# Active Model Basics¶ ↑

This guide should provide you with all you need to get started using model classes. Active Model allows for Action Pack helpers to interact with plain Ruby objects. Active Model also helps build custom ORMs for use outside of the Rails framework.

After reading this guide, you will be able to add to plain Ruby objects:

- The ability to behave like an Active Record model.

- Callbacks and validations like Active Record.

- Serializers.

- Integration with the Rails internationalization (i18n) framework.

## Introduction¶ ↑

Active Model is a library containing various modules used in developing classes that need some features present on Active Record. Some of these modules are explained below.

### Attribute Methods¶ ↑

The `ActiveModel::AttributeMethods` module can add custom prefixes and suffixes on methods of a class. It is used by defining the prefixes and suffixes and which methods on the object will use them.

    class Person
      include ActiveModel::AttributeMethods

      attribute_method_prefix 'reset_'
      attribute_method_suffix '_highest?'
      define_attribute_methods 'age'

      attr_accessor :age

      private
        def reset_attribute(attribute)
          send("#{attribute}=", 0)
        end

        def attribute_highest?(attribute)
          send(attribute) > 100
        end
    end

    person = Person.new
    person.age = 110
    person.age_highest?  # => true
    person.reset_age     # => 0
    person.age_highest?  # => false

### Callbacks¶ ↑

`ActiveModel::Callbacks` gives Active Record style callbacks. This provides an ability to define callbacks which run at appropriate times. After defining callbacks, you can wrap them with before, after and around custom methods.

    class Person
      extend ActiveModel::Callbacks

      define_model_callbacks :update

      before_update :reset_me

      def update
        run_callbacks(:update) do
          # This method is called when update is called on an object.
        end
      end

      def reset_me
        # This method is called when update is called on an object as a before_update callback is defined.
      end
    end

### Conversion¶ ↑

If a class defines `persisted?` and `id` methods, then you can include the `ActiveModel::Conversion` module in that class and call the Rails conversion methods on objects of that class.

    class Person
      include ActiveModel::Conversion

      def persisted?
        false
      end

      def id
        nil
      end
    end

    person = Person.new
    person.to_model == person  # => true
    person.to_key              # => nil
    person.to_param            # => nil

### Dirty¶ ↑

An object becomes dirty when it has gone through one or more changes to its attributes and has not been saved. `ActiveModel::Dirty` gives the ability to check whether an object has been changed or not. It also has attribute based accessor methods. Let's consider a Person class with attributes `first_name` and `last_name`:

    class Person
      include ActiveModel::Dirty
      define_attribute_methods :first_name, :last_name

      def first_name
        @first_name
      end

      def first_name=(value)
        first_name_will_change!
        @first_name = value
      end

      def last_name
        @last_name
      end

      def last_name=(value)
        last_name_will_change!
        @last_name = value
      end

      def save
        # do save work...
        changes_applied
      end
    end

#### Querying object directly for its list of all changed attributes.¶ ↑

    person = Person.new
    person.changed? # => false

    person.first_name = "First Name"
    person.first_name # => "First Name"

    # returns if any attribute has changed.
    person.changed? # => true

    # returns a list of attributes that have changed before saving.
    person.changed # => ["first_name"]

    # returns a hash of the attributes that have changed with their original values.
    person.changed_attributes # => {"first_name"=>nil}

    # returns a hash of changes, with the attribute names as the keys, and the values will be an array of the old and new value for that field.
    person.changes # => {"first_name"=>[nil, "First Name"]}

#### Attribute based accessor methods¶ ↑

Track whether the particular attribute has been changed or not.

    # attr_name_changed?
    person.first_name # => "First Name"
    person.first_name_changed? # => true

Track what was the previous value of the attribute.

    # attr_name_was accessor
    person.first_name_was # => nil

Track both previous and current value of the changed attribute. Returns an array if changed, else returns nil.

