Mapped Attributes

This gem allows to build ActiveRecord objects with alternative attribute naming. It is useful when you are importing ie. fetched data from XLS or parsed data from some website.

gem install mapped_attributes

or

gem 'mapped_attributes' in your Gemfile

Include MappedAttributes module to model, for which you would like to use attribute mapping:

class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
  include MappedAttributes

  has_many :tasks
  has_one :main_task, class_name: 'Task', order: 'priority ASC'
  accepts_nested_attributes_for :main_task
end

class Task < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :project
end

Define attributes mapping for certain model in your locales:

en:
  activerecord:
    mappings:
      project:
        subject: Project Name
        summary: Description
        priority: Importance
        start_at: 
          - Beginning
          - Start
        main_task_attributes:
          name: 
            - Task Name
            - Main Task
          description: Info
          due_date: Deadline

And finally set mapped attributes:

    data = {
        'Project Name'  => 'Testing One',
        'Description'   => 'This project is just for test',
        'Importance'    => '3',
        'Beginning'     => '2013-01-01',
        'Task Name'     => 'Get a Job Done',
        'Info'          => 'Finalize first task',
        'Deadline'      => '2013-02-01'
        'Comments'      => 'Something something dark side'
    }
    project = Project.new
    project.set_mapped_attributes(data)
    project.save    

Also, you can list unmapped attributes:

  project.get_unmapped_attributes
  # => ['Comments']

• you can map given data to object attributes
• you can provide custom mapping definition namespace: project.set_mapped_attributes(data, as: :custom_project)
• you can define multiple mapping for a single attribute
• you can map attributes for the has_one and belongs_to relations if you are using nested_attributes

Module is tested with minitest. To run it just execute rake

Tomasz Borowski