Can anyone tell me if I''m on the right track? I think this
isn''t
quite right:
I want to implement an activity log for users. It''ll show them a list
of the objects they''ve viewed. I have, of course, many types of
objects in the Rails program.
I''ve thought that I''d make a log_entries table which would
have
a :viewed_object_id and :viewed_object_type.
I''d then like to be able to retrieve all of the viewed objects,
something along the lines:
user.log_entries.map{|e| e.viewed_object}
And I could display links to them, like:
link_to obj.to_s, obj
...so, this is a form of STI, but I''m not sure if Rails handles this
kind. I''m also not sure if this is the best way to implement this
kind of feature.
Thanks for any feedback!
Hi Robb, I ended up writing a very crude solution and then stopped that to revamp later. I DO believe you are on the right track though. The only part that I havent figured out though is writing neat code for the actual message or sentence the user will read. Like, You edited the task - Change tyres on car Robb completed the task - Change tyres on car These sentences will vary depending on the action, object and user. To generate them using a function is, at least in my case, not possible. Im hard coding them right now. Read up on polymorphic relationships. Its basically what you have suggested above, only, Rails makes it a bit easier. http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/Associations/ClassMethods.html Good luck! And DO update this post with your efforts. On Aug 13, 9:13 am, Robb <robb.shec...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:> Can anyone tell me if I''m on the right track? I think this isn''t > quite right: > > I want to implement an activity log for users. It''ll show them a list > of the objects they''ve viewed. I have, of course, many types of > objects in the Rails program. > > I''ve thought that I''d make a log_entries table which would have > a :viewed_object_id and :viewed_object_type. > > I''d then like to be able to retrieve all of the viewed objects, > something along the lines: > > user.log_entries.map{|e| e.viewed_object} > > And I could display links to them, like: > > link_to obj.to_s, obj > > ...so, this is a form of STI, but I''m not sure if Rails handles this > kind. I''m also not sure if this is the best way to implement this > kind of feature. > > Thanks for any feedback!
Thanks, Ram. Yep, I realized that polymorphic associations is exactly what I was talking about. In my case, all the log info is private and per-user. Also, the only action is "view", so I have a simpler case than you. I just need to generate a list like, Today Document 452.242 Document 551.432 Yesterday Document 43.234 Chapter 452 Now, in your case, I wouldn''t worry at *all* about how to generate the text. This is an issue for the presentation layer. I''d just be concerned with making sure I have all the relevant objects so that the various templates can render the output appropriately: the currently logged in user, a list of log entries, each of which has a reference to the relevant object, the method invoked, and the user who did it. I suggest checking out the "Command" design pattern. It kind of sounds like what you''re doing. - Robb On Aug 12, 9:29 pm, Ram <yourstruly.vi...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:>... The only > part that I havent figured out though is writing neat code for the > actual message or sentence the user will read. Like, >> You edited the task - Change tyres on car > Robb completed the task - Change tyres on car
Nice. Went through a wiki article on Command Pattern. Very much the design i need. Will try to do that when I get back to the activity log :). Thanks. On Aug 13, 10:49 am, Robb <robb.shec...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:> Thanks, Ram. Yep, I realized that polymorphic associations is exactly > what I was talking about. In my case, all the log info is private and > per-user. Also, the only action is "view", so I have a simpler case > than you. I just need to generate a list like, > > Today > Document 452.242 > Document 551.432 > > Yesterday > Document 43.234 > Chapter 452 > > Now, in your case, I wouldn''t worry at *all* about how to generate the > text. This is an issue for the presentation layer. I''d just be > concerned with making sure I have all the relevant objects so that the > various templates can render the output appropriately: the currently > logged in user, a list of log entries, each of which has a reference > to the relevant object, the method invoked, and the user who did it. > > I suggest checking out the "Command" design pattern. It kind of > sounds like what you''re doing. > > - Robb > > On Aug 12, 9:29 pm, Ram <yourstruly.vi...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote: > > >... The only > > part that I havent figured out though is writing neat code for the > > actual message or sentence the user will read. Like, > > > You edited the task - Change tyres on car > > Robb completed the task - Change tyres on car
Hi,
you guyes are doing what I want to implement soon. So I had some
thoughts about an activity log. Pretty sure polymorphic associations
are a good choice. To keep the rest clean from logging code and the
logging flexible, I thought about using an observer, like
class ActivityObserver < ActiveRecord::Observer
observe :model_2_observe_01, model_2_observe_2 #, ...
def after_save(record)
activity = Activity.new(record)
activity.save
end
end
Should do it. I just wonder if Rails ensures ACID behavoir for
observers, anyone knows?
Cheers,
Chris