How to implement status codes in DB and Rails

rubyonrails-talk
1

You can use a state pattern for this and it works out pretty clean. There is also the acts_as_state_machine plugin you may want to check out. But here is a simple example of the state pattern used in credit card settlements.

# id :integer(11) not null, primary key # name :string(80) default(), not null # description :text

class SettlementState < ActiveRecord::Base    has_many :settlements,             :order => 'settlements.id' end

class Settlement < ActiveRecord::Base

   belongs_to :settlement_state    belongs_to :ledger

   validates_presence_of :xaction    validates_presence_of :message

   def authorized      self.settlement_state = SettlementState.find_by_name('authorized')    end

   def captured      self.settlement_state = SettlementState.find_by_name('captured')    end

   def voided      self.settlement_state = SettlementState.find_by_name('voided')    end

   def credited      self.settlement_state = SettlementState.find_by_name('credited')    end

   def errored      self.settlement_state = SettlementState.find_by_name('errored')    end

   def settled      self.settlement_state = SettlementState.find_by_name('settled')    end

   def is_authorized?      self.settlement_state.name == 'authorized'    end

   def is_captured?      self.settlement_state.name == 'captured'    end

   def is_voided?      self.settlement_state.name == 'voided'    end

   def is_credited?      self.settlement_state.name == 'credited'    end

   def is_errored?      self.settlement_state.name == 'errored'    end

   def is_settled?      self.settlement_state.name == 'settled'    end end

Cheers- -- Ezra Zygmuntowicz-- Lead Rails Evangelist -- ez@engineyard.com -- Engine Yard, Serious Rails Hosting -- (866) 518-YARD (9273)