How do I cache a method with Ruby/Rails?

Question

I have an expensive (time-consuming) external request to another web service I need to make, and I'd like to cache it. So I attempted to use this idiom , by putting the following in the application controller:

def get_listings
  cache(:get_listings!)
end

def get_listings!
  return Hpricot.XML(open(xml_feed))
end

When I call get_listings! in my controller everything is cool, but when I call get_listings Rails complains that no block was given. And when I look up that method I see that it does indeed expect a block, and additionally it looks like that method is only for use in views? So I'm guessing that although it wasn't stated, that the example is just pseudocode.

So my question is, how do I cache something like this? I tried various other ways but couldn't figure it out. Thanks!

Answer 1

an in-code approach could look something like this:

def get_listings
  @listings ||= get_listings!
end

def get_listings!
  Hpricot.XML(open(xml_feed))
end

which will cache the result on a per-request basis (new controller instance per request), though you may like to look at the 'memoize' helpers as an api option.

If you want to share across requests don't save data on the class objects, as your app will not be threadsafe , unless you're good at concurrent programming & make sure the threads don't interfere with each other's data access to the shared variable.

The "rails way" to cache across requests is the Rails.cache store . Memcached gets used a lot, but you might find the file or memory stores fit your needs. It really depends on how you're deploying and whether you want to prioritise cache hits, response time, storage (RAM), or use a hosted solution eg a heroku addon.

Answer 2

As nruth suggests, Rails' built-in cache store is probably what you want.

Try:

def get_listings
  Rails.cache.fetch(:listings) { get_listings! }
end

def get_listings!
  Hpricot.XML(open(xml_feed))
end

fetch() retrieves the cached value for the specified key, or writes the result of the block to the cache if it doesn't exist.

By default, the Rails cache uses file store, but in a production environment, memcached is the preferred option.

See section 2 of http://guides.rubyonrails.org/caching_with_rails.html for more details.

Answer 3

You can use the cache_method gem:

gem install cache_method
require 'cache_method'

In your code:

def get_listings
  Hpricot.XML(open(xml_feed))
end
cache_method :get_listings

You might notice I got rid of get_listings! . If you need a way to refresh the data manually, I suggest:

def refresh
  clear_method_cache :get_listings
end

Here's another tidbit:

def get_listings
  Hpricot.XML(open(xml_feed))
end
cache_method :get_listings, (60*60) # automatically expire cache after an hour

Answer 4

You can also use cachethod gem ( https://github.com/reneklacan/cachethod )

gem 'cachethod'

Then it is deadly simple to cache method's result

class Dog
  cache_method :some_method, expires_in: 1.minutes

  def some_method arg1
    ..
  end
end

It also supports argument level caching

Answer 5

There was suggested cache_method gem, though it's pretty heavy. If you need to call method without arguments, solution is very simple:

Object.class_eval do

  def self.cache_method(method_name)
    original_method_name = "_original_#{method_name}"
    alias_method original_method_name, method_name
    define_method method_name do
      @cache ||= {}
      @cache[method_name] = send original_method_name unless @cache.key?(method_name)
      @cache[method_name]
    end
  end

end

then you can use it in any class:

def get_listings
  Hpricot.XML(open(xml_feed))
end
cache_method :get_listings

Note - this will also cache nil, which is the only reason to use it instead of @cached_value ||=

Answer 6

Other answers are excellent but if you want a simple hand-rolled approach you can do this. Define a method like the below one in your class...

def use_cache_if_available(method_name,&hard_way)
 @cached_retvals ||= {}  # or initialize in constructor
 return @cached_retvals[method_name] if @cached_retvals.has_key?(method_name)
 @cached_retvals[method_name] = hard_way.call
end

Thereafter, for each method you want to cache you can put wrap the method body in something like this...

def some_expensive_method(arg1, arg2, arg3)
  use_cache_if_available(__method__) {
    calculate_it_the_hard_way_here
  }
end

One thing that this does better than the simplest method listed above is that it will cache a nil. It has the convenience that it doesn't require creating duplicate methods. Probably the gem approach is cleaner, though.

Answer 7

Late to the party, but in case someone arrives here searching.

I use to carry this little module around from project to project, I find it convenient and extensible enough, without adding an extra gem. It uses the Rails.cache backend, so please use it only if you have one.

# lib/active_record/cache_method.rb
module ActiveRecord
  module CacheMethod
    extend ActiveSupport::Concern

    module ClassMethods
      # To be used with a block
      def cache_method(args = {})
        @caller = caller
        caller_method_name = args.fetch(:method_name)     { @caller[0][/`.*'/][1..-2] }
        expires_in         = args.fetch(:expires_in)      { 24.hours }
        cache_key          = args.fetch(:cache_key)       { "#{self.name.underscore}/methods/#{caller_method_name}" }

        Rails.cache.fetch(cache_key, expires_in: expires_in) do
          yield
        end
      end
    end

    # To be used with a block
    def cache_method(args = {})
      @caller = caller
      caller_method_name = args.fetch(:method_name) { @caller[0][/`.*'/][1..-2] }
      expires_in         = args.fetch(:expires_in)  { 24.hours }
      cache_key          = args.fetch(:cache_key)   { "#{self.class.name.underscore}-#{id}-#{updated_at.to_i}/methods/#{caller_method_name}" }

      Rails.cache.fetch(cache_key, expires_in: expires_in) do
        yield
      end
    end
  end
end

Then in an initializer:

# config/initializers/active_record.rb
require 'active_record/cache_method'
ActiveRecord::Base.send :include, ActiveRecord::CacheMethod

And then in a model:

# app/models/user.rb
class User < AR 
  def self.my_slow_class_method
    cache_method do 
      # some slow things here
    end
  end

  def this_is_also_slow(var)
    custom_key_depending_on_var = ...
    cache_method(key_name: custom_key_depending_on_var, expires_in: 10.seconds) do 
      # other slow things depending on var
    end
  end
end

At this point it only works with models, but can be easily generalized.