Hey guys 
I have some models that include computed fields, i.e. fields that
aren’t data as such on a table, but are computed using other fields in
the table, like author.printed_name which is computed (on the sql
server) by concatenating first names, last name, and name suffix.
If a try to save a model that has a property like this, the sql server
throws an error that it can’t modify a computed column. Which is
understandable
I just don’t know how to prevent that particular property/column from
being saved when doing author.save().
Anyone?
Thanks,
Daniel
Hi Daniel,
Daniel Smedegaard B. wrote:
I have some models that include computed fields, i.e. fields that
aren’t data as such on a table, but are computed using other fields in
the table, like author.printed_name which is computed (on the sql
server) by concatenating first names, last name, and name suffix.
Without having any intention of getting into a philosophical debate re:
‘best way’ …
In Rails, you do this sort of thing in the Model rather than in the
database. My recommendation would be to turn the field in the database
into
a ‘normal’ string, move the computation into a method in the model, and
use
a before filter to invoke it.
hth,
Bill
Daniel Smedegaard B. wrote:
being saved when doing author.save().
Have a look at the attr_readonly patch at
http://dev.rubyonrails.org/ticket/6896
–
We develop, watch us RoR, in numbers too big to ignore.
And, if possible, remove the field from the DB entirely, and just use
Rails
to simulate a field that doesn’t really exist… unless there’s a
specific
reason for having your ‘faux’ field in the DB as opposed to in the
environment accessing the DB.
Hey guys!
I had a look at the diff before doing anything else, and I didn’t like
that approach too much, really. So I asked around today if any other
application was actually going to use this computed column, and it
turned out that no, only the Rails app would be using it.
So, I chose to discard it, and implement the concatenation in Rails.
Thanks for everyone’s tips!
Daniel 
