Rails: Faster way to perform updates on many records

Question

In our Rails 3.2.13 app (Ruby 2.0.0 + Postgres on Heroku), we are often retreiving a large amount of Order data from an API, and then we need to update or create each order in our database, as well as the associations. A single order creates/updates itself plus approx. 10-15 associcated objects, and we are importing up to 500 orders at a time.

The below code works, but the problem is it's not at all efficient in terms of speed. Creating/updating 500 records takes approx. 1 minute and generates 6500+ db queries!

def add_details(shop, shopify_orders)
  shopify_orders.each do |shopify_order|
    order = Order.where(:order_id => shopify_order.id.to_s, :shop_id => shop.id).first_or_create
    order.update_details(order,shopify_order,shop)  #This calls update_attributes for the Order
    ShippingLine.add_details(order, shopify_order.shipping_lines)
    LineItem.add_details(order, shopify_order.line_items)
    Taxline.add_details(order, shopify_order.tax_lines)
    Fulfillment.add_details(order, shopify_order.fulfillments)
    Note.add_details(order, shopify_order.note_attributes)
    Discount.add_details(order, shopify_order.discount_codes)
    billing_address = shopify_order.billing_address rescue nil
    if !billing_address.blank?
      BillingAddress.add_details(order, billing_address)
    end
    shipping_address = shopify_order.shipping_address rescue nil
    if !shipping_address.blank?
      ShippingAddress.add_details(order, shipping_address)
    end
    payment_details = shopify_order.payment_details rescue nil
    if !payment_details.blank?
      PaymentDetail.add_details(order, payment_details)
    end
  end
end

  def update_details(order,shopify_order,shop)
    order.update_attributes(
      :order_name => shopify_order.name,
      :order_created_at => shopify_order.created_at,
      :order_updated_at => shopify_order.updated_at,
      :status => Order.get_status(shopify_order),
      :payment_status => shopify_order.financial_status,
      :fulfillment_status => Order.get_fulfillment_status(shopify_order),
      :payment_method => shopify_order.processing_method,
      :gateway => shopify_order.gateway,
      :currency => shopify_order.currency,
      :subtotal_price => shopify_order.subtotal_price,
      :subtotal_tax => shopify_order.total_tax,
      :total_discounts => shopify_order.total_discounts,
      :total_line_items_price => shopify_order.total_line_items_price,
      :total_price => shopify_order.total_price,
      :total_tax => shopify_order.total_tax,
      :total_weight => shopify_order.total_weight,
      :taxes_included => shopify_order.taxes_included,
      :shop_id => shop.id,
      :email => shopify_order.email,
      :order_note => shopify_order.note
    )
  end

So as you can see, we are looping through each order, finding out if it exists or not (then either loading the existing Order or creating the new Order), and then calling update_attributes to pass in the details for the Order. After that we create or update each of the associations. Each associated model looks very similar to this:

  class << self
    def add_details(order, tax_lines)
      tax_lines.each do |shopify_tax_line|
        taxline = Taxline.find_or_create_by_order_id(:order_id => order.id)
        taxline.update_details(shopify_tax_line)
      end
    end
  end
  def update_details(tax_line)
    self.update_attributes(:price => tax_line.price, :rate => tax_line.rate, :title => tax_line.title)
  end

I've looked into the activerecord-import gem but unfortunately it seems to be more geared towards creation of records in bulk and not update as we also require.

What is the best way that this can be improved for performance?

Many many thanks in advance.

UPDATE:

I came up with this slight improvement, which essentialy removes the call to update the newly created Orders (one query less per order).

