Creation of data in a :through relation - ruby-on-rails

I'll ask my question first:
Will this code logically work and it is the right thing to do (best practices perspective)? First off, it looks strange having a user being passed to a static subscription method
User and magazine have a many to many relationship through subscriptions (defined below). Also you can see, I've used through joins instead of the has and belongs to many so that we can define a subscription model.
after creating a user they need to have default subscriptions. Following the single responsibility principle, I don't think a user should have to know what default magazines to subscribe to. So how, after a user has been created can I create default subscriptions. The user.likes_sports? user.likes_music? should define which subscriptions methods we want.
Am I on the right track? I don't have anyone to review my code, any code suggestions highly appreciated.
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
after_create create_default_subscriptions
has_many :magazines, :through => :subscriptions
has_many :subscriptions
def create_default_subscriptions
if self.likes_sports?
Subscription.create_sports_subscription(self)
end
end
end
class Subscription < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :user
belongs_to :magazine
#status field defined in migration
def self.create_sports_subscription(user)
Magazine.where("category = 'sports'").find_each do |magazine|
user.subscriptions << Subscription.create(:user => user, :magazine => magazine, :status=>"not delivered")
end
end
.
.
end
class Magazine < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :users, :through => :subscriptions
has_many :subscriptions
end

The code is too coupled in my view. This can get out of hand really easily.
The right way to do this in my view would be to create a new service/form that takes care of creating the user for you
class UserCreationService
def perform
begin
create_user
# we should change this to only rescue exceptions like: ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid or so.
rescue => e
false
end
end
private
def create_user
user = nil
# wrapping all in a transaction makes the code faster
# if any of the steps fail, the whole user creation will fail
User.transaction do
user = User.create
create_subscriptions!(user)
end
user
end
def create_subscriptions!(user)
# your logic here
end
end
Then call the code in your controller like so:
def create
#user = UserCreationService.new.perform
if #user
redirect_to root_path, notice: "success"
else
redirect_to root_path, notice: "erererererooooor"
end
end

Related

Validation in activeadmin with custom controller action

In our web app, a composition has many authors through a table named contributions. We want to check that an admin does not accidentally delete all the authors of one composition in activeadmin (at least one should remain). If this happens, the update fails with an error message and the edit view for a composition is rendered again.
Calling the model validation with
validates_presence_of :authors, on: :update
is not suitable here, because the addition of new contributions (thus authors) is done while calling the success.html on the update function of the activeadmin controller, to prevent some previous bugs that created double entries for authors.
Models are:
class Composition < ApplicationRecord
has_many :contributions
has_many :authors, through: :contributions
end
----
class Contribution < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :composition
belongs_to :author
end
----
class Author < ApplicationRecord
has_many :author_roles, dependent: :delete_all
has_many :contributions
has_many :compositions, through: :contributions
end
Our code in admin has some background logic to handle what has been described before:
ActiveAdmin.register admin_resource_name = Composition do
...
controller do
def update
author = []
contribution_delete = []
params[:composition][:authors_attributes].each do |number, artist|
if artist[:id].present?
if artist[:_destroy] == "1"
cont_id = Contribution.where(author_id: artist[:id],composition_id: params[:id]).first.id
contribution_delete << cont_id
end
else
names = artist[:full_name_str].strip.split(/ (?=\S+$)/)
first_name = names.size == 1 ? '' : names.first
exist_author = Author.where(first_name: first_name, last_name: names.last, author_type: artist[:author_type]).first
author << exist_author.id if exist_author.present?
end
end if params[:composition][:authors_attributes] != nil
params[:composition].delete :authors_attributes
update! do |success, failure|
success.html do
if author.present?
author.each do |id|
Contribution.create(author_id: id, composition_id: params[:id])
end
end
if contribution_delete.present?
contribution_delete.each do |id|
Contribution.find(id).destroy
end
end
...
redirect_to admin_composition_path(#composition.id)
end
failure.html do
render :edit
end
end
end
end
...
end
Do you have any idea how I can control the authors_attributes and throw a flash message like "There must be at least one author" if the number of to-be-deleted authors is equal to the number of existing authors?
I thought maybe it's possible to handle this before the update! call so to convert the success into a failure somehow, but I have no idea how.

How to trigger action after many-to-many association has been destroyed?

