Can I call a class method from another model in Rails? - ruby-on-rails

I'm trying to call a class method (currently a scope) that uses an attribute from its parent (or belongs_to) model, but can't seem to get it working right.
My models:
class Venue < ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessible :address
has_many :events, :dependent => :destroy
end
class Event < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :venue
scope :is_near, lambda {|city| self(Venue.address).near(city, 20, :units => :km)}
end
I know the syntax is wrong, but I think that illustrates what I'm intending to do. I want to get the address of the venue and call another method on it. I need the scope in the Event class so I can chain other scopes together.
Appreciate any ideas.

Since #address is not a class method but an instance method, you won't be able to do what you want by using a scope.
If you want to get all the events within a 20km range of a venue, create these class methods in Venue instead:
class Venue < ActiveRecord::Base
def self.events_near_city(city)
venues_near_city(city).map(&:events).flatten
end
private
def self.venues_near_city(city)
near(city, 20, :units => :km)
end
end
Then call it by using Venue.events_near_city(session[:city]) since, as you told me in chat, you're storing the city in the session.

As you've defined it above, address is not a class method - it's an instance method. You would have to have an instance of venue (like you do in your view) to call it.

Searching a bit more I found this page that answered the question in another way. This works better for me because it's simpler to call, and I can use it on various relations. In rails how can I delegate to a class method
class Venue < ActiveRecord::Base
attr_accessible :address
def self.is_near(city)
venues_near_city(city).map(&:events).flatten
end
private
def self.venues_near_city(city)
self.near(city, 20, :units => :km)
end
end
class Event < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :venue
class << self
def is_near(*args, &block)
Venue.is_near(*args, &block)
end
end
end
And I call it with event.is_near(session[:city])

Related

How to create your own methods like model.association.build in Rails?

I was wondering if there is some standard way to create methods like the build method, which is generated on a has_many association. For illustration, assuming the following setup
class Post < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :comments
end
class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :post
end
Rails automatically generates a post.comments.build method. Is there a standard way or The Rails Way to create my own method like this? I tried it by defining the method on the singleton class of the comments object, like so:
class Post < ActiveRecord::Base
after_initialize do
class << comments
def go
#do something where I can access the the 'owning' post object
end
end
end
end
But this code seemed to break after an ActiveRecord update. So, I was wondering if there is a better way.
You can add methods to the association by passing a block to the has_many method call and defining the method. An example taken from the docs:
has_many :employees do
def find_or_create_by_name(name)
first_name, last_name = name.split(" ", 2)
find_or_create_by(first_name: first_name, last_name: last_name)
end
end

Loading has_many options hash via a method

I’ve got what’s becoming a complex model, and am trying to DRY it out. In the case of my has_many options, instead of having them repeat, I’d like to simply load them from a method on the class.
class ExampleClass < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :related_things, get_association_hash(arg1)
has_many :other_things, get_association_hash(arg2)
def get_association_hash(arg)
{ :class_name => 'SomeClass', :conditions => ['table.column = ?', arg] }
end
end
Unfortunately, this results in undefined method ‘get_association_hash’ for #<Class:0x007f9ae9efe6c0> when loading the class.
(As a sanity check, that method is fine if I just call it by itself, without including it in the has_many. Also, the actual class is considerably larger and so DRY is more helpful than in this small example.)
I do note that the error message mentions Class, and not my derived ExampleClass, so perhaps it has to do with how has_many is loaded, and where I define my method?
has_many is just a class method so this:
has_many :related_things, get_association_hash(arg1)
is just a method call like any other and the receiver in that context is your ExampleClass. That means that get_association_hash needs to be a class method. You'll also have to define it before your has_many calls or you won't be able to call it where you want to:
class ExampleClass < ActiveRecord::Base
def self.get_association_hash(arg)
{ :class_name => 'SomeClass', :conditions => ['table.column = ?', arg] }
end
has_many :related_things, get_association_hash(arg1)
has_many :other_things, get_association_hash(arg2)
end
That might be a bit ugly and make a mess of the usual definition order. If that's the case, then you can push your get_association_hash method into a module and then include that module at the top of your class:
module Pancakes
def self.included(base)
# There are various different ways to do this, use whichever one you like best
base.class_exec do
def self.get_association_hash(arg)
# ...
end
end
end
end
class ExampleClass < ActiveRecord::Base
include Pancakes
has_many :related_things, get_association_hash(arg1)
has_many :other_things, get_association_hash(arg2)
end
You'd probably call your module something more sensible than Pancakes, that's just my default name for things (because foo gets boring after awhile and I prefer Fargo over tradition).

