Rails API Filtering and Sorting

experience.rb

# app/models/experience.rb
#
# == Schema Information
#
# Table name: experiences
#
#  id               :integer          not null, primary key
#  title            :string
#  description      :text
#  created_at       :datetime         not null
#  updated_at       :datetime         not null
#  city_id          :integer
#  price            :integer          default(0)
#  distance         :integer
#  duration         :integer
#

class Experience < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :city

  has_many :categorizations
  has_many :categories, through: :categorizations

  scope :by_city, -> (city_ids) { where(city_id: city_ids) }
  scope :by_price, -> (from, to) { where("price >= ? AND price <= ?", from, to) }
  scope :by_duration, -> (from, to) { where("duration >= ? AND duration <= ?", from, to) }
  scope :by_distance, -> (from, to) { where("distance >= ? AND distance <= ?", from, to) }
  scope :by_category, -> (category_ids) { joins(:categories).where(categories: { id: category_ids }) }
end

experience_serializer.rb

# app/serializers/experience_serializer.rb
class ExperienceSerializer < ActiveModel::Serializer
  attribute :id
  attribute :title
  attribute :description
  attribute :price
  attribute :distance
  attribute :duration

  belongs_to :city
  has_many :categories
end

experiences_controller.rb

# app/controllers/api/v1/experiences_controller.rb
class Api::V1::ExperiencesController < Api::V1::BaseController
  include Orderable

  before_filter :authenticate_user!

  # Filters:
  # /api/v1/experiences?by_price[from]=100&by_price[to]=999
  # /api/v1/experiences?by_category=1,2,3
  # /api/v1/experiences?by_city=1,2,3
  # /api/v1/experiences?by_duration[from]=10&by_duration[to]=60
  #
  has_scope :by_category, only: :index
  has_scope :by_city, only: :index
  has_scope :by_price, using: [:from, :to], only: :index
  has_scope :by_duration, using: [:from, :to], only: :index
  has_scope :by_distance, using: [:from, :to], only: :index

  # GET /api/v1/experiences
  def index
    @experiences =
      apply_scopes(Experience)
      .order(ordering_params(params))
      .includes(:city, :user, :categories)
      .all

    render json: @experiences
  end
end
  

orderable.rb

# app/controllers/concerns/orderable.rb
module Orderable
  extend ActiveSupport::Concern

  module ClassMethods
  end

  # A list of the param names that can be used for ordering the model list
  def ordering_params(params)
    # For example it retrieves a list of experiences in descending order of price.
    # Within a specific price, older experiences are ordered first
    #
    # GET /api/v1/experiences?sort=-price,created_at
    # ordering_params(params) # => { price: :desc, created_at: :asc }
    # Experience.order(price: :desc, created_at: :asc)
    #
    ordering = {}
    
    if params[:sort]
      sort_order = { '+' => :asc, '-' => :desc }

      sorted_params = params[:sort].split(',')
      sorted_params.each do |attr|
        sort_sign = (attr =~ /\A[+-]/) ? attr.slice!(0) : '+'
        model = controller_name.classify.constantize
        
        if model.attribute_names.include?(attr)
          ordering[attr] = sort_order[sort_sign]
        end
      end
    end
    
    ordering
  end
end

really nice man! exactly what I was searching for!

and yeah both @otang and @ptarud are right :-)

Hi. Using the structure you have, if you want to include the name of the city in the json and use the name as a parameter to order the result, that method does not work or yes?

Thanks @otang and @ptarud!

There is an edge-case in the Orderable#ordering_params processing. If a client submits a URL with a literal plus sign + (not encoded to %2B) then it will be decoded as a space " ". If you wish to catch that case, here's the diff.

  # A list of the param names that can be used for ordering the model list
  def ordering_params(params)
    ordering = {}
    if params[:sort]
-     sort_order = { "+" => :asc, "-" => :desc }
+     sort_order = { " " => :asc, "+" => :asc, "-" => :desc }
      sorted_params = params[:sort].split(",")
      sorted_params.each do |attr|
-       sort_sign = attr =~ /\A[+-]/ ? attr.slice!(0) : "+"
+       sort_sign = attr =~ /\A[ +-]/ ? attr.slice!(0) : "+"
        model = controller_name.classify.constantize
        if model.attribute_names.include?(attr)
          ordering[attr] = sort_order[sort_sign]
        end
      end
    end
    ordering
  end

@beporter it doesn't needed. sort_sign will be "+" by default

@mamantoha Yes, the sign will be + by default, but my diff covers the case where the client sends an unencoded + (instead of a URL encoded %2B). Consider these two request URLs:

• http://my.server.com/route/action?sort=%2Bcreated_at (The %2B gets decoded as a plus +)
• http://my.server.com/route/action?sort=+created_at (The + gets decoded as a space " ")

My diff covers the second case.