save field results in to_s version all the time

[tillcarlos]

Hey guys

Awesome that you put this together! It comes at the right time :)

When I edit the form in correct json (text/tree), and then save the field, it always results in the to string version "{\"key\": ...

This is my schema:

    create_table :grammatical_forms do |t|
      t.json :translations
      t.string :identifier, index: true
      t.timestamps
    end

I use it in the dashboard as described

  ATTRIBUTE_TYPES = {
    meanings: Field::HasMany,
    id: Field::Number,
    identifier: Field::String.with_options(searchable: false),
    translations: Field::JSONB,
    created_at: Field::DateTime,
    updated_at: Field::DateTime,
  }.freeze

Any ideas right away? I haven't debugged yet, but I might do in the next days.

Thanks again

[tillcarlos]

I guess that's what you intended the transform option for? But how would you pass JSON.parse in there? Apart from that, it feels wrong. I'm doing something differently than your requirements, I guess.

[volkov-sergey]

Hello, @tillcarlos. Thanks for the feedback. I got what problem is, let me check, I'll try to fix in a couple of hours.

[volkov-sergey]

@tillcarlos could I ask you to describe more, what you trying to solve and what the expected behavior? Thanks.

Note: we are using transform option to transform data before displaying in a form / show. We have additional serialization with Dry::Struct, so we need to do to_h before sending object to form / show.

[tillcarlos]

Easy: I have a json (not jsonb) field in my postgres, and I want to save a ruby hash in there. I don't have any additional serialization code on my model.

With administrate I want to edit that hash and save it. Not sure what other hints you might need?

Do you maybe have an example repo somewhere for me to compare what I might be doing wrong?

[tillcarlos]

Oh, and I tried it with a jsonb field - no difference (as expected)

[volkov-sergey]

@tillcarlos as a temporary workaround, could you try to add this to your model? Thanks.

def translations=(value)
  self[:translations] = value.is_a(String) ? JSON.parse(value) : value
end

[tillcarlos]

Yes, that works just as intended!

thanks!

[volkov-sergey]

@tillcarlos ok, in this case, I'll close the issue and think about how it should work and update the gem if found a good solution.

[sedubois]

@volkov-sergey I encountered the same issue, the workaround also worked however it's not very practical to define this serialization method for every JSON field. Would you have an idea for a "cleaner" fix?

[volkov-sergey]

@sedubois you can try to DRY

create the initializer with this code:

module DataSerializer

  extend ActiveSupport::Concern

  class_methods do

    def data_serialize(fields)

      fields.each do |field|

        define_method("#{field}=") do |value|
          self[field] = value.is_a?(String) ? JSON.parse(value) : value
        end

      end

    end

  end

end

ActiveSupport.on_load(:active_record) do
  ActiveRecord::Base.send(:include, DataSerializer)
end

and then at your model:

data_serialize %i[field_a field_b field_c]

I didn't check the code, please try it and update this issue if it was helpful, so others can use it also. Thanks.

[sedubois]

OK the workaround @volkov-sergey suggested works:

# config/initializers/administrate.rb

# https://github.com/codica2/administrate-field-jsonb/issues/1#issuecomment-545825725
module JsonSerializer
  extend ActiveSupport::Concern
  class_methods do
    def serialize_json(fields)
      fields.each do |field|
        define_method("#{field}=") do |value|
          self[field] = value.is_a?(String) ? JSON.parse(value) : value
        end
      end
    end
  end
end

ActiveSupport.on_load(:active_record) do
  ActiveRecord::Base.send(:include, JsonSerializer)
end

# app/models/my_model.rb
class MyModel < ApplicationRecord
  serialize_json %i[my_prop]
  ...
end

# app/dashboards/my_model_dashboard.rb
require "administrate/base_dashboard"
class MyModelDashboard < Administrate::BaseDashboard
  ATTRIBUTE_TYPES = {
    ...
    my_prop: Field::JSONB,
    ...
  }.freeze
  ...
end

[volkov-sergey]

@sedubois thanks for update mate, I'll add this initializer in the next gem versions or add this code to README

[sedubois]

@volkov-sergey naively I would think that there should be a way to serialize things properly without this workaround:

• Rails/ActiveRecord manages to do it automatically
• the serialize_json method above needs to be added to all the models in the entire app which have JSON fields, even though this issue only concerns admin dashboards (i.e. only admin code should be impacted)
• the syntax is "DSL-y" which goes contrary to the goals of Administrate

As a user of this library I would expect to just specify Field::JSONB, that's normally all the information needed.

So maybe a bit more reflection could be useful, before committing such a new (hopefully unnecessary) API to the lib.

[volkov-sergey]

@sedubois as far as I remember Rails 4 and Rails 5 have different behavior for jsonb field.

JSONeditor library (that we use) sends String by default and it's a valid JSON primitive.

At the Rails 4.2.2:

item = OrderItem.new(options: "{\"key\":\"value\"}")
 => #<OrderItem id: nil, options: {"key"=>"value"}>

item.options
 => {"key"=>"value"} 

item.options.is_a?(String)
 => false 

item.options.is_a?(Hash)
 => true

Rails 5.0.2:

item = OrderItem.new(options: "{\"key\":\"value\"}")
 => #<OrderItem id: nil, options: "{\"key\":\"value\"}">

item.options
 => "{\"key\":\"value\"}"

item.options.is_a?(String)
 => true 

item.options.is_a?(Hash)
 => false

Since the rails team fixed this bug at Rails 5+, serialization the string before saving to DB should be managed on your side. What to use Attributes API either overwrite setter - your choice.

I agree that adding this initializer is overhead, so I will not do this. I don't know what the best solution for this now. What do you think? Thanks.

Related issues:

• Postgres JSONB column is returned as string instead of hash in Rails 5 RC2 rails/rails#25594
• Rails 4.2.2 vs Rails 5.0.2 JSON Storage with PG rails/rails#28292