Readable Enums

Create string attributes that behave like rails enums

Getting Started

gem install readable_enums

Usage

Include the ReadableEnums module in the models you want to use it in, or in your base model.

class ModelName < ActiveRecord::Base
  include ReadableEnums

end

Add enum-like behavior to any existing string attribute by using the readable_enums method.

  readable_enums :status, [:active, :inactive, :pending]

ReadableEnums gives you enum-like methods and validations!

> model = ModelName.active.first
  ModelName Load (10.5ms) SELECT "model_names".* FROM "model_names" WHERE "model_names"."status" = $1 LIMIT 1[["status", "active"]]

> model.inactive?
=> false

> model.active?
=> true

> model.pending!
  BEGIN
  COMMIT

> model.pending?
=> true

> model.update(status: 'ending')
  BEGIN
  ROLLBACK

> model.errors.first
=> [:status, "ending is not a valid status"]

Optional Arguments

allow_nil (default false): allow nil values in your enum column

  readable_enums :status, [:active, :inactive, :pending], allow_nil: true

if (default true): only validate the string attribute if the conditional returns true

  readable_enums :status, [:active, :inactive, :pending], if: :validate?

  def validate?
    ...
  end

with_scopes (default true): prevent scopes from being setup for your enum values if you don't need them, or want to define them yourself

  readable_enums :status, [:active, :inactive, :pending], with_scopes: false

  scope :active, -> { where(status: :active).sort_by(&:created_at) }