I'm running into an issue where I'm working with the as_json method, and how to efficiently return the object in JSON AND it's belongs_to object as JSON as well, where the belongs_to object has its own belongs_to object. Code would probably explain it better.
The Not-Working Way
Alert class
class Alert < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :message
# for json rendering
def as_json(options={})
super(:include => :message)
end
end
Message class
def as_json(options={})
super( methods: [:timestamp, :num_photos, :first_photo_url, :tag_names],
include: { camera: { only: [:id, :name] },
position: { only: [:id, :name, :address, :default_threat_level ]},
images: { only: [:id, :photo_url, :is_hidden]} })
end
The problem with this first set up is that when I have an Alert object and call
alert.as_json()
I get all the attributes from Alert and all the attributes from Message, but none of the other attributes from Message that I want, like Camera, Position, etc.
Here's the "It's Working, But Probably Not Proper Design Way"
Alert Class
class Alert < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :message
# for json rendering
def as_json(options={})
super().merge(:message => message.as_json)
end
end
Messages Class
# for json rendering
def as_json(options={})
super( methods: [:timestamp, :num_photos, :first_photo_url, :tag_names])
.merge(:camera => camera.as_json)
.merge(:position => position.as_json)
.merge(:images => images.as_json)
end
In this 2nd setup, I get all of Messages's nested attributes like I want.
My question, am I missing some Rails Convention to do this properly? It seems like there would/should be an easier way.
