= Advanced Associations Sequel::Model has the most powerful and flexible associations of any ruby ORM. == Background: Sequel::Model association options There are a bunch of advanced association options that are available to handle more complex cases. First we'll go over some of the simpler ones: All associations take a block that can be used to further filter/modify the default dataset. There's also an :eager_block option if you want to use a different block when eager loading via Dataset#eager. Association blocks are useful for things like: Artist.one_to_many :gold_albums, :class=>:Album do |ds| ds.filter{copies_sold > 500000} end There are a whole bunch of options for changing how the association is eagerly loaded via Dataset#eager_graph: :graph_block, :graph_conditions, :graph_only_conditions, :graph_join_type (and :graph_join_table_* ones for JOINing to the join table in a many_to_many association). :graph_join_type :: The type of join to do (:inner, :left, :right) :graph_conditions :: Additional conditions to put on join (needs to be a hash or array of all two pairs). Automatically assumes unqualified symbols or first element of the pair to be columns of the associated model, and unqualified symbols of the second element of the pair to be columns of the current model. :graph_block :: A block passed to +join_table+, allowing you to specify conditions other than equality, or to use OR, or set up any arbitrary condition. The block is passed the associated table alias, current table alias, and an array of previous joins clause objects. :graph_only_conditions :: Use these conditions instead of the standard association conditions. This is necessary when you don't want to have an equal condition between the foreign key and primary key of the tables. You can also use this to have a JOIN USING (array of symbols), or a NATURAL or CROSS JOIN (nil, with the appropriate :graph_join_type). These can be used like this: # Makes Artist.eager_graph(:required_albums).all not return artists that # don't have any albums Artist.one_to_many :required_albums, :class=>:Album, :graph_join_type=>:inner # Makes sure all returned albums have the active flag set Artist.one_to_many :active_albums, :class=>:Album, \ :graph_conditions=>{:active=>true} # Only returns albums that have sold more than 500,000 copies Artist.one_to_many :gold_albums, :class=>:Album, \ :graph_block=>proc{|j,lj,js| :copies_sold.qualify(j) > 500000} # Handles the case where the tables are associated by a case insensitive name string Artist.one_to_many :albums, :key=>:artist_name, \ :graph_only_conditions=>nil, \ :graph_block=>proc{|j,lj,js| {:lower.sql_function(artist_name.qualify(j))=>:lower.sql_function(name.qualify(lj))}} # Handles the case where both key columns have the name artist_name, and you want to use # a JOIN USING Artist.one_to_many :albums, :key=>:artist_name, :graph_only_conditions=>[:artist_name] Remember, using +eager_graph+ is generally only necessary when you need to filter/order based on columns in an associated table, it is recommended to use +eager+ for eager loading if possible. For lazy loading (e.g. Model[1].association), the :dataset option can be used to specify an arbitrary dataset (one that uses different keys, multiple keys, joins to other tables, etc.). For eager loading via +eager+, the :eager_loader option can be used to specify how to eagerly load a complex association. This is an extremely powerful option. Though it can often be verbose (compared to other things in Sequel), it allows you complete control over how to eagerly load associations for a group of objects. :eager_loader should be a proc that takes 1 or 3 arguments. If the proc takes one argument, it will be given a hash with the following keys: :key_hash :: A key_hash, described below :rows :: An array of model objects :associations :: A hash of dependent associations to eagerly load :self :: The dataset that is doing the eager loading If the proc takes three arguments, it gets passed the :key_hash, :rows, and :associations values. The only way to get the :self value is to accept one argument. The 3 argument procs are allowed for backwards compatibility, and it is recommended to use the 1 argument proc format for new code. Since you are given all of the records, you can do things like filter on associations that are specified by multiple keys, or do multiple queries depending on the content of the records (which would be necessary for polymorphic associations). Inside the :eager_loader proc, you should get the related objects and populate the associations cache for all objects in the array of records. The hash of dependent associations is available for you to cascade the eager loading down multiple levels, but it is up to you to use it. The key_hash is a performance enhancement that is used by the default association loaders and is also available to