Active Record Clear instance of model after_find callback - ruby-on-rails

I have defined a callback after_find for checking some settings based on the retrieved instance of the model. If the settings aren't fulfilled I don't want the instance to be return from the find method. Is that possible?
an example
the controller looks like:
class UtilsController < ApplicationController
def show
#util = Util.find(params[:id])
end
end
the model:
class Util < ActiveRecord::Base
after_find :valid_util_setting
def valid_util_setting
# calculate_availability? complex calculation
# that can not be part of the sql statement or a scope
unless self.setting.calculate_availability?(User.current.session)
#if not available => clear the record for view
else
#nothing to do here
end
end
end

Instead of trying to clear the record, you could just raise an exception?
E.g.
unless self.setting.calculate_availability?(User.current.session)
raise ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound
else
...

I'm afraid you can't clear found record in this callback
Maybe you should find in scope with all your options from the beginning?
I.e. #util = Util.scoped.find(params[:id])

I found a solution
def valid_util_setting
Object.const_get(self.class.name).new().attributes.symbolize_keys!.each do |k,v|
begin
self.assign_attributes({k => v})#, :without_protection => true)
rescue ActiveModel::MassAssignmentSecurity::Error => e; end
end
end
With this I'm able to create an almost empty object

Related

Safest way to override the update method of a model

I have the following model:
class TwitterEngagement < ApplicationRecord
end
And I would like to override create (and create!), update (and
update!) methods of it so no one can manually entry fake data. I would like the help of someone more experienced with active record and rails so I don't mess anything up. Right now what I have is:
class TwitterEngagement < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :page
def create
super(metrics)
end
def update
super(metrics)
end
private
def metrics
client.get_engagements(page.url)
def client
TwitterClient.new
end
end
Thank you.
TL;DR:
class FacebookEngagement < ApplicationRecord
def create_or_update(*args, &block)
super(metrics)
end
Probably depends on your Rails version, but I traced the ActiveRecord::Persistence sometime before in Rails 5, and found out that both create and update eventually calls create_or_update.
Suggestion:
If ever possible, I'll just do a validation, because it kinda makes more sense because you are validating the inputs, and then probably set an optional readonly?, to prevent saving of records. This will also prevent "silent failing" code / behaviour as doing TL;DR above would not throw an exception / populate the validation errors, if say an unsuspecting developer does: facebook_engagement.update(someattr: 'somevalue') as the arguments are gonna basically be ignored because it's instead calling super(metrics), and would then break the principle of least surprise.
So, I'll probably do something like below:
class FacebookEngagement < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :page
validate :attributes_should_not_be_set_manually
before_save :set_attributes_from_facebook_engagement
# optional
def readonly?
# allows `create`, prevents `update`
persisted?
end
private
def attributes_should_not_be_set_manually
changes.keys.except('page_id').each do |attribute|
errors.add(attribute, 'should not be set manually!')
end
end
def set_attributes_from_facebook_engagement
assign_attributes(metrics)
end
def metrics
# simple memoization to prevent wasteful duplicate requests (or remove if not needed)
#metrics ||= graph.get_object("#{page.url}?fields=engagement")
end
def graph
Koala::Facebook::API.new
end
end

Rails: display an error to users that is produced in an after_save callback

How can I go about rescuing an error that was generated in an after_save callback, and then ultimately display it to the user? The code in my model looks something like this:
Class MyModel
after_save :call_other_class_responsible_for_parsing
def call_other_class_responsible_for_parsing
# this method is used by multiple models
ModelTwo.parse_css
end
end
In my controller, I currently redirect the user elsewhere if the update was successful, however, I consider the update to be successful if it passed all of the existing validations and there were no errors in the callback (from the Less::Parser).
EDIT:
I mixed up my thoughts in my original question. MyModel gets saved from it's corresponding controller, which then runs the after_save callback from the model. Inside call_other_class_responsible_for_parsing, there is a call to another model, let's say ModelTwo, which does the Less parsing. I've tried using code like this:
def self.parse_css
#my_model = MyModel.find(1)
css_to_compile = Less::Parser.new.parse(css).to_css
rescue Less::Error => error
#my_model.errors[:base] << "Error message"
false
end
end
But the false does not prevent the transaction from succeeding, therefore a redirect happens.
You could use transaction :
def create
MyModel.transaction do
#my_model.save
#my_model.my_method
end
rescue ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid => exception
# rescue active record exception here
rescue Less::Error => exception
# rescue less error here
end
This remove the need for a callback.
I hope this helps!
Callback chains are implicitly wrapped in a transaction. When a callback returns false or raises an exception then the whole transaction is rolled back and saving fails.
In your case, you're parsing some CSS, so I'm not sure whether after_save is the right place for this. I recommend you give validations a try. Consider the following:
class MyModel < ActiveRecord::Base
validate :valid_css
private
def parsed_css
#parsed_css ||= Less::Parser.new.parse(css).to_css
end
def valid_css
parsed_css
rescue Less::Error => error
errors.add(:css, "Cannot parse CSS: #{error}")
end
end
This will parse the CSS before saving the object and add an error if it's invalid. Also, the result of #to_css will be stored so that you won't need to recompute it. This is the approach that I'd recommend.
If you'd like to stick with after_save then you should raise an exception to abort the transaction. In your case, it's simply about not rescuing Less::Error:
class MyModel < ActiveRecord::Base
after_save :compile_css
private
def compile_css
css_to_compile = Less::Parser.new.parse(css).to_css
end
end
If you're having trouble deciding which approach to use then leave a question below and I'll help.

