Integrating Mongo Ruby API with Rails

This project provides an example of integrating the MongoDB with Rails using the MongoDB Ruby Driver. To implement this, we will create a model class that encapsulates all interaction with the MongoDB collection. The class methods will implement the standard ActiveModel all() and find() methods in addition to convenience methods to return the mongo_client and collection. Instances of the class will represent a specific document and its properties. The save(), update(), and destroy() instance methods are added to support further standard ActiveModel behavior. Other properties required by the Rails scaffolding, which expects the model class to be an ActiveModel instance, will also be added.

Create Application and Configure MongoDB Connection

Create a new application

$ rails new zips

Add Mongoid to Application to supply MongoDB Connection

Add the Mongoid gem to the Gemfile

gem 'mongoid', '~> 5.0.0'

Run the bundler

$ bundle

Generate a mongo database configuration file.

$ rails g mongoid:config
(output:)
      create  config/mongoid.yml

While the defaults generated from the above command are fine, do make sure that the names defined for development:clients:default:database and test:clients:default:database agree with where you import the JSON in a later step.

$ cat config/mongoid.yml | grep -v \# | grep -v '^$'
development:
  clients:
    default:
      database: zips_development
      hosts:
        - localhost:27017
      options:
  options:
test:
  clients:
    default:
      database: zips_test
      hosts:
        - localhost:27017
      options:
        read:
          mode: primary
        max_pool_size: 1

Next, we need to add some configurations to config/application.rb. This is used by stand-alone programs like rails console to be able to load the Mongoid environment with fewer steps. This also configures which ORM your scaffold commands use by default. Adding the mongoid gem had the impact of making it the default ORM. The lines below show how we can set it back to ether ActiveRecord or Mongoid. I am leaving it as ActiveRecord here so that we do not rock the boat too soon.

module Zips
  class Application < Rails::Application
	...
    # bootstraps mongoid within applications -- like rails console
    Mongoid.load!('./config/mongoid.yml')

    # which default ORM are we using with scaffold
    # add --orm none, mongoid, or active_record 
    # to rails generate cmd line to be specific
    config.generators {|g| g.orm :active_record}
    # config.generators {|g| g.orm :mongoid}

    # Do not swallow errors in after_commit/after_rollback callbacks.
    config.active_record.raise_in_transactional_callbacks = true
  end
end

Start Web Server

$ rails s

Download zips.json from MongoDB Web Site and Import

Download the zips.json from the MongoDB web site. The following shows an example of downloading it using curl. You may use a web browser. Place the downloaded file in db/zips.json, relative to the root of your application. The db directory should already exist.

curl http://media.mongodb.org/zips.json -o db/zips.json

Import the zips.json into the zips collection in the zips_development database.

Note 1: The --db name must match the name defined in config/mongoid.yml

Note 2: If not yet running, start your MongoDB Server using mongod

$ mongoimport --drop --db zips_development --collection zips --file db/zips.json
2015-09-12T19:44:10.785-0400    connected to: localhost
2015-09-12T19:44:11.554-0400    imported 29353 documents

To help familiarize you with the data we just imported, below is a represtantive document from the zips.json data set

{ 
	"_id" : "01007", 
	"city" : "BELCHERTOWN", 
	"loc" : [ -72.410953, 42.275103 ], 
	"pop" : 10579, 
	"state" : "MA" 
}

Create a Zip Class to Access the Database

We will be manually creating an app/model/zip.rb class that initially can obtain a connection to the MongoDB server and database. We will be evolving this class in the subsequent sections, so to start, the zip.rb model will implement the following:

• a mongo_client class method that returns the default database connection
• a collection class method that returns a reference to the zips collection.

These methods are consistent with methods implemented when using mongoid ORM.

Add the mongo_client and collection class methods

class Zip
  # convenience method for access to client in console
  def self.mongo_client
   Mongoid::Clients.default
  end

  # convenience method for access to zips collection
  def self.collection
   self.mongo_client['zips']
  end
end

In the rails console, invoke the zip class methods to verify a connection can be made and to ensure we are interacting with the intended database within Mongo. This database should match with what was used as part of the mongoimport command and should contain the zip codes imported from zips.json into our zips collection.