    # attr_name_change
    person.first_name_change # => [nil, "First Name"]
    person.last_name_change # => nil

### Validations¶ ↑

`ActiveModel::Validations` module adds the ability to validate class objects like in Active Record.

    class Person
      include ActiveModel::Validations

      attr_accessor :name, :email, :token

      validates :name, presence: true
      validates_format_of :email, with: /\A([^\s]+)((?:[-a-z0-9]\.)[a-z]{2,})\z/i
      validates! :token, presence: true
    end

    person = Person.new
    person.token = "2b1f325"
    person.valid?                        # => false
    person.name = 'vishnu'
    person.email = 'me'
    person.valid?                        # => false
    person.email = 'me@vishnuatrai.com'
    person.valid?                        # => true
    person.token = nil
    person.valid?                        # => raises ActiveModel::StrictValidationFailed

### Naming¶ ↑

`ActiveModel::Naming` adds a number of class methods which make the naming and routing easier to manage. The module defines the `model_name` class method which will define a number of accessors using some `ActiveSupport::Inflector` methods.

    class Person
      extend ActiveModel::Naming
    end

    Person.model_name.name                # => "Person"
    Person.model_name.singular            # => "person"
    Person.model_name.plural              # => "people"
    Person.model_name.element             # => "person"
    Person.model_name.human               # => "Person"
    Person.model_name.collection          # => "people"
    Person.model_name.param_key           # => "person"
    Person.model_name.i18n_key            # => :person
    Person.model_name.route_key           # => "people"
    Person.model_name.singular_route_key  # => "person"

### Model¶ ↑

`ActiveModel::Model` adds the ability to a class to work with Action Pack and Action View right out of the box.

    class EmailContact
      include ActiveModel::Model

      attr_accessor :name, :email, :message
      validates :name, :email, :message, presence: true

      def deliver
        if valid?
          # deliver email
        end
      end
    end

When including `ActiveModel::Model` you get some features like:

- model name introspection

- conversions

- translations

- validations

It also gives you the ability to initialize an object with a hash of attributes, much like any Active Record object.

    email_contact = EmailContact.new(name: 'David',
                                     email: 'david@example.com',
                                     message: 'Hello World')
    email_contact.name       # => 'David'
    email_contact.email      # => 'david@example.com'
    email_contact.valid?     # => true
    email_contact.persisted? # => false

Any class that includes `ActiveModel::Model` can be used with `form_for`, `render` and any other Action View helper methods, just like Active Record objects.

### Serialization¶ ↑

`ActiveModel::Serialization` provides a basic serialization for your object. You need to declare an attributes hash which contains the attributes you want to serialize. Attributes must be strings, not symbols.

    class Person
      include ActiveModel::Serialization

      attr_accessor :name

      def attributes
        {'name' => nil}
      end
    end

Now you can access a serialized hash of your object using the `serializable_hash`.

    person = Person.new
    person.serializable_hash   # => {"name"=>nil}
    person.name = "Bob"
    person.serializable_hash   # => {"name"=>"Bob"}

#### ActiveModel::Serializers¶ ↑

Rails provides two serializers `ActiveModel::Serializers::JSON` and `ActiveModel::Serializers::Xml`. Both of these modules automatically include the `ActiveModel::Serialization`.

##### ActiveModel::Serializers::JSON¶ ↑

To use the `ActiveModel::Serializers::JSON` you only need to change from `ActiveModel::Serialization` to `ActiveModel::Serializers::JSON`.

    class Person
      include ActiveModel::Serializers::JSON

      attr_accessor :name

      def attributes
        {'name' => nil}
      end
    end

With the `as_json` you have a hash representing the model.

    person = Person.new
    person.as_json # => {"name"=>nil}
    person.name = "Bob"
    person.as_json # => {"name"=>"Bob"}

From a JSON string you define the attributes of the model. You need to have the `attributes=` method defined on your class:

    class Person
      include ActiveModel::Serializers::JSON

      attr_accessor :name

      def attributes=(hash)
        hash.each do |key, value|
          send("#{key}=", value)
        end
      end

      def attributes
        {'name' => nil}
      end
    end

Now it is possible to create an instance of person and set the attributes using `from_json`.

