Simpler Core Data with RubyMotion

RubyMotion is great for quickly prototyping apps but it lacks the data modelling tools that Xcode provides. Luckily, using Core Data with RubyMotion can actually be easier and quicker with a little help from some 3rd party libraries.

1. Simpler Core Data with RubyMotion Stefán Hafliðason http://stefan.haflidason.com @styrmis
2. Why RubyMotion? • Promises increased developer productivity • Brings the flexibility of Ruby to iOS and OSX development • Bridges directly to Obj-C libraries: no intermediate glue code • A REPL for working with your app live! • Make tweaks quickly • Build whole views programmatically on the fly
3. Why Core Data? • Optimised for low-memory/embedded (iOS) devices • Mature data access/persistence framework • Also available on OSX • Works with iCloud—free cloud syncing for your app
4. Core Data is Difficult • Provided boilerplate code unnecessarily complex • An object graph that’s persisted to an SQLite database • Suggests relational access, which is not quite the case • Typical patterns for working with relational data are not optimal here
5. RubyMotion is “Easy” • Friendliness of Ruby • An ARC equivalent is included • Lots of work done to abstract complexity away • More concepts similar to other OO languages
6. Core Data and RubyMotion • No equivalent of Xcode’s visual data modeller • How do I define my data model?! • What about versioning?! • How will I handle migrations?
7. What we need • Our data model (NSEntityDescriptions + NSRelationshipDescriptions forming our NSManagedObject) • A Core Data Stack (NSManagedObjectModel + NSPersistentStoreCoordinator + NSManagedObjectContext) • A workflow for versioning and migrating between versions
8. Defining Our Data Model • We would normally do this in Xcode • Visual Editor for .xcdatamodel bundles • Integrated handling of versioning and custom migration code • Automatic lightweight (schema) migrations • How do we achieve this with RubyMotion?
9. Options for RubyMotion • Handle everything programmatically (low level) • Use Xcode to work with .xcdatamodel files, copy in each time • Use a Ruby library for creating .xcdatamodel files
10. Handling Everything Programmatically entity = NSEntityDescription.alloc.init entity.name = 'Task' entity.managedObjectClassName = 'Task' entity.properties = [ 'task_description', NSStringAttributeType, 'completed', NSBooleanAttributeType ].each_slice(2).map do |name, type| property = NSAttributeDescription.alloc.init property.name = name property.attributeType = type property.optional = false property end
11. Handling Everything Programmatically entity = NSEntityDescription.alloc.init entity.name = 'Task' entity.managedObjectClassName = 'Task' entity.properties = [ 'task_description', NSStringAttributeType, 'completed', NSBooleanAttributeType ].each_slice(2).map do |name, type| property = NSAttributeDescription.alloc.init property.name = name property.attributeType = type property.optional = false property end Not all that bad, but we want to use .xcdatamodel files
12. .xcdatamodel files are just XML <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>! <model name="" userDefinedModelVersionIdentifier="001" type="com.apple.IDECoreDataModeler.DataModel" documentVersion="1.0" lastSavedToolsVersion="2061" systemVersion="12D78" minimumToolsVersion="Xcode 4.3" macOSVersion="Automatic" iOSVersion="Automatic">! <entity name="Article" syncable="YES">! <attribute name="title" optional="YES" attributeType="String" syncable="YES"/>! <relationship name="author" optional="YES" minCount="1" maxCount="1" deletionRule="Nullify" destinationEntity="Author" inverseName="articles" inverseEntity="Article" syncable="YES"/>! </entity>! <entity name="Author" syncable="YES">! <attribute name="name" optional="YES" attributeType="String" syncable="YES"/>! <relationship name="articles" optional="YES" minCount="1" maxCount="1" deletionRule="Nullify" destinationEntity="Article" inverseName="author" inverseEntity="Author" syncable="YES"/>! </entity>! </model>
13. Using a library to generate .xcdatamodel files (ruby-xcdm) 1 schema "001" do! 2 entity "Article" do! 3 string :body, optional: false! 4 integer32 :length! 5 boolean :published, default: false! 6 datetime :publishedAt, default: false! 7 string :title, optional: false! 8 ! 9 belongs_to :author! 10 end! 11 ! 12 entity "Author" do! 13 float :fee! 14 string :name, optional: false! 15 has_many :articles! 16 end! 17 end
14. Workflow • Create schema file in schemas directory, e.g. schemas/001_initial.rb • Build the schema • Add a new schema version, e.g. 002_add_new_fields.rb • Rebuild the schema • That’s it!