$ rails c
Loading development environment (Rails 4.2.3)
> Zip.mongo_client
 => #<Mongo::Client:0x34369420 cluster=localhost:27017>

> Zip.mongo_client[:zips]
 => #<Mongo::Collection:0x22032060 namespace=zips_development.zips>

> Zip.collection
 => #<Mongo::Collection:0x21998940 namespace=zips_development.zips>

> Zip.collection.find.count
DEBUG | zips_development.count | STARTED | {"count"=>"zips", "query"=>{}}
 => 29353                                                             

Update the Zip Class with CRUD Methods

Now that we have a connection to the database and can access the collection, it is time to get started implementing methods to perform CRUD against our model.

Add an all() Class Method to Find All Documents

Lets add a method that will return all documents from the zips collection. We will be starting with a projection that only returns the fields of interest -- in our case: _id, city, state, and pop. Since we started off earlier examples by eliminating location, I am choosing to show a projection that eliminates that property from our output.

def self.all
    collection.find
              .projection({_id:true, city:true, state:true, pop:true})
end 

Within the rails console, verify we can use our implementation of the all() method that also omits the location property.

> Zip.all.count
 => 29353 

> Zip.all.first
 => {"_id"=>"99743", "city"=>"HEALY", "pop"=>1058, "state"=>"AK"} 

In order to expand this query, lets augment this method with the following:

• an optional find-by-prototype
• sorting
• paging parameters

Additionally, we will map the document term pop with an internal term population so that we don't conflict with a reserved word later. Make sure we keep a stable sort when manipulating the sort hash or our ordering expressed to the DB could be randomized.

Please note that the example provided is a bit more complicated than required because we have added a multi-level sort in addition to the field mappings. The ordering of keys within the sort hash must state stable while performing the mapping from population within the application to pop within the database..

  def self.all(prototype={}, sort={:population=>1}, offset=0, limit=100)
    #map internal :population term to :pop document term
    tmp = {} #hash needs to stay in stable order provided
    sort.each {|k,v| 
      k = k.to_sym==:population ? :pop : k.to_sym
      tmp[k] = v  if [:city, :state, :pop].include?(k)
    }
    sort=tmp

    #convert to keys and then eliminate any properties not of interest
    prototype=prototype.symbolize_keys.slice(:city, :state) if !prototype.nil?

    Rails.logger.debug {"getting all zips, prototype=#{prototype}, sort=#{sort}, offset=#{offset}, limit=#{limit}"}

    result=collection.find(prototype)
          .projection({_id:true, city:true, state:true, pop:true})
          .sort(sort)
          .skip(offset)
    result=result.limit(limit) if !limit.nil?

    return result
  end

Verify that the default arguments to our augmented all() method returns only 100 documents. Observe the MongoDB API debug statement to notice that the results are sorted by population.

> Zip.all.to_a.count
getting all zips, prototype={}, sort={:pop=>1}, offset=0, limit=100
zips_development.find | {"find"=>"zips", "filter"=>{}, 
    "projection"=>{"_id"=>true, "city"=>true, "state"=>true, "pop"=>true}, 
    "skip"=>0, "limit"=>100, "sort"=>{"pop"=>1}}

 => 100 

Verify that the former default behavior can be obtained by passing in empty values for prototype, sort, and limit.

> Zip.all({},{},0,nil).to_a.count
getting all zips, prototype={}, sort={}, offset=0, limit=
zips_development.find | {"find"=>"zips", "filter"=>{}, 
  "projection"=>{"_id"=>true, "city"=>true, "state"=>true, "pop"=>true}, "skip"=>0, "sort"=>{}}

 => 29353 

Lets attempt a few additional query combinations for our updated all() method

> Zip.all({'state':'NY'},{'population':-1},0,1).first

getting all zips, prototype={:state=>"NY"}, sort={:pop=>-1}, offset=0, limit=1
zips_development.find | {"find"=>"zips", "filter"=>{"state"=>"NY"}, 
    "projection"=>{"_id"=>true, "city"=>true, "state"=>true, "pop"=>true}, 
    "skip"=>0, "limit"=>1, "sort"=>{"pop"=>-1}}

