How to search using Rails? - ruby-on-rails

I'm using the following code for now:
def self.search(query)
where("name like ?", "%#{query}%")
end
which works only for name, but basically I need it to work for everything (date of birth, surname, name + surname and so on). Can you please pass me some ideas how I could make this piece of code more suitable for my needs?
Thank you.

If you're using MySQL, then the dusen gem will do what you want.

In your model, add:
def self.search(cols, query)
tbl = self.arel_table
fq = tbl[cols.shift].matches("%#{query}%")
q = cols.inject(fq) do |acc, col|
acc.or(tbl[col].matches("%#{query}%"))
end
where(q)
end
And then you can use it like:
User.search([:name, :surname], 'name')
Which will generate nice SQL like:
SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE (("users"."name" LIKE '%name%'
OR "users"."surname" LIKE '%name%'))
If you need finer control over your query, I sometimes add the following convenience method to AR:
def self.arel_where(&block); where(yield self.arel_table); end
And then you could do:
User.arel_where do |tbl|
name = '%name%'; surname = '%sur%'
tbl[:name].matches(name).and(tbl[:surname].matches(surname))
end

Related

Error in using WHERE for search function in Ruby on Rails

I made a controller to search something ,
but the result was weird:
My code:
def create
#word = searching_params[:word]
#searching = current_user.searchings.build(word: #word)
flash[:notice] = "New searching is performed!" if #searching.save
#users = User.where("firstname LIKE ? OR lastname LIKE ?", "%#{#word}%", "%#{#word}%")
#posts = Post.where("body LIKE ?", "%#{#word}%")
render :index
end
So, when i searched for a name: Mose Collins,
o, se, ose could get the result,
but m, c, co and others would give me nothing.
LIKE performs a case sensitive match. If you want to perform a case insensitive match in a somewhat polyglot fashion you can use the LOWER() SQL function:
#users = User.where("LOWER(firstname) LIKE ? OR LOWER(lastname) LIKE ?", "%#{#word.downcase}%", "%#{#word.downcase}%")
Postgres has a ILIKE function which is case insensitive:
#users = User.where("firstname ILIKE ? OR lastname ILIKE ?", "%#{#word.downcase}%", "%#{#word.downcase}%")
You can also use Arel to construct it instead of a SQL string:
class User < ApplicationRecord
has_many :favorite_jobs
def self.search(term)
where(
arel_table[:firstname].matches("#{name}").or(
arel_table[:lastname].matches("#{name}")
)
)
end
end
This approach is more portable and espcially shines if you want to built the query programatically.

Ruby on Rails: Advanced search with two string in one search

I'm having trouble understanding advanced search with two string
pls help
error coms like:
undefined method `where' for #
<ActiveRecord::QueryMethods::WhereChain:0x007f2dcc0da5b0>
in the search model
search.rb
def search_books
books = Book.all
books = books.where{["name LIKE ?","%#{keywords}%"]}if keywords.present?
books = books.where{["category LIKE ?","%#{keywords}%"]}if keywords.present?
return books
end
Use like the below:
keywords = 'test'
with AND:
Book.where("name LIKE '%#{keywords}%' AND category LIKE '%#{keywords}%'") if keywords.present?
with OR:
Book.where("name LIKE '%#{keywords}%' OR category LIKE '%#{keywords}%'") if keywords.present?
But this usage is not safe. Read following warning from Rails documentation:
Building your own conditions as pure strings can leave you vulnerable
to SQL injection exploits. For example, Client.where("first_name LIKE
'%#{params[:first_name]}%'") is not safe.
If you wanted to use a scope for searching you could do something like this in your controller
def index
#books = Book.all
# scopes
if params[:keyword].present?
#books = #books.by_keyword(params[:keyword])
end
end
then in your model do the below
scope :by_keyword, ->(keyword) { where('name LIKE ? AND category LIKE ?', "%#{keyword}%", "%#{keyword}%").order(updated_at: :desc) if keyword.present? }

How to use find_by_sql properly?