 def add_details(shop, shopify_orders)
      shopify_orders.each do |shopify_order|
      values = {:order_id => shopify_order.id.to_s, :shop_id => shop.id,
        :order_name => shopify_order.name,
            :order_created_at => shopify_order.created_at,
            :order_updated_at => shopify_order.updated_at,
            :status => Order.get_status(shopify_order),
            :payment_status => shopify_order.financial_status,
            :fulfillment_status => Order.get_fulfillment_status(shopify_order),
            :payment_method => shopify_order.processing_method,
            :gateway => shopify_order.gateway,
            :currency => shopify_order.currency,
            :subtotal_price => shopify_order.subtotal_price,
            :subtotal_tax => shopify_order.total_tax,
            :total_discounts => shopify_order.total_discounts,
            :total_line_items_price => shopify_order.total_line_items_price,
            :total_price => shopify_order.total_price,
            :total_tax => shopify_order.total_tax,
            :total_weight => shopify_order.total_weight,
            :taxes_included => shopify_order.taxes_included,
            :email => shopify_order.email,
            :order_note => shopify_order.note}
        get_order = Order.where(:order_id => shopify_order.id.to_s, :shop_id => shop.id)
        if get_order.blank?
            order = Order.create(values)
        else
        order = get_order.first  
            order.update_attributes(values)
        end
        ShippingLine.add_details(order, shopify_order.shipping_lines)
        LineItem.add_details(order, shopify_order.line_items)
        Taxline.add_details(order, shopify_order.tax_lines)
        Fulfillment.add_details(order, shopify_order.fulfillments)
        Note.add_details(order, shopify_order.note_attributes)
        Discount.add_details(order, shopify_order.discount_codes)
        billing_address = shopify_order.billing_address rescue nil
        if !billing_address.blank?
          BillingAddress.add_details(order, billing_address)
        end
        shipping_address = shopify_order.shipping_address rescue nil
        if !shipping_address.blank?
          ShippingAddress.add_details(order, shipping_address)
        end
        payment_details = shopify_order.payment_details rescue nil
        if !payment_details.blank?
          PaymentDetail.add_details(order, payment_details)
        end
      end
 end

and for the associated objects:

  class << self
    def add_details(order, tax_lines)
      tax_lines.each do |shopify_tax_line|
        values = {:order_id => order.id,
            :price => tax_line.price,
            :rate => tax_line.rate,
            :title => tax_line.title}
        get_taxline = Taxline.where(:order_id => order.id)
        if get_taxline.blank?
            taxline = Taxline.create(values)
        else
            taxline = get_taxline.first  
            taxline.update_attributes(values)
        end
      end
    end
  end

Any better suggestions?

Answer 1

For PostgreSQL, there are several issues that the above approach does not address:

1. You must specify an actual table, not just an alias, in the update target table.
2. You cannot repeat the target table in the FROM phrase. Since you are joining the target table to a VALUES table (hence there is only one table in the FROM phrase, you won't be able to use JOIN, you must instead use "WHERE ".

3. You don't get the same "free" casts in a VALUES table that you do in a simple "UPDATE" command, so you must cast date/timestamp values as such (#val_cast does this).

   class ActiveRecord::Base
   
     def self.update!(record_list)
       raise ArgumentError "record_list not an Array of Hashes" unless record_list.is_a?(Array) && record_list.all? {|rec| rec.is_a? Hash }
       return record_list if record_list.empty?
   
       (1..record_list.count).step(1000).each do |start|
         field_list, value_list = convert_record_list(record_list[start-1..start+999])
         key_field = self.primary_key
         non_key_fields = field_list - [%Q["#{self.primary_key}"], %Q["created_at"]]
         columns_assign = non_key_fields.map {|field| "#{field} = #{val_cast(field)}"}.join(",")
         value_table = value_list.map {|row| "(#{row.join(", ")})" }.join(", ")
         sql = "UPDATE #{table_name} AS this SET #{columns_assign} FROM (VALUES #{value_table}) vals (#{field_list.join(", ")}) WHERE this.#{key_field} = vals.#{key_field}"
         self.connection.update_sql(sql)
       end
   
       return record_list
     end
   
     def self.val_cast(field)
       field = field.gsub('"', '')
       if (column = columns.find{|c| c.name == field }).sql_type =~ /time|date/
         "cast (vals.#{field} as #{column.sql_type})"
       else
         "vals.#{field}"
       end
     end
   
     def self.convert_record_list(record_list)
       # Build the list of fields
       field_list = record_list.map(&:keys).flatten.map(&:to_s).uniq.sort
   
       value_list = record_list.map do |rec|
         list = []
         field_list.each {|field| list <<  ActiveRecord::Base.connection.quote(rec[field] || rec[field.to_sym]) }
         list
       end
   
       # If table has standard timestamps and they're not in the record list then add them to the record list
       time = ActiveRecord::Base.connection.quote(Time.now)
       for field_name in %w(created_at updated_at)
         if self.column_names.include?(field_name) && !(field_list.include?(field_name))
           field_list << field_name
           value_list.each {|rec| rec << time }
         end
       end
   
       field_list.map! {|field| %Q["#{field}"] }
   
       return [field_list, value_list]
     end
   end
   

Answer 2

You can monkey-patch ActiveRecord like this:

class ActiveRecord::Base

  #http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15317837/bulk-insert-records-into-active-record-table?lq=1
  #https://gist.github.com/jackrg/76ade1724bd816292e4e
  #  "UPDATE THIS SET <list_of_column_assignments>  FROM <table_name> THIS  JOIN (VALUES (<csv1>, <csv2>,...) VALS ( <column_names> ) ON <list_of_primary_keys_comparison>"
  def self.bulk_update(record_list)
      pk = self.primary_key
      raise "primary_key not found" unless pk.present?

