I'm trying to decide on the best relationship structure for three models I have in a Rails app.
The models are candidate, an employer, and a video.
Sometimes a video will belong to an employer, other times a candidate. Because of this I am loathe to put foreign keys for both employer and candidate on a video, because it feels wrong that one will always be nil.
The problem with the code below is that the video will not have many candidates, but I can't do a through relationship with belongs_to. What is a better way?
class Video < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :video_candidates
has_many :candidates, :through => :video_candidates
end
class Candidate < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :video_candidates
has_many :videos, :through => :video_candidates
end
class VideoCandidate < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :candidate
belongs_to :vieo
end
Edit: Polymorphic association is the way to go. I'm going to put my solution below. Hope this helps someone.
class Video < ActiveRecord
belongs_to :watchable, polymorphic: true
end
class Candidate < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :videos, as: :watchable
end
class Employer < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :videos, as: :watchable
end
And the migration
class CreateVideos < ActiveRecord::Migration[5.0]
def change
create_table :videos do |t|
t.string :title
t.belongs_to :watchable, polymorphic: true
t.timestamps
end
add_index :videos, [:watchable_id, :watchable_type]
end
end
This is an ideal case to go for polymorphic association
Also refer Railscast episode
Related
I have a parent model called Quote. which has an attribute called final_quote and has a child model called QuoteBoms, which has attributes called quote_final_quote and quantity and total_quote (=quote_final_quote * quantity)
class Quote < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :quote_boms, dependent: :destroy
accepts_nested_attributes_for :quote_boms, :reject_if => :all_blank, :allow_destroy => true
class QuoteBom < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :quote
has_many :quotes
end
Now in the nested model, I am selecting the quote with the association "belongs_to :quote" but has_many :quotes does not work as I have only one quote_id column (I suppose this is the problem). I see that i need to define a third class as quotebom_quote_id but cannot figure out how exactly!
Any help will be greatly appreciated!
class Image < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :imageable, :polymorphic => true
end
class Profile < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :images, :as => :imageable
end
class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :images, :as => :imageable
end
This is how we have made a single Image model and it is accessed by one or more than one model
Please refer this
Link
From what I can tell, you wish to create a database structure containing the models Quote and QuoteBom where a Quote has many QuoteBom and QuoteBom belongs to many Quotes.
That being the case, you will want to use a has_and_belongs_to_many association.
This will require adding to your models
class Quote < ActiveRecord::Base
has_and_belongs_to_many :quote_boms
end
class QuoteBom < ActiveRecord::Base
has_and_belongs_to_many :quotes
end
...and the following migration (assuming Quote and QuoteBom already exist)
class CreateQuotesAndQuoteBoms < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :quote_quote_boms, id: false do |t|
t.belongs_to :quote, index: true
t.belongs_to :quote_bom, index: true
end
end
end
By having the associations above in the model and this table in your database, rails will automagically handle the associations between quote and quote_doms. As a result, you will also be able to access quote_dom.quotes which you said you weren't able to do in your question.
This is NOT a polymorphic association. A polymorphic association allows a model to belong to more than one type of other model in a single association.
I am starting to learn more advanced associations, and polymorphic join table looks very interesting, but I've come to a bad limitation.
My models:
school_class.rb:
class SchoolClass < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :class_of_schools, as: :school_model, dependent: :destroy
has_many :basic_primary_schools, through: :class_of_schools
has_many :basic_shugenja_schools, through: :class_of_schools
has_many :basic_monk_schools, through: :class_of_schools
end
class_of_school.rb:
class ClassOfSchool < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :school_model, polymorphic: true
belongs_to :school_class
end
basic_primary_School.rb:
class BasicPrimarySchool < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :class_of_schools, as: :school_model, dependent: :destroy
has_many :school_classes, through: :class_of_schools
end
shugenja_school and monk_schools, has the same association as basic_primary_school.
And join model it self:
class CreateClassOfSchools < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :class_of_schools do |t|
t.integer :school_class_id
t.integer :school_model_id
t.string :school_model_type
t.timestamps null: false
end
end
end
It joins well on the school side, I can make school.class_schools, and I get the array of school_classes associated. But on the other side I can`t do the same. In fact when I check school_class.classes_of schools I get empty array.
I make associations in my seed file by function like this:
def join_schools_with_classes(school_object_name, school_classes_array)
school_object_name.all.each do |school|
school_classes = school_classes_array[school.name]
school_classes.each do |class_name|
school_class = SchoolClass.find_by(name: class_name)
school.class_of_schools.create( school_class_id: school_class.id)
end
end
end
My question:
How can I make this association works both ways? So I can call ClassSchool.first.class_of_schools returns, all objects associated to this object. And still be able to call BasicPrimarySchool.first.school_classes to get associated school_class objects.
