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-rw-r--r--guides/source/active_record_querying.md228
1 files changed, 146 insertions, 82 deletions
diff --git a/guides/source/active_record_querying.md b/guides/source/active_record_querying.md
index 031a203f08..2a76df156c 100644
--- a/guides/source/active_record_querying.md
+++ b/guides/source/active_record_querying.md
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ to this code:
Client.where("orders_count = #{params[:orders]}")
```
-because of argument safety. Putting the variable directly into the conditions string will pass the variable to the database **as-is**. This means that it will be an unescaped variable directly from a user who may have malicious intent. If you do this, you put your entire database at risk because once a user finds out he or she can exploit your database they can do just about anything to it. Never ever put your arguments directly inside the conditions string.
+because of argument safety. Putting the variable directly into the conditions string will pass the variable to the database **as-is**. This means that it will be an unescaped variable directly from a user who may have malicious intent. If you do this, you put your entire database at risk because once a user finds out they can exploit your database they can do just about anything to it. Never ever put your arguments directly inside the conditions string.
TIP: For more information on the dangers of SQL injection, see the [Ruby on Rails Security Guide](security.html#sql-injection).
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ In the case of a belongs_to relationship, an association key can be used to spec
```ruby
Post.where(author: author)
-Author.joins(:posts).where(posts: {author: author})
+Author.joins(:posts).where(posts: { author: author })
```
NOTE: The values cannot be symbols. For example, you cannot do `Client.where(status: :active)`.
@@ -524,12 +524,18 @@ To retrieve records from the database in a specific order, you can use the `orde
For example, if you're getting a set of records and want to order them in ascending order by the `created_at` field in your table:
```ruby
+Client.order(:created_at)
+# OR
Client.order("created_at")
```
You could specify `ASC` or `DESC` as well:
```ruby
+Client.order(created_at: :desc)
+# OR
+Client.order(created_at: :asc)
+# OR
Client.order("created_at DESC")
# OR
Client.order("created_at ASC")
@@ -538,16 +544,20 @@ Client.order("created_at ASC")
Or ordering by multiple fields:
```ruby
+Client.order(orders_count: :asc, created_at: :desc)
+# OR
+Client.order(:orders_count, created_at: :desc)
+# OR
Client.order("orders_count ASC, created_at DESC")
# OR
Client.order("orders_count ASC", "created_at DESC")
```
-If you want to call `order` multiple times e.g. in different context, new order will prepend previous one
+If you want to call `order` multiple times e.g. in different context, new order will append previous one
```ruby
Client.order("orders_count ASC").order("created_at DESC")
-# SELECT * FROM clients ORDER BY created_at DESC, orders_count ASC
+# SELECT * FROM clients ORDER BY orders_count ASC, created_at DESC
```
Selecting Specific Fields
@@ -675,9 +685,9 @@ This will return single order objects for each day, but only those that are orde
Overriding Conditions
---------------------
-### `except`
+### `unscope`
-You can specify certain conditions to be excepted by using the `except` method. For example:
+You can specify certain conditions to be removed using the `unscope` method. For example:
```ruby
Post.where('id > 10').limit(20).order('id asc').except(:order)
@@ -688,30 +698,24 @@ The SQL that would be executed:
```sql
SELECT * FROM posts WHERE id > 10 LIMIT 20
-# Original query without `except`
+# Original query without `unscope`
SELECT * FROM posts WHERE id > 10 ORDER BY id asc LIMIT 20
```
-### `unscope`
-
-The `except` method does not work when the relation is merged. For example:
-
-```ruby
-Post.comments.except(:order)
-```
-
-will still have an order if the order comes from a default scope on Comment. In order to remove all ordering, even from relations which are merged in, use unscope as follows:
+You can additionally unscope specific where clauses. For example:
```ruby
-Post.order('id DESC').limit(20).unscope(:order) = Post.limit(20)
-Post.order('id DESC').limit(20).unscope(:order, :limit) = Post.all
+Post.where(id: 10, trashed: false).unscope(where: :id)
+# SELECT "posts".* FROM "posts" WHERE trashed = 0
```
-You can additionally unscope specific where clauses. For example:
+A relation which has used `unscope` will affect any relation it is
+merged in to:
```ruby
-Post.where(:id => 10).limit(1).unscope(where: :id, :limit).order('id DESC') = Post.order('id DESC')
+Post.order('id asc').merge(Post.unscope(:order))
+# SELECT "posts".* FROM "posts"
```
### `only`
@@ -786,6 +790,32 @@ SELECT * FROM clients WHERE orders_count > 10 ORDER BY clients.id DESC
This method accepts **no** arguments.
