# Need some help designing my messaging system **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [December 19, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-some-help-designing-my-messaging-system/50653 "2005-12-19T19:03:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![i8ramin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/e36b37/32.png) [@i8ramin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/i8ramin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-some-help-designing-my-messaging-system/50653/1 "2005-12-19T19:03:15Z")
I am trying to create a messaging system for my users but I’m having a hard time designing my db. This is what i have in mind, but I am not sure if its the best approach. user has\_one inbox user has\_one outbox inbox has\_many messages outbox has\_many messages inbox table user\_id outbox table user\_id messages table box\_id (refers to either inbox or outbox - how?) from\_id to\_id msg\_status (new, sent, read, deleted, etc.) subject body does this make sense? is there a better way of acheiving this? since both inbox and outbox both have many messages, how do I created the association between them? will the addition of a from\_id and to\_id in my messages table slow anything down? is there a better way or an OO way of getting this information w/o hitting the db alot? Thank you, R ---
**Author:** ![i8ramin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/e36b37/32.png) [@i8ramin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/i8ramin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-some-help-designing-my-messaging-system/50653/2 "2005-12-19T19:13:19Z")
Ramin Bozorg wrote: > I am trying to create a messaging system for my users but I’m having a > hard time designing my db. This is what i have in mind, but I am not > sure if its the best approach. > > user has\_one inbox > user has\_one outbox > > inbox has\_many messages > outbox has\_many messages What do you need the boxes for? Why not: message belongs\_to sender, class = User message belongs\_to recipient, class = User user has\_many sent\_messages, class = Message, foreign\_key = sender\_id user has\_many received\_messages, class = Message, foreign\_key = recipient\_id table messages: sender\_id recipient\_id ---
**Author:** ![i8ramin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/e36b37/32.png) [@i8ramin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/i8ramin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-some-help-designing-my-messaging-system/50653/3 "2005-12-19T20:12:39Z")
you could take that a step further even to handle multiple recipients: (untested) ## users id int … ## messages id int sender\_id int … ## messages\_recipients message\_id int recipient\_id int read\_at datetime default NULL … class User \< ActiveRecord::Base # received messages (INBOX) has\_and\_belongs\_to\_many :received\_messages, :class\_name =\> “Message”, :join\_table =\> “messages\_recipients” # sent messages (OUTBOX) has\_many :sent\_messages, :class\_name =\> “Message”, :foreign\_key =\> “sender\_id” end class Message \< ActiveRecord::Base # recipients of the message has\_and\_belongs\_to\_many :recipients, :class\_name =\> “User”, :join\_table =\> “messages\_recipients”, :association\_foreign\_key =\> “recipient\_id” # sender of the message belongs\_to :sender, :class\_name =\> “User”, :foreign\_key =\> “sender\_id” end then to take it even FURTHER and implement a ‘read\_at’ field in the join table to show what’s been read and when. this could allow you to hilight unread messages or even a simple read receipt. ---
**Author:** ![i8ramin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/e36b37/32.png) [@i8ramin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/i8ramin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-some-help-designing-my-messaging-system/50653/4 "2005-12-19T20:42:53Z")
That’s the part I was confused about myself. I didn’t think I needed the boxes, but wasn’t sure how to write the Rails code to handle it. I dont quiet yet have a good understanding of how the ActiveRecord stuff works. Can you guys recommend a chapter in the book that will explain all of this better? On 12/19/05, Chris H. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > * * * > > class Message \< ActiveRecord::Base > unread messages or even a simple read receipt. > > > > > > > > recipient\_id > > [http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails](http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails) > > * * * > > Rails mailing list > removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid > [http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails](http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails) – - Ramin [http://www.getintothis.com/blog](http://www.getintothis.com/blog) ---
**Author:** ![i8ramin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/i/e36b37/32.png) [@i8ramin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/i8ramin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/need-some-help-designing-my-messaging-system/50653/5 "2005-12-19T20:42:55Z")
Chris, thanks for the multiple recipients tip. Something I will definitely consider for my application. On 12/19/05, Ramin [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > (untested) > > … > > has\_and\_belongs\_to\_many :received\_messages, :class\_name =\> “Message”, > > =\> “messages\_recipients”, :association\_foreign\_key =\> “recipient\_id” > > On 12/19/05, Andreas S. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > > > sender\_id > > - Ramin > [http://www.getintothis.com/blog](http://www.getintothis.com/blog) – - Ramin [http://www.getintothis.com/blog](http://www.getintothis.com/blog)