# Objective
- The `path` module was getting fairly large.
- The code in `AccessRef::read_element` and mut equivalent was very
complex and difficult to understand.
- The `ReflectPathError` had a lot of variants, and was difficult to
read.
## Solution
- Split the file in two, `access` now has its own module
- Rewrite the `read_element` methods, they were ~200 lines long, they
are now ~70 lines long — I didn't change any of the logic. It's really
just the same code, but error handling is separated.
- Split the `ReflectPathError` error
- Merge `AccessRef` and `Access`
- A few other changes that aim to reduce code complexity
### Fully detailed change list
- `Display` impl of `ParsedPath` now includes prefix dots — this allows
simplifying its implementation, and IMO `.path.to.field` is a better way
to express a "path" than `path.to.field` which could suggest we are
reading the `to` field of a variable named `path`
- Add a test to check that dot prefixes and other are correctly parsed —
Until now, no test contained a prefixing dot
- Merge `Access` and `AccessRef`, using a `Cow<'a, str>`. Generated code
seems to agree with this decision (`ParsedPath::parse` sheds 5% of
instructions)
- Remove `Access::as_ref` since there is no such thing as an `AccessRef`
anymore.
- Rename `AccessRef::to_owned` into `AccessRef::into_owned()` since it
takes ownership of `self` now.
- Add a `parse_static` that doesn't allocate new strings for named
fields!
- Add a section about path reflection in the `bevy_reflect` crate root
doc — I saw a few people that weren't aware of path reflection, so I
thought it was pertinent to add it to the root doc
- a lot of nits
- rename `index` to `offset` when it refers to offset in the path string
— There is no more confusion with the other kind of indices in this
context, also it's a common naming convention for parsing.
- Make a dedicated enum for parsing errors
- rename the `read_element` methods to `element` — shorter, but also
`read_element_mut` was a fairly poor name
- The error values now not only contain the expected type but also the
actual type.
- Remove lifetimes that could be inferred from the `GetPath` trait
methods.
---
## Change log
- Added the `ParsedPath::parse_static` method, avoids allocating when
parsing `&'static str`.
## Migration Guide
If you were matching on the `Err(ReflectPathError)` value returned by
`GetPath` and `ParsedPath` methods, now only the parse-related errors
and the offset are publicly accessible. You can always use the
`fmt::Display` to get a clear error message, but if you need
programmatic access to the error types, please open an issue.
---------
Co-authored-by: Alice Cecile <alice.i.cecile@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Gino Valente <49806985+MrGVSV@users.noreply.github.com>
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