you. It is a hash with keys being foreign/primary key symbols in the current table, and the values being hashes where the key is foreign/primary key values and values being arrays of current model objects having the foreign/primary key value associated with the key. This is hard to visualize, so I'll give an example: album1 = Album.load(:id=>1, :artist_id=>2) album2 = Album.load(:id=>3, :artist_id=>2) Album.many_to_one :artist Album.one_to_many :tracks Album.eager(:band, :tracks).all # The key_hash provided to the :eager_loader proc would be: {:id=>{1=>[album1], 3=>[album2]}, :artist_id=>{2=>[album1, album2]}} Using these options, you can build associations that Sequel doesn't natively support, and still be able to use the same eager loading features that you are used to. == ActiveRecord associations Sequel supports all of associations that ActiveRecord supports, though some require different approaches or custom :eager_loader options. === Association callbacks Sequel supports the same callbacks that ActiveRecord does on +one_to_many+ and +many_to_many+ associations: :before_add, :before_remove, :after_add, and :after_remove. One +many_to_one+ associations and +one_to_one+ associations, Sequel supports the :before_set and :after_set callbacks. On all associations, Sequel supports :after_load, which is called after the association has been loaded. Each of these options can be a symbol specifying an instance method that takes one argument (the associated object), or a proc that takes two arguments (the current object and the associated object), or an array of symbols and procs. For :after_load with a *_to_many association, the associated object argument is an array of associated objects. If any of the before callbacks return +false+, the adding/removing does not happen and it either raises a Sequel::BeforeHookFailed (the default), or returns false (if +raise_on_save_failure+ is false). === Association extensions All associations come with an association_dataset method that can be further filtered or otherwise modified: class Author < Sequel::Model one_to_many :authorships end Author.first.authorships_dataset.filter{|o| o.number < 10}.first You can extend a dataset with a module using the :extend association option. You can reference the model object that created the association dataset via the dataset's +model_object+ method, and the related association reflection via the dataset's +association_reflection+ method: module FindOrCreate def find_or_create(vals) first(vals) || model.create(vals.merge(association_reflection[:key]=>model_object.id)) end end class Author < Sequel::Model one_to_many :authorships, :extend=>FindOrCreate end Author.first.authorships_dataset.find_or_create(:name=>'Blah', :number=>10) === has_many :through associations +many_to_many+ handles the usual case of a has_many :through with a +belongs_to+ in the associated model. It doesn't break on the case where the join table is a model table, unlike ActiveRecord's +has_and_belongs_to_many+. ActiveRecord: class Author < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :authorships has_many :books, :through => :authorships end class Authorship < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :author belongs_to :book end @author = Author.find :first @author.books Sequel::Model: class Author < Sequel::Model one_to_many :authorships many_to_many :books, :join_table=>:authorships end class Authorship < Sequel::Model many_to_one :author many_to_one :book end @author = Author.first @author.books If you use an association other than +belongs_to+ in the associated model, such as a +has_many+, you still use a +many_to_many+ association, but you need to use some options: ActiveRecord: class Firm < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :clients has_many :invoices, :through => :clients end class Client < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :firm has_many :invoices end class Invoice < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :client has_one :firm, :through => :client end Firm.find(:first).invoices Sequel::Model: class Firm < Sequel::Model one_to_many :clients many_to_many :invoices, :join_table=>:clients, :right_key=>:id, :right_primary_key=>:client_id end class Client < Sequel::Model many_to_one :firm one_to_many :invoices end class Invoice < Sequel::Model many_to_one :client # has_one :through equivalent 1 # eager load with :eager=>:firm option on :client association, and eager loading :client def firm client.firm if client end # has_one :through equivalent 2 # eager load the usual way many_to_many :firms, :join_table=>:clients, :left_key=>:id, :left_primary_key=>:client_id, :right_key=>:firm_id def firm firms.first end # has_one :through equivalent 3 # eager loading requires custom :eager_loader proc many_to_one :firm, :dataset=>proc{Firm.join(:clients, :firm_id=>:id, :id=>client_id).select_all(:firms)} end