Class ActiveResource::Base < Object

This is an alias for find(:all). You can pass in all the same arguments to this method as you can to find(:all)

Builds a new, unsaved record using the default values from the remote server so that it can be used with RESTful forms.

Options

• attributes - A hash that overrides the default values from the server.

Returns the new resource instance.

Gets the collection path for the REST resources. If the query_options parameter is omitted, Rails will split from the prefix_options.

Options

• prefix_options - A hash to add a prefix to the request for nested URLs (e.g., :account_id => 19 would yield a URL like /accounts/19/purchases.json).

• query_options - A hash to add items to the query string for the request.

Examples

Post.collection_path
# => /posts.json

Comment.collection_path(:post_id => 5)
# => /posts/5/comments.json

Comment.collection_path(:post_id => 5, :active => 1)
# => /posts/5/comments.json?active=1

Comment.collection_path({:post_id => 5}, {:active => 1})
# => /posts/5/comments.json?active=1

An instance of ActiveResource::Connection that is the base connection to the remote service. The refresh parameter toggles whether or not the connection is refreshed at every request or not (defaults to false).

Creates a new resource instance and makes a request to the remote service that it be saved, making it equivalent to the following simultaneous calls:

ryan = Person.new(:first => 'ryan')
ryan.save

Returns the newly created resource. If a failure has occurred an exception will be raised (see save). If the resource is invalid and has not been saved then valid? will return false, while new? will still return true.

Examples

Person.create(:name => 'Jeremy', :email => 'myname@nospam.com', :enabled => true)
my_person = Person.find(:first)
my_person.email # => myname@nospam.com

dhh = Person.create(:name => 'David', :email => 'dhh@nospam.com', :enabled => true)
dhh.valid? # => true
dhh.new?   # => false

# We'll assume that there's a validation that requires the name attribute
that_guy = Person.create(:name => '', :email => 'thatguy@nospam.com', :enabled => true)
that_guy.valid? # => false
that_guy.new?   # => true

Deletes the resources with the ID in the id parameter.

Options

All options specify prefix and query parameters.

Examples

Event.delete(2) # sends DELETE /events/2

Event.create(:name => 'Free Concert', :location => 'Community Center')
my_event = Event.find(:first) # let's assume this is event with ID 7
Event.delete(my_event.id) # sends DELETE /events/7

# Let's assume a request to events/5/cancel.json
Event.delete(params[:id]) # sends DELETE /events/5

Gets the element path for the given ID in id. If the query_options parameter is omitted, Rails will split from the prefix options.

Options

prefix_options - A hash to add a prefix to the request for nested URLs (e.g., :account_id => 19

would yield a URL like <tt>/accounts/19/purchases.json</tt>).

query_options - A hash to add items to the query string for the request.

Examples

Post.element_path(1)
# => /posts/1.json

class Comment < ActiveResource::Base
  self.site = "http://37s.sunrise.i/posts/:post_id/"
end

Comment.element_path(1, :post_id => 5)
# => /posts/5/comments/1.json

Comment.element_path(1, :post_id => 5, :active => 1)
# => /posts/5/comments/1.json?active=1

Comment.element_path(1, {:post_id => 5}, {:active => 1})
# => /posts/5/comments/1.json?active=1

Asserts the existence of a resource, returning true if the resource is found.

Examples

Note.create(:title => 'Hello, world.', :body => 'Nothing more for now...')
Note.exists?(1) # => true

Note.exists(1349) # => false

Core method for finding resources. Used similarly to Active Record's find method.

Arguments

The first argument is considered to be the scope of the query. That is, how many resources are returned from the request. It can be one of the following.

• :one - Returns a single resource.

• :first - Returns the first resource found.

• :last - Returns the last resource found.

• :all - Returns every resource that matches the request.

Options

• :from - Sets the path or custom method that resources will be fetched from.

• :params - Sets query and prefix (nested URL) parameters.

