I'd like to have a number of dynamic attributes for a User model, e.g., phone, address, zipcode, etc., but I would not like to add each to the database. Therefore I created a separate table called UserDetails for key-value pairs and a belongs_to :User.
Is there a way to somehow do something dynamic like this user.phone = "888 888 8888" which would essentially call a function that does:
UserDetail.create(:user => user, :key => "phone", :val => "888 888 8888")
and then have a matching getter:
def phone
UserDetail.find_by_user_id_and_key(user,key).val
end
All of this but for a number of attributes provided like phone, zip, address, etc., without arbitrarily adding a ton of of getters and setters?
You want to use the delegate command:
class User < ActiveRecord:Base
has_one :user_detail
delegate :phone, :other, :to => :user_detail
end
Then you can freely do user.phone = '888 888 888' or consult it like user.phone. Rails will automatically generate all the getters, setters and dynamic methods for you
You could use some meta-programming to set the properties on the model, something like the following: (this code was not tested)
class User < ActiveRecord:Base
define_property "phone"
define_property "other"
#etc, you get the idea
def self.define_property(name)
define_method(name.to_sym) do
UserDetail.find_by_user_id_and_key(id,name).val
end
define_method("#{name}=".to_sym) do |value|
existing_property = UserDetail.find_by_user_id_and_key(id,name)
if(existing_property)
existing_property.val = value
existing_property.save
else
new_prop = UserDetail.new
new_prop.user_id = id
new_prop.key = name
new_prop.val = value
new_prop.save
end
end
end
Related
I have a group of input, for which I expect a large amount data (list of objects), so I want this input on create/update action to be wrapped inside of ActiveRecord transaction.
There is model Student, which has_one Account.
ACCOUNT_FIELDS=[:name, :surname, :email, :phone, :activated]
has_one :account, :as => :account_holder, autosave: true, :dependent => :destroy
validates_associated_extended :account
ACCOUNT_FIELDS.each do |action|
define_method action do
get_or_build_account.send(action)
end
setter_action = action.to_s + "="
define_method setter_action do |arg|
get_or_build_account.send(setter_action, arg)
end
end
here I made a reader/writer methods, so #student.name will return related data from account, also I can assign it through #student thanks to autosave.
Issue: as I said, I want it to be wrapped inside of transaction, so in my controller I don't save anything. Each student is assigned like this
student.attributes = #...data
Where student later on passed to transaction block.
But! For this specific model I want to student.attributes also return fields from ACCOUNT_FIELDS.
Normally it works with student.account_attributes but as I said, later student is processed in transaction, and it is made with module, which I want to be reusable for some other models (which doesn't need this logic).
So rather than modifying my module code with some conditions, I want instance of this model to return needed account fields when just called self.attributes
#student.attributes #=> :school_id => 1, :name => "John"...
where name is self.name from self.account.name
Try this:
def attributes
new_attributes={}
ACCOUNT_FIELDS.each do |field|
new_attributes[field]=self.send(field)
end
super.merge(new_attributes)
end
Could not find nothing close to what I'm trying to do. I want to store an object into a user's column. That column is in the form of an array:
#postgres
def change
add_column :users, :interest, :string, array: true, default: '{}'
end
I have another model called FooBar setup for other use. Each user has unique information inside as I've added a user_id key.
Im trying to make more sense:
def interest
#user = User.find(current_user.id ) # I need the logged in user's id
#support = Support.find(params[:id]) # I need the post's id they are on
u = FooBar.new
u.user_id = #user
u.support_id = #support
u.save # This saves a new Foo object..this is what I want
#user.interest.push(FooBar.find(#user)) # This just stores the object name itself ;)
end
So when I call u1 = FooBar.find(1) I get value return in hash. I want when I say u1.interest I get the same. The reason is, I need to target those keys on the user ie: u1.interest[0].support_id
Is this possible? I've looked over my basic ruby docs and nothing works. Oh..if I passed FooBar.find(#user).inspect I get the hash but not the way I want it.
Im trying to do something similar to stripe. Look at their data key. That's a hash.
Edit for Rich' answer:
I have, literally, a model called UserInterestSent model and table:
class UserInterestSent < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :user
belongs_to :support # you can call this post
end
class CreateUserInterestSents < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :user_interest_sents do |t|
t.integer :user_id # user's unique id to associate with post (support)
t.integer :interest_sent, :default => 0 # this will manually set to 1
t.integer :support_id, :default => 0 # id of the post they're on
t.timestamps # I need the time it was sent/requested for each user
end
end
end
I call interest interest_already_sent:
supports_controller.rb:
def interest_already_sent
support = Support.find(params[:id])
u = UserInterestSent.new(
{
'interest_sent' => 1, # they can only send one per support (post)
'user_id' => current_user.id, # here I add the current user
'support_id' => support.id, # and the post id they're on
})
current_user.interest << u # somewhere this inserts twice with different timestamps
end
And the interest not interests, column:
class AddInterestToUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
add_column :users, :interest, :text
end
end
HStore
I remembered there's a PGSQL datatype called hStore:
This module implements the hstore data type for storing sets of
key/value pairs within a single PostgreSQL value. This can be useful
in various scenarios, such as rows with many attributes that are
rarely examined, or semi-structured data. Keys and values are simply
text strings.
