[Archivesspace_Users_Group] Creating settings for a plugin

[Brian Hoffman]

Hi Carlos,

I think I see the problem - you’re copying from one of the more idiosyncratic parts of the API, so it’s a bit hard to see what’s going on. The preferences model in the backend builds a composite preferences object by fetching all applicable rows from the table based on four contexts:  global, repo, user_global, user_repo. These basically scope the data: preferences for any user using any repo, any user using a particular repo, a particular user using any repo, and a particular user using a particular repo. The context of the request determines which contexts get loaded and what kind of composite object gets assembled. But there is always at least a ‘global’ preference representing the abstract ‘global’ repository. In the preferences model, there’s an `init` method that takes care of creating that record at startup:

https://github.com/archivesspace/archivesspace/blob/05f01f83414c6daa259e72abcc38b50d9450e769/backend/app/model/preference.rb#L7-L34

So the frontend controller safely  assumes that there is always one context preference for `global` and expects it to be on the json payload. In your plugin, you don’t have the `init` logic so that’s not a safe assumption. You could either add something similar, or just tweak the frontend controller if the concept of ‘global’ plugin_settings doesn’t make sense in your case.

Brian




> On Oct 15, 2015, at 5:49 PM, Carlos Lemus <carlos.lemus at unlv.edu> wrote:
> 
> Hello Brian,
> 
> Thank you for your recommendations, they've helped out a lot. I believe I am very close to what I want to do and  what I want to achieve, but I've reached a little snag and I can't find the problem.
> 
> I took a little different path that I thought matched a bit closer to what I wanted to accomplish through your suggestions and tried to mimic the preferences/defaults. (a new version of my code at https://github.com/l3mus/ArchivesSpace-authority-project/tree/master/plugin_settings <https://github.com/l3mus/ArchivesSpace-authority-project/tree/master/plugin_settings>)
> 
> At https://github.com/l3mus/ArchivesSpace-authority-project/blob/master/plugin_settings/frontend/controllers/plugin_settings_controller.rb#L82 <https://github.com/l3mus/ArchivesSpace-authority-project/blob/master/plugin_settings/frontend/controllers/plugin_settings_controller.rb#L82>  I am getting a nil class error because it's not in the json and I can't find the area where it gets added or if there is a step that I'm missing for it to add that setting. I think it would be beneficial if the settings could be edited in a per repository/per user basis like the preferences seem to work. 
> 
> {"settings"=>{"ead_loc_text"=>"Findind Aid Location: "}, "global"=>#<JSONModel(:plugin_settings) {"id"=>1, "lock_version"=>22, "json_schema_version"=>1, "repo_id"=>1, "user_uniq"=>"GLOBAL_USER", "settings"=>#<JSONModel(:settings) {"ead_loc_text"=>"Findind Aid Location: ", "jsonmodel_type"=>"settings"}>, "create_time"=>"2015-10-14T21:45:28Z", "system_mtime"=>"2015-10-15T20:13:34Z", "user_mtime"=>"2015-10-15T20:13:34Z", "jsonmodel_type"=>"plugin_settings", "uri"=>"/repositories/1/plugin_settings/1"}>, "settings_global"=>{"ead_loc_text"=>"Findind Aid Location: "}}
> 
> it's missing that ['global']['repository']['ref'] value, I'm not sure where it's coming from.
> 
> The json above is coming from the following. It's either in here or somewhere before that that global setting is set.
> https://github.com/l3mus/ArchivesSpace-authority-project/blob/master/plugin_settings/backend/model/plugin_settings.rb#L95 <https://github.com/l3mus/ArchivesSpace-authority-project/blob/master/plugin_settings/backend/model/plugin_settings.rb#L95>
> 
> I appreciate the help,
> 
> Thank you,
> Carlos Lemus
> 
> On Tue, Oct 13, 2015 at 7:11 AM, Carlos Lemus <carlos.lemus at unlv.edu <mailto:carlos.lemus at unlv.edu>> wrote:
> Hello Brian,
> 
> Thank you for the response.  I will definitely need more values so I'll try taking a look at the defaults controller.
> I'll let you know if I get something working.
> 
> Thank you,
> Carlos Lemus
> 
> On Oct 13, 2015 6:31 AM, "Brian Hoffman" <brianjhoffman at gmail.com <mailto:brianjhoffman at gmail.com>> wrote:
> Hi Carlos,
> 
> I think you might want to look at the defaults controller and model, as well as the sequence controller and model. If you really just need a single string value, you may want to dispense with the JSONModel stuff completely and just have your backend endpoint take a single parameter and update the model.
> 
> You can look at the DefaultValues model for an example of how to just have 1 row in the table.
> 
> For the frontend, you’re probably better off not using the handle_crud helper if you don’t use JSONModel, and just have the controller prepare and send an update request to the backend. The default_values example might help here too:
> https://github.com/archivesspace/archivesspace/blob/master/frontend/app/models/default_values.rb <https://github.com/archivesspace/archivesspace/blob/master/frontend/app/models/default_values.rb>
> 
> Brian
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On Oct 12, 2015, at 5:54 PM, Carlos Lemus <carlos.lemus at unlv.edu <mailto:carlos.lemus at unlv.edu>> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello,
>> 
>> What I want to accomplish is to create a form, possibly in the system_menu_controller, that will allow me to create certain fields/settings with user-input values, save those values, and then let me access them at different points in my plugin. 
>> 
>> What I've tried so far:
>> 
>> I've tried to mimic a bit of the accessions_summary_reports and the hello_world plugin. However, these seem both to be able to continuously create new objects in the schema database pertaining to it, but I just want to have one empty field for the settings that can just be updated instead of having to create multiple settings. I have tried something similar with the defaults, but I don't think I implemented them correctly.
>> 
>> Here is a github link to my trial
>> https://github.com/l3mus/ArchivesSpace-authority-project/tree/master/plugin_settings <https://github.com/l3mus/ArchivesSpace-authority-project/tree/master/plugin_settings>
>> 
>> I hope that was clear enough, please let me know if I need to clarify more.
>> I'm just looking for some direction on what I could be doing. How could I approach doing this? I'm I looking in the right direction? Or is there a better example that can help me form this? 
>> 
>> Thank you,
>> 
>> Carlos Lemus
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