Examples

Person.find(1)
# => GET /people/1.json

Person.find(:all)
# => GET /people.json

Person.find(:all, :params => { :title => "CEO" })
# => GET /people.json?title=CEO

Person.find(:first, :from => :managers)
# => GET /people/managers.json

Person.find(:last, :from => :managers)
# => GET /people/managers.json

Person.find(:all, :from => "/companies/1/people.json")
# => GET /companies/1/people.json

Person.find(:one, :from => :leader)
# => GET /people/leader.json

Person.find(:all, :from => :developers, :params => { :language => 'ruby' })
# => GET /people/developers.json?language=ruby

Person.find(:one, :from => "/companies/1/manager.json")
# => GET /companies/1/manager.json

StreetAddress.find(1, :params => { :person_id => 1 })
# => GET /people/1/street_addresses/1.json

Failure or missing data

A failure to find the requested object raises a ResourceNotFound
exception if the find was called with an id.
With any other scope, find returns nil when no data is returned.

Person.find(1)
# => raises ResourceNotFound

Person.find(:all)
Person.find(:first)
Person.find(:last)
# => nil

A convenience wrapper for find(:first, *args). You can pass in all the same arguments to this method as you can to find(:first).

Returns the current format, default is ActiveResource::Formats::JsonFormat.

Sets the format that attributes are sent and received in from a mime type reference:

Person.format = :json
Person.find(1) # => GET /people/1.json

Person.format = ActiveResource::Formats::XmlFormat
Person.find(1) # => GET /people/1.xml

Default format is :json.

Returns the list of known attributes for this resource, gathered from the provided schema Attributes that are known will cause your resource to return 'true' when respond_to? is called on them. A known attribute will return nil if not set (rather than <t>MethodNotFound</tt>); thus known attributes can be used with validates_presence_of without a getter-method.

A convenience wrapper for find(:last, *args). You can pass in all the same arguments to this method as you can to find(:last).

The logger for diagnosing and tracing Active Resource calls.

Constructor method for new resources; the optional attributes parameter takes a hash of attributes for the new resource.

Examples

my_course = Course.new
my_course.name = "Western Civilization"
my_course.lecturer = "Don Trotter"
my_course.save

my_other_course = Course.new(:name => "Philosophy: Reason and Being", :lecturer => "Ralph Cling")
my_other_course.save

Gets the new element path for REST resources.

Options

• prefix_options - A hash to add a prefix to the request for nested URLs (e.g., :account_id => 19 would yield a URL like /accounts/19/purchases/new.json).

Examples

Post.new_element_path
# => /posts/new.json

class Comment < ActiveResource::Base
  self.site = "http://37s.sunrise.i/posts/:post_id/"
end

Comment.collection_path(:post_id => 5)
# => /posts/5/comments/new.json

Gets the password for REST HTTP authentication.

Sets the password for REST HTTP authentication.

Gets the prefix for a resource's nested URL (e.g., prefix/collectionname/1.json) This method is regenerated at runtime based on what the prefix is set to.

Sets the prefix for a resource's nested URL (e.g., prefix/collectionname/1.json). Default value is site.path.

An attribute reader for the source string for the resource path prefix. This method is regenerated at runtime based on what the prefix is set to.

Gets the proxy variable if a proxy is required

Sets the URI of the http proxy to the value in the proxy argument.

Creates a schema for this resource - setting the attributes that are known prior to fetching an instance from the remote system.

The schema helps define the set of known_attributes of the current resource.

There is no need to specify a schema for your Active Resource. If you do not, the known_attributes will be guessed from the instance attributes returned when an instance is fetched from the remote system.

example: class Person < ActiveResource::Base

schema do
  # define each attribute separately
  attribute 'name', :string

  # or use the convenience methods and pass >=1 attribute names
  string  'eye_color', 'hair_color'
  integer 'age'
  float   'height', 'weight'

  # unsupported types should be left as strings
  # overload the accessor methods if you need to convert them
  attribute 'created_at', 'string'
end

end

p = Person.new p.respond_to? :name # => true p.respond_to? :age # => true p.name # => nil p.age # => nil

j = Person.find_by_name('John') # <person><name>John</name><age>34</age><num_children>3</num_children></person> j.respond_to? :name # => true j.respond_to? :age # => true j.name # => 'John' j.age # => '34' # note this is a string! j.num_children # => '3' # note this is a string!

p.num_children # => NoMethodError

Attribute-types must be one of:

string, integer, float

Note: at present the attribute-type doesn't do anything, but stay tuned… Shortly it will also cast the value of the returned attribute. ie: j.age # => 34 # cast to an integer j.weight # => '65' # still a string!

