Repository: whitfin/cachex (elixir)

Issue:
qlc error - max limit cache eviction fails for no cwd write permissions
`qlc` uses the filesystem to store cursor information. 

The result of `qlc` calls is discarded by Cachex, therefore it's possible to observe the following error logged - in case the current working directory is not writeable upon cursor/batch erase:

```
{:error, :qlc, {:file_error, ~c"appname-01_1_2222737.1", :eacces}}
```

Resulting with a silent failure of cache eviction.

I think the preferable approach would be to allow overriding qlc's `{tmpdir, TempDirectory}` configuration as per https://www.erlang.org/doc/man/qlc#common-options.

Pull request:
Strip out :qlc from LRW implementation
This fixes #329. Rather than fix the issue with `:qlc`, I figured it might just be best to avoid it directly.

Instead we now use `Cachex.stream/2` for the LRW policy, which under the hood now uses `:ets.select/3` thanks to #352. This means the implementation is now much easier to understand, and is just built on top of other Cachex structures. I'm not sure if there's a performance hit, my benchmarking was inconclusive (although there's a chance it's faster, even?). 

I also took the opportunity to rename `Cachex.Query.create/2` to `Cachex.Query.where/2` as this now reads a bit better (even if it could still be improved):

```elixir
# what does this mean?
Cachex.Query.create(true)

# "where true" implies "all"
Cachex.Query.where(true)
```


Patch:
diff --git a/docs/features/streaming-caches.md b/docs/features/streaming-caches.md
index 0372691..2e021b1 100644
--- a/docs/features/streaming-caches.md
+++ b/docs/features/streaming-caches.md
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ Cachex.put(:my_cache, "three", 3)
 filter = { :==, { :rem, :value, 2 }, 1 }
 
 # generate the query using the filter
-query = Cachex.Query.create(filter, :value)
+query = Cachex.Query.where(filter, :value)
 
