Ruby on Rails - Import Data from a CSV file

I would like to import data from a CSV file into an existing database table. I do not want to save the CSV file, just take the data from it and put it into the existing table. I am using Ruby 1.9.2 and Rails 3.

This is my table:

create_table "mouldings", :force => true do |t|
  t.string   "suppliers_code"
  t.datetime "created_at"
  t.datetime "updated_at"
  t.string   "name"
  t.integer  "supplier_id"
  t.decimal  "length",         :precision => 3, :scale => 2
  t.decimal  "cost",           :precision => 4, :scale => 2
  t.integer  "width"
  t.integer  "depth"
end

Can you give me some code to show me the best way to do this, thanks.

Solution 1:

require 'csv'    

csv_text = File.read('...')
csv = CSV.parse(csv_text, :headers => true)
csv.each do |row|
  Moulding.create!(row.to_hash)
end

Solution 2:

Simpler version of yfeldblum's answer, that is simpler and works well also with large files:

require 'csv'    

CSV.foreach(filename, headers: true) do |row|
  Moulding.create!(row.to_hash)
end

No need for with_indifferent_access or symbolize_keys, and no need to read in the file to a string first.

It doesnt't keep the whole file in memory at once, but reads in line by line and creates a Moulding per line.

Solution 3:

The smarter_csv gem was specifically created for this use-case: to read data from CSV file and quickly create database entries.

  require 'smarter_csv'
  options = {}
  SmarterCSV.process('input_file.csv', options) do |chunk|
    chunk.each do |data_hash|
      Moulding.create!( data_hash )
    end
  end

You can use the option chunk_size to read N csv-rows at a time, and then use Resque in the inner loop to generate jobs which will create the new records, rather than creating them right away - this way you can spread the load of generating entries to multiple workers.

See also: https://github.com/tilo/smarter_csv

Solution 4:

You might try Upsert:

require 'upsert' # add this to your Gemfile
require 'csv'    

u = Upsert.new Moulding.connection, Moulding.table_name
CSV.foreach(file, headers: true) do |row|
  selector = { name: row['name'] } # this treats "name" as the primary key and prevents the creation of duplicates by name
  setter = row.to_hash
  u.row selector, setter
end

If this is what you want, you might also consider getting rid of the auto-increment primary key from the table and setting the primary key to name. Alternatively, if there is some combination of attributes that form a primary key, use that as the selector. No index is necessary, it will just make it faster.