Ruby: When to use self and when not to? - ruby-on-rails

I understand what Ruby self means, and I was trying to solve certain challenges on Tealeaf: http://www.gotealeaf.com/books/oo_workbook/read/intermediate_quiz_1
Here is the actual problem:
Snippet 1:
class BankAccount
def initialize(starting_balance)
#balance = starting_balance
end
# balance method can be replaced with attr_reader :balance
def balance
#balance
end
def positive_balance?
balance >= 0 #calls the balance getter instance level method (defined above)
end
end
Now for Snippet 1, running this code:
bank_account = BankAccount.new(3000)
puts bank_account.positive_balance?
prints true on the console, whereas for snippet 2:
Snippet 2:
class InvoiceEntry
attr_reader :product_name
def initialize(product_name, number_purchased)
#quantity = number_purchased
#product_name = product_name
end
# these are attr_accessor :quantity methods
# quantity method can be replaced for attr_reader :quantity
def quantity
#quantity
end
# quantity=(q) method can be replaced for attr_writer :quantity
def quantity=(q)
#quantity = q
end
def update_quantity(updated_count)
# quantity=(q) method doesn't get called
quantity = updated_count if updated_count >= 0
end
end
Now for snippet 2, on running this code:
ie = InvoiceEntry.new('Water Bottle', 2)
ie.update_quantity(20)
puts ie.quantity #> returns 2
Why is this not updating the value?
Why is it working for the first case while not for the second?

You are assigning to quantity the local variable.
If you want to assign to the instance variable (via your def quantity= function) you need to do
self.quantity = updated_count if updated_count >= 0
Essentially, you're making a function call (quantity=) on self.
In snippet 1, balance is a pure function call because there is no assignment going on.

Related

Is it possible to call super to invoke alias method in a method that is being aliased

Let's say in the activerecord model car there are two boolean fields: suv and blue
If there is a method in the car model defined as such
def suv
something_true? ? super : false
end
alias :blue :suv
Now if something_true? is true, the "super" works if i invoke car.suv. However, it does not work if i invoke car.blue, then the car.blue instead returns the value of suv stored in the database. Is there anyway to make this work?
It's a clever idea but I don't think it will work. Even if it's accessed through an alias, calling super inside the method suv will only call suv. You can use metaprogramming though:
class A
def a; 1; end
def b; 2; end
end
class B < A
def initialize(condition)
#condition = condition
end
%i{a b}.each do |fn|
define_method(fn) do
#condition ? super() : "default"
end
end
end
puts B.new(false).a # => "default"
puts B.new(false).b # => "default"
puts B.new(true).a # => 1
puts B.new(true).b # => 2

ruby about attr_accessor, instance variables, local varibles

I'm so confused about that..
like this
class Box
attr_accessor :item ,:item2
def initialize(item2)
#item = []
#item2 = item2
end
def add(product)
item << product
end
def empty?
item.empty?
end
def increment(n=1)
item2 +=1
end
end
cart =Box.new(123)
cart.add(1)
puts cart.empty? #false
puts cart.item #1
in the 'add' and 'empty?' methods
I use local variable 'item' right?
why I can get the value from #items ??
and I try this
cart.item2 = 345
puts cart.item2 #345
puts cart.increment #'increment': undefined method `+' for nil:NilClass (NoMethodError)
now I can't get the value?
please fix my brain thx
First, read this answer, which is the most-upvoted Ruby post in StackOverflow history. It will help you understand attr_accessor and its cousins attr_reader and attr_writer.
Besides that, your code has many problems.
First, you should not name an Array with a singular variable name like item. Use a plural items to make its purpose clear.
Second, the name item2 is not good. For your attribute, use something descriptive like counter, and for the variable passed as an argument to initialize it, let's use something descriptive like initial_count.
Third, your increment method takes an optional argument but then ignores it. Wouldn't it be surprising if someone called box.increment(2) and the attribute was incremented by only 1? The intent of this method is to use counter += n instead of counter += 1.
Fourth, to set counter from within the class, we need to use self. So instead of counter += n, we have to do self.counter += n.
Finally, consider whether you want the attributes to be readable and writable from an outside source, or whether you want to reserve write privileges to the object itself. Because you have methods to add things to items and to increment counter, you probably want to conceal write privileges. I would use attr_reader publicly and attr_writer privately.
Incorporating these suggestions, here's the resulting code:
class Box
attr_reader :counter, :items
def initialize(initial_count)
#counter = initial_count
#items = []
end
def add(product)
items << product
end
def empty?
items.empty?
end
def increment(n = 1)
self.counter += n
end
private
attr_writer :counter, :items
end
Now you can do this, all of which makes sense, more or less:
>> cart = Box.new(123)
>> cart.increment(2)
>> cart.counter
#> 125
>> cart.add('A product')
>> cart.add('Another product')
>> cart.items
#> ["A product", "Another product"]
But if you try to set counter or items directly, you'll get an error:
>> cart.counter = 1
#> NoMethodError: private method `counter=' called for #<Box:0x007fc13e17dc50>

