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ActiveRecord::Embedded

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Embed data in your ActiveRecord models.

For more information, check out the API Documentation

Installation

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'active_record-embedded'

Then, run the following command:

$ bundle

Usage

Create a new model in app/models/item.rb:

class Item
  include ActiveRecord::Embedded::Model

  embedded_in :order

  field :sku
  field :quantity, type: Integer
  field :customizations, type: Hash
  field :price, type: Float
  field :discounts, type: Array
end

Embed it in an existing model with a field :items:

class Order < ApplicationRecord
  embeds_many :items
end

Make sure to generate a migration for storing this data. Use the best data type that your database provides for storing schema-less data. In PostgreSQL, that's most likely jsonb:

$ rails generate migration AddItemsToOrder items:jsonb
$ rails db:migrate

If your database doesn't support storing schema-less data, you can store data in a regular String datatype:

$ rails generate migration AddItemsToOrder items
$ rails db:migrate

Then, configure ActiveRecord::Embedded to serialize embedded data in an initializer:

ActiveRecord::Embedded.config.serialize_data = true

Querying

Embedded relations can be queried like any other model.

# Find an embedded model by its ID
@order.items.find('b05845e7-cb6b-4bc2-aa45-0361189929d0') # => <Item ...>

# Find a model by one of its attributes
@order.items.find_by(sku: 'SKU123') # => <Item ...>

# Find all items with a quantity of 1
@order.items.where(quantity: 1) # => <ActiveRecord::Embedded::Relation ...>

# Sort items by their SKU
@order.items.order(sku: :desc) # => <ActiveRecord::Embedded::Relation ...>

Data is lazy-loaded, meaning the query on the original model is not run until data is requested. It is thereby casted into the model class you defined for it, and returned:

items = @order.items.where(sku: 'SKU123') # => <ActiveRecord::Embedded::Relation ...>
items = items.order(created_at: :desc) # => <ActiveRecord::Embedded::Relation ...>
items.map { |item| item } # => <Array<Item>>

Aggregation Queries

Aggregations are queries performed on an entire table of records, rather than just the embedded data within a single record. Aggregations can be accessed using the familiar ActiveRecord querying API:

# Filter by key/value pairs
Item.where(sku: 'SKU1')

# Sort by fields with a given direction
items = Item.order(quantity: :asc)

# Return a maximum of 10 items
items.limit(10)

# Start at the 2nd item
items.offset(2)

These methods are actually just syntax sugar for the .aggregate method, which can be used to construct custom queries without needing to chain method calls:

Item.aggregate(start: 2, limit: 8)

Aggregation queries are aided by your ActiveRecord adapter's driver, if one exists. Otherwise, the "native" adapter is used which uses Ruby to iterate through all records. The following databases are supported:

The goal is to support all databases with ActiveRecord adapters that support JSON as a native data type.

Assignment

Embedded relations are assigned in a similar way to ActiveRecord's API:

# The preferred way to create embedded relations is off their parent
@order.items.create(quantity: 1, sku: 'SKU123') # => <Item...>

# You can also create them in the constructor...
item = Item.new(quantity: 1, sku: 'SKU456') # => <Item...>

# However, this won't save until attached to an Order:
item.save # => false
item.order = @order
item.save # => true

# Assign your parent model in the constructor, using the name given in `embedded_in`...
Item.new(quantity: 1, sku: 'SKU456', order: @order) # => <Item...>

# ...or, the global `:parent` attribute:
Item.new(quantity: 1, sku: 'SKU456', parent: @order) # => <Item...>

Methods such as create_#{assocation} and destroy_#{assocation} are provided for singular relationships, just like in ActiveRecord's has_one association.

Consider a User which embeds address data:

# app/models/user.rb
class User < ApplicationRecord
  embeds_one :address
end

And an Address for modeling the embedded data:

# app/models/address.rb
class Address
  include ActiveRecord::Embedded::Model

  embedded_in :user

  field :name
  field :street_1
  field :street_2
  field :city
  field :region
  field :country

  validates :name, presence: true
  validates :street_1, presence: true
  validates :city, presence: true
  validates :region, presence: true
  validates :country, presence: true
end

One can create the address like so, since @user.address.create will throw an error.

@user.address # => nil
address = @user.create_address(
  name: 'Lester Tester',
  street_1: '123 Fake street',
  city: 'Fakeadelphia',
  region: 'FA',
  country: 'US'
)
address # => <Address ...>

Field Types

Fields must correspond to the standard JSON types, as defined by RFC 7159, the most recent standard specification as of this writing.

These types are:

  • object, in Ruby represented as Hash
  • array, represented in Ruby as an Array
  • number, which can either be represented as an Integer or Float
  • string, represented in Ruby as a regular String class
  • boolean, represented by the true and false literals in Ruby and...
  • null, which is represented in Ruby as nil

The above list represents a total catalog of all types that can be eventually stored into the database, but additional objects are represented by custom types...

Custom Types

Custom types are supported by subclassing ActiveRecord::Embedded::Field. This is an interface that requires the implementation of a #cast method in order to provide typecasting functionality for a complex type. Custom types "boil down" a complex type defined in Ruby into something that can be serialized to a primitive JSON type, typically a Hash.

Here's an example of a custom type for the Money object, defined in lib/active_record/embedded/field/money.rb in your Rails application:

module ActiveRecord
  module Embedded
    class Field
      class Money < self
        # This method is called to prepare the field for insertion into
        # the database. It must return one of the standard JSON types.
        # In this example, a Hash is returned.
        def cast(value)
          {
            '$cents' => value.cents,
            '$currency' => value.currency
          }
        end

        # When a value is being pulled out of the database, this is the
        # method called to convert its value back into that of the
        # higher-level field type. Since the #cast method converts this
        # type into a Hash, access is granted to the currency and cents
        # of the given object.
        def coerce(value = nil)
          return if value.blank?
          ::Money.new(value['$cents'], value['$currency'])
        end
      end
    end
  end
end

You can require this file in your config/application.rb:

require 'active_record/embedded/field/money'

By doing so, the Money type will be available to your embedded models:

class Item
  include ActiveRecord::Embedded::Model

  embedded_in :order

  field :price, type: Money
end

Indexing

Indexes on known queries help to speed up reading embedded data from the database, especially when dealing with a large amount of records.

To define an index on an embedded model, use the index macro:

class Item
  include ActiveRecord::Embedded::Model

  embedded_in :order

  field :sku, type: String

  index :sku, unique: true
end

This macro is based off of Mongoid's, but doesn't include the esoteric syntax of MongoDB. Instead, you provide the attributes you wish to index (an Array can be specified if it's a compound index), then the options for said index. The options for indexes are as follows:

  • :direction can be :asc (default) or :desc
  • :unique if set to true will throw an error when a non-unique value is added to the index

Rails Integration

Although Rails isn't required to use this library, some out-of-box functionality is included into the model in case it is within a Rails app. You'll find that the generated *_path, *_url and of course the url_for helpers will generate predictable path names for your embedded models, and #cache_key has been modified to include the parent model's cache key for easy manual expiration.

Contributing

All contributions to this library are welcome and encouraged. Please submit a pull request for changes to documentation or source, and if you see an issue, please report it! Please make sure you're familiar with the code of conduct when contributing.

Running Tests

To run tests, make sure you have a database set up (you only have to do this once):

$ rails app:db:setup

Run all tests and RuboCop lint checks with the following command:

$ rails lint test

License

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.