Multiple ransak filters in URL - `with_tags` ransak filter missing on documentation

[pral2a]

• [x] Document missing method
• [x] Refactor / simplify code
• [ ] Research if we can use native Ransack to pass an array of tag names in URL string (it's possible in the console)

Ransack for (single) tag (association) names works out of the box:

• http://localhost:3000/devices?q[tags_name_in]=Barcelona

How do we use multiple tags in URL? :thinking:

• http://localhost:3000/devices?q[tags_name_in]=Barcelona|Amsterdam (does not work)
• Device.ransack('tags_name_in': ['Amsterdam', 'Barcelona']).result.count (works in console)

https://github.com/fablabbcn/smartcitizen-api/blob/4706778e5a657acfb689ad262c179f972c98a660/app/controllers/v0/devices_controller.rb#L16-L20

I think it's missing in API docs here

https://developer.smartcitizen.me/#basic-searching

[viktorsmari]

https://github.com/fablabbcn/smartcitizen-api/blob/4706778e5a657acfb689ad262c179f972c98a660/app/models/device.rb#L99-L101

I added the documentation - but was it supposed to handle 2 (multiple) tags using the pipe (|) ? That did not work when I tried it. Needs some work / changes if that is the desired behaviour

If the plan is to find either 'Barcelona' OR 'Amsterdam', we can replace find_by with where: Tag.where(name: ['Barcelona','Amsterdam'])

When using multiple tags (|) - it looks like it always finds the Tag with the lowest id number (the oldest id in the database) Tag.find_by!(name: ['Barcelona','Amsterdam']) : Finds Amsterdam Tag.find_by!(name: ['Amsterdam','Barcelona']) : Finds Amsterdam Tag.find_by!(name: 'Barcelona|Amsterdam|Manchester'.split('|')) Finds Amsterdam

[pral2a]

Thanks or the assessment. I will suggest you work whenever you have time to support multiple tags filtering using the OR operation as described.

[viktorsmari]

Temporarily(?) added support multiple for OR tags using our custom param with_tags http://localhost:3000/devices?with_tags=Barcelona|Manchester

This is not using Ransack q params, instead we inject it manually. Preferably we should use Ransack for everything (if possible). Then we can simplify the code and remove the if params[:with_tags] check.

Thoughts:

Ransack for multiple tag names works in this Console command: Device.ransack('tags_name_in': ['Amsterdam', 'Barcelona']).result.count

Result of a single tag name URL: Parameters: {"q"=>{"tags_name_in"=>"Manchester"}}

[timcowlishaw]

Four years later, after stumbling across this in a comment in the codebase :-)

This is entirely possible! You just repeat the param you're interested in, and suffix it with square brackets, like:

http://localhost:3000/devices?q[tags_name_in][]=Barcelona&q[tags_name_in][]=Amsterdam".

Given I'm working on a new API version, I might leave the "with_tags" hack out in V1, as updating to use this style of querying would be a breaking change.

(unless we feel that with_tags is more user-friendly and we want to keep it: the "rails way" described above is kinda ugly, and not necessarily intuitive if you don't already know about it, as this issue suggests)