Hide/truncate long attributes in rails console - ruby-on-rails

For a blog model I'm saving an RSS field as text under Blog.rss, problem is, some of this is rather long and each one prints when I'm working in the rails console, ie: Blog.last(10).
Is there a way to hide output unless I call someblog.rss specifically?

I had a similar problem and received some solutions in another forum, which were:
Use select to get just the columns you need
If you have a very long column (I had JSON data structure from a webhook cluttering the console), consider whether you really need it, and if you don't , don't store it in the table
Or, consider storing it in an associated table
if you need the whole object but just want to change how it's represented in console/log output, you can redefine inspect
yourobject.as_json(except: :unwanted_column)
Also
You could look into: https://github.com/awesome-print/awesome_print

Related

Split datetime value received from external API in Rails app

I have a datetime value which comes from the API in this format: 2015-07-07T17:30:00+00:00. I simply want to split it up between the date and time values at this point. I am not using an Active Record model and I prefer not to use an sql database if I can.
The way I have set up the app means that the value is "stored" like this in my view: #search.dining_date_and_time
I have tried two approaches to solving this problem:
Manually based on this previous stackoverflow question from 2012: Using multiple input fields for one attribute - but the error I get is the attribute is "nil" even though I put a "try"
Using this gem, https://github.com/ccallebs/split_date_time which is a bit more recent and seems to be a more elegant solution, but after closely following the doc, I get this error, saying my Search model is not initalized and there is no method: undefined method dining_date' for #<Search not initialized>
This is when instead I put #search.dining_date in the view, which seems to be the equivalent of the doc's example (its not that clear). The doc also says the method will be automatically generated.
Do I need to alter my model so I receive the data from the API in another way? ie. not get the variable back as #search.dining_date_and_time from the Search model for any of this to work?
Do I need an Active Record model so that before_filter or before_save logic works - so i can (re)concatenate after splitting so the data is sent back to the API in a format it understands. Can I avoid this - it seems a bit of overkill to restructure the whole app and put in a full database just so I can split and join date/time as needed.
Happy to provide further details, code snippets if required.
As I am not using a conventional Rails DB like MySql Lite or Postgresql, I found that the best solution to the problem was by using this jQuery date Format plugin: https://github.com/phstc/jquery-dateFormat to split the date and time values for display when I get the data back from the API.
The Github docs were not too expansive, but once I put the simply put the library file in my Rails javascript assets folder, I just had to write a few lines of jQuery to get the result and format I wanted:
$(function() {
var rawDateTime = $('#searchDiningDateTime').html();
// console.log(rawDateTime);
var cleanDate = $.format.date(rawDateTime, "ddd, dd/MM/yyyy");
// console.log(cleanDate);
$('#searchDiningDateTime').html(cleanDate);
var cleanTime = $.format.date(rawDateTime, "HH:mm");
// console.log(cleanTime);
$('#searchTime').html(cleanTime);
});
Next challenge: rejoin the values on submit, so the API can read the data by sending/receiving a valid request/response. (The values can't be split like this when sent to the remote service).

Ruby on Rails: How to have multiple controllers for one table AND multiple models

I'm new to Ruby and to Rails. I have played a bit with Sinatra but I think that Rails is a more complete framework for my project. However, I am running into trouble with this.
I am working with an fairly substantial existing, and heavily used, mySQL database and I am trying to build an API for this that will report on certain features. The features that are needed are, for the most part, counts of records by certain groupings, then drilling down into details.
For example we have a table - tableA, that contains lots of information relating to documentation. One piece of information we want to report on from that is the number of items in a given language. The language code is stored against each item and based on a get request I would like to return JSON.
Request: /languages/:code/count/:tablename
There are two variables in that most specific URL - the code we are counting and the table we are counting from.
I understand that in routes.rb I can set up a mapping:
get '/languages/:code/count/:table', :controller=>'languages', :action=>'count'
I have a controller - languages_controller.rb with a count method in it. this then matches to a corresponding view file count.html.erb
In all the tutorials I have read and examples I have followed the main point seems that 'languages' would be a table in the database and would therefore be available under the 'magic' Rails approach.
My issue is that it is not a table, rather the results of the call should be a limited subset of the fields in tableA. Such as languagecode and count(id).
The description of the language needs to be looked up 'manually' as it is stored as an internal code that is not in a database anywhere (historic decision/madness).
The questions:
how do I have a model that is only a subset of fields, plus some that are manually populated - languagecode, isocode, description, count
Am I right in thinking that once I have the model defined as such as I could use ActiveRecord to get data from the database and then in the controller add the extra information in?
Can I change table in the model based on the parameter sent in the URL?
Essentially, I am at a loss at the moment on what to do with this. I have the routes defined, the view templates in place and the controller there and ready to go. The database component - getting some data from a pre-existing table seems mysterious to me.
Any help is greatly appreciated, it seems that the framework is currently getting in my way and I know that I can't be the only one trying this sort of thing so if you have any advice please share.
There's really no need for a model here, at all. This isn't what ORMs are for. What you should be doing is just running raw SQL against the database, and iterating over the results. Consider doing something like this: https://stackoverflow.com/a/14840547/229044