Heroku supports it and I've seen it used on another live application I was observing.
It won't store your object in the same way as Stripe's data attribute (for that, you'll just need to use text and save the object itself), but you can store a series of key:value pairs (JSON).
I've never used it before, but I'd imagine you can send a JSON object to the column, and it will allow you to to use the attributes you need. There's a good tutorial here, and Rails documentation here:
# app/models/profile.rb
class Profile < ActiveRecord::Base
end
Profile.create(settings: { "color" => "blue", "resolution" => "800x600" })
profile = Profile.first
profile.settings # => {"color"=>"blue", "resolution"=>"800x600"}
profile.settings = {"color" => "yellow", "resolution" => "1280x1024"}
profile.save!
--
This means you should be able to just pass JSON objects to your hstore column:
#app/controllers/profiles_controller.rb
class ProfilesController < ApplicationController
def update
#profile = current_user.profile
#profile.update profile_params
end
private
def profile_params
params.require(:profile).permit(:x, :y, :z) #-> z = {"color": "blue", "weight": "heavy"}
end
end
As per your comments, it seems to me that you're trying to store "interest" in a User from another model.
My first interpretation was that you wanted to store a hash of information in your #user.interests column. Maybe you'd have {name: "interest", type: "sport"} or something.
From your comments, it seems like you're wanting to store associated objects/data in this column. If this is the case, the way you're doing it should be to use an ActiveRecord association.
If you don't know what this is, it's essentially a way to connect two or more models together through foreign keys in your DB. The way you set it up will determine what you can store & how...
#app/models/user.rb
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_and_belongs_to_many :interests,
class_name: "Support",
join_table: :users_supports,
foreign_key: :user_id,
association_foreign_key: :support_id
end
#app/models/support.rb
class Support < ActiveRecord::Base
has_and_belongs_to_many :users,
class_name: "Support",
join_table: :users_supports,
foreign_key: :support_id,
association_foreign_key: :user_id
end
#join table = users_supports (user_id, support_id)
by using this, you can populate the .interests or .users methods respectively:
#config/routes.rb
resources :supports do
post :interest #-> url.com/supports/:support_id/interest
end
#app/controllers/supports_controller.rb
class SupportsController < ApplicationController
def interest
#support = Support.find params[:support_id] # I need the post's id they are on
current_user.interests << #support
end
end
This will allow you to call #user.interests and bring back a collection of Support objects.
Okay, look.
What I suggested was an alternative to using interest column.
You seem to want to store a series of hashes for an associated model. This is exactly what many-to-many relationships are for.
The reason your data is being populated twice is because you're invoking it twice (u= is creating a record directly on the join model, and then you're inserting more data with <<).
I must add that in both instances, the correct behaviour is occurring; the join model is being populated, allowing you to call the associated objects.
What you're going for is something like this:
def interest_already_sent
support = Support.find params[:id]
current_user.interests << support
end
When using the method I recommended, get rid of the interest column.
You can call .interests through your join table.
When using the code above, it's telling Rails to insert the support object (IE support_id into the current_user (IE user_id) interests association (populated with the UserInterestSelf table).
This will basically then add a new record to this table with the user_id of current_user and the support_id of support.
EDIT
To store Hash into column, I suggest you to use "text" instead
def change
add_column :users, :interest, :text
end
and then set "serialize" to attribute
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
serialize :interest
end
once it's done, you can save hash object properly
def interest
#user = User.find(current_user.id ) # I need the logged in user's id
#support = Support.find(params[:id]) # I need the post's id they are on
u = FooBar.new
u.user_id = #user
u.support_id = #support
u.save # This saves a new Foo object..this is what I want
#user.interest = u.attributes # store hash
#user.save
end
To convert AR object to hash use object.attributes.
To store a custom hash in a model field you can use serialize or ActiveRecord::Store
You can also use to_json method as object.to_json
User.find(current_user.id ).to_json # gives a json string
I'm running a search using the Ransack gem.
Controller code (for ItemsController)
#q = Item.search(params[:q])
#search_results = #q.result
After running the search, #search_results contains multiple Items (Item 1, Item 2, Item 3, …). Where each Item is a hash:
Item = { "id" => "12", "name" => "shovel", "user_id" => "2", "type" => "A" }
In this case, for each Item hash, I want to add an additional key-value pair that translates the user_id into the name that is associated with that instance of the User model (i.e., User has_many :Items and Item belongs_to :Users)
I tried in the same controller code section
#search_results.each do |item|
item[:user_name] = User.find_by_id(item.user_id).name
end
But I get an error that I can't write to item. I suspect Ransack has something to do with it though, because if I just print #search_results, instead of getting the actual Item data, I get #<ActiveRecord::Relation::ActiveRecord_Relation_Item:0x000001025e6c78>
Help greatly appreciated!
Btw, in case there's even an easier way, the reason I want to add another key/value pair with the user_name is because the ultimate output is a JSON that is being picked up by another part of the codebase, and we don't want to run two separate database queries.
