Improve support for sorting by a timestamp column (#142)

Add a new subclass of the `Cursor` class to encode/decode cursors using
a timestamp column (such as `created_at`) as order field. It encodes
the value of the field as a number with microsecond resolution (the
default for MySQL).

This cursor class is instantiated instead of the regular `Cursor` when
an `order_field` of a compatible type is used to configure the
paginator.

Co-authored-by: Amanda Raymond <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: Nicolas Fricke <[email protected]>

.rubocop.yml

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Metrics/BlockLength:
   - spec/**/*
 
 Metrics/ClassLength:
-  Max: 198
+  Max: 210
 
 Metrics/CyclomaticComplexity:
   Max: 15

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ These are the latest changes on the project's `master` branch that have not yet
 ### Added
 - Test against Ruby version 3.2
 
+### Fixed
+- Ensure timestamp `order_by` fields will have expected paginated results by honoring of timestamps down to microsecond resolution on comparison.
+
 ## [0.3.0] - 2022-07-08
 
 ### Added

Gemfile.lock

@@ -7,26 +7,36 @@ PATH
 GEM
   remote: https://rubygems.org/
   specs:
-    activemodel (6.1.7.6)
-      activesupport (= 6.1.7.6)
-    activerecord (6.1.7.6)
-      activemodel (= 6.1.7.6)
-      activesupport (= 6.1.7.6)
-    activesupport (6.1.7.6)
+    activemodel (7.1.0)
+      activesupport (= 7.1.0)
+    activerecord (7.1.0)
+      activemodel (= 7.1.0)
+      activesupport (= 7.1.0)
+      timeout (>= 0.4.0)
+    activesupport (7.1.0)
+      base64
+      bigdecimal
       concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0, >= 1.0.2)
+      connection_pool (>= 2.2.5)
+      drb
       i18n (>= 1.6, < 2)
       minitest (>= 5.1)
+      mutex_m
       tzinfo (~> 2.0)
-      zeitwerk (~> 2.3)
     ast (2.4.2)
     base64 (0.1.1)
+    bigdecimal (3.1.4)
     concurrent-ruby (1.2.2)
+    connection_pool (2.4.1)
     diff-lcs (1.5.0)
+    drb (2.1.1)
+      ruby2_keywords
     i18n (1.14.1)
       concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0)
     json (2.6.3)
     language_server-protocol (3.17.0.3)
     minitest (5.19.0)
+    mutex_m (0.1.2)
     mysql2 (0.5.5)
     parallel (1.23.0)
     parser (3.2.2.3)
@@ -65,10 +75,11 @@ GEM
     rubocop-ast (1.29.0)
       parser (>= 3.2.1.0)
     ruby-progressbar (1.13.0)
+    ruby2_keywords (0.0.5)
+    timeout (0.4.0)
     tzinfo (2.0.6)
       concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0)
     unicode-display_width (2.4.2)
-    zeitwerk (2.6.11)
 
 PLATFORMS
   ruby

lib/rails_cursor_pagination.rb

@@ -164,6 +164,8 @@ class InvalidCursorError < ParameterError; end
 
   require_relative 'rails_cursor_pagination/cursor'
 
+  require_relative 'rails_cursor_pagination/timestamp_cursor'
+
   class << self
     # Allows to configure this gem. Currently supported configuration values
     # are:

lib/rails_cursor_pagination/paginator.rb

@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ def filter_value
     # @param record [ActiveRecord] Model instance for which we want the cursor
     # @return [String]
     def cursor_for_record(record)
-      Cursor.from_record(record: record, order_field: @order_field).encode
+      cursor_class.from_record(record: record, order_field: @order_field).encode
     end
 
