Require `belongs_to` by default. #18937

simi · 2015-02-14T02:27:40Z

Deprecate required option in favor of optional for belongs_to.

simi · 2015-02-14T02:28:12Z

simi · 2015-02-14T11:23:38Z

I wonder what to do with failing test.

rails generate scaffold LineItems product:references cart:belongs_to
bundle exec rake db:migrate test`

This code fails now, since belongs_to relation is required by default. Should I change generated test for belongs_to to make it pass or should I remove this test since it is not valid with this change?

simi · 2015-02-15T19:36:56Z

activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/builder/belongs_to.rb

+
+    def self.define_validations(model, reflection)
+      if reflection.options.key?(:required)
+        ActiveSupport::Deprecation.warn('`required` option for belongs_to relation is deprecated and replaced with `optional` option.')


Better info will be needed here. Any ideas?

'required: true is now the default for belongs_to and can be removed.' – don't even need to talk about optional here. What they wanted to do is now being done for them.

What about when required: false is specified explicitly? Maybe throw deprecation warning only for false value?

That was the old default, which means no client code will have that code, since it doesn’t make any sense.

On Feb 15, 2015, at 12:54 PM, Josef Šimánek notifications@github.com wrote:

In activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/builder/belongs_to.rb #18937 (comment):

@@ -110,5 +110,24 @@ def self.add_destroy_callbacks(model, reflection)
name = reflection.name
model.after_destroy lambda { |o| o.association(name).handle_dependency }
end
+

def self.define_validations(model, reflection)

if reflection.options.key?(:required)

ActiveSupport::Deprecation.warn('`required` option for belongs_to relation is deprecated and replaced with `optional` option.')
What about when required: false is specified explicitly? Maybe throw deprecation warning only for false value?

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/18937/files#r24725940.

OK, makes sense.

dhh · 2015-02-15T20:51:47Z

You can kill that test and replace it with a test that tests optional: true.

On Feb 14, 2015, at 3:24 AM, Josef Šimánek notifications@github.com wrote:

I wonder what to do with failing test.

rails generate scaffold LineItems product:references cart:belongs_to
bundle exec rake db:migrate test`
This code fails now, since belongs_to relation is required by default. Should I change generated test for belongs_to to make it pass or should I remove this test since it is not valid with this change?

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub #18937 (comment).

simi · 2015-02-18T22:29:11Z

Should I add also this to generator? rails g scaffold post author:belongs_to:optional ?

dhh · 2015-02-18T22:31:43Z

Nah, don’t think that’s necessary. Will be a very uncommon option to use, I think.

On Feb 18, 2015, at 14:30, Josef Šimánek notifications@github.com wrote:

Should I add also this to generator? rails g scaffold post author:belongs_to:optional ?

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

simi · 2015-02-18T23:34:38Z

OK I think my work is almost done here. I'll add also CHANGELOG note soon.

dhh · 2015-02-18T23:38:20Z

Awesome. Ping when ready to merge.

On Feb 18, 2015, at 15:35, Josef Šimánek notifications@github.com wrote:

OK I think my work is almost done here. I'll add also CHANGELOG note soon.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

simi · 2015-02-18T23:47:19Z

I added CHANGELOG note, but it is a little fuzzy to me. Feel free to ping me with better one.

dhh · 2015-02-18T23:50:31Z

activerecord/CHANGELOG.md

+    This can by configure by `config.active_record.require_belongs_to` option
+    or by `optional: true` option on relation.
+
+    *Josef Šimánek*


Let's try with:

belongs_to will now trigger a validation error by default if the association is not present. You can turn this off on a per-association basis with optional: true. (Note this new default only applies to new Rails apps that will be generated with config.active_record.require_belongs_to = true)

Actually the final note is not true right now. config.active_record.require_belongs_to = true is set directly in railtie, not in application config. Should I move it to new generated application.rb and let it nil for existing applications? In that case your note will be true.

dhh · 2015-02-18T23:56:08Z

Let's update the config option to be a bit clearer: belongs_to_required_by_default = true

dhh · 2015-02-19T00:02:53Z

This is also missing the config/initializers/active_record_belongs_to_required_by_default.rb file that's going to set the belongs_to_required_by_default = true setting by default for new apps.

simi · 2015-02-19T00:04:18Z

@dhh I mentioned that https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/18937/files#r24953865 already.

dhh · 2015-02-19T00:05:42Z

Ah, we crossed streams. Didn't note that one. Yes, please do go ahead. Thanks!

