Return gauge object from NewGauge to be consistent with NewCounter and NewSummary

README.md

@@ -21,18 +21,21 @@
 
 ```go
 import "github.com/VictoriaMetrics/metrics"
-// ...
+
+// Register various time series.
+// Time series name may contain labels in Prometheus format - see below.
 var (
+	// Register counter without labels.
 	requestsTotal = metrics.NewCounter("requests_total")
 
+	// Register summary with a single label.
 	requestDuration = metrics.NewSummary(`requests_duration_seconds{handler="/my/super/handler"}`)
-)
 
-func init() {
-	metrics.NewGauge(`queue_size{queue="foobar",topic="baz"}`, func() float64 {
+	// Register gauge with two labels.
+	queueSize = metrics.NewGauge(`queue_size{queue="foobar",topic="baz"}`, func() float64 {
 		return float64(foobarQueue.Len())
 	})
-}
+)
 
 // ...
 func requestHandler() {
@@ -43,7 +46,7 @@ func requestHandler() {
 }
 // ...
 
-// Register `/metrics` handler for exposing the registered metrics.
+// `/metrics` handler for exposing the registered metrics.
 http.HandleFunc("/metrics", func(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 	metrics.WritePrometheus(w, true)
 })

metrics.go

@@ -22,16 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/valyala/histogram"
 )
 
-type gauge struct {
-	f func() float64
-}
-
-func (g *gauge) marshalTo(prefix string, w io.Writer) {
-	v := g.f()
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s %g\n", prefix, v)
-}
-
-// NewGauge registers gauge with the given name, which calls f
+// NewGauge registers and returns gauge with the given name, which calls f
 // to obtain gauge value.
 //
 // name must be valid Prometheus-compatible metric with possible labels.
@@ -42,18 +33,27 @@ func (g *gauge) marshalTo(prefix string, w io.Writer) {
 //     * foo{bar="baz",aaa="b"}
 //
 // f must be safe for concurrent calls.
-func NewGauge(name string, f func() float64) {
-	g := &gauge{
+func NewGauge(name string, f func() float64) *Gauge {
+	g := &Gauge{
 		f: f,
 	}
 	registerMetric(name, g)
+	return g
 }
 
-// Counter is a counter.
-//
-// It may be used as a gauge if Dec and Set are called.
-type Counter struct {
-	n uint64
+// Gauge is a float64 gauge.
+type Gauge struct {
+	f func() float64
+}
+
+// Get returns the current value for g.
+func (g *Gauge) Get() float64 {
+	return g.f()
+}
+
+func (g *Gauge) marshalTo(prefix string, w io.Writer) {
+	v := g.f()
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s %g\n", prefix, v)
 }
 
 // NewCounter registers and returns new counter with the given name.
@@ -72,25 +72,11 @@ func NewCounter(name string) *Counter {
 	return c
 }
 
-func registerMetric(name string, m metric) {
-	if err := validateMetric(name); err != nil {
-		// Do not use logger.Panicf here, since it may be uninitialized yet.
-		panic(fmt.Errorf("BUG: invalid metric name %q: %s", name, err))
-	}
-	metricsMapLock.Lock()
-	ok := isRegisteredMetric(metricsMap, name)
-	if !ok {
-		nm := namedMetric{
-			name:   name,
-			metric: m,
-		}
-		metricsMap = append(metricsMap, nm)
-	}
-	metricsMapLock.Unlock()
-	if ok {
-		// Do not use logger.Panicf here, since it may be uninitialized yet.
-		panic(fmt.Errorf("BUG: metric with name %q is already registered", name))
-	}
+// Counter is a counter.
+//
+// It may be used as a gauge if Dec and Set are called.
+type Counter struct {
+	n uint64
 }
 
 // Inc increments c.
@@ -236,3 +222,24 @@ func WritePrometheus(w io.Writer, exposeProcessMetrics bool) {
 }
 
 var startTime = time.Now()
+
+func registerMetric(name string, m metric) {
+	if err := validateMetric(name); err != nil {
+		// Do not use logger.Panicf here, since it may be uninitialized yet.
+		panic(fmt.Errorf("BUG: invalid metric name %q: %s", name, err))
+	}
+	metricsMapLock.Lock()
+	ok := isRegisteredMetric(metricsMap, name)
+	if !ok {
+		nm := namedMetric{
+			name:   name,
+			metric: m,
+		}
+		metricsMap = append(metricsMap, nm)
+	}
+	metricsMapLock.Unlock()
+	if ok {
+		// Do not use logger.Panicf here, since it may be uninitialized yet.
+		panic(fmt.Errorf("BUG: metric with name %q is already registered", name))
+	}
+}