Ruby convention for chaining calls over multiple lines

Solution 1:

There is actually a section on that in the Ruby style guide:

Adopt a consistent multi-line method chaining style. There are two popular styles in the Ruby community, both of which are considered good - leading . (Option A) and trailing . (Option B).

• (Option A) When continuing a chained method invocation on another line keep the . on the second line.

  # bad - need to consult first line to understand second line
  one.two.three.
    four
  
  # good - it's immediately clear what's going on the second line
  one.two.three
    .four
  

• (Option B) When continuing a chained method invocation on another line, include the . on the first line to indicate that the expression continues.

  # bad - need to read ahead to the second line to know that the chain continues
  one.two.three
    .four
  
  # good - it's immediately clear that the expression continues beyond the first line
  one.two.three.
    four
  

A discussion on the merits of both alternative styles can be found here.

Solution 2:

In Ruby 1.9+ it's possible to write like this:

query = reservations_scope
  .for_company(current_company)
  .joins{property.development}
  .group{property.development.id}
  .group{property.development.name}
  .group{property.number}
  .group{created_at}
  .group{price}
  .group{reservation_path}
  .group{company_id}
  .group{user_id}

Much more readable, I think.