Enhancing Ruby on Rails Search Functionality with Multiple OR Clauses

Описание: Learn how to extend your Ruby on Rails search feature by adding an extra OR clause to include another model using ActiveRecord.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/64655804/ asked by the user 'Ghassan Karwchan' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/109534/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/64689788/ provided by the user 'Ghassan Karwchan' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/109534/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Enhancing Ruby on Rails Search Functionality with Multiple OR Clauses

In a Ruby on Rails application, creating efficient search functionalities is a common requirement that can significantly enhance user experience. In this guide, we will tackle a specific scenario where we need to add an additional search criterion to an existing search feature in a Ruby on Rails legacy application. This situation arises when the current search functionality is limited to multiple columns within a single model, and we want to extend this functionality by including a related model's column.

Understanding the Existing Search Functionality

In our case, we have a search feature associated with a Ticket model where users can input a term that searches across multiple columns within the Tickets table. The current implementation effectively leverages SQL LIKE queries on seven specific columns stored in an array, named Ticket::SEARCH_FIELDS. The current search query uses the ActiveRecord query interface to dynamically build the necessary WHERE clause as shown below:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

While this solution works perfectly for searching the specified columns, there is now an increased need to incorporate an additional search condition that queries the name field from a related Employee model.

The New Requirement

The goal is to extend the existing search functionality by adding an OR condition to include employee names in the search criteria. The adjusted SQL statement would look something like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

As a result, we need to adapt our existing Rails query to accommodate this new requirement.

Solution: Modifying the Query to Include Another Model

To implement this change correctly, we can follow these steps:

Step 1: Update the ActiveRecord Query

We will modify the ActiveRecord query to join the employees table. This will allow us to seamlessly include the employee's name in the search. Here's an example of how you can achieve this:

Create a combined list of conditions, both for the Tickets fields and for the Employee name.

Use a LEFT OUTER JOIN to connect the Tickets and Employees tables.

The resultant code will look like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 2: Understand the New Code

Joins: The LEFT OUTER JOIN ensures that we consider all Ticket records, even if there is no matching Employee. This prevents the loss of tickets that do not have associated employee records.

Dynamic Query Building: By using inject(:or), we combine the multiple conditions into a single query. This allows us to check all specified conditions in a fluid manner.

Conclusion

The ability to enhance search functionalities by including related model attributes can greatly increase the versatility and usability of your application. By following the steps outlined above, you can successfully extend your Ruby on Rails search capability to meet new requirements without significant code restructuring.

This solution not only preserves the efficiency of searching multiple fields in the Ticket model but also integrates external data from associated models, creating a comprehensive and flexible search feature.

If you have any questions or require further clarification on implementing this solution, please feel free to reach out. Happy coding!