Just remove as: :school_model in SchoolClass relation
has_many :class_of_schools, dependent: :destroy
EDIT
change the relation in SchoolClass to
has_many :basic_primary_schools, through: :class_of_schools, source: :school_model, source_type: "BasicPrimarySchool"
I am struggling with an issue in my data model. I do have the following models:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
...
has_many :claims #user-claims
has_many :claims, through: :rulings, as: :commissars
...
end
class Claim < ActiveRecord::Base
...
belongs_to :user
has_many :users, through: :rulings, as: :commissars
...
end
class Ruling < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :user
belongs_to :claim
end
Error:
undefined method `commissars' for #<Claim:0xc5ac090>
Model Explanation:
User can write claims (A claim belongs to one user), and users could do the role of commissars to do the ruling of the claim (max numbers of commissars = 3 per claim).
Is there any way to fix this or improve the relationship?
This domain model requires som pretty complex relations so there is no shame in not getting it on the first try.
Lets start with user and claims:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :claims, foreign_key: 'claimant_id',
inverse_of: :claimant
end
class Claim < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :claimant, class_name: 'User',
inverse_of: :claims
end
This is a pretty basic one to many relation with a twist. Since User will have a bunch of relations to Claim we call the relation something other than the default user so that the nature of the relation is defined.
The class_name: 'User' option tells ActiveRecord to load the class User and use it to figure out what table to query and also what class to return the results as. Its needed whenever the class name cannot be directly derived from the name of the association. The option should be a string and not a constant due to the way Rails lazily resolves class dependencies.
Now lets add the commissar role. We will use ruling as the join table:
class Ruling < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :claim
belongs_to :commissioner, class_name: 'User'
end
Notice that here we have a relation to User that we call commissioner for clarity. Now we add the relations to Claim:
class Claim < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :claimant, class_name: 'User',
inverse_of: :claims
has_many :rulings
has_many :commissioners, through: :rulings
end
Then we need to setup the relations on the User side:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :claims, foreign_key: 'claimant_id',
inverse_of: :claimant
# rulings as claimant
has_many :rulings, through: :claims
has_many :rulings_as_commissioner, class_name: 'Ruling',
foreign_key: 'commissioner_id'
has_many :claims_as_commissioner, through: :rulings_as_commissioner,
source: :claim
end
Note the source: :claim option where we tell ActiveRecord which party we want from the join table.
Of course for this to work we need to setup the columns and the foreign keys properly. These migrations are to create the tables from scratch but you can easily rewrite them to alter your existing tables:
class CreateClaims < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :claims do |t|
t.belongs_to :claimant, index: true, foreign_key: false
t.timestamps null: false
end
# we need to setup the fkey ourself since it is not conventional
add_foreign_key :claims, :users, column: :claimant_id
end
end
class CreateRulings < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :rulings do |t|
t.belongs_to :claim, index: true, foreign_key: true
t.belongs_to :commissioner, index: true, foreign_key: false
t.timestamps null: false
end
add_foreign_key :rulings, :users, column: :commissioner_id
add_index :rulings, [:claim_id, :commissioner_id], unique: true
end
end
max numbers of commissars = 3 per claim
This is not really part of the associations rather you would enforce this rule by adding a validation or an association callback.
class Ruling < ActiveRecord::Base
# ...
validate :only_three_rulings_per_claim
private
def only_three_rulings_per_claim
if claim.rulings.size >= 3
errors.add(:claim, "already has the max number of commissars")
end
end
end
See:
Rails Guides: Active Record Migrations
Rails Guides: the has_many though: relations
First, I would suggest you go back and read the Guide carefully as I believe you have fundamentally misunderstood a number of things. The as: option, for instance, does not indicate role but, rather, the presence of a polymorphic join. Also, you can't declare has_many :claims twice on the same model. Anyway, go give it another read.
But, to your question - a functional although somewhat inelegant approach might look like:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
...
has_many :claims
has_many :claim_commissars, foreign_key: "commissar_id"
has_many :commissar_claims, through: :claim_commissars, class_name: "Claim"
# ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
# this bit may be wrong
...
end
class Claim < ActiveRecord::Base
...
belongs_to :user
has_one :ruling
has_many :claim_commissars
has_many :commissars, through: :claim_commissars
...
end
class ClaimCommissar < ActiveRecord::Base
...
belongs_to :claim
belongs_to :commissar, class_name: "User"
...
end
class Ruling < ActiveRecord::Base
...
belongs_to :claim
belongs_to :commissar, class_name: "User"
...
end
You would need to enforce your 'max 3 commissars` in the code.
This is not tested and you will likely need to fiddle with it to get it to go. But, hopefully, it sets you in a better direction.
Good luck!
In my Ruby on Rails project I have a User model and a Content model.
A User has_many :contents and a Content belongs_to :user.