I have the following model
class Backup < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :component
belongs_to :backup_medium
def self.search(value)
join_tables = "backups, components, backup_media"
joins = "backups.backup_medium_id = backup_media.id and components.id = backups.component_id"
c = Backup.find_by_sql "select * from #{join_tables} where components.name like '%#{value}%' and #{joins}"
b = Backup.find_by_sql "select * from #{join_tables} where backup_media.name like '%#{value}%' and #{joins}"
c.count > 0 ? c : b
end
end
In pry, when I run Backup.all.class, I get
=> Backup::ActiveRecord_Relation
but when I run Backup.search('xxx').class, I get
=> Array
Since the search should return a subset of all, I think I need to return an Active Record_Relation. What am I missing?
From the documentation:
Executes a custom SQL query against your database and returns all the
results. The results will be returned as an array with columns
requested encapsulated as attributes of the model you call this method
from. If you call Product.find_by_sql then the results will be
returned in a Product object with the attributes you specified in the
SQL query.
So you will get an array of Backup instances.
Note that you probably should not do it this way. Using string interpolation in a query opens you up to SQL injection attacks and gains you nothing. Also, you can get quite a bit more flexibility using ActiveRecord scopes for this.
def self.my_includes
includes(:components, :backup_media)
end
def self.by_component_name(name)
media_includes.where("components.name like ?", "'%#{name}%'")
end
def self.by_media_name(name)
media_includes.where("backup_media.name like ?", "'%#{value}%'")
end
def self.search(name)
by_component(name).any? ? by_component_name : by_media_name
end
You can then call
Backup.search(name)
as well as
Backup.by_component_name(name)
or
Backup.by_media_name(name)
find_by_sql returns an array of objects, not a Relation. If you want to return relation for consistency try to rewrite your search to use ActiveRecord api:
def self.search(value)
query = Backup.includes(:component, :backup_medium)
by_component_name = query.where("components.name like ?", "'%#{value}%'")
by_media_name = query.where("backup_media.name like ?", "'%#{value}%'")
by_component_name.any? ? by_component_name : by_media_name
end
or, if you still want to use sql, you can try to fetch record ids and then make a second query:
def self.search(value)
# ...
c = Backup.find_by_sql "select id from #{join_tables} where components.name like '%#{value}%' and #{joins}"
b = Backup.find_by_sql "select id from #{join_tables} where backup_media.name like '%#{value}%' and #{joins}"
ids = c.count > 0 ? c : b
Backup.where(id: ids)
end
So I am unable to get the syntax right for the media_includes, but inspired by your solution I have succeeded by using joins.
I created a small demo project which just shows the code related to search. You can take a look at https://github.com/pamh09/rails-search-demo. If you want to collaborate on a solution, I think this would be more efficient than trying to paste all the code here. That said, I do have a working solution if you'd rather not bother. But I would like to see what the right syntax is.
Below is the model code. It's very possible that I just have some kind of syntactic mismatch since I am not very familiar with how rails does its database magic (obviously).
class Backup < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :component
belongs_to :backup_medium
#---- code below does not work ---
# in pry
# pry(Backup):1> by_media('bak').any?
# (0.0ms) SELECT COUNT(*) FROM "backups" WHERE (backup_media = 'bak')
# ActiveRecord::StatementInvalid: SQLite3::SQLException: no such column: backup_media.name: SELECT COUNT(*) FROM "backups" WHERE (backup_media.name = 'bak')
def self.my_includes
includes(:component, :backup_medium)
end
def self.by_component(name)
my_includes.where("components.name = ?", name)
end
def self.by_media(name)
my_includes.where("backup_media.name = ?", name)
end
def self.search_by(name)
by_component(name).any? ? by_component_name : by_media_name
end
# ----- code below works ... call search('string') -----
# I was unable to get the like query to work without using #{name}
def self.by_component_like(name)
# Note: joins (singular).where (plural.column ...)
joins(:component).where("components.name like '%#{name}%'")
end
def self.by_media_like(name)
joins(:backup_medium).where("backup_media.name like '%#{name}%'")
end
def self.search(name)
by_component_like(name).any? ? by_component_like(name) : by_media_like(name)
end
end
And, as noted in the code. I could not figure you how to use the ? with LIKE as the query would come in as LIKE '%'xxx'%' instead of '%xxx%'.

How do I combine results from two queries on the same model?

