Rails - Soft Delete or Archive for active and non active data

Question

I have read a lot about soft deletes and archive and saw all the pros and cons. I'm still confused on which approach would work best for my situation. I'll use the concept of posts and comments to see if I can explain it a bit easier

Post -> Comments
Post.all

Outside RSS Feeds -> Post -> Comments
RSSFeed.posts (Return the ones that are deleted or not)

Post gets "deleted" but I need the posts still accessible from say an RSS Feed but not the admin of the application.

I hear a lot of headaches with soft deletes but think it might make the most sense for my application and feel if I use Archive then I would have to run multiple queries

RSSFeed.posts || RSSFeed.archived_posts

not sure which would be more efficient or more a pain in the @$$. Thoughts or examples? I know this example sounds stupid but trying to think of multiple situations that could be used to figure out which way to go.

klump · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-10T06:29:14.087

2

Just add another column in your database and call it archivated.

Use link_to_if for the links:

<%= link_to_unless @post.archivated?, @post.name, post_path(@path) %>

Some more rails goodness:

app/models/post.rb

class Post < ActiveRecord::Base
  default_scope where( active: true )

  def archivate
    unless self.archivated?
      self.archivated = true
      self.save
    end
  end

  def dectivate
    if self.archivated?
      self.archivated = false
      self.save
    end
  end
end

app/models/archive.rb

class Archive < Post
  set_table_name :posts # make this model use the posts table

  default_scope where( active: false )
end

Now you can do stuff like this:

@post = Post.find(some_id)
@post.archivate
Archive.find(some_id) # should return the post you just archivated

edited Apr 10 '12 at 06:29

answered Apr 10 '12 at 04:29

klump

3,259
2
23
26

Klump, you have provided some brilliant information and I have thought about doing some of this. I think soft deletes aren't bad but some think it is and that you should go the archive route. I guess I was looking more for if I went the archive route, how hard would it be to lookup active and non-active from two different tables in comparison to soft delete which I think would be easier. – bokor Apr 10 '12 at 04:33
I dont know if it is of much advantage to use archive because you always have two models and some trouble to make it work seamlessly with all the links when you move it into the archive. Keeping it in one database is much easier - you could build a pseudo model (a model without a real database table) called Archive and access all the softdeleted posts. You might want to add another flag for archiving. The advantage of that is that you only have one database table - all the IDs stay valid - also if it gets archived or soft deleted... – klump Apr 10 '12 at 04:38
I updated my answer. Check it out it should bring you a step closer to what you want. – klump Apr 10 '12 at 05:09
Thank you! I think this looks like a good idea to give it a try, rather than some bulky solution that I don't really need :) – bokor Apr 10 '12 at 13:53

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 10 '12 at 11:53

0

Definitely you will get idea , take a look :

http://railspikes.com/2010/2/26/acts-as-archive

answered Apr 10 '12 at 11:53

Vik

5,931
3
31
38

Vik, Thank you for the info. I have check that gem out and it looks awesome. I'm not 100% sure if it overkill for me yet because my scenario is more simple (I THINK), but ultimately a great solution nonetheless!!! – bokor Apr 10 '12 at 14:04
Sadly that acts-as-archive gem is no longer maintained – rmcsharry Jan 29 '18 at 17:54

Rails - Soft Delete or Archive for active and non active data

2 Answers2