EasyExports

EasyExports is a rails ActiveRecord ORM extension dedicated to streamlining and simplifying the model data export process by eliminating common complexities.

Installation

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem "easy_exports"

And then execute:

$ bundle

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install easy_exports

Usage

Upon installation, EasyExports seamlessly integrates with ActiveRecord::Base, granting all models immediate access to its efficient export methods.

Generating Exportable Attributes

Retrieve exportable attributes using the exportable_attributes method. This method retrieves attributes of the model itself and those of all its associations.

  # Example Models and Exportable Attributes
  
  # User model with columns: first_name, last_name, created_at, updated_at
  class User < ApplicationRecord
    has_and_belongs_to_many :emails
    has_many :phones
  end
  
  # Exportable attributes for the User model
  User.exportable_attributes
    # =>
    # {
    #   "User" => ["id", "first name", "last name", "created at", "updated at"],
    #   "Emails" => ["id", "address", "created at", "updated at"],
    #   "Phones" => ["id", "number", "user id", "created at", "updated at"]
    # }
  
  # Phone model with columns: number, user_id, created_at, updated_at
  class Phone < ApplicationRecord
    belongs_to :user
  end
  
  # Exportable attributes for the Phone model
  Phone.exportable_attributes
    # =>
    # {
    #   "Phone" => ["id", "number", "user id", "created at", "updated at"],
    #   "User" => ["id", "first name", "last name", "created at", "updated at"]
    # }

Generating Exports from Exportable Attributes

To generate exports, use the generate_exports(exportable_attributes, ids) method.

The exportable_attributes argument specifies the chosen attributes from the exportable attributes list.
The ids argument is optional; provide IDs to export data for specific records.
Omitting ids will trigger exports for all records of the given model.

The method returns an EasyExports::Export object containing hash data from the records and a csv_string that can be written to a CSV file.

user_exportable_attributes = {"User"=>["id", "first name"], "Phones"=>["id", "number"], "Emails"=>["id", "address"]}

exports_object = User.generate_exports(user_exportable_attributes)
# => EasyExports::Export(Object)

exports_data = exports_object.data
# =>
# [
#   {"user_id"=>1, "user_first_name"=>"Sydney", "phones_id"=>1, "phones_number"=>"(473) 693-8745", "emails_id"=>5, "emails_address"=>"blake_armstrong@bahringer.test"},
#   {"user_id"=>1, "user_first_name"=>"Sydney", "phones_id"=>2, "phones_number"=>"594-299-0722", "emails_id"=>6, "emails_address"=>"dulce@mertz.example"},
#   {"user_id"=>1, "user_first_name"=>"Sydney", "phones_id"=>3, "phones_number"=>"1-609-662-2028", "emails_id"=>nil, "emails_address"=>nil},
#   {"user_id"=>2, "user_first_name"=>"Stan", "phones_id"=>4, "phones_number"=>"951-671-9548", "emails_id"=>7, "emails_address"=>"dominick@durgan.example"},
#   {"user_id"=>2, "user_first_name"=>"Stan", "phones_id"=>5, "phones_number"=>"1-698-432-7489", "emails_id"=>nil, "emails_address"=>nil}
# ]

exports_csv_string = exports_object.csv_string
# =>
# "user_id,user_first_name,phones_id,phones_number,emails_id,emails_address\n
# 1,Sydney,1,(473) 693-8745,5,blake_armstrong@bahringer.test\n
# 1,Sydney,2,594-299-0722,6,dulce@mertz.example\n
# 1,Sydney,3,1-609-662-2028,,\n
# 2,Stan,4,951-671-9548,7,dominick@durgan.example\n
# 2,Stan,5,1-698-432-7489,,\n"

# Writing csv_string to a file to visualize the generated export
File.open(file_path, 'w') do |file|
  file.write(exports_csv_string)
end

Exported CSV showcases data for:

User "Sydney" with 3 phones and 2 emails
User "Stan" with 2 phones and 1 email.
The main CSV header includes association names and attribute names.

Exportable Attributes Aliases

Configure an alternative association name for exportable attributes using the exportable_association_aliases(aliases) model method.

Invoke this method below all association definitions.
aliases should be a hash in the pattern: {valid_association_name or model_name: "alternative_name"}.
Ensure all hash arguments are snake-cased.

# Example Model with exportable_association_aliases

# User model with columns: first_name, last_name, created_at, updated_at
  class User < ApplicationRecord
    has_many :phones
  
    exportable_association_aliases phones: :mobile_phones
  end
  
  # Exportable attributes for the User model will now be
  User.exportable_attributes
  # =>
  # {
  #   "User" => ["id", "first name", "last name", "created at", "updated at"],
  #   "Mobile phones" => ["id", "number", "user id", "created at", "updated at"]
  # }

With the exportable_association_aliases configured, the phones association has been renamed to "Mobile phones". This new name will appear in the export header when generating exports with this alias for exportable attributes.

Excluding Specific Exportable Attributes

Configure associations to exclude certain attributes from exportable attributes using the exclude_exportable_attributes(association_attributes) model method.

Invoke this method below all association declarations.
association_attributes should follow the pattern {valid_association_name or model_name: [valid_attributes_to_remove]}.
For removing attributes across all associations and the model itself, use the "all" key as the association_name.

  # Example Model with exclude_exportable_attributes
  
  # User model with columns: first_name, last_name, created_at, updated_at
  class User < ApplicationRecord
    has_many :phones
  
    exclude_exportable_attributes all: [:id], user: [:last_name], phones: [:user_id]
  end
  
  # Exportable attributes for the User model will now be
  User.exportable_attributes
  # =>
  # {
  #   "User" => ["first name", "created at", "updated at"],
  #   "Phones" => ["number", "created at", "updated at"]
  # }

In this example, note that:

All associations exclude the id attribute.
The User model excludes the last_name attribute.
The Phones association excludes the user_id attribute.

Excluding Specific Exportable Attribute Associations

Configure model's exportable attributes to exclude certain associations using the associations_to_exclude(associations) model method.

Apply this method below all association declarations.
associations should follow the pattern ['association_name'].

  # Example Model with associations_to_exclude
  
  # User model with columns: first_name, last_name, created_at, updated_at
  class User < ApplicationRecord
    has_many :phones
    
    associations_to_exclude [:phones]
  end
  
  # Exportable attributes for the User model will now be
  User.exportable_attributes
  # =>
  # {
  #   "User" => ["id", "first name", "last name", "created at", "updated at"]
  # }

In this example, the attributes of the phones association are excluded from the exportable attributes of the User model.

Adding Custom Attribute to Exportable Attributes

Leverage a handy Rails method to transform a model instance method into an attribute, incorporating it into the exportable attributes.

# Example Model with Custom Virtual Attribute

# User model with columns: first_name, last_name, created_at, updated_at
class User < ApplicationRecord
  attribute :total_number_of_phones

  has_many :phones
    
  associations_to_exclude [:phones]

  def total_number_of_phones
    phones.size
  end
end

# Exportable attributes for the User model will now include
User.exportable_attributes
# =>
# {
#   "User" => ["id", "first name", "last name", "created at", "updated at", "total number of phones"]
# }

In this example, the custom attribute "total number of phones" has been seamlessly integrated into the exportable attributes, showcasing the flexibility of Rails' capabilities.

License

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.

easy_exports

Development

Runtime