File into database migration

[Keith Davey]

Hi,

I am trying to figure out an approach to load in our initial data into our database.

I have written some load_data migrations which populate a lot of the stuff, how some of the database
items are images etc and I am trying to figure out how to approach added them to the database
during a rake db:migrate

I am thinking if I store the files in a folder off the RAILS_ROOT I should be able to run code in the migration
script to add them to the database. Does this sound like a valid approach?

Thanks,

Keith

[Rob Biedenharn]

Here's one way of building initial data into a migration.  I put the data into a subdirectory of db/migrate called 'initial_data' so it's a bit more clear that it was relevant at a particular point in time.  You could certainly get the data some other way that using YAML fixtures loaded by ActiveRecord, but that all depends on what format your data has now.

-Rob

Rob Biedenharn http://agileconsultingllc.com

R...@AgileConsultingLLC.com

=== db/migrate/001_create_borogroves.rb

require 'active_record/fixtures'

class CreateBorogroves < ActiveRecord::Migration

  class Borogrove < ActiveRecord::Base

    belongs_to :jabberwocky

    acts_as_list :scope => :jabberwocky

    serialize :toves

  end

  def self.up

    create_table :borogroves do |t|

      t.column :name, :string

      t.column :description, :string

      t.column :jabberwocky_id, :integer

      t.column :position, :integer

      t.column :toves, :text

    end

    Borogrove.reset_column_information

    say_with_time("Load initial data from fixture") do

      directory = File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), "initial_data")

      say "Fixture directory is: #{directory}", true

      Fixtures.create_fixtures(directory, Borogrove.table_name)

    end

  end

  def self.down

    drop_table :borogroves

  end

end

=== db/migrate/initial_data/borogroves.yml

<% stanza = Jabberwocky.find_by_name('stanza') %>

<% counter = 0 %>

stanza_<%= counter += 1 %>:

  id: <%= counter %>

  name: "Fred"

  description: "short"

  jabberwocky_id: <%= stanza.id %>

  position: <%= counter %>

  troves:

    gyre: "only when brillig"

    gimble: occasionally

    slithy: certainly

# and so on...

[Keith Davey]

Thanks for this, not exactly what I wanted to do but it set me off on the right path.

I didn't know about yaml but once you suggested it I found this:

http://nubyonrails.com/articles/2005/12/27/dump-or-slurp-yaml-reference-data

What I have found is that I can add binary data to the database and then export it out,
and then re-import it later.

Keith