Alternative, direct way to specify a schema for this Resource. schema is more flexible, but this is quick for a very simple schema.

Pass the schema as a hash with the keys being the attribute-names and the value being one of the accepted attribute types (as defined in schema)

example:

class Person < ActiveResource::Base

schema = {'name' => :string, 'age' => :integer }

end

The keys/values can be strings or symbols. They will be converted to strings.

Gets the URI of the REST resources to map for this class. The site variable is required for Active Resource's mapping to work.

Sets the URI of the REST resources to map for this class to the value in the site argument. The site variable is required for Active Resource's mapping to work.

Returns the SSL options hash.

Options that will get applied to an SSL connection.

• :key - An OpenSSL::PKey::RSA or OpenSSL::PKey::DSA object.

• :cert - An OpenSSL::X509::Certificate object as client certificate

• :ca_file - Path to a CA certification file in PEM format. The file can contain several CA certificates.

• :ca_path - Path of a CA certification directory containing certifications in PEM format.

• :verify_mode - Flags for server the certification verification at beginning of SSL/TLS session. (OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE or OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_PEER is acceptable)

• :verify_callback - The verify callback for the server certification verification.

• :verify_depth - The maximum depth for the certificate chain verification.

• :cert_store - OpenSSL::X509::Store to verify peer certificate.

• :ssl_timeout -The SSL timeout in seconds.

Gets the number of seconds after which requests to the REST API should time out.

Sets the number of seconds after which requests to the REST API should time out.

Gets the user for REST HTTP authentication.

Sets the user for REST HTTP authentication.

Test for equality. Resource are equal if and only if other is the same object or is an instance of the same class, is not new?, and has the same id.

Examples

ryan = Person.create(:name => 'Ryan')
jamie = Person.create(:name => 'Jamie')

ryan == jamie
# => false (Different name attribute and id)

ryan_again = Person.new(:name => 'Ryan')
ryan == ryan_again
# => false (ryan_again is new?)

ryans_clone = Person.create(:name => 'Ryan')
ryan == ryans_clone
# => false (Different id attributes)

ryans_twin = Person.find(ryan.id)
ryan == ryans_twin
# => true

Returns a clone of the resource that hasn't been assigned an id yet and is treated as a new resource.

ryan = Person.find(1)
not_ryan = ryan.clone
not_ryan.new?  # => true

Any active resource member attributes will NOT be cloned, though all other attributes are. This is to prevent the conflict between any prefix_options that refer to the original parent resource and the newly cloned parent resource that does not exist.

ryan = Person.find(1)
ryan.address = StreetAddress.find(1, :person_id => ryan.id)
ryan.hash = {:not => "an ARes instance"}

not_ryan = ryan.clone
not_ryan.new?            # => true
not_ryan.address         # => NoMethodError
not_ryan.hash            # => {:not => "an ARes instance"}

Deletes the resource from the remote service.

Examples

my_id = 3
my_person = Person.find(my_id)
my_person.destroy
Person.find(my_id) # 404 (Resource Not Found)

new_person = Person.create(:name => 'James')
new_id = new_person.id # => 7
new_person.destroy
Person.find(new_id) # 404 (Resource Not Found)

Duplicates the current resource without saving it.

Examples

my_invoice = Invoice.create(:customer => 'That Company')
next_invoice = my_invoice.dup
next_invoice.new? # => true

next_invoice.save
next_invoice == my_invoice # => false (different id attributes)

my_invoice.customer   # => That Company
next_invoice.customer # => That Company

Returns the serialized string representation of the resource in the configured serialization format specified in ::format. The options applicable depend on the configured encoding format.

Tests for equality (delegates to ==).

Evaluates to true if this resource is not new? and is found on the remote service. Using this method, you can check for resources that may have been deleted between the object's instantiation and actions on it.

Examples

Person.create(:name => 'Theodore Roosevelt')
that_guy = Person.find(:first)
that_guy.exists? # => true

that_lady = Person.new(:name => 'Paul Bean')
that_lady.exists? # => false

guys_id = that_guy.id
Person.delete(guys_id)
that_guy.exists? # => false

Delegates to id in order to allow two resources of the same type and id to work with something like:

[(a = Person.find 1), (b = Person.find 2)] & [(c = Person.find 1), (d = Person.find 4)] # => [a]

Gets the \id attribute of the resource.

