Where should data migrations go?

I recall problems with putting data migrations directly into a database migration file. Where should I do them?

I need to run a few SQL queries on the database, and then delete a few unnecessary things. Something like this pseudo example:

#get ids of old softwares old_ids = SELECT id FROM softwares WHERE name IN ('foo', 'bar'); good_id = SELECT id FROM softwares WHERE name = 'Good';

#get directories using old softwares SELECT id, software_id FROM directories WHERE software_id IN (old_ids.join(','));

#update these directories with new software UPDATE directories SET software_id = good_id WHERE software_id IN (old_ids.join(','));

#delete old softwares DELETE from softwares WHERE id IN (old_ids.join(','));

There is no change to the database schema itself, should this be a throw-away rake task or is can it be done as a "DATA ONLY" migration?

How about just a small script that you run with "script/runner" ?

I do "data only" migrations all the time, especially for reference values and such. What kind of problems do you encounter? The one caveat could be that you may have to define the model classes involved inside your migration. For example:

class Software < ActiveRecord::Base; end

and in your self.up, simply use it as you would normally, ie:

Software.find_all_by_name(['foo','bar']).each do |s|   # do some updates and saves with s end

hope that helps.

-H

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Anthony Ettinger wrote in post #749437:

I recall problems with putting data migrations directly into a database migration file.

What you recall are problems with putting *seed data* into migration files. Migrations are for changing the database schema only.

Sometimes, however, changing the schema involves moving data around to fit the new schema. Those operations should go in the same migration that changes the schema.

Where should I do them?

I need to run a few SQL queries on the database, and then delete a few unnecessary things. Something like this pseudo example:

#get ids of old softwares old_ids = SELECT id FROM softwares WHERE name IN ('foo', 'bar'); good_id = SELECT id FROM softwares WHERE name = 'Good';

#get directories using old softwares SELECT id, software_id FROM directories WHERE software_id IN (old_ids.join(','));

#update these directories with new software UPDATE directories SET software_id = good_id WHERE software_id IN (old_ids.join(','));

#delete old softwares DELETE from softwares WHERE id IN (old_ids.join(','));

There is no change to the database schema itself, should this be a throw-away rake task or is can it be done as a "DATA ONLY" migration?

That should be a rake task or something, if I understand correctly what you're doing. It should not be a migration.

-- Anthony Ettinger 408-656-2473 http://anthony.ettinger.name

Best,