In my Rails 4 app I have the following models:
class Invoice < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :allocations
has_many :payments, :through => :allocations
end
class Allocation < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :invoice
belongs_to :payment
end
class Payment < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :allocations, :dependent => :destroy
has_many :invoices, :through => :allocations
after_save :update_invoices
after_destroy :update_invoices # won't work
private
def update_invoices
invoices.each do |invoice|
invoice.save
end
end
end
The problem is that I need to update an invoice when one of its payments gets destroyed.
The update_invoices callback above obviously can't ever get triggered because at the time it gets called the connection with the invoice has already been destroyed.
So how can this be done?
Right now, I am doing this in my PaymentsController:
def destroy
#payment.destroy
current_user.invoices.each do |invoice|
invoice.save
end
...
end
However, this is very expensive of course because it goes through each and every invoice that a user has.
What might be a better alternative to this?
Thanks for any feedback.
One solution would be to grab the invoices before destroying the payment instance. Its add a bit more logic to the Controller however, but this is where the intent of both actions ( destroy payment and update invoices ) originate. It also reduces the iteration to just those invoices affected by the destroyed payment.
def destroy
invoices = #payment.invoices
#payment.destroy
invoices.each do |invoice|
invoice.save
end
...
end
Presumably you are overriding the save method of the Invoice model ( or have a callback on that as well), though I would choose a more explicit method for this intent. For example, removed_payment could be a method to handle this specific scenario and update the appropriate attributes - outstanding_amount and payment_status, etc.
def destroy
invoices = #payment.invoices
#payment.destroy
invoices.map(&:removed_payment)
...
end
The problem is that the associated allocation is also destroyed when destroying the payment. If you move the invoice updating to the Allocation model instead it will work as intended.
class Allocation < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :invoice
belongs_to :payment
after_destroy :update_invoice
def update_invoice
if destroyed?
invoice.save!
end
end
end
Here's a Rails 4.1 test project with tests for this:
https://github.com/infused/update_parent_after_destroy

Rails nested resources creation - passing the user id

I have a set of nested resources consisting of users, books, and chapters. Here's how it looks.
Models
class User
has_many :books, dependent: :destroy
accepts_nested_attributes_for :books, allow_destroy: true
end
class Book
belongs_to :user
has_many :chapters, dependent: :destroy
accepts_nested_attributes_for :chapters, allow_destroy: true
end
class Chapter
belongs_to :book
end
Chapter Controller
def create
#chapter = #book.chapters.build(params[:chapter])
if #chapter.save
flash[:success] = "A new chapter created!"
redirect_to blah blah
else
render 'new'
end
end
protected
def get_book
#book = Book.find(params[:chapter][:book_id]) ||
Book.find(params[:book_id])
end
You might be wondering why I have that protected method. I'm trying to let users create chapters and books in separate pages and still have the convenience of having nested resources. So a user can create a chapter on the chapter creation page and associate the chapter with the right book via association form.
Currently I'm stuck because the chapter resource is not getting the user id it needs. I'm very new to web development so I might be doing some crazy things here. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really want to get this to work.
EDIT: To give more detail on what I meant by "the chapter resource is not getting the user id it needs" - in the chapter model I wrote *validates :user_id, presence: true*. When I press the submit button on the chapter creation page, it gives an error saying user_id cannot be blank.
In order to be sure that the current user owns the chapter, and therefore the book, change the get_book method to
def get_book
#book = current_user.books.find(params.fetch(:chapter, {})[:book_id] || params[:book_id])
end
params.fetch makes sure that you don't get an exception when params[:chapter] is nil
I don't think the Chapter model should check that the user_id is present. Instead, the controller should have a before_filter that checks if the action is authorized for the current user.
Something like this:
class ChaptersController < ApplicationController
before_filter :authorized?, only: [:create]
def create
...
end
private
def authorized?
current_user && current_user.owns? Chapter.find(params[:id])
end
end
owns? would then be implemented on the User model, and current_user would be implemented in the ApplicationController.

