Module: ActiveRecord::Inheritance::ClassMethods

Defined in:
lib/active_record/inheritance.rb

Instance Attribute Summary collapse

Instance Method Summary collapse

Instance Attribute Details

#abstract_class ⇒ Object

Set this to true if this is an abstract class (see abstract_class?). If you are using inheritance with Active Record and don't want a class to be considered as part of the STI hierarchy, you must set this to true. ApplicationRecord, for example, is generated as an abstract class.

Consider the following default behaviour:

Shape = Class.new(ActiveRecord::Base)
Polygon = Class.new(Shape)
Square = Class.new(Polygon)

Shape.table_name   # => "shapes"
Polygon.table_name # => "shapes"
Square.table_name  # => "shapes"
Shape.create!      # => #<Shape id: 1, type: nil>
Polygon.create!    # => #<Polygon id: 2, type: "Polygon">
Square.create!     # => #<Square id: 3, type: "Square">

However, when using abstract_class, Shape is omitted from the hierarchy:

class Shape < ActiveRecord::Base
  self.abstract_class = true
end
Polygon = Class.new(Shape)
Square = Class.new(Polygon)

Shape.table_name   # => nil
Polygon.table_name # => "polygons"
Square.table_name  # => "polygons"
Shape.create!      # => NotImplementedError: Shape is an abstract class and cannot be instantiated.
Polygon.create!    # => #<Polygon id: 1, type: nil>
Square.create!     # => #<Square id: 2, type: "Square">

Note that in the above example, to disallow the creation of a plain Polygon, you should use validates :type, presence: true, instead of setting it as an abstract class. This way, Polygon will stay in the hierarchy, and Active Record will continue to correctly derive the table name.



148
149
150
 
# File 'lib/active_record/inheritance.rb', line 148

def abstract_class
  @abstract_class
end

Instance Method Details

#abstract_class? ⇒ Boolean

Returns whether this class is an abstract class or not.

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


151
152
153
 
# File 'lib/active_record/inheritance.rb', line 151

def abstract_class?
  defined?(@abstract_class) && @abstract_class == true
end

#base_class ⇒ Object

Returns the class descending directly from ActiveRecord::Base, or an abstract class, if any, in the inheritance hierarchy.

If A extends ActiveRecord::Base, A.base_class will return A. If B descends from A through some arbitrarily deep hierarchy, B.base_class will return A.

If B < A and C < B and if A is an abstract_class then both B.base_class and C.base_class would return B as the answer since A is an abstract_class.



95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
 
# File 'lib/active_record/inheritance.rb', line 95

def base_class
  unless self < Base
    raise ActiveRecordError, "#{name} doesn't belong in a hierarchy descending from ActiveRecord"
  end

  if superclass == Base || superclass.abstract_class?
    self
  else
    superclass.base_class
  end
end

#descends_from_active_record? ⇒ Boolean

Returns true if this does not need STI type condition. Returns false if STI type condition needs to be applied.

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
 
# File 'lib/active_record/inheritance.rb', line 72

def descends_from_active_record?
  if self == Base
    false
  elsif superclass.abstract_class?
    superclass.descends_from_active_record?
  else
    superclass == Base || !columns_hash.include?(inheritance_column)
  end
end

#finder_needs_type_condition? ⇒ Boolean

:nodoc:

Returns:

  • (Boolean) 


82
83
84
85
 
# File 'lib/active_record/inheritance.rb', line 82

def finder_needs_type_condition? #:nodoc:
  # This is like this because benchmarking justifies the strange :false stuff
  :true == (@finder_needs_type_condition ||= descends_from_active_record? ? :false : :true)
end

#inherited(subclass) ⇒ Object 



163
164
165
166
 
# File 'lib/active_record/inheritance.rb', line 163

def inherited(subclass)
  subclass.instance_variable_set(:@_type_candidates_cache, Concurrent::Map.new)
  super
end

#new(attributes = nil, &block) ⇒ Object

Determines if one of the attributes passed in is the inheritance column, and if the inheritance column is attr accessible, it initializes an instance of the given subclass instead of the base class.



50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
 
# File 'lib/active_record/inheritance.rb', line 50

def new(attributes = nil, &block)
  if abstract_class? || self == Base
    raise NotImplementedError, "#{self} is an abstract class and cannot be instantiated."
  end

  if has_attribute?(inheritance_column)
    subclass = subclass_from_attributes(attributes)

    if subclass.nil? && base_class == self
      subclass = subclass_from_attributes(column_defaults)
    end
  end

  if subclass && subclass != self
    subclass.new(attributes, &block)
  else
    super
  end
end

#polymorphic_name ⇒ Object 



159
160
161
 
# File 'lib/active_record/inheritance.rb', line 159

def polymorphic_name
  base_class.name
end

#sti_name ⇒ Object 



155
156
157
 
# File 'lib/active_record/inheritance.rb', line 155

def sti_name
  store_full_sti_class ? name : name.demodulize
end