accessing associations within before_add callback in Rails 3

In Rails 3.2 I have been looking for a way to traverse the associations of an object within the before_add callback.
So basically my use case is:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_and_belongs_to_many :meetings
end
class Meeting < ActiveRecord::Base
has_and_belongs_to_many :users
has_many :comments, :before_add => :set_owner_id
end
class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :meeting
end
def set_owner_id(child)
child.owner_id = <<<THE USER ID for #user >>>
end
and I am creating a comment within the context of a user:
#user.meetings.first.comments.create
How do I traverse the associations from within the before_add callback to discover the id of #user? I want to set this at model level. I have been looking at proxy_association, but I may be missing something. Any ideas?
You should probably create the comment in the context of the meeting, no? Either way, you should handle this in the controller since you'll have no access to #user in your model.
#comment = Meeting.find(id).comments.create(owner_id: #user, ... )
But if you insist on your way, do this:
#comment = #user.meetings.first.comments.create(owner_id: #user.id)

Active Relation: Retrieving records through an association?

I have the following models:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :survey_takings
end
class SurveyTaking < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :survey
def self.surveys_taken # must return surveys, not survey_takings
where(:state => 'completed').map(&:survey)
end
def self.last_survey_taken
surveys_taken.maximum(:position) # that's Survey#position
end
end
The goal is to be able to call #user.survey_takings.last_survey_taken from a controller. (That's contrived, but go with it; the general goal is to be able to call class methods on #user.survey_takings that can use relations on the associated surveys.)
In its current form, this code won't work; surveys_taken collapses the ActiveRelation into an array when I call .map(&:survey). Is there some way to instead return a relation for all the joined surveys? I can't just do this:
def self.surveys_taken
Survey.join(:survey_takings).where("survey_takings.state = 'completed'")
end
because #user.survey_takings.surveys_taken would join all the completed survey_takings, not just the completed survey_takings for #user.
I guess what I want is the equivalent of
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :survey_takings
has_many :surveys_taken, :through => :survey_takings, :source => :surveys
end
but I can't access that surveys_taken association from SurveyTaking.last_survey_taken.
If I'm understanding correctly you want to find completed surveys by a certain user? If so you can do:
Survey.join(:survey_takings).where("survey_takings.state = 'completed'", :user => #user)
Also it looks like instead of:
def self.surveys_taken
where(:state => 'completed').map(&:survey)
end
You may want to use scopes:
scope :surveys_taken, where(:state => 'completed')
I think what I'm looking for is this:
class SurveyTaking < ActiveRecord::Base
def self.surveys_taken
Survey.joins(:survey_takings).where("survey_takings.state = 'completed'").merge(self.scoped)
end
end
This way, SurveyTaking.surveys_taken returns surveys taken by anyone, but #user.survey_takings.surveys_taken returns surveys taken by #user. The key is merge(self.scoped).
Waiting for further comments before I accept..

Sharing model for polymorphic associations

Assume a polymorphic association, say 'business' and 'staff', both of which are 'hourable' (meaning they have hours assigned to them). What's the recommended approach to have the 'hour' model performs the same methods on the hours of either a business object or a staff object?
For a simple example, the 'hour' model might contain:
def self.find_hours_for_id(id)
Business.find( id ).hours
end
However, I may want to perform this same method on a Staff member, in which case the same method would instead call the equivalent of
Staff.find( id ).hours
Is it good or bad form to set the model name within the base model class:
class BusinessHour < Hour
#mymodel = "Business"
end
class Hour < ActiveRecord::Base
def self.find_hours_for_id(id)
#mymodel.constantize.find( id ).hours
end
end
Then from the controller, call:
BusinessHour.find_hours_for_id(id)
Is there a better solution?
You can use a module too, like that.
module Hour
def hours_by(model)
class_eval do
def self.find_hours_for_id(id)
model.find(id).hours
end
end
end
end
class BusinessHour < AR
extends Hour
hours_by Business
end
BusinessHour.find_hours_for_id(id)
Assuming, oh for instance, your object model looks like:
class Business < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :hours, :as => :hourable
end
class Staff < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :hours, :as => :hourable
end
class Hour < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :hourable, :polymorphic => true
end
class BusinessHour < Hour
# etc
end
Then you already have a reference to the class you need in 'hourable,' and you can add the finder as follows:
class Hour < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :hourable, :polymorphic => true
def self.get_hours_by_hourable_id(id)
hourable.class.find(id).hours
end
end
Just a suggestion, but you might consider putting a validation on the subclasses to guarantee that :hourable is the appropriate type, such as:
class BusinessHour < Hour
validates :hourable_must_be_business
def hourable_must_be_business
unless hourable_type == 'Business'
self.errors.add_to_base("Hourable for BusinessHour must be Business")
end
end
end

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