Order

Convenient ActiveRecord ordering. https://github.com/iamvery/order

Introduction

Order provides a convenient DSL for adding ordering scopes to ActiveRecord models. Additionally it provides an order_by method that allows you to get records by multiple orderings using a simple syntax. This is great for APIs. Take this model for example:

Getting Started

Add order to your Gemfile:

gem 'order', '~> 0.1'

Bundle it up:

# From the command line
bundle install

Usage

Add some ordering to your models:

Person < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :job
  attr_accessible :first_name, :last_name

  orderable :first_name, :last_name
  orderable :name => [:last_name, :first_name]
  orderable :job_title do |direction|
    joins(:job).order "jobs.title #{direction}"
  end
end

Now you can retrieve people in order!

Person.order_by_first_name
=> SELECT "people".* FROM "people" ORDER BY "first_name" ASC

Person.order_by_first_name(:desc)
=> SELECT "people".* FROM "people" ORDER BY "first_name" DESC

Person.order_by_name
=> SELECT "people".* FROM "people" ORDER BY "last_name" ASC, "first_name" ASC

Person.order_by_job_title
=> SELECT "people".* FROM "people" INNER JOIN "jobs" ON "jobs"."id" = "person"."job_id" ORDER BY jobs.title ASC

You can also get at ordering using the order_by method:

Person.order_by 'name.desc, job_title'
=> SELECT "people".* FROM "people" INNER JOIN "jobs" ON "jobs"."id" = "person"."job_id" ORDER BY "last_name" DESC, "first_name" DESC, jobs.title ASC

This is super helpful when developing APIs that need to provide ordered results. Consider the following:

PeopleController < ApplicationController
  respond_to :html
  def index
    @requests = Person.order_by params[:order]
    respond_with @requests
  end
end

A simple request to "/people?order=name.desc,job_title" will give you ordered results! :)

Contributing

This is a baby library! Cute? Absolutely. But also hoping to grow up into a big, useful tool to be take advantage of! (Something about that really doesn't sound right)

• Use it.
• Pick it apart.
• Let me know what you think.
• Tell others.

Please add issues and send pull requests!

Copyright

Copyright © 2012 Jay Hayes