Firm.first.invoices === Polymorphic Associations Sequel discourages the use of polymorphic associations, which is the reason they are not supported by default. All polymorphic associations can be made non-polymorphic by using additional tables and/or columns instead of having a column containing the associated class name as a string. Polymorphic associations break referential integrity and are significantly more complex than non-polymorphic associations, so their use is not recommended unless you are stuck with an existing design that uses them. If you must use them, look for the sequel_polymorphic plugin, as it makes using polymorphic associations in Sequel about as easy as it is in ActiveRecord. However, here's how they can be done using Sequel's custom associations (the sequel_polymorphic plugin is just a generic version of this code): ActiveRecord: class Asset < ActiveRecord::Base belongs_to :attachable, :polymorphic => true end class Post < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :assets, :as => :attachable end class Note < ActiveRecord::Base has_many :assets, :as => :attachable end @asset.attachable = @post @asset.attachable = @note Sequel::Model: class Asset < Sequel::Model many_to_one :attachable, :reciprocal=>:assets, \ :dataset=>(proc do klass = attachable_type.constantize klass.filter(klass.primary_key=>attachable_id) end), \ :eager_loader=>(proc do |eo| id_map = {} eo[:rows].each do |asset| asset.associations[:attachable] = nil ((id_map[asset.attachable_type] ||= {})[asset.attachable_id] ||= []) << asset end id_map.each do |klass_name, id_map| klass = klass_name.constantize klass.filter(klass.primary_key=>id_map.keys).all do |attach| id_map[attach.pk].each do |asset| asset.associations[:attachable] = attach end end end end) private def _attachable=(attachable) self[:attachable_id] = (attachable.pk if attachable) self[:attachable_type] = (attachable.class.name if attachable) end end class Post < Sequel::Model one_to_many :assets, :key=>:attachable_id do |ds| ds.filter(:attachable_type=>'Post') end private def _add_asset(asset) asset.attachable_id = pk asset.attachable_type = 'Post' asset.save end def _remove_asset(asset) asset.attachable_id = nil asset.attachable_type = nil asset.save end def _remove_all_assets Asset.filter(:attachable_id=>pk, :attachable_type=>'Post')\ .update(:attachable_id=>nil, :attachable_type=>nil) end end class Note < Sequel::Model one_to_many :assets, :key=>:attachable_id do |ds| ds.filter(:attachable_type=>'Note') end private def _add_asset(asset) asset.attachable_id = pk asset.attachable_type = 'Note' asset.save end def _remove_asset(asset) asset.attachable_id = nil asset.attachable_type = nil asset.save end def _remove_all_assets Asset.filter(:attachable_id=>pk, :attachable_type=>'Note')\ .update(:attachable_id=>nil, :attachable_type=>nil) end end @asset.attachable = @post @asset.attachable = @note == Other advanced associations === Joining on multiple keys Let's say you have two tables that are associated with each other with multiple keys. This can be handled using Sequel's built in composite key support for associations: # Both of these models have an album_id, number, and disc_number fields. # All FavoriteTracks have an associated track, but not all tracks have an # associated favorite track class Track < Sequel::Model many_to_one :favorite_track, :key=>[:disc_number, :number, :album_id], :primary_key=>[:disc_number, :number, :album_id] end class FavoriteTrack < Sequel::Model one_to_one :tracks, :key=>[:disc_number, :number, :album_id], :primary_key=>[:disc_number, :number, :album_id] end === Tree - All Ancestors and Descendents Let's say you want to store a tree relationship in your database, it's pretty simple: class Node < Sequel::Model many_to_one :parent, :class=>self one_to_many :children, :key=>:parent_id, :class=>self end You can easily get a node's parent with node.parent, and a node's children with node.children. You can even eager load the relationship up to a certain depth: # Eager load three generations of generations of children for a given node Node.filter(:id=>1).eager(:children=>{:children=>:children}).all.first # Load parents and grandparents for a group of nodes Node.filter{|o| o.id < 10}.eager(:parent=>:parent).all What if you want to get all ancestors up to the root node, or all descendents, without knowing the depth of the tree? class Node < Sequel::Model many_to_one :ancestors, :class=>self, :eager_loader=>(proc do |eo| # Handle cases where the root node has the same parent_id as primary_key # and also when it is NULL non_root_nodes = eo[:rows].reject do |n| if [nil, n.pk].include?