Methods
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Classes and Modules
Instance Public methods
alias_attribute(new_name, old_name)
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/attribute_methods.rb, line 238
def alias_attribute(new_name, old_name)
  attribute_method_matchers.each do |matcher|
    matcher_new = matcher.method_name(new_name).to_s
    matcher_old = matcher.method_name(old_name).to_s

    if matcher_new =~ COMPILABLE_REGEXP && matcher_old =~ COMPILABLE_REGEXP
      module_eval               def #{matcher_new}(*args)                send(:#{matcher_old}, *args)              end, __FILE__, __LINE__ + 1
    else
      define_method(matcher_new) do |*args|
        send(matcher_old, *args)
      end
    end
  end
end
attribute_method_affix(*affixes)

Declares a method available for all attributes with the given prefix and suffix. Uses method_missing and respond_to? to rewrite the method.

#{prefix}#{attr}#{suffix}(*args, &block)

to

#{prefix}attribute#{suffix}(#{attr}, *args, &block)

An #{prefix}attribute#{suffix} instance method must exist and accept at least the attr argument.

For example:

class Person

  include ActiveModel::AttributeMethods
  attr_accessor :name
  attribute_method_affix :prefix => 'reset_', :suffix => '_to_default!'
  define_attribute_methods [:name]

  private

  def reset_attribute_to_default!(attr)
    ...
  end
end

person = Person.new
person.name                         # => 'Gem'
person.reset_name_to_default!
person.name                         # => 'Gemma'
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/attribute_methods.rb, line 233
def attribute_method_affix(*affixes)
  self.attribute_method_matchers += affixes.map { |affix| AttributeMethodMatcher.new :prefix => affix[:prefix], :suffix => affix[:suffix] }
  undefine_attribute_methods
end
attribute_method_prefix(*prefixes)

Declares a method available for all attributes with the given prefix. Uses method_missing and respond_to? to rewrite the method.

#{prefix}#{attr}(*args, &block)

to

#{prefix}attribute(#{attr}, *args, &block)

An instance method #{prefix}attribute must exist and accept at least the attr argument.

For example:

class Person

  include ActiveModel::AttributeMethods
  attr_accessor :name
  attribute_method_prefix 'clear_'
  define_attribute_methods [:name]

  private

  def clear_attribute(attr)
    send("#{attr}=", nil)
  end
end

person = Person.new
person.name = "Bob"
person.name          # => "Bob"
person.clear_name
person.name          # => nil
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/attribute_methods.rb, line 158
def attribute_method_prefix(*prefixes)
  self.attribute_method_matchers += prefixes.map { |prefix| AttributeMethodMatcher.new :prefix => prefix }
  undefine_attribute_methods
end
attribute_method_suffix(*suffixes)

Declares a method available for all attributes with the given suffix. Uses method_missing and respond_to? to rewrite the method.

#{attr}#{suffix}(*args, &block)

to

attribute#{suffix}(#{attr}, *args, &block)

An attribute#{suffix} instance method must exist and accept at least the attr argument.

For example:

class Person

  include ActiveModel::AttributeMethods
  attr_accessor :name
  attribute_method_suffix '_short?'
  define_attribute_methods [:name]

  private

  def attribute_short?(attr)
    send(attr).length < 5
  end
end

person = Person.new
person.name = "Bob"
person.name          # => "Bob"
person.name_short?   # => true
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/attribute_methods.rb, line 195
def attribute_method_suffix(*suffixes)
  self.attribute_method_matchers += suffixes.map { |suffix| AttributeMethodMatcher.new :suffix => suffix }
  undefine_attribute_methods
end
define_attr_method(name, value=nil, &block)

Defines an “attribute” method (like inheritance_column or table_name). A new (class) method will be created with the given name. If a value is specified, the new method will return that value (as a string). Otherwise, the given block will be used to compute the value of the method.

The original method will be aliased, with the new name being prefixed with “original_”. This allows the new method to access the original value.

Example:

class Person

  include ActiveModel::AttributeMethods

  cattr_accessor :primary_key
  cattr_accessor :inheritance_column

  define_attr_method :primary_key, "sysid"
  define_attr_method( :inheritance_column ) do
    original_inheritance_column + "_id"
  end

end

Provides you with:

AttributePerson.primary_key
# => "sysid"
AttributePerson.inheritance_column = 'address'
AttributePerson.inheritance_column
# => 'address_id'
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/attribute_methods.rb, line 100
def define_attr_method(name, value=nil, &block)
  sing = singleton_class
  sing.class_eval           if method_defined?('original_#{name}')            undef :'original_#{name}'          end          alias_method :'original_#{name}', :'#{name}', __FILE__, __LINE__ + 1
  if block_given?
    sing.send :define_method, name, &block
  else
    # If we can compile the method name, do it. Otherwise use define_method.
    # This is an important *optimization*, please don't change it. define_method
    # has slower dispatch and consumes more memory.
    if name =~ COMPILABLE_REGEXP
      sing.class_eval               def #{name}; #{value.nil? ? 'nil' : value.to_s.inspect}; end, __FILE__, __LINE__ + 1
    else
      value = value.to_s if value
      sing.send(:define_method, name) { value }
    end
  end
end
define_attribute_method(attr_name)
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/attribute_methods.rb, line 285
def define_attribute_method(attr_name)
  attribute_method_matchers.each do |matcher|
    unless instance_method_already_implemented?(matcher.method_name(attr_name))
      generate_method = "define_method_#{matcher.prefix}attribute#{matcher.suffix}"

      if respond_to?(generate_method)
        send(generate_method, attr_name)
      else
        method_name = matcher.method_name(attr_name)

        generated_attribute_methods.module_eval                 if method_defined?('#{method_name}')                  undef :'#{method_name}'                end, __FILE__, __LINE__ + 1

        if method_name.to_s =~ COMPILABLE_REGEXP
          generated_attribute_methods.module_eval                   def #{method_name}(*args)                    send(:#{matcher.method_missing_target}, '#{attr_name}', *args)                  end, __FILE__, __LINE__ + 1
        else
          generated_attribute_methods.module_eval                   define_method('#{method_name}') do |*args|                    send('#{matcher.method_missing_target}', '#{attr_name}', *args)                  end, __FILE__, __LINE__ + 1
        end
      end
    end
  end
end
define_attribute_methods(attr_names)

Declares the attributes that should be prefixed and suffixed by ActiveModel::AttributeMethods.

To use, pass in an array of attribute names (as strings or symbols), be sure to declare define_attribute_methods after you define any prefix, suffix or affix methods, or they will not hook in.

class Person

  include ActiveModel::AttributeMethods
  attr_accessor :name, :age, :address
  attribute_method_prefix 'clear_'

  # Call to define_attribute_methods must appear after the
  # attribute_method_prefix, attribute_method_suffix or
  # attribute_method_affix declares.
  define_attribute_methods [:name, :age, :address]

  private

  def clear_attribute(attr)
    ...
  end
end
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/attribute_methods.rb, line 281
def define_attribute_methods(attr_names)
  attr_names.each { |attr_name| define_attribute_method(attr_name) }
end
undefine_attribute_methods()

Removes all the previously dynamically defined methods from the class

# File activemodel/lib/active_model/attribute_methods.rb, line 320
def undefine_attribute_methods
  generated_attribute_methods.module_eval do
    instance_methods.each { |m| undef_method(m) }
  end
end
Instance Protected methods
instance_method_already_implemented?(method_name)
# File activemodel/lib/active_model/attribute_methods.rb, line 336
def instance_method_already_implemented?(method_name)
  method_defined?(method_name)
end