# Rails Generators

**Published by:** [TheDevJasper](https://paragraph.com/@thedevjasper/)
**Published on:** 2021-10-23
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@thedevjasper/rails-generators

## Content

### 1. Resource Generator (my favorite) Using the resource generator creates everything from controller to migration. Running `rails g resource User username:string email:string age:integer` will result in the following: ``` # a user controller class UsersController < ApplicationController end # a migration class CreateUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration[6.1] def change create_table :users do |t| t.string :username t.string :email t.integer :age t.timestamps end end end # a user model class User < ApplicationRecord end # endpoints for the user resource Rails.application.routes.draw do resources :users end ``` Sometimes using the resource generator is somewhat overkill. That is where individual generators come in handy. There are 3 that I have found to be very useful. The controller, migration, and model generators. ### 2. Controller Generator Using the controller generator creates... You guessed it! A controller. Running `rails g controller Users` will result in the following: ``` # a user controller class UsersController < ApplicationController end ``` If you wish to also generate actions along with the controller you can do so by including the name of the action in the command. Running `rails g controller Users index show create update` will produce: ``` # a user controller class UsersController < ApplicationController def index end def show end def create end def update end end # routes each actions Rails.application.routes.draw do get 'users/index' get 'users/show' get 'users/create' get 'users/update' end ``` It has to be said that, at the time of writing this, I am unaware of a way to generate the correct HTTP verbs to go along with the routes. This is no big deal, you just have to remember to change the verb prefixing the route with whichever it needs to be, or by using the resource prefix like you get from running the `rails g resource` generator. ### 3. Model Generator Using the model generator creates both a migration and model. Running `rails g model User` will result in the following: ``` # a migration class CreateUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration[6.1] def change create_table :users do |t| t.timestamps end end end # a user model class User < ApplicationRecord end ``` This is pretty bear bones, so we can spice it up by including an optional list of attribute pairs as arguments. Running `rails g model User username:string email:string age:integer` will give us the following: ``` # a migration class CreateUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration[6.1] def change create_table :users do |t| t.string :username t.string :email t.integer :age t.timestamps end end end # a user model class User < ApplicationRecord end ``` #### Side Note Notice how the attribute pairs are broken up into two parts. This is so rails knows the data type of each attribute, but a small time saver is to leave off the datatype if the attribute is a string so `rails g model User username:string email:string age:integer` would become `rails g model User username email age:integer`. You can do this because the default datatype will always be a string. ### Things To Keep In Mind Take note on the pluralization of the resource name when using each generator. For both the model and resource generators **DO NOT** pluralize the resource name, but go ahead while using the controller generator. If you accidentally mess up while using one of the generators, it's an easy fix. Let's say I ran `rails g resource Users`, forgetting that "Users" needs to be singular, I can simply hit the up arrow on my keyboard and change g -> d resulting in the following command: `rails d resource Users`. This will destroy all files generated from the resource giving you a fresh plate to fix the typo and re-run the generator. Lastly, knowing when to use each generator is important and can save a ton of time when developing with ruby on rails.

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