Scala Language Extractors Unapply - Custom Extractors
Example
A custom extraction can be written by implementing the unapply method and returning a value of type Option:
class Foo(val x: String)
object Foo {
def unapply(foo: Foo): Option[String] = Some(foo.x)
}
new Foo("42") match {
case Foo(x) => x
}
// "42"
The return type of unapply may be something other than Option, provided the type returned provides get and isEmpty methods. In this example, Bar is defined with those methods, and unapply returns an instance of Bar:
class Bar(val x: String) {
def get = x
def isEmpty = false
}
object Bar {
def unapply(bar: Bar): Bar = bar
}
new Bar("1337") match {
case Bar(x) => x
}
// "1337"
The return type of unapply can also be a Boolean, which is a special case that does not carry the get and isEmpty requirements above. However, note in this example that DivisibleByTwo is an object, not a class, and does not take a parameter (and therefore that parameter cannot be bound):
object DivisibleByTwo {
def unapply(num: Int): Boolean = num % 2 == 0
}
4 match {
case DivisibleByTwo() => "yes"
case _ => "no"
}
// yes
3 match {
case DivisibleByTwo() => "yes"
case _ => "no"
}
// no
Remember that unapply goes in the companion object of a class, not in the class. The example above will be clear if you understand this distinction.