Firstly, you're receiving a ruby object back, which I take means you can create a set of attributes for in the model. Why don't you try using a getter in your item model to set for you:
#app/models/item.rb
Class Item < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :user #-> needs to be singular
attr_accessor :user_name
def user_name
self.user.name
end
end
This means that instead of having to append a user_name attribute from your controller, every Item object will automatically have the user_name attribute anyway
A refactor of this would also be to use the delegate method inside your Item model:
Class Item < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :user
delegate :name, to: :user, prefix: true #-> allows you to call #item.user_name
end
How can I handle enums in rails? I have googled this, but not finding any clean solutions. So far I have come up with including the concern below on models that use interaction_type_id. This is my foreign key to my enum table in the database. Using this approach I don't have to use ids all over my code, but when saving an object that relates to an interact_type I can say
myobject.interaction_type = :file_download
This can then persist the the database with the correct id since the concern(see concern below - included on models that use the enum) will return the correct id.
module InteractionTypeEnum
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
included do
INTERACTION_TYPE = { file_download: 1, email: 2, telesales: 3, registration: 4, enrolment: 5 }
end
def interaction_type
INTERACTION_TYPE.key(read_attribute(:interaction_type_id)).to_s.gsub('_',' ').capitalize
end
def interaction_type=(s)
write_attribute(:interaction_type_id, INTERACTION_TYPE[s])
end
end
This just feels heavy. There must be an easier/cleaner way. Now when trying to write tests for this it gets even more messy.
Most of the reasons for wanting my enums in code and database are performance (code) and reporting (database).
Any help appreciated. Thanks.
I recommend the active_enum gem.
Example from their docs, if you have an integer column called sex on the class User:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
enumerate :sex do
value :name => 'Male'
value :name => 'Female'
end
end
Or you can define the enum in a seperate class:
class Sex < ActiveEnum::Base
value 1 => 'Male'
value 2 => 'Female'
end
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
enumerate :sex, :with => Sex
end
I like the abstraction it provides, and it saves you from having to create an entire database table just to store your enum values.
I use the following method, say I have
class PersonInfo < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :person_info_type
end
and PersonInfoType is a simple domain table, containing the possible types of information.
Then I code my model as follows:
class PersonInfoType < ActiveRecord::Base
PHONE = 1
EMAIL = 2
URL = 3
end
I have a seed fills the database with the corresponding data.
And so when assigning some person-information can do something like
person.person_infos << PersonInfo.create(:info => 'http://www.some-url.com', :person_info_type_id => PersonInfoType::URL)
This code can then be further cleaned up using relations:
class PersonInfo
belongs_to :person_info_type
def self.phones
PersonInfo.where(:person_info_type_id => PersonInfoType::PHONE)
end
end
person.person_infos << PersonInfo.phones.create(:info => '555 12345')
In my Rails app I have Users. Users are asked for their home city and district / neighborhood.
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :city
belongs_to :district
end
class City < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :users
has_many :districts
end
class District < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :users
belongs_to :city
end
In forms I build the associations using a virtual attribute on the User model that accepts a string (more info below in case it's relevant).
In the console this all works great, but in the UI it's not working. The problem seems to be, I can get city_name through a form no problem, but when I try to assign city and district in the same form it always fails. In other words, mass assignment doesn't work.
#user.update_attributes(params[:user])
Instead the only thing I have been able to figure out is to manually set each key from a form submission, like:
#user.name = params[:user][:name] if params[:user][:name]
#user.city_name = params[:user][:city_name] if params[:user][:city_name]
#user.district_name = params[:user][:district_name] if params[:user][:district_name]
This approach works, but it's a pain, kind of brittle, and feels all wrong because it starts gunking the controller up with a lot of logic.
My question is:
Is there a way to create or update attributes in a specific order, ideally in the model so that the controller doesn't have to worry about all this?
Am I doing this wrong? If so, what approach would be better.
Extra Info
Here's how I build the associations using virtual attributes on the user model, in case that's relevant to any potential answerers:
I want users to be able to select a city by just typing in a name, like "Chicago, IL". This works fine, using a virtual attribute on the user model like so:
def city_name
city.try :full_name
end
def city_name=(string)
self.city = City.find_or_create_by_location_string( string )
end
It only makes sense for a user to find or create a district from the city they've chosen. This works slightly differently:
def district_name
district.try :name
end
def district_name=(string)
if self.city.nil?
raise "Cannot assign a district without first assigning a city."
else
self.district = self.city.districts.find_or_create_by_name( string )
end
end
In the model layer these things work fine, as long as both a city_name and district_name are set the district association works as expected.
I think you could do a few things to clean this up. First, you can use delegates to clean up the code. e.g.
delegate :name, :to => :city, :prefix => true, :allow_nil => true
that way you can do something like
user = User.create
user.city_name # nil
city = City.create(:name => 'chicago')
user.city = city
user.save
user.city_name # chicago
and it will just work.
Next, I would say take the name-to-id logic out of your model. You can do it either in the form (e.g. an ajax search puts the district id/city id into a hidden field), or in the controller. Then just assign the city/district as normal.