 => {"_id"=>"11226", "city"=>"BROOKLYN", "pop"=>111396, "state"=>"NY"} 

> Zip.all({'state':'NY'},{'population':1},0,1).first

getting all zips, prototype={:state=>"NY"}, sort={:pop=>1}, offset=0, limit=1
zips_development.find {"find"=>"zips", "filter"=>{"state"=>"NY"}, 
    "projection"=>{"_id"=>true, "city"=>true, "state"=>true, "pop"=>true}, 
    "skip"=>0, "limit"=>1, "sort"=>{"pop"=>1}}

 => {"_id"=>"13436", "city"=>"RAQUETTE LAKE", "pop"=>0, "state"=>"NY"} 

Add Instance Support for the Fields and Add the Ability to Initialize from a Hash

Implement the initialize() method so that it can accept a hash for both the internal (:id and :populate) and external (:_id and :pop) views of our fields. The mapping of :_id to :id will help integrate with Rails scaffold. The mapping from :pop to :populate helps us avoid overriding a method introduced later.

Notice the initialize() method's params hash must account for the id coming in from the view as :id, while coming in from the database as :_id. Both Rails and MongoDB have specific names they want for this key and we must account for this difference.

  attr_accessor :id, :city, :state, :population

  def to_s
    "#{@id}: #{@city}, #{@state}, pop=#{@population}"
  end

  # initialize for both Mongo and a Web hash
  def initialize(params={})
    #switch between both internal and external views of id and population
    @id=params[:_id].nil? ? params[:id] : params[:_id]
    @city=params[:city]
    @state=params[:state]
    @population=params[:pop].nil? ? params[:population] : params[:pop]
  end

Test out the initializer by creating an instance of the Zip class from a document returned from MongoDB query.

> doc=Zip.all({'state':'NY'},{'population':-1},0,1).first
 => {"_id"=>"11226", "city"=>"BROOKLYN", "pop"=>111396, "state"=>"NY"} 
> obj=Zip.new(doc)
 => #<Zip:0x0000000829c130 @id="11226", @city="BROOKLYN", @state="NY", @population=111396> 

Add a find() Class Method to Find/Return a Specific Instance

Enable find() to query by the :_id=>id passed into the method. If found, return a Zip instance initialized from the document hash returned by MongoDB.

  def self.find id
    Rails.logger.debug {"getting zip #{id}"}

    doc=collection.find(:_id=>id)
                  .projection({_id:true, city:true, state:true, pop:true})
                  .first
    return doc.nil? ? nil : Zip.new(doc)
  end 

Lets test this method by obtaining a Zip instance for a particular zipcode and report its population.

> Zip.find("11226").population
getting zip 11226
zips_development.find | {"find"=>"zips", "filter"=>{"_id"=>"11226"}, 
    "projection"=>{"_id"=>true, "city"=>true, "state"=>true, "pop"=>true}}

 => 111396 

Implement a save() Instance Method to Insert a New Zip

The save() method should preserve the state of the current zip instance. Note that although we are manually assigning the _id in this case and already know the value without consulting the result. However, for dyanamic _id assignment cases, we can get the inserted_id from the result.

  def save 
    Rails.logger.debug {"saving #{self}"}

    result=collection.insert_one(_id:@id, city:@city, state:@state, pop:@pop)
    @id=result.inserted_id
  end

We will create a Zip instance and then call save() to insert it into the Database

> zip=Zip.new({'id':"00001",'city':"Fake City",'state':"WY",'population':3})
 => #<Zip:0x00000006fd90c0 @id="00001", @city="Fake City", @state="WY", @population=3> 

> zip.save
saving 00001: Fake City, WY, pop=3
zips_development.insert | STARTED | {"insert"=>"zips", "documents"=>[{"_id"=>"00001", 
    "city"=>"Fake City", "state"=>"WY", "pop"=>3}], "writeConcern"=>{"w"=>1}, "ordered"=>true}
 => "00001"

Add an update() Instance Method to Change the Values in the Database

Create an update() method that accepts a hash and performs an update on those values after accounting for any name mappings.

