# classy_enum
[](http://travis-ci.org/beerlington/classy_enum)
ClassyEnum is a Ruby on Rails gem that adds class-based enumerator functionality to ActiveRecord attributes.
## Rails & Ruby Versions Supported
*Rails:*
* 3.0.x - 3.2.x: Fully tested in a production application. See below
for known issues.
* 2.3.x: If you need support for Rails 2.3.x, please install [version 0.9.1](https://rubygems.org/gems/classy_enum/versions/0.9.1)
*Ruby:* Ruby 1.8.7, 1.9.2, and 1.9.3 are tested and supported
## Installation
The gem is hosted at [rubygems.org](https://rubygems.org/gems/classy_enum)
You will also need to add `app/enums` as an autoloadable path. This configuration will depend on which version of rails you are using.
## Example Usage
The most common use for ClassyEnum is to replace database lookup tables where the content and behavior is mostly static and has multiple "types". In this example, I have an ActiveRecord model called `Alarm` with an attribute called `priority`. Priority is stored as a string (VARCHAR) type in the database and is converted to an enum value when requested.
### 1. Generate the Enum
The fastest way to get up and running with ClassyEnum is to use the built-in Rails generator like so:
```
rails g classy_enum Priority low medium high
```
A new enum template file will be created at app/enums/priority.rb that will look like:
```ruby
class Priority < ClassyEnum::Base
enum_classes :low, :medium, :high
end
class PriorityLow < Priority
end
class PriorityMedium < Priority
end
class PriorityHigh < Priority
end
```
The `enum_classes` macro will add all the ClassyEnum behavior, which is described further down in this document.
### 2. Customize the Enum
The generator creates a default setup, but each enum member can be changed to fit your needs.
Using the `enum_classes` method, I have defined three priority levels: low, medium, and high. Each priority level can have different properties and methods associated with it.
I would like to add a method called `send_email?` that all member subclasses respond to. By default this method will return false, but will be overridden for high priority alarms to return true.
```ruby
class Priority < ClassyEnum::Base
enum_classes :low, :medium, :high
def send_email?
false
end
end
class PriorityHigh < Priority
def send_email?
true
end
end
```
Note: Defining the subclasses within your enum file is only required when you will be overriding behavior and/or properties. The member subclasses still exist without being defined here because `ClassyEnum.enum_classes` automatically creates a class for each member. The generator only creates these subclass definitions for convenience, but they can be deleted as shown in this example.
### 3. Setup the ActiveRecord model
My ActiveRecord Alarm model needs a text field that will store a string representing the enum member. An example model schema might look something like:
```ruby
create_table "alarms", :force => true do |t|
t.string "priority"
t.boolean "enabled"
end
```
Then in my model I've added a line that calls `classy_enum_attr` with a single argument representing the enum I want to associate with my model. I am also delegating the send_email? method to my Priority enum class.
```ruby
class Alarm < ActiveRecord::Base
classy_enum_attr :priority
delegate :send_email?, :to => :priority
end
```
With this setup, I can now do the following:
```ruby
@alarm = Alarm.create(:priority => :medium)
@alarm.priority # => PriorityMedium
@alarm.priority.medium? # => true
@alarm.priority.high? # => false
@alarm.priority.to_s # => 'medium'
@alarm.priority.name # => 'Medium'
# Should this alarm send an email?
@alarm.send_email? # => false
@alarm.priority = :high
@alarm.send_email? # => true
```
The enum field works like any other model attribute. It can be mass-assigned using `update_attribute(s)`.
## Back reference to owning object
In some cases you may want an enum class to be able to reference the owning object (an instance of the active record model). Think of it as a `belongs_to` relationship, where the enum can reference its owning object.
In order to create the back reference, you must declare how you wish to refer to the owner using the `owner` class method.
For example:
```ruby
class Priority < ClassyEnum::Base
enum_classes :low, :medium, :high
owner :alarm
end
class PriorityHigh < Priority
def send_email?
alarm.enabled?
end
end
```
In the above example, high priority alarms are only emailed if the owning alarm is enabled.
```ruby
@alarm = Alarm.create(:priority => :high, :enabled => true)
# Should this alarm send an email?
@alarm.send_email? # => true
@alarm.enabled = false
@alarm.send_email? # => false
```
## Serializing as JSON
By default, the enum will be serialized as a string representing the value:
```ruby
@alarm = Alarm.create(:priority => :high, :enabled => true)
@alarm.to_json.should == "{\"alarm\":{\"priority\":\"high\"}}"
```
This behavior can be overridden by using the `:serialize_as_json => true` option in your ActiveRecord model:
```ruby
class Alarm < ActiveRecord::Base
classy_enum_attr :priority, :serialize_as_json => true
end
@alarm = Alarm.create(:priority => :high, :enabled => true)
@alarm.to_json.should == "{\"alarm\":{\"priority\":{}}}"
```
## Special Cases and Known Issue
What if your enum class name is not the same as your model's attribute name? No problem! Just use a second arugment in `classy_enum_attr` to declare the attribute name. In this case, the model's attribute is called *alarm_priority*.
```ruby
class Alarm < ActiveRecord::Base
classy_enum_attr :alarm_priority, :enum => :priority
end
@alarm = Alarm.create(:alarm_priority => :medium)
@alarm.alarm_priority # => PriorityMedium
```
There is an [issue](https://github.com/beerlington/classy_enum/issues/8)
with Rails 3.1 and higher when using validates_uniqueness_of
and a scope that is the enum field. This issue also occurs when using
`composed_of` and is not a bug with ClassyEnum. As a workaround to this
problem, you can use the reader suffix option when declaring your field:
```ruby
class Alarm < ActiveRecord::Base
classy_enum_attr :priority, :suffix => 'type'
end
alarm = Alarm.create(:priority => :high)
alarm.priority # => 'high'
alarm.priority_type # instance of PriorityHigh enum
```
## Model Validation
An ActiveRecord validator `validates_inclusion_of :field, :in => ENUM.all` is automatically added to your model when you use `classy_enum_attr`.
If your enum only has members low, medium, and high, then the following validation behavior would be expected:
```ruby
@alarm = Alarm.new(:priority => :really_high)
@alarm.valid? # => false
@alarm.priority = :high
@alarm.valid? # => true
```
To allow nil or blank values, you can pass in `:allow_nil` and `:allow_blank` as options to `classy_enum_attr`:
```ruby
class Alarm < ActiveRecord::Base
classy_enum_attr :priority, :allow_nil => true
end
@alarm = Alarm.new(:priority => nil)
@alarm.valid? # => true
```
## Working with ClassyEnum outside of ActiveRecord
While ClassyEnum was designed to be used directly with ActiveRecord, it can also be used outside of it. Here are some examples based on the enum class defined earlier in this document.
Instantiate an enum member subclass *PriorityLow*
```ruby
# These statements are all equivalent
low = Priority.build(:low)
low = Priority.build('low')
low = Priority.find(:low)
low = PriorityLow.new
```
Get a list of the valid enum options
```ruby
Priority.valid_options # => low, medium, high
```
## Formtastic Support
To add ClassyEnum support to Formtastic, add the following to your formtastic.rb initializer (config/initializers/formtastic.rb):
```ruby
require 'classy_enum/semantic_form_builder'
```
Then in your Formtastic view forms, use this syntax: `<%= f.input :priority, :as => :enum_select %>`
Note: ClassyEnum respects the `:allow_blank` and `:allow_nil` options and will include a blank select option in these cases
## Copyright
Copyright (c) 2011 [Peter Brown](https://github.com/beerlington). See LICENSE for details.