 # 4
 :my_cache
@@ -44,4 +44,4 @@ query = Cachex.Query.create(filter, :value)
 |> Enum.sum
 ```
 
-Couple of things to mention here; first of all, you can use any of the `entry()` field names in your matches, and they'll be substituted out automatically. In this case we use `:value` in our filter, which would compile down to `:"$4"` instead. You might also have noticed that we can jump directly to `Enum.sum/1` here. The second (optional) argument to `create/2` controls the format of the stream elements, in this case just streaming the `:value` field of the entry. If the second argument is not provided, it'll stream entry records (just like the first example). It should be noted that `Cachex.Query.create/2` will automatically bind a filter clause to filter out expired documents. If you wish to run a query on the entire dataset, you can use `Cachex.Query.raw/2` instead.
+Couple of things to mention here; first of all, you can use any of the `entry()` field names in your matches, and they'll be substituted out automatically. In this case we use `:value` in our filter, which would compile down to `:"$4"` instead. You might also have noticed that we can jump directly to `Enum.sum/1` here. The second (optional) argument to `where/2` controls the format of the stream elements, in this case just streaming the `:value` field of the entry. If the second argument is not provided, it'll stream entry records (just like the first example). It should be noted that `Cachex.Query.where/2` will automatically bind a filter clause to filter out expired documents. If you wish to run a query on the entire dataset, you can use `Cachex.Query.raw/2` instead.
diff --git a/lib/cachex.ex b/lib/cachex.ex
index c7951b5..a8e3dbc 100644
--- a/lib/cachex.ex
+++ b/lib/cachex.ex
@@ -1236,8 +1236,8 @@ defmodule Cachex do
 
     * `:batch_size`
 
-      Allows customization of the internal batching when paginating the QLC
-      cursor coming back from ETS. It's unlikely this will ever need changing.
+      Allows customization of the internal batching when paginating the cursor
+      coming back from ETS. It's unlikely this will ever need changing.
 
   ## Examples
 
@@ -1251,21 +1251,21 @@ defmodule Cachex do
         {:entry, "c", 1519015805679, nil, 3},
         {:entry, "a", 1519015794445, nil, 1}]
 
-      iex> query = Cachex.Query.create(true, :key)
+      iex> query = Cachex.Query.where(true, :key)
       iex> :my_cache |> Cachex.stream!(query) |> Enum.to_list
       ["b", "c", "a"]
 
-      iex> query = Cachex.Query.create(true, :value)
+      iex> query = Cachex.Query.where(true, :value)
       iex> :my_cache |> Cachex.stream!(query) |> Enum.to_list
       [2, 3, 1]
 
-      iex> query = Cachex.Query.create(true, { :key, :value })
+      iex> query = Cachex.Query.where(true, { :key, :value })
       iex> :my_cache |> Cachex.stream!(query) |> Enum.to_list
       [{"b", 2}, {"c", 3}, {"a", 1}]
 
   """
   @spec stream(cache, any, Keyword.t()) :: {status, Enumerable.t()}
-  def stream(cache, query \\ Query.create(true), options \\ [])
+  def stream(cache, query \\ Query.where(true), options \\ [])
       when is_list(options),
       do: Conductor.route(cache, {:stream, [query, options]})
 
diff --git a/lib/cachex/actions/keys.ex b/lib/cachex/actions/keys.ex
index f211e5d..031e6e1 100644
--- a/lib/cachex/actions/keys.ex
+++ b/lib/cachex/actions/keys.ex
@@ -24,5 +24,5 @@ defmodule Cachex.Actions.Keys do
   will not be included.
   """
   def execute(cache(name: name), _options),
-    do: {:ok, :ets.select(name, Query.create(true, :key))}
+    do: {:ok, :ets.select(name, Query.where(true, :key))}
 end
diff --git a/lib/cachex/actions/stream.ex b/lib/cachex/actions/stream.ex
index e7c2d57..ce31faa 100644
--- a/lib/cachex/actions/stream.ex
+++ b/lib/cachex/actions/stream.ex
@@ -53,13 +53,21 @@ defmodule Cachex.Actions.Stream do
   # the cursor is spent, in which case we halt the stream and kill the cursor.
   defp init_stream(batch, name, spec) do
     Stream.resource(
-      fn -> [] end,
+      fn -> :"$start_of_table" end,
       fn
-        :"$end_of_table" -> {:halt, []}
-        [] -> :ets.select(name, spec, batch)
-        cursor -> :ets.select(cursor)
+        # we're finished!
+        :"$end_of_table" ->
+          {:halt, nil}
+
+        # we're starting!
+        :"$start_of_table" ->
+          :ets.select(name, spec, batch)
+
+        # we're continuing!
+        continuation ->
+          :ets.select(continuation)
       end,
-      fn _ -> [] end
+      & &1
     )
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/cachex/policy/lrw.ex b/lib/cachex/policy/lrw.ex
index 95c2d29..f48ca51 100644
--- a/lib/cachex/policy/lrw.ex
+++ b/lib/cachex/policy/lrw.ex
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ defmodule Cachex.Policy.LRW do
   alias Cachex.Query
   alias Cachex.Services.Informant
 
-  # compile our QLC match at runtime to avoid recalculating
-  @qlc_match Query.raw(true, {:key, :touched})
+  # compile our match to avoid recalculating
+  @ets_match Query.raw(true, {:key, :touched})
 
   ####################
   # Policy Behaviour #
@@ -134,55 +134,21 @@ defmodule Cachex.Policy.LRW do
   # to remove from the cache table. We do this by traversing the underlying ETS table,
   # which only selects the key and touch time as a minor optimization. The key is
   # naturally required when it comes to removing the document, and the touch time is
-  # used to determine the sort order required for LRW. We transform this sort using
-  # a QLC cursor and pass it through to `erase_cursor/3` to delete.
-  defp erase_lower_bound(offset, cache(name: name), batch_size)
+  # used to determine the sort order required for LRW.
+  defp erase_lower_bound(offset, cache(name: name) = cache, batch)
        when offset > 0 do
-    name
-    |> :ets.table(traverse: {:select, @qlc_match})
-    |> :qlc.sort(order: fn {_k1, t1}, {_k2, t2} -> t1 < t2 end)
-    |> :qlc.cursor()
-    |> erase_cursor(name, offset, batch_size)
+    cache
+    |> Cachex.stream!(@ets_match, const(:notify_false) ++ [batch_size: batch])
+    |> Enum.sort(fn {_k1, t1}, {_k2, t2} -> t1 < t2 end)
+    |> Enum.take(offset)
+    |> Enum.each(fn {k, _t} -> :ets.delete(name, k) end)
 
     offset
   end
 
-  defp erase_lower_bound(offset, _state, _batch_size),
+  defp erase_lower_bound(offset, _state, _batch),
     do: offset
 
-  # Erases entries in an LRW ETS cursor.
-  #
-  # This will exhaust a QLC cursor by taking in a provided cursor and removing the first
-  # N elements (where N is the number of entries we need to remove). Removals are done
-  # in configurable batches according to the `:batch_size` option.
-  #
-  # This is a recursive function as we have to keep track of the number to remove,
-  # as the removal is done by calling `erase_batch/3`. At the end of the recursion,
-  # we make sure to delete the trailing QLC cursor to avoid it lying around still.
-  defp erase_cursor(cursor, table, remainder, batch_size)
-       when remainder > batch_size do
-    erase_batch(cursor, table, batch_size)
-    erase_cursor(cursor, table, remainder - batch_size, batch_size)
-  end
-
-  defp erase_cursor(cursor, table, remainder, _batch_size) do
-    erase_batch(cursor, table, remainder)
-    :qlc.delete_cursor(cursor)
-  end
-
-  # Erases a batch of entries from a QLC cursor.
-  #
-  # This is not the most performant way to do this (as far as I know), as
-  # we need to pull a batch of entries from the table and then just pass
-  # them back through to ETS to erase them by key. This is nowhere near as
-  # performant as `:ets.select_delete/2` but appears to be required because
-  # of the need to sort the QLC cursor by the touch time.
-  defp erase_batch(cursor, table, batch_size) do
-    for {key, _touched} <- :qlc.next_answers(cursor, batch_size) do
-      :ets.delete(table, key)
-    end
-  end
-
   # Broadcasts the number of removed entries to the cache hooks.
   #
   # If the offset is not positive we didn't have to remove anything and so we
diff --git a/lib/cachex/query.ex b/lib/cachex/query.ex
index cba5798..20383d2 100644
--- a/lib/cachex/query.ex
+++ b/lib/cachex/query.ex
@@ -17,13 +17,6 @@ defmodule Cachex.Query do
   # Public API #
   ##############
 
-  @doc """
-  Creates an expiration-aware query.
-  """
-  @spec create(any, any) :: [{tuple, [tuple], [any]}]
-  def create(condition, output \\ :"$_"),
-    do: raw({:andalso, unexpired_clause(), condition}, output)
-
   @doc """
   Creates a query to retrieve all expired records.
   """
@@ -65,6 +58,13 @@ defmodule Cachex.Query do
   def unexpired_clause,
     do: {:orelse, {:==, :"$3", nil}, {:>, {:+, :"$2", :"$3"}, now()}}
 
+  @doc """
+  Creates an expiration-aware query.
+  """
+  @spec where(any, any) :: [{tuple, [tuple], [any]}]
+  def where(condition, output \\ :"$_"),
+    do: raw({:andalso, unexpired_clause(), condition}, output)
+
   ###############
   # Private API #
   ###############


Test patch:
diff --git a/test/cachex/actions/stream_test.exs b/test/cachex/actions/stream_test.exs
index 8da28f8..f225918 100644
--- a/test/cachex/actions/stream_test.exs
+++ b/test/cachex/actions/stream_test.exs
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ defmodule Cachex.Actions.StreamTest do
     {:ok, true} = Cachex.put(cache, "key3", "value3")
 
     # create two test queries
-    query1 = Cachex.Query.create(true, {:key, :value})
-    query2 = Cachex.Query.create(true, :key)
+    query1 = Cachex.Query.where(true, {:key, :value})
+    query2 = Cachex.Query.where(true, :key)
 
     # create cache streams
     {:ok, stream1} = Cachex.stream(cache, query1)
diff --git a/test/cachex/query_test.exs b/test/cachex/query_test.exs
index 5ae2fde..96192c2 100644
--- a/test/cachex/query_test.exs
+++ b/test/cachex/query_test.exs
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ defmodule Cachex.QueryTest do
   # creation default, which will attach the checks for expirations.
   test "creating basic queries" do
     # create a query with a true filter
-    query1 = Cachex.Query.create(true)
-    query2 = Cachex.Query.create(true, :key)
+    query1 = Cachex.Query.where(true)
+    query2 = Cachex.Query.where(true, :key)
 
     # verify the mapping of both queries
     assert [{{:_, :"$1", :"$2", :"$3", :"$4"}, _, _}] = query1
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ defmodule Cachex.QueryTest do
     assert [{_, _, [:"$1"]}] = query2
   end
 
-  # The `expired()` function is just a wrapper to `create` whilst inverting
+  # The `expired()` function is just a wrapper to `where` whilst inverting
   # the expiration checks. This test just covers this behaviour.
   test "creating expired queries" do
     # create a couple of expired queries