Note that here -- again -- our method would be much simpler if we did not have to manually map pop to population internally.

  def update(updates)
    Rails.logger.debug {"updating #{self} with #{updates}"}

    # map internal :population term to :pop document term
    updates[:pop]=updates[:population]  if !updates[:population].nil?
    updates.slice!(:city, :state, :pop) if !slice.nil?

    self.class.collection
              .find(_id:@id)
              .update_one(:$set=>updates)
  end

To test update() we will obtain a zip instance using find(), then update its population from 3 to 4. Notice that :$set was used to change specific field(s), without changing fields not supplied.

> zip=Zip.find "00001"
getting zip 00001
 => #<Zip:0x00000005835f68 @id="00001", @city="Fake City", @state="WY", @population=3> 

> zip.update({:population=>4})
updating 00001: Fake City, WY, pop=3 with {:population=>4}
zips_development.update | {"update"=>"zips", "updates"=>[{"q"=>{:_id=>"00001"}, 
    "u"=>{:$set=>{:pop=>4}}, "multi"=>false, "upsert"=>false}], "writeConcern"=>{:w=>1}, "ordered"=>true}
 => #<Mongo::Operation::Result:46208000 documents=[{"ok"=>1, "nModified"=>1, "n"=>1}]> 

> zip=Zip.find("00001").population
getting zip 00001
 => 4 

Add a destroy() Instance Method to Remove the Current Zip from the Database

destroy() will delete the document from the database that is associated with the instance's :id.

  def destroy
    Rails.logger.debug {"destroying #{self}"}

    self.class.collection
              .find(_id:@id)
              .delete_one   
  end

Load an instance with the state of one of the cities and remove that city from the database.

> zip=Zip.find "00001"
getting zip 00001
zips_development.find | {"find"=>"zips", "filter"=>{"_id"=>"00001"}, 
    "projection"=>{"_id"=>true, "city"=>true, "state"=>true, "pop"=>true}}
 => #<Zip:0x0000000647cee8 @id="00001", @city="Fake City", @state="WY", @population=4> 

> zip.destroy
destroying 00001: Fake City, WY, pop=4
zips_development.delete | {"delete"=>"zips", 
    "deletes"=>[{"q"=>{"_id"=>"00001"}, "limit"=>1}], "writeConcern"=>{"w"=>1}, "ordered"=>true}
 => #<Mongo::Operation::Result:52648160 documents=[{"ok"=>1, "n"=>1}]> 

> zip=Zip.find "00001"
getting zip 00001
 => nil 

Include ActiveModel::Model Mixin Behavor

We need to include the ActiveModel::Model mixin and override its persisted? implementation to simply return the result of whether a primary key has been assigned. JSON marshalling will also expect a created_at and updated_at by default.

class Zip
  include ActiveModel::Model
...
  def persisted?
    !@id.nil?
  end  
  def created_at
    nil
  end
  def updated_at
    nil
  end

Full Model Class

Our class should now be at a point where it can integrate with Rails as an official Model class -- with some help.

class Zip
  include ActiveModel::Model

  attr_accessor :id, :city, :state, :population

  def to_s
    "#{@id}: #{@city}, #{@state}, pop=#{@population}"
  end

  # initialize from both a Mongo and Web hash
  def initialize(params={})
    #switch between both internal and external views of id and population
    @id=params[:_id].nil? ? params[:id] : params[:_id]
    @city=params[:city]
    @state=params[:state]
    @population=params[:pop].nil? ? params[:population] : params[:pop]
  end

  # tell Rails whether this instance is persisted
  def persisted?
    !@id.nil?
  end
  def created_at
    nil
  end
  def updated_at
    nil
  end

