ActiveRecord::Null

Create null objects for ActiveRecord models.

Installation

Install the gem and add to the application's Gemfile by executing:

$ bundle add activerecord-null

If bundler is not being used to manage dependencies, install the gem by executing:

$ gem install activerecord-null

Usage

Extend your primary abstract class with ActiveRecord::Null.

class ApplicationRecord < ActiveRecord::Base
  primary_abstract_class
  extend ActiveRecord::Null
end

Define a null object for the model.

class User < ApplicationRecord
  has_many :posts
  Null do
    def name = "None"
  end
end

This will create a Singleton class User::Null that mimics the User class.

Use the null object.

User.null

It will even work with associations.

User.null.posts # => []

By default, the null object will have the same attributes as the original model and will return nil for all attributes.

You can override this by passing a hash to the Null method where the key is an array of attributes and the value is the value to return for the attribute.

class User < ApplicationRecord
  Null([:name, :team_name] => "Unknown") do
    def other_attribute = "Other"
  end
end

You may also pass a callable to the hash which will be used to determine the value for the attribute.

class User < ApplicationRecord
  Null([:name, :team_name] => -> { "Unknown" })
end

Customize the null class name:

class User < ApplicationRecord
  Null(class_name: "Guest")
  class << self
    alias_method :null, :guest
  end
end

User.guest # returns a User::Guest instance

Void Objects

While Null objects are singletons (one instance per model), Void objects are instantiable null objects that allow creating multiple instances with different attribute values.

Define a void object for the model:

class Product < ApplicationRecord
  Void([:name] => "Unknown Product") do
    def display_name
      "Product: #{name}"
    end
  end
end

Create instances with custom attributes:

product1 = Product.void(name: "Widget")
product2 = Product.void(name: "Gadget")

product1.name # => "Widget"
product2.name # => "Gadget"

Each call to .void returns a new instance:

Product.void.object_id != Product.void.object_id # => true

Instance attributes override defaults:

product = Product.void(name: "Custom")
product.name # => "Custom" (overrides default "Unknown Product")

default_product = Product.void
default_product.name # => "Unknown Product" (uses default)

Void objects support the same features as Null objects:

• Callable defaults (lambdas/procs)
• Custom methods via block syntax
• Association handling
• All ActiveRecord query methods (null?, persisted?, etc.)
• Custom class names via class_name: parameter

class Product < ApplicationRecord
  Void(class_name: "Placeholder")
  class << self
    alias_method :void, :placeholder
  end
end

Product.placeholder # returns a Product::Placeholder instance

Use Null when you need a single shared null object instance. Use Void when you need multiple null object instances with different attribute values.

Development

After checking out the repo, run bin/setup to install dependencies. Then, run rake test to run the tests. You can also run bin/console for an interactive prompt that will allow you to experiment.

To install this gem onto your local machine, run bundle exec rake install. To release a new version, update the version number in version.rb, and then run bundle exec rake release, which will create a git tag for the version, push git commits and the created tag, and push the .gem file to rubygems.org.

Releasing

Run rake build:checksum to build the gem and generate the checksum. This will also update the version number in the gemspec file.

Run rake release to create a git tag for the version, push git commits and tags, and push the .gem file to rubygems.org.

This will leave a new commit with the version number incremented in the version file and the changelog updated with the new version. Push the changes to the repository.

Contributing

This gem is managed with Reissue.

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/SOFware/activerecord-null.