+### `rewhere`
+
+The `rewhere` method overrides an existing, named where condition. For example:
+
+```ruby
+Post.where(trashed: true).rewhere(trashed: false)
+```
+
+The SQL that would be executed:
+
+```sql
+SELECT * FROM posts WHERE `trashed` = 0
+```
+
+In case the `rewhere` clause is not used,
+
+```ruby
+Post.where(trashed: true).where(trashed: false)
+```
+
+the SQL executed would be:
+
+```sql
+SELECT * FROM posts WHERE `trashed` = 1 AND `trashed` = 0
+```
+
Null Relation
-------------
@@ -931,9 +961,9 @@ SELECT clients.* FROM clients LEFT OUTER JOIN addresses ON addresses.client_id =
WARNING: This method only works with `INNER JOIN`.
-Active Record lets you use the names of the [associations](association_basics.html) defined on the model as a shortcut for specifying `JOIN` clause for those associations when using the `joins` method.
+Active Record lets you use the names of the [associations](association_basics.html) defined on the model as a shortcut for specifying `JOIN` clauses for those associations when using the `joins` method.
-For example, consider the following `Category`, `Post`, `Comments` and `Guest` models:
+For example, consider the following `Category`, `Post`, `Comment`, `Guest` and `Tag` models:
```ruby
class Category < ActiveRecord::Base
@@ -1012,7 +1042,7 @@ Or, in English: "return all posts that have a comment made by a guest."
#### Joining Nested Associations (Multiple Level)
```ruby
-Category.joins(posts: [{comments: :guest}, :tags])
+Category.joins(posts: [{ comments: :guest }, :tags])
```
This produces:
@@ -1038,7 +1068,7 @@ An alternative and cleaner syntax is to nest the hash conditions:
```ruby
time_range = (Time.now.midnight - 1.day)..Time.now.midnight
-Client.joins(:orders).where(orders: {created_at: time_range})
+Client.joins(:orders).where(orders: { created_at: time_range })
```
This will find all clients who have orders that were created yesterday, again using a `BETWEEN` SQL expression.
@@ -1099,7 +1129,7 @@ This loads all the posts and the associated category and comments for each post.
#### Nested Associations Hash
```ruby
-Category.includes(posts: [{comments: :guest}, :tags]).find(1)
+Category.includes(posts: [{ comments: :guest }, :tags]).find(1)
```
This will find the category with id 1 and eager load all of the associated posts, the associated posts' tags and comments, and every comment's guest association.
@@ -1179,7 +1209,7 @@ class Post < ActiveRecord::Base
end
```
-This may then be called using this:
+Call the scope as if it were a class method:
```ruby
Post.created_before(Time.zone.now)
@@ -1201,6 +1231,35 @@ Using a class method is the preferred way to accept arguments for scopes. These
category.posts.created_before(time)
```
+### Applying a default scope
+
+If we wish for a scope to be applied across all queries to the model we can use the
+`default_scope` method within the model itself.
+
+```ruby
+class Client < ActiveRecord::Base
+ default_scope { where("removed_at IS NULL") }
+end
+```
+
+When queries are executed on this model, the SQL query will now look something like
+this:
+
+```sql
+SELECT * FROM clients WHERE removed_at IS NULL
+```
+
+If you need to do more complex things with a default scope, you can alternatively
+define it as a class method:
+
+```ruby
+class Client < ActiveRecord::Base
+ def self.default_scope
+ # Should return an ActiveRecord::Relation.
+ end
+end
+```
+
### Merging of scopes
Just like `where` clauses scopes are merged using `AND` conditions.