      raise "record_list not an Array of Hashes" unless record_list.is_a?(Array) && record_list.all? {|rec| rec.is_a? Hash }
      return nil if record_list.empty?

      result = nil

      #test if every hash has primary keys, so we can JOIN
      record_list.each { |r|  raise "Primary Keys '#{self.primary_key.to_s}' not found on record: #{r}" unless hasAllPKs?(r) }


      #list of primary keys comparison
      pk_comparison_array = []
      if (pk).is_a?(Array)
          pk.each {|thiskey| pk_comparison_array << "THIS.#{thiskey} = VALS.#{thiskey}" }
      else
          pk_comparison_array << "THIS.#{pk} = VALS.#{pk}"
      end
      pk_comparison = pk_comparison_array.join(' AND ')

      #SQL
      (1..record_list.count).step(1000).each do |start|
        key_list, value_list = convert_record_list(record_list[start-1..start+999])
        #csv values
        csv_vals = value_list.map {|v| "(#{v.join(", ")})" }.join(", ")
        #column names
        column_names = key_list.join(", ")
        #list of columns assignments
        columns_assign_array = []
        key_list.each {|col|
          unless inPK?(col)
            columns_assign_array << "THIS.#{col} = VALS.#{col}"
          end }
        columns_assign = columns_assign_array.join(', ')

        sql = "UPDATE THIS SET #{columns_assign}  FROM #{self.table_name} THIS  JOIN ( VALUES #{csv_vals} ) VALS ( #{column_names} ) ON ( #{pk_comparison} )"
        result = self.connection.execute(sql)

        return result if result<0
      end

      return result

  end

  def self.inPK?(str)
      pk = self.primary_key

      test = str.to_s
      if pk.is_a?(Array)
            (pk.include?(test))
      else
            (pk==test)
      end
  end

  #test if given hash has primary keys included as hash keys and those keys are not empty
  def self.hasAllPKs?(hash)
      h = hash.stringify_keys
      pk = self.primary_key

      if pk.is_a?(Array)
           (pk.all? {|k| h.key?(k) and h[k].present? })
      else
           h.key?(pk) and h[pk].present?
      end
  end

  def self.convert_record_list(record_list)
    # Build the list of keys
    key_list = record_list.map(&:keys).flatten.map(&:to_s).uniq.sort

    value_list = record_list.map do |rec|
      list = []
      key_list.each {|key| list <<  ActiveRecord::Base.connection.quote(rec[key] || rec[key.to_sym]) }
      list
    end

    # If table has standard timestamps and they're not in the record list then add them to the record list
    time = ActiveRecord::Base.connection.quote(Time.now)
    for field_name in %w(created_at updated_at)
      if self.column_names.include?(field_name) && !(key_list.include?(field_name))
        key_list << field_name
        value_list.each {|rec| rec << time }
      end
    end

    return [key_list, value_list]
  end
end

Then, you can generate a array of hashes containing your models attributes (including theirs primary keys) and do something like:

ActiveRecord::Base.transaction do
   Model.bulk_update [ {attr1: val1, attr2: val2,...},  {attr1: val1, attr2: val2,...},   ... ]
end

It will be a single SQL command without Rails callbacks and validations.

Answer 3

Try wrapping your entire code into a single database transaction. Since you're on Heroku it'll be a Postgres bottom-end. With that many update statements, you can probably benefit greatly by transacting them all at once, so your code executes quicker and basically just leaves a "queue" of 6500 statements to run on Postgres side as the server is able to dequeue them. Depending on the bottom end, you might have to transact into smaller chunks - but even transacting 100 at a time (and then close and re-open the transaction) would greatly improve throughput into Pg.

http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/Transactions/ClassMethods.html http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.2/static/sql-set-transaction.html

So before line 2 you'd add something like:

def add_details(shop, shopify_orders)
  Order.transaction do
    shopify_orders.each do |shopify_order|

And then at the very end of your method add another end:

      if !payment_details.blank?
        PaymentDetail.add_details(order, payment_details)
      end
    end //shopify_orders.each..
  end //Order.transaction..
end //method