  # convenience method for access to client in console
  def self.mongo_client
   Mongoid::Clients.default
  end

  # convenience method for access to zips collection
  def self.collection
   self.mongo_client['zips']
  end

  # implement a find that returns a collection of document as hashes. 
  # Use initialize(hash) to express individual documents as a class 
  # instance. 
  #   * prototype - query example for value equality
  #   * sort - hash expressing multi-term sort order
  #   * offset - document to start results
  #   * limit - number of documents to include
  def self.all(prototype={}, sort={:population=>1}, offset=0, limit=100)
    #map internal :population term to :pop document term
    tmp = {} #hash needs to stay in stable order provided
    sort.each {|k,v| 
      k = k.to_sym==:population ? :pop : k.to_sym
      tmp[k] = v  if [:city, :state, :pop].include?(k)
    }
    sort=tmp
    #convert to keys and then eliminate any properties not of interest
    prototype=prototype.symbolize_keys.slice(:city, :state) if !prototype.nil?

    Rails.logger.debug {"getting all zips, prototype=#{prototype}, sort=#{sort}, offset=#{offset}, limit=#{limit}"}

    result=collection.find(prototype)
          .projection({_id:true, city:true, state:true, pop:true})
          .sort(sort)
          .skip(offset)
    result=result.limit(limit) if !limit.nil?

    return result
  end

  # locate a specific document. Use initialize(hash) on the result to 
  # get in class instance form
  def self.find id
    Rails.logger.debug {"getting zip #{id}"}

    doc=collection.find(:_id=>id)
                  .projection({_id:true, city:true, state:true, pop:true})
                  .first
    return doc.nil? ? nil : Zip.new(doc)
  end 

  # create a new document using the current instance
  def save 
    Rails.logger.debug {"saving #{self}"}

    self.class.collection
              .insert_one(_id:@id, city:@city, state:@state, pop:@population)
  end

  # update the values for this instance
  def update(updates)
    Rails.logger.debug {"updating #{self} with #{updates}"}

    #map internal :population term to :pop document term
    updates[:pop]=updates[:population]  if !updates[:population].nil?
    updates.slice!(:city, :state, :pop) if !updates.nil?

    self.class.collection
              .find(_id:@id)
              .update_one(:$set=>updates)
  end

  # remove the document associated with this instance form the DB
  def destroy
    Rails.logger.debug {"destroying #{self}"}

    self.class.collection
              .find(_id:@id)
              .delete_one   
  end  
end

Create Controller and View

Generate the controller and view using a scaffold command that does not create a model class.

$ rails g scaffold_controller Zip id city state population:integer
      create  app/controllers/zips_controller.rb
      invoke  erb
      create    app/views/zips
      create    app/views/zips/index.html.erb
      create    app/views/zips/edit.html.erb
      create    app/views/zips/show.html.erb
      create    app/views/zips/new.html.erb
      create    app/views/zips/_form.html.erb
      invoke  test_unit
      create    test/controllers/zips_controller_test.rb
      invoke  helper
      create    app/helpers/zips_helper.rb
      invoke    test_unit
      invoke  jbuilder
      create    app/views/zips/index.json.jbuilder
      create    app/views/zips/show.json.jbuilder

Verify the route to the new controller is in place in config/routes.rb

Rails.application.routes.draw do
  resources :zips

Access the new page and observe an error between what was returned by the Model (a hash with an :_id key) and what is required by the view (an instance of a class with the id() method).

http://localhost:3000/zips

undefined method `id' for {"_id"=>"99773", "city"=>"SHUNGNAK", "pop"=>0, "state"=>"AK"}:BSON::Document

    <% @zips.each do |zip| %>
      <tr>
        <td><%= zip.id %></td>
        <td><%= zip.city %></td>
        <td><%= zip.state %></td>
        <td><%= zip.population %></td>

Add the following helper method to the app/helpers/zips_helper.rb to convert a Mongo document to a Ruby class instance. We left it as a document so the all() method did not have to EAGERly access every document in the result set before it was know it would be used.

module ZipsHelper
  def toZip(value)
    #change value to a Zip if not already a Zip       
    return value.is_a?(Zip) ? value : Zip.new(value)
  end
end

