Ruby variables visibility inside modules - ruby-on-rails

TL;DR;
I need to make some ##vars of a static method (extends) in one module visible to a instance method in another module(includes).
How to accomplish that once only setting ##var=value was not enough to make it visible?
Maybe you can just read my capitalized comment bellow and jump to question 4.
Hi, I would like to add an method to my models to index some data in a mysql table with some full text search fields.
In order to accomplish that, I created the following module:
module ElasticFakeIndexing
module IndexingTarget
#instance method to be called on model to get data to save
def build_index_data
{
entity_id: self.id,
entity_type: self.class.name,
#UNABLE TO ACCESS IF SET ONLY WITH ##var=value. Why?
#AND ALMOST SURE THAT USING class_variable_set IS THE CAUSE OF CONFIGURATION OF ONE MODULE MESSING UP WITH ANOTHER'S
title: ##title_fields.collect{|prop| self.send(prop.to_sym)}.join(" || "),
description: ##description_fields.collect{|prop| self.send(prop.to_sym)}.join(" || "),
}
end
def self.included(base)
base.extend ClassMethods
end
module ClassMethods
#class method to declare/call at a given model
def elastic_fake(options = {})
#Make sure we always get an array so we can use 'join'
title_arg = Array(options[:title])
ElasticFakeIndexing::IndexingTarget.class_variable_set(:##title_fields, title_arg)
description_arg = Array(options[:description])
ElasticFakeIndexing::IndexingTarget.class_variable_set(:##description_fields, description_arg)
extra_arg = Array(options[:extra])
ElasticFakeIndexing::IndexingTarget.class_variable_set(:##extra_args, extra_arg)
end
end
end
end
And I use it this way at my models:
class SomeModel < ApplicationRecord
#includes the module
include ElasticFakeIndexing::IndexingTarget
...
# 'static' method call to configure to all classes of this model
elastic_fake(title: "prop_a", description: ["prop_b", "prop_c", "prop_d"])
end
And at some point of my code something like this will be called:
index_data = some_model_instance.build_index_data
save_on_mysql_text_search_fields(index_data)
But I got some problems. And have some questions:
when I use/include my module in a second model, looks like the configuration of one model is being visible to the other. And I got 'invalid fields' like errors. I guess it happens because of this, for example:
ElasticFakeIndexing::IndexingTarget.class_variable_set(:##title_fields, title_arg)
But I got to this this because only set ##title_fields wasn't enough to make title_fields visible at build_index_data instance method. Why?
Why using only #title_fields isn't enough too to make it visible at build_index_data?
How to design it in a way that the set of fields are set in a 'static' variable for each model, and visible inside the instance method build_index_data? Or as a possible solution, the fields could live in a instance variable and be visible. But I think it should live in a 'static' variable because the fields will not change from one instance of the model to another...
Any thoughts? What am I missing about the variables scopes/visibility?
Thank you

Read the following articles on Ruby variables:
Ruby Variable Scope
Understanding Scope in Ruby
quick reminder: ##title_fields, class variable, must be initialized at creation time, while #title_fields, instance variable, hasn't such requirement.

Instead of relying on class variables I recommend using class side instance variables. Class variables will easily be overwritten between individual models including the module. Class side instance variables however are save.
Using some of the syntactic sugar (namely concern and class_attribute) rails offers you could write something like
module ElasticFakeIndexing
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
included do
class_attribute :title_fields,
:description_fields,
:extra_args
end
class_methods do
def elastic_fake(options = {})
...
self.title_fields = Array(options[:title])
...
end
end
def build_index_data
...
title: self.class.title_fields ...
...
end
end

