Where to put complex logic of Scala case class default value

Question

I am new to Scala and i want to understand, where to put the complex logic for default values of Case Classes.

case class Job (name: String, timeStamp: Long = <something more complex>) {
...
}

Where should i put the more complex logic? (For example not just assigning a value)

Do I need to overwrite the apply method, or create a companion object?

Answer 1

Simply add an additional apply method to the companion object:

case class Job(name: String, timeStamp: Long)

object Job {
  def apply(name: String): Job = new Job(name, System.currentTimeMillis)
}

val j1 = Job("foo", 345678L)
val j2 = Job("bar")

Now, inside the apply, you have the freedom to make arbitrarily complex computations that can depend on name too, without requiring multiple argument lists.