Sets the \id attribute of the resource.

This is a list of known attributes for this resource. Either gathered from the provided schema, or from the attributes set on this instance after it has been fetched from the remote system.

A method to manually load attributes from a hash. Recursively loads collections of resources. This method is called in initialize and create when a hash of attributes is provided.

Examples

my_attrs = {:name => 'J&J Textiles', :industry => 'Cloth and textiles'}
my_attrs = {:name => 'Marty', :colors => ["red", "green", "blue"]}

the_supplier = Supplier.find(:first)
the_supplier.name # => 'J&M Textiles'
the_supplier.load(my_attrs)
the_supplier.name('J&J Textiles')

# These two calls are the same as Supplier.new(my_attrs)
my_supplier = Supplier.new
my_supplier.load(my_attrs)

# These three calls are the same as Supplier.create(my_attrs)
your_supplier = Supplier.new
your_supplier.load(my_attrs)
your_supplier.save

Returns true if this object hasn't yet been saved, otherwise, returns false.

Examples

not_new = Computer.create(:brand => 'Apple', :make => 'MacBook', :vendor => 'MacMall')
not_new.new? # => false

is_new = Computer.new(:brand => 'IBM', :make => 'Thinkpad', :vendor => 'IBM')
is_new.new? # => true

is_new.save
is_new.new? # => false

Returns true if this object has been saved, otherwise returns false.

Examples

persisted = Computer.create(:brand => 'Apple', :make => 'MacBook', :vendor => 'MacMall')
persisted.persisted? # => true

not_persisted = Computer.new(:brand => 'IBM', :make => 'Thinkpad', :vendor => 'IBM')
not_persisted.persisted? # => false

not_persisted.save
not_persisted.persisted? # => true

A method to reload the attributes of this object from the remote web service.

Examples

my_branch = Branch.find(:first)
my_branch.name # => "Wislon Raod"

# Another client fixes the typo...

my_branch.name # => "Wislon Raod"
my_branch.reload
my_branch.name # => "Wilson Road"

A method to determine if an object responds to a message (e.g., a method call). In Active Resource, a Person object with a name attribute can answer true to my_person.respond_to?(:name), my_person.respond_to?(:name=), and my_person.respond_to?(:name?).

For checking respond_to? without searching the attributes (which is faster).

Saves (POST) or updates (PUT) a resource. Delegates to create if the object is new, update if it exists. If the response to the save includes a body, it will be assumed that this body is Json for the final object as it looked after the save (which would include attributes like created_at that weren't part of the original submit).

Examples

my_company = Company.new(:name => 'RoleModel Software', :owner => 'Ken Auer', :size => 2)
my_company.new? # => true
my_company.save # sends POST /companies/ (create)

my_company.new? # => false
my_company.size = 10
my_company.save # sends PUT /companies/1 (update)

Saves the resource.

If the resource is new, it is created via POST, otherwise the existing resource is updated via PUT.

With save! validations always run. If any of them fail ActiveResource::ResourceInvalid gets raised, and nothing is POSTed to the remote system. See ActiveResource::Validations for more information.

There's a series of callbacks associated with save!. If any of the before_* callbacks return false the action is cancelled and save! raises ActiveResource::ResourceInvalid.

If no schema has been defined for the class (see ActiveResource::schema=), the default automatic schema is generated from the current instance's attributes

Updates a single attribute and then saves the object.

Note: Unlike ActiveRecord::Persistence#update_attribute, this method is subject to normal validation routines as an update sends the whole body of the resource in the request. (See Validations).

As such, this method is equivalent to calling #update_attributes with a single attribute/value pair.

If the saving fails because of a connection or remote service error, an exception will be raised. If saving fails because the resource is invalid then false will be returned.

Updates this resource with all the attributes from the passed-in Hash and requests that the record be saved.

If the saving fails because of a connection or remote service error, an exception will be raised. If saving fails because the resource is invalid then false will be returned.

Note: Though this request can be made with a partial set of the resource's attributes, the full body of the request will still be sent in the save request to the remote service.

Create (i.e., save to the remote service) the new resource.

Takes a response from a typical create post and pulls the ID out

Update the resource on the remote service.