@@ -1212,26 +1271,26 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
end
User.active.inactive
-# => SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE "users"."state" = 'active' AND "users"."state" = 'inactive'
+# SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE "users"."state" = 'active' AND "users"."state" = 'inactive'
```
We can mix and match `scope` and `where` conditions and the final sql
-will have all conditions joined with `AND` .
+will have all conditions joined with `AND`.
```ruby
User.active.where(state: 'finished')
-# => SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE "users"."state" = 'active' AND "users"."state" = 'finished'
+# SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE "users"."state" = 'active' AND "users"."state" = 'finished'
```
If we do want the `last where clause` to win then `Relation#merge` can
-be used .
+be used.
```ruby
User.active.merge(User.inactive)
-# => SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE "users"."state" = 'inactive'
+# SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE "users"."state" = 'inactive'
```
-One important caveat is that `default_scope` will be overridden by
+One important caveat is that `default_scope` will be prepended in
`scope` and `where` conditions.
```ruby
@@ -1242,48 +1301,18 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
end
User.all
-# => SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE "users"."state" = 'pending'
+# SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE "users"."state" = 'pending'
User.active
-# => SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE "users"."state" = 'active'
+# SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE "users"."state" = 'pending' AND "users"."state" = 'active'
User.where(state: 'inactive')
-# => SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE "users"."state" = 'inactive'
+# SELECT "users".* FROM "users" WHERE "users"."state" = 'pending' AND "users"."state" = 'inactive'
```
-As you can see above the `default_scope` is being overridden by both
+As you can see above the `default_scope` is being merged in both
`scope` and `where` conditions.
-
-### Applying a default scope
-
-If we wish for a scope to be applied across all queries to the model we can use the
-`default_scope` method within the model itself.
-
-```ruby
-class Client < ActiveRecord::Base
- default_scope { where("removed_at IS NULL") }
-end
-```
-
-When queries are executed on this model, the SQL query will now look something like
-this:
-
-```sql
-SELECT * FROM clients WHERE removed_at IS NULL
-```
-
-If you need to do more complex things with a default scope, you can alternatively
-define it as a class method:
-
-```ruby
-class Client < ActiveRecord::Base
- def self.default_scope
- # Should return an ActiveRecord::Relation.
- end
-end
-```
-
### Removing All Scoping
If we wish to remove scoping for any reason we can use the `unscoped` method. This is
@@ -1291,7 +1320,7 @@ especially useful if a `default_scope` is specified in the model and should not
applied for this particular query.
```ruby
-Client.unscoped.all
+Client.unscoped.load
```
This method removes all scoping and will do a normal query on the table.
@@ -1308,11 +1337,6 @@ Client.unscoped {
Dynamic Finders
---------------
-NOTE: Dynamic finders have been deprecated in Rails 4.0 and will be
-removed in Rails 4.1. The best practice is to use Active Record scopes
-instead. You can find the deprecation gem at
-https://github.com/rails/activerecord-deprecated_finders
-
For every field (also known as an attribute) you define in your table, Active Record provides a finder method. If you have a field called `first_name` on your `Client` model for example, you get `find_by_first_name` for free from Active Record. If you have a `locked` field on the `Client` model, you also get `find_by_locked` and methods.
You can specify an exclamation point (`!`) on the end of the dynamic finders to get them to raise an `ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound` error if they do not return any records, like `Client.find_by_name!("Ryan")`
@@ -1322,6 +1346,11 @@ If you want to find both by name and locked, you can chain these finders togethe
Find or Build a New Object
--------------------------
+NOTE: Some dynamic finders have been deprecated in Rails 4.0 and will be
+removed in Rails 4.1. The best practice is to use Active Record scopes
+instead. You can find the deprecation gem at
+https://github.com/rails/activerecord-deprecated_finders
+
It's common that you need to find a record or create it if it doesn't exist. You can do that with the `find_or_create_by` and `find_or_create_by!` methods.
### `find_or_create_by`
@@ -1348,7 +1377,7 @@ COMMIT
The new record might not be saved to the database; that depends on whether validations passed or not (just like `create`).
