Squished String Type (Rails 5/6)
String inputs that strip away leading, trailing and double spaces using typed virtual attributes
- https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/database-fields-are-polluted-with-both-nil-and-empty-values-when-submitting-forms/74877/3
- https://bitbucket.org/tiu/rails-application-template/src/master/rails/lib/types/type/string.rb
- https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3879680/how-can-i-make-rails-3-localize-my-date-formats/45743846#45743846
Lets start by making a sample project (without tests -T):
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We will use a generator to create the structures we need and just focus clean inputs.
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Now lets make our attribute types that cleanup string inputs (we will put them in the a new folder we will call types):
mkdir app/types
touch app/types/string_stripped_type.rb
touch app/types/text_trimmed_type.rb
To make a string type that removes leading, trailing and duplicate spaces we will use the squish method.
# app/types/string_squished_type.rb
class StringSquishedType < ActiveRecord::Type::String
# cast the incomming value for Rails
def cast(value)
value.to_s.squish
end
# convert the data to what the Database expects
def serialize(value)
value.to_s
end
end
Since text may want to have newlines and other double spaces we will only remove (trim) leading and trailing spaces:
# app/types/text_trimmed_type.rb
class TextTrimmedType < ActiveRecord::Type::String
# cast the incomming value for Rails
def cast(value)
value.to_s.strip
end
# convert the data to what the Database expects
def serialize(value)
value.to_s
end
end
To simplify our code we will define short names for our new types – in the config/initializers folder we will make a new file called types.rb:
touch config/initializers/attribute_types.rb
To make a string type that removes leading, trailing and duplicate spaces we will use the squish method.
# config/initializers/attribute_types.rb
ActiveRecord::Type.register(:string_stripped, StringSquishedType)
ActiveRecord::Type.register(:text_trimmed, TextTrimmedType)
Now lets add our new virutual data types that we will use in our forms to our model:
# app/models/card.rb
class Card < ApplicationRecord
attribute :title_in, :string_squished
# attribute :title_in, StringSquishedType.new
attribute :description_in. :text_trimmed, default: '--'
# attribute :description_in, TextTrimmedType.new, default: '--'
validate :title_in, presence: true
end
https://bitbucket.org/tiu/rails-application-template/src/master/rails/lib/types/type/string.rb
# lib/types/type/string.rb
# frozen_string_literal: true
module Type
# * +squish+ if true, squish value when casting
# * +strip+ if true, strip value when casting
# * +nilify_blank+ if true, set blank value to nil when casting
class String < ActiveModel::Type::String
def initialize(precision: nil, limit: nil, scale: nil, strip: false, squish: false, nilify_blank: false)
@strip = strip
@squish = squish
@nilify_blank = nilify_blank
super(precision: precision, limit: limit, scale: scale)
end
def serialize(value)
super(value)
apply_options(value)
end
private
def cast_value(value)
value = super(value)
apply_options(value)
end
def apply_options(value)
return unless value
if @squish
value = value.squish
elsif @strip
value = value.strip
end
value = nil if @nilify_blank && value.blank?
value
end
end
end
https://bitbucket.org/tiu/rails-application-template/src/master/rails/lib/types/type/editor_text.rb
# lib/types/type/editor_text.rb
# frozen_string_literal: true
# Strips out empty spaces that are default on Ckeditor 5
module Type
class EditorText < ActiveModel::Type::String
EMPTY_P_TAG_REGEX = %r{\A(<p[^>]*>(\s| |</?\s?br\s?/?>)*</?p>)\1*\z}.freeze
def serialize(value)
super(value)
apply_options(value)
end
private
def cast_value(value)
value = super(value)
apply_options(value)
end
def apply_options(value)
return if value.nil?
remove_empty_p_tags(value)
end
def remove_empty_p_tags(value)
value.match?(EMPTY_P_TAG_REGEX) ? nil : value
end
end
end
https://bitbucket.org/tiu/rails-application-template/src/master/rails/lib/types/type/token.rb
# lib/types/type/token.rb
# frozen_string_literal: true
# Represents a user-entered code, like a coupon code, discount code or confirmation number.
# Avoids ambiguous characters that could cause user confusion or apprehension.
module Type
class Token < ActiveRecord::Type::String
AMBIGUITIES = [
%w[B 8],
%w[D O 0],
%w[G 6],
%w[I 1 l],
%w[S 5],
%w[Z 2]
].flatten.freeze
CHARACTERS = ([*('A'..'Z'), *('0'..'9')] - AMBIGUITIES).freeze
LENGTH = 6
def initialize(precision: nil, limit: nil, scale: nil, length: LENGTH)
@length = length
super(precision: precision, limit: limit, scale: scale)
end
private
def cast_value(value)