    json = { name: 'Bob' }.to_json
    person = Person.new
    person.from_json(json) # => #<Person:0x00000100c773f0 @name="Bob">
    person.name            # => "Bob"

##### ActiveModel::Serializers::Xml¶ ↑

To use the `ActiveModel::Serializers::Xml` you only need to change from `ActiveModel::Serialization` to `ActiveModel::Serializers::Xml`.

    class Person
      include ActiveModel::Serializers::Xml

      attr_accessor :name

      def attributes
        {'name' => nil}
      end
    end

With the `to_xml` you have a XML representing the model.

    person = Person.new
    person.to_xml # => "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<person>\n  <name nil=\"true\"/>\n</person>\n"
    person.name = "Bob"
    person.to_xml # => "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<person>\n  <name>Bob</name>\n</person>\n"

From a XML string you define the attributes of the model. You need to have the `attributes=` method defined on your class:

    class Person
      include ActiveModel::Serializers::Xml

      attr_accessor :name

      def attributes=(hash)
        hash.each do |key, value|
          send("#{key}=", value)
        end
      end

      def attributes
        {'name' => nil}
      end
    end

Now it is possible to create an instance of person and set the attributes using `from_xml`.

    xml = { name: 'Bob' }.to_xml
    person = Person.new
    person.from_xml(xml) # => #<Person:0x00000100c773f0 @name="Bob">
    person.name          # => "Bob"

### Translation¶ ↑

`ActiveModel::Translation` provides integration between your object and the Rails internationalization (i18n) framework.

    class Person
      extend ActiveModel::Translation
    end

With the `human_attribute_name` you can transform attribute names into a more human format. The human format is defined in your locale file.

- config/locales/app.pt-BR.yml

`yml pt-BR: activemodel: attributes: person: name: 'Nome'`

    Person.human_attribute_name('name') # => "Nome"

### Lint Tests¶ ↑

`ActiveModel::Lint::Tests` allow you to test whether an object is compliant with the Active Model API.

- app/models/person.rb

      class Person
        include ActiveModel::Model

      end

- test/models/person_test.rb

      require 'test_helper'

      class PersonTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
        include ActiveModel::Lint::Tests

        def setup
          @model = Person.new
        end
      end

    $ rake test

    Run options: --seed 14596

    # Running:

    ......

    Finished in 0.024899s, 240.9735 runs/s, 1204.8677 assertions/s.

    6 runs, 30 assertions, 0 failures, 0 errors, 0 skips

An object is not required to implement all APIs in order to work with Action Pack. This module only intends to provide guidance in case you want all features out of the box.

### SecurePassword¶ ↑

`ActiveModel::SecurePassword` provides a way to securely store any password in an encrypted form. On including this module, a `has_secure_password` class method is provided which defines an accessor named `password` with certain validations on it.

#### Requirements¶ ↑

`ActiveModel::SecurePassword` depends on the bcrypt, so include this gem in your Gemfile to use `ActiveModel::SecurePassword` correctly. In order to make this work, the model must have an accessor named `password_digest`. The `has_secure_password` will add the following validations on the `password` accessor:

1. Password should be present.

2. Password should be equal to its confirmation.

3. This maximum length of a password is 72 (required by `bcrypt` on which ActiveModel::SecurePassword depends)

#### Examples¶ ↑

    class Person
      include ActiveModel::SecurePassword
      has_secure_password
      attr_accessor :password_digest
    end

    person = Person.new

    # When password is blank.
    person.valid? # => false

    # When the confirmation doesn't match the password.
    person.password = 'aditya'
    person.password_confirmation = 'nomatch'
    person.valid? # => false

    # When the length of password, exceeds 72.
    person.password = person.password_confirmation = 'a' * 100
    person.valid? # => false

    # When all validations are passed.
    person.password = person.password_confirmation = 'aditya'
    person.valid? # => true