Saving belongs_to data when creating new record

class Party < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :hostess, class_name: 'Person', foreign_key: 'hostess_id'
validates_presence_of :hostess
end
class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :parties, foreign_key: :hostess_id
end
When creating a new Party, the view lets the user select an existing Hostess, or enter a new one. (This is done with jQuery autocomplete to look up existing records.) If an existing record is chosen, params[:party][:hostess_id] will have the correct value. Otherwise, params[:party][:hostess_id] is 0 and params[:party][:hostess] has the data to create a new Hostess (e.g., params[:party][:hostess][:first_name], etc.)
In the Parties controller:
def create
if params[:party][:hostess_id] == 0
# create new hostess record
if #hostess = Person.create!(params[:party][:hostess])
params[:party][:hostess_id] = #hostess.id
end
end
#party = Party.new(params[:party])
if #party.save
redirect_to #party, :notice => "Successfully created party."
else
#hostess = #party.build_hostess(params[:party][:hostess])
render :action => 'new'
end
end
This is working fine when I pass in an existing Hostess, but it's not working when trying to create the new Hostess (fails to create the new Hostess/Person and thus fails on creating the new Party). Any suggestions?
Given the models you provided, you can have this setup in a cleaner way using a few rails tools like inverse_of, accepts_nested_attributes_for, attr_accessor, and callbacks.
# Model
class Party < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :hostess, class_name: 'Person', foreign_key: 'hostess_id', inverse_of: :parties
validates_presence_of :hostess
# Use f.fields_for :hostess in your form
accepts_nested_attributes_for :hostess
attr_accessor :hostess_id
before_validation :set_selected_hostess
private
def set_selected_hostess
if hostess_id && hostess_id != '0'
self.hostess = Hostess.find(hostess_id)
end
end
end
# Controller
def create
#party = Party.new(params[:party])
if #party.save
redirect_to #party, :notice => "Successfully created party."
else
render :action => 'new'
end
end
We're doing quite a few things here.
First of all, we're using inverse_of in the belongs_to association, which allows you to validate presence of the parent model.
Second, we're using accepts_nested_attributes_for which allows you to pass params[:party][:hostess] into the party model and let it build the hostess for you.
Third, we're setting up an attr_accessor for :hostess_id, which cleans up controller logic quite a bit, allowing the model to decide what to do whether it receives hostess object or the hostess_id value.
Fourth, we're making sure to override hostess with an existing hostess in case we got a proper hostess_id value. We do this by assigning hostess in the before_validation callback.
I didn't actually check if this code works, but hopefully it reveals enough information to solve your problem and exposes more helpful tools lurking in rails.

Model and controller design approach for polymorphic assocation

Below I have outlined the structure of a polymorphic association.
In VacationsController I put some comments inline describing my current issue. However, I wanted to post this to see if my whole approach here is a little off. You can see in business_vacations_controller and staff_vacations_controller that I've had to make 'getters' for the model and controller so that I can access them from within vacations_model so I know which type of object I'm dealing with. Although it works, it's starting to feel a little questionable.
Is there a better 'best practice' for what I'm trying to accomplish?
models
vacation.rb
class Vacation < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :vacationable, :polymorphic => true
end
business.rb
class Business < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :vacations, :as => :vacationable
end
staff.rb
class Staff < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :vacations, :as => :vacationable
end
business_vacation.rb
class BusinessVacation < Vacation
end
staff_vacation.rb
class StaffVacation < Vacation
end
controllers
business_vacations_controller.rb
class BusinessVacationsController < VacationsController
private
def controller_str
"business_schedules"
end
def my_model
BusinessVacation
end
def my_model_str
"business_vacation"
end
end
staff_vacations_controller.rb
class StaffVacationsController < VacationsController
private
def controller_str
"staff_schedules"
end
def my_model
StaffVacation
end
def my_model_str
"staff_vacation"
end
end
vacations_controller.rb
class VacationsController < ApplicationController
def create
# Build the vacation object with either an instance of BusinessVacation or StaffVacation
vacation = #class.new(params[my_model_str])
# Now here's the current issue -- I want to save the object on the association. So if it's a 'BusinessVacation' object I want to save something like:
business = Business.find(vacation.vacationable_id)
business.vacations.build
business.save
# But if it's a 'StaffVacation' object I want to save something like:
staff = Staff.find(vacation.vacationable_id)
staff.vacations.build
staff.save
# I could do an 'if' statement, but I don't really like that idea. Is there a better way?
respond_to do |format|
format.html { redirect_to :controller => controller_str, :action => "index", :id => vacation.vacationable_id }
end
end
private
def select_class
#class = Kernel.const_get(params[:class])
end
end
It feels like a lot of hoops to jump through in the VacationsController to make it aware of the context. Is there a reason that the StaffVacationsController and BusinessVacationsController couldn't each have a #create action and the views would submit to whichever is appropriate? These actions would already know the model context and be able to redirect to the appropriate url afterward.

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