Recommended practice for passing current user to model

Given a model Orderstatus with attributes private_status:string, and private_status_history:json(I'm using Postgresql's json). I would like to record each status transition, together with the user who made the change.
Ideally it would be something like:
class Orderstatus < ActiveRecord::Base
after_save :track_changes
def track_changes
changes = self.changes
if self.private_status_changed?
self.private_status_history_will_change!
self.private_status_history.append({
type: changes[:private_status],
user: current_user.id
})
end
end
end
class OrderstatusController <ApplicationController
def update
if #status.update_attributes(white_params)
# Good response
else
# Bad response
end
end
end
#Desired behaviour (process not run with console)
status = Orderstatus.new(private_status:'one')
status.private_status #=> 'one'
status.private_status_history #=> []
status.update_attributes({:private_status=>'two'}) #=>true
status.private_status #=> 'two'
status.private_status_history #=> [{type:['one','two'],user:32]
What would be the recommended practice to achieve this? Apart from the usual one using Thread. Or maybe, any suggestion to refactor the structure of the app?
So, I finally settled for this option ( I hope it's not alarming to anyone :S)
class Orderstatus < ActiveRecord::Base
after_save :track_changes
attr_accessor :modifying_user
def track_changes
changes = self.changes
if self.private_status_changed?
newchange = {type:changes[:private_status],user: modifying_user.id}
self.update_column(:private_status_history,
self.private_status_history.append(newchange))
end
end
end
class OrderstatusController <ApplicationController
def update
#status.modifying_user = current_user # <---- HERE!
if #status.update_attributes(white_params)
# Good response
else
# Bad response
end
end
end
Notes:
- I pass the from the Controller to the Model through an instance attribute modifying_user of the class Orderstatus. That attribute is ofc not saved to the db.
- Change of method to append new changes to the history field. I.e. attr_will_change! + save to update_column + append

Object does not get loaded

This is the weirdest thing ever happened to me with ruby/rails.
I have a model, Store, which has_many Balances. And I have a method that gives me the default balance based on the store's currency.
Store model.
class Store < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :balances, as: :balanceable, dependent: :destroy
def default_balance
#puts self.inspect <- weird part.
balances.where(currency: self.currency)[0]
end
...
end
Balance model.
class Balance < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :balanceable, :polymorphic => true
...
end
Ok, so then in the Balance controller I have the show action, that will give me a specific balance or the default one.
Balance controller.
class Api::Stores::BalancesController < Api::Stores::BaseController
before_filter :load_store
# Returns a specific alert
# +URL+:: GET /api/stores/:store_id/balances/:id
def show
#puts #store.inspect <- weird part.
#balance = (params[:id] == "default") ? #store.default_balance : Balance.find(params[:id])
respond_with #balance, :api_template => :default
end
...
private
# Provides a shortcut to access the current store
def load_store
#store = Store.find(params[:store_id])
authorize! :manage, #store
end
end
Now here is where the weird part comes...
If I make a call to the show action; for example:
GET /api/stores/148/balances/default
It returns null (because the currency was set as null, and there is no Balance with null currency), and the SQL query generated is:
SELECT `balances`.* FROM `balances` WHERE `balances`.`balanceable_id` = 148 AND `balances`.`balanceable_type` = 'Store' AND `balances`.`currency` IS NULL
So I DON'T know why... it is setting the currency as NULL. BUT if in any where in that process I put
puts #store.inspect
or inside the default_balance method:
puts self.inspect
it magically works!!!.
So I don't know why is that happening?... It seems like the store object is not getting loaded until I "inspect" it or something like that.
Thanks
Sam and Adrien are on the right path.
ActiveRecord overrides method_missing to add a whole bunch of dynamic methods including the accessors for the column-backed attributes like Store#currency. While I'm glossing over a lot, suffice it to say that when the logic is invoked then the dynamic class/instance methods are added to the Store class/instances so that subsequent calls no longer require the method_missing hook.
When YOU overrode method_missing without calling super, you effectively disabled this functionality. Fortunately, this functionality can be invoked by other means, one of which you tripped upon when you called store#inspect.
By adding the call to super, you simply assured that ActiveRecord's dynamic methods are always added to the class when they're needed.
OK finally after a lot of debugging, I found the reason...
In the Store model I have a method_missing method and I had it like this:
def method_missing method_name, *args
if method_name =~ /^(\w+)_togo$/
send($1, *args).where(togo: true)
elsif method_name =~ /^(\w+)_tostay$/
send($1, *args).where(tostay: true)
end
end
So when I was calling self.currency it went first to the method_missing and then returned null. What I was missing here was the super call.
def method_missing method_name, *args
if method_name =~ /^(\w+)_togo$/
send($1, *args).where(togo: true)
elsif method_name =~ /^(\w+)_tostay$/
send($1, *args).where(tostay: true)
else
super
end
end
But I continue wondering why after I had called puts #store.inspect or puts self.inspect it worked well?. I mean, why in that case that super call wasn't needed?