-Suppose we want to set the 'locked' attribute to true if we're
+Suppose we want to set the 'locked' attribute to `false` if we're
creating a new record, but we don't want to include it in the query. So
we want to find the client named "Andy", or if that client doesn't
exist, create a client named "Andy" which is not locked.
@@ -1425,7 +1454,7 @@ If you'd like to use your own SQL to find records in a table you can use `find_b
```ruby
Client.find_by_sql("SELECT * FROM clients
INNER JOIN orders ON clients.id = orders.client_id
- ORDER clients.created_at desc")
+ ORDER BY clients.created_at desc")
```
`find_by_sql` provides you with a simple way of making custom calls to the database and retrieving instantiated objects.
@@ -1456,7 +1485,7 @@ Client.pluck(:id, :name)
# => [[1, 'David'], [2, 'Jeremy'], [3, 'Jose']]
```
-`pluck` makes it possible to replace code like
+`pluck` makes it possible to replace code like:
```ruby
Client.select(:id).map { |c| c.id }
@@ -1466,7 +1495,7 @@ Client.select(:id).map(&:id)
Client.select(:id, :name).map { |c| [c.id, c.name] }
```
-with
+with:
```ruby
Client.pluck(:id)
@@ -1474,6 +1503,37 @@ Client.pluck(:id)
Client.pluck(:id, :name)
```
+Unlike `select`, `pluck` directly converts a database result into a Ruby `Array`,
+without constructing `ActiveRecord` objects. This can mean better performance for
+a large or often-running query. However, any model method overrides will
+not be available. For example:
+
+```ruby
+class Client < ActiveRecord::Base
+ def name
+ "I am #{super}"
+ end
+end
+
+Client.select(:name).map &:name
+# => ["I am David", "I am Jeremy", "I am Jose"]
+
+Client.pluck(:name)
+# => ["David", "Jeremy", "Jose"]
+```
+
+Furthermore, unlike `select` and other `Relation` scopes, `pluck` triggers an immediate
+query, and thus cannot be chained with any further scopes, although it can work with
+scopes already constructed earlier:
+
+```ruby
+Client.pluck(:name).limit(1)
+# => NoMethodError: undefined method `limit' for #<Array:0x007ff34d3ad6d8>
+
+Client.limit(1).pluck(:name)
+# => ["David"]
+```
+
### `ids`
`ids` can be used to pluck all the IDs for the relation using the table's primary key.
@@ -1495,18 +1555,21 @@ Person.ids
Existence of Objects
--------------------
-If you simply want to check for the existence of the object there's a method called `exists?`. This method will query the database using the same query as `find`, but instead of returning an object or collection of objects it will return either `true` or `false`.
+If you simply want to check for the existence of the object there's a method called `exists?`.
+This method will query the database using the same query as `find`, but instead of returning an
+object or collection of objects it will return either `true` or `false`.
```ruby
Client.exists?(1)
```
-The `exists?` method also takes multiple ids, but the catch is that it will return true if any one of those records exists.
+The `exists?` method also takes multiple values, but the catch is that it will return `true` if any
+one of those records exists.
```ruby
-Client.exists?(1,2,3)
+Client.exists?(id: [1,2,3])
# or
-Client.exists?([1,2,3])
+Client.exists?(name: ['John', 'Sergei'])
```
It's even possible to use `exists?` without any arguments on a model or a relation.
@@ -1515,7 +1578,8 @@ It's even possible to use `exists?` without any arguments on a model or a relati
Client.where(first_name: 'Ryan').exists?
```
-The above returns `true` if there is at least one client with the `first_name` 'Ryan' and `false` otherwise.
+The above returns `true` if there is at least one client with the `first_name` 'Ryan' and `false`
+otherwise.
```ruby
Client.exists?
@@ -1565,7 +1629,7 @@ Client.where(first_name: 'Ryan').count
You can also use various finder methods on a relation for performing complex calculations:
```ruby
-Client.includes("orders").where(first_name: 'Ryan', orders: {status: 'received'}).count
+Client.includes("orders").where(first_name: 'Ryan', orders: { status: 'received' }).count
```
Which will execute: