Symbolize (attribute values)

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".

Install

Gem

gem install symbolize

Gemfile

gem 'symbolize'

About

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.

Usage

ActiveRecord:

class Contact < ActiveRecord::Base

  symbolize :kind, :in => [:im, :mobile, :email], :scopes => true

Mongoid:

class Contact
  include Mongoid::Symbolize

  symbolize :kind, :in => [:im, :mobile, :email], :scopes => true

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

in/within

You can provide a hash like for values allowed on the field, e.g.: {:value => "Human text"} or an array of keys to run i18n on. Booleans are also supported. See below.

Validate

Set to false to avoid the validation of the input. Useful for a dropdown with an "other" option textfield.

symbolize :color, :in => [:green, :red, :blue], :validate => false

There's is also allow_(blank|nil): As you expect.

method

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?

Booleans

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

i18n

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

Scopes

With the ':scopes => true' option, you may filter/read/write easily:

User.sex(:female).each ... # => User.where({ :gender => :female })

Now, if you provide the ':scopes => :shallow' option, fancy named scopes will be added to the class directly. In our User example, gender has male/female options, so you can do:

User.female.each ...  # => 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] )

Default

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

Rails Form Example

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

Specs

Run the adapter independently:

$ rspec spec/symbolize/mongoid_spec.rb
$ rspec spec/symbolize/active_record_spec.rb

Notes

This fork: http://github.com/nofxx/symbolize