Read actions operate on an Ash.Query
. Read actions always return lists of data. The act of pagination, or returning a single result, is handled as part of the interface, and is not a concern of the action itself. Here is an example of a read action:
# Giving your actions informative names is always a good idea
read :ticket_queue do
# Use arguments to take in values you need to run your read action.
argument :priorities, {:array, :atom} do
constraints items: [one_of: [:low, :medium, :high]]
end
# This action may be paginated,
# and returns a total count of records by default
pagination offset: true, countable: :by_default
# Arguments can be used in preparations and filters
filter expr(status == :open and priority in ^arg(:priorities))
end
For a full list of all of the available options for configuring read actions, see the Ash.Resource.Dsl documentation.
The Ash.get!
function is a convenience function for running a read action, filtering by a unique identifier, and expecting only a single result. It is equivalent to the following code:
Ash.get!(Resource, 1)
# is roughly equivalent to
Resource
|> Ash.Query.filter(id == 1)
|> Ash.Query.limit(2)
|> Ash.read!()
|> case do
[] -> # raise not found error
[result] -> result
[_, _] -> # raise too many results error
end
The Ash.read_one!
function is a similar convenience function to Ash.get!
, but it does not take a unique identifier. It is useful when you expect an action to return only a single result, and want to enforce that and return a single result.
Ash.read_one!(query)
# is roughly equivalent to
query
|> Ash.Query.limit(2)
|> Ash.read!()
|> case do
[] -> nil
[result] -> result
[_, _] -> # raise too many results error
end
Ash provides built-in support for pagination when reading resources and their relationships. You can find more information about this in the pagination guide.
The following steps are performed when you call Ash.Query.for_read/4
.
- Cast input arguments -
d:Ash.Resource.Dsl.actions.read.argument
- Set default argument values -
d:Ash.Resource.Dsl.actions.read.argument|default
- Add errors for missing required arguments |
d:Ash.Resource.Dsl.actions.read.argument|allow_nil?
- Run query preparations |
d:Ash.Resource.Dsl.actions.read.prepare
- Add action filter |
d:Ash.Resource.Dsl.actions.read|filter
These steps are trimmed down, and are aimed at helping users understand the general flow. Some steps are omitted.
- Run
Ash.Query.for_read/3
if it has not already been run - Apply tenant filters for attribute
- Apply pagination options
- Run before action hooks
- Multi-datalayer filter is synthesized. We run queries in other data layers to fetch ids and translate related filters to
(destination_field in ^ids)
- Strict Check & Filter Authorization is run
- Data layer query is built and validated
- Field policies are added to the query
- Data layer query is Run
- Authorizer "runtime" checks are run (you likely do not have any of these)
The following steps happen while(asynchronously) or after the main data layer query has been run
- If paginating and count was requested, the count is determined at the same time as the query is run.
- Any calculations & aggregates that were able to be run outside of the main query are run
- Relationships, calculations, and aggregates are loaded