Add a call to the helper method in app/views/zips/index.html.erb

    <% @zips.each do |zip| %>
      <% zip=toZip(zip) %>

Not there is a similar issue with the JSON view as well

http://localhost:3000/zips.json
key not found: :id

json.array!(@zips) do |zip|
  json.extract! zip, :id, :id, :city, :state, :population
  json.url zip_url(zip, format: :json)
end

Fix the JSON view error by calling the helper method in app/helpers/zips/index.json.jbuilder.

json.array!(@zips) do |zip|
  zip=toZip(zip)
  json.extract! zip, :id, :id, :city, :state, :population
  json.url zip_url(zip, format: :json)
end

Test Drive

In our ZipsController, prior to a :show, :edit, :update, or :destroy action being executed, we will first invoke the set_zip() method to retreive the specific Zip by id. The generated helper comes ready to call Zip.find and expect to get an instance back.

The zip_params() method restricts mass assignments for :zip parameters to the fields of :id, :city, :state, and :populaton.

class ZipsController < ApplicationController
  before_action :set_zip, only: [:show, :edit, :update, :destroy]

  private
    # Use callbacks to share common setup or constraints between actions.
    def set_zip
      @zip = Zip.find(params[:id])
    end

    # Never trust parameters from the scary internet, only allow the white list through.
    def zip_params
      params.require(:zip).permit(:id, :city, :state, :population)
    end

Index

index() retrieves all the Zips. The generated action method comes ready to call Zip.all.

http://localhost:3000/zips
http://localhost:3000/zips.json
def index
  @zips = Zip.all
end

Show

show() retrieves a specific Zip based upon its id. The generated action method is fully implemented by the generated set_zip helper method.

#GET /zips/{id}
#GET /zips/{id}.json
  before_action :set_zip, only: [:show, :edit, :update, :destroy]
  def set_zip
    @zip = Zip.find(params[:id])
  end

  def show
  end

New + Create

new() returns an initial prototype to the form to create a new Zip.

create() accepts the results and creates a new Zip instance in the database.

Both of these generated action methods come ready to call Zip.new, which uses the initialize method. The generated create action also comes ready to invoke save on the Zip instance.

#POST /zips/new
  def new
    @zip = Zip.new
  end

#POST /zips
  def create
    @zip = Zip.new(zip_params)

    respond_to do |format|
      if @zip.save
        format.html { redirect_to @zip, notice: 'Zip was successfully created.' }
        format.json { render :show, status: :created, location: @zip }
      else
        format.html { render :new }
        format.json { render json: @zip.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
      end
    end
  end

Edit + Update

edit() retrieves the instance from the database based upon its id.

update() applies the changes to the retrieved instance provided by edit().

Both generated action methods rely on the before_action and the generated update action also comes ready to call update on the Zip instance.

http://localhost:3000/zips/00002/edit

#GET /zips/{id}
  before_action :set_zip, only: [:show, :edit, :update, :destroy]
  def set_zip
    @zip = Zip.find(params[:id])
  end

  def edit
  end

#PUT /zips/{id}
  def update
    respond_to do |format|
      if @zip.update(zip_params)
        format.html { redirect_to @zip, notice: 'Zip was successfully updated.' }
        format.json { render :show, status: :ok, location: @zip }
      else
        format.html { render :edit }
        format.json { render json: @zip.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
      end
    end
  end

Destroy

destroy() removes a specific Zip instance based upon its id. The generated action method comes ready to call destroy on the Zip instance.

#DELETE /zips/{id}
  def destroy
    @zip.destroy
    respond_to do |format|
      format.html { redirect_to zips_url, notice: 'Zip was successfully destroyed.' }
      format.json { head :no_content }
    end
  end

Root Application

Add a second line to config/routes.rb to make zips the root application.

Rails.application.routes.draw do
  root 'zips#index'

Add Pagination

Add the will_paginate to the Gemfile

gem 'will_paginate', '~> 3.0.7'

Execute bundle to install the Gem

bundle

Add the will_paginate Command to the View

This command will add page properties to the displayed view and controls advance paging. Specifically, it can pass :page as a number >= 1. will_paginate also uses :per_page to express the row limit for a single page.