Rails optimistic locking update within a loop appears to work until I check from outside of the loop

I'm using optimistic locking on a Rails model. Inside of a loop, I update and save this model (or, rather, many instances of this model).
From inside the loop, I output the "before" and "after" values, and the field appears to be updated correctly. But afterward, when I find the models by ID, I see that the field is not updated. Can anyone spot my error?
class Usage::LeadDistributionWeight < ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessible :agent_id, :tag_value_id, :weight, :premium_limit, :countdown, :lock_version, :tag_value
def increment_countdown!
self.countdown = self.countdown + self.weight
save
rescue ActiveRecord::StaleObjectError
attempts_to_crement_countdown ||= 0
attempts_to_crement_countdown += 1
self.increment_countdown! unless attempts_to_crement_countdown > 5
false
end
def self.increment_countdowns parent_id, lead_type_id
if lead_type_id.present?
joins(:agent)
.where("#{reflect_on_association(:agent).table_name}.parent_id = ?", parent_id)
.where(tag_value_id:lead_type_id)
.all(readonly:false).each { |weight|
prev = weight.countdown
if weight.increment_countdown!
puts "#{prev} differs from #{weight.countdown}"
else
puts "no difference!"
end
}
end
end
end

How to format values before saving to database in rails 3

I have a User model with Profit field. Profit field is a DECIMAL (11,0) type. I have a masked input on the form which allows user to input something like $1,000. I want to format that value and remove everything except numbers from it so i will have 1000 saved. Here is what i have so far:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
before_save :format_values
private
def format_values
self.profit.to_s.delete!('^0-9') unless self.profit.nil?
end
end
But it keeps saving 0 in database. Looks like it is converting it to decimal before my formatting function.
Try this:
def profit=(new_profit)
self[:profit] = new_profit.gsub(/[^0-9]/, '')
end
First of all, this:
def format_values
self.profit.to_s.delete!('^0-9') unless self.profit.nil?
end
is pretty much the same as this:
def format_values
return if(self.profit.nil?)
p = self.profit
s = p.to_s
s.delete!('^0-9')
end
So there's no reason to expect your format_values method to have any effect whatsoever on self.profit.
You could of course change format_values to assign the processed string to self.profit but that won't help because your cleansing logic is in the wrong place and it will be executed after '$1,000' has been turned into a zero.
When you assign a value to a property, ActiveRecord will apply some type conversions along the way. What happens when you try to convert '$1,000' to a number? You get zero of course. You can watch this happening if you play around in the console:
> a = M.find(id)
> puts a.some_number
11
> a.some_number = 'pancakes'
=> "pancakes"
> puts a.some_number
0
> a.some_number = '$1,000'
=> "1,000"
> puts a.some_number
0
> a.some_number = '1000'
=> "1000"
> puts a.some_number
1000
So, your data cleanup has to take place before the data goes into the model instance because as soon as AR gets its hands on the value, your '$1,000' will become 0 and all is lost. I'd put the logic in the controller, the controller's job is to mediate between the outside world and the models and data formatting and mangling certainly counts as mediation. So you could have something like this in your controller:
def some_controller
fix_numbers_in(:profit)
# assign from params as usual...
end
private
def fix_numbers_in(*which)
which.select { |p| params.has_key?(p) }.each do |p|
params[p] = params[p].gsub(/\D/, '') # Or whatever works for you
end
end
