May 03, 2025
Enums with sqlite
At the time of this article SQLite does not support the enum column type. We can still define and use enums in Active Record with the enum helper which was introduced in Rails 7.
We can define the column using Integer or String. In the following example, I will use strings. If you choose to use Integer you’ll have to update the check_contraint.
class CreateUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
create_table :users do |t|
t.string :email_address, null: false
t.string :password_digest, null: false
t.string :role, null: false, default: "admin"
t.check_constraint "role IN ('admin', 'instructor', 'student')", name: "role_check"
t.timestamps
end
add_index :users, :email_address, unique: true
add_index :users, :role
end
end
Next, I will define those roles with the enum helper in the User model.
class User < ApplicationRecord
has_secure_password
has_many :sessions, dependent: :destroy
enum :role, { admin: "admin", instructor: "instructor", student: "student" }, prefix: true
normalizes :email_address, with: ->(e) { e.strip.downcase }
validates :role, presence: true
end
Defining an enum in Active Record provides useful instance methods. We will now be able to call:
User.role_admin?
User.not_admin
user = User.create!
user.role
# => "admin"
user.role_student!
user.role
# => "student"