jeremy · 2015-02-19T00:18:41Z

activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/builder/belongs_to.rb

+        required = model.require_belongs_to
+      else
+        required = !reflection.options[:optional]
+      end


I'm finding the control flow here a little difficult to follow. Consider condensing the conditionals and using the :optional option to determine whether to declare the presence validation:

# Disallow conflicting options if reflection.options.key?(:required) && reflection.options.key?(:optional) raise ArgumentError, "complain if we have conflicting options" # Deprecate :required elsif reflection.options.key?(:required) reflection.options[:optional] = !reflection.options[:required] ActiveSupport::Deprecation.warn "switch to `optional: #{reflection.options[:optional]}`" # Set default :optional option elsif !reflection.options.key?(:optional) reflection.options[:optional] = !model.require_belongs_to end super if !reflection.options[:optional] model.validates_presence_of … end

@jeremy I try to rethink this flow, but deprecation was marked as unnecessary by @dhh here.

jeremy · 2015-02-19T00:25:19Z

Nice work @simi. Pardon the repeated remarks, looks like I missed concurrent feedback too. Thanks!

simi · 2015-02-19T00:27:27Z

Nevermind @jeremy. Thanks for review.

I have just one more question. I made change where config.active_record.require_belongs_to = true is generated to application.rb for new apps. But it is only one uncommented (unless :skip_active_record) configuration in that file. Should I left it there or should it be better to move into custom initializer?

simi · 2015-02-19T00:30:47Z

I bet it will be better as initializer after inspecting currently generated initializers.

simi · 2015-02-19T01:49:43Z

@jeremy @dhh I pushed new commit (I can squash later, just to highlight new code). config.active_record.belongs_to_required_by_default = true is now part of config/initializers/active_record_belongs_to_required_by_default.rb.

This initializer is generated only when ActiveRecord is not skipped and is not added for rake rails:update. I think this is compatible enough to skip deprecation.

Since rails#18937 `belongs_to` associations receive a setting to determine if it should be or not treated as `required` by default. While the tests were still passing, it was not evident that the "default" behaviour for `required` could change in fuction of a setting, that is set by default for fresh Rails5 apps, but not for upgraded apps. This commit try to relate them to make it clear what is the behaviour expected when the setting is set as `true` or not set.

Silex · 2017-06-28T09:59:52Z

I feel this change was a bit of a mistake at the design level... validations and relations are different things, and now we get validations done when defining relations.

I understand the "it's convenient" argument tho.

Silex · 2017-06-28T10:01:32Z

guides/source/association_basics.md

@@ -956,6 +957,10 @@ end

 If you set the `:validate` option to `true`, then associated objects will be validated whenever you save this object. By default, this is `false`: associated objects will not be validated when this object is saved.

+##### `:optional`
+
+If you set the `:optional` option to `true`, then associated object will be validated for presence. By default, this is `false`: associated objects will be validated for presence.


Typo: "then associated object will NOT be validated for presence"

optional: By default, this is false: associated objects will be validated for presence.

I'm talking about the first part. Look more closely, the sentence says the same thing twice:

If you set the `:optional` option to `true`, then associated object will be validated for presence. By default, this is `false`: associated objects will be validated for presence.

I took the original sentence and just modified the alignement so it's visually clear they are the same.

Ok, this was fixed in 803ef74

The referenced change for rails 5 is making the belongs_to relationships break validations for our models. This change makes them optional. rails/rails#18937

lekansogunle · 2017-08-09T12:33:13Z

We are only testing for validation of the presence of the association ID, what if the given ID is invalid. And app behaviour is not to validate the existence of such association?
https://robots.thoughtbot.com/referential-integrity-with-foreign-keys

…is required by default in rails 5. (rails/rails#18937)

…is required by default in rails 5. (rails/rails#18937) Revert all followers to old implementation

rails/rails#18937

belongs_to will now trigger a validation error by default if the association is not present. You can turn this off on a per-association basis with optional: true. Also deprecate required option in favor of optional for belongs_to. (Pull Request) rails/rails#18937

`belongs_to` association have `required: true` by default rails#18937 onwards so we don't need it in the generator template. We still need the code for required in the command line generator as it adds `null: false` in the migration.

