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-rw-r--r--guides/source/association_basics.md132
1 files changed, 101 insertions, 31 deletions
diff --git a/guides/source/association_basics.md b/guides/source/association_basics.md
index 61490ceb54..cd715aba1f 100644
--- a/guides/source/association_basics.md
+++ b/guides/source/association_basics.md
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+**DO NOT READ THIS FILE ON GITHUB, GUIDES ARE PUBLISHED ON http://guides.rubyonrails.org.**
+
Active Record Associations
==========================
@@ -101,13 +103,13 @@ class CreateOrders < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :customers do |t|
t.string :name
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
create_table :orders do |t|
t.belongs_to :customer, index: true
t.datetime :order_date
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
end
end
@@ -132,13 +134,13 @@ class CreateSuppliers < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :suppliers do |t|
t.string :name
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
create_table :accounts do |t|
t.belongs_to :supplier, index: true
t.string :account_number
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
end
end
@@ -165,13 +167,13 @@ class CreateCustomers < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :customers do |t|
t.string :name
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
create_table :orders do |t|
- t.belongs_to :customer, index:true
+ t.belongs_to :customer, index: true
t.datetime :order_date
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
end
end
@@ -207,19 +209,19 @@ class CreateAppointments < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :physicians do |t|
t.string :name
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
create_table :patients do |t|
t.string :name
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
create_table :appointments do |t|
t.belongs_to :physician, index: true
t.belongs_to :patient, index: true
t.datetime :appointment_date
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
end
end
@@ -291,19 +293,19 @@ class CreateAccountHistories < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :suppliers do |t|
t.string :name
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
create_table :accounts do |t|
t.belongs_to :supplier, index: true
t.string :account_number
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
create_table :account_histories do |t|
t.belongs_to :account, index: true
t.integer :credit_rating
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
end
end
@@ -332,12 +334,12 @@ class CreateAssembliesAndParts < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :assemblies do |t|
t.string :name
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
create_table :parts do |t|
t.string :part_number
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
create_table :assemblies_parts, id: false do |t|
@@ -371,13 +373,13 @@ class CreateSuppliers < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :suppliers do |t|
t.string :name
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
create_table :accounts do |t|
t.integer :supplier_id
t.string :account_number
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
add_index :accounts, :supplier_id
@@ -455,7 +457,7 @@ class CreatePictures < ActiveRecord::Migration
t.string :name
t.integer :imageable_id
t.string :imageable_type
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
add_index :pictures, :imageable_id
@@ -471,7 +473,7 @@ class CreatePictures < ActiveRecord::Migration
create_table :pictures do |t|
t.string :name
t.references :imageable, polymorphic: true, index: true
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
end
end
@@ -501,7 +503,7 @@ class CreateEmployees < ActiveRecord::Migration
def change
create_table :employees do |t|
t.references :manager, index: true
- t.timestamps
+ t.timestamps null: false
end
end
end
@@ -689,7 +691,7 @@ c.first_name = 'Manny'
c.first_name == o.customer.first_name # => false
```
-This happens because c and o.customer are two different in-memory representations of the same data, and neither one is automatically refreshed from changes to the other. Active Record provides the `:inverse_of` option so that you can inform it of these relations:
+This happens because `c` and `o.customer` are two different in-memory representations of the same data, and neither one is automatically refreshed from changes to the other. Active Record provides the `:inverse_of` option so that you can inform it of these relations:
```ruby
class Customer < ActiveRecord::Base
@@ -724,10 +726,10 @@ Most associations with standard names will be supported. However, associations
that contain the following options will not have their inverses set
automatically:
-* :conditions
-* :through
-* :polymorphic
-* :foreign_key
+* `:conditions`
+* `:through`
+* `:polymorphic`
+* `:foreign_key`
Detailed Association Reference
------------------------------
@@ -879,10 +881,12 @@ class Order < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :customer, counter_cache: :count_of_orders
end
class Customer < ActiveRecord::Base
- has_many :orders
+ has_many :orders, counter_cache: :count_of_orders
end
```
+NOTE: You only need to specify the :counter_cache option on the "has_many side" of the association when using a custom name for the counter cache.
+
Counter cache columns are added to the containing model's list of read-only attributes through `attr_readonly`.
##### `:dependent`
@@ -1495,6 +1499,7 @@ The `has_many` association supports these options:
* `:as`
* `:autosave`
* `:class_name`
+* `:counter_cache`
* `:dependent`
* `:foreign_key`
* `:inverse_of`
@@ -1522,6 +1527,10 @@ class Customer < ActiveRecord::Base
end
```
+##### `:counter_cache`
+
+This option can be used to configure a custom named `:counter_cache`. You only need this option when you customized the name of your `:counter_cache` on the [belongs_to association](#options-for-belongs-to).
+
##### `:dependent`
Controls what happens to the associated objects when their owner is destroyed:
@@ -1532,8 +1541,6 @@ Controls what happens to the associated objects when their owner is destroyed:
* `:restrict_with_exception` causes an exception to be raised if there are any associated records
* `:restrict_with_error` causes an error to be added to the owner if there are any associated objects
-NOTE: This option is ignored when you use the `:through` option on the association.
-
##### `:foreign_key`
By convention, Rails assumes that the column used to hold the foreign key on the other model is the name of this model with the suffix `_id` added. The `:foreign_key` option lets you set the name of the foreign key directly:
@@ -1979,8 +1986,8 @@ While Rails uses intelligent defaults that will work well in most situations, th
```ruby
class Parts < ActiveRecord::Base
- has_and_belongs_to_many :assemblies, autosave: true,
- readonly: true
+ has_and_belongs_to_many :assemblies, -> { readonly },
+ autosave: true
end
```
@@ -1992,7 +1999,6 @@ The `has_and_belongs_to_many` association supports these options:
* `:foreign_key`
* `:join_table`
* `:validate`
-* `:readonly`
##### `:association_foreign_key`
@@ -2236,3 +2242,67 @@ Extensions can refer to the internals of the association proxy using these three
* `proxy_association.owner` returns the object that the association is a part of.
* `proxy_association.reflection` returns the reflection object that describes the association.
* `proxy_association.target` returns the associated object for `belongs_to` or `has_one`, or the collection of associated objects for `has_many` or `has_and_belongs_to_many`.
+
+Single Table Inheritance
+------------------------
+
+Sometimes, you may want to share fields and behavior between different models.
+Let's say we have Car, Motorcycle and Bicycle models. We will want to share
+the `color` and `price` fields and some methods for all of them, but having some
+specific behavior for each, and separated controllers too.
+
+Rails makes this quite easy. First, let's generate the base Vehicle model:
+
+```bash
+$ rails generate model vehicle type:string color:string price:decimal{10.2}
+```
+
+Did you note we are adding a "type" field? Since all models will be saved in a
+single database table, Rails will save in this column the name of the model that
+is being saved. In our example, this can be "Car", "Motorcycle" or "Bicycle."
+STI won't work without a "type" field in the table.
+
+Next, we will generate the three models that inherit from Vehicle. For this,
+we can use the `--parent=PARENT` option, which will generate a model that
+inherits from the specified parent and without equivalent migration (since the
+table already exists).
+
+For example, to generate the Car model:
+
+```bash
+$ rails generate model car --parent=Vehicle
+```
+
+The generated model will look like this:
+
+```ruby
+class Car < Vehicle
+end
+```
+
+This means that all behavior added to Vehicle is available for Car too, as
+associations, public methods, etc.
+
+Creating a car will save it in the `vehicles` table with "Car" as the `type` field:
+
+```ruby
+Car.create color: 'Red', price: 10000
+```
+
+will generate the following SQL:
+
+```sql
+INSERT INTO "vehicles" ("type", "color", "price") VALUES ("Car", "Red", 10000)
+```
+
+Querying car records will just search for vehicles that are cars:
+
+```ruby
+Car.all
+```
+
+will run a query like:
+
+```sql
+SELECT "vehicles".* FROM "vehicles" WHERE "vehicles"."type" IN ('Car')
+```