This plugin introduces an easy way to use symbols for values of attributes. Symbolized attributes return a ruby symbol (or nil) as their value and can be set using :symbols or “strings”.
gem install symbolize
gem "symbolize", :require => "symbolize/mongoid"
gem "symbolize", :require => "symbolize/active_record"
Just use “symbolize :attribute” in your model, and the specified attribute will return symbol values and can be set using symbols (setting string values works, which is important when using forms).
On schema DBs, the attribute should be a string (varchar) column.
ActiveRecord:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base symbolize :gender, :in => [:female, :male], :scopes => true end
Mongoid:
class User include Mongoid::Document include Mongoid::Symbolize symbolize :gender, :in => [:female, :male], :scopes => true end
Other examples:
symbolize :so, :in => { :linux => "Linux", :mac => "Mac OS X" }, :scopes => true # Allow blank symbolize :gui, :in => [:gnome, :kde, :xfce], :allow_blank => true # Don`t i18n symbolize :browser, :in => [:firefox, :opera], :i18n => false, :methods => true # Scopes symbolize :angry, :in => [true, false], :scopes => true # AR symbolize :angry, :type => Boolean, :scopes => true # Mongoid # Don`t validate symbolize :lang, :in => [:ruby, :js, :c, :erlang], :validate => false # Default symbolize :kind, :in => [:admin, :manager, :user], :default => :user
The values allowed on the enum field, you can provide a hash like {:value => “Human text”} or an array of keys to run i18n on. Booleans are also supported. See below.
allow_(blank|nil): What you expect.
Set to false to avoid the validation of the input. Useful for a dropdown with an “other” option textfield.
If you provide the method option, some fancy boolean methods will be added: In our User example, browser has this option, so you can do:
@user.firefox? @user.opera?
Its possible to use boolean fields also. Looks better in Mongoid.
# ActiveRecord
symbolize :switch, :in => [true, false]
# Mongoid
symbolize :switch, :type => Boolean
...
switch:
"true": On
"false": Off
"nil": Unknown
If you don`t provide a hash with values, it will try i18n:
activerecord:
or
mongoid:
symbolizes:
user:
gui:
gnome: Gnome Desktop Enviroment
kde: K Desktop Enviroment
xfce: XFCE4
gender:
female: Girl
male: Boy
You can skip i18n lookup with :i18n => false
symbolize :style, :in => [:rock, :punk, :funk, :jazz], :i18n => false
If you provide the scopes option, some fancy named scopes will be added: In our User example, gender has male/female options, so you can do:
# AR User.male # => User.all(:conditions => { :gender => :male }) # Mongoid User.female # => User.where({ :gender => :female })
You can chain named scopes as well:
User.female.mac => User.all :conditions => { :gender => :female, :so => :mac }
For boolean colums you can use
User.angry => User.find(:all, :conditions => { :angry => true })
User.not_angry => User.find(:all, :conditions => { :angry => false })
( or with_[attribute] and without_[attribute] )
As the name suggest, the symbol you choose as default will be set in new objects automatically. Mongoid only for now.
symbolize :mood, :in => [:happy, :sad, :euphoric], :default => (MarvinDay ? :sad : :happy) User.new.mood # It may print :happy
You may call ‘Class.get_<attribute>_values` anywhere to get a nice array. Works nice with dropdowns. Examples:
class Coffee symbolize :genetic, :in => [:arabica, :robusta, :blend] end - form_for(@coffee) do |f| = f.label :genetic = f.select :genetic, Coffee.get_genetic_values
Somewhere on a view:
= select_tag :kind, Coffee.get_genetic_values
<% form_for @user do |f| %> <%= f.radio_sym "gender" %> <!-- Alphabetic order --> <%= f.select_sym "so" %> <!-- Fixed order --> <%= f.select_sym "office" %> <%end>
Run the adapter independently:
$ rspec spec/symbolize/mongoid_spec.rb $ rspec spec/symbolize/active_record_spec.rb
This fork: github.com/nofxx/symbolize
Forked from: github.com/nuxlli/activerecord_symbolize
Initial work: I’ve been using this for quite some time and made it a rails plugin now. More background iinformation can be found at zargony.com/2007/09/07/symbolize-attribute-values-in-activerecord
Copyright © 2007-2008 Andreas Neuhaus, released under the MIT license