Is there a way to validate a specific attribute on an ActiveRecord without instantiating an object first?

For example, if I have a user model and I need to validate login only (which can happen when validating a form via ajax), it would be great if I use the same model validations defined in the User model without actually instantiating a User instance.
So in the controller I'd be able to write code like
User.valid_attribute?(:login, "login value")
Is there anyway I can do this?
Since validations operate on instances (and they use the errors attribute of an instance as a container for error messages), you can't use them without having the object instantiated. Having said that, you can hide this needed behaviour into a class method:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
def self.valid_attribute?(attr, value)
mock = self.new(attr => value)
unless mock.valid?
return mock.errors.has_key?(attr)
end
true
end
end
Now, you can call
User.valid_attribute?(:login, "login value")
just as you intended.
(Ideally, you'd include that class method directly into the ActiveRecord::Base so it would be available to every model.)
Thank you Milan for your suggestion. Inspired by it I created a simple module one can use to add this functionality to any class. Note that the original Milans suggestion has a logic error as line:
return mock.errors.has_key?(attr)
should clearly be:
return (not mock.errors.has_key?(attr))
I've tested my solution and it should work, but ofc I give no guarantees. And here's my glorious solution. Basically a 2-liner if you take away the module stuff.. It accepts method names as stings or symbols.
module SingleAttributeValidation
def self.included(klass)
klass.extend(ClassMethods)
end
module ClassMethods
def valid_attribute?(attr, value)
mock = self.new(attr => value)
(not mock.valid?) && (not mock.errors.has_key?(attr.class == Symbol ? attr : attr.to_sym))
end
end
end
To use your standard validation routines:
User.new(:login => 'login_value').valid?
If that does not work for you, build a custom class method for this:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
validate do |user|
user.errors.add('existing') unless User.valid_login?(user.login)
end
def self.valid_login?(login)
# your validation here
!User.exist?(:login=> login)
end
end
I had a hell of a time getting this to work in Rails 3.1. This finally worked. (Not sure if it's the best way to do it, I'm kind of a newb.). The problem I was having was that value was being set to type ActiveSupport::SafeBuffer, and was failing validation.
def self.valid_attribute?(attr, value)
mock = User.new(attr => "#{value}") # Rails3 SafeBuffer messes up validation
unless mock.valid?
return (not mock.errors.messages.has_key?(attr))
end
return true
end
I have gone with the custom class solution but I just wanted to make sure there was no better way
class ModelValidator
def self.validate_atrribute(klass, attribute, value)
obj = Klass.new
obj.send("#{attribute}=", value)
obj.valid?
errors = obj.errors.on(attribute).to_a
return (errors.length > 0), errors
end
end
and I can use it like
valid, errors = ModelValidator.validate_attribute(User, "login", "humanzz")
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
validates_each :login do |record, attr, value|
record.errors.add attr, 'error message here' unless User.valid_login?(value)
end
def self.valid_login?(login)
# do validation
end
end
Just call User.valid_login?(login) to see if login itself is valid
An implementation of the 'valid_attribute' method you are suggesting:
class ActiveRecord:Base
def self.valid_attribute?(attribute, value)
instance = new
instance[attribute] = value
instance.valid?
list_of_errors = instance.errors.instance_variable_get('#errors')[attribute]
list_of_errors && list_of_errors.size == 0
end
end
How about:
User.columns_hash.has_key?('login')

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