How to Use The Ruby Sequel Gem (With Examples)

What is Sequel?

Sequel is a gem that allows you to access your database, no Rails required.

You can connect to your database in different ways.

Mostly two:

By sending raw SQL commands
By using an ORM

Here’s an example, using raw SQL & the MySQL database.

require 'mysql2'

client  = Mysql2::Client.new(host: "localhost")

results = client.query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE age > 21")

The results?

An array of hashes with the data.

Now:

If we want to work with the data in an Object-Oriented way, we will need to make the results into objects.

That’s a big part of what an ORM does.

What’s an ORM?

ORM stands for “Object-Relational-Mapping”.

Sequel, named after the vocalization of SQL (a query language for databases), is an ORM.

Let’s discover how to use it!

Sequel Example: Connecting to A Database

The first step to start using Sequel is to connect to a database.

Here’s an example:

require 'sequel'

DB = Sequel.sqlite('/tmp/testing.db')

This creates a Sequel::Database object & assigns it to DB.

We’re using the SQLite3 database here.

But you can use others:

Sequel.postgres
Sequel.mysql2
Sequel.oracle

What’s next?

You need to create a table to store data.

Here’s how to create it:

unless DB.table_exists?(:fruits)
  DB.create_table :fruits do
    primary_key :id

    column :name, String
    column :amount, Integer
  end
end

There’s a migration system you can use.

But it’s optional.

Now we are ready to start adding data & querying the database!

How to Use Sequel Datasets

You need a dataset object to interact with a specific table on the database.

Here’s how to get one:

table = DB[:fruits]
# Sequel::SQLite::Dataset

Great!

Now we can add a few records with the insert method.

Like this:

table.insert(name: "Orange", amount: 10)
table.insert(name: "Apple", amount: 2)
table.insert(name: "Banana", amount: 7)

Let’s get a count:

table.count
# 3

Let’s get all the entries in the dataset:

table.all
# [
#   { id: 1, name: "Orange", amount: 10 },
#   { id: 2, name: "Apple", amount: 2 },
#   { id: 3, name: "Banana", amount: 7 }
# ]

Hey!

This looks like an array of hashes.

Well, you’re right.

That’s exactly what this is.

Sequel allows you to query the database without a model.

But we can use models.

Here’s how…

How to Use Models in Sequel

A Sequel model looks a lot like an ActiveRecord model.

Here’s an example:

class Fruit < Sequel::Model
end

Models behave exactly like a dataset, but they wrap the results in the model class.

Take a look:

Fruit.first
# Fruit @values={:id=>1, :name=>"Orange", :amount=>10}

We can use the same Sequel::Dataset methods.

So there is no "magic" here.

A few more examples:

Fruit.map(:name)
# ["Orange", "Apple", "Banana"]

Fruit.where(name: "Apple").or(amount: 10).map(:name)
# ["Orange", "Apple"]

Fruit.first[:amount]
# 10

Very nice!

Sequel vs ActiveRecord

Now that you've learned how awesome Sequel is, you may be wondering how it compares to ActiveRecord.

Well, ActiveRecord is the default ORM for Rails.

And Rails really likes conventions.

So I don't think it's worth trying to replace ActiveRecord with Sequel in a Rails app.

However.

If you're using another framework, like Sinatra, then Sequel is a great choice!

Summary

You have learned about working with databases in Ruby using an ORM, in this case, the Sequel Ruby gem.

Now it's your turn to give this a try & have fun!

Thanks for reading.