How to update a single attribute without touching the updated_at attribute? - ruby-on-rails

How can I achieve this?
tried to create 2 methods, called
def disable_timestamps
ActiveRecord::Base.record_timestamps = false
end
def enable_timestamps
ActiveRecord::Base.record_timestamps = true
end
and the update method itself:
def increment_pagehit
update_attribute(:pagehit, pagehit+1)
end
turn timestamps on and off using callbacks like:
before_update :disable_timestamps, :only => :increment_pagehit
after_update :enable_timestamps, :only => :increment_pagehit
but it's not updating anything, even the desired attribute (pagehit).
Any advice? I don't want to have to create another table just to count the pagehits.

As an alternative to update_attribute, In Rails 3.1+ you can use update_column.
update_attribute skips validations, but will touch updated_at and execute callbacks.
update_column skips validations, does not touch updated_at, and does not execute callbacks.
Thus, update_column is a great choice if you don't want to affect updated_at and don't need callbacks.
See http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/Persistence.html for more information.
Also note that update_column will update the value of the attribute in the in-memory model and it won't be marked as dirty. For example:
p = Person.new(:name => "Nathan")
p.save
p.update_column(:name, "Andrew")
p.name == "Andrew" # True
p.name_changed? # False

If all you're wanting to do is increment a counter, I'd use the increment_counter method instead:
ModelName.increment_counter :pagehit, id

Is there a way to avoid automatically updating Rails timestamp fields?
Or closer to your question:
http://blog.bigbinary.com/2009/01/21/override-automatic-timestamp-in-activerecord-rails.html

it is not a good idea to do this:
self.class.update_all({ pagehit: pagehit+1 }, { id: id })
it should be
self.class.update_all("pagehit = pagehit + 1", { id: id })
the reason is if two requests are parallel, on the first version both will update the pagehits with the same number, as it uses the number saved in the Ruby memory. The second option uses the sql server to increase the number by 1, in case two of these queries come at the same time, the server will process them one after the other, and will end up with the correct number of pagehits.

To avoid Monkeypatchingtroubles you could also use ModelName.update_all for this purpose:
def increment_pagehit
self.class.update_all({ pagehit: pagehit+1 }, { id: id })
end
This also does not touch the timestamps on the record.

You also have decrement and increment (and their bang versions) which do not alter updated_at, do not go trigger validation callbacks and are obviously handy for counters / integers.

If precision is not really that important, and you don't expect the code to run many times, you can try altering the saved in the database updated_at value, like so:
u = User.first
u.name = "Alex 2" # make some changes...
u.updated_at = u.updated_at + 0.000001.second # alter updated_at
u.save
so that Rails will actually try to save the same value, and not replace it with Time.now.

Related

Equivalent of find_each for foo_ids?

Given this model:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :things
end
Then we can do this::
#user = User.find(123)
#user.things.find_each{ |t| print t.name }
#user.thing_ids.each{ |id| print id }
There are a large number of #user.things and I want to iterate through only their ids in batches, like with find_each. Is there a handy way to do this?
The goal is to:
not load the entire thing_ids array into memory at once
still only load arrays of thing_ids, and not instantiate a Thing for each id
Rails 5 introduced in_batches method, which yields a relation and uses pluck(primary_key) internally. And we can make use of the where_values_hash method of the relation in order to retrieve already-plucked ids:
#user.things.in_batches { |batch_rel| p batch_rel.where_values_hash['id'] }
Note that in_batches has order and limit restrictions similar to find_each.
This approach is a bit hacky since it depends on the internal implementation of in_batches and will fail if in_batches stops plucking ids in the future. A non-hacky method would be batch_rel.pluck(:id), but this runs the same pluck query twice.
You can try something like below, the each slice will take 4 elements at a time and them you can loop around the 4
#user.thing_ids.each_slice(4) do |batch|
batch.each do |id|
puts id
end
end
It is, unfortunately, not a one-liner or helper that will allow you to do this, so instead:
limit = 1000
offset = 0
loop do
batch = #user.things.limit(limit).offset(offset).pluck(:id)
batch.each { |id| puts id }
break if batch.count < limit
offset += limit
end
UPDATE Final EDIT:
I have updated my answer after reviewing your updated question (not sure why you would downvote after I backed up my answer with source code to prove it...but I don't hold grudges :)
Here is my solution, tested and working, so you can accept this as the answer if it pleases you.
Below, I have extended ActiveRecord::Relation, overriding the find_in_batches method to accept one additional option, :relation. When set to true, it will return the activerecord relation to your block, so you can then use your desired method 'pluck' to get only the ids of the target query.
#put this file in your lib directory:
#active_record_extension.rb
module ARAExtension
extend ActiveSupport::Concern
def find_in_batches(options = {})
options.assert_valid_keys(:start, :batch_size, :relation)
relation = self
start = options[:start]
batch_size = options[:batch_size] || 1000
unless block_given?
return to_enum(:find_in_batches, options) do
total = start ? where(table[primary_key].gteq(start)).size : size
(total - 1).div(batch_size) + 1
end
end
if logger && (arel.orders.present? || arel.taken.present?)
logger.warn("Scoped order and limit are ignored, it's forced to be batch order and batch size")
end
relation = relation.reorder(batch_order).limit(batch_size)
records = start ? relation.where(table[primary_key].gteq(start)) : relation
records = records.to_a unless options[:relation]
while records.any?
records_size = records.size
primary_key_offset = records.last.id
raise "Primary key not included in the custom select clause" unless primary_key_offset
yield records
break if records_size < batch_size
records = relation.where(table[primary_key].gt(primary_key_offset))
records = records.to_a unless options[:relation]
end
end
end
ActiveRecord::Relation.send(:include, ARAExtension)
here is the initializer
#put this file in config/initializers directory:
#extensions.rb
require "active_record_extension"
Originally, this method forced a conversion of the relation to an array of activrecord objects and returned it to you. Now, I optionally allow you to return the query before the conversion to the array happens. Here is an example of how to use it:
#user.things.find_in_batches(:batch_size=>10, :relation=>true).each do |batch_query|
# do any kind of further querying/filtering/mapping that you want
# show that this is actually an activerecord relation, not an array of AR objects
puts batch_query.to_sql
# add more conditions to this query, this is just an example
batch_query = batch_query.where(:color=>"blue")
# pluck just the ids
puts batch_query.pluck(:id)
end
Ultimately, if you don't like any of the answers given on an SO post, you can roll-your-own solution. Consider only downvoting when an answer is either way off topic or not helpful in any way. We are all just trying to help. Downvoting an answer that has source code to prove it will only deter others from trying to help you.
Previous EDIT
In response to your comment (because my comment would not fit):
calling
thing_ids
internally uses
pluck
pluck internally uses
select_all
...which instantiates an activerecord Result
Previous 2nd EDIT:
This line of code within pluck returns an activerecord Result:
....
result = klass.connection.select_all(relation.arel, nil, bound_attributes)
...
I just stepped through the source code for you. Using select_all will save you some memory, but in the end, an activerecord Result was still created and mapped over even when you are using the pluck method.
I would use something like this:
User.things.find_each(batch_size: 1000).map(&:id)
This will give you an array of the ids.

Better way to write before_save function to check all targeted attributes not blank?

On my project, I have a model with four attibutes: name, desciption, content and completed.
I want to check all attributes except completed whether blank or not before save. If not blank, set completed to 1, otherwise, 0.
I use ActiveRecord and Mysql, so it would have id, created_at and updated_at columns also.
I wrote a before_save callback like this:
def check_completed
if self.attributes.except("id", "created_at", "updated_at").all? {|k, v| v.present?}
self.completed = 1
else
self.completed = 0
end
end
It works, but it looks ugly. I want to remove the except function call.
Is there any better way to do this?
I assume that the .except method was used because id, created_at, and updated_at are all internally generated and managed by MySQL. So, it would be unusual for that list to expand or change. I agree the code is good as provided. If you wanted to shorten it at all, you could use a ternary as in:
def check_completed
self.attributes.except("id", "created_at", "updated_at").all? {|k, v| v.present?} ? 1 : 0
end
Eliminating the .except method exposes you to managing this method any time the model changes.
Extending this discussion:
I am curious about your desire to return 1 or 0? Not seeing more code, I am not sure of your intentions. However, if a "before" callback returns false, execution is stopped and the transaction is rolled back. In any other case, execution continues. In Ruby, 0 is not false. False is only triggered by either false or nil. My expectation would be that it would be more likely to use true in place of 1 and false in place of 0? if so, the code would be:
def check_completed
self.attributes.except("id", "created_at", "updated_at").all? {|k, v| v.present?} ? true : false
end
Such that if any user attribute was not present, the transaction would be canceled and rolled back. but, that is up to you.
I would suggest not relying on self.attributes since you may want to add additional attributes to your model in the future. If so, you'll have to add new attributes to your except list.
Instead you could do something like this:
self.completed = %w(name description content).all? { |attr| !send(attr).blank? } ? 1 : 0

How to update a column without loading the object in ActiveRecord

Foo.where(:some_id => 1).update_all(:some_columnn => "1")
Is this the right way to update Foo? I don't want to do a find and update the object.
As of Rails 4, the conditions are no longer supplied on the update_all method, but are instead specified on the preceding collection. For example,
# updates everything, as usual
Foo.update_all(some_column: '1')
# update only the specified rows
Foo.where(some_id: 1).update_all(some_column: '1')
Yes it is the right way, but remember, no callbacks or validations will be executed.
BTW, update_all accepts conditions also. Like this
Foo.update_all({:some_columnn => "1"}, {:some_id => 1})
It is the right approach if you don't want to instantiate an object, but keep in mind that this also means it won't perform any of your models validations or callbacks - it goes straight to a SQL update command.
Further information
You can use conditions,according to the api of update_all
update_all(updates, conditions = nil, options = {})
So you can do:
Foo.update_all(:some_column => '1', :some_id => 1)

Rails 3 check if attribute changed

Need to check if a block of attributes has changed before update in Rails 3.
street1, street2, city, state, zipcode
I know I could use something like
if #user.street1 != params[:user][:street1]
then do something....
end
But that piece of code will be REALLY long. Is there a cleaner way?
Check out ActiveModel::Dirty (available on all models by default). The documentation is really good, but it lets you do things such as:
#user.street1_changed? # => true/false
This is how I solved the problem of checking for changes in multiple attributes.
attrs = ["street1", "street2", "city", "state", "zipcode"]
if (#user.changed & attrs).any?
then do something....
end
The changed method returns an array of the attributes changed for that object.
Both #user.changed and attrs are arrays so I can get the intersection (see ary & other ary method). The result of the intersection is an array. By calling any? on the array, I get true if there is at least one intersection.
Also very useful, the changed_attributes method returns a hash of the attributes with their original values and the changes returns a hash of the attributes with their original and new values (in an array).
You can check APIDock for which versions supported these methods.
http://apidock.com/rails/ActiveModel/Dirty
For rails 5.1+ callbacks
As of Ruby on Rails 5.1, the attribute_changed? and attribute_was ActiveRecord methods will be deprecated
Use saved_change_to_attribute? instead of attribute_changed?
#user.saved_change_to_street1? # => true/false
More examples here
ActiveModel::Dirty didn't work for me because the #model.update_attributes() hid the changes. So this is how I detected changes it in an update method in a controller:
def update
#model = Model.find(params[:id])
detect_changes
if #model.update_attributes(params[:model])
do_stuff if attr_changed?
end
end
private
def detect_changes
#changed = []
#changed << :attr if #model.attr != params[:model][:attr]
end
def attr_changed?
#changed.include :attr
end
If you're trying to detect a lot of attribute changes it could get messy though. Probably shouldn't do this in a controller, but meh.
Above answers are better but yet for knowledge we have another approch as well,
Lets 'catagory' column value changed for an object (#design),
#design.changes.has_key?('catagory')
The .changes will return a hash with key as column's name and values as a array with two values [old_value, new_value] for each columns. For example catagory for above is changed from 'ABC' to 'XYZ' of #design,
#design.changes # => {}
#design.catagory = 'XYZ'
#design.changes # => { 'catagory' => ['ABC', 'XYZ'] }
For references change in ROR

How to apply named_scopes incrementally in Rails

named_scope :with_country, lambad { |country_id| ...}
named_scope :with_language, lambad { |language_id| ...}
named_scope :with_gender, lambad { |gender_id| ...}
if params[:country_id]
Event.with_country(params[:country_id])
elsif params[:langauge_id]
Event.with_state(params[:language_id])
else
......
#so many combinations
end
If I get both country and language then I need to apply both of them. In my real application I have 8 different named_scopes that could be applied depending on the case. How to apply named_scopes incrementally or hold on to named_scopes somewhere and then later apply in one shot.
I tried holding on to values like this
tmp = Event.with_country(1)
but that fires the sql instantly.
I guess I can write something like
if !params[:country_id].blank? && !params[:language_id].blank? && !params[:gender_id].blank?
Event.with_country(params[:country_id]).with_language(..).with_gender
elsif country && language
elsif country && gender
elsif country && gender
.. you see the problem
Actually, the SQL does not fire instantly. Though I haven't bothered to look up how Rails pulls off this magic (though now I'm curious), the query isn't fired until you actually inspect the result set's contents.
So if you run the following in the console:
wc = Event.with_country(Country.first.id);nil # line returns nil, so wc remains uninspected
wc.with_state(State.first.id)
you'll note that no Event query is fired for the first line, whereas one large Event query is fired for the second. As such, you can safely store Event.with_country(params[:country_id]) as a variable and add more scopes to it later, since the query will only be fired at the end.
To confirm that this is true, try the approach I'm describing, and check your server logs to confirm that only one query is being fired on the page itself for events.
Check Anonymous Scopes.
I had to do something similar, having many filters applied in a view. What I did was create named_scopes with conditions:
named_scope :with_filter, lambda{|filter| { :conditions => {:field => filter}} unless filter.blank?}
In the same class there is a method which receives the params from the action and returns the filtered records:
def self.filter(params)
ClassObject
.with_filter(params[:filter1])
.with_filter2(params[:filter2])
end
Like that you can add all the filters using named_scopes and they are used depending on the params that are sent.
I took the idea from here: http://www.idolhands.com/ruby-on-rails/guides-tips-and-tutorials/add-filters-to-views-using-named-scopes-in-rails
Event.with_country(params[:country_id]).with_state(params[:language_id])
will work and won't fire the SQL until the end (if you try it in the console, it'll happen right away because the console will call to_s on the results. IRL the SQL won't fire until the end).
I suspect you also need to be sure each named_scope tests the existence of what is passed in:
named_scope :with_country, lambda { |country_id| country_id.nil? ? {} : {:conditions=>...} }
This will be easy with Rails 3:
products = Product.where("price = 100").limit(5) # No query executed yet
products = products.order("created_at DESC") # Adding to the query, still no execution
products.each { |product| puts product.price } # That's when the SQL query is actually fired
class Product < ActiveRecord::Base
named_scope :pricey, where("price > 100")
named_scope :latest, order("created_at DESC").limit(10)
end
The short answer is to simply shift the scope as required, narrowing it down depending on what parameters are present:
scope = Example
# Only apply to parameters that are present and not empty
if (!params[:foo].blank?)
scope = scope.with_foo(params[:foo])
end
if (!params[:bar].blank?)
scope = scope.with_bar(params[:bar])
end
results = scope.all
A better approach would be to use something like Searchlogic (http://github.com/binarylogic/searchlogic) which encapsulates all of this for you.

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