(n.parent_id) # Make sure root nodes have their parent association set to nil n.associations[:parent] = nil true else false end end unless non_root_nodes.empty? id_map = {} # Create an map of parent_ids to nodes that have that parent id non_root_nodes.each{|n| (id_map[n.parent_id] ||= []) << n} # Doesn't cause an infinte loop, because when only the root node # is left, this is not called. Node.filter(Node.primary_key=>id_map.keys).eager(:ancestors).all do |node| # Populate the parent association for each node id_map[node.pk].each{|n| n.associations[:parent] = node} end end end) many_to_one :descendants, :eager_loader=>(proc do |eo| id_map = {} eo[:rows].each do |n| # Initialize an empty array of child associations for each parent node n.associations[:children] = [] # Populate identity map of nodes id_map[n.pk] = n end # Doesn't cause an infinite loop, because the :eager_loader is not called # if no records are returned. Exclude id = parent_id to avoid infinite loop # if the root note is one of the returned records and it has parent_id = id # instead of parent_id = NULL. Node.filter(:parent_id=>id_map.keys).exclude(:id=>:parent_id).eager(:descendants).all do |node| # Get the parent from the identity map parent = id_map[node.parent_id] # Set the child's parent association to the parent node.associations[:parent] = parent # Add the child association to the array of children in the parent parent.associations[:children] << node end end) end Note that unlike ActiveRecord, Sequel supports common table expressions, which allows you to use recursive queries. The results are not the same as in the above case, as all descendents are stored in a single association, but all descendants can be both lazy loaded or eager loaded in a single query (assuming your database supports recursive common table expressions). Sequel ships with an +rcte_tree+ plugin that makes this easy: class Node < Sequel::Model plugin :rcte_tree end === Joining multiple keys to a single key, through a third table Let's say you have a database, of songs, lyrics, and artists. Each song may or may not have a lyric (most songs are instrumental). The lyric can be associated to an artist in each of four ways: composer, arranger, vocalist, or lyricist. These may all be the same, or they could all be different, and none of them are required. The songs table has a lyric_id field to associate it to the lyric, and the lyric table has four fields to associate it to the artist (composer_id, arranger_id, vocalist_id, and lyricist_id). What you want to do is get all songs for a given artist, ordered by the song's name, with no duplicates? class Artist < Sequel::Model one_to_many :songs, :order=>:songs__name, \ :dataset=>proc{Song.select(:songs.*).join(Lyric, :id=>:lyric_id, id=>[:composer_id, :arranger_id, :vocalist_id, :lyricist_id])}, \ :eager_loader=>(proc do |eo| h = eo[:key_hash][:id] ids = h.keys eo[:rows].each{|r| r.associations[:songs] = []} Song.select(:songs.*, :lyrics__composer_id, :lyrics__arranger_id, :lyrics__vocalist_id, :lyrics__lyricist_id)\ .join(Lyric, :id=>:lyric_id){{:composer_id=>ids, :arranger_id=>ids, :vocalist_id=>ids, :lyricist_id=>ids}.sql_or}\ .order(:songs__name).all do |song| [:composer_id, :arranger_id, :vocalist_id, :lyricist_id].each do |x| recs = h[song.values.delete(x)] recs.each{|r| r.associations[:songs] << song} if recs end end eo[:rows].each{|r| r.associations[:songs].uniq!} end) end === Statistics Associations (Sum of Associated Table Column) In addition to getting associated records, you can use Sequel's association support to get aggregate information for columns in associated tables (sums, averages, etc.). Let's say you have a database with projects and tickets. A project can have many tickets, and each ticket has a number of hours associated with it. You can use the association support to create a Project association that gives the sum of hours for all associated tickets. class Project < Sequel::Model one_to_many :tickets many_to_one :ticket_hours, :read_only=>true, :key=>:id, :dataset=>proc{Ticket.filter(:project_id=>id).select{sum(hours).as(hours)}}, :eager_loader=>(proc do |eo| eo[:rows].each{|p| p.associations[:ticket_hours] = nil} Ticket.filter(:project_id=>eo[:key_hash][:id].keys). group(:project_id). select{[project_id, sum(hours).as(hours)]}. all do |t| p = eo[:key_hash][:id][t.values.delete(:project_id)].first p.associations[:ticket_hours] = t end end) # The association method returns a Ticket object with a single aggregate # sum-of-hours value, but you want it to return an Integer/Float of just the # sum of hours, so you call super and return just the sum-of-hours value. # This works for both lazy loading and eager loading. def ticket_hours if s = super s[:hours] end end end class Ticket < Sequel::Model many_to_one :project end Note that it is often better to use a sum cache instead of this approach. You can implement a sum cache using +after_create+ and +after_delete+ hooks, or using a database trigger (the preferred method if you only have to support one database and that database supports triggers).