Then everything would be clean before ActiveRecord gets its grubby little hands on your data and makes a mess of things.
You could do similar things by overriding the profit= method in your model but that's really not the model's job.
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
before_save :format_values
private
def format_values
self.profit = profit.to_s.gsub(/\D/,'') if profit
end
end
def format_values
self.profit.to_d!
end
I recommend you to write custom setter for this particular instance variable #profit:
class User
attr_accessor :profit
def profit= value
#profit = value.gsub(/\D/,'')
end
end
u = User.new
u.profit = "$1,000"
p u.profit # => "1000"
I would suggest using the rails helper of number with precision. Below is some code.
Generic Example:
number_with_precision(111.2345, :precision => 1, :significant => true) # => 100
Rails code Example:
def profit=(new_profit)
number_with_precision(self[:profit], :precision => 1, :significant => true)
end

Convert User input to integer

So I have a form where users can input a price. I'm trying to make a before_validation that normalizes the data, clipping the $ if the user puts it.
before_validation do
unless self.price.blank? then self.price= self.price.to_s.gsub(/\D/, '').to_i end
end
If user inputs $50 This code is giving me 0. If user inputs 50$ this code gives me 50. I think since the data type is integer that rails is running .to_i prior to my before_validation and clipping everything after the $. This same code works fine if the data type is a string.
Anyone have a solution that will let me keep the integer datatype?
One way is to override the mechanism on the model that sets the price, like this:
def price=(val)
write_attribute :price, val.to_s.gsub(/\D/, '').to_i
end
So when you do #model.price = whatever, it will go to this method instead of the rails default attribute writer. Then you can convert the number and use write_attribute to do the actual writing (you have to do it this way because the standard price= is now this method!).
I like this method best, but for reference another way to do it is in your controller before assigning it to the model. The parameter comes in as a string, but the model is converting that string to a number, so work with the parameter directly. Something like this (just adapt it to your controller code):
def create
#model = Model.new(params[:model])
#model.price = params[:model][:price].gsub(/\D/, '').to_i
#model.save
end
For either solution, remove that before_validation.
I would define a virtual attribute and do my manipulation there allowing you to format and modify both the getter and setter at will:
class Model < ActiveRecord::Base
def foo_price=(price)
self.price = price... #=> Mods to string here
end
def foo_price
"$#{price}"
end
You also might want to note that:
"$50.00".gsub(/\D/, '').to_i #=> 5000
My soluction
colum price type decimal
t.decimal :price, precision: 12, scale: 6
# app/concern/sanitize_fields.rb
module SanitizeFields
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
def clear_decimal(field)
return (field.to_s.gsub(/[^\d]/, '').to_d / 100.to_d) unless field.blank?
end
def clear_integer(field)
field.to_s.strip.gsub(/[^\d]/, '') unless field.blank?
end
# module ClassMethods
# def filter(filtering_params)
# results = self.where(nil)
# filtering_params.each do |key, value|
# results = results.public_send(key, value) if value.present?
# end
# results
# end
#
# #use
# #def index
# # #products = Product.filter(params.slice(:status, :location, :starts_with))
# #end
#
# end
end
#app/controllers/products_controller.rb
include SanitizeFields
params[:product][:price] = clear_decimal(params[:product][:price])

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