15. Workflow $ echo "gem 'ruby-xcdm', '0.0.5'" >> Gemfile $ bundle install $ rake schema:build Generating Data Model learn-xcdm Loading schemas/001_initial.rb Writing resources/learn-xcdm.xcdatamodeld/1.xcdatamodel/ contents $ rake # The default rake task is to run the app in the simulator (main)> mom = NSManagedObjectModel.mergedModelFromBundles(nil) => #<NSManagedObjectModel:0x8fa7690> (main)> mom.entities.count => 2 (main)> mom.entities.first.name => "Article" (main)> mom.entities.first.propertiesByName => {"body"=>#<NSAttributeDescription:0x8e5db30>, "title"=>#<NSAttributeDescription:0x8ea4770>}
16. Advantages of using ruby- xcdm • No magic: generates XML from a schema • Schema versions are fully text-based and readable, making them well-suited to version control • Can compile our versions into .xcdatamodeld bundles, completely removing dependence on Xcode
17. Basic Core Data Stack 1 model = NSManagedObjectModel.mergedModelFromBundles(nil) 2 3 store = NSPersistentStoreCoordinator.alloc.initWithManagedObjectModel(model) 4 store_path = File.join(NSHomeDirectory(), 'Documents', 'LearnXcdm.sqlite') 5 store_url = NSURL.fileURLWithPath(store_path) 6 7 options = { NSMigratePersistentStoresAutomaticallyOption => true, 8 NSInferMappingModelAutomaticallyOption => true } 9 10 error_ptr = Pointer.new(:object) 11 12 unless store.addPersistentStoreWithType(NSSQLiteStoreType, 13 configuration: nil, 14 URL: store_url, 15 options: options, 16 error: error_ptr) 17 raise "[ERROR] Failed to create persistent store: #{error_ptr[0].description}" 18 end 19 20 @context = NSManagedObjectContext.alloc.init 21 @context.persistentStoreCoordinator = store
18. Core Data Query • From the developers of ruby-xcdm • Abstracts away much of the complexity of Core Data • All you need is your .xcdatamodeld bundle
19. Core Data Query in Action # app/models/task.rb class Task < CDQManagedObject end ! # app/app_delegate.rb class AppDelegate include CDQ ! def application(application, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:launchOptions) cdq.setup true end end
20. Core Data Query in Action (main)> Task.count => 0 (main)> t1 = Task.create(task_description: "Complete presentation") (main)> t2 = Task.create(task_description: "File tax return") (main)> cdq.save => true (main)> exit $ rake ... (main)> Task.count => 2 (main)> t1, t2 = Task.all.array (main)> t1.task_description => "Complete chapter" (main)> t2.task_description => "File tax return" (main)> t2.destroy => #<NSManagedObjectContext:0x914cbe0> (main)> cdq.save => true (main)> Task.count => 1
21. Core Data in Action Author.where(:name).eq("Emily") Author.where(:name).not_equal("Emily") Author.limit(1) Author.offset(10) Author.where(:name).contains("A").offset(10).first ! # Conjuctions Author.where(:name).contains("Emily").and.contains("Dickinson") Author.where(:name).starts_with("E").or(:pub_count).eq(1) ! # Nested Conjuctions Author.where(:name).contains("Emily").and(cdq(:pub_count).gt(100).or.lt(10) ) ! # Relationships Author.first.publications.offset(2).limit(1) cdq(emily_dickinson).publications.where(:type).eq('poetry') ! class Author < CDQManagedObject scope :prolific, where(:pub_count).gt(50) end
22. Takeaways • Don’t be put off by the Xcode boilerplate: Core Data doesn’t have to be that hard • With CDQ, Core Data is arguably easier to use with RubyMotion rather than harder • XCDM, CDQ and RubyMotion Query (all by Infinitered) are all worth taking a look at
23. Next Steps • In the coming weeks I’ll be researching and writing about: • How to best handle heavyweight/data migrations in RubyMotion • Deconstructing the ‘magic’ in Core Data Query • RubyMotion development best practices Stefán Hafliðason http://stefan.haflidason.com @styrmis