Access 2010 form not displaying query

I'm sure this is an easy fix but I can't seem to find it. I just have a form, that will be a subform of another, that needs to display the results of a query.
The query is simple enough, just displays all fields of records that fall between specified dates. The query works great, but when I attach it to the form as its record source it doesn't display the data. I can see the correct amount of record selectors so I know its understanding the query but its as if all fields are hidden!
I have also tried building a query to the forms record source that was simply Select query.* From query. Oddly I have had this working before but I had to specify every field. What I mean is:
Select title From query
Select type From query
Select date From query
...
And so on for all the fields but this seems foolish, can anyone think of what I may be doing wrong?
Thanks in advance!
Edit, forgot to mention I also tried the foolish solution that I mentioned above and it didn't work so its definitely some issue that I'm not seeing, some property that's probably not appropriately set
#sshekhar well its not really code at the moment I'm using Access 2010. I have a form that needs to display a subform that executes this query of displaying records that have a data field that fall between dates specified by the user. The query works and displays the correct records, but the form that it is attached to only shows the record selectors and all the fields appear to be "hidden." I thought it may be one of the form's properties set incorrectly but I checked on the test form from another database that I used and each have what appears to be identical settings. So I'm at a loss!
So it turns out even though I using a query that holds all the fields it will not display the content unless you go to the Add Existing Fields and add all the the fields you want to see. This seems really silly especially when the results in the query but at least its working now.
I had this problem and discovered that having the property DataEntry set to YES will only display new records. From Microsoft Help:
You can use the DataEntry property to specify whether a bound form
opens to allow data entry only. The Data Entry property doesn't
determine whether records can be added; it only determines whether
existing records are displayed. Read/write Boolean.