I need to return exactly ten records for use in a view. I have a highly restrictive query I'd like to use, but I want a less restrictive query in place to fill in the results in case the first query doesn't yield ten results.
Just playing around for a few minutes, and this is what I came up with, but it doesn't work. I think it doesn't work because merge is meant for combining queries on different models, but I could be wrong.
class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
...
def self.listed_articles
Article.published.order('created_at DESC').limit(25).where('listed = ?', true)
end
def self.rescue_articles
Article.published.order('created_at DESC').where('listed != ?', true).limit(10)
end
def self.current
Article.rescue_articles.merge(Article.listed_articles).limit(10)
end
...
end
Looking in console, this forces the restrictions in listed_articles on the query in rescue_articles, showing something like:
Article Load (0.2ms) SELECT `articles`.* FROM `articles` WHERE (published = 1) AND (listed = 1) AND (listed != 1) ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 4
Article Load (0.2ms) SELECT `articles`.* FROM `articles` WHERE (published = 1) AND (listed = 1) AND (listed != 1) ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 6 OFFSET 4
I'm sure there's some ridiculously easy method I'm missing in the documentation, but I haven't found it yet.
EDIT:
What I want to do is return all the articles where listed is true out of the twenty-five most recent articles. If that doesn't get me ten articles, I'd like to add enough articles from the most recent articles where listed is not true to get my full ten articles.
EDIT #2:
In other words, the merge method seems to string the queries together to make one long query instead of merging the results. I need the top ten results of the two queries (prioritizing listed articles), not one long query.
with your initial code:
You can join two arrays using + then get first 10 results:
def self.current
(Article.listed_articles + Article.rescue_articles)[0..9]
end
I suppose a really dirty way of doing it would be:
def self.current
oldest_accepted = Article.published.order('created_at DESC').limit(25).last
Artcile.published.where(['created_at > ?', oldest_accepted.created_at]).order('listed DESC').limit(10)
end
If you want an ActiveRecord::Relation object instead of an Array, you can use:
ActiveRecordUnion gem.
Install gem: gem install active_record_union and use:
def self.current
Article.rescue_articles.union(Article.listed_articles).limit(10)
end
UnionScope module.
Create module UnionScope (lib/active_record/union_scope.rb).
module ActiveRecord::UnionScope
def self.included(base)
base.send :extend, ClassMethods
end
module ClassMethods
def union_scope(*scopes)
id_column = "#{table_name}.id"
if (sub_query = scopes.reject { |sc| sc.count == 0 }.map { |s| "(#{s.select(id_column).to_sql})" }.join(" UNION ")).present?
where "#{id_column} IN (#{sub_query})"
else
none
end
end
end
end
Then call it in your Article model.
class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
include ActiveRecord::UnionScope
...
def self.current
union_scope(Article.rescue_articles, Article.listed_articles).limit(10)
end
...
end
All you need to do is sum the queries:
result1 = Model.where(condition)
result2 = Model.where(another_condition)
# your final result
result = result1 + result2
I think you can do all of this in one query:
Article.published.order('listed ASC, created_at DESC').limit(10)
I may have the sort order wrong on the listed column, but in essence this should work. You'll get any listed items first, sorted by created_at DESC, then non-listed items.

How to do a LIKE query in Arel and Rails?

I want to do something like:
SELECT * FROM USER WHERE NAME LIKE '%Smith%';
My attempt in Arel:
# params[:query] = 'Smith'
User.where("name like '%?%'", params[:query]).to_sql
However, this becomes:
SELECT * FROM USER WHERE NAME LIKE '%'Smith'%';
Arel wraps the query string 'Smith' correctly, but because this is a LIKE statement it doesnt work.
How does one do a LIKE query in Arel?
P.S. Bonus--I am actually trying to scan two fields on the table, both name and description, to see if there are any matches to the query. How would that work?
This is how you perform a like query in arel:
users = User.arel_table
User.where(users[:name].matches("%#{user_name}%"))
PS:
users = User.arel_table
query_string = "%#{params[query]}%"
param_matches_string = ->(param){
users[param].matches(query_string)
}
User.where(param_matches_string.(:name)\
.or(param_matches_string.(:description)))
Try
User.where("name like ?", "%#{params[:query]}%").to_sql
PS.
q = "%#{params[:query]}%"
User.where("name like ? or description like ?", q, q).to_sql
Aaand it's been a long time but #cgg5207 added a modification (mostly useful if you're going to search long-named or multiple long-named parameters or you're too lazy to type)
q = "%#{params[:query]}%"
User.where("name like :q or description like :q", :q => q).to_sql
or
User.where("name like :q or description like :q", :q => "%#{params[:query]}%").to_sql
Reuben Mallaby's answer can be shortened further to use parameter bindings:
User.where("name like :kw or description like :kw", :kw=>"%#{params[:query]}%").to_sql
Don't forget escape user input.
You can use ActiveRecord::Base.sanitize_sql_like(w)
query = "%#{ActiveRecord::Base.sanitize_sql_like(params[:query])}%"
matcher = User.arel_table[:name].matches(query)
User.where(matcher)
You can simplify in models/user.rb
def self.name_like(word)
where(arel_table[:name].matches("%#{sanitize_sql_like(word)}%"))
end

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