I’m in the process of familiarizing myself with both RoR and database
design, which has me seeking some resurance (or tips for change) on my
current problem.
I’m creating a list of journal articles, books and book chapters. Each
article, book and chapter has many authors.
Models and their columns (not the actual code):
model: Journal
name, abbreviated_name, url
model: AuthorInfo
last_name, first_name, middle_name,
model: Author
author_info_id, authored_id, authored_type
model: Book
name, edition, publisher, year
model: Article
title, year, journal_id, volume, issue
model: Chapter
title, book_id
The relationships are as follows:
class Journal < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many => :articles
end
class AuthorInfo < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many => authors
end
class Author < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to => :authored, :polymorphic => true
belongs_to => :authorinfo
end
class Book < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many => :chapters
has_many => :authors, :as => :authored
end
class Article < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to => :journal
has_many => :authors, :as => :authored
end
class Chapter < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to => :book
has_many => :authors, :as => :authored
end
Example for journal article:
Title: “Neuroplasticity and the frontal lobes”, authors: J Kilman, T
Spence, Z Atoms. Journal: Neuron
This would hopefully be associated with: one row in the Articles table,
3 rows in the Authors table (one for each author), 1 row in the Journal
table. Each author would have one row on the AuthorInfos table.
Does this make sense, is there a better way to do this?