How to create a tagging system like on Stack Overflow or Quora

I want to create a tagging system like seen here on Stack Overflow or on Quora. It'll be its own model, and I'm planning on using this autocomplete plugin to help users find tags. I have a couple of questions:
I want tags to be entirely user-generated. If a user inputs a new tag by typing it and pressing an "Add" button, then that tag is added to the db, but if a user types in an existing tag, then it uses that one. I'm thinking of using code like this:
def create
#video.tags = find_or_create_by_name(#video.tags.name)
end
Am I on the right track?
I'd like to implement something like on Stack Overflow or Quora such that when you click a tag from the suggested list or click an "Add" button, that tag gets added right above the text field with ajax. How would I go about implementing something like that?
I know this is kind of an open-ended question. I'm not really looking for the exact code as much as a general nudge in the right direction. Of course, code examples wouldn't hurt :)
Note I am NOT asking for help on how to set up the jQuery autocomplete plugin... I know how to do that. Rather, it seems like I'll have to modify the code in the plugin so that instead of the tags being added inside the text field, they are added above the text field. I'd appreciate any direction with this.
mbleigh's acts_as_taggable_on gem is a feature-complete solution that you should definitely look into a little more closely. The implementation is rock-solid and flexible to use. However, it is mostly concerned with attaching tags to objects, retrieving tags on objects, and searching for tagged items. This is all backend server stuff.
Most of the functionality you are looking to change (based on your comments) is actually related more to your front-end UI implementation, and the gem doesn't really do much for you there. I'll take your requests one-by-one.
If user inputs a new tag, that tag
gets added, if user inputs an
existing tag, the existing tag gets
used. acts_as_taggable_on does this.
Click a tag from suggested list to
add that tag. This is an
implementation issue - on the
back-end you'll need to collect the
suggested list of tags, then display
those in your presentation as links
to your processing function.
Autocomplete as user enters
potential tag. You'll use the jQuery
autocomplete plugin against a list
of items pulled off the tags table.
With additional jQuery, you can
capture when they've selected one of
the options, or completed entering
their new tag, and then call the
processing function.
Restrict users to entering only one
tag. This will be your UI
implementation - once they've
entered or selected a tag, you
process it. If they enter two words
separated by a comma, then before or
during processing you have to either
treat it as one tag, or take only
the text up to the first comma and
discard the rest.
When you process the addition of a
tag, you will have to do two things.
First, you'll need to handle the UI
display changes to reflect that a
tag has been entered/chosen. This
includes placing the tag in the
"seleted" area, removing it from the
"available" display, updating any
counters, etc. Second, you'll need
to send a request to the server to
actually add the tag to the object
and persist that fact to the
database (where the taggable gem will take over for you). You can either do this via
an individual AJAX request per tag,
or you can handle it when you submit
the form. If the latter, you'll need
a var to keep the running list of
tags that have been added/removed
and you'll need code to handle
adding/removing values to that var.
For an example of saving tags while editing but not sending to server/db until saving a form, you might take a look at the tagging functionality on Tumblr's new post page. You can add/remove tags at will while creating the post, but none of it goes to the database until you click save.
As you can see, most of this is on you to determine and code, but has very little to do with the backend part. The gem will take care of that for you quite nicely.
I hope this helps get you moving in the right direction.
The more I try to force the acts-as-taggable-on gem to work the more I think these are fundamentally different types of problems. Specifically because of aliases. The gem considers each tag to be its own special snowflake, making it difficult to create synonyms. In some cases it doesn't go far enough, if you want the Tag to have a description you'd need to edit the given migrations (which isn't hard to do).
Here's what I'm considering implementing, given the trouble I've had implementing via the gem. Let's assume you want to create a tagging system for Technologies.
Consider the following psuedo code, I haven't yet tested it.
rails g model Tech usage_count::integer description:text icon_url:string etc. Run the migration. Note the
Now in the controller you will need to increment usage_count each time something happens, the user submits a new question tagged with given text.
rails g model Name::Tech belongs_to:Tech name:string
Name::Tech model
belongs_to :tech
end
Then you could search via something like:
search = Name::Tech.where("name LIKE :prefix", prefix: "word_start%")
.joins(:tech)
.order(usage_count: desc)
.limit(5)
This is starting point. It's fundamentally different from the gem, as each tag is just a string on its own, but references a richer data table on the back end. I'll work on implementing and come back to update with a better solution.

Fill a rails form with a hashmap

I have a difficult situation.
I let the the user create a form through a Rich Text Editor and then I save this.
So for example, I save this literally into my DB:
http://pastebin.com/DNdeetJp (how can you post HTML here? It gets interpreted, so now I use pastebin...)
On another page I wrap this in a form_tag and it gets presented as it should be.
What I want to do is save this as a template and save the answers as a hashmap to my DB.
This works well, but the problem is I want to recreate what checkbox/radiobutton/... is selected when the user goes back to the page. So I want to fill the form with the answers from the hashmap.
Is there a way to use a 'dummy' model or something else to accomplish this?
Thanks!
Since you're pasting in raw HTML which is not properly configured as a template, it is more difficult to enable the proper options based on whatever might be stored in your DB.
The reliable approach to making this work is to use Hpricot or Nokogiri to manipulate the bit of HTML you have and substitute values accordingly. This isn't too hard so long as you can define the elements in that form using a proper selector. For example, create a div with a unique id and operate on all input elements within it, comparing the name attribute with your properties. There may even be a library for this somewhere.
The second approach is to use JavaScript to enable the options in much the same fashion. This seems like a bit of a hack since the form itself will not have a proper default state.

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