<table>
...
  <tbody>
    <% @zips.each do |zip| %>
      <% zip=toZip(zip) %>
      <tr>
        <td><%= zip.id %></td>
...
      </tr>
    <% end %>
  </tbody>
</table>
<%= will_paginate @zips %>

Add will_paginate Support for Paging in the Controller

The controller is passing a controlled set of parameters to the Model.paginate call. The page number is currently the only value passed but :per_page could be specified here as well.

  def index
    #@zips = Zip.all
    @zips = Zip.paginate(:page => params[:page])
  end    

Add will_paginate Support for Paging in the Model

This method implements a facade around the all() method by translating the will_paginate inputs into all() query inputs and converts the document array results into a will_paginate result that contains such things as total number of documents.

  def self.paginate(params)
    Rails.logger.debug("paginate(#{params})")
    page=(params[:page] ||= 1).to_i
    limit=(params[:per_page] ||= 30).to_i
    offset=(page-1)*limit

    #get the associated page of Zips -- eagerly convert doc to Zip
    zips=[]
    all({}, {}, offset, limit).each do |doc|
      zips << Zip.new(doc)
    end

    #get a count of all documents in the collection
    total=all({}, {}, 0, 1).count
    
    WillPaginate::Collection.create(page, limit, total) do |pager|
      pager.replace(zips)
    end    
  end

A reference on how to use will_paginate

Quick Test Drive

As a quick test to verify our current will_paginate implementation, the following URL should land us on the 3rd page of "Listing Zips"

http://localhost:3000/?page=3

Add Selection Criteria and Ordering

Given the following URL:

http://localhost:3000/?page=38&per_page=10&sort=population:-1,city:1&state=MD

Lets implement additional functionality that will allow our application to:

• Specify a particular page number: page=38
• Define a row limit per page: per_page=10
• Order the results by population DESC, city ASC: sort=population:-1,city:1
• Define zips for a particular state: state=MD

Create a Helper Method in the Controller to Convert the Sort Query Param to a MongoDB Query Sort Hash

app/controller/zips_controller.rb

private
    #create a hash sort spec from query param
    #sort=state:1,city,population:-1
    #{state:1, city:1, population:-1}
    def get_sort_hash(sort)
      order={}
      if (!sort.nil?)
        sort.split(",").each do |term|
          args=term.split(":")
          dir = args.length<2 || args[1].to_i >= 0 ? 1 : -1
          order[args[0]] = dir
        end
      end
      return order
    end

Update the Controller Method to Pass the Query and Sort Terms into the will_paginate Call

This passes right to our Model.paginate call where we can add a small amount of processing to pass it through to the all() method.

  def index
    #@zips = Zip.all
    #@zips = Zip.paginate(params)

    args=params.clone                      #update a clone of params
    args[:sort]=get_sort_hash(args[:sort]) #replace sort with hash
    @zips = Zip.paginate(args)
  end

Update the Model Method to Pass the Query and Sort Terms into all()

app/models/zip.rb

  def self.paginate(params)
    ...
    sort=params[:sort] ||= {}

    ...
    all(params, sort, offset, limit).each do |doc|

    ...
    total=all(params, sort, 0, 1).count

    ...
  end

Final Test Drive

With our selection criteria and ordering logic now in place, the below URL:

http://localhost:3000/?page=38&per_page=10&sort=population:-1,city:1&state=MD

should render us results similiar to this:

###Listing Zips

Id	City	State	Population
21522	BITTINGER	MD	479	Show	Edit	Destroy
21156	Upper Falls	MD	464	Show	Edit	Destroy
20632	FAULKNER	MD	459	Show	Edit	Destroy
21677	WOOLFORD	MD	459	Show	Edit	Destroy
21816	CHANCE	MD	415	Show	Edit	Destroy
20630	DRAYDEN	MD	413	Show	Edit	Destroy
20779	TRACYS LANDING	MD	413	Show	Edit	Destroy
20615	BROOMES ISLAND	MD	404	Show	Edit	Destroy
21672	TODDVILE	MD	361	Show	Edit	Destroy
21840	NANTICOKE	MD	358	Show	Edit	Destroy

<-- Previous 1 2 ... 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Next -->

If you flip the value of city:1 from 1 to -1, should will see the ordering of DRAYDEN and TRACYS LANDING switch places.

