Relationship woes

Rails
1

I have two tables:
class PgmUpdate < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :pgm_visits, :foreign_key => ‘pgm_update_fk’
…
and
class PgmVisit < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :pgm_update, :foreign_key =>
‘pgm_update_fk’, :dependent => true
…

According to the has_many docs (http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/
ActiveRecord/Associations/ClassMethods.html#M000471)
collection<<(object, â?¦) - adds one or more objects to the collection
by setting their foreign keys to the collectionâ??s primary key.

But when I add a new, unsaved PgmVisit to an unsaved PgmUpdate the
PgmVisit still has a nil foreign key and no pgm_update to show for.
Are the docs failing to mention something about unsaved records? I
had similar unpredictable problems with WebObjects which is why I am
now learning Rails.

A related questing is when is the best time to set a custom primary
key? Is it required for collection<< to work? I would prefer to not
set it if possible since the DB will generate one, but I will if I
have to.

-John

–
John S.
Computing Staff - Webmaster
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
University of California, Santa Barbara
[email protected]
(805) 893-6307

2

The PgmUpdate object needs to be saved before the foreign keys will get
assigned correctly. If possible, save the PgmUpdate before adding any
visits. If you are worried about partial lists/info wrap it in a
transaction:
PgmUpdate.transaction do
…
end

You shouldn’t need to set any keys manually. Rails/ActiveRecord will
take
care of it.

3

Ok, that sounds reasonable, but is it safe for a transactions to span
multiple request-responses? I want a form for users to add visits,
but it must be able to rollback the transaction if the form is never
submitted or cancelled, do transactions timeout? Should I just work
around the problem by associating and saving everything at the last
submission?

-John

–
John S.
Computing Staff - Webmaster
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
University of California, Santa Barbara
[email protected]
(805) 893-6307