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-rw-r--r--guides/source/association_basics.md80
1 files changed, 48 insertions, 32 deletions
diff --git a/guides/source/association_basics.md b/guides/source/association_basics.md
index 3993fdb1dd..6e68935f9b 100644
--- a/guides/source/association_basics.md
+++ b/guides/source/association_basics.md
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ The corresponding migration might look like this:
class CreateSuppliers < ActiveRecord::Migration[5.0]
def change
create_table :suppliers do |t|
- t.string :name
+ t.string :name
t.timestamps
end
@@ -550,8 +550,8 @@ But what if you want to reload the cache, because data might have been changed b
```ruby
author.books # retrieves books from the database
author.books.size # uses the cached copy of books
-author.books.reload.empty? # discards the cached copy of books
- # and goes back to the database
+author.books.reload.empty? # discards the cached copy of books
+ # and goes back to the database
```
### Avoiding Name Collisions
@@ -709,55 +709,73 @@ class Book < ApplicationRecord
end
```
-By default, Active Record doesn't know about the connection between these associations. This can lead to two copies of an object getting out of sync:
+Active Record will attempt to automatically identify that these two models share a bi-directional association based on the association name. In this way, Active Record will only load one copy of the `Author` object, making your application more efficient and preventing inconsistent data:
```ruby
a = Author.first
b = a.books.first
a.first_name == b.author.first_name # => true
-a.first_name = 'Manny'
-a.first_name == b.author.first_name # => false
+a.first_name = 'David'
+a.first_name == b.author.first_name # => true
```
-This happens because `a` and `b.author` 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:
+Active Record supports automatic identification for most associations with standard names. However, Active Record will not automatically identify bi-directional associations that contain any of the following options:
+
+* `:conditions`
+* `:through`
+* `:polymorphic`
+* `:class_name`
+* `:foreign_key`
+
+For example, consider the following model declarations:
```ruby
class Author < ApplicationRecord
- has_many :books, inverse_of: :author
+ has_many :books
end
class Book < ApplicationRecord
- belongs_to :author, inverse_of: :books
+ belongs_to :writer, class_name: 'Author', foreign_key: 'author_id'
end
```
-With these changes, Active Record will only load one copy of the author object, preventing inconsistencies and making your application more efficient:
+Active Record will no longer automatically recognize the bi-directional association:
```ruby
a = Author.first
b = a.books.first
-a.first_name == b.author.first_name # => true
-a.first_name = 'Manny'
-a.first_name == b.author.first_name # => true
+a.first_name == b.writer.first_name # => true
+a.first_name = 'David'
+a.first_name == b.writer.first_name # => false
```
-There are a few limitations to `inverse_of` support:
+Active Record provides the `:inverse_of` option so you can explicitly declare bi-directional associations:
+
+```ruby
+class Author < ApplicationRecord
+ has_many :books, inverse_of: 'writer'
+end
+
+class Book < ApplicationRecord
+ belongs_to :writer, class_name: 'Author', foreign_key: 'author_id'
+end
+```
+
+By including the `:inverse_of` option in the `has_many` association declaration, Active Record will now recognize the bi-directional association:
+
+```ruby
+a = Author.first
+b = a.books.first
+a.first_name == b.writer.first_name # => true
+a.first_name = 'David'
+a.first_name == b.writer.first_name # => true
+```
+
+There are a few limitations to `:inverse_of` support:
* They do not work with `:through` associations.
* They do not work with `:polymorphic` associations.
* They do not work with `:as` associations.
-* For `belongs_to` associations, `has_many` inverse associations are ignored.
-
-Every association will attempt to automatically find the inverse association
-and set the `:inverse_of` option heuristically (based on the association name).
-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`
Detailed Association Reference
------------------------------
@@ -1007,7 +1025,7 @@ class Author < ApplicationRecord
end
```
-In this case, saving or destroying an book will update the timestamp on the associated author. You can also specify a particular timestamp attribute to update:
+In this case, saving or destroying a book will update the timestamp on the associated author. You can also specify a particular timestamp attribute to update:
```ruby
class Book < ApplicationRecord
@@ -1841,7 +1859,7 @@ article = Article.create(name: 'a1')
person.articles << article
person.articles << article
person.articles.inspect # => [#<Article id: 5, name: "a1">, #<Article id: 5, name: "a1">]
-Reading.all.inspect # => [#<Reading id: 12, person_id: 5, article_id: 5>, #<Reading id: 13, person_id: 5, article_id: 5>]
+Reading.all.inspect # => [#<Reading id: 12, person_id: 5, article_id: 5>, #<Reading id: 13, person_id: 5, article_id: 5>]
```
In the above case there are two readings and `person.articles` brings out both of
@@ -1860,7 +1878,7 @@ article = Article.create(name: 'a1')
person.articles << article
person.articles << article
person.articles.inspect # => [#<Article id: 7, name: "a1">]
-Reading.all.inspect # => [#<Reading id: 16, person_id: 7, article_id: 7>, #<Reading id: 17, person_id: 7, article_id: 7>]
+Reading.all.inspect # => [#<Reading id: 16, person_id: 7, article_id: 7>, #<Reading id: 17, person_id: 7, article_id: 7>]
```
In the above case there are still two readings. However `person.articles` shows
@@ -1994,11 +2012,9 @@ The `collection.delete` method removes one or more objects from the collection b
@part.assemblies.delete(@assembly1)
```
-WARNING: This does not trigger callbacks on the join records.
-
##### `collection.destroy(object, ...)`
-The `collection.destroy` method removes one or more objects from the collection by running `destroy` on each record in the join table, including running callbacks. This does not destroy the objects.
+The `collection.destroy` method removes one or more objects from the collection by deleting records in the join table. This does not destroy the objects.
```ruby
@part.assemblies.destroy(@assembly1)