simi force-pushed the optional-belongs-to branch 2 times, most recently from 63a04a1 to 66c389b Compare February 14, 2015 02:46

simi reviewed Feb 15, 2015
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simi force-pushed the optional-belongs-to branch from 66c389b to b60ef6b Compare February 15, 2015 19:40

simi force-pushed the optional-belongs-to branch 2 times, most recently from 2494879 to c134970 Compare February 18, 2015 23:12

simi force-pushed the optional-belongs-to branch 2 times, most recently from 8d17afe to 03ef4b4 Compare February 18, 2015 23:46

dhh reviewed Feb 18, 2015
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jeremy reviewed Feb 19, 2015
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cefigueiredo mentioned this pull request Feb 27, 2017

Make required by default test for belongs_to association clearer #28210

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dlackty mentioned this pull request May 13, 2017

Make lock author optional Shopify/shipit-engine#697

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Silex reviewed Jun 28, 2017

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billguy mentioned this pull request Jul 11, 2017

Issue with Rails 5.1 required belongs_to thoughtbot/factory_bot_rails#232

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joaumg mentioned this pull request Jul 16, 2017

Make belongs_to :class optional (comply with Rails 5) rails-engine/notifications#9

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ajarzadon12 added a commit to ajarzadon12/mongo_followable that referenced this pull request Sep 4, 2017

Add optional: true to follower and following. belongs_to association …

7f7916b

…is required by default in rails 5. (rails/rails#18937)

ajarzadon12 added a commit to ajarzadon12/mongo_followable that referenced this pull request Sep 4, 2017

Add optional: true to follower and following. belongs_to association …

ea27884

…is required by default in rails 5. (rails/rails#18937) Revert all followers to old implementation

phsacramento mentioned this pull request Oct 3, 2017

Upgrade from Rails 4.2 to Rails 5.0 ReadyResponder/ReadyResponder#450

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sergey-alekseev mentioned this pull request Oct 25, 2017

Validate a field only if that field has changed #30988

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emcoding mentioned this pull request Nov 19, 2017

[#726] Cleanup Rating - Application reference rails-girls-summer-of-code/rgsoc-teams#875

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n350071 mentioned this pull request Apr 14, 2018

[ci skip] belongs_to in self join association needs optional: true, if it's over 5.0 ver of rails #32572

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giangmt mentioned this pull request May 21, 2018

list movie awesome-academy/pr1702-movie-review#3

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schneems added a commit to codetriage/CodeTriage that referenced this pull request Jul 16, 2018

DocAssignment can have a method or a class not both

440c79f

rails/rails#18937

phoebetse mentioned this pull request Oct 16, 2018

Create does not rollback despite failing belongs_to validation #34226

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prathamesh-sonpatki mentioned this pull request Apr 15, 2019

Remove required: true from the model generator template #35977

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louim mentioned this pull request Dec 3, 2019

Migration generator adds null: false to add_reference in Rails 6 #37858

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FactoryBot giving errors after RoR app upgrades thoughtbot/factory_bot#1407

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markets mentioned this pull request Dec 18, 2020

Rails 6 coopdevs/timeoverflow#516

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Update specs SpinaCMS/spina-blog#32

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jdufresne mentioned this pull request Dec 27, 2022

Rails/RedundantPresenceValidationOnBelongsTo and *_id fields in forms rubocop/rubocop-rails#897

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joshuay03 mentioned this pull request Oct 8, 2023

Show deprecation warning when using :required on belongs_to associations #49530

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Require `belongs_to` by default. #18937

Require `belongs_to` by default. #18937

simi commented Feb 14, 2015

simi commented Feb 14, 2015

simi commented Feb 14, 2015

simi Feb 15, 2015

dhh Feb 15, 2015

simi Feb 15, 2015

dhh Feb 15, 2015

simi Feb 15, 2015

dhh commented Feb 15, 2015

simi commented Feb 18, 2015

dhh commented Feb 18, 2015

simi commented Feb 18, 2015

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dhh Feb 18, 2015

simi Feb 18, 2015

dhh commented Feb 18, 2015

dhh commented Feb 19, 2015

simi commented Feb 19, 2015

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jeremy Feb 19, 2015

simi Feb 19, 2015

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Silex commented Jun 28, 2017

Silex Jun 28, 2017 •

edited

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Silex Jun 28, 2017 •

edited

Silex Jun 29, 2017

lekansogunle commented Aug 9, 2017 •

edited

Require belongs_to by default. #18937

Require belongs_to by default. #18937

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lekansogunle commented Aug 9, 2017 • edited

Require `belongs_to` by default. #18937

Require `belongs_to` by default. #18937

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