Related

Differentiating between gem module and AR model

I'm using the Etsy gem, which as a Listing module.
I also have a corresponding Listing model in my app.
I'm trying to set up a sidekiq worker to work with the gem, call upon some methods and update the corresponding Listing row, but because I have include Etsy so that I can use the gem, rails gets confused and thinks I'm referring to the module instead of the model.
Here's the code:
class ListingWorker
include Sidekiq::Worker
include Etsy
def perform(seller, shop)
access_token = {access_token: seller.oauth_token,
access_secret: seller.request_secret}
myself = Etsy.myself(access_token[:access_token], access_token[:access_secret])
limit = 100
offset = 0
total_results = myself.shop.active_listings_count
until offset > total_results
listings = Etsy::Request.get("/shops/#{shop.shop_id}/listings/active",
access_token.merge(limit: limit.to_s,
offset: offset.to_s,
include_private: 'true',
includes: 'Images:1:0'))
.to_hash
offset += limit
listings['results'].each do |l|
listing = Listing.find_by(listing_id: l['listing_id'])
end
end
Here's the error I get:
undefined method `find_by' for Etsy::Listing:Class
How do I differentiate between the module and the model and make rails understand I mean a db table?
Thanks in advance!
The short answer to your problem is simply not to include Esty:
class ListingWorker
include Sidekiq::Worker
def perform(seller, shop)
# ...
end
end
The purpose of include is to add methods defined with the module into your class.
For example, if I defined a module:
module Tom
def hello
puts "Hello!"
end
end
And you wanted to call hello directly within your ListingWorker class, then you'd need to include Tom.
On the other hand, suppose I just define a "namespaced" method within a module, such as:
module Maayan
def self.example
puts "Example"
end
end
Then, this should be invoked by referencing the module - i.e. Maayan.example.
You can do this from anywhere (provided the file containing this code is loaded); you don't need to include anything.
And that's what you're doing here -- in order to run code such as Etsy.myself or Etsy::Request.get, you don't need to include the module. You're calling methods on the module directly, not mixing the module's methods into your own class.
However, if you did find yourself in such a situation, where you have a nested class which conflicts with the top-level definition, note that ruby lets you explicitly access the globally scoped class by prepending :: to the class name.
In other words, you can use ::Listing to explicitly reference your own class.

Rails: Passing Variables from a Class Method to an Instance Method

I have several models that share a concern. Each model passes in a hash, which is meant to handle minor differences in the way they use the concern. I pass the hash in through a class method like so:
add_update_to :group, :user
The full code for the concern is:
module Updateable
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
attr_accessor :streams
module ClassMethods
def add_updates_to(*streams)
#streams = streams
end
end
module InstanceMethods
def update_streams
#streams.collect{|stream| self.public_send(stream)}
end
end
included do
has_one :update, :as => :updatable
after_create :create_update_and_history
end
private
def create_update_and_history
update = self.create_update(:user_id => User.current.id)
self.update_streams.each do |stream|
stream.histories.create(:update_id => update.id)
end
end
end
Most of this code works, but I'm having trouble passing the hash from the class to an instance. At the moment, I'm trying to achieve this effect by creating a virtual attribute, passing the hash to the attribute, and then retrieving it in the instance. Not only does this feel hacky, it doesn't work. I'm assuming it doesn't work because #streams is an instance variable, so the class method add_update_to can't actually set it?
Whatever the case, is there a better way to approach this problem?
You could probably use class variables here, but those are pretty reviled in the Ruby community due to their unpredictable nature. The thing to remember is that classes in Ruby are actually also instances of classes, and can have their own instance variables that are only accessible to themselves, and not accessible to their instances (if that is in any way clear).
In this case, you are defining behavior, and not data, so I think neither instance nor class variables are appropriate. Instead, I think your best bet is to define the instance methods directly within the class method, like this:
module Updateable
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
module ClassMethods
def add_updates_to(*streams)
define_method :update_streams do
streams.collect {|stream| public_send(stream) }
end
end
end
end
BTW, there is no hash involved here, so I'm not sure what you were referring to. *streams collects your arguments into an Array.

How do I add a model specific configuration option to a rails concern?

I'm in the process of writing an Importable concern for my rails project. This concern will provide a generic way for me to import a csv file into any model that includes Importable.
I need a way for each model to specify which field the import code should use to find existing records. Are there any recommended ways of adding this type of configuring for a concern?
A slightly more "vanilla-looking" solution, we do this (coincidentally, for the exactly some csv import issue) to avoid the need for passing arguments to the Concern. I am sure there are pros and cons to the error-raising abstract method, but it keeps all the code in the app folder and the models where you expect to find it.
In the "concern" module, just the basics:
module CsvImportable
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
# concern methods, perhaps one that calls
# some_method_that_differs_by_target_class() ...
def some_method_that_differs_by_target_class()
raise 'you must implement this in the target class'
end
end
And in the model having the concern:
class Exemption < ActiveRecord::Base
include CsvImportable
# ...
private
def some_method_that_differs_by_target_class
# real implementation here
end
end
Rather than including the concern in each model, I'd suggest creating an ActiveRecord submodule and extend ActiveRecord::Base with it, and then add a method in that submodule (say include_importable) that does the including. You can then pass the field name as an argument to that method, and in the method define an instance variable and accessor (say for example importable_field) to save the field name for reference in your Importable class and instance methods.
So something like this:
module Importable
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
module ActiveRecord
def include_importable(field_name)
# create a reader on the class to access the field name
class << self; attr_reader :importable_field; end
#importable_field = field_name.to_s
include Importable
# do any other setup
end
end
module ClassMethods
# reference field name as self.importable_field
end
module InstanceMethods
# reference field name as self.class.importable_field
end
end
You'll then need to extend ActiveRecord with this module, say by putting this line in an initializer (config/initializers/active_record.rb):
ActiveRecord::Base.extend(Importable::ActiveRecord)
(If the concern is in your config.autoload_paths then you shouldn't need to require it here, see the comments below.)
Then in your models, you would include Importable like this:
class MyModel
include_importable 'some_field'
end
And the imported_field reader will return the name of the field:
MyModel.imported_field
#=> 'some_field'
In your InstanceMethods, you can then set the value of the imported field in your instance methods by passing the name of the field to write_attribute, and get the value using read_attribute:
m = MyModel.new
m.write_attribute(m.class.imported_field, "some value")
m.some_field
#=> "some value"
m.read_attribute(m.class.importable_field)
#=> "some value"
Hope that helps. This is just my personal take on this, though, there are other ways to do it (and I'd be interested to hear about them too).