Now, I want to create the idea of playlist. There will be more than one playlists, and each one will have some contents in some order. At this moment, it doesn't matter if a user owns a playlist or not, they'll be general.
A playlist doesn't have any kind of association with a User. They will be general, owned by the system.
I think the solution will be something like having a model Playlist and another table with these attributes: playlist_id:integer content_id:integer order:integer. But do I really need to create all the MVC parts to this new relationship?
As I looked into Rails associations, I got confused and I don't know how to do this, if using the through property, using has_and_belongs_to_many in both Content and Playlist or even how to create this new relationship.
I'd be glad if someone could help me, as you can see, I'm a bit confused.
The solution for you is use has_many through
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
... user code in here with no association
end
class Playlist < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :content_playlists
has_many :contents, through: :content_playlists
end
class Content < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :content_playlists
has_many :playlists, through: :content_playlists
end
class ContentPlaylist < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :content
belongs_to :playlist
end
The migration:
class CreateAll < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :contents do |t|
t.string :name
t.timestamps
end
create_table :playlists do |t|
t.string :name
t.timestamps
end
create_table :content_playlists do |t|
t.belongs_to :content
t.belongs_to :playlist
t.integer :order
t.timestamps
end
add_index(:content_playlists, :content_id)
add_index(:content_playlists, :playlist_id)
end
end
Now, you can assign a order integer on content_playlists, and in the future you can reorder your playlist changing the value on contents_playlists.
To add a new content_playlist:
c = Content.create(name: "Song 2")
p = Playlist.create(name: "My Playlists2)
ContentPlaylist.create(content: c, playlist: p, order: 1)
Reference:
http://guides.rubyonrails.org/association_basics.html#the-has-many-through-association
You can see (fork, clone, do whatever you want) here:
https://github.com/bdfantini/hmt_example
I'm guessing something like this is what you want:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
...
has_many :contents
has_many :playlists
has_many :playlisted_contents, :through => :playlists
...
end
class Playlist < ActiveRecord::Base
...
has_many :contents
...
end
class Content < ActiveRecord::Base
...
belongs_to :user
belongs_to :playlist
...
end
I'd start there, and write some tests to see if it's behaving as you want. If your design has other constraints, we might need to adjust this some.
In RoR3,
I have Users and Skills and each skill is created by a user. I wanted to record that, so I created a one to many relationship.
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :skills
end
class Skill < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :user
end
However, each user also has many skills in the sense that, user "Bob" created skill "Kung Fu", user "Charlie" created skill "Karate" and user "Bob" both created and is able to do both "Kung Fu" and "Karate"
How should I represent this with ActiveRecord? Should I just create a new table "user_skills" which has_many :skills? and belong_to :user?
There are two different associations here. The first is a one-to-many association. An user can be the creator of any number of skills. The second one is a many-to-many association, an user can have many skills and a skill can have many users.
The first one is a simple belongs_to <-> has_many declaration. For the second one, you either need a has_and_belongs_to_many declaration in both models, and a related join table, or a dedicated join model, and a has_many :through declaration. Let's try the first one:
Method 1: HABTM
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :created_skills, :class_name => 'Skill', :inverse_of => :creator
has_and_belongs_to_many :skills
end
class Skill < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :creator, :class_name => 'User', :inverse_of => :created_skills
has_and_belongs_to_many :users
end
This requires a join table called "skills_users" that has columns named user_id and skill_id
Method 2: Has many through (Join model)
The second one is similar, but adds a model that acts as the middleman. This has an added benefit that you can include additional columns in the join model, like for example a skill level.
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :created_skills, :class_name => 'Skill', :inverse_of => :creator
has_many :user_skills
has_many :skills, :through => :user_skills
end
class Skill < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :creator, :class_name => 'User', :inverse_of => :created_skills
has_many :user_skills
has_many :users, :through => :user_skills
end
class UserSkill < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :user
belongs_to :skill
end
Having those two models
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_and_belongs_to_many :skills
end
class Skill < ActiveRecord::Base
has_and_belongs_to_many :users
end
You would have to create an extra migration (without the model)
rails generate migration CreateSkillsUsersJoin
which will give you
class CreateSkillsUsersJoin < ActiveRecord::Migration
def self.up
create_table :skills_users, id => false do |t|
t.references "user"
t.references "skill"
end
add_index :skills_users,["user_id","skill_id"]
end
def self.down
drop_table :skills_users
end
end
The methods self.up and self.down you will have yo add them
You'd be well served using a gem like acts_as_taggable_on which you'd be able to simply setup and use in your User model, something like:
acts_as_taggable_on :skills
Honestly, they've figured all this stuff out, as it's not as simple as what you're trying to do, OR I should rephrase that and say, what you are trying to do is overtly 'complex' and this gem allows you to just keep on, keeping on after it's set up.
Read the Readme.