if value == :random
random_number
elsif value.is_a? ::String
value = value.upcase
value if value.chars.all? { |c| c.in? CHARACTERS }
end
end
def random_number
Array.new(@length) { CHARACTERS.sample }.join
end
end
end
# lib/types/localized_date.rb
# frozen_string_literal: true
# Convert localized date string to Date object. This takes I18n formatted date strings
# (e.g. in form text inputs) and casts them back to Date objects when writing the attribute.
#
# See ActiveModel::Type::Date for original, which attempts to parse the Date string, causing
# the months and days swap if input is in "%m/%d/%Y" format.
#
class LocalizedDate < ActiveRecord::Type::Date
# Full specifier is: %<flag><width><modifier><conversion>
FORMAT_STRING_EXPR = /(?<=%)(?<flag>[-_0^#])?(?<width>\d)?/.freeze
def initialize(format: default_format)
@format_string = safe_format_string(format)
end
# Deserialize db value using Date::DATE_FORMATS[:db]
def deserialize(value)
cast_value(value, format: Date::DATE_FORMATS[:db]) unless value.nil?
end
private
def cast_value(value, format: @format_string)
if value.is_a?(::String)
return if value.empty?
Date.strptime(value, format)
elsif value.respond_to?(:to_date)
value.to_date
else
value
end
rescue ArgumentError
nil
end
def default_format
I18n.translate("date.formats.default")
end
# Date.strptime doesn't support flags and width, so remove them.
# See https://ruby-doc.org/stdlib/libdoc/date/rdoc/Date.html#method-c-strptime
def safe_format_string(value)
value.gsub FORMAT_STRING_EXPR, ''
end
end
# config/initializers/types.rb
# frozen_string_literal: true
# NOTE: when using custom types with Postgres arrays they must be registered (here) to work.
# When registered, they become a subtype of ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::PostgreSQL::OID::Array
# which handles the array bits before invoking your custom type.
#
# attribute :links, :link, array: true # this works, becoming an array subtype
# attribute :links, Type::Link.new, array: true # this acts like a non-array type
#
# Next, confirm the type with `MyModel.type_for_attribute(:links)`
Dir[Rails.root.join('lib/types/**/*.rb')].sort.each { |f| require f }
ActiveRecord::Type.register(:localized_date, LocalizedDate)
ActiveRecord::Type.register(:string, Type::String, override: true)
ActiveRecord::Type.register(:token, Type::Token)
ActiveModel::Type.register(:localized_date, LocalizedDate)
ActiveModel::Type.register(:string, Type::String, override: true)
ActiveModel::Type.register(:token, Type::Token)
How Rails Transforms Attributes
Here’s a quick tour of the Rails Attributes API. You can skip this section, but then you won’t know how this stuff works. What fun is that?
Understanding how Rails handles user input for your attribute will let us override only one method instead of making a more complete custom type. It will also help you write better code, since rails’ code is pretty good.
Since you didn’t mention a model, I’ll assume you have a Post with a :publish_date attribute (some would prefer the name :published_on, but I digress). What is your type?
Find out what type :publish_date is. We don’t care that it is an instance of Date, we need to know what type_for_attribute returns:
This method is the only valid source of information for anything related to the types of a model's attributes.
$ rails c
> post = Post.where.not(publish_date: nil).first
> post.publish_date.class
=> Date
> Post.type_for_attribute('publish_date').type
=> :date
Now we know the :publish_date attribute is a :date type. This is defined by ActiveRecord::Type::Date, which extends ActiveModel::Type::Date (ActiveRecord Types are here: https://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/Type.html), which extends ActiveModel::Type::Value (ActiveModel Types are here: https://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveModel/Type.htmlValue.html).
How is user input transformed by ActiveRecord::Type::Date?
So, when you set :publish_date, the value is passed to cast, which calls cast_value. Since form input is a String, it will try a fast_string_to_date then fallback_string_to_date which uses Date._parse.
If you’re getting lost, don’t worry. You don’t need to understand rails’ code to customize an attribute. Defining a Custom Type
Now that we understand how Rails uses the attributes API, we can easily make our own. Just create a custom type to override cast_value to expect localized date strings:
class LocalizedDate < ActiveRecord::Type::Date
private
# Convert localized date string to Date object. This takes I18n formatted date strings
# from user input and casts them back to Date objects.
def cast_value(value)
if value.is_a?(::String)
return if value.empty?
format = I18n.translate("date.formats.short")
Date.strptime(value, format) rescue nil
elsif value.respond_to?(:to_date)
value.to_date
else
value
end
end
end
See how I just copied rails’ code and made a small tweak. Easy. You might want to improve on this with a call to super and move the :short format to an option or constant.
Register your type so it can be referenced by a symbol:
# config/initializers/types.rb
ActiveRecord::Type.register(:localized_date, LocalizedDate)
Override the :publish_date type with your custom type:
# app/models/post.rb
class Post < ApplicationRecord
attribute :publish_date, :localized_date
end
Now you can use localized values in your form inputs:
# app/views/posts/_form.html.erb
<%= form_for(@post) do |f| %>
<%= f.label :publish_date %>
<%= f.text_field :publish_date, value: (I18n.localize(value, format: :short) if value.present?) %>
<% end %>
Bill Tihen
Developer, Data Enthusiast, Educator and Nature’s Friend
very curious – known to explore knownledge and nature