Wrapping an object with methods from another class

Let's say I have a model called Article:
class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
end
And then I have a class that is intended to add behavior to an article object (a decorator):
class ArticleDecorator
def format_title
end
end
If I wanted to extend behavior of an article object, I could make ArticleDecorator a module and then call article.extend(ArticleDecorator), but I'd prefer something like this:
article = ArticleDecorator.decorate(Article.top_articles.first) # for single object
or
articles = ArticleDecorator.decorate(Article.all) # for collection of objects
How would I go about implementing this decorate method?
What exactly do you want from decorate method? Should it simply add some new methods to passed objects or it should automatically wrap methods of these objects with corresponding format methods? And why do you want ArticleDecorator to be a class and not just a module?
Updated:
Seems like solution from nathanvda is what you need, but I'd suggest a bit cleaner version:
module ArticleDecorator
def format_title
"#{title} [decorated]"
end
def self.decorate(object_or_objects_to_decorate)
object_or_objects_to_decorate.tap do |objects|
Array(objects).each { |obj| obj.extend ArticleDecorator }
end
end
end
It does the same thing, but:
Avoids checking type of the arguments relying on Kernel#Array method.
Calls Object#extend directly (it's a public method so there's no need in invoking it through send).
Object#extend includes only instance methods so we can put them right in ArticleDecorator without wrapping them with another module.
May I propose a solution which is not using Module mixins and thereby granting you more flexibility. For example, using a solution a bit more like the traditional GoF decorator, you can unwrap your Article (you can't remove a mixin if it is applied once) and it even allows you to exchange the wrapped Article for another one in runtime.
Here is my code:
class ArticleDecorator < BasicObject
def self.[](instance_or_array)
if instance_or_array.respond_to?(:to_a)
instance_or_array.map {|instance| new(instance) }
else
new(instance_or_array)
end
end
attr_accessor :wrapped_article
def initialize(wrapped_article)
#wrapped_article = wrapped_article
end
def format_title
#wrapped_article.title.upcase
end
protected
def method_missing(method, *arguments)
#wrapped_article.method(method).call(*arguments)
end
end
You can now extend a single Article by calling
extended_article = ArticleDecorator[article]
or multiple articles by calling
articles = [article_a, article_b]
extended_articles = ArticleDecorator[articles]
You can regain the original Article by calling
extended_article.wrapped_article
Or you can exchange the wrapped Article inside like this
extended_article = ArticleDecorator[article_a]
extended_article.format_title
# => "FIRST"
extended_article.wrapped_article = article_b
extended_article.format_title
# => "SECOND"
Because the ArticleDecorator extends the BasicObject class, which has almost no methods already defined, even things like #class and #object_id stay the same for the wrapped item:
article.object_id
# => 123
extended_article = ArticleDecorator[article]
extended_article.object_id
# => 123
Notice though that BasicObject exists only in Ruby 1.9 and above.
You'd extend the article class instance, call alias_method, and point it at whatever method you want (although it sounds like a module, not a class, at least right now). The new version gets the return value and processes it like normal.
In your case, sounds like you want to match up things like "format_.*" to their respective property getters.
Which part is tripping you up?
module ArticleDecorator
def format_title
"Title: #{title}"
end
end
article = Article.top_articles.first.extend(ArticleDecorator) # for single object
Should work fine.
articles = Article.all.extend(ArticleDecorator)
May also work depending on ActiveRecord support for extending a set of objects.
You may also consider using ActiveSupport::Concern.

What does :: do?

I have some inherited code that I am modifying. However, I am seeing something strange(to me).
I see some code like this:
::User.find_by_email(params[:user][:email]).update_attributes(:mag => 1)
I have never seen something like this(I am new to Ruby on Rails). What does this do and why doesn't my User.find_by_email(params[:user][:email]).update_attributes(:mag => 1) work? The error says something about the User constant.
I am using Rails 2.3.5 if that helps.
:: is a scope resolution operator, it effectively means "in the namespace", so ActiveRecord::Base means "Base, in the namespace of ActiveRecord"
A constant being resolved outside of any namespace means exactly what it sounds like - a constant not in any namespace at all.
It's used in places where code may be ambiguous without it:
module Document
class Table # Represents a data table
def setup
Table # Refers to the Document::Table class
::Table # Refers to the furniture class
end
end
end
class Table # Represents furniture
end
It makes sure to load the User model in the global namespace.
Imagine you have a global User model and another User model in your current module (Foo::User). By Calling ::User you make sure to get the global one.
Ruby uses (among other things) lexical scoping to find constant names. For example, if you have this code:
module Foo
class Bar
end
def self.get_bar
Bar.new
end
end
class Bar
end
The Foo.get_bar returns an instance of Foo::Bar. But if we put :: in front of a constant name, it forces Ruby to only look in the top level for the constant. So ::Bar always refers the top-level Bar class.
You will run into situations in Ruby where the way your code is being run will force you to use these 'absolute' constant references to get to the class you want.
You might find a lead here: What is Ruby's double-colon `::`?
The "::" operator is used to access Classes inside modules. That way you can also indirectly access methods. Example:
module Mathematics
class Adder
def Adder.add(operand_one, operand_two)
return operand_one + operand_two
end
end
end
You access this way:
puts “2 + 3 = “ + Mathematics::Adder.add(2, 3).to_s

Resources