Heroku Deployment

Setup MongoDB Database on mLab

1. Create an mLab Account

   https://mlab.com/home
   

2. Create a (Free Sandbox) Database on mLab

   • From your mLab home page, select Create New MongoDB Deployments

   • For Cloud Provider: select Amazon Web Services

     • On the Location: Pull Down Menu, select the Region that is geographically closest to you

   • Under Plan: select the Single-node Option

     • Select the Free Sanbox option under Standard Line

   • Leave the High Storage Line options blank

   • In the Database name: input field, supply a name (i.e., zips_production)

   • Verify the Price: field calculator is $0 / month

   • Select the Create new MongoDB deployment button

   • On your mLab home page, you should now see your database (i.e., zips_production) listed

   • Now select your newly created MongoDB deployment

   • The following URL template should be displayed with the details pertaining to your deployment

      To connect using a driver via the standard MongoDB URI: 
      	mongodb://<dbuser>:<dbpass>@<dbhost>/<dbname>
     

3. Create a Database User and Password on mLab

   • Select the Users Menu
   • Select the Add database user button
   • In the Add new database user form, supply a username and password:
     • <dbuser>
     • <dbpass>
     • then select Create

4. Import zips.json from MongoDB using the database and user account created above

   $ wget http://media.mongodb.org/zips.json
   $ mongoimport -h dbhost -d dbname -c zips -u dbuser -p dbpass --file zips.json
   2015-12-07T18:03:34.015-0500	connected to: ds######.mlab.com:<port>
   2015-12-07T18:03:36.416-0500	[################........] <dbname>.<collection_name> 2.1 MB/3.0 MB (68.5%)
   2015-12-07T18:03:38.953-0500	imported 29353 documents

Setup Application on Heroku

1. Create a Heroku Account

   • If not yet installed, download and install the Heroku Toolbelt.
   • This client CLI will be used in later steps that rely on heroku commands

2. Register your application with Heroku by changing to the directory with a git repository and invoking heroku apps:create (appname).

   Note that your application must be in the root directory of the development folder hosting the git repository.

   $ cd zips
   $ heroku apps:create appname
   Creating appname... done, stack is cedar-14
   https://appname.herokuapp.com/ | https://git.heroku.com/appname.git
   Git remote heroku added
   

   This will add an additional remote to your git repository.

   $ git remote --verbose
   heroku  https://git.heroku.com/appname.git (fetch)
   heroku  https://git.heroku.com/appname.git (push)
   ...

3. Add a MONGOLAB_URI environment variable where dbhost is both host and port# concatenated together, separated by a ":" (host:port) .

   $ heroku config:add MONGOLAB_URI=mongodb://dbuser:dbpass@dbhost/dbname

4. Add a production profile to the config/mongoid.yml file. The following Mongoid connection information was provided by the MongoLab page on the Heroku Dev Center page.

   production:
     clients:
       default:
         uri: <%= ENV['MONGOLAB_URI'] %>
         options:
           connect_timeout: 15

5. Update the Gemfile so that Heroku will accept and deploy our application.

   Restrict the sqlite gem in Gemfile to the development profile. Heroku does not support sqlite and this application does not use an RDBMS. However, this gem was put there by by rails new by default and required to stick around because we have not removed ActiveRecord from the application.

   gem 'sqlite3', group: :development

   Add the postgres gem to the production profile. We have not neutered the application of ActiveRecord and Heroku wants a supported database for that platform.

   group :production do
     #use postgres on heroku
     gem 'pg'
     gem 'rails_12factor'
   end 

   Be sure to run bundle when complete and check the Gemfile.lock file into git.

   $ bundle

6. Commit changes to application

   $ git commit -am "ready for heroku deploy"

7. Deploy application

   $ git push heroku master

Access Application

1. Access URL

   http://appname.herokuapp.com

2. Access logs

   $ heroku logs