I have a Log model that belongs to User and Firm. For setting this I have this code in the logs_controller's create action.
def create
@log = Log.new(params[:log])
@log.user = current_user
@log.firm = current_firm
@log.save
end
current_user and current_firm are helper methods from the application_helper.rb
While this works it makes the controller fat. How can I move this to the model?
I believe this sort of functionality belongs in a 'worker' class in lib/. My action method might look like
def create
@log = LogWorker.create(params[:log], current_user, current_firm)
end
And then I'd have a module in lib/log_worker.rb like
module LogWorker
extend self
def create(params, user, firm)
log = Log.new(params)
log.user = user
log.firm = firm
log.save
end
end
This is a simplified example; I typically namespace everything, so my method might actually be in MyApp::Log::Manager.create(...)
No difference: You can refactor the code:
def create
@log = Log.new(params[:log].merge(:user => current_user, :firm => current_firm)
@log.save
end
And your Log have to:
attr_accessible :user, :firm
Not much shorter, but the responsibility for the handling of current_user falls to the controller in MVC
def create
@log = Log.create(params[:log].merge(
:user => current_user,
:firm => current_firm))
end
EDIT
If you don't mind violating MVC a bit, here's a way to do it:
# application_controller.rb
before_filter :set_current
def set_current
User.current = current_user
Firm.current = current_firm
end
# app/models/user.rb
cattr_accessor :current
# app/models/firm.rb
cattr_accessor :current
# app/models/log.rb
before_save :set_current
def set_current
self.firm = Firm.current
self.user = User.current
end
# app/controllers/log_controller.rb
def create
@log = Log.create(params[:log])
end
attr_accessible. One reason I like this in a worker class is it helps enforce a single point of entry for creating model instances, as well as enforcing that the necessary relations will be setup (though validation will also help with this; the worker method's signature helps act as a guide). It also makes testing the functionality that will be found in the controller for manipulating models dead simple.