     # Decode the provided cursor. Either just returns the cursor's ID or in case
@@ -375,7 +375,25 @@ def cursor_for_record(record)
     # @return [Integer, Array]
     def decoded_cursor
       memoize(:decoded_cursor) do
-        Cursor.decode(encoded_string: @cursor, order_field: @order_field)
+        cursor_class.decode(encoded_string: @cursor, order_field: @order_field)
+      end
+    end
+
+    # Returns the appropriate class for the cursor based on the SQL type of the
+    # column used for ordering the relation.
+    #
+    # @return [Class<RailsCursorPagination::Cursor>]
+    def cursor_class
+      order_field_type = @relation
+                         .column_for_attribute(@order_field)
+                         .sql_type_metadata
+                         .type
+
+      case order_field_type
+      when :datetime
+        TimestampCursor
+      else
+        Cursor
       end
     end
 

lib/rails_cursor_pagination/timestamp_cursor.rb

@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module RailsCursorPagination
+  # Cursor class that's used to uniquely identify a record and serialize and
+  # deserialize this cursor so that it can be used for pagination.
+  # This class expects the `order_field` of the record to be a timestamp and is
+  # to be used only when sorting a
+  class TimestampCursor < Cursor
+    class << self
+      # Decode the provided encoded cursor. Returns an instance of this
+      # `RailsCursorPagination::Cursor` class containing both the ID and the
+      # ordering field value. The ordering field is expected to be a timestamp
+      # and is always decoded in the UTC timezone.
+      #
+      # @param encoded_string [String]
+      #   The encoded cursor
+      # @param order_field [Symbol]
+      #   The column that is being ordered on. It needs to be a timestamp of a
+      #   class that responds to `#strftime`.
+      # @raise [RailsCursorPagination::InvalidCursorError]
+      #   In case the given `encoded_string` cannot be decoded properly
+      # @return [RailsCursorPagination::TimestampCursor]
+      #   Instance of this class with a properly decoded timestamp cursor
+      def decode(encoded_string:, order_field:)
+        decoded = JSON.parse(Base64.strict_decode64(encoded_string))
+
+        new(
+          id: decoded[1],
+          order_field: order_field,
+          # Turn the order field value into a `Time` instance in UTC. A Rational
+          # number allows us to represent fractions of seconds, including the
+          # microseconds. In this way we can preserve the order of items with a
+          # microsecond precision.
+          # This also allows us to keep the size of the cursor small by using
+          # just a number instead of having to pass seconds and the fraction of
+          # seconds separately.
+          order_field_value: Time.at(decoded[0].to_r / (10**6)).utc
+        )
+      rescue ArgumentError, JSON::ParserError
+        raise InvalidCursorError,
+              "The given cursor `#{encoded_string}` " \
+              'could not be decoded to a timestamp'
+      end
+    end
+
+    # Initializes the record. Overrides `Cursor`'s initializer making all params
+    # mandatory.
+    #
+    # @param id [Integer]
+    #   The ID of the cursor record
+    # @param order_field [Symbol]
+    #   The column or virtual column for ordering
+    # @param order_field_value [Object]
+    #   The value that the +order_field+ of the record contains
+    def initialize(id:, order_field:, order_field_value:)
+      super id: id,
+            order_field: order_field,
+            order_field_value: order_field_value
+    end
+
+    # Encodes the cursor as an array containing the timestamp as microseconds
+    # from UNIX epoch and the id of the object
+    #
+    # @raise [RailsCursorPagination::ParameterError]
+    #   The order field value needs to respond to `#strftime` to use the
+    #   `TimestampCursor` class. Otherwise, a `ParameterError` is raised.
+    # @return [String]
+    def encode
+      unless @order_field_value.respond_to?(:strftime)
+        raise ParameterError,
+              "Could not encode #{@order_field} " \
+              "with value #{@order_field_value}." \
+              'It does not respond to #strftime. Is it a timestamp?'
+      end
+
+      Base64.strict_encode64(
+        [
+          @order_field_value.strftime('%s%6N').to_i,
+          @id
+        ].to_json
+      )
+    end
+  end
+end