auto handle late init call(and error report) with element creation queue

FlexLove.lua

@@ -112,10 +112,19 @@ flexlove._deferredCallbacks = {}
 -- Track accumulated delta time for immediate mode updates
 flexlove._accumulatedDt = 0
 
+--- Check if FlexLove initialization is complete and ready to create elements
+--- Use this before creating elements to avoid automatic queueing
+---@return boolean ready True if FlexLove is initialized and ready to use
+function flexlove.isReady()
+  return flexlove._initState == "ready"
+end
+
 --- Set up FlexLove for your application's specific needs - configure responsive scaling, theming, rendering mode, and debugging tools
 --- Use this to establish a consistent UI foundation that adapts to different screen sizes and provides performance insights
+--- After initialization, any queued element creation calls will be automatically processed
 ---@param config FlexLoveConfig?
 function flexlove.init(config)
+  flexlove._initState = "initializing"
   config = config or {}
 
   flexlove._ErrorHandler = ErrorHandler.init({
@@ -282,6 +291,22 @@ function flexlove.init(config)
       maxStateEntries = config.maxStateEntries,
     })
   end
+  flexlove.initialized = true
+  flexlove._initState = "ready"
+
+  -- Process all queued element creations
+  local queue = flexlove._initQueue
+  flexlove._initQueue = {} -- Clear queue before processing to prevent re-entry issues
+
+  for _, item in ipairs(queue) do
+    local element = Element.new(item.props)
+    if item.callback and type(item.callback) == "function" then
+      local success, err = pcall(item.callback, element)
+      if not success then
+        flexlove._ErrorHandler:warn("FlexLove", string.format("Failed to execute queued element callback: %s", tostring(err)))
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end
 
 --- Safely schedule operations that modify LÖVE's rendering state (like window mode changes) to execute after all canvas operations complete
@@ -431,7 +456,7 @@ function flexlove.beginFrame()
   StateManager.incrementFrame()
   flexlove._currentFrameElements = {}
   flexlove._frameStarted = true
-  
+
   -- Restore retained top-level elements
   flexlove.topElements = retainedTopElements
 
@@ -1051,11 +1076,32 @@ end
 
 --- Create a new UI element with flexbox layout, styling, and interaction capabilities
 --- This is your primary API for building interfaces - buttons, panels, text, images, and containers
+--- If called before FlexLove.init(), the element creation will be automatically queued and executed after initialization
 ---@param props ElementProps
----@return Element
-function flexlove.new(props)
+---@param callback? function Optional callback function(element) that will be called with the created element (useful when queued)
+---@return Element|nil element Returns element if initialized, nil if queued for later creation
+function flexlove.new(props, callback)
   props = props or {}
 
+  if not flexlove.initialized then
+    -- Queue element creation for after initialization
+    table.insert(flexlove._initQueue, {
+      props = props,
+      callback = callback,
+    })
+
+    if flexlove._initState == "uninitialized" then
+      if flexlove._ErrorHandler then
+        flexlove._ErrorHandler:warn(
+          "FlexLove",
+          "[FlexLove] Element creation queued - FlexLove.init() has not been called yet. Element will be created automatically after init() is called."
+        )
+      end
+    end
+
+    return nil -- Element will be created later
+  end
+
   -- Determine effective mode: props.mode takes precedence over global mode
   local effectiveMode = props.mode or (flexlove._immediateMode and "immediate" or "retained")
 

modules/Context.lua

@@ -20,6 +20,14 @@ local Context = {
   _zIndexOrderedElements = {}, -- Array of elements sorted by z-index (lowest to highest)
   -- Focus management guard
   _settingFocus = false,
+
+  initialized = false,
+  
+  -- Initialization state tracking
+  ---@type "uninitialized"|"initializing"|"ready"
+  _initState = "uninitialized",
+  ---@type table[] Queue of {props: ElementProps, callback: function(element)|nil}
+  _initQueue = {},
 }
 
 ---@return number, number -- scaleX, scaleY

modules/Element.lua

@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ function Element.new(props)
   if elementMode == nil then
     elementMode = Element._Context._immediateMode and "immediate" or "retained"
   end
-  
+
   -- If retained mode and has an ID, check if element already exists in parent's children
   if elementMode == "retained" and props.id and props.id ~= "" and props.parent then
     -- Check if this element already exists in parent's restored children
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ function Element.new(props)
 
   -- Track whether ID was auto-generated (before ID assignment)
   local idWasAutoGenerated = not props.id or props.id == ""
-  
+
   -- Auto-generate ID if not provided (for all elements)
   if idWasAutoGenerated then
     self.id = Element._StateManager.generateID(props, props.parent)
@@ -524,7 +524,7 @@ function Element.new(props)
           return false
         end
       end
-      
+
       self.border = {
         top = normalizeBorderValue(props.border.top),
         right = normalizeBorderValue(props.border.right),
@@ -1065,7 +1065,7 @@ function Element.new(props)
       end
       tempHeight = 0
     end
-    
+
     -- Get scaled 9-patch content padding from ThemeManager
     local scaledPadding = self._themeManager:getScaledContentPadding(tempWidth, tempHeight)
     if scaledPadding then

testing/__tests__/init_queue_test.lua

@@ -0,0 +1,170 @@
+package.path = package.path .. ";./?.lua;./modules/?.lua"
+local originalSearchers = package.searchers or package.loaders
+table.insert(originalSearchers, 2, function(modname)
+  if modname:match("^FlexLove%.modules%.") then
+    local moduleName = modname:gsub("^FlexLove%.modules%.", "")
+    return function()
+      return require("modules." .. moduleName)
+    end
+  end
+end)
+
+-- Test automatic initialization queue functionality
+require("testing.loveStub")
+local luaunit = require("testing.luaunit")
+local FlexLove = require("FlexLove")
+
+TestInitQueue = {}
+
+function TestInitQueue:setUp()
+  -- Reset FlexLove state before each test
+  FlexLove.destroy()
+  -- Reset initialization state
+  FlexLove._initState = "uninitialized"
+  FlexLove.initialized = false
+  FlexLove._initQueue = {}
+end
+
+function TestInitQueue:tearDown()
+  FlexLove.destroy()
+end
+
+function TestInitQueue:test_elementCreationIsQueuedBeforeInit()
+  -- Element creation before init should be queued
+  local element = FlexLove.new({ text = "Test" })
+
+  -- Should return nil when queued
+  luaunit.assertNil(element)
+
+  -- Queue should have one item
+  luaunit.assertEquals(#FlexLove._initQueue, 1)
+  luaunit.assertEquals(FlexLove._initQueue[1].props.text, "Test")
+end
+
+function TestInitQueue:test_queuedElementsCreatedAfterInit()
+  local createdElement = nil
+
+  -- Create element before init with callback
+  FlexLove.new({
+    text = "Queued Element",
+    width = 100,
+    height = 50,
+  }, function(element)
+    createdElement = element
+  end)
+
+  -- Should be queued
+  luaunit.assertNil(createdElement)
+  luaunit.assertEquals(#FlexLove._initQueue, 1)
+
+  -- Initialize FlexLove
+  FlexLove.init()
+
+  -- Callback should have been called with created element
+  luaunit.assertNotNil(createdElement)
+  luaunit.assertEquals(createdElement.text, "Queued Element")
+  luaunit.assertEquals(createdElement.width, 100)
+  luaunit.assertEquals(createdElement.height, 50)
+
+  -- Queue should be empty after init
+  luaunit.assertEquals(#FlexLove._initQueue, 0)
+end
+
+function TestInitQueue:test_multipleElementsQueuedAndCreated()
+  local elements = {}
+
+  -- Queue multiple elements
+  for i = 1, 5 do
+    FlexLove.new({
+      text = "Element " .. i,
+      width = i * 10,
+    }, function(element)
+      table.insert(elements, element)
+    end)
+  end
+
+  -- All should be queued
+  luaunit.assertEquals(#FlexLove._initQueue, 5)
+  luaunit.assertEquals(#elements, 0)
+
+  -- Initialize
+  FlexLove.init()
+
+  -- All should be created
+  luaunit.assertEquals(#elements, 5)
+  luaunit.assertEquals(#FlexLove._initQueue, 0)
+
+  -- Verify properties
+  for i = 1, 5 do
+    luaunit.assertEquals(elements[i].text, "Element " .. i)
+    luaunit.assertEquals(elements[i].width, i * 10)
+  end
+end
+
+function TestInitQueue:test_elementCreatedImmediatelyAfterInit()
+  -- Initialize first
+  FlexLove.init()
+
+  -- Element creation after init should work immediately
+  local element = FlexLove.new({ text = "Immediate" })
+
+  -- Should return element, not nil
+  luaunit.assertNotNil(element)
+  luaunit.assertEquals(element.text, "Immediate")
+
+  -- Queue should remain empty
+  luaunit.assertEquals(#FlexLove._initQueue, 0)
+end
+
+function TestInitQueue:test_isReadyReturnsFalseBeforeInit()
+  luaunit.assertFalse(FlexLove.isReady())
+  luaunit.assertEquals(FlexLove._initState, "uninitialized")
+end
+
+function TestInitQueue:test_isReadyReturnsTrueAfterInit()
+  FlexLove.init()
+
+  luaunit.assertTrue(FlexLove.isReady())
+  luaunit.assertEquals(FlexLove._initState, "ready")
+end
+
+function TestInitQueue:test_callbackErrorDoesNotStopQueue()
+  local elements = {}
+
+  -- First element with failing callback
+  FlexLove.new({ text = "Element 1" }, function(element)
+    table.insert(elements, element)
+    error("Intentional error")
+  end)
+
+  -- Second element with working callback
+  FlexLove.new({ text = "Element 2" }, function(element)
+    table.insert(elements, element)
+  end)
+
+  -- Initialize (errors should be caught and logged)
+  FlexLove.init()
+
+  -- Both elements should have been created despite error
+  luaunit.assertEquals(#elements, 2)
+  luaunit.assertEquals(elements[1].text, "Element 1")
+  luaunit.assertEquals(elements[2].text, "Element 2")
+end
+
+function TestInitQueue:test_queueWithoutCallback()
+  -- Element without callback
+  FlexLove.new({ text = "No Callback" })
+
+  luaunit.assertEquals(#FlexLove._initQueue, 1)
+  luaunit.assertNil(FlexLove._initQueue[1].callback)
+
+  -- Should still be created after init
+  FlexLove.init()
+
+  luaunit.assertEquals(#FlexLove._initQueue, 0)
+  -- Element was created, just no way to reference it without callback
+end
+
+if not _G.RUNNING_ALL_TESTS then
+  os.exit(luaunit.LuaUnit.run())
+end

testing/runAll.lua

@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ local testFiles = {
   "testing/__tests__/image_cache_test.lua",
   "testing/__tests__/image_renderer_test.lua",
   "testing/__tests__/image_scaler_test.lua",
+  "testing/__tests__/init_queue_test.lua",
   "testing/__tests__/input_event_test.lua",
   "testing/__tests__/layout_engine_test.lua",
   "testing/__tests__/mixed_mode_children_test.lua",