Andy Leverenz
Posted on April 27, 2019
In Ruby on Rails, associating models is quite trivial but does come with some conventions you will need to be familiar with as you build progressive web apps with the framework. This post is my attempt to get you to understand Active Record Associations within the Ruby on Rails framework.
Consider this walk-through a quick overview of the associations you might make use of in a Rails application. These associations are a convenient way to get data to relate all the way down to the database layer. Every relationship happens within the model layer of the rails app. You can extend associations even further if need be depending on your own apps needs.
belongs_to
# belongs_to
# app/models/book.rb
class Book < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :author
# must be singular
# Sets up a 1:1 connection with another model - Author in this case
# Books associated to author via `author_id` on books table
end
has_many
# has_many
# app/models/author.rb
class Author < ApplicationRecord
has_many :books
# naming is plural
# indicates a one-to-many association
# an author can have many books in this example
# books associated via `author_id`
end
has_one
# has_one
class Supplier < ApplicationRecord
has_one :account
# only contains one instance of another model
# Supplier will only ever have a single account in this example
# Account associate via `supplier_id`
end
has_many through
# has_many :through
# sets up a many-to-many association using another model
# app/models/physician.rb
class Physician < ApplicationRecord
has_many :appointments
has_many :patients, through: :appointments
end
# app/models/appoinment.rb
# the appointments table would have both a `physician_id` and `patient_id` column
class Appointment < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :physician
belongs_to :patient
end
# app/models/patient.rb
class Patient < ApplicationRecord
has_many :appointments
has_many :physicians, through: :appointments
end
has_one through
# has one through
# sets up a one-to-one connection with another model but can proceed through a third model
# app/models/supplier.rb
class Supplier < ApplicationRecord
has_one :account
has_one :account_history, through: :account
end
# app/models/account.rb
# suppliers reference `supplier_id`
class Account < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :supplier
has_one :account_history
end
# app/models/account_history.rb
# account_histores referenced by `account_id`
class AccountHistory < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :account
end
Has and belongs to many
# Has and Belongs to many (has_and_belongs_to_many - HABTM)
# A direct many-to-many connection with another model without a third intervening model. You'll need to create a simple join table to use this type of association. It's limiting in terms of advanced querying so use with caution.
# The naming convention of the join table would take the name of both models and become plural so
# assemblies_parts is the new table name which contains an `assembly_id` and `part_id` only.
# app/models/assembly.rb
class Assembly < ApplicationRecord
has_and_belongs_to_many :parts
end
# app/models/part.rb
class Part < ApplicationRecord
has_and_belongs_to_many :assemblies
end
Polymorphic
# polymorphic
# With polymorphic associations, a model can belong to more than one other model, on a single association.
# app/models/picture.rb
# pictures table has both `imageable_id`, and `imageable_type`
class Picture < ApplicationRecord
belongs_to :imageable, polymorphic: true
end
# app/models/employee.rb
class Employee < ApplicationRecord
has_many :pictures, as: :imageable
end
# app/models/product.rb
class Product < ApplicationRecord
has_many :pictures, as: :imageable
end
Shameless plug time
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The post Understanding Active Record Associations appeared first on Web-Crunch.
Posted on April 27, 2019
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