out TransitionActionStatus transitionActionStatus)
		{
			return TriggerTransition(this, new BugState.Deferred(), out transitionActionStatus);
		}
		
		public void Resolve(out TransitionActionStatus transitionActionStatus)
		{
			return TriggerTransition(this, new BugState.Resolved(), out transitionActionStatus);
		}
		
		public Bug Close(string closedByName, out TransitionActionStatus transitionActionStatus)
		{
			dynamic dto = new ExpandoObject();
			dto.ClosedByName = closedByName;

			return TriggerTransition(this, new BugState.Closed(), out transitionActionStatus, dto);
		}
	}

3. Define your transitions

	public partial class BugTransition
	{
		public class Resolve : StateTransition<BugState, TransitionActionStatus>
		{
		    public Resolve(BugTransitionAction.Resolve transitionAction)
		        : base(transitionAction: transitionAction) { }
		
		    public override BugState[] StartStates
		    {
		        get { return new[] { new BugState.Assigned(), }; }
		    }
		
		    public override BugState[] EndStates
		    {
		        get { return new[] { new BugState.Resolved(), }; }
		    }
		}
		
		public class Assign : StateTransition<BugState, TransitionActionStatus>
		{
			//...
		}
		
		//etc.
	}	

4. Define any transition actions

	public partial class BugTransitionAction
	{
		public class Assign : TransitionAction<BugState, TransitionActionStatus>
		{
		    public override TransitionActionStatus Run(BugState targetState,
		                                            IStateMachine<BugState, TransitionActionStatus> stateMachine,
		                                            dynamic statefulObject, dynamic dto = null)
		    {
		        if (dto == null)
		        {
		            throw new ArgumentNullException("dto");
		        }
		
		        if (dto.AssigneeEmail == null)
		        {
		            throw new Exception("AssigneeEmail not supplied.");
		        }
		
		        statefulObject.AssigneeEmail = dto.AssigneeEmail;
		
		        return TransitionActionStatus.Success;
		    }
		}
		
		//etc.
	}

5. Instantiate your state machine

	//...
	
	var transitions = new IStateTransition<BugState, TransitionActionStatus>[]
				{
					new BugTransition.Open(),
					new BugTransition.Assign(new BugTransitionAction.Assign()),
					new BugTransition.Defer(new BugTransitionAction.Defer()),
					new BugTransition.Resolve(new BugTransitionAction.Resolve()),
					new BugTransition.Close(new BugTransitionAction.Close()),
				};	
	
	_stateMachine = new StateMachine<BugState, TransitionActionStatus>("example",
                                                                  transitions,
                                                                  initialState: new BugState.Open());
	
	//...

6. Work with your stateful object

	//arrange
	var bug = new Bug("my bug name", _stateMachine);	
	
	//act
	bug.Assign("example@example.com", out transitionActionStatus);
	
	//assert
	Assert.That(bug.CurrentState, Is.TypeOf(BugState.Assigned)); //true
	Assert.That(transitionActionStatus, Is.EqualTo(TransitionActionStatus.Success)); //true
	Assert.That(bug.AssigneeEmail, Is.EqualTo("example@example.com")); //true

7. Persist and restore your state machine

	//...
	
	var json = _myStateMachine.ToJson();
	//send json to Couch or somewhere...
	
	//later...
	
	var myStateMachine = new StateMachine<BugState, TransitionActionStatus>("example",
                                                                         _transitions,
                                                                         initialState: new BugState.Open());
	myStateMachine.InitializeFromJson(json);
	
	//continue where you left off...

How to build and/or run the tests

1. Run /build/build.bat
2. Type in the desired option
3. Hit return

License & Copyright

This software is released under the GNU Lesser GPL. It is Copyright 2013, Ben Aston. I may be contacted at ben@bj.ma.

How to Contribute

Pull requests including bug fixes, new features and improved test coverage are